THE FIFTIETH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES, THE SECOND QUARTER QUELL
"Double Trouble"
INTRODUCTION
The people of Panem crowded around their old, decrepit television sets in their houses that were falling apart. Everybody over the age of twenty-five remembered the last time that there had been a quarter quell, and many of them still had nightmares to that very day. Parents held their children closer than ever before as their televisions lit up. They saw the face of their president. A young boy dressed head to toe in white, Snow's nephew, walked forward and held out a small wooden box. It was a box filled with paper envelopes, yellowed with time, created by that despicable Snow himself, outlining the twists for each of the quarter quells to come. Snow took the box and set it down on the podium. He produced a key from his pocket and unlatched the box with a click that chilled the entire nation to the bone. There were gasps from around the country. How many envelopes were there? Thirty? Forty? The Hunger Games would not be over until they were long dead and long discarded, far beneath the ground. A wild, childlike glint showed in Snow's eyes. His fingers hovered over the box of envelopes. They were beautiful. Made from paper that must have once been a brilliant gold color, they were masterfully folded and trimmed with ornate white lace. A circle of sealing ink perfectly bound each envelope closed. Snow glanced up at the thousands of cheering Capitolites before plunging his hand into the box and pulling out the second envelope in the first row. It was labeled with the number "50" in shimmering red calligraphy. Snow broke the seal and carefully removed the piece of paper inside. He cleared his throat.
"On the 50th anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that two rebels died for every Capitol citizen killed, each district will reap twice the number of tributes!" Panem cried out in surprise. Some clung onto the hope that the twist would not actually play out as stated. They couldn't really pick double the tributes, could they? But they could. The reapings came one by one, and in each district four tributes were called up. The Capitolites cheered as these children were taken to their deaths. With twice as many tributes, there needed to be a whole load of adjustments to the pre-games festivities. For one, more chariots and horses were required for the chariot rides. Even Snow turned away from poisoning his enemies to help design the renovated, jumbo-sized training center. Claudius and Caesar had to split up the interviews into two days, with tributes from Districts 1 through 6 interviewed on the first day and those from 7 through 12 on the second day. In the tributes' private sessions with the gamemakers, each tribute was given only ten minutes to present their chosen skill instead of the usual fifteen, simply because of how many competitors there were.
The career districts were absolutely thrilled by the quell. There was some of the most intense competition yet between aspiring youngsters for the position of tribute in these games. All twelve spots were filled with well-trained career tributes, surprisingly enough. Overall, District 1 produced the strongest batch. The first male was one of the best swordsmen that District 1 had seen in a long time, though he could really fight with anything. The Capitol loved him for his looks and his all-in-in-for-the-honor career attitude, and with his impressive ten in training he became a favorite. The second male was much more of an easy-breather, level-headed and without much popularity. He could work magic with weapons like knives and swords. Though these two folks were certainly impressive, it was the first female from District 1 that really stole the show. This Katoptris Parker girl wowed the Capitol with her beauty and mastery of weaponry. Bows, axes, knives, swords: you name it, she could cut down the most experienced trainer in the academy with it. Though her partner was not as gifted as she, the second female was still a greater in offensive tactics with most projectile weapons. District 2 offered up a bundle of careers that wound fight hard until the very end. The first male was a very conventional career, getting a solid point across that he would be the victor and didn't know what those other inferior career kids were talking about. Ironically, he only walked home with a nine in training. The second male was a vicious career. Fighting roman-style and stabbing with whatever blade he had on hand, he was enthusiastic in his art in a cute way. The two females from District 2 were neighbors, actually, and very close friends. The first female was a charismatic girl and highly popular among the members of the audience. The second female was more soft-spoken and beautiful, a valuable quality of careers. These two girls went everywhere with each other, and they would no doubt have a close-knit relationship during the games. The first District 4 male was probably the weakest career, as his battle techniques were adulterated by germaphobia. He was still a formidable fighter, but he felt a bit uncomfortable around the scenes of gore that the other careers seemed to enjoy. The second male was openly transgender. Fully transitioned, he hoped that the pack would embrace him. His knack for tridents earned him a warm welcome. The first female was breathtakingly beautiful, and was likely the most powerful tribute this year other than Katoptris from District 1. She had an exotic allure to her that caught the eye of many a Capitol citizen. The second female was certainly a place filler, as she wasn't the best with weaponry. In fact, she spent most of her time in the Capitol crushing on Copper from District 5 instead of training. She was deemed rather childish by the sponsors. Overall, the training scores of the careers this year were outstanding. Seven tens, three nines, and two eights were scored this year. Keeping order and staying organized would be nearly impossible in a group of careers so large, so they split into three different groups. The first group became known as the Standards. This was the largest group, consisting of Barnaby, Gladius, Voyage, Brackish, Imogen, and Scotia. These were all of the tributes that preferred the conventional career strategy. They were headed by Imogen. The second group consisted of the four District 1 tributes: Lavish, Cognac, Katoptris, and Estelle. Their group was called the Paragons. They were the tributes with the highest scores. Under the vicious Katoptris, they vowed to play an offensive game, weighing attacking outliers over protecting themselves. The last group was the smallest and consisted only of Megara and Gypsum, the two females from District 2. They would travel day and night, never keeping a permanent home and instead choosing to move around regularly.
There was an incredible batch of outliers this year, as many of the reapings had been rigged to bring some strong contenders into the mix. Three eights were earned outside of the career pack. Marshall Kuldell from District 10 stood out to the gamemakers because of his skills in setting up snares and the like. Haymitch of District 12 also managed an eight with his knife skills and his looks. One of his district partners, a petite girl named Maysilee, was able to match his score by showing off her skills with bows. There was also a multitude of sevens earned. In fact, nine sevens were earned! They were scored by Barker from 7, Nyssa from 7, Helix from 8, Cashmere from 8, Buck from 10, Marilou from 10, Clementine from 11, Basc from 11, and Steer from was an incident outside of the career pack as well. Marilou Deer from District 10 chose an ornate metal hairpiece as her tribute token. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the hairpiece would unfold into a sharp blade when part of it was twisted. Marilou claimed that she didn't know it could do that, but it was confiscated anyway. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: the thirteen year-old Camden Larfarello from District 6. Camden volunteered out of desperation; his brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few days earlier, and he knew that the only hope of getting him treatment was to win the games. Here are the tributes:
District 1 Males: Lavish Bianchi, 17, (10) 16-1 and Cognac Favre, 18, (10) 15-1
District 1 Females: Katoptris Parker, 16, (10) 8-1 and Estelle Adams, 16, (9) 17-1
District 2 Males: Barnaby Capra, 15, (9) 17-1 and Gladius Sturman, 18, (10) 14-1
District 2 Females: Megara Pearden, 18, (10) 14-1 and Gypsum Shale, 18, (9) 15-1
District 3 Males: Router Elliot, 14, (4) 67-1 and Solomon Mayre, 15, (4) 62-1
District 3 Females: Socket Olaf, 16, (6) 36-1 and Porter Primini, 12, (3) 94-1
District 4 Males: Voyage St. Paul, 15, (8) 20-1 and Brackish Samuel, 17, (10) 16-1
District 4 Females: Imogen Sands, 18, (10) 13-1 and Scotia Yackle, 16, (8) 19-1
District 5 Males: Volt Rosario, 17, (5) 36-1 and Copper Kent, 18, (6) 33-1
District 5 Females: Bethany Corzett, 12, (4) 73-1 and Teagan Saetren, 12, (4) 74-1
District 6 Males: Camden Larfarello, 13, (5) 42-1 and Raven Abe, 18, (6) 33-1
District 6 Females: Dakota Scandura, 18, (5) 40-1 and Holly Harper, 18, (5) 39-1
District 7 Males: Barker Luce, 17, (7) 28-1 and Arlo Calkins, 13, (4) 69-1
District 7 Females: Nyssa Oliphant, 18, (7) 27-1 and Magnolia Hilsbury, 15, (6) 31-1
District 8 Males: Helix Johnson, 14, (7) 29-1 and Afghan Schimell, 17, (6) 30-1
District 8 Females: Chenille Meyers, 18, (5) 40-1 and Cashmere Torantella, 18, (7) 28-1
District 9 Males: Quinoa Indigo, 18, (6) 28-1 and Kenneth Sorghum, 16, (6) 28-1
District 9 Females: Pearl York, 18, (5) 30-1 and Hope Fawcett, 16, (5) 29-1
District 10 Males: Buck Valliance, 17, (7) 36-1 and Marshall Kuldell, 18, (8) 23-1
District 10 Females: Marilou Deer, 13, (7) 39-1 and Fontana Gold, 12, (6) 42-1
District 11 Males: Clementine Applegate, 18, (7) 33-1 and Basc Yuletide, 15, (7) 38-1
District 11 Females: Lady O'Malley, 17, (5) 40-1 and Mirabelle Brady, 17, (4) 43-1
District 12 Males: Steer Peterson, 18, (7) 35-1 and Haymitch Abernathy, 16, (8) 23-1
District 12 Females: Maysilee Donner, 16, (8) 25-1 and Valentina Silver, 17, (5) 40-1
HGBO Bets: 6% on Katoptris, 5% on Lavish, Cognac, and Megara, 4% on Estelle, Barnaby, Gladius, and Gypsum, 3% on Voyage, Brackish, Imogen, and Scotia, 2% on Barker, Nyssa, Helix, Cashmere, Buck, Marshall, Marilou, Clementine, Basc, Steer, Haymitch, and Maysilee, 1% or Less on Router, Solomon, Socket, Porter, Volt, Copper, Bethany, Teagan, Camden, Raven, Dakota, Holly, Arlo, Magnolia, Afghan, Chenille, Quinoa, Kenneth, Pearl, Hope, Fontana, Lady, Mirabelle, and Valentina.
THE GAMES
Head Gamemaker Wisp Glasgow had no choice but to make the arena absolutely massive. It was the only way to hold forty-eight players, and it was the largest Hunger Games arena to date. He and his team really outdid themselves for the quell. The arena was the most beautiful place imaginable. The cornucopia stood in a picturesque meadow of fuzzy green grass. Colorful flowers dotted the meadow, and beautiful butterflies fluttered overhead. Cotton candy pink birds flew around and sang their sweet songs across the azure blue skies. Puffy white clouds hung overhead. The cameras showed that the meadow stretched on for miles. In one direction, there was a woods. The forest was absolutely beautiful, with murmuring streams and crystal-clear ponds that smelled sweet. Golden squirrels scampered across the ground, and bright songbirds roosted in the trees. In the other direction, there was a snowcapped mountain. Its even slopes looked absolutely gorgeous, reflecting the light of the sun and appearing a million different colors at once. But there was a catch. Everything natural was poisonous. The pink birds in the meadow were extremely dangerous, with their skewer-shaped beaks. The butterflies attacked in swarms, their bites inducing venom that would cause extreme pain if not death. Even the flowers could cause swelling in the throat if inhaled too directly. Of course, the forest was deadly as well. The bright-colored fruit that hung from the trees was incredibly acidic. The water from the streams was poisonous enough to kill, and the gold squirrels were carnivorous. The mountain (which was, of course, a volcano waiting to blow) was covered with snow that was extremely toxic if eaten. The only trustworthy food was from the cornucopia. The rainwater was edible as well, but that was it. It was a style of arena that was more common in the earlier games but was dying out in recent times: one-hundred percent natural.
Disbelief reflected on the faces of the tributes as they rose up into the arena atop their pedestals. It was the most breathtaking place imaginable. They sniffed deeply, inhaling the sweet smell of the flowers that were strewn around the meadow and savoring the cool breezes that invited them to curl up and sleep without a care. Many of them stood with their mouths hanging open in awe until the second the gong rang. The bloodbath this year would host eighteen deaths, breaking the record for largest bloodbath in history. This number was actually lower than expected. On proportion, one would have expected anywhere between twenty and twenty-six bloodbath deaths. But eighteen was still a good number that gave Wisp lots of survivors to work with.
Katoptris was off of her pedestal before any of the other tributes, racing toward a hatchet that lay in a cluster of pink blossoms twenty yards from her pedestal. She scooped up the small axe and turned sharply on her heel, hurling the hatchet with all of her might at a nearby girl who was zigzagging away from her pedestal. With a crunch, the axe buried itself into her skull. Katoptris ran to her side and tore her hatchet out of her head as the bloodbath began in earnest.
Mirabelle Brady, District 11 Female: 48th, Killed by Katoptris, Bloodbath
Barnaby, another speedy runner, had run all of the way into the cornucopia to receive a sword, three feet of deadly metal that glistened dangerously in the gem of the sun overhead. He whipped around and stabbed the sword into the neck of a boy who was trying to off him with a sword of his own, hoping to eliminate competition early and impress the sponsors. The boy gurgled and clawed at his throat, but there was ultimately nothing he could do. The boy's bloody form went limp and slowly slid off of a grinning Barnaby's sword.
Quinoa Indigo, District 9 Male: 47th, Killed by Barnaby, Bloodbath
Seconds earlier, Brackish had locked his fingers around a three-pronged trident and was now running back toward his pedestal. The girl whose pedestal was stationed to the right of his hadn't moved an inch since the start of the games, her eyes and mouth wide open, under the spell of the arena. One swipe of Brackish's trident across her stomach, and she was dead. She didn't even flinch.
Porter Primini, District 3 Female: 46th, Killed by Brackish, Bloodbath
Lavish gritted his teeth as he dueled with the well-trained Basc from District 11. The two tributes danced around each other. Lavish occasionally lashed out with his sword, just warming up for the real battle. Basc made his best effort to fight back. He had an axe, and managed to deflect most of Lavish's blows. About twenty seconds into their duel, Lavish charged forward and raked the tip of his knife across his enemy's cheek. Basc was petrified by the pain for a moment, and Lavish took the opportunity to seal his kill. With all of his strength, he cast his sword forward, worming it through the farmer boy's torso. The blade lodged itself between two of his ribs. He had done a significant amount of damage, but it still took a few moments for his life force to be drained away completely.
Basc Yuletide, District 11 Male: 45th, Killed by Lavish, Bloodbath
After wrenching her hatchet out of Mirabelle's skull, Katoptris fluidly attacked her next victim, a nearby girl who was trying to sneak past her with a backpack of rope. Some sixth sense told the girl that she was being watched, and she broke into a run when she saw Katoptris' cold eyes trained on her. The girl was a fast runner, but Katoptris was faster. With one swipe of her arm, she planted her hatchet directly between the girl's eyes. Blood squirted forth. The girl screamed, but no matter how much she begged, the career girl continued to hack away mercilessly at her head and neck with her hatchet.
Valentina Silver, District 12 Female: 44th, Killed by Katoptris, Bloodbath
Imogen had armed herself with a bow and zeroed in on her first prey: a nearby boy with dark hair signature of his hailing from District 6. Imogen let the arrow fly. It sang through the air and landed perfectly in the boy's back. He howled and flew his hands to his back to remove the arrow, but his fingers were slippery with blood. He fell forward onto the ground, his mouth digging through grass and dirt, and bled to death within minutes.
Raven Abe, District 6 Male: 43rd, Killed by Imogen, Bloodbath
Estelle had a fist full of shurikens and quietly crept toward the back of a nearby girl. She heard Estelle's shuffling behind her and turned around just as the shurikens entered her chest. The girl screamed and dropped what she was carrying. She ripped one of the throwing stars out of her chest and tried to hurl it at Estelle, but she missed by a breadth of several feet. Her vision was growing blurry. By the time she fell to her knees with a loud noise, she was dead.
Dakota Scandura, District 6 Female: 42nd, Killed by Estelle, Bloodbath
Nimble Gypsum, knife in hand, sped toward an overweight girl who was running away from the cornucopia with a pack. Gypsum hurled herself at the girl. In response, she threw out a fist toward Gypsum's face and yelled for her to go away. Gypsum plunged her knife into her shoulder, and the girl began crying. Gypsum's close friend Megara was at her side in no time, finishing her off by stabbing a dagger that sat in a cluster of yellow flowers near her into her chest.
Teagan Saetren, District 5 Female: 41st, Killed by Gypsum and Megara, Bloodbath
Gladius armed himself with a sword and grabbed the nearest boy by the shoulders, slamming him against the wall of the cornucopia. The boy's mane of red hair sprayed out over the wall of the cornucopia. Gladius pressed the tip of his sword into the boy's throat. He cried for help and squirmed to escape, but Gladius' clutch on him was too strong. He was sedated as the career boy slid his sword all of the way through his neck. The tip of the sword clanged against the wall of the horn behind him after working its way through his neck and spearing his throat.
Copper Kent, District 5 Male: 40th, Killed by Gladius, Bloodbath
Scotia had run all of the way into the cornucopia for a belt of throwing knives, and she started throwing as soon as the belt was clipped around her waist. A nearby girl screamed as two of the knives dug into her chest. Her knees buckled, and the last thing she saw was Scotia running to her side to retrieve her two knives.
Pearl York, District 9 Female: 39th, Killed by Scotia, Bloodbath
A few moments later, Megara and Gypsum were able to corner a weeping boy against the cornucopia. Megara hurled herself toward him and buried her knife into the boy's head. Gypsum followed closely behind, finishing off the boy with a swipe of her knife across his lower abdomen.
Afghan Schimell, District 8 Male: 38th, Killed by Megara and Gypsum, Bloodbath
With eleven tributes dead, things were really starting to organize in the career pack. The standards were standing their steady ground in front of the cornucopia, warding away the droves out oncoming outliers. Meanwhile, the Paragons were weaving through the crowds and cutting down tributes whenever they saw it necessary. Cognac had a sword and thrust it toward his target: a close by girl's left calf. His sword was almost instantly lethal at that close range.
Hope Fawcett, District 9 Female: 37th, Killed by Cognac, Bloodbath
The duo of Megara and Gypsum each had knives and valuable packs of supplies, so they left the bloodbath to head to the forest early. About halfway through the meadow, they crossed paths with another tribute: the willowy Kenneth from District 9. Gypsum jumped toward the boy and skewered her knife through his arm before he could utter a word of protest. By the time Megara caught up to get in on the action, Kenneth was already dead, his blood mingling with the earth underfoot and staining the fuzzy green grass.
Kenneth Sorghum, District 9 Male: 36th, Killed by Gypsum, Bloodbath
At the cornucopia, Katoptris made two more kills. Two girls about her age but much weaker had run into the center of the clearing and were now hiding together in a large chest, trying to wait out the bloodbath and come out when it was all over. Katoptris threw open the lid of the chest, and the two girls were easy prey from there. Katoptris buried her axe into the first girl's head with a crunch, splattering the other with blood. The second outlier leapt out of the chest, but Katoptris was on her like a hound, swinging her axe into her stomach and crunching the bone underneath.
Holly Harper, District 6 Female: 35th, Killed by Katoptris, Bloodbath
Lady O'Malley, District 11 Female: 34th, Killed by Katoptris, Bloodbath
The Standards made another kill when one boy came squirming toward them, trying to get to a cart of knives that sat behind them. He tried to crash between Voyage and Imogen. Imogen immediately pulled back her bowstring, with Voyage snatching a weapon of his own, a spiked club. Imogen let her arrow fly. Her aim was true, and her arrow landed in the boy's knee with a hollow sound. Voyage finished her off, bashing in her skull with her club and scaring away a nearby swarm of baby-blue butterflies.
Arlo Calkins, District 7 Male: 33rd, Killed by Imogen and Voyage, Bloodbath
Barnaby ran a few feet away from the cornucopia to meet up with a small girl who was sprawled out on the ground, slowly bleeding out from a sword wound inflicted by Cognac. Barnaby sealed the girl's doom with a slice of his sword before returning to the horn.
Marilou Deer, District 10 Female: 32nd, Killed by Barnaby, Bloodbath
The last death of the bloodbath occurred nearly two hours after the gong, officially breaking the record for longest bloodbath yet. A minute or so into the games, Router had been stabbed in the side by Gladius. He had then collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness. All of the careers assumed that he was dead, but he was still alive, slowly dying. About three minutes after Marilou's death, Gladius found him quietly shaking in the grass. Gladius finished the job he had started hours prior, flinging his sword into his gut. The boy was mere seconds away from death anyways, and he barely felt it.
Router Elliot, District 3 Male: 31st, Killed by Gladius, Bloodbath
The cotton candy pink birds squawked in an aggravated tone as eighteen cannon shots rolled across the arena. With thirty tributes spreading across the arena, it was difficult to cover them all. The cameras mostly focused on the fractured career pack as they broke away from each other. At the cornucopia, the Standards spent the light hours of the day aimlessly strolling around the meadow and leafing through their supplies. They quickly became bored with this task, and they were soon ready to go hunting. All of their glances upward were drawn toward the mountain as if it were a magnet. They all agreed to go on an expedition to the picturesque snowcapped mountain, planning to leave the next day at noon. The Paragons wandered through the woods without any solid goals in mind, just to find a place to make their camp. The Paragons dropped beside a crystal-clear pool of water and set up their home. Lavish prepared to drink the water, but a lemon-colored canary bird approached and drank the water before him. The bird instantly toppled over and died, evidence enough that the water was deadly. Lavish warned his allies to steer clear of the pond, a valuable piece of advice. Megara and Gypsum engaged in casual conversation as they trudged through the thick wood. Around noon, a swarm of the golden squirrel mutts chased them to a clearing where there were so many flowers on the ground that the grass underneath was barely visible. The squirrels retreated, and the two young ladies took this as a sign. They sat down and unrolled their supplies, preparing for the night ahead.
The outliers this year had three choices: stay in the meadow, go the forest, or go the mountain. Those that stayed in the meadow were taking a big risk, but there were several of them. Bethany from 5 and Camden from 6 had allied prior to the games. Their small, tired bodies were unable to make the trip to the forest in a single day. Bethany, deathly afraid of the careers, made Camden travel about halfway across the meadow. Camden collapsed from exhaustion, and Bethany looked like she was close herself. With the last ounces of their strength, the diminutive duo dragged themselves into an area veiled by tall, rustling grass and passed out. Helix's body was capable of traveling the whole distance of the meadow, but he stayed in the grassland by choice. After a few hours' time, he sat down beside a tree bearing fuzzy orange fruit. Helix reached out to touch the fruit and cursed. The acidic fruit made his fingers tingle upon contact, and even though he wasn't a rocket scientist he could deduce that the fruit was poisonous as well. Helix had managed a bowl and knife from the bloodbath, and he carefully retrieved the fruit with his knife. He then sliced the orange death bringer into small square pieces in the bowl. Maybe they would come in handy in the future. Steer had a small pack, but it was his only possession. He didn't look inside until he had found a good hiding spot, the sloped land beside a swiftly flowing creek. Inside, he found a knife and a bottle. Steer walked down to the river and scooped up some of the water in the bottle. Parched, he took a sip. Steer immediately collapsed as the burning water travelled down his throat. He hadn't drunk enough to kill him, but it was certainly enough to send him into a world of hurt. Steer dragged himself back to his base and tried to quiet his moans of pain as he trembled and cried, willing the highly acidic poison to work its way out of his body.
Those in the forest had the most cover, but they also faced the most dangers, particularly muttations. Solomon moved quietly through the trees, breathing steadily in and out to keep himself calm. In a thick area of the forest, he set up his home, though he made sure to cover himself with leaves afterward to hide him from sight. The two girls from District 7, Nyssa and Magnolia, bumped into each other in the forest. Instead of killing each other, they proposed an alliance. The girls shared their supplies with each other before building a shelter atop a tall hill. The sun was setting below the horizon, and they were just about to go to sleep when a swarm of bright orange songbirds swooping down from the trees and started jabbing at them with their beaks. The two allies both were armed, Nyssa with a hatchet and Magnolia with a sword, and they managed to kill most of the birds and scare away the rest. One of the birds had skewered its beak through Magnolia's shoulder and laced her blood with its poison. A sponsor sent a tight piece of cloth that Nyssa wrapped around her ally's shoulder to put pressure on the wound, hopefully preventing the spread of the poison throughout her body. Cashmere had travelled ten feet into the woods when a swarm of poison yellow wasps came flying after her. Her heart rattled in her chest as she chased away from the insects. Cashmere eventually found herself in front of a lake. She had a headstart, but the wasps were catching up to her, and fast. She leapt into the lake, the only save haven from the deadly wasps. Cashmere immediately screamed as the poisonous water entered through the various cuts and bruises all around her body. The burning sensation was agonizing. Cashmere tried to hoist herself out of the lake. She finally managed to paddle to shore, and the instant her head protruded above the water she was overwhelmed by the bees. A hundred stingers in her body finished off nature's deadly, yet beautiful cake, and the wasps flew away. The poor girl was left floating in the water, spinning in circles atop the current until she died. She was the first tribute to experience how the beautiful wildlife of the arena could be deadly. She would not be the last by any stretch of the imagination.
Cashmere Torantella, District 8 Female: 30th, Killed by Poisoned Water and Wasp Muttations, Day 1
Many things transpired throughout the remainder of the day, but there were no more deaths. Buck had a bow and quiver of ten arrows, and he shot a brown hare straight through the eye. This impressed the sponsors so much that he received a sleeping bag and pack of jerky. Buck wondered why the sponsors gave him food when he had just killed something, but he wasn't going to pass it off. Buck realized why the second he put the rabbit's meat into his mouth. The stuff was absolutely disgusting, leaving him retching and quivering for minutes afterward. He threw the rabbit away and settled for the jerky. Clementine settled into the forest and camouflaged himself and his brightly-colored pack by smearing dirt. He lay against a large rock. His dark skin blended in well to the rich soil, and he was easy to miss if you were just walking by. Haymitch had a bountiful turnout from the bloodbath. For weapons, he had a cleaver and a dagger, which he wielded in either hand as he walked. He also had a pack of dried berries and a bowl filled with wire. Haymitch jogged through the woods and set up his camp at the base of a sturdy oak tree. Maysilee loved the smell of the forest. After delving a substantial distance into the woods, she picked up a handful of bright flowers and sniffed them deeply. Her lungs and throat immediately began to close up. She coughed and dropped the flowers. It took hours for the effects of the venomous pollen to wear off fully. She rested in the bough of a sturdy tree, hidden above the layer of rustling leaves, with her supplies: a blowgun, a backpack of rope, a bowl, and a bit of dried beef.
The mountain, which was really a volcano, attracted a huge number of tributes to its gorgeous slopes. As they walked, the volcano's fiery inner hell churned underneath them, the top waiting to blow. It was also covered with spiny black burrs that would cling to anything they touched like living velcro. The tributes didn't know that, though. They were just looking for a safe haven where the careers couldn't reach them. Socket travelled about halfway up the mountainside, where there was a layer of frost underfoot but no snow yet. She ducked into a crevice and wrapped herself in her only pack, shivering to keep warm in the icy cold. Volt had walked less than a hundred feet up the side of the feature when he slid on a slippery panel of rock and fell face-first into a field of the burrs. They hooked onto his skin and clothes. It took an hour to remove them all. A spray of red dots littered Volt's face and hands where the seeds had once been. Many of them dripped blood, and Volt tried to ignore the agony as he built himself a crude shelter of scrap material. Barker had an axe, the weapon of his district, and because of that his confidence was boosted significantly. He trekked up the mountainside, and was only a few hundred yards from the top when he decided to stop for the night, vowing to keep up his walk in the morning. Chenille had chosen the mountain as her home because of the unobstructed view of the sky she thought it would have. In industrial District 8, the sky was always thick with fog and there was barely a blade of grass in sight. On the mountain, Chenille had a perfect view of the robin's egg blue skies. Every time a gust of wind blew past she was invigorated. The beauty of the scene drove her to keep going. Chenille settled down in a patch of squishy moss and fell asleep to the sunset on the opposite horizon. Marshall and Fontana, allies, were so deathly afraid of the twelve careers that they vowed to reach the top of the snowcapped mountain at any cost. Of course, they weren't able to make it, and they gave up when it began raining. The rain was so cold that their teeth chattered, so Marshall and Fontana staggered toward an area sheltered from the sky and huddled together to keep warm.
The morning of Day 2 came in the form of two cannon shots. In the forest, the Paragons were up bright and early and ready to go hunting. Katoptris travelled at the head of the group, swinging her hatchet at her side. The sun reached its peak at the sky, and Estelle pointed out the forms of Nyssa and Magnolia moving soundlessly over the earth. Nyssa was walking normally, a pack bumping between her shoulder blades, but Magnolia was walked funnily, with her hand clapped over her shoulder. The pack of four District 1 kids bowled through the woods toward the two girls and cracked their knuckles.
As the Paragons burst out of the trees, the two outliers screamed and split up, fleeing downhill. Katoptris ordered Cognac and Lavish to run after a fleeing Nyssa, whereas she and Estelle went after Magnolia. Magnolia wasn't a fast runner, and with her hand pressing down on her shoulder wound she was even slower. She ran down the hill very carefully and therefore slowly, and Katoptris and Estelle caught up to her in no time. Estelle leapt forward and grabbed Magnolia by the neck. Magnolia produced her sword from its leather sheath and shakily held it out, warning the two girls not to come any closer. Katoptris just laughed and kept stalking forward. Trembling, Magnolia lied that she was an excelled swordsman and that they would be sorry if they dared to attack her. She tried to put confidence into her words, but she was unable to convince the careers. Katoptris hurled her hatchet toward Magnolia's head with perfect form. She didn't have time to duck under the weapon, for she didn't notice it until it buried itself into her upper abdomen. The girl staggered down, coughing up blood, and her cannon shot was heard.
Magnolia Hilsbury, District 7 Female: 29th, Killed by Katoptris, Day 2
Meanwhile, about a hundred feet away, Cognac and Lavish were busy trying to corner Nyssa. Nyssa was a much better warrior than the dead Magnolia; she managed to fend off her attackers for a very long time. With her axe, she was able to do enough damage to Cognac that he had to retreat and care for his wound. That left only Lavish to take down the District 7 girl. Nyssa was remarkably talented with her weapon, but Lavish was more so, and in the end she stood no chance against him. After less than thirty seconds into their duel, Lavish got close enough to grab Nyssa by the neck and slam her axe out of her hand. Now disarmed, Nyssa could only squirm helplessly as Lavish scored up her chest with his sword. Estelle and Katoptris came into sight the instant that Nyssa's cannon shot rang, and the Paragons regrouped, reveling in their victory over the two District 7 allies. For the rest of the day, they saved up their medicine to help Cognac out with his injury, and by the end of the day he was up and running again. They were one united group of four once more, galloping back to their headquarters to prepare for more hunting.
Nyssa Oliphant, District 7 Female: 28th, Killed by Lavish, Day 2
The rest of Day 2 wasn't greatly eventful. The Standards began their journey to the lovely mountain and finally began to climb it. About six hundred feet up, they spotted a stocky boy, Barker from 7, and they chased after him. Barker was agile, and the Standards lost him about five minutes into the chase. They all wanted to keep going up the mountain, but Scotia kept complaining that her feet were killing her. She wanted to rest, rest, rest, and the others wanted to hunt, hunt, hunt. Scotia was the weak link in their group, a very bad place to be. The other Standards kept refusing her annoying requests. Around noon, Imogen broke. She whipped out her trident and screamed to Scotia that she was a member of their group and that she'd better act like one. Scotia was taken aback, but, never wanting to see the glint of Imogen's trident ever again, stayed quiet for the rest of the day. Megara and Gypsum found that it wasn't safe to lounge around in the field of flowers, as the pollen was getting to their lungs and giving them scratchy throats and itchy eyes. They broke camp and kept combing through the woods in search of prey. They passed right under a snoozing Maysilee around two in the afternoon, but didn't see her. Gypsum spotted a tree of fuzzy yellow fruit and suggested that they build their shelter there, but Megara objected, wisely pointing out that the fruit was likely poisonous due to its bright coloring. Just to make a point, Megara touched the fruit. She hissed as the poison tingled away at her fingertips, causing the layer of skin to peel off whenever she moved too suddenly. They knew to steer clear of the fruit trees, though they hadn't yet caught on that literally everything in the arena was just as deadly.
Another cannon shot fired a few minutes before sunset. In the meadow, Helix was out and about, not wanting to stay in one place for fear that he would fade into the background. Helix discovered a lonely tree standing near the outskirts of the meadow, with a large nest in its lower bough. By the way the nest was falling apart, it looked abandoned. Helix sensed that it was dangerous, but curiosity got the best of him and he climbed up the tree to investigate. He peeked into the nest and jumped out of his skin at an earsplitting squawk. Three candy floss pink birds were roosting in the nest, and he had angered them. Helix slid down the tree trunk like a fireman's pole. The three carnivorous birds flew down to meet him. Helix screamed as one of the birds speared its beak through his neck before dragging him nearer to its comrades. He tried to swat away the birds, but one of them had shoved its sharp beak into his stomach. He was now bleeding out from two key points in his body, and the third bird finished him off, shoving its beak through one side of his head and out the other.
The birds backed away and waited in anticipation. The second his cannon shot faded away fully, the birds swarmed over him and went to town, chowing down on his mangled corpse and splattering his organs everywhere. Wisp had to draw the birds away with strong electrical pulses so that there would be some recognizable form of remains to send to Helix's family back in District 8.
Helix Johnson, District 8 Male: 27th, Killed by Bird Muttations, Day 2
The morning of Day 3, those on the mountain began to hear faint rumbles from deep within the earth. They all had different explanations for these tremors, but none of them involved the mountain that was so breathtakingly beautiful turning lethal. Marshall and Fontana dismissed them as the grumbles of their hungry bellies and took up a search for food. When they found nothing, they were forced to eat the squishy moss that clung to the side of the feature. It was disgusting, though not poisonous, and it was the best sustenance they had had since the start of the games. Since Day 1, Socket had moved out of her little crevice and built a shelter of scrap wood. She was closer to the core of the volcano than any other tribute. Thus, she felt the rumbles the strongest, and her shelter collapsed around her. That couldn't be a good sign, Socket reasoned, and the grumbles from the earth were giving her the creeps. After an indecisive while, she packed up her meager possessions and began heading down the mountain. Socket had underestimated how long it would take, and she couldn't make it all the way down in just one day. Volt seemed to be a magnet for those spiny burrs. A particularly loud rumble shook him with fear so much that he fell straight into a bush of the horrible things. Once again, Volt was forced to pick them out one by one whilst the audience watched the disgusting process. Barker, close to the top of the mountain, was too caught up in a kind of arrogance to care about the rumbles. They probably didn't mean anything, right? Chenille was so engrossed in admiring the natural scenery of the mountain to care about the rumbles. From her little nest in the mountainside, nothing could hurt her.
The gem of the sun rose in the sky the morning of Day 4, and the duo of Marshall and Fontana were the first to wake. They awoke to loud rumbles, far too loud to be pegged as tummy problems now. They got up and walked the rest of the way up the mountain to investigate. The first plume of ash was mere feet from Marshall's face. Fontana watched by, dumfounded, as the top of the mountain rattled back and forth, breaking up and melting into liquid. The top of the mountain was liquefying under Marshall's feet, and there was nothing that he could do. He said a quick prayer that Fontana would be okay before dropping like a stone into the heart of the mountain, the first of many to be claimed by its evil, death-bringing hands.
Marshall Kuldell, District 10 Male: 26th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
For a few seconds, Fontana stood, paralyzed with shock, as lava burbled from the top of the mountain, swirling across the ground and rushing down the sloped sides. She was startled out of the trance when a piece of red-hot lava came rushing toward her. Fontana turned around and sped down the side of the mountain that had once been so beautiful. She was a couple precious strides ahead of the lava, but she was zigzagging downward carefully and therefore slowly. She didn't travel ten meters before a plume of ash and smoke came billowing out of the mountain and blasted into the back of her head. Fontana was knocked forward, sent skidding down the mountainside. She came to a stop on a flat shelf of rock. Too tired and beaten up to carry on, Fontana was helpless as the lava consumed her, killing her in due time.
Fontana Gold, District 10 Female: 25th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
The hungry lava flow kept speeding downward. Barker heard the vicious growls of the lava and had time to get a headstart, but not by much. Barker wasn't even a quarter of the way down the mountain when a plume of lava shot through a nearby rock and engulfed his left arm. Barker dropped his hatchet and toppled backward into the lava just as the first true eruption was about to begin.
Barker Luce, District 7 Male: 24th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
It was only a matter of time before the lava reached the camp of the Standards, who were contentedly snoozing away their morning with their weapons in their hands. Gladius was the first to wake, hastily rousing his allies and pointing out the ash that was billowing into the sky in all directions. Taking nothing but the bare necessities, the Standards raced down the slope as fast as their legs could carry them. Suddenly, so suddenly that nobody had time to react, the volcano screamed louder than ever before and blasted a column of lava nearly a mile into the sky. Evil black smoke spread everywhere, blocking out the sun for a scary moment. Ash rained down. The Standards breathed through their clothes, hoping to filter out some of the deadly particles in the air. A few minutes into their descent, Brackish collapsed. He had insisted on bringing his pack down the mountain with him, as it contained his tribute token, a family heirloom and his most prized possession. With the weight of the pack on his back, he was running much slower than the others. He was so exhausted that he collapsed into a heap. Soon, the careers were just specks running downward, abandoning him to save their own skins. Brackish fought to get out from under the pack's weight. His pupils as big as quarters, he slowly turned his head around to see a splash of lava and smoke flying downward toward him. The terrifying sight finally gave him the power to get back to his feet, but his victory didn't last long. The lava met up to the stumbling boy in to time, burying him under its molten surface.
Brackish Samuel, District 4 Male: 23rd, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
A few hundred feet downhill, the Standards kept zipping downward without looking back. They were nearly halfway down the mountain now. Imogen screamed when her foot fell into a small hole. She fell forward onto her face, immobile from the pain. Imogen called for the other Standards' help. All of them kept running… except Scotia. Scotia turned around and ran toward Imogen. She lifted her up out of the hole and let her use her body as a support as they hobbled downhill together. They were district partners, after all. What kind of honor was it if she was willing to leave Imogen behind to save herself? In all actuality, it was a big mistake. The duo had travelled about ten steps when an arm of lava came shooting out of the ground behind them. They didn't even flinch as the lava splashed over them and incinerated their bodies immediately.
Imogen Sands, District 4 Female: 22nd, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
Scotia Yackle, District 4 Female: 21st, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
On the other side of the erupting volcano, Chenille received quite the shock. She was reclining in her safe little crevice when a plume of smoke came spiraling down from the sky and crashed into the earth in front of her. The force of the blow was enough to cause the ground under her to start liquefying. Chenille cried as she got to her feet and fought desperately to evade the oncoming tide of lava. She wasn't fast enough, though, and she plopped down into the volcano's fiery heart without a single word of goodbye to her loved ones back home.
Chenille Meyers, District 8 Female: 20th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
The three living Standards—Barnaby, Gladius, and Voyage—were speeding away from the lava when they spotted Volt thumping downhill a few yards ahead. Always the good career, Voyage hurled his spiked club toward Volt. The weapon crashed into his back and tore open a hundred tiny holes from which blood spouted. The spines from the burrs had been bad, but the ones from Voyage's club felt a million times worse. Volt keened in pain and careened sideways into a channel of flowing magma. He was swept away by the current and burned to a crisp.
Volt Rosario, District 5 Male: 19th, Killed by Voyage and Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
Voyage kept running along with his two career friends. All of the sudden, his foot caught on an unseen rock and he was sent flying. He landed a few feet from the edge of the channel of burning lava. His body weight was unbalanced, and he was slowly sliding down into the red-hot molten rock. Voyage cried and grabbed onto his ally Gladius' shirt, begging him to hoist him upward. Voyage was pulled over the edge of the channel by Voyage's weight. Gladius was swallowed up by the lava, Voyage on top of him. Barnaby was all that was left of the once-powerful Standards now.
Gladius Sturman, District 2 Male: 18th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
Voyage St. Paul, District 4 Male: 17th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
Socket from District 3 was a fast runner, but the lava was catching up to her fast. She was exhausted from running miles nonstop, and she knew that ultimately she could not outrun the lava to safety. Out of desperation, she ducked into a small fissure and placed her hands over her head as if it would bring her safety from the evil lava. The lava swirled down into the crevice, scorching her and her supplies. She was the second to last tribute to be killed in the eruption of the volcano.
Socket Olaf, District 3 Female: 16th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
The ground came into Barnaby's sight. He was so close to safety that he could taste it. In the volcanic eruption, a tree had been knocked over by a splash of lava a few hundred feet above where Barnaby was standing. The tree was now speeding down the side of the volcano toward the career boy. Barnaby glanced behind him and opened his mouth to scream, but he didn't have time. The tree smashed into him, flattening him against the rock like dough under a rolling pin.
Barnaby Capra, District 2 Male: 15th, Killed by Volcanic Eruption, Day 4
No more deaths occurred that day. Using new technology, the gamemakers did a good job of containing the ash from the volcano in the sector of the arena occupied by the mountain. In the forest and the meadow, there were still blue skies and sunshine. In the meadow, Steer's body fully recovered from the harm done to him by the poisonous water. Scared that the lava from the volcano might reach him, he decided to make the journey to the forest. Steer was unable to do this one day, settling down in a field of dandelions at nightfall to form his camp. Bethany and Camden ducked behind their only pack as if it could offer them protection from the horrific natural disaster on the other side of the arena. Bethany and Camden stuck like glue to the ground, their little bodies shaking fiercely with horror. It was a long time before the two allies spoke after that.
In the forest, there was a whole lot of movement stirred up by the distant eruption. Solomon wanted to get as far away from the volcano as possible, and after a few hours of travelling he sat down beside a bush of luscious red berries. Solomon laughed. He had caught on to the tricks of the arena. He didn't have to look twice to know that the berries were deadly. He turned himself away from them, instead feeding on a pack of bacon delivered to him by a sponsor. Around noon, Buck's foot got tangled in a bush covered with horrible spines. After a scary second of struggling to escape, he managed to tear his foot out of the bush, taking half of the spiny branches with it. It took hours to pick everything out. By the time he had finished with his work, Buck was sweating profusely. His hands were stained with blood. He wrapped his foot with a cloth to help quell the bleeding and prevent any infection. Clementine kept travelling around the arena, never staying in one place for long. A trio of the carnivorous gold squirrels chased him to a hill overlooking a swampy marsh, where he set up camp in an area of damp earth. The Paragons watched grimly as the faces of Barnaby, Gladius, Voyage, Brackish, Imogen, and Scotia were projected into the sky. All six of the Standards, killed by the volcano. The four District 1 tributes had a run-in with Solomon earlier that day. They had chased him through the trees but eventually lost him, and they were angrier than ever before. On Day 4, Haymitch began preparing to hunt down some of the other tributes. He was a strong boy; with his pack full of supplies and his two knives, he was an effective hunter. Haymitch didn't find any tributes in the entire day, though, and had to resume his hunt the next morning. Maysilee was incredibly resourceful with the few materials she had at hand. Putting her shirt over her hands to act like gloves, she found a highly poisonous pink fruit and squeezed its juice into her bowl. She dipped the tips of her darts of her blowgun into this poisonous solution, making them super-deadly.
Day 5 was greatly eventful, with two deaths. Maysilee, carrying her few supplies, was wandering through the wood, her blond hair rippling behind her. She stopped for a lunch break when the sun had reached its peak in the sky. That was when she noticed something peculiar. Maysilee could make out the form of Buck's camp a few yards away. He had laid out a tarp and put his supplies on top of it, including a pack and thermos of cool water. Buck himself was away hunting for food.
Maysilee crept forward to loot Buck's camp. Working swiftly, she picked up Buck's pack and swung it over her back. On one corner of the blanket, Maysilee found a package of medicine, half-empty. She pocketed the package, thinking it might be useful later. Maysilee produced her bowl of the poisonous pink fruit juice that she had been dipping her darts in. She unscrewed the cap of Buck's thermos and poured about half of the juice into the thermos. The juice sizzled upon contact with the water. Maysilee shook the thermos heavily a few times to mix in the poison and then ducked behind a copse of bushes.
Buck returned around an hour later, drenched in sweat. He had been attacked by a swarm of the golden squirrels, only barely surviving, and he had gotten no food. Buck was too exhausted to notice that his pack was gone. He knelt down and picked up the thermos, splashing the water over his face to cool down.
He immediately collapsed, the highly acidic solution eating away at his face and mouth. He staggered backward, retching and shaking. Within minutes, he was dead, and Maysilee fled into the forest.
Buck Valliance, District 10 Male: 14th, Killed by Maysilee, Day 5
Haymitch kept up his hunt, striding silently through the trees with his knives in hand. Haymitch was just about to stop for the day when a softly flowing creek came into view. Kneeling on one side of the creek was Solomon. He set up his camp by the riverside. Haymitch had to admit that it was pretty smart. The clearing alongside the river was almost completely veiled by trees. Haymitch slowly pressed onward, the rocky sand of the riverbank crunching under his feet. Solomon heard him and looked upward. For a second, he was frozen with terror. Then, he got to his feet and ran.
Haymitch chased after him, lashing out with his cleaver and serrated dagger. About twelve minutes into the chase, Solomon collapsed with exhaustion, unable to run any further. Haymitch caught up to him and flipped his cleaver in his right hand, ready for battle. Solomon held out his hand, begging Haymitch not to kill him, but he wasn't listening. Haymitch thrust out his cleaver and raked a gash nearly a foot long across Solomon's torso. Solomon used the last ounces of his strength to scramble away, but he was getting slower and slower, his vision growing blurry due to the huge amounts of blood he was losing. Haymitch sealed his kill with a swipe of his dagger. Solomon's cannon sounded, and Haymitch treaded in the opposite direction, a torrent of emotions attacking him after making his first kill.
Solomon Mayre, District 3 Male: 13th, Killed by Haymitch, Day 5
The rest of the day passed in serenity, without any more deaths. In the meadow, Bethany and Camden had a run-in with a swarm of brightly colored butterflies. The delicate creatures chased after them with their stingers. The butterflies finally gave up, and the two were left glumly walking back to their home base half a mile away. In the forest, Clementine encountered one of the candy floss pink birds, expertly killing it with a large stone to impress the sponsors. The minute after, one of them sent him a dagger. He played with the weapon for the rest of the day, flipping it around and cutting up shoots and leaves to occupy himself. Gypsum and Megara lost each other around noon. They were separate for about two hours before finally finding each other again.
A few minutes before six in the evening that day, the Paragons faced a loss. They wanted to get a good night's sleep for the long day of hunting they had planned for the day after. Katoptris waited for her allies to be asleep. Then, she got to her feet, lofted her hatchet, and ran. She was always planning to split off from the alliance at the final twelve, wanting to go solo and pick off the last few outliers one by one. Once Katoptris placed a substantial distance between herself and the other Paragons, she settled down to rest amidst the chirping of the forest crickets.
The Paragons had a relatively mild reaction when they woke on Day 6 to find that Katoptris was missing. Cognac in particular was tired of her always bossing them around. Estelle was a little disappointed, as she had developed a good friendship with Katoptris. Lavish had been secretly hoping that Katoptris would break off from the alliance, as he actually kind of feared her.
Haymitch was drilling through the forest when he spotted movement in the corner of his eye. It was the Paragons. The Paragons were engaged in conversation and didn't see him. Haymitch had time to duck behind a rock, not wanting to be attacked. The Paragons went right past. Realizing how vulnerable he was on the ground, Haymitch climbed up a nearby willow tree and set up his home in its lowest bough.
It was about two hours before sunset that the Paragons began walking back to their camp for the night. Lavish shushed his allies and used his sword to point out Haymitch, snoozing in the willow tree's embrace. Lavish ran to the tree and scurried upward, clutching onto his sword so he didn't drop it. Estelle came up behind him, with Cognac staying on the forest floor to deal with Haymitch if he fell out of the tree.
A leaf crunched under Lavish' foot, and Haymitch's eyes bolted open. He turned his head slowly to the side and witnessed the terrifying sight of Lavish reaching his sword toward his throat. Haymitch unbuckled himself and dropped out of the tree. Lavish and Estelle cursed and dropped down after him. Haymitch ran a few yards into the wood, zigzagging to disorient his predators. Once he had a significant distance, he turned around, ready for battle.
Lavish hurled himself at Haymitch, slashing at his abdomen with his sword. Haymitch managed to sidestep, but only just in time. His sword grazed his shoulder, drawing a few drops of blood. In response, Haymitch lashed out and raked his dagger across Lavish's arm. He crumpled to the grass, out of the way for now. Haymitch hissed in agitation as Estelle and Cognac came galumphing forward. Estelle hurled a throwing star, which Haymitch batted out of the way with his cleaver. He could keep his attackers at bay, but not for long.
Lavish was back on his feet in no time, zipping toward a heavily sweating and shaking Haymitch. Lavish swung his sword, but Haymitch deflected his blow. Sparks flew between his cleaver and Lavish's sword as their weapons scraped against each other. Finally, Haymitch managed to disarm Lavish, expertly twisting his sword out of his hand. The sword dropped to the ground. Haymitch kicked Lavish down. He staggered to the ground, coughing up blood. In his descent, Haymitch slashed his serrated dagger across his throat. He hit the ground, gurgling. Blood pooled up in his mouth. One Paragon down, two to go.
Lavish Bianchi, District 1 Male: 12th, Killed by Haymitch, Day 6
Estelle was charging, swirling her throwing stars through the air at incredible speeds. Haymitch was intimidated, but he had no choice but to keep fighting. His life depended on it, after all. Haymitch swiped his two knives in front of him in an attempt to deflect any blows that Estelle might deal. Estelle got a little carried away on her second hit. Caught up in an attempt to impress the sponsors, she spun around on her foot to gain momentum before tossing her next shuriken. In that moment, Haymitch managed to plant his cleaver between her shoulder blades. She went toppling down toward Haymitch, screaming, but he managed to sidestep. Haymitch had pierced one of Estelle's vital arteries; by the time she hit the ground with a loud noise, she was dead.
Estelle Adams, District 1 Female: 11th, Killed by Haymitch, Day 6
Haymitch didn't even have time to scream when a strong hand grabbed onto the back of his neck. In all the commotion, he had completely forgotten about Cognac. Cognac had arced around Haymitch. Cognac wrestled Haymitch to the ground, putting in every ounce of strength he had. Haymitch pushed upward with all of his strength as well. Cognac unsheathed his sword and pressed it into a shaking Haymitch's neck. He was about to slit his throat when Haymitch rolled out of the way. Cognac cursed and leapt back on top of him. This time, he wouldn't let him escape. Haymitch fought to escape, but Cognac had his bloody wrists and ankles pinned down. Cognac forced his sword further and further into Haymitch's neck. The skin broke. Blood promptly burbled forth.
Nearby Maysilee perked up at the commotion. She went running toward the sounds and hid behind a beech tree, watching the scene. Haymitch was straining as hard as he could. Blood was splashing down either side of his neck. Cognac smirked, confident that he had Haymitch in the bag. Maysilee raised her blowgun. She put one of her poisonous darts into the gun and put the pipe to her lips. Maysilee blew as hard as she could. The projectile zipped through the air.
Haymitch was just about to give up fighting against Cognac when his form suddenly went limp. Cognac reached for the back of his neck and pulled out Maysilee's dart, covered in cloudy pink liquid. Cognac's eyes widened with surprise. He never figured out where the dart came from, because his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed on top of Haymitch, dead.
Cognac Favre, District 1 Male: 10th, Killed by Maysilee, Day 6
Maysilee stepped out of the trees, her mouth set into a solid line. "We'd live longer with the two of us," she said, gesturing toward Cognac's corpse, still clutching the dart that ended his life. She reached out and grabbed his hand before helping him to his feet. The two were both dirty, and Haymitch was splattered in blood. Maysilee and Haymitch sat down on a rock and discussed how the games had been going so far. In doing so, they had formed an alliance. With two eight-scoring District 12 tributes working together, they got an incredible amount of work done. They shared their supplies with each other, and a nice sponsor delivered Haymitch treatment for the wound Cognac had inflicted on his neck. He couldn't speak well for the rest of the day, so he had to use hand gestures to communicate with Maysilee. They discovered an area where four trees had fallen around a hole, creating a hidden area inside. They crawled inside of it. In their fortress with wooden walls, Haymitch and Maysilee recounted their lives back home and got to know each other.
The rest of Day 6 wasn't greatly eventful. Katoptris was attacked by a swarm of butterflies, but managed to evade them by swatting them away with her hatchet. Clementine was moving through the forest when he saw the duo of Megara and Gypsum about twenty feet away. Clementine turned tail and ran away, only stopping after he had run several miles. The duo kept on dutifully hunting, though their day was trailing more toward conversation than hunting. They were basically goofing off. Gypsum's sponsor Brutus sent her a note that they needed to get back on track, and from then on they did their best to heed the warning.
In the meadow, Steer began to set up a series of snares to garner food and keep himself healthy. He was very resourceful, creating a mechanism in which the pulling apart of two sticks by the leg of an animal caused of of the sticks to fly into the air, bound around the animal's foot. He worked feverishly for the entire day. He had set up a total of twenty snares by sunset. This far into the games, Bethany and Camden were beginning to grow more and more distrustful of each other. They wanted to work together, but each tribute knew that they'd have to either kill each other or split up at some point. It was only a matter of time. They weren't hurting each other, but they were growing reluctant to turn their backs to each other.
Day 7, 8, and 9 passed deathless, the most boring and lifeless days that the second Quarter Quell had seen yet. Progress slowed to a crawl. Clementine kept up his wandering aimlessly through the woods with his dagger. Whilst fidgeting with the weapon, he accidentally cut himself at one point, the razor sinking nearly a centimeter into his skin. Seeder sent him a pot of cream to help the wound along, but only time could really heal it completely. Megara and Gypsum kept on hunting. After over a week of finding no prey, they gave up hunting in the forest and resorted to the meadow. The two girls reached the meadow on Day 9 and settled down at the long-abandoned cornucopia. For those outliers living in the meadow, there was now another threat. Bethany and Camden finally split apart, Bethany heading north and Camden heading south. It was already too far into the games for an alliance like theirs to keep going, and many were relieved to see them split up. Bethany had an encounter with a fuzzy yellow songbird, which she cut down with her knife. Camden settled down beside a small pond surrounded by heavenly reeds. He absentmindedly began crunching on the reeds and immediately spat them out. They were extremely poisonous, and the inside of his mouth was severely damaged. Haymitch and Maysilee were the only outliers actively hunting, and they struggled to find the two other tributes in the forest.
On the morning of Day 10, Megara and Gypsum finally got around to hunting through the meadow. Megara jumped as she stepped into one of Steer's snares. The contraption gave a little snapping sound underfoot. She pointed it out to Megara. The two girls found an obvious trail of snares, and they followed them, wherever they may lead.
After a few minutes of running down the line of snares, Megara and Gypsum spotted Steer. He was drenched with sweat. He was bent over, working to set up yet another snare trap. He didn't even notice the duo charging toward him until it was too late. Gypsum's knife crashed into his back. Steer screamed and prepared to run in the opposite direction, but he turned around just as Megara's knife entered his torso. The blade lodged itself between two of his ribs and pierced his heart. He was left blubbering nonsensically and clawing at the air. Steer was dead within seconds. Megara and Gypsum didn't destroy his snares, as they planned on using them in the future.
Steer Peterson, District 12 Male: 9th, Killed by Gypsum and Megara, Day 10
That left the final eight: Katoptris Parker from District 1, Megara Pearden and Gypsum Shale from District 2, Bethany Corzett from District 5, Camden Larfarello from District 6, Clementine Applegate from District 11, and Haymitch Abernathy and Maysilee Donner from District 12.
Little of consequence filled the latter portion of Day 10. Haymitch and Maysilee (their alliance fittingly nicknamed "Haysilee" by viewers) went to scouting the outermost reaches of the forest, close to the force field. Wisp, not wanting them to discover the force field, drove them back into the woods with a pack of the golden squirrel mutts. One of them had bitten Maysilee in the ankle, and the allies stayed still for the rest of the day to rinse the injury clean. Katoptris was the only active hunter throughout the day. The only outlier on her radar was Clementine. He was less than a mile away from her, scavenging the forest for food. Clementine cut down a deer with his dagger and sliced up its meat into little cubes for later. In the meadow, Camden began heading for the forest. He was out looking for a drink of water when he saw Megara and Gypsum about a hundred yards away, treading lightly over the fuzzy green grass. With the mountain a forsaken wasteland and the meadow being patrolled by the duo, Camden decided to head for the forest. He couldn't make the trip in one day, however, and had to stop for the night. Bethany had an encounter with one of the pink bird mutts. She managed to kill it without any injuries. It was somewhat impressive. A sponsor sent her an axe along with a note cryptically warning her to evacuate the meadow as soon as possible. Wisp wanted every tribute in the forest for a satisfying finish to the games. Other than the District 2 duo, she was the only one left in the meadow. Bethany simply discarded the note, too enraptured by the concept of the axe. She practiced with it all day, having no idea how much danger she was in.
Day 11 was filled with little but Camden's arrival in the forest. He broke camp at dawn and trudged through the tall grass, avoiding swarms of butterflies and pink birds. Just on the edge of the forest, he fashioned a shelter and prepared to hunt for food. The duo of Megara and Gypsum received a note warning them to travel back to the forest. They heeded the warning, reaching the first line of trees just before sunset. Katoptris was strolling through the wood with her axe in pursuit of more prey. She crested a large hill overlooking a field of birch trees and leaned against a sturdy tree. Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath her and she went tumbling down the hill. In her descent, her axe scraped across her leg. A sponsor sent Katoptris a bandage to help staunch the blood flow. She dragged herself into a more hidden location and fell limp onto the ground, trying to quiet her moans of agony.
Day 12 came about with a single death. In the forest, Camden was out hunting for food when he arrived at the base of a steep crag. At the same moment, Haymitch and Maysilee reached the top of the cliff and pointed out his body, as small as an ant, moving below them. Maysilee ran around to where the land was more level and went sprinting downward toward Camden. Haymitch was right behind her, and the two parties clashed in the middle of the field of grass.
Maysilee immediately loaded a dart into her blowgun and started aiming for Camden. The boy screamed with panic and ran away as fast as his feet could carry him. Haymitch and Maysilee sprinted after. Haymitch tried to cut open his back with his cleaver, but he missed by several inches. This gave Camden the false impression that the two allies were bad shots, so he decided to take a foolish risk. Camden veered off of his straight course and headed for a steeper hill. He zigzagged up the grassy slope, making himself a harder target to hit. However, his small body got tired of running uphill before long. The backs of his legs burned like they were on fire, and he was so exhausted, his was worried he could black out. He crumpled to the grass in a heap. He was only halfway up the steep hill, and he had done little to disorient his attackers.
Maysilee fired at the boy's pathetic form, her dart landing in the back of his hand. Haymitch dove forward ahead of his ally and went in for close-range with his two knives. A slice of his dagger was all it took to draw a huge amount of blood. The sticky red liquid splattered over the terrain like water. Camden couldn't scream out for help, only wept quietly and shook. The allies took a quick moment to pillage Camden of his meager supplies before marching off to look for more prey.
Camden Larfarello, District 6 Male: 8th, Killed by Maysilee and Haymitch, Day 12
The remainder of the day wasn't very eventful. Megara and Gypsum walked past Clementine's shelter around noon. He did a great job of keeping quiet, and the duo didn't see him there. Time and a whole lot of sponsored help got Katoptris back into shape, and she was her usual self again before long. Her top priority was to hunt down Megara and Gypsum, the only two surviving careers besides herself. Knowing that they liked hit-and-run tactics, Katoptris searched the low-lying areas of the woods. Wisp sent a flock of blue songbirds to chase her toward the two allies. She was less than a hundred feet from them when she decided to stop hunting for the night.
Dawn broke on Day 13, and Katoptris kept on actively hunting. Her effort paid off. A smile plastered across her face, she used her finger to follow the two forms of Megara and Gypsum travelling soundlessly over the earth. Katoptris charged, her axe lofted overhead.
Gypsum screamed as Katoptris burst into sight, racing through the wood. She unsheathed her sword and prepared to battle. After over ten days without using her sword, Gypsum was extremely out of practice. Even with the help of her friend Megara, she ultimately stood no chance against Katoptris. The girl from District 1 lunged forward and clanged her axe against Gypsum's sword. The sword was sent flying away. Now disarmed, Gypsum couldn't find back. Katoptris lunged forward and slammed her hatchet into her skull, nearly cleaving it completely in half. Megara jumped backward, a newfound anger festering every vein in her body as she watched her ally take on a mangled, blood-lathered shape on the forest floor.
Gypsum Shale, District 2 Female: 7th, Killed by Katoptris, Day 13
Megara backed a few feet away before charging toward a grinning Katoptris. Seeking to avenge her friend's death, Megara danced around the skilled warrior, preparing for an attack. Megara thrust out her sword, almost managing to draw blood from Katoptris' shoulder. The blade was an inch from piercing her skin when she reached up her hatchet and slammed it out of the way, bending the tip of the weapon by an angle of a few degrees.
Megara leapt backward, shocked at the amount of force Katoptris was dealing with. In her moment of surprise, Katoptris took initiative. She leapt toward Megara and tackled her to the ground. The two rolled around together, each one trying to pin the other down. They were both very strong, and after two minutes they were both covered with grass, bugs, and dirt.
After nearly ten minutes, Megara managed to fire the tip of her sword into Katoptris' cheek. A waterfall of blood poured out, drizzling down her chin and into her mouth. Katoptris flooded with adrenaline. Her looks were where she got most of her sponsors from. With her pretty face scratched up, her look was ruined. Out of the blue, Katoptris clutched her hatchet and thrust it down into Megara's torso stronger than should have been humanly possible, stronger than usual from the anger. Katoptris tore her hatchet out of her body and staggered away, savoring every moment of watching her bleed to death. Her cannon shot awoke much of the forest wildlife. Katoptris marched away smugly, the only remaining career in the second Quarter Quell.
Megara Pearden, District 2 Female: 6th, Killed by Katoptris, Day 13
The rest of Day 13 passed without any more deaths. Clementine kept walking through the woods. He was getting closer and closer to the force field. The gamemakers drove him back into the forest with a swarm of carnivorous bunnies. He found that the only way to escape them was to climb the trees. He pulled himself up into the bough of an oak tree, the rabbits clawing at the trunk below him. He could do nothing but wait for the rabbits to leave. Haymitch and Maysilee were getting closer and closer to the edge of the arena. They were less than a mile from the force field when they set up their new camp. They were dangerously close to the force field. Wisp could have smote them right then. But, he wanted to mix in some action to the competition. He decided to sit back and let the rest of the games play out as they may. This mistake would prove costly for him in the future.
The morning of Day 14, Haymitch insisted that they keep on trekking in the same direction. Maysilee refused, asking why they would have any reason to. He replied that he wanted to see what was at the edge of the arena. Maybe something they could use.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, the land dropped off into a deep chasm. On the other side of the chasm was a simple green field, seemingly stretching on forever.
"That's all there is, Haymitch," Maysilee said. "Let's go back now."
Haymitch shook his head, wanting to stay put and investigate further. That was when Maysilee turned around and strolled away. "It's best that we split up now. I don't want it to come down to the two of us." Before long, Maysilee had disappeared into the thick woods with her blowgun and pack of supplies.
Haymitch groaned with frustration. He had been expecting something exciting to be at the edge of the arena! In anger, he kicked a stone off the side of the chasm. The stone sailed downward into the mist. Haymitch turned around and started walking back when the stone hit the forcefield, bounced off, and came shooting back. The stone hit Haymitch in the back of the head. He laughed and turned back around, experimentally tossing another rock. This rock had the same result, hitting the forcefield and landing at his feet the moment after. This could be useful, Haymitch thought. He was so fascinated that all thoughts of Maysilee had disappeared from his mind.
He went running the moment he heard her screams.
He broke through the trees and found Maysilee less than thirty feet away. A swarm of the fluffy pink birds were stabbing her with their razor-sharp beaks. Haymitch shooed the birds away. Several of them squawked at the sight of Haymitch's two knives and fluttered up into the canopy of leaves above. He ran forward and tried to help Maysilee cut down the remaining birds, but one of them skewered its sharp beak through her neck before flying away.
Maysilee tumbled backward. Haymitch caught her and slowly helped her down the ground. She clutched her throat, blood pouring out between her fingertips. Haymitch felt completely helpless when he realized there was nothing he could do to help her. She kept on crying and shaking on the ground, and Haymitch held her hand and whispered her words of comfort until she died.
Maysilee Donner, District 12 Female: 5th, Killed by Bird Muttations, Day 14
Haymitch knelt beside the dead Maysilee for a long time before getting to his feet. If he wanted to make sure she didn't die in vain, it was his duty to win the games, not just lay around and grieve. Realizing that her death had been a punishment for their getting too close to the force field, Haymitch retreated and moved toward the center of the arena to look for more prey. With so few tributes remaining, Clementine had no choice but to start hunting for real. Clutching his dagger at all times, he travelled due east. Knowing that prey was unlikely to be hiding in the meadow, he combed through the forest to the best of his ability. Katoptris travelled silently over roots and the carpet of grass in pursuit of the few remaining tributes. The closest tribute to her was Clementine, and it was likely that the two would meet up before long. In the meadow, Bethany was going about her business when a whole flock of poisonous green songbirds swooped down from the sky and chased her into the woods. She set up her camp just into the trees, not ready to get into the thick of the action quite yet.
The morning of Day 15 came with a bang in the form of a cannon shot from the woods. Katoptris was drilling through an area of uneven terrain when she spotted Clementine about thirty yards away. Holding her axe above her head, Katoptris charged toward the boy.
Clementine noticed Katoptris coming early and had time to react. His first instinct was to hide, just as he had done throughout the entire games up to that point. The problem was, there was nothing to hide behind. The closest thing was a nearby tree, and that was far too slender to shield his entire bulky frame from view. He shakily unsheathed his dagger, unsure of what lie ahead.
Katoptris was an extremely talented fighter. At first, it seemed that Clementine had no hope of victory. Her first swing caused the blade of her hatchet to slide across his hand, literally chopping off one of his fingers. He screamed and realized just how unfit he was for this battle. Clementine had no choice but to run. He was a fast runner, even faster than Katoptris. With the pain radiating from the stump of his missing finger, his movements weren't very coordinated, thus leveling the playing field. Clementine collapsed from exhaustion beside a small stream, unable to move any further.
Katoptris caught up to him and slammed the butt of her hatchet into his head. He yelped and tried to drag himself away, nearly blacking out. Katoptris finished him for good by slicing off his right arm with one clean swipe of her hatchet. The poor boy was in ribbons by the time that the wildly grinning girl was done.
Clementine Applegate, District 11 Male: 4th, Killed by Katoptris, Day 15
That left only three surviving tributes. Katoptris and Haymitch were two of the strongest tributes of the year, and Wisp was looking forward to a thrilling final battle between the two. That left Bethany, standing several miles away from the other tributes. Her odds were the worst of the three. Since she wasn't notable for anything much, she was standing in the way of much grander things. By the next morning, it was clear that Wisp had made a decision regarding Bethany. It was rare for gamemakers to pick out a final two, but in a games as precious and critical as these they couldn't take any chances.
Bethany was out and about when she heard scuttling from nearby. She drew her hatchet and ducked behind a small bush, waiting to attack until she knew more information about her pursuer. Bounding toward her was a trio of the golden squirrel mutts. They could see her clearly through the bush. The largest of the squirrels bared its buck teeth and bit onto her leg. Bethany screamed and tried to pick it off of her skin. A second squirrel quickly caught up. In its approach, the shimmering golden squirrel got its foot stuck in a patch of moss, and Bethany cleaved it in half with her hatchet. The third squirrel leapt toward her and clung onto her stomach, tearing open a hole just right of her navel. The two squirrels were now gnawing away at her flesh. The pain was indescribable, but Bethany fought her hardest to keep going strong.
She went for the one hanging onto her leg first. The squirrel had bitten through her tribute uniform and was now gnawing through her flesh, slurping down her blood in a rather disturbing manner. Bethany reached down with her hatchet and prepared to kill the creature, but it began scuttling up her leg. She was so distracted trying to take down that squirrel that she forgot about the one feeding on her torso.
Bethany was overwhelmed by the two squirrels. Before long, she was rolling around on the forest floor and thrashing wildly in hopes of knocking away the squirrels. They always managed to jump away from her hatchet. The carnivorous rodents kept nibbling away at her until nothing was left but a pile of scraps. Bethany's remains were unsightly, and the gamemakers cleaned them up quickly.
Bethany Corzett, District 5 Female: 3rd, Killed by Squirrel Muttations, Day 16
The crowd of forty-eight players had been whittled down to the final two. It contained the two most beloved tributes of the year. Katoptris was one of the most skilled warriors that District 1's academy had seen in its history. If she won, she would have a total of nine kills, which only Molly, Magnet, and Brutus had beaten. She would bring District 1 its seventh victor, another step toward overtaking District 4 in terms of victor count. Haymitch, though, was the true underdog. Living with his mother in the slums of District 12 after his father perished in a mine collapse, he certainly had a much harsher backstory than Katoptris. He had much of District 12 cheering for him, however. They had their hopes up for a second victor, the first one in forty-five years. Haymitch had perservered through the two week-long games, and it wasn't too remote of a possibility that he could pull out the win.
On Day 17, the world was lit ablaze. Fires started behind each of the tributes, forcing them in toward each other. The two clashed in a clearing laden with flowers and small stones, with a perfect view of the glittering sun. Katoptris hoisted her axe into the air, letting the sun glisten across its polished blade, and brought it down toward Haymitch. He was doing his best to fight back, but he quickly became overwhelmed by the speed of her attacks.
About three minutes into their duel, Haymitch's aim was true. He thrust forward his knife and gored it through her eye. Katoptris screamed as the slimy ball plopped to the ground. Pain exploded through her face, but she kept on fighting, angrier than ever. Her very next blow sent Haymitch's dagger spiraling away, and the one after disarmed him of his cleaver. He was defenseless. Katoptris was on a roll. Haymitch was too startled to react when she landed her hatchet squarely into his torso. Haymitch keened in pain, both of his hands clapped over his body to keep his organs inside. Katoptris smirked, blood drizzling into her mouth from the gaping hole where her left eye once was. Victory was so close that she could taste it.
Haymitch had no choice but to run. Leaning forward to keep the flow of blood from his body to a minimum, he crashed through the trees, having no objective in mind but to escape his pursuer. After nearly ten minutes of running, Haymitch arrived at the edge of the chasm that he had discovered all those days ago. The pile of rocks that he had thrown into the force field still sat, untouched, at the edge of the gorge. Haymitch reached the edge of the chasm and turned around to face a charging Katoptris. She had one hand clapped over her face to staunch the flow of blood from her empty eye socket, but her other hand was gripping her hatchet.
With all of her might, Katoptris hurled the hatchet toward Haymitch. With the last ounce of energy he had, Haymitch ducked below the hatchet. The throwing axe sailed over his head, singing off a few of his stray curls. The weapon flew on its path before disappearing over the chasm. Katoptris just giggled, imagining herself wearing the victor's crown. She no longer had her weapon, but she didn't need it. Haymitch would die from his wound soon enough. All she had to do was wait…
…Or so she thought. The axe that Katoptris had thrown mere moments prior hit the forcefield and was sent rebounding back. The weapon went flying back over the chasm toward an unsuspecting Katoptris. The girl was too shocked to sidestep before the axe buried itself perfectly into her skull. Katoptris fell to her knees beside a heaving Haymitch, gasping.
The two tributes lay beside each other for several minutes. It was a competition of who could last the longest. Katoptris had been so close to victory, but, in the end, her wound was far more severe than that of her final opponent. The symphony of trumpets began blaring their festive melody the second that her cannon shot faded away fully.
Katoptris Parker, District 1 Female: 2nd, Killed by Herself, Day 17
"Haymitch Abernathy of District 12, you are the victor of the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell," Caesar cried.
Haymitch only managed a weak smile as a team of medics began pouring out of the hovercraft to put back together the mess of a person that was the nation's newest victor.
Haymitch Abernathy, District 12 Male: Victor of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, Day 17
AFTERMATH
District 12 welcomed their second victor with open arms. Since he was their only living victor, tributes from the mining district would finally have a mentor, a fact that offered hope for a bright future. However, he was also a source of great controversy in the districts and in the Capitol. Snow was absolutely furious. He had never intended for the force field surrounding the arena to be used by the tributes. By using the force field to kill Katoptris, he had publically outsmarted the Capitol. The week after his victory tour, his mother and girlfriend mysteriously disappeared. This was no coincidence. It was a warning from Snow. He couldn't keep testing his luck the way he had in his games. Wisp Glasgow received the severest of penalties for allowing such a defiant act to take place under his watch. Snow ordered his most trusted assassin to execute the man.
His victory tour was rather great. It pleased the districts immensely to see their Capitol humiliated. Therefore, many had a great respect for the District 12 boy. The only district that showed him hardship was District 1. The people of the luxury district literally shouted curses and threw things at him to show their fury.
Haymitch settled into the Victor's Village of District 12, occupying the first house.
Haymitch would live to the age of sixty, dying from liver disease around the time of the ninety-fourth annual Hunger Games. He developed a dependence on alcohol, finding that getting black-out drunk was the only way to quiet his demons. He wasted away the years at the bottom of a bottle, and he developed into a poor example of a victor. He made good friends with fellow alcoholic victor Chaff, one of the most beneficial relationships he would make in his life. Haymitch would never marry nor have children, fearing that Snow would take out his wrath on anyone new he learned to love. He went down in history as one of the more rebellious thinkers to survive the games. If nothing else, he proved that there was a flaw in the Capitol's ways. To this day, Haymitch remains a source of controversy and conversation amongst Hunger Games fans across Panem.
NEWS
Haymitch moves into the Victor's Village of District 12, the second victor to do so.
Lana Voltaire has her first and only child with her husband, a boy named Maximillian.
Nolan Wrack marries his fiancée Silt after two years of dating.
LIST OF VICTORS
1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)
29HG: Discordia Komine (#9, District 2)
30HG: Barley Chisolm (#1, District 9)
31HG: Marlin Coppi (#4, District 4)
32HG: Wyatt Kerdler (#5, District 3)
33HG: Molly Soltan (#5, District 4)
34HG: Grover Handa (#1, District 7)
35HG: Troy Stiles (#6, District 4)
36HG: Lana Voltaire (#10, District 2)
37HG: Lucy Said (#7, District 4)
38HG: Porter Tripp (#3, District 5)
39HG: Penelope Turek (#8, District 4)
40HG: Beetee Latier (#6, District 3)
41HG: Radiance Clinton (#6, District 1)
42HG: Technik Hartline (#7, District 3)
43HG: Dylan Levitt (#9, District 4)
44HG: Rye Boyum (#2, District 9)
45HG: Chaff Korsmun (#2, District 11)
46HG: Nolan Wrack (#11, District 2)
47HG: Klink Byrae (#4, District 5)
48HG: Brutus Cordley (#12, District 2)
49HG: Wiress Freid (#8, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
A/N: Here it is! This is the longest chapter by a wide margin, over 2,000 words longer than the second longest games! 16,000 words, a two week-long games, and I'm, well, exhausted. This is likely my favorite chapter to date, and I sincerely hope you've enjoyed.
Who did you like besides Haymitch and Maysilee? Speaking of the duo, what'd you think about my rendition of them? Any scenes you liked or disliked? I'd love to hear your thoughts. These words are probably getting really old by now, but please review if you have the time! It's what I want to entertain all of you dutiful readers and grow as a writer on this site, and I try my best to take each piece of criticism to heart. In reflection of the eight months I've been writing this story, it's been a long but thrilling ride. I've made so many relationships with users on this website and grown so much as a writer. I can't thank you guys enough for sticking with me through this journey. You're all amazing!
Expect the fifty-first games soon, when we get to see yet another familiar face, Lyme. I've got a really unique arena planned for that one, and I can't wait to share it with you all!
