THE SIXTY SECOND ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Pyramid Scheme"
INTRODUCTION
With the events of the previous year still on their minds, the Capitol welcomed Feodore Elliot back for his fifth year as head gamemaker with hearty applause. None of his games had failed to entertain thus far, and this was a trend he and his team most certainly intended to continue. As Feodore worked tirelessly on the arena of the sixty-second Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow faced the next of the many hurdles of his presidency. A few months before the games were set to begin, a group of two-hundred District 8 rebels set fire to a peacekeeper living facility. The peacekeepers all managed to escape without being killed in the fire, but several were slaughtered by the rebels waiting outside. Snow knew exactly what to do. He sent out some of his most trusted peacekeepers to kidnap fifty innocent District 8 children. These children were held prisoner in a crowded room together in the Capitol. Snow released this news with the message that the fifty children would not be returned to their families until they got back into order. Snow was one who knew how to keep his country bent to his will, and the rebellion stopped almost immediately. The children were all taken back to District 8 on a train and pushed out where their parents and loved ones were waiting for them. A few months later, twenty-four more would be taken, and twenty-three would never return…
The career pack this year was rather unstable; many of the members had rocky relationships with each other and there were several tributes competing for the role of leader. District 1 provided a classically beautiful pair. The boy was a gifted archer who could hit targets from hundreds of feet away, and he was able to laugh at most things and could have a great time in any situation. The girl was the best friend of Annalace Stanton, the District 1 female of the year prior. She was rather cold, fixated, and determined, and she could work magic with spears. District 2 put on a varied showing. The male was probably the weakest career, and the youngest at only sixteen. But he was tricksy and manipulative, which would no doubt give him an advantage in the games. The girl was spontaneous and flexible, and she was also one who loved adventure. She was actually from one of the poorest families of District 2, and her story was a very inspirational one. District 4 provided the strongest pair. The boy was a very curious creature; he could be playful or serious depending on the circumstances, and his energy levels seemed to change very spontaneously. The girl was undoubtedly the strongest tribute this year, as she was stunningly beautiful and one of District 4's fastest swimmers. The 1 boy, 2 girl, and 4 girl all thought they had the right to be the leader of the pack, and none were fair enough to suggest something reasonable like drawing lots. They all were mistrustful of each other, and the career pack seemed doomed to failure unless they could work something out. Their training scores were quite good: three tens and three nines.
This year had one of the weaker outlier batches, but there were still a few standouts. Orson of 10 was the only tribute to score higher than a seven. He was rather open, talkative, and agreeable, and knew the right times to crack jokes to make everyone like him. Sevens were earned by Ajax of 5, Laureth and Henna of 7, and Solstice of 11. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. Another standout came from District 8 this year. The girl, Bernadette, struck up a feud with Enobaria from 2 in the training center. Nobody is sure what she was thinking by aggravating the second strongest tribute in these games. Maybe she thought it would make her stand out to the audience or make her seem more intimidating. Enobaria was sure to try and take her out in the arena. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: Ajax Tiago of District 5, who volunteered in place of his brother. Another fact of note was that there were no twelve-year-old tributes in the games this year. Additionally, there were only two thirteen-year-olds and two fourteen-year-olds, making for a much lower number of sub-fifteen-year-old tributes than usual. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Brave Hager, 18, (10) 5-1 and Blossom Corbusier, 17, (9) 6-1
District 2: Hector Lozada, 16, (9) 7-1 and Enobaria Rigatti, 17, (10) 5-1
District 3: Switch Jackson-Hough, 18, (6) 21-1 and Mona Carman, 14, (3) 42-1
District 4: Ray Tribe, 17, (9) 6-1 and Danube Blanchard, 17, (10) 4-1
District 5: Ajax Tiago, 13, (7) 15-1 and Europa Tucker, 15, (5) 20-1
District 6: Pedal Cyders, 18, (5) 19-1 and Cowl Heckelman, 16, (4) 38-1
District 7: Laureth Stark, 17, (7) 14-1 and Henna Forte, 15, (7) 16-1
District 8: Carrickmacross Douglas, 14, (6) 22-1 and Bernadette Sam, 15, (6) 20-1
District 9: Vachel Grossi, 18, (5) 23-1 and Luna Wolfsy, 17, (4) 30-1
District 10: Orson Tipspin, 17, (8) 10-1 and Pippa Merple, 13, (3) 47-1
District 11: River Joshua, 16, (6) 19-1 and Solstice Fujii, 16, (7) 15-1
District 12: Carlo Rosetti, 15, (4) 32-1 and Semiquaver Anesko, 18, (4) 31-1
HGBO Bets: 11% on Danube, 9% on Brave and Enobaria, 7% on Blossom, Hector, and Ray, 6% on Orson, 5% on Ajax, Laureth, Henna, and Solstice, 4% on Switch, Carrickmacross, Bernadette, and River, 3% on Europa, Pedal, and Vachel, 1% or less on Mona, Cowl, Luna, Pippa, Carlo, and Semiquaver.
THE GAMES
After two consecutive years of bombarding his tributes with deadly natural disasters, Feodore decided to take a break and go for a more conventional games style. This year's tributes would find themselves in a desert with rolling dunes of sand. The cornucopia sat nestled between two tall sand dunes. It was made of sandstone, and its weapons were largely made of stone as well. Towering over the rest of the arena were three humungous stone pyramids—the Great Pyramids of Giza. Inside the pyramids were great treasures and resources, but the tributes would have to endure dangers to reach and obtain them. Feodore knew better than to leave his tributes without water in the desert. There were at least a dozen oases in the arena: clusters of palm trees, fruit plants, and greenery surrounding small water sources. Living in the arena were also ibex and camels. Temperatures were intense—eighty degrees Fahrenheit seemed to be the average temperature, though temperatures could reach as high as one-hundred degrees on hot days and as low as fifty degrees on cool nights.
Dry, windswept sand swirled around the tributes as they stood on their pedestals waiting for the games to begin. The hot sun beat down, and the wind whistled over the sand like violin music. All of the tributes spotted the great stone pyramids surrounding them. Not expecting anything much of value to be provided by the arena itself, all twenty-four players decided to head into the bloodbath this year.
Danube sprinted at the head of the onrush, her auburn hair rippling behind her. She snatched up a bronze trident and quickly thrust the heavy prongs into a nearby girl's chest. The girl collapsed to the ground, panting and sniffling heavily until she died a few seconds later.
Mona Carman, District 3 Female: 24th, Killed by Danube, Bloodbath
A few seconds later, Brave picked up a bow that sat in the hot sand about thirty yards from his pedestal. The career expertly nocked an arrow into the weapon and fired a volley of three arrows toward the nearest boy. One arrow lodged itself between two of his ribs, nearly piercing his lungs. The next two arrows found homes in his head and shoulder respectively, and he was pretty much toast from there.
Carlo Rosetti, District 12 Male: 23rd, Killed by Brave, Bloodbath
Enobaria had clipped a belt of throwing knives around her waist when she tackled the nearest boy, a small one from District 8. Enobaria demanded that the boy tell him the location of his district partner, Bernadette. The boy choked out that he didn't know. He was no use for Enobaria. The 2 girl whipped out one of her knives and slashed it across his throat, drawing blood. He screamed and struggled to pry himself out from underneath Enobaria's weight, but it was a futile effort.
Carrickmacross Douglas, District 8 Male: 22nd, Killed by Enobaria, Bloodbath
Enobaria's district partner, Hector, grabbed two knives before tackling two close-by girls to the ground. They collapsed in a heap, Hector on top of them. They tried to untangle their limbs before Hector could attack them, but they weren't fast enough. He drilled his knife into the torso of the nearer of the two girls before kicking her aside. The other girl was mere moments from getting to her feet when the second knife landed squarely in her heart.
Cowl Heckelman, District 6 Female: 21st, Killed by Hector, Bloodbath
Europa Tucker, District 5 Female: 20th, Killed by Hector, Bloodbath
Danube wrenched her trident out of her first victim's chest and fluidly attacked her next victim, a willowy boy from 7. Danube thrust the prongs of her trident into his neck. He reeled backward, stumbling over his own feet, before falling clumsily to the sand. Retching himself dry, Danube approached him and finished him off with one more quick stab.
Laureth Stark, District 7 Male: 19th, Killed by Danube, Bloodbath
The two tributes from District 1 banded together to make their next kill. Brave held a bow firmly in hand, an arrow fit onto the string; whereas Blossom held a spear tightly in her grasp. The two careers crept toward a boy who was kneeling inside the cornucopia and crying as he tried to shove a package of water into a backpack. One of Brave's arrows flew past him and shattered on the wall behind him. The boy leapt to his feet to flee. Blossom ran forward with her spear, skewering it through his foreleg. That left Brave to finish him off with an arrow to the neck.
Pedal Cyders, District 6 Male: 18th, Killed by Brave and Blossom, Bloodbath
Meanwhile, Enobaria was pursing an outlier girl with her throwing knives. The career girl was growing frustrated with how quick her victim was, and she was about to give up when her aim was true. One of her knives landed in the base of the girl's neck, and she fell like a stone, gurgling and coughing out blood.
Pippa Merple, District 10 Female: 17th, Killed by Enobaria, Bloodbath
Ray, the last career without a kill, picked up a shogei and fit the ring snugly onto his finger. He hurled the knife with all of his worldly strength, and the blade pierced the hip of an outlier girl. She careened sideways, writhing with agony, as Ray approached her. He drew the knife back by the string and plunged it into the girl's chest.
Solstice Fujii, District 11 Female: 16th, Killed by Ray, Bloodbath
Nearby Orson from 10 armed himself with a sword and crept toward Ray. He had a goal of killing at least one career during the bloodbath, and that was a goal he intended to reach. Orson's face crinkled from disgust as he thrust the sword up into Ray's back, working it through tissue and muscle until it finally protruded from the base of his neck.
Ray Tribe, District 4 Male: 15th, Killed by Orson, Bloodbath
Enobaria roared with fury as she chased a crying Bernadette away from the cornucopia. The girl had accidentally injured her in training and the 2 girl was more furious at her than any hatred one could imagine. Finally, Bernadette managed to escape, and Enobaria marched grumpily back to the horn, swearing vengeance would be hers. She returned to the cornucopia just in time to witness the last kill being made. Hector had cornered a boy against the wall of the cornucopia. He had nowhere to run. The boy could do nothing but squeeze his eyes tightly shut and pray the end would come quickly as Hector ran forward and speared the blade of the knife several inches into his abdomen.
Vachel Grossi, District 9 Male: 14th, Killed by Hector, Bloodbath
With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the careers set the cornucopia in order. The two District 1 tributes sat across from each other as they sorted weapons. These two were close friends and fiercely loyal to each other. Brave sorted weapons while Blossom sorted food. Hector sat outside of the cornucopia pillaging the dead tributes of their supplies. Meanwhile, Danube hunted the areas immediately surrounding the cornucopia. Given how plain the terrain was, there weren't many places to be hiding. Danube rested in a small oasis nearby and sipped water and cooled herself by pressing leaves to her skin before walking back to the horn. Enobaria grumped about her repeated failures to kill off Bernadette. Hector tried to calm her, but she insisted she wanted to be left alone. Hector found a handbook on desert life and reported that lots of dangerous creatures roamed the desert at night. The careers all had a look at the book and were too scared to go hunting. They vowed to leave to hunt the next morning, unwilling to risk encountering what creatures might be out and about at night.
The outliers wobbled over the sand, scattering in all directions away from the cornucopia. Switch escaped the bloodbath with an orange pack that stood out boldly against his dark skin. The pack contained a pocketknife and an empty plastic water canteen. As the sun began to set, Switch settled in an oasis and rested against a tall tree that provided shade and fruit to feast on. Ajax sped southeast with a loaf of bread and an apple. He should have had enough food for several days, but by nightfall he had eaten over half of his food supply out of nervousness. Ajax hid at the base of a tall sand dune to sleep. Henna was intrigued by the humungous stone pyramids and wandered toward the closest one. The 7 girl was unable to reach the structure in one day, and she settled near a small pool for a quick wash before sleeping. Bernadette fled from the cornucopia. Her father was an animal tamer back in District 8, and she had a very curious idea. She approached a nearby camel and held out her hand for it to lick. By nightfall, the camel was permitting Bernadette to safely approach and pet it. It wasn't to the point of allowing her to ride on its back, but they were making progress. Luna made camp in a cluster of scruffy bushes. She found a cluster of beetles the size of her hands and munched on the beetles. They weren't the tastiest, but they were rather nutritious. The area smelled strongly of dung, however, and Luna vowed to depart for a more pleasant-smelling home at dawn the next day. Orson alternated between walking and jogging for the entire day. Well after midnight, the boy found himself at the foot of one of the great pyramids. Too tired to search for an entrance, Orson knelt on the first step and was asleep before he knew it, holding his sword firmly in hand. River and Semiquaver hadn't planned to ally before the games, but they walked next to each other and engaged in conversation as they ventured away from the cornucopia. They were exhausted when they came to a stop in a field of dusty boulders. River and Semiquaver were asleep the second their heads hit their pillows.
An earsplitting scream frightened most of the tributes and mutts awake the next morning. However, some of the mutts were already awake. Luna was sleeping when she heard heavy footsteps. She ducked into the shadows and drew the only weapon-like like she owned, a can opener. Four ibex mutts strolled toward her, their curved horns glistening in the dawn sun and their eyes growing wide with bloodshot and blood lust. The herd galloped toward her, and Luna backed away before standing her ground.
A younger one, one with pretty beige fur that wasn't fully developed yet and was eager to take down the girl, was the first to pounce. It wasn't very fast, and Luna managed to dance around it. But it kept spinning around her, and the ibex dug one of its razor-sharp horns into her wrist. Luna screamed as the rest of the heard tackled her. She closed her can-opener around one ibex's neck. It screeched and bucked off of her, taking the can opener with it. Luna was defenseless as the ibexes rammed into her flesh with their horns. Afterward, the herd began to bite at her, tearing away strips of flesh to eat. Luna's cannon fired, and the gamemakers sent the ibexes reeling away from Luna's tattered, amorphous corpse with electrical pulses so that the remains would be at least somewhat recognizable when they were sent home to District 9.
Luna Wolfsy, District 9 Female: 13th, Killed by Ibex Muttations, Day 2
The careers had been planning on hunting the morning of Day 2, but their plans were foiled when a group of two camel mutts bowled into the cornucopia, overturning supplies and even hitting Enobaria in the head so hard that she passed out. It took them hours to clean up after the disaster, and by the time they were finished there was less than three hours until nightfall. As the careers went about the rest of their day at the horn, they grew extremely mistrustful of each other. Brave and Danube never turned their backs on each other as if they were scared the other would ambush them. Enobaria came to about thirty minutes after the attack. Hector filled her in on what was going on, and in minutes Enobaria was back as a functioning member of the career team. She, too, never turned her back on her allies for too long. Blossom, always district-loyal, sided with Brave that he should be the leader of the career pack. Hector was neutral and didn't care much about which tribute was the leader as long as they were getting progress done.
At dawn on Day 3, the careers finally went hunting. They left Blossom behind to guard the horn. Out in the desert, Brave, Enobaria, and Danube were competing to be the most popular. The pack rested at noon in a small oasis with cool, grassy leaves and tall, shady trees. They refilled on water from the central lake and then unpacked their lunches. As they ate, Danube used a mathematic formula involving the relative heights of the pyramids and the radius of the earth to calculate how far away each of the pyramids were, with incredible accuracy. It seemed like none of the others could top this feat until, less than five minutes later, a thirsty camel wandered into the oasis and knelt beside the pool for a drink. Brave shot a volley of five arrows at the camel, expertly killing it in seconds.
Enobaria knew she had to do something crazy to impress the Capitol even more than Danube and Brave had. The 2 girl used her throwing knives to single-handedly take down a massive ibex with razor-sharp, curved horns. The gamemakers were all curious to see what Enobaria was about to do. The 2 girl knelt beside the ibex and cut out a strip of its bloody flesh. She brought down her head and sank her teeth into the tender meat of the animal, pushing it down her throat. The other careers stood with their mouths and eyes wide-open in awe as she tore out chunks of meat with her mouth alone. When she was finished, Enobaria pulled her head back up. Blood was smeared all over her face, and little pieces of meat that hadn't landed in her mouth littered the corners of her lips.
For the rest of Day 3, and the entirety of Day 4, the other careers treated Enobaria with a sort of newfound respect. Danube and Brave kept trying to outshine her, but there was nothing they could do that would be more popular than literally eating an ibex raw without the aid of hands. Her numbers of sponsors skyrocketed. They stood by and watched rather enviously as endless sponsor parachutes rained down onto the famous young lady.
Days 5 and 6 were deathless. After several days of focusing on the career pack, the cameras shifted to the actions of the outliers. Switch was going completely nutzo from dehydration, walking into mirages and hallucinating about strange colors swirling around him. He wandered tirelessly through the desert. There were oases all around them, but he must have been too loopy to notice them, for Switch paid them no mind at all. Ajax left the oasis he had been living in for nearly a week and began travelling to the nearest pyramid. He was curious as to what to be inside, and he imagined images of vaults filled with jewels and gold. Then again, even though those things are of monetary value they are essentially valueless in the arena. After days of tireless searching, Henna made her way to the largest of the great pyramids. She searched around for an entrance. Right before nightfall, Henna's mentor Blight sent her a note giving her instructions to the nearest entrance. She camped right outside the gaping hole in the pyramid, from which strange whispers seemed to be calling. Bernadette's camel training had been going remarkably well; by the end of Day 6, the camel were letting her ride it and she was even beginning to train it some human words and commands. She got her water from oases and sponsor gifts, though she was still getting less than her body needed. Orson survived off of killing small animals with his sword. After a few days of no success, he had given up hunting, and he kept himself hydrated off of sponsor beverages. On Day 6, a sponsor sent him a bottle of water, and he swallowed the whole bottle in one gulp, an impressive feat. River and Semiquaver discovered a large pool of water, one of the largest in the arena. It was about the size of a small house, and several animals were kneeling beside it, sipping its cool contents. River filled all of their containers with water while Semiquaver set up their camp by the lake.
Henna woke early in the morning on Day 7, ready to enter the pyramid. A sponsor sent Henna a note that the supplies and resources inside the pyramid would be worth risking her life for. The 7 girl took a deep breath and walked into the yawning entrance of the stone pyramid. The entrance caved in behind her. She sighed. Henna looked around and saw that she was in a long stone corridor. Old Egyptian characters, hieroglyphs, were carved into the walls. At the end of the torch-lit hallway was a granite counter. Five colorful stones, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue, were placed in a line on the counter. Also nearby, there were five wooden boxes stacked on top of each other, so that their openings were facing Henna. She squinted her eyes and read the small print on the wall. It was in English, fortunately.
Each of these five colored stones belongs in one of these five boxes. The red stone belongs lower than the orange stone. The stone two boxes above the blue stone should not be orange. The orange stone belongs in the middle box. The box four boxes below the box with the yellow stone is two blocks below the box with the orange stone. The boxes containing the yellow stone and the green stone should be adjacent. Henna sighed and got to work, shaking fiercely as she threw stones into boxes. She had never learned to read very well, so she did not understand the clues completely. It was nearly two hours before she allowed herself a break, feeding herself on water and regretting that she hadn't brought more food into the pyramid with her. By the time night fell, she still hadn't solved the riddle, and her brain needed a break to sleep for the night.
While Henna was catching up on much-needed sleep, a death occurred all the way across the arena. Switch had been searching through the burning desert for three days, desperately hunting for a drop of water to sip. He passed away from dehydration less than an hour before midnight, curled up in the fetal position and crying softly.
Switch Jackson-Hough, District 3 Male: 12th, Killed by Dehydration, Day 7
As Day 8 wore on, Henna toiled away at the puzzle with the coloedr stones. At long last, she solved the riddle at two in the evening. From top to bottom, the stones belonged in the order yellow, green, orange, blue, red. The wall in front of her collapsed. Once the dust settled, Henna got a glimpse at the next puzzle she had to complete.
The back wall of the room was a very peculiar sight. Dozens of plastic containers were bolted to the wall. Plastic tubes and pipes connected some of the containers to each other, so that the water from one container could flow through into another container. The container at the very top of the chaos had a faucet suspended over it. Five words were embossed into the ground. Which container will fill first? Henna followed the containers with her finger. The water would flow from the first container into the second container, then into the container below that… but no, the inlet to the opposite container was lower and so would begin flooding first… Henna was developing a headache in minutes. A sponsor sent her a bit of medicine, and she camped in a corner of the room, staring blankly at the seemingly impossible puzzle in front of her.
Throughout the two days Henna had been solving the puzzles inside of the pyramid, the cameras had shown almost nothing of what was going on with the other tributes. That was because the outliers weren't doing much, to be honest. But Day 9 came with a lot of drama in the career pack. The careers awoke to find that Brave had fallen asleep halfway through his shift. Enobaria was furious, and she wanted any excuse she could get to eliminate some of the strong competition from the other careers.
"Get off me," Brave grunted. He squirmed out of Enobaria's grasp and grabbed his bow.
"Hey!" Enobaria growled. She reached into her belt of throwing knives. The shining blades glistened in the hot desert sun overhead.
"Stop!" Blossom begged, having left the cornucopia to investigate what was going on. "It's too early for in-fighting!"
But Brave and Enobaria didn't listen. They leapt toward each other and collided in mid-air. Brave tried to use his arrows like little spears to pierce Enobaria. But Enobaria had the best weapons, and she took down Brave in no time. The 2 girl stabbed one of the knives into the 1 boy's waist. He got to his feet, screaming, but the wound was giving him so much pain that it was unbearable to even stand. Enobaria staggered away from Brave's cooling corpse as his cannon fired. Now the pack had been whittled down to four.
Brave Hager, District 1 Male: 11th, Killed by Enobaria, Day 9
The other careers glared at her. Enobaria had just killed a fellow career. "Traitor," Danube spat, lofting her trident into the air.
Enobaria didn't wait for her to use it. She turned tail and fled. She jogged until sundown, when she collapsed in the pond in the center of a cool oasis, shaking. Reassuring thoughts ran through her mind. She was still the most popular tribute in the games. She just had to remind the Capitol what she was best at and they'd forget about what she had done back at the horn.
When Day 9 bled into Day 10, Enobaria got on the move. She only travelled through the areas the career pack had already hunted; that way, she would be likely to have a trip free of contact with the other angry careers. Perhaps the word other isn't the best fit here because, for all intents and purposes, she had broken from the pack. She stopped a few hours before nightfall so that she would have time to get acquainted with her new surroundings. Enobaria killed a camel with her throwing knives. She was looking forward to savagely digging into the prey and impressing the sponsors, but her mentor sent her a note that camel meat wasn't safe to eat until cooked. Enobaria found bits of dry wood and arranged them into a fire. She was sponsored a bucket. The 2 girl filled the bucket with sand. If the fire ever got out of hand or attracted another tribute, she could pour the sand over the fire and douse the flames immediately. She ripped and tore apart the meat like a mad dog, her hands behind her back the whole time.
Meanwhile, miles away, Henna was in the final stages of the challenges inside of the pyramid. She had correctly solved the water containers puzzle and was now tasked with a parkour challenge. A pool of bubbling water substituted the floor, and Henna had to jump across platforms and climb ladders and ropes to make her way across the room. If she ever fell in the water, it took all of her strength to swim to safety and she was too exhausted to do anything much for the next hour or so.
The allies River and Semiquaver both knew that it was far too late in the games for their little alliance to continue. In the Hunger Games, a tribute doesn't get to be the second person to betray their ally. River felt awful with himself as he readied himself to kill off Semiquaver. They rested in an oasis and went to sleep. River stayed awake until he heard Semiquaver's soft snores. It was time.
River wiggled out of his sleeping bag, grabbing the only weapon he owned, a knife. He bit his lip and crept toward his sleeping ally. Then, quickly, he thrust the point of the knife into Semiquaver's chest. Screaming, Semiquaver woke with a start. Blood rushed down either side of her torso, and Semiquaver's muscles pushed to dislodge the knife from her torso. River couldn't bear to watch the death that had been his doing. He slid down the opposite side of a far-away tree and silently begged for her screams to stop soon. Those screams would haunt him forever, if he left the arena with his life.
Semiquaver Anesko, District 12 Female: 10th, Killed by River, Day 10
Day 11 saw two additional deaths. Orson of 10 had been staying still for long periods of time over the games and had been almost completely forgotten by the audience and by Claudius and Caesar. Knowing the gamemakers would have no choice but to kill him off if he kept being so inactive, Orson turned to tribute hunting to fill the long hours of the days. His sword swinging at his side, Orson wobbled over the hot sand in search of tributes. He had been hunting for less than two hours when a figure came into view. Orson careened sideways and ran around a tall sand dune so that the boy wouldn't see him until it was too late.
The boy, who was Ajax, screamed as Orson burst out from behind the sand dune, swinging his sword like a madman. Ajax turned around to flee, but Orson shoved his sword into his back, denting the flesh about a centimeter. His blood dyed the sands evil red as Orson relentlessly hacked away at his abdomen with his weapon. His cannon shot fired just a few moments before sunset.
Ajax Tiago, District 5 Male: 9th, Killed by Orson, Day 11
That left the final eight: Blossom Corbusier from District 1, Hector Lozada and Enobaria Rigatti from District 2, Danube Blanchard from District 4, Henna Forte from District 7, Bernadette Sam from District 8, Orson Tipspin from District 7, and River Joshua from District 11.
The second and final death of the day transpired mere minutes later. The duo of Hector and Danube had been hunting for three days when they decided to head back to the cornucopia. They were on their way back to the horn when they heard a human sneeze. Hector and Danube leapt toward the sound and found themselves tackling River of 11 to the ground. The boy screamed and rolled out from underneath them. River tried to flee, but Danube threw her trident like a projectile. It whistled through the hot desert air and buried itself into his back. He fell forward onto the ground, the trident sticking perpendicularly out of his back, and he bled out quickly after Hector initiated the blow that ended his life by digging his knives into his neck.
River Joshua, District 11 Male: 8th, Killed by Danube and Hector, Day 11
On Day 12, after five long days of being trapped inside the cool pyramid, Henna completed her last task. She reached the end of the parkour challenge. The back wall of the room collapsed, and Henna couldn't believe her eyes. Her prize. A rack of swords, spears, and scythes stood in the corner of the room. In the other corner was a table covered in fruit, vegetables, and meat. The center of the room had a chest that was open and revealed that it was filled with bottles of water. Henna stepped into the room carefully, fearing that booby traps might be guarding the supplies. But they were hers for the taking.
Henna chugged down as much water and stuffed down as much food as could fit inside of her. She found a backpack in a corner and fit a jug of water inside. She held a scythe in one hand and a sword in the other hand. She had all of the supplies she could ever need. There was just one problem. Henna had no way of getting out. Suddenly, a little drone containing a note from a sponsor landed beside her. Intrigued, Henna knelt down and read the note.
Keep your arms close to your body. Once you've exited the pyramid, paddle in one direction. You should be just fine if you land in the sand.
Henna didn't have time to interpret the note when the ceiling opened up. She peered upward and saw bright-blue sky high above. She was too shocked to scream as she flew upward, through the tube and finally out of the pyramid like she was in some kind of magical elevator. It turned out that drones with enough strength to carry a person were strapped into the pants of her tribute uniform.
Now outside of the pyramid, Henna looked around. She could see the entire arena from up there. A parachute erupted from her uniform, and she coasted to the ground. Suddenly remembering the note, Henna paddled in one direction as though swimming through water. The joy and freedom was indescribable. She was flying. Henna landed safely in the sand near the edge of the pyramid. She checked her body for damage but found herself unscathed. It turned out that nightfall was in less than an hour. Henna camped at the base of the pyramid, spoiling herself with the cool water and nutritious food she had retrieved from the pyramid.
The night of Day 12 had a singular peak of excitement. Enobaria was doing most of her hunting after nightfall, liking how cool it was when it was dark. It was a few minutes before midnight when Enobaria spotted a slowly ambling figure in front of her. She squinted her eyes and made out the shape of a camel. Somebody was riding the camel… Bernadette, her sworn enemy since before Day 1.
Enobaria stormed toward Bernadette. She didn't see her coming until it was too late. Bernadette spotted the career girl coming her way and ordered her camel to run as fast as possible. Her voice was too frantic and shaky for the camel to understand her command, and Enobaria had no problem burying one of her throwing knives a half inch into the camel's leg. The camel groaned and ran as fast as it could, and it took all of Bernadette's strength to keep from being bucked off. Bernadette had escaped Enobaria once more.
On Day 13, many of the tributes saw a massive dark cloud rolling toward them, as big and quiet as District 10. None of the tributes were in the immediate path of the sandstorm, but it would spread and spread, never content until it had bowled over the entire arena. Bernadette was nursing her wounded camel when the winds picked up and she noticed the ginormous cloud of dust headed her way. Knowing she couldn't outrun it, she ducked down beside her camel and prayed that it would be over quickly. Henna took her supplies out of her backpack and placed it over her head. She looked rather stupid with the pack over her head, but when the storm hit her for real, the cloth worked well to keep out the pesky grains of sand.
When the sandstorm actually hit, it was horrible. The air filled with sand, and anything that wasn't covered began flooding with the blisteringly hot grains. The warm winds were awful and the sand dug into the tributes' exposed skins like tiny knives into their flesh. Danube had been guarding the cornucopia when the sandstorm hit. She lie down in her sleeping bag and zipped it shut, trapping herself inside. She occasionally shook back and forth so that too much sand wouldn't build up atop Danube's sleeping bag. Blossom and Hector were away hunting. They saw the storm coming and started thundering back to the cornucopia as fast as their legs could carry them, but they weren't fast enough.
The storm rolled over them, and Blossom and Hector fell to their knees. They gasped with agony, fury, and terror, only working to inhale more dust. Blossom was the first to face serious danger. In minutes, a good inch of sand had piled up in the bottoms of her lungs. She tried to cough up the sand and cover her mouth, but she was too confused and panicked to do anything. The sandstorm's evil, death-bringing hands closed around her. District 1 would not have a victor this year.
Blossom Corbusier, District 1 Female: 7th, Killed by Sandstorm, Day 13
Nearby, Hector was throwing his body weight in random directions, going crazy as the sand pummeled into his skin. Several large clumps had drawn blood, and he was battered, bruised, and tired. The storm had completely blinded him, and he couldn't even open his eyes if he wanted to because of how much sand stuck onto his eyeballs whenever he did. The gamemakers didn't want the sandstorm to claim too many lives; the storm ceased immediately the second that Hector's cannon shot faded away fully. The winds stopped abruptly, and the sand fluttered the ground in a rather beautiful display of natural art. All was silent and still.
Hector Lozada, District 2 Male: 6th, Killed by Sandstorm, Day 13
Day 14 passed, deathless. Danube stayed at the cornucopia to clean up. Sand from the sandstorm had piled high on top of the shelves, weapons, and supplies, and it took the 4 girl all day long to clean up the mess. Enobaria had survived the sandstorm with a little bit of drawn blood. She applies anti-disinfectant cream given to her by sponsors and rested in a cool oasis for the day. Henna hunted with her sword and sickle, wanting to make a splash and impress sponsors. She really didn't need any, given how many weapons she had from the pyramid escapade, but it gave her something to occupy her time nonetheless. Two days after being stabbed in the leg by Enobaria, Bernadette's camel died. She was heartbroken and knelt in silence for much of the day, crying softly into her hands. They had only known each other for two weeks, but they had become best friends ever since. Orson had about a centimeter of sand in his lungs. He spent the day vomiting and coughing, fighting to expel the foul sand from his body.
On Day 15, the only two remaining careers started toward each other. Danube left the horn with a bit of body armor and her trident, while Enobaria stalked in the direction of the horn with her throwing knives. Each girl was eager to eliminate the other, as neither wanted to face the trouble of having to kill another trained career in the finale. They spotted each other about a hundred yards apart at nine in the morning.
The two tributes danced around each other, inflicting cuts and scrapes but nothing minor. Danube shouted taunts to Enobaria, calling her a traitor and a whole lot of words that would warrant a thorough mouth washing back in the academy of District 4. Finally, Enobaria lunged forward, slicing off one of Danube's auburn tresses. Danube stumbled backward as her locks fluttered to the ground. Her strategy to get sponsors involved not only her kills, but her looks, and Danube was furious to have her look ruined. She blindly ran forward, abandoning all forms of coherent strategy to kill Enobaria. Enobaria danced out of the way and spun sharply on her heel, hurling one of her throwing knives into Danube's head. She let out a groan, and that was it. Enobaria was the only living career in the sixty-second Hunger Games.
Danube Blanchard, District 4 Female: 5th, Killed by Enobaria, Day 15
The next day in the arena, Day 16, passed with only one death. For days, the Capitol had been heavily anticipating a fight between Henna and Orson. Henna was only fifteen had had scored a seven in training, but she had the advantage of the weapons and supplies; whereas Orson was older and stronger but only had one weapon, his sword. Herds of fierce camel mutts drove Orson and Henna together, and they crashed into each other when the sun was at its zenith.
Orson was the first to attack, lunging forward and prodding at Henna's foreleg with the tip of his sword without hesitation. Henna felt a small prick from the sword and leapt out of the way, bringing down her scythe onto Orson's back. The tip of the scythe buried itself into the boy's torso, dislodging bones and tearing muscles like taffy. It turned out that the fight lasted much shorter than many had hoped. Now, only female tributes remained.
Orson Tipspin, District 10 Male: 4th, Killed by Henna, Day 16
Day 17 passed deathless as the final three milled about. Enobaria was attacked by a fierce ibex mutt at dawn. She managed to kill it, but only after it had driven its horn a good half inch into her leg. Enobaria stayed still for the rest of the day, applying Capitol medicines to the leg wound and praying that it would heal in time for the finale. Henna practiced for the finale. First, she practiced with only her scythe, then only her sword, then both together. She had plenty of water to drink and food to eat and wasn't worrying about dehydration or hunger in the slightest. Bernadette tried to find another camel to make friends with, but her mentor sent her a note that it was too late in the games and that she was coming off as childish. Bernadette began her walk to the cornucopia, figuring that she might as well get a head start ahead of whatever threat the gamemakers would send her way to drive her toward the finale.
A canon shot shattered the still of the hot desert on the morning of Day 18. Henna had been walking to the horn when she had walked by a sleeping Enobaria. Henna crept toward Enobaria, ready to kill her swiftly in her sleep, but she clumsily fell to the ground and cursed. Enobaria bolted awake and sprang to her feet. She started toward Henna, already reaching for her first throwing knife. Henna tried to get to her feet, but it was no use. Her legs were in too much pain. She had clumsily dropped both of her weapons in her descent. Henna held her arm in front of her face as Enobaria threw her first knife. The knife landed in her arm, and Henna pulled the limb away, gasping and hyperventilating as blood poured from the gash.
Enobaria smiled very delicately and threw her second knife. The girl was in too much pain to put up any defense, and the knife buried itself into her calf. Enobaria stood by and watched smugly as her fifth victim bled out over the course of two hours, dying just short of the finale.
Henna Forte, District 7 Female: 3rd, Killed by Enobaria, Day 18
On Day 19, sandstorms started in the north and south. Bernadette was in the north, and Enobaria was in the south, and the storms drove them together. They had to keep running as fast as their legs could carry them or else the storms would consume them (these sandstorms were slow enough to be outrun at a fast sprint). The two tributes spotted each other from the tops of two hills at noon, and they ran toward each other. The finale was here.
Bernadette had his knife in one of his hands, while Enobaria clutched one throwing knife in each hand. While Enobaria was rather seriously wounded from the ibex attack of two days prior, she was still the better fighter of the pair. This equaled the duo out rather fairly. However, Enobaria was still a trained killer, and Bernadette was just the offspring of a rich merchant father and poor seamstress back in District 8. Enobaria struck first, and Bernadette barely had time to deflect. Her next few blows were powerful, one of which disarmed Bernadette of her knife. She was defenseless.
Enobaria threw her entire body weight on top of Bernadette, crushing her to the ground. The 2 girl knelt over Bernadette's blood-lathered form, and the rest is history. Seizing Bernadette by the head, she brought her throat to her face and sank her teeth into her skin, biting down so savagely that her scream was already muffled by the squishing sound of blood. Enobaria ripped into her muscles with the same savagery with which she had consumed her animal kills over the almost three-week-long games. Holding Bernadette's flesh firmly between her two rows of teeth, Enobaria tugged back her head, tearing out Bernadette's throat. She spit out the chunk of flesh just as the symphony of trumpets began blaring across the arena.
Bernadette Sam, District 8 Female: 2nd, Killed by Enobaria, Day 19
"Enobaria Rigatti of District 2, you are the victor of the sixty-second annual Hunger Games!" Claudius and Caesar sang. Claudius looked a little disappointed, while Caesar was over the moon, as he had liked Enobaria whereas Claudius had favored Bernadette.
Enobaria smiled wide, displaying her rows of bloodstained teeth for all to see.
Enobaria Rigatti, District 2 Female: Victor of the Sixty-Second Hunger Games, Day 19
AFTERMATH
Enobaria was rejoiced in District 2. The district now had sixteen victors, and there were no signs of their stopping in sight. She would go on to mentor many District 2 tributes, many of which were just as ruthless and adventurous as she was. The Capitol loved her for her move of tearing out Bernadette's throat, and it would go down as one of the most iconic kills in Hunger Games history.
She moved into the Victor's Village of District 2, the sixteenth victor to do so.
Enobaria's victory tour was nothing out of the ordinary. District 8's citizens gave her the cold shoulder, of course, but that was to be expected.
Enobaria would live to the age of ninety-two, passing away from cancer four and three-fourths moths after the one-hundred thirty-seventh annual Hunger Games. She would go on to credit her longevity to being brave and adventurous as well as exercising regularly. Enobaria would become headmistress of District 2's academy, and she would never marry nor have children, always claiming the academy was enough for her. She would also have her teeth cosmetically filed into fangs and inlaid with gold, making her a menacing sight to behold for many a district citizen and Capitolite alike.
NEWS
Enobaria moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, the sixteenth to do so.
Ruby Rayfuse marries his fiancée, a nice lady named Lace Calzone.
Lily Eckel gives birth to her fourth child, a healthy boy she calls Sprout.
Mason Kittridge has his second son Rockson.
Cecelia Rieffel gets married to her fiancé of eight months, Strapson Irving.
Brandi Coyne, the victor of the eighth annual Hunger Games, dies from skin cancer.
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)
56HG: Sally Vasilia (#6, District 5)
57HG: Mason Kittridge (#14, District 2)
58HG: Margaret Cartmill (#1, District 10)
59HG: Tiger Sterne (#8, District 1)
60HG: Cecelia Rieffel (#2, District 8)
61HG: Valerie Easton (#15, District 2)
62HG: Enobaria Rigatti (#16, District 2)
