THE FIFTY FIFTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Rising Sun"
INTRODUCTION
Reyna Bayer returned for her second year as head gamemaker, powered onward by the hearty applause of the nation for her previous arena. She had served before for the fifty-second annual Hunger Games, and those games had been one of the Capitol's favorites. Reyna had a lot to beat, and, with Snow peering down from overhead like the snake that he was, she and her team worked quickly. But Reyna might have worked a little too quickly. The arena for the fifty-fifth games was officially completed in March, nearly four months before the games were set to start. Because of this, there was a four-month span where the gamemakers had nothing to do but change tiny details of the arena. Snow often liked to keep the Capitol citizens in suspense by revealing tiny portions of the arena to the audience before it was finally revealed fully on the first day of the Hunger Games. Take the ancient Roman arena of the fifty-fourth games for example. Snow might first reveal an olive branch, the symbol of the Roman people. Two months later, he might reveal a small tablet with roman inscriptions. The nation could make their best guesses, but no one could be sure until the cameras showed it for the real deal. However, this year, that was impossible, because the arena was already completed. Snow's revealing of tiny portions of his games' arenas helped to show the progress of the gamemakers in forming it. For example, if a particularly part of the arena took ages to complete but is finally finished, Snow would likely unveil an element of that part of the arena next. Since he was unable to do that this year, he was expecting one roller-coaster of a games from Reyna in exchange.
The career pack this year was one of the stronger ones, and each tribute had something unique about them. District 1's tributes were as gorgeous as always, and also stellar warriors. The male was more laid-back and unconventional, but he was a ferocious fighter with knives. The female was much more outgoing and extroverted. In fact, she was probably the most powerful tribute this year. She blew her allies out of the water with her beauty and her mastery of weaponry, particularly knives and bows. District 2's tributes were actually very similar. They were of almost identical weight and height. However, the female was a much more of a determined and fierce fighter. The boy preferred broadswords, and the girl liked rapiers. The pair from District 4 wasn't as spectacular as it was in years past. The boy seemed a bit indecisive about volunteering and was hesitant to enter the games, but he didn't seem to be against killing in the games. The female had a very vibrant personality that made everyone instantly like her, although she wasn't the best warrior in the world and had a small range of weapons she could use well. Their training scores were superb: three tens and three nines.
This year's crop of outliers had only a few standouts. The boy from District 11, named Valerian Damon, earned an impressive eight by displaying his skills with brute force weapons like maces. There were only two tributes that scored sevens this year. Emily from District 5 was a clever trickster and was a little mischievous at times, and overall had a charismatic persona. Poplar from District 7 specialized in axes, the weapons of his district, and, like many District 7 tribute before and after him, he could work magic with them. Four sixes were scored. They were earned by Elma from 7, Houston from 10, and Hewitt and Annabelle from District 12. The rest of the tributes scored between five and two in their private sessions. In the three days of training, a lot went on in the training center. Brites, the mischievous male from District 5, took Hosanna's knife from her while she wasn't looking and hid in a closet a good fifty feet away. He eventually returned it, but Hosanna was so furious that she promised to kill him first in the arena. There were also issues with accidental self-harm in the training center. One of the tributes, Silas from 9, accidentally cut open two of his fingers while practicing with his scythe on the third and final day of training. Despite access to the best medicine, the wound would not heal fully before the games started. After that, there would be medically trained peacekeepers surveilling every tribute during training to prevent injury. There weren't any volunteers besides the six careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Carmine Mannes, 17, (9) 6-1 and Hosanna Blessing, 17, (10) 4-1
District 2: Gauss Lanzotti, 18, (10) 5-1 and Tisiphone Richter, 18, (10) 4-1
District 3: Silicon Cao, 14, (4) 31-1 and Diandre Claudel, 16, (5) 26-1
District 4: Cargo Sailer, 16, (9) 7-1 and Zarabella Kinsley, 17, (9) 6-1
District 5: Brites Ingham, 16, (5) 24-1 and Emily Pollick, 18, (7) 15-1
District 6: Octavius Gates, 13, (4) 32-1 and Valda Shore, 18, (4) 30-1
District 7: Poplar Carbone, 18, (7) 14-1 and Elma Jose, 18, (6) 19-1
District 8: Camlet Perlman, 17, (5) 22-1 and Terry Salustio, 12, (3) 53-1
District 9: Silas Twombly, 15, (4) 28-1 and Johnetta King, 16, (5) 24-1
District 10: Houston Lancelot, 17, (6) 21-1 and Kimbra Golden, 14, (5) 27-1
District 11: Valerian Damon, 18, (8) 9-1 and Petunia Crews, 13, (2) 62-1
District 12: Hewitt Landry, 16, (6) 23-1 and Annabelle Gwinn, 18, (6) 22-1
HGBO Bets: 7% on Hosanna and Tisiphone, 6% on Carmine, Gauss, Cargo, and Zarabella, 5% on Emily, Poplar, and Valerian, 4% on Elma, Houston, Hewitt, and Annabelle, 3% on Diandre, Brites, Camlet, Johnetta, and Kimbra, 2% on Silicon, Octavius, Valda, and Silas, 1% or less on Terry and Petunia.
THE GAMES
This year's arena was modeled after an ancient Japanese garden. The cornucopia was shaped like a small red pagoda, with entrances on all four sides. The first floor of the pagoda held only simple supplies, such as hair ties, sheets of plastic, mirrors, and so on. The second floor held small food items and a few small weapons like knives. The first and second floors had little to no medicine. The third level had better weapons and tools, as well as some medicines. The weapons were things like larger knives and a few bows, and there was also lots of rope and wire and burn sprays. The fourth level largely held survival supplies like nutritious food and fresh water. But it also held a lot of weapons, from knives to tridents to axes. The fifth and final floor was the ultimate treasure. It held crates of knives, jugs of water, whole boxes of just-add-water meals to last for days, and the sleekest and sharpest weapons of the lot. Around the pagoda, a peaceful and beautiful garden sprawled out. Trees with pink blossoms lined the slowly murmuring crystal-clear brooks. Light green banana leaves rustled overhead. A gentle breeze caused the surface of the koi-inhabited waters to wobble slightly. Low-lying wooden bridges traversed the burbling streams that were lined with peaceful white reeds. Other than the rustling of leaves and the whispering wind, it was absolutely silent. However, there were also dangers. Ninja mutts dressed head-to-toe in black lived all over the arena. They carried two long swords and had the super senses of spiders. They were typically peaceful, but could turn hostile if one of the tributes invaded their territory.
The moment they were in the arena, the tributes were assaulted by the aroma of cherry blossoms and summer rain. The Japanese garden arena really was a majesty of a place, and the carnage within was sure to be spectacular. One would have expected a good number of tributes to flee immediately. But, surprisingly, this was not so. Every single one of the twenty-four tributes decided to fight it out at the bloodbath.
Within seconds, the six careers were in the pagoda. They started gathering weapons and preparing to kill the droves of outliers when Cargo yelled that there was a staircase nearby. There was a second floor! And a third floor! And a fourth floor! And a fifth floor! Carmine and Hosanna from District 1 stayed on the first floor. Tisiphone (pronounced tis-if-o-nee, she informed the others) patrolled the second floor, and Gauss and Cargo the third. Zarabella was responsible for both the fourth and fifth floors, a much more difficult job but not an impossible one.
On the first floor of the pagoda cornucopia, Hosanna and Carmine were trying their best to cut down the incoming swarms of tributes. Hosanna armed herself with a kukri knife and scouted over the pack like a hawk, looking for one tribute in particular. Aha! She leapt toward Brites from District 5. Hosanna slashed the knife across his chest. The boy clapped his hands over his body, refusing to let any blood escape through the injury. But he started coughing up blood in an instant. To finish him off, Hosanna slit his throat quickly. She killed him first just like she had promised.
Brites Ingham, District 5 Male: 24th, Killed by Hosanna, Bloodbath
The second that Brites was dead, Hosanna leapt toward another tribute: a small girl that everyone knew wouldn't survive long anyways. Hosanna drilled her kukri knife into her stomach and twisted it around, slicing open organs and veins. The girl spasmed and twitched on the ground. Carmine, armed with a knife of his own, finished the girl off, firing the weapon into her forehead.
Terry Salustio, District 8 Female: 23rd, Killed by Hosanna and Carmine, Bloodbath
Hosanna hurried away, and Carmine zeroed-in on his next kill, another weakling girl who was crumpled up in a heap on the ground, having a panic attack from the stress of the games. Carmine dug his knife twice into her back before finally planting it firmly between her shoulder blades.
Petunia Crews, District 11 Female: 22nd, Killed by Carmine, Bloodbath
Now that a few minutes had passed, the more adventurous tributes began to trickle up the stairwells to higher levels of the pagoda. On the second floor, two district partners clashed. They were fighting over a knife and kept trying to escape with it. Nearby Tisiphone came charging toward them as quick as a flash, and the two partners couldn't move out of the way fast enough. Tisiphone had snatched a rapier from the fourth floor a few minutes earlier and thrust it into the boy's torso. He fell to the ground, never to rise again, and knocked down the girl in his descent. The girl couldn't wiggle out from under her district partner's weight, and Tisiphone's sword speared through her neck like it was made of butter.
Silas Twombly, District 9 Male: 21st, Killed by Tisiphone, Bloodbath
Johnetta King, District 9 Female: 20th, Killed by Tisiphone, Bloodbath
Meanwhile, a particularly daring boy managed to climb all the way up to the cornucopia's third floor. The second he emerged from the stairwell, Gauss swung his sword his way. The boy ducked under the sword and sped the other direction. Gauss chased him up one more stairwell and onto the fourth floor. Zarabella was there with a spear. Zarabella skewered the narrow spear through his torso. He opened his mouth wide as if to scream, but he couldn't find the energy. The boy slumped to the ground at Zarabella's feet. Gauss was a little mad that she stole his kill, but it was far too early for career infighting and he had much more important things on his agenda.
Silicon Cao, District 3 Male: 19th, Killed by Zarabella, Bloodbath
All the way down on the first floor, Hosanna made another kill. One boy turned around just as Hosanna's knife entered his chest. He slid to the floor, gasping and shaking, and he was dead in minutes as his heart was too damaged to keep functioning.
Hewitt Landry, District 12 Male: 18th, Killed by Hosanna, Bloodbath
Brave Poplar from District 7 decided to head as far up the pagoda as he could to get the best supplies. Poplar nearly died multiple times but finally made it to the fifth floor. He grabbed a pack of medicine and a few good weapons. He hurried back to the stairwell. Poplar was less than ten feet from the first step when Zarabella jumped out from behind a crate and leapt in front of him. Poplar dropped his supplies and pulled an axe out of the crate. He swung the axe at Zarabella, nearly decapitating her, but she sidestepped and thrust her spear into his chest. The spear pierced his lungs, and he collapsed, wheezing.
Poplar Carbone, District 7 Male: 17th, Killed by Zarabella, Bloodbath
Seconds earlier, Tisiphone had managed to corner a crying boy against the wall of the building. She lashed out with her rapier and speared the boy's wrist. He threw out a fist and tried to fight back, but he was no match for the heavily armed and trained 2 girl. She skewered her sword through his neck, killing him in mere moments.
Houston Lancelot, District 10 Male: 16th, Killed by Tisiphone, Bloodbath
The dust was beginning to settle, and there were only a few outliers left at the cornucopia. That was when Carmine pointed out a familiar tribute about fifteen yards away. The highest scorer, Valerian. Carmine leapt forward and aimed for Valerian's throat with his sword. The boy that scored an eight sprang to his feet. Carmine was more surprised than he should have been to see that Valerian had a weapon of his own: a long-handled throwing axe. Their duel lasted for several minutes. The tributes danced around each other, inducing cuts and scrapes but no major injuries. Hosanna heard the hullabaloo and came over to investigate. She briskly approached Valerian and stabbed him in the shoulder with her knife. The boy staggered backward, and Hosanna was shocked to see that it wasn't Valerian she had killed; it was Carmine. They looked so similar when they were fighting! Hosanna felt immediately guilty that she had killed her district partner, even if she was trying to do something noble.
Carmine Mannes, District 1 Male: 15th, Killed by Hosanna, Bloodbath
Hosanna didn't let her guilt discourage her from killing the actual Valerian. She whirled around and saw him just as he exited the pagoda. She chased after him, across bridges and under rustling banana leaves. It was beautiful, but that was the last thing on her mind. Once she was close enough, Hosanna hurled her weight at Valerian. She tackled him to the ground and slid her knife into his gut before running back to the cornucopia nearly half a mile away.
Valerian Damon, District 11 Male: 14th, Killed by Hosanna, Bloodbath
Gauss finished off the bloodbath. He and Cargo were searching the supplies on the third floor when they discovered a shaking boy huddling in one corner of the room. The boy screamed as Gauss pierced his flesh with his sword, making the final bloodbath kill.
Octavius Gates, District 6 Male: 13th, Killed by Gauss, Bloodbath
With the ten-piece bloodbath at its conclusion, the careers went about their business. Hosanna journeyed out to scout the lands around the cornucopia for prey. She returned to the pagoda about two hours later, confidently reporting that the radius of a quarter mile around the pedestals was empty of outliers. Meanwhile, Gauss stayed inside to sort their food rations. Cargo sat on the fourth floor and pretended to be sorting rations, though he was really just lolling around. He was beginning to second-guess his decision of volunteering into the games and needed some time to think everything over. With all of the important jobs taken, Tisiphone had nothing to do. So she acted as a living shopping list. Her allies kept telling her to fetch things for them to do their jobs. She was fed up with acting like their servant, but she didn't take out her anger, as she didn't want it to end in a nasty fight like career disagreements sometimes did.
Cargo wanted to stay back at the cornucopia to "sort supplies", but he really just wasn't ready to hunt yet and wanted some more time to think over his games strategy. They didn't really like him anyway and didn't protest when they left without him. Little did they know that one tribute was hiding about a hundred feet away from the horn. Anabelle was hiding in a cluster of pink blossoms just beyond the cornucopia. She planned to run into the pagoda and take whatever she could once the careers left to hunt. Anabelle held her breath as the careers walked past her. The second they passed her, Anabelle tore out of the bush, unable to bear the suspense any longer. The careers whirled around and all pointed at her. Anabelle broke into a run. She wanted to hide in the cornucopia, but the careers overtook her before she could even reach it. Tisiphone flung her rapier into Anabelle's back with so much force that the weapon protruded from her stomach. Anabelle crumpled to the grass in a heap. The careers were short on time and left her behind to die. The poor girl bled out three hours later.
Annabelle Gwinn, District 12 Female: 12th, Killed by Tisiphone, Day 1
The rest of Day 1 passed, deathless. Diandre escaped the bloodbath with a cooking pot and stove top as well as a dagger and some iodine. The cooking pot came with instructions on how to make tea from the pink blossoms. Diandre ventured about two miles from the cornucopia and began collecting the cherry blossoms in her pot. Once it was nearly halfway full, she poured the cold river water over top. Diandre purified the water with the iodine and brought it to a boil. The cherry blossoms melted into the water and created a delicious creamy-pink tea. Emily managed to take a spear from the cornucopia. After several hours of travel, she came to a stop beside a crystal-clear lake filled with koi fish. Emily waded in the cold water and speared several koi. Her elegance was so impressive that a sponsor sent her some salt to preserve the fish. Elma dropped to the ground and smeared every inch of herself with mud. Once she was completely covered, she sprinkled grass and banana leaves overtop until she looked like she was smeared with the essence of Mother Nature. Elma hoped that this would camouflage herself, and it did, but it ultimately made her look stupid and made her the source of lots of laughs from the Capitol. Camlet rested in a small cave veiled by the branches of a banana tree. He told the audience corny jokes hoping to whip up sponsors, but his puns were so bad that his mentor sent him a note to stop. Kimbra explored the outermost reaches of the arena, and she had to be driven back by a pack of cherry-colored rabbit mutts so that she wouldn't get too close to the force field. In the bloodbath, Kimbra had managed a scythe, and she put it to good use by cutting out a bunch of vines and burying herself under them to shield herself from sight. Valda had jogged about three miles when she spotted a group of two ninjas moving quietly through the trees. A twig snapped under Valda's foot, and the ninjas stared up at her. She froze. The ninjas turned back around and moved on. They didn't see her as an invader. Valda moved as far away as she could and set up camp at the base of a sturdy banana tree. Most of the tributes had found shelter, food, and water in the bountiful Japanese garden. But this peace could not, would not last. Blood would paint the banana leaves and cherry blossoms red as the fifty-fifth Hunger Games continued.
On Day 2, the careers developed a unique hunting strategy. Gauss discovered that a series of rocky rivers flowed from east to west, stretching across the arena. By hunting along this line of water, they could not only keep track of where they had hunted more easily but could also find their way back to the any location they had been to before by using the rapids as a reference point. They rested in a clearing for their noon meal, but Hosanna wasn't hungry and was eager to thin the crowd of outliers. So, while her allies ate, Hosanna hunted. It wasn't ten minutes before Hosanna stumbled across the lake that Emily made her home. The girl fell asleep on the side beside the pile of fish she caught the day before. Hosanna approached Emily slowly, readying her knife. She was a measly ten yards from her target when she let out a small cough. Emily bolted awake and stared straight at Hosanna. Hosanna figured that Emily would run into the garden to escape her, but she leapt into the lake instead. The District 1 girl laughed. How stupid of her. Hosanna experimentally picked up a rock and tossed it into the water, aiming for Emily. Hosanna cursed as she realized there was more to Emily's plan than met the eye. Since her appearance was ripply and ill-defined under the surface of the sparkling water, she was nearly impossible to hit. The career didn't dare throw her knife in after the girl, so she followed her into the lake. Hosanna paddled through the water, looking for Emily. But she was gone. Under the surface, Emily swam as far away as possible and emerged on the other side, fleeing into the garden. Hosanna searched for hours but couldn't find her and was forced to trudge back sopping wet to the career camp in humiliation.
The careers continued their hunt all throughout Day 3. Zarabella and Gauss acted like scouts, walking ahead of Hosanna and Tisiphone. They were ravenous to clear the arena of outliers, and they were making fast progress. In fact, they were making progress too fast. By sundown, they were less than a mile from the force field. Reyna couldn't have a repeat Haymitch, and to avoid that it was best to just keep the tributes away from the force field whenever possible.
At the turn of some gamemaker's hand, a group of three ninjas sprang out from a nearby bush and leapt in front of Zarabella and Gauss. They started backward as the warriors clothed in black approached them. Zarabella reached for her spear, and Gauss followed suit, closing his hand around his sword. The ninjas produced swords of their own, duel-wielding slender katana swords.
The first ninja pounced at Zarabella. The girl rolled out of the way into a shrub, where the other ninja was waiting for her. It swiped at her with one of its swords, and the girl blocked the attack with her spear. Suddenly, the ninja let out a gasp. A horn began to grow out of its stomach. No—not a horn—the tip of a sword. The ninja mutt collapsed to the ground, and Gauss was standing there holding his sword, stained with black muttation blood.
The other ninja was much harder to kill. It was seemingly keener than its comrade. Its job wasn't to kill the careers, just to drive them away from the force field. Before long, the duo met up with Tisiphone and Hosanna. Even the skilled ninja warrior was no match for the four trained careers. Tisiphone and Hosanna worked as a team to trap the ninja against a tree. They couldn't believe their eyes as the ninja scurried up the tree like a squirrel. They tried to get it down for hours. Eventually, Reyna got bored of the whole ordeal and commanded the ninja to the ground. The eager quartet of careers was waiting for it, and they slayed the mutt with ease.
Hosanna approached the dead ninja and tore something off of its arm. It was a band covered with spikes. "Like a cat," noted Zarabella. Hosanna nodded.
"No reason not to keep it," Hosanna said, slipping it into her pack. "It might come in handy in the future." She was right. It would come in handy. And it wouldn't be too long before they would use it themselves.
The early morning of Day 4, the career pack was hunting in the golden dawn light. They were all grouped together in one pack of four this time. Hosanna was eager to test out the spiked climbing bands she had taken from the dead ninja. Then, at seven in the morning, they trespassed on someone's land. That morning, Camlet received a note saying that the Capitol was growing tired of his inactivity and that he'd better move unless he wanted a mutt to do that for him. Too tired to move for real, the sleep-addled Camlet dragged himself up a nearby tree and fell asleep in the lowest bough. And, as the career pack put their hands over their eyes to shield out the sun, they spotted Camlet's snoozing form limp on the tree branch.
Hosanna broke into a run and stabbed the spikes of her left wrist into the trunk. The tree branch was so short that she could have easily reached it from the ground, but she just wanted to try out the new resources for real.
Hosanna and her allies got into formation. The 1 girl approached the snoozing Camlet. With all of her might, she cast her knife into the boy's back, opposite his navel. Camlet screamed and flailed around his limbs. He rolled to the right and landed with a thud on the ground. Tisiphone and Gauss were on him like hounds. Tisiphone thrust her rapier sword into his chest. He let out a little mewl of pain before blacking out. Zarabella rushed forward to get in on the action, but by the time she got there Gauss had already finished him off. Gauss' sword was lodged awkwardly into Camlet's skeleton. A cannon shot shattered the peaceful silence of the Japanese garden arena. The careers took a second to pillage the boy of his measly supplies before venturing off to search for more outliers.
Camlet Perlman, District 8 Male: 11th, Killed by Hosanna, Tisiphone, and Gauss, Day 4
The rest of the day passed, deathless. Diandre's diet consisted virtually one-hundred percent of the cherry blossom tea that she was making. The pink flowers and the water needed to make them was in no short supply, and half of the name of the game was removed for her. On Day 4, Diandre got a bad batch of flowers infested with bugs and had tummy problems for the rest of the day. Fortunately, she was able to recover quickly. Emily was getting fed up of just eating koi fish and decided to raid the cornucopia for food. She had all of the confidence in the world, but the second she stepped into the pagoda all of that confidence faded away like a Hunger Games Cinderella. Emily fled back into the garden and somehow figured out that frying bugs on sticks was a good source of her nutrients. Elma found shelter in a cave veiled by vines. In the dark cave, she no longer had to worry about blending in with nature. Elma dunked herself in a nearby lake and cleaned off her smelly mud and leaf costume that she had been wearing for days. Valda decided to get moving so that she wouldn't fade into the background, but, deathly afraid of the careers, arced around the pagoda so that it was never less than a mile or so away. At nightfall, Valda came to a stop at a fast-flowing river that was so cold she couldn't step into it for more than a few seconds. She worked into the night to build a boat to carry her across, but she fell asleep onto the half-completed boat at one in the morning. Kimbra's inactivity was starting to bore the Capitol immensely, so Reyna sent a ninja mutt after her. It was one of the more stupid ones, and Kimbra easily managed to lose it. This made Kimbra much more cautious about being in the open, and she set out on a hunt for shelter.
On the morning of Day 5, dark-grey clouds started to roll in. By noon, a light sprinkle had picked up. It wasn't long before sheets of warm summer rain were pouring down into the earth. The warm rain brought up clouds of mist from the earth, shrouding the earth in a glorious fog. It made the landscape even more beautiful. The koi were a bit prettier. The cherry blossoms were a bit sweeter. But, once more, this peace could not last.
On Day 6, the careers decided that it was time to head back to the cornucopia. They packed up their supplies, cleaned their weapons, and were on the way to their pagoda home. Hosanna, Gauss, Tisiphone, and Zarabella were engaged in conversation when Zarabella perked up. She heard the noise of human crying. Gauss hadn't picked up on the sound, but Tisiphone agreed it was at least worth investigating.
The group of careers followed the sound, and Zarabella pushed aside a curtain of blossoms and saw what was making the noise. Earlier that morning, the rain runoff from nearby areas of high ground flowed into Elma's cave, quickly flooding it. Elma almost drowned and barely escaped with her life, having collapsed to the grass, trying to gasp all of the water out of her lungs.
The careers approached, Zarabella and Hosanna in front, Gauss and Tisiphone in back. Elma looked up and gasped at the sight of Hosanna's knife. The gasp caused her to inhale a lot of the water that had built up in her throat and to suck farther down the liquid that was working its way out of her body. Elma fell forward, wheezing out droplets of water. Zarabella stabbed her spear into the girl's back. She let out a little snivel of pain. Hosanna's knife found a home in the wall of her stomach. It was one of the less exciting kills the careers made that year.
Elma Jose, District 7 Female: 10th, Killed by Zarabella and Hosanna, Day 6
After Elma's cannon, the quartet of careers finished their trip to the cornucopia. In the six days that they were gone, they expected Cargo to get a lot more done than he actually did. In fact, Cargo had almost nothing done at all.
"What about all these knives?" Gauss said. "And what about this food? These cans? Those snack bars? You were supposed to organize everything!"
"Yes, well, I was just about to get started on those… and those… and those. It'll just be another day or two, I promise," Cargo shakily replied. There was no way Gauss believed him. He game him a venomous look and told him to get back to work.
Day 7 was greatly eventful, as it held two deaths. Emily went out hunting with her spear, wanting to make a splash and draw sponsors toward her. Fortunately, another tribute was nearby. Emily hadn't travelled half a mile when a girl's mane of dark hair and piercing green eyes came into sight. Emily dove toward the girl, Valda. She prodded at Valda's leg with her spear. Emily managed to bury the tip of the weapon into the flesh, drawing some blood. A look of horror on her face, Valda fled. In her hurry, she didn't have time to grab her weapons. She just ran, hoping to lose Emily.
The chase lasted hours and miles, up and down and up and down and across rivers and through clusters of pink blossoms. Eventually, Valda came to a point where she couldn't run any further. She grabbed onto a tree and tried to climb it. She scooched herself up inch by inch. By the time Emily caught up to her, she was barely three feet off of the ground. Emily grabbed Valda by her hair and peeled her off of the tree. She fell with a thud at Emily's feet. Emily closed her eyes, unable to watch the killing as she drove her spear into the girl's chest. The shaft of the weapon went farther and farther into her body, between bones and through organs and tissue. The second her cannon shot faded away fully, Emily tore the spear out of Valda's body and fled, a torrent of emotions overwhelming her after making her first kill.
Valda Shore, District 6 Female: 9th, Killed by Emily, Day 7
That left the final eight: Hosanna Blessing from District 1, Gauss Lanzotti and Tisiphone Richter from District 2, Diandre Claudel from District 3, Cargo Sailer and Zarabella Kinsley from District 4, Emily Pollick from District 5, and Kimbra Golden from District 10.
The remaining outliers tried to go about their days as normally as possible after Valda's cannon shot woke them up. Wanting to spice up the games a bit, Reyna triggered a few of the trees with the pink blossoms to fall down at random times. Once, Diandre narrowly escaped one of the falling trees, and lost one of her shoes under it. Diandre was so traumatized that she dragged herself to the base of a banana tree and stood completely still, clutching her dagger in hand. The nation was getting more and more bored with Kimbra, and many urged Reyna to kill her off so that the real fun could start. Using a few additional ninja mutts, Reyna herded Kimbra onto one of the flat wooden bridges and then caused the bridge to collapse. Kimbra plopped down into the river. She could have been swept away and torn up by the current in minutes, but Kimbra grabbed onto a root on the riverbed. She grabbed onto nearby roots like a monkey bar course until she finally reached dry land. In the following days, Kimbra would grow a reputation of staring death straight in the face and laughing at it, just like she had when she escaped the bridge collapse that was meant to kill her.
The careers would lose one member before the sun set on Day 7. Cargo wanted to stay behind again while the others hunted, but Gauss refused to leave him behind. He hoped that bringing him on their next hunt would get some sense of the games back into him. A few hours into the hunt, the career pack came to a stop for their noon meal at the side of a short, swift river. Even the koi seemed to be avoiding the swiftly-moving region of water. As the careers set out their food, Hosanna walked to the edge of the river out of curiosity. Hosanna reached down into the riverbed and pulled out a rose-colored seashell that reminded her of the ones they sometimes used to make necklaces in District 1. Because it reminded her of home, she slipped it into her pocket.
Tisiphone needed a helper and called Cargo back to help her. Hosanna was once again alone beside the swift river. Hosanna turned around to walk back when her foot slipped. She fell forward onto the grass and cursed. The earth was breaking into clumps of dirt and then dissolving in the current. Hosanna screamed as loud as she could. Her allies rushed to help her, but it was too late. Hosanna ran out of earth to claw onto and was swept away by the river. She was so shocked that she inhaled two lungfuls of water right away. She struggled to see anything as she flew through the current.
Hosanna came to a battered stop in a small pool of water. She struggled to cough up all of the water that was in her lungs. Suddenly, a cluster of brightly-colored koi swam toward her. The second Hosanna touched the koi's scales, her entire body started burning as the poison that the koi were producing worked its way through her flesh. Hosanna was dying from suffocation and poison at the same time. It was hard to think of a nastier way to die.
Hosanna Blessing, District 1 Female: 8th, Killed by Drowning and Koi Muttations, Day 7
After that, Days 8, 9, and 10 passed, deathless. The careers were hunting on Day 9 when they got to close to the force field once more and the gamemakers had to drive then away with a trio of ninja mutts. They all escaped virtually unscathed except for Cargo. They had killed two of the mutts when the third and final one cut open Cargo's shoulder with its sword. Blood poured out of the wound at dangerous speeds, and it was a miracle that Cargo survived the event. Because of his moans of pain, the whole angry alliance had to go back to the cornucopia to get medicine and tend to his shoulder wound. Zarabella was particularly unhappy because she had been looking forward to the several days of solid hunting that the alliance had planned. Emily, in a way, started her own little business. It started when she was sponsored some chicken and remarked that it was delicious. The company that "produced" the chicken (though it was really all done in District 10) experienced an increase in sales. In the next few hours, food companies were giving Emily their foods to review. She had more food than she could eat. Emily was considering throwing it all up so that she could fit in more, but she didn't want to in case there was a shortage of food afterward. Her mentor Porter sent her a note assuring her that there was loads more to come along with some vomiting tonic. Despite Reyna's attempts to kill her, Kimbra refused to die. When Reyna tried to swarm her with venomous koi, she wrapped her legs in plastic sheeting so that they couldn't touch her. When a whole cluster of trees came falling down on top of her, she survived with two fallen trunks both a few inches away from her. She was lucking out every single time. Of course, there was nothing stopping Reyna from blowing her sky-high at any moment, but doing that it the middle of the games is a move typically used only for emergencies that instantly makes the gamemaker responsible less popular.
Heavy rains came once more on Day 11, but one tribute died before the storm came on full-force. Cargo's shoulder wound inflicted by the ninja mutt a few days earlier was slowly killing him, no matter what the other careers did to help him. By five in the morning on the eleventh day, he was completely unresponsive. The pack of four careers was narrowed down to three as his cannon shot rolled across the arena.
Cargo Sailer, District 4 Male: 7th, Killed by Ninja Muttations, Day 11
As unbelievable as it sounds, the career pack suffered yet another loss that afternoon. They had lots of work to do at the cornucopia and didn't want to go hunting, but Gauss did. He hadn't made a kill in a long time and was really eager to get more sponsors. Tisiphone and Zarabella said he could go out hunting if he wanted to, but he had to be back by dark because they had some jobs for him to do, particularly organizing areas of the pagoda that Cargo was supposed to, but didn't.
Gauss was so absorbed in his hunt that he completely forgot he was supposed to be back at the cornucopia by dark. With the first orangeish lights of dusk, Gauss started his trek back to the cornucopia. He froze when he heard shuffling from a nearby bush. Gauss saw two pairs of eyes staring at him, glowing in the last light of day like cats'.
Before he knew it two figures leapt out of bush and pushed him backward. Ninjas! Oh, no! Not now! Their black clothing blended so well into the darkening landscape that it was nearly impossible to see them. He felt the bite of one of their swords in his back. He whirled around and saw a faint sign of motion in the blackness, but it was soon gone. It was as if he was being stabbed at by the darkness itself. Gauss dragged himself in the direction of the cornucopia, but it was ultimately hopeless. How could he fight back when he couldn't even see his predators?
Gauss Lanzotti, District 2 Male: 6th, Killed by Ninja Muttations, Day 11
Days 12 and 13 were deathless. The top five milled about. Tisiphone and Zarabella hunted very sparingly, as it was too risky to go out alone so late in the games. Tensions were rising in their alliance. Even for careers, it was too late in the games for an alliance of two to continue. Zarabella and Tisiphone tried not to turn their backs on each other. By Day 12, Reyna had to stop the flow of food going to Emily. It just wasn't in the spirit of the games and was swaying the odds unfairly in Emily's favor. Diandre practiced with her dagger. If she could be doing anything beneficial, it would be preparing for the final fight. By late Day 12 or early Day 13, it became evident that Reyna was intentionally trying to kill off Kimbra. The Capitol began crying out for her to stop and leave Kimbra be. Give her a chance, they said, and see how she fares for just a few more days. Reyna's heart was set on Kimbra's death, but she was forced to be flexible and give into the demands of the public. She let Kimbra live.
Day 14 came about with what was arguably the most significant peak of excitement the games had seen yet. Over the last two weeks, Emily had made herself stand out to the audience. First it was by leaping into the lake to escape Hosanna. Next it was by trying out the food samples from the Capitol. The finale of the games was approaching, and Emily knew that she couldn't let the Capitol's attention on her be diminished at all.
The new strategy that Emily had in mind would certainly be difficult. It would involve nerves of steel and tons of luck. If a single step went wrong, the entire plan would collapse on itself. But she was willing to do whatever she needed to get back to her family in District 5.
Emily clutched her spear as she prowled toward the cornucopia. She sat cross-legged behind a bush of pink blossoms and listened to Zarabella and Tisiphone's conversations. Emily predicted that only one of them would go out hunting. She was right. The duo sent out Zarabella to hunt by herself. The career girl took off into the meadow. As quiet as a mouse, Emily followed behind her and stalked her like a hunter hunts a deer in the woods.
Finally, nearly three hours into the hunt, Zarabella sat down to eat lunch and take a break. Emily crept up on her and then pounced! Emily did not want to kill the career. She only wanted to scratch up her face. Emily worked efficiently. Zarabella reached for her weapon, but Emily snatched it from beside her and tossed it away. Once her face was bloody and scratched, Emily whacked her in the head to make her pass out. Then, she raced off into the garden.
Zarabella woke up a few minutes later, blood drizzling from her face. The 4 girl staggered back to the cornucopia. She hobbled into the pagoda and fell at Tisiphone's feet.
"What happened?" Tisiphone demanded, rushing to get bandages and medicine.
"I… I don't remem… member. Mem… memory… foggy," Zarabella shakily replied.
"This is going to burn a little," she warned, spraying a disinfectant spray all over Zarabella's face. She hissed and clenched her fists in agony. Finally, Tisiphone wrapped her ally's face in bandages until she was no longer recognizable. Emily's plan was playing out just like it had in her imagination.
Despite her wounds, Zarabella wanted to go hunting once more. She was an overachiever, after all. Tisiphone initially refused, saying she needed time to rest. But stubborn Zarabella wanted to kill the tribute who damaged her pretty face, and she argued with Tisiphone for nearly an hour on the matter. Finally, Tisiphone let her go. Zarabella zoomed off into the arena.
Once more, the District 5 girl was waiting just outside the pagoda. Emily saw Zarabella walking away from the cornucopia and followed behind her. The career was walking quickly, evidently seething with fury. Zarabella's main tool for getting sponsors wasn't only her combat skills, but also her looks. And she wasn't very happy to have her pretty face ruined.
Finally, after walking nearly two miles away from the horn, Emily pounced for real. Zarabella whirled around just as Emily's spear entered her neck.
"Y… you!" she gasped.
Emily nodded. "Me."
Zarabella Kinsley, District 4 Female: 5th, Killed by Emily, Day 14
Emily knelt at the dead Zarabella's side and removed all of her bandages and some of her clothing. Emily removed her own clothing and put on Zarabella's. She wrapped the career girl's bandages around her face. By the time Emily was finished, she looked exactly like Zarabella. Emily hobbled back to the cornucopia.
"Back so soon?" said Tisiphone.
Putting on her best impression of Zarabella (which wasn't hard, because people's voices are almost indistinguishable when they are in extreme pain), Emily said, "Found that stupid girl from 5 that tried to kill me. Made her pay!" And so Tisiphone went about her day completely unbeknownst to the fact that she was in the presence of an imposter. Tisiphone didn't question why "Zarabella" was talking so rarely. Most people don't talk much when they're recovering from injury.
That night, Tisiphone was working right in front of the pagoda when the national anthem blared. Emily froze. If Tisiphone saw that the real Zarabella was dead, her plan would be foiled.
"I need to get something from in the cornucopia," Emily said, and entered the pagoda. The second she was inside, she began screaming and begging for Tisiphone's help. Tisiphone rushed inside to help her. Emily rolled and thrashed on the ground, pretending to be in agonizing pain. The 2 girl instantly suspected poison and ran toward the rack of medicines. She grabbed the first one she saw and poured it in her ally's mouth. By the time Tisiphone emerged from the cornucopia to resume her work, the death recap had ended. The imposter had avoided discovery yet again!
On Day 15, the duo of Tisiphone and "Zarabella" made a kill. Tisiphone wanted to get up early in the morning to hunt. Emily didn't want to, but arguing would require her to talk more so she just went with the flow. Kimbra was curled up under a peaceful banana tree when she bolted awake, the hairs on her neck standing straight up. Somebody was nearby. Kimbra slowly looked up and froze. Tisiphone was pointing straight at her.
The duo of Tisiphone and Emily charged. Tisiphone skewered her rapier through the 10 girl's hand. She screamed and wiggled around, but she couldn't escape with her hand pinned to the ground. Tisiphone tore her rapier out of her palm and skewered it through a flailing Kimbra's torso like a madwoman. After Kimbra died, Tisiphone urged "Zarabella" away so that they could get back to hunting.
Kimbra Golden, District 10 Female: 4th, Killed by Tisiphone, Day 15
Excitement for the finale was rising in the Capitol as the final three tributes went about their days. After Kimbra's death, the duo of Tisiphone and Emily searched the beautiful garden for hours but were unable to find the elusive final outlier. At nightfall, they set themselves on course to the cornucopia, and arrived a few minutes after midnight. Diandre practiced feverishly with her knife, wanting to be as prepared as she could be for the finale. Wanting to even the playing field more, Reyna sent her an axe in a silver parachute disguised as a sponsor present. Diandre was glad to have a new weapon, though it required hours of practice to perfect the alien weapon.
The morning of Day 16, a cannon shot shattered the silence of the garden, waking almost all of the tributes and muttations. But, some of the mutts were already awake. Diandre's alarm clock that morning was an odd rustling sound from nearby. She sat straight up and looked around. In the first light of day, a single ninja mutt was nearby. Diandre lie back down and put her hand on her axe, just in case.
Diandre didn't have time to react as the ninja mutt came barreling toward her. It landed straight on her chest, pinning her into the ground with its swords. She screamed and rolled out from under the warrior with all of her might. Diandre rolled up and down hills like an unravelling mummy. In doing so, she picked up dirt and plants, which helped camouflage her into the landscape. After about five minutes, she got to her feet, thinking she was safe. Wrong. She felt a pinching sensation in her torso and crumpled to the ground like a torn paper doll. The ninja stood behind her, cleaning the blood off of its sword.
Diandre Claudel, District 3 Female: 3rd, Killed by Ninja Muttation, Day 16
At the cornucopia, Tisiphone and Emily were preparing for their morning hunt when they heard and felt Diandre's cannon shot. They looked at each other.
"Well, I guess it's just us now, Bella," said Tisiphone. "A fair fight, like ladies?"
Emily nodded and grabbed the spear that had been Zarabella's. The two tributes clashed. All of the cameras in the pagoda focused in on the scene. At what point would Tisiphone realize "Zarabella" was actually Emily? The thing was, Emily had the advantage. Throughout the games, Tisiphone had learned what fighting styles and tactics Zarabella liked best. But Emily fought completely differently. Why was she fighting like this?
With one move, Emily managed to catch Tisiphone off guard, and they were both on the floor. The girls rolled around, each one trying to pin down the other. Tisiphone was so confused and Emily was so strong that Emily managed to pin Tisiphone down.
"Bella! Zarabella!" Tisiphone begged as Emily pressed the point of her spear into her throat.
Emily tore off the bandages and revealed herself for who she truly was. "No. Emily." And she thrust the spear into her neck.
Tisiphone Richter, District 2 Female: 2nd, Killed by Emily, Day 16
"Emily Pollick of District 5, you are the victor of the fifty-fifth annual Hunger Games!" Reyna shouted.
Emily bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet as she waited for the hovercraft to retrieve her, eager to leave behind the arena and go back home to the electrical district that she loved.
Emily Pollick, District 5 Female: Victor of the Fifty-Fifth Hunger Games, Day 16
AFTERMATH
Emily was happy to bring District 5 its fifth victor. She was nice enough of a person but would ultimately be overshadowed by some of the flashier victors in years to come. Emily rarely had the spotlight on her, and that was the way she liked it. The fame-filled victor lifestyle wasn't for everybody, after all. But sometimes she had no choice in the matter. As one of the nation's more desirable victors, Snow spent the next few years regularly forcing Emily into spending nights in the posh Capitol hotels with the highest bidder. Her strategy was unique, though everyone had to admit it took more than her fair share of luck to escape the games alive.
She moved into the Victor's Village of District 5 as Porter's next-door neighbor.
Emily's victory tour wasn't much. District 2 was furious, as Emily crushed their hopes of a fourteenth victor into the ground by killing off Tisiphone.
Emily would live to the respectable age of eighty-nine, dying after a long battle with ovarian cancer a few weeks before the one-hundred twenty-sixth annual Hunger Games. Since she no longer had to go to school or work, Emily would devote the rest of her life to helping the needy, often volunteering at local soup kitchens on weekends. She would marry but would never have children.
NEWS
Emily moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, the fifth victor to do so.
Beetee Latier and Wiress Freid adopt a baby boy named Router.
Nolan Wrack has his first child with his wife, a girl named Boulder (after his district partner in his games).
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)
51HG: Lyme Mabbett (#13, District 2)
52HG: Ruby Rayfuse (#7, District 1)
53HG: Lily Eckel (#3, District 11)
54HG: Blight Holzer (#2, District 7)
55HG: Emily Pollick (#5, District 5)
A/N: Emily wins by disguising herself as a career! It's an idea I've had in my head for a long time now but have never gotten around to writing until Emily. I mean, she went into the 75th games, so there has to be something unique about her that would entice Snow to pick her. I assume that all twelve of those reapings were rigged, as there's no way Snow would leave the cast of characters up to chance in a games as pivotal as those!
As always, please review on your way out if you have time. Even if I don't reply, rest assured that I read every review and take each one into consideration :D
