THE SEVENTY SECOND ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Animal Attraction"
INTRODUCTION
The seventy-first Hunger Games was not a games to forget; with sixteen bloodbath survivors, plenty of twists and turns, and a cunning, likeable victor, it had been one of the most thrilling games yet in many opinions. As a direct result, many were eager for the young and lively Celesta Mirthe to lead the games for another year. To the Capitol's disappointment, however, Celesta retired after only one year in the position. The seventy-first games had been such a masterpiece that she didn't want to risk touching it, and even so she didn't like the risk of "mysterious disappearance" that came with having the job for any lengthy period of time. After her retirement, her second-in-command, the cunning and mysterious Seneca Crane, stepped up to the games throne, ruling over the minor gamemakers and dominating the design of the seventy-second's arena. Complete with light bluish-gray eyes, dark hair, and intricately-styled facial hair, Seneca was one of the most intriguing head gamemakers yet, to say the least, and he was a man who liked smaller bloodbaths that left plenty of survivors to be messed around with afterward. President Coriolanus Snow ruled the nation for another year with an iron grip that led even the bravest of district rebels cowering in fear. After two years, the murder of his wife Magnolia Asher was still unsolved. Only one new piece of evidence came about—a trace of a strange substance on an ornate crystal hair-comb in her purse. Upon later investigation, the chemical was found to be a bit of stray makeup that had found its way into her hair and onto the comb in turn. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith returned as the hosts, and the charismatic duo could lighten the mood anywhere and make anyone laugh. Around the time of the seventy-second games, the two started up a daily talk show, where they discussed everything from the latest gossip about victors to speculations about future games to coverage of past Hunger Games, and their charisma was enough to make all of their viewers eagerly await Hunger Games season like children waited for Christmas.
After the insanity of the disjointed three-member pack of the year prior, the careers were back to normal for the time being. District 1's tributes were both sexy and tantalizing and rather skilled. The boy, Amazingus Fantasticness, was the first of the three Fantasticness siblings to compete in the games. Like his siblings, he was taller and more slender but still very handsome, and he was a renowned model who starred in many Capitol ads. The female was shier than most but was stunningly beautiful, and she had an enthralling sense of mystery plaguing her that intrigued many. District 2 put on the most stellar showing, determined to impress after the embarrassing slip-up of the 2 pair from the year prior. The male was a stunning dark-skinned boy who lifted weights, and he had a charming smile and a warm laugh that made the sponsors swoon. He was also one of the few openly LGBT tributes. Meanwhile, the girl was more laid-back and unconventional, and she was always one who liked to tell jokes and lighten the mood. She was also a legacy tribute, the daughter of Victor Nolan Wrack. District 4 put on a varied showing. The boy was the youngest this year at only sixteen, but he still packed a punch; he was one of the fastest swimmers District 4 had seen in ages, and he had the surfer look that Capitolites craved. His district partner, his senior by one year, had some of the largest muscles of a female tribute in history, and she was rather masculine and only considered particularly attractive by a few. The training scores of the pack were nothing special: three tens, two nines, and an eight.
There were five memorable outlier tributes this time around. Two fraternal twins, Maple and Sequoia from 7, were reaped. They allied prior to the games, hoping that the arena this year had something to do with trees, which would be their element. The two were nearly indistinguishable except for the length of their hair, and even their own mother sometimes had difficulty telling them apart. Two of the outliers scored eights, the highest scores of the year. Indre from 3 was much tougher than the rest of her rich family, and she was almost flawlessly skilled with the entire array of survival skills, from fire starting to water purifying to edible bugs. She was also quite muscular and an avid user of knives. Bentley from 6 had darker hair and eyes that hinted toward his heavy Asian heritage, a new look for 6 and a stark contrast to their usual crop of brown-haired, freckled kids. Spears were his style. Five sevens were earned outside of the pack: Cartier from 5, Maple and Sequoia from 7, and Markos and Roxan from 10. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. Another standout came from District 9: A profane gangster named Nestor was reaped, and knowing he was pretty much resigned to death in the games he spent his last few days cussing off the careers and the other tributes he didn't like. Another point of curiosity this year was the ages of the tributes: not a single tribute younger than fifteen was sent into the games, though this was from sheer coincidence more than anything. The words "I volunteer as tribute" weren't heard anywhere other than the career districts. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Amazingus Fantasticness, 18, (9) 6-1 and Sephora Robert, 18, (10) 4-1
District 2: Remus Daley, 17, (10) 3-1 and Odette Wrack, 16, (9) 7-1
District 3: Huxley Reeves, 15, (4) 39-1 and Indre Cubbard, 16, (8) 10-1
District 4: Niles Howell, 16, (8) 11-1 and Caylee Gray, 17, (10) 4-1
District 5: Cartier Morrison, 18, (7) 15-1 and Audrey Stone, 15, (3) 57-1
District 6: Bentley Robinson, 18, (8) 9-1 and Gianne Keller, 17, (5) 24-1
District 7: Maple Canopies, 18, (7) 13-1 and Sequoia Canopies, 18, (7) 14-1
District 8: Azlon Garrett, 15, (5) 26-1 and Atasia Moore, 18, (5) 23-1
District 9: Nestor Cunningham, 16, (4) 35-1 and Ginette Watkins, 16, (4) 36-1
District 10: Markos Foiled, 17, (7) 15-1 and Roxan Matthews, 18, (7) 14-1
District 11: Bryce Pittman, 16, (3) 52-1 and Olive Riley, 15, (5) 25-1
District 12: Randall Hudson, 18, (6) 21-1 and Talielle Frazier, 15, (4) 29-1
HGBO Bets: 15% on Remus, 12% on Sephora and Caylee, 8% on Amazingus and Odette, 5% on Niles, 4% on Indre and Bentley, 3% on Maple and Sequoia, 2% on Cartier, Markos, and Roxan, 1% or less on Huxley, Audrey, Gianne, Azlon, Atasia, Nestor, Ginette, Bryce, Olive, Randall, and Talielle.
THE GAMES
The arena this year was an extremely complicated one, but ambitious was Seneca Crane's middle name, and he was willing to throw a little risk into the mix in order to have a thrilling first games. In essence, the tributes found themselves in a zoo that looked to have been abandoned for a hundred years. The gift shop served as the cornucopia; it was a circular brick building with several entrances, and inside the shelves were lined with food and water and everything else that would bring life in the arena. The gift shop was the only thing completely in-tact in the arena. Everything else was rundown and many of the buildings had even collapsed. The aquarium was to the north; it looked like it had once been an enormous glass building, but had since shattered, flooding the area around, and it was hot and muggy and not a very great place to live. The tropical rain-forest region was to the east; it was modeled after a jungle, with tall trees that had papery bark winding their way into the sky. The south was the African savannah, an expansive grassland where temperatures could reach the hundreds. There were also several broken-down safari vehicles that held water in cloth thermoses and binoculars. Finally, the west was home to the arctic animals of the zoo; temperatures were freezing, and cold lakes were inhabited by penguin and salmon. Polar bear mutts were everywhere, but despite their intimidating appearance they would pose no threat to the tributes unless they were bothering their young. With the aquarium, jungle, savannah, and arctic all meshed together in a such a small space, it was one of the most hectic arenas yet; a thrilling Hunger Games seemed almost unavoidable this year.
As the countdown dwindled, the cameras showed a sweeping aerial shot of the four different climates of the zoo and some of the wildlife within. The arena had been completed just in time for the games, and it had been perfectly crafted without being confusing or overdone; Seneca was confident his first games would be one to remember. When the gong rang, two tributes fled from the get-go: Gianne from 6 and Atasia from 8. The other tributes didn't want to risk having to survive with only their bare hands and decided to head into the bloodbath.
Remus led the charge this year, the fastest career tribute by a wide margin. Surprisingly, the dark-haired 12 boy was able to match his pace. The career threw open the door of the gift shop and thundered inside. He swept up two machetes and turned sharply on his heel. The 12 boy ran right into the knives, and he staggered to the ground, face morphing into an expression of agony as blood dripped out of his mouth and nose.
Randall Hudson, District 12 Male: 24th, Killed by Remus, Bloodbath
Niles was the next career to arm himself; despite lacking in some areas, he was an incredibly fast sprinter. The boy grabbed a spear and pounced toward a boy who was perusing the wooden shelves of the gift shop, stuffing supplies into his pack at his leisure. He was knocked off of his feet from the force of Niles' blow, and he shoved his spear into his chest with so much force that the point protruded from his back.
Huxley Reeves, District 3 Male: 23rd, Killed by Niles, Bloodbath
Seneca hadn't been planning to supply any tridents in the horn, but had decided to make an exception for Caylee. The muscular and masculine-looking 4 girl locked her fingers around the only trident in the gift shop, turning it slightly to watch it glisten in a beam of sunlight through an open window. A nearby outlier screamed as the prongs dug into her chest, and Caylee quickly threw a cloth onto her pool of blood to keep it from spreading too much before heading off in pursuit of more victims.
Talielle Frazier, District 12 Female: 22nd, Killed by Caylee, Bloodbath
Amazingus snatched a hatchet from a shelf in a dark corner of the gift shop, and he turned around at a shuffling sound. The youngest tribute in these games had grabbed two knives and had been attempting to ambush the 1 boy and eliminate competition early. Amazingus just smirked delicately and swung the blade of the axe into her side. She was gone in moments.
Audrey Stone, District 5 Female: 21st, Killed by Amazingus, Bloodbath
Remus made his second kill. As he surveyed the quickly emptying gift shop, he noticed a younger girl sweeping the entire contents of one of the shelves into a green pack she'd hastily unzipped. The career approached, and she whirled around just as Remus' machetes entered her chest. He tore the blades out of her abdomen messily, drawing even more blood, and in seconds her heart stopped beating.
Ginette Watkins, District 9 Female: 20th, Killed by Remus, Bloodbath
Odette, wielding a sword, had been stalking an outlier boy around the gift shop for half a minute or so when he started for the exit. He turned the handle, but then Odette leapt out of nowhere, knocking him to the ground. The door opened up, and the two rolled outside, where the 2 girl quickly triumphed with a stab of her sword.
Azlon Garrett, District 8 Male: 19th, Killed by Odette, Bloodbath
On the other side of the gift shop, Caylee scared two allied district partners into a corner with her trident, and Sephora joined in on the fun. The career girls started teasingly back and forth in front of them, and it was only when they started to make an effort to fight back that they actually went in for the kills, Sephora digging her arrows into the boy's chest and Caylee's trident working its way into the girl's lower torso.
Bryce Pittman, District 11 Male: 18th, Killed by Sephora, Bloodbath
Olive Riley, District 11 Male: 17th, Killed by Caylee, Bloodbath
The rest of Day 1 was deathless. The careers, their pack unbroken unlike some other years, went about their business. As had become typical of District 1 tributes in recent years, Amazingus and Sephora stayed close together and engaged in casual conversation as they sorted rations. Sephora was one of the most mysterious tributes 1 had seen in ages, and whenever she talked it was always spacey and she always had a dreamy glint in her eyes. Niles sat in a corner of the gift shop, pretending to be sorting rations but not really doing anything. The stress of the games was getting to him like it did to many tributes, even careers—he was beginning to question whether his moral compass permitted killing tributes, and he was growing unsure of his decision to volunteer into the games. Odette and Caylee started moving supplies from the outer shelves to the center of the gift shop, where they sat to be sorted later. Meanwhile, Remus, the strongest career, was doing a quick hunt of the areas right outside the gift shop. As temperatures were high, he brought lots of water, but when he spilled his thermos he figured it would be best to return to the horn as opposed to risking it out in the heat without a trustworthy water source. Upon his return, the pack went on their first hunt, minus Odette, who guarded the gift shop.
The outliers scattered across the arena, heading in all four directions. Indre escaped north with two spears and a small box of iodine pellets that jingled in her pocket. The muggy desolated aquarium section of the zoo wasn't easy to bear, but Indre was a strong girl. She scooped some of the water into a red plastic cup she found in a half-flooded trash bin, and she dropped the iodine tablets into it before bed, letting the chemical do its magic over the night. Cartier didn't have much from the horn, only a butter-yellow pack that contained a throwing knife and a bit of jam. He moved to the savannah, and he found a watering hole where he quickly fell asleep after greedily quenching his thirst. Bentley fled into the overgrown jungle with the twin spears he'd managed from the horn. Around noon, he tripped and fell into a pile of glass shards from a rundown animal enclosure. The 6 boy did manage to pull all the shards out of his skin, but he didn't want to risk moving around anymore and rested with his feet in a small pond with cool leaves layered over the rest of his body. Gianne fled screaming into the arctic wasteland from the second the gong sounded, traumatized by all the carnage she knew was taking place behind her back. When she was able to calm down, she miraculously managed to snatch a salmon out of a cold lake. She killed it with a rock, and an impressed sponsor sent her a bit of salt to preserve it once she collapsed in a slightly-warmer-than-the-outside cave for the night. Maple and Sequoia settled in the tropical rainforest, glad that at least part of the arena featured trees—being from 7, trees were their element. While Maple splintered apart the trunks of a few trees for material to build shelter, Sequoia gathered a basketful of edible cocoa beans for her and her twin brother to eat later. Atasia had been venturing through the savannah for a good three hours when she discovered one of the broken-down safari vehicles. She found a backpack of rope and a fresh peach in the glove compartment, and she slept crouched down in the abandoned vehicle once darkness fell. Nestor, the gangster boy from 9, waded agonizingly through the waist-high floodwaters of the aquarium as fish that were every color of the rainbow swam around him. He eventually found a restroom that was elevated by a few steps, and the inside was one of the only dry places in the north sector of the zoo. Markos and Roxan, the tributes from 10, had allied prior to the games. After two games in a row that utilized flooding to kill tributes and drive them together, they were paranoid and wanted to get to high ground where floodwaters would have a hard time reaching them. They both had knives amongst scant food and water stores, and Markos and Roxan collapsed at the end of the day at the crest of a hill that overlooked the windswept savannah. Peace largely reigned supreme as day turned into night.
Day 2 was much of the same. Most of the tributes had fallen into their daily routines already. The careers trekked through the windswept savannah from dawn to dusk. While there wasn't any in-fighting in the pack, it was extremely difficult to maintain order with a group so large. Remus and Caylee, those with the highest scores, decided to metaphorically split-up the pack; Remus was to watch over Amazingus and Odette (though she was guarding the horn at the time so she wasn't to be worried about) while Caylee was to keep Sephora and Niles whipped into shape. Around noon on the second day, Niles was more fretful and leery than ever. At random times he would suddenly stop talking and moving, almost like he had to restart his body every hour or so. Niles was extremely conflicted about whether or not his moral compass allowed him to do the things he was doing, and he was more unsure than ever about his decision to volunteer into the games. Surprisingly, his district partner Caylee gave him a fair bit of emotional support; despite the two-point difference in their scores, Caylee whispered Niles words of comfort and helped him out with his chores out of district loyalty.
The rest of the day passed swiftly. Bentley had an incident later in the day when a duo of jaguar mutts attacked the crude log structure he had assembled. He woke up screaming as one of them ran its rough and slobbery tongue down his leg, and he grabbed his twin spears. Despite still healing from the glass cut wounds he'd sustained on Day 1, he made an admirable effort to scare off the mutts, and he succeeded. It was half an hour before the jaguars took the hint and retreated. As soon as their flicking yellow tails were out of sight, Bentley moved from the tropical rainforest to the aquarium, unsure if he could survive any further mutt attacks from the jungle creatures.
The only other incident to transpire before the day was out occurred mere minutes before nightfall. Atasia had left the broken-down safari vehicle at dawn and wandered aimless through the savannah for nearly twelve hours. She yelped and screamed bloody murder as her foot landed in something thick and gooey—quicksand. Atasia struggled to get out, but the quicksand held her in place like chains bound to her feet. She finally managed to wrestle her way to shore, and she was so exhausted she fell asleep and didn't wake up until noon the next day. When she did wake up, it was from the three cannon shots that fired in rapid succession.
The hunting party of five broke camp at daybreak and commenced their hunt after a quick breakfast. Sephora and Amazingus were a little peeved at how useless they felt—they both felt as if Remus only cared about himself and Caylee only cared about herself and the sniveling Niles. As such, they turned to each other for validation, and their chatting was far louder and more energetic than was considered ordinary for any two people.
The strong, allied duo of Roxan and Markos from 10 were woken up by the loud chatting of Amazingus and Sephora. Markos sprang to his feet but immediately fell back down; the pack was about thirty yards away, and if they were very quick and stealthy they might be able to escape. Markos gently shook Roxan awake and alerted her to the seriousness of the situation. Immediately, the 10s hid their supplies and scuttled west like crabs, making every attempt to keep the levels of their bodies below that of the tall grass so they wouldn't be seen.
Of course, they couldn't make it far. Remus pointed out their stupidly sidewinding forms, and in a fraction of a second himself and the other four hunters had broken into runs. Abandoning all attempts to remain unseen, Markos and Roxan sprang to their feet, darting toward safety. Roxan, the faster runner of the two, sprinted from the scene without looking back. After nearly twenty minutes, she collapsed near a small watering hole, thinking she was safe. What she didn't know was that Amazingus and Sephora had split off of the pack to follow her while the rest of the careers followed Markos. Roxan took a sip from the watering hole, and when she saw the reflections of the 1s standing over her she didn't even have time to scream. Two of Sephora's arrows had been lodged into her back, and as her blood squirted from her body Amazingus finished her with his hatchet.
Roxan Matthews, District 10 Female: 16th, Killed by Sephora and Amazingus, Day 3
About half a kilometer away, Markos was fleeing for his life as Remus, Caylee, and Niles chased after him (Niles falling behind the others, only joining in on the chase because he knew he'd be kicked from the pack or worse if he didn't). The 10 boy was a fast runner, but of course he couldn't flee forever. When the careers began to grow tired, Markos dove sideways, wriggling down into the dry savannah soil as if he could sink into the earth and hide until they went away. He was screaming as soon as Caylee's trident had entered his chest, and the 4 girl wore a delicate smile as she tore out the prongs, ready to go in for the kill.
About a hundred yards away at the gift shop, Odette heard Markos' screams. She knew it was stupid, but she sprinted toward them. It was just some outlier who had fallen into a hole or something. All she needed to do was polish them off and then go back to what she was doing like nothing had happened. Big mistake.
Odette arrived at the scene in minutes. Instead of killing him quickly, Remus and Caylee had been circling Markos like vultures, wanting to impress the sponsors a little before ending his life. Finally, hands clamped to the open gashes on his torso, Markos climbed agonizingly to his feet. At that exact moment, Odette ran right into him, toppling him to the ground like a domino. Not recognizing her, Caylee buried her trident straight into the back of Odette's neck. It was only after her cannon fired and the blood stopped flowing from her body that Caylee realized she had killed a fellow career. Victor Nolan Wrack's daughter was not going to follow in her dad's footsteps.
Odette Wrack, District 2 Female: 15th, Killed by Caylee, Day 3
Meanwhile, Markos was struggling to wiggle out from underneath the 2 girl's dead body. Blood was splashing around him in torrents, though he could barely see it because of the black dots in his vision as a result of the blood loss and organ failure. He was gone in moments. Remus and Caylee left the scene to find Amazingus and Sephora, and Niles trailed behind, crying into his shirt sleeve.
Markos Foiled, District 10 Male: 14th, Killed by Caylee, Day 3
The disjointed career pack journeyed to the horn soon after finding each other. Amazingus and Sephora were as talkative as ever; their back-and-forth conversation consequently tried the nerves of Remus, who shushed them and said some not-so-nice things about how annoying they were being. Remus wasn't a mean person in principle, but he was sour at the time; he saw himself as the pack leader, yet Caylee had more kills than him, and he was bursting with envy.
Day 4 was much less eventful. The careers spent the entire day at the horn, sorting supplies and catching up on sleep. Every hour Niles was growing more and more fretful to the point that even Caylee couldn't calm him. He would sometimes disappear for hours at a time just to cry before showing back up and refusing to talk to the others. He was the weak link in the pack, but the only reason he wasn't dead yet was that he wasn't needed—with so many pack members still alive, one or possibly two members could slack off and there wouldn't be much difference in the group's efficiency. Niles would be in for a terrible fate when their numbers dwindled and more and more pressure was put on his shoulders, and he dreaded that day.
After fleeing the jaguar mutts on Day 2, Bentley had been running on and off for the entirety of the third day, and now on the fourth day he discovered one of the broken-down safari vehicles. Any other tribute would have taken the supplies inside and left, but being from 6 Bentley had a plan. At first he used mere sticks and stones to do his work, and when sponsors caught on to what he was doing they sent him a cart of wrenches and tools to help him out. He had opened the hood of the vehicle and was now connecting wires and replacing old pieces. In mere hours, Bentley was almost completely sure he had fixed the vehicle. He wanted to wait until the next day to test it because he was exhausted from all the work, and the Capitol had to wait on the edges of their seats for a little bit while Bentley caught up on well-deserved sleep.
In the tropical rainforest, allies Maple and Sequoia had a close scrape with death. They had split apart to hunt for food when a bored Maple threw a rock upward, hitting the trunk of a tall, thin tree. What he didn't know was that the tree was inhabited by a dozen sleeping toucan mutts with razor-sharp beaks. Maple screamed and staggered away from the agitated toucan mutts, making a beeline for the safety of the duo's wooden shelter. Half a mile away, Sequoia heard his screams and ran to his side, only for half of the flock to break off and follow her. The twins from District 7 tore into their shelter five minutes later and held the entrance closed until the flock left, and even then they stayed inside for several minutes in case there were any stragglers.
Meanwhile, in the arctic wasteland, a certain Gianne Keller was not very happy. She was beginning to seriously regret her decision to skip the bloodbath; she was on the verge of death from both starvation and hypothermia; the only thing holding her back from tumbling over the precipice was the fish that she caught in the stream by her cave shelter. Despite lacking in many other areas, Gianne had an extremely swift hand and could catch almost any fish as she saw fit. It she kept up her inactivity, however, the gamemakers would have no choice but to do something with her, and there was a good chance that something wouldn't be a good thing for the girl.
In the early morning of Day 5, a kill was made. Despite being the outlier with one of the highest scores, Indre from 3 had remained almost completely inactive for the first four days of the games; she didn't want to make such a splash in the first few days that the others would paint a target onto her back. Now that the tribute count had dwindled to thirteen, though, Indre felt comfortable starting to bump off tributes. She packed up her supplies, including her red plastic cup that she used for water purification, and traipsed into the thick of the hot, muggy aquarium.
It wasn't long before Indre spotted her first victim. The gangster boy from 9 had left the bathroom he'd been living inside of for a few days to relieve himself when Indre came into view (the toilets inside didn't work, or he'd have just gone inside). Nestor zipped up his pants and scrambled into the safety of the bathroom, thinking he had remained unseen. But Indre followed behind him, and he was cornered. The boy tore the moldy toilet seat out of one of the stalls and hurled it at the 3 girl, but she easily ducked out of the way. Nestor was ultimately helpless as the girl buried her two spears into his chest. After his death, Indre shoved his body outside so it could be collected and then took over the bathroom as her new home.
Nestor Cunningham, District 9 Male: 13th, Killed by Indre, Day 5
The morning of Day 6, Niles from 4 finally broke away from the pack. He'd lied awake the entire night crying and decided he just couldn't bear to be around Sephora, Amazingus, Remus, and Caylee, whom he saw as heartless, cold-blooded killers, any longer. Before the others awoke, Niles grabbed a few supplies and sprinted away from the gift shop, moving for the comforting darkness of the tropical rainforest.
The rest of Day 6 was uneventful. The careers awoke to the realization that Niles was gone, and they all had varying reactions. Caylee was distraught at the loss of her little district partner, and she didn't do much for most of the day. Remus used this as a foothold to climb his way back up to the title of pack leader; with Caylee refusing to carry out most of her duties as co-leader, Remus was responsible for everything, and he liked the feeling of being in power. For most of the morning, Niles fled to the tropical rainforest, and at noon he found a village of small earthen cabins that smelled sweet. Niles' grandmother was from the Capitol, and she sponsored him a loaf of District 4 bread that he munched on anxiously. Indre had grown in popularity after killing Nestor the day prior, and a sponsor sent her a grappling hook, which came in useful to drag herself around particularly thick and swampy regions of the aquarium. Cartier, the least popular tribute left in these games, finally exhausted the jam supply in his butter-yellow pack, and he was forced to go hunting. He settled next to a different watering hole, hoping that prey would come to him. Bentley had completely repaired the broken-down safari vehicle by dawn on the sixth day, and he was eager to start driving it. To his pleasure, the thing roared to life and began chugging over the savannah the second he turned the key. In the arctic, Gianne was beginning to turn blue from hypothermia, and even eating dozens of fish each day couldn't keep her warm. She could have just moved to the nearby tropical rainforest, but hypothermia was preventing her from thinking straight. Maple and Sequoia, now the most popular outliers after their epic escape of the toucan mutts, started hunting with their hatchets, wanting to thin the crowd of tributes and end the games faster. They didn't find any tributes, however (they were the only ones in the tropical rainforest quadrant of the zoo) and they returned to their trusty shelter at nightfall. Atasia was paranoid out of her wits after nearly dying in quicksand a few days previously. Wherever she walked, she always darted her eyes back and forth as if trying to spot anything trying to "sneak up on her".
And the next day, somebody did sneak up on her: Bentley from 6. The 6 boy was driving his renovated safari vehicle casually through the savannah when he spotted a flash of Atasia's fiery red hair, and it was this that spelled her doom. If she'd kept her hair covered, the girl might have had time to scramble to a place where Bentley couldn't see her. Bentley revved the vehicle up to top speed and chased after the 8 girl, and she fled screaming. She was overtaken by her killer in seconds. It took all of his willpower to keep from vomiting as the vehicle ran over her body, flattening her limbs instantly and pressing them into the dirt. If she had been carrying anything useful on her, Bentley never knew; he didn't want to stay around the girl's dead body any longer than he had to and chose to leave quickly.
Atasia Moore, District 8 Female: 12th, Killed by Bentley, Day 7
In the arctic quadrant of the arena, Gianne was nearing death. She was growing loopy from hypothermia and that made it much harder to catch the fish that had kept her alive since the beginning of the games. It was all she could do to cower in the pitiful cave that was her home as the seventh day melted into the eighth, watching as frostbite turned her fingers blue then black, hoping that death would take her quickly.
As Gianne clung onto life, chaos was ensuing on the other side of the arena. The portion of the pack that was hunting (Amazingus, Sephora, and Remus) were resting near a watering hole in the savannah. What they didn't know was that they had trespassed on the territory of a fierce lion mutt, and it would be furious when it came home. The golden-maned beast returned to its watering hole at dawn holding a multitude of small animals in its maw. Its first growl of fury as it spotted the careers was loud enough to wake all three of them at once, and they scrambled for their weapons, nervously assembling in the cool morning air as the lion mutt grew closer and closer.
The lion mutt made the first move, leaping forward and lashing out with its left paw. Amazingus screamed as the mutt pounced onto him, and there was nothing he could do as it tore him to shreds. Sephora fell back, distraught at the sight of her best friend being mauled to death. When the 1 boy's cannon sounded, the lion mutt drew away. The first of the Fantasticness siblings had been cut to ribbons in a matter of seconds.
Amazingus Fantasticness, District 1 Male: 11th, Killed by Lion Muttation, Day 8
"Leave my land. You're not welcome here."
Sephora and Remus whipped their heads around, searching for the owner of the gruff voice. But the voice was coming from the lion mutt. As it opened its maw, the words poured out, low and husky and filled with rage. It was the first non-human mutt in games history capable of human speech.
Sephora began formulating a response, but Remus silenced her. As it turned out, the 2 boy wasn't just strong. He was dangerously clever, and he had the perfect plan to eliminate the lion mutt.
"What's your name?" Remus asked.
"I am the Grand Lion," it said. "Men have feared me for centuries. My hide is impenetrable by even the sharpest spear. Your weapons will bounce off of me like stones. And you have trespassed on my land. Savor your last few seconds on Earth." Remus raised his eyebrows, and Sephora fell back in confusion. But Remus wasn't confused. He had a plan. "Really?" the career boy said matter-of-factly. "You don't seem that intimidating."
The Grand Lion roared so loudly that the earth seemed to tremble, and even Remus covered his ears. But he was resilient. "How dare you offend the Grand Lion?" it roared.
"Hey, hey, hey," Remus said. "The truth is, another lion came here before you. He had no respect for you, the Grand Lion. He wanted to fight you to prove you were no stronger than him. But he couldn't stay. So he told us to tell you what he truly thought."
"Where is this other lion now?" roared the Grand Lion. "I will not stop until he is dead."
Remus smirked. "He's in the lake."
And the Grand Lion peered into the watering hole, and sure enough saw his reflection in the glassy surface. The Grand Lion bared his teeth, and so did his reflection—the other lion. In moments, the Grand Lion had dove into the lake, wrestling with the water as if attempting to strangle its own reflection. Sephora and Remus watched earnestly as the mutt drowned itself. Soon after its death, the duo returned to the gift shop, Remus in the front and the traumatized Sephora trailing behind.
Moments after the Grand Lion's death, another life was lost. Gianne had been clinging onto life for several painful hours, but she couldn't survive much longer than that in the bitter chill of the arctic. Her last words were unintelligible, and they would never be deciphered.
Gianne Keller, District 6 Female: 10th, Killed by Hypothermia, Day 8
Day 9 almost outdid Day 8. Starting very early in the morning, heavy rains began to fall onto the arena. The dark clouds started over the aquarium before spreading over the entire zoo arena, and with the first crash of the thunder the rains began pummeling down like bullets. Niles was quiet once more after crying almost continuously for several days, and he watched out of the glassless window of his cozy jungle hut as it rained outside. The gamemakers did a bit of research on Niles and found that his mother and father were Hunger Games fanatics who had been abusing him since an early age to "shape him up" for the games and had been forcing him to train daily against his will. The Capitol mostly kept Niles around for his sob story, but even that armor couldn't shield him for long unless he made a splash sooner than later.
In the savannah quadrant, Bentley was going on another casual ride in his safari vehicle when the dark clouds rolled in. He just shrugged and kept humming his tradition District 6 tune to himself, not bothered in the slightest by the rainfall. Half an hour later, the wheel landed in a puddle, splashing water upward and into the vehicle. Bentley cried out and reeled backward, inadvertently tugging the steering wheel sharply to one side. Bentley and the safari vehicle were sent careening down a forty-five degree slope. The 6 boy screamed and held onto the seat for dear life, and the car landed in a field of quicksand moments later. In seconds, the vehicle was sinking, and it was going fast. As the front seats began to flood with quicksand, Bentley fought his way to the back. He started panicking when he realized the doors weren't working. He broke a window with one of his spears and fought his way out just as the safari car was fully submerged. After the incident, Bentley fought his way through the rain to a small cave, which would be his new home until he found somewhere cozier to stay.
When the careers decided the time was ripe to start hunting again, Caylee volunteered to go out by herself. There was a constant, neck-and-neck battle between Caylee and Remus for the position of pack leader, and the 4 girl desperately wanted to take any opportunity she could to surpass the feats of the 2 boy. Remus and Sephora were both exhausted and didn't really complain; Caylee promptly left the horn, heading for the tropical rainforest.
It was less than an hour before she stumbled across the well-made wooden shelter of Sequoia and Maple Canopies. The fraternal twins from 7 were broiling a variety of vegetables in a silver pot they'd been sponsored. Caylee was drawn to the scent of the broiling soup like a fly to a sugar bowl, and as the well-camouflaged shelter came into sight a delicate grin plastered itself onto her pretty face. Maple and Sequoia shrieked with horror as Caylee burst into their hut, and they banged at the back wall, trying to break out. Sequoia had just managed to punch out a hole big enough to fit through when Caylee buried the prongs of her trident into her neck. Sequoia moaned and gurgled sickeningly, falling onto the ground with her arms outstretched beside her horrified brother.
Sequoia Canopies, District 7 Female: 9th, Killed by Caylee, Day 9
The final eight had been formed: Sephora Robert from District 1, Remus Daley from District 2, Indre Cubbard from District 3, Niles Howell and Caylee Gray from District 4, Cartier Morrison from District 5, Bentley Robinson from District 6, and Maple Canopies from District 7.
Maple did a double take, tears pooling up in his eyes at the sight of his twin sister's lifeless body, her eyes as empty as the windows of an abandoned house. Without thinking about what he was doing, he dove at Caylee, but there was of course no way he could triumph over the trained 4 girl. The cameras showed him dead, three gashes obviously made by Caylee's trident in his torso, in no time. Caylee stayed inside their shelter the rest of the day, enjoying the deliverance from the constant feeling of the cool rain on her shoulders. She only returned to the gift shop the next morning.
Maple Canopies, District 7 Male: 8th, Killed by Caylee, Day 9
Day 10 had a singular peak of excitement. Despite being the strongest tributes in the games, Sephora, Remus, and Caylee weren't without contest; they had Indre from 3 and Bentley from 6 to worry about. Both had scored eights, and since the beginning of the games they had been the pack's top threats. They'd been assuming they would both die from mutts or the like sooner or later, but both of these strong outliers had managed to evade death for ten entire days. Eventually, the pack had to metaphorically slam their fists onto the table. They had to go out and kill them themselves. Then there was Niles, who was enjoying his fourth day away from the pack in his small hut in the heart of the jungle. For all they knew, he could be pulling off some Iuna Mosier-like gambit, and they were determined to kill him soon. With three main targets and three careers, it only made sense to split for the time being. They hid many of their most treasured supplies and left the horn completely unguarded for the first time ever. They were certainly trying their luck, but they all agreed that it would be worth it if they could kill at least one or two of their three main targets.
Sephora of 1 had been assigned by her stronger allies to comb through the aquarium in search of prey. The aquarium was pretty much unanimously the worst place to be; it was so hot and muggy she could only barely breathe, and the mosquitoes were awful. To make matters worse, over the course of the games fields of algae and mold and Snow knows what else had burst into life on the surface of the water. The stench was unbearable, and she couldn't wait to just make her kill and get herself out of that forsaken place.
Mercifully, she found her victim sooner than she'd anticipated. Sephora was slogging through the waist-high water when she spotted three distinct markings in a squishy, unstable island nearby. Were those markings made by—grappling hooks? The 1 girl noticed a trail of the marks and followed them to the elevated, unflooded restroom. Indre was sleeping in one of the stalls as Sephora quietly marched inside. The 3 girl was awoken almost instantly by her footsteps, and Sephora had no idea she wasn't alone in the restroom…
In a fraction of a second, Indre pounced off of the toilet seat and grabbed onto the top of the stall, dragging herself over it and landing on the ground right next to Sephora. Sephora screamed as Indre buried her spears into her chest. The others were too far away to hear her. Reinforcements were not coming. Indre swallowed the bile that built up in her throat as she dragged the career's corpse outside to be collected by the hovercraft.
Sephora Robert, District 1 Female: 7th, Killed by Indre, Day 10
Day 11 was deathless. Remus and Caylee regrouped at the gift shop and made the official decision that with only six tributes left it was time to split. A sponsor sent them a cloth bag filled with two cubes, each one bearing one of their names. Remus drew a cube at random; he would be the one to leave the gift shop, whereas Caylee would stay behind. The 2 boy gathered up a handsome supply of weapons, food, and water and headed off into the savannah soon after.
As for the outliers, there was a lot of movement but little action. Indre was exhausted and somewhat battered from her skirmish with Sephora, and she rested in the back stall of the abandoned restroom munching on sponsor foods. After several days of inactivity and a note from his sponsor warning him that he was one of the career pack's top targets, Niles left his earthen hut and strolled aimlessly through the tropical rainforest, occasionally stopping to munch on cocoa beans. Cartier was continually "moving" around to keep from fading into the background, but he was really just tracing circles around the watering hole. He was too scared to move far away from it for fear of losing it, and besides he liked the feeling of comfort the lapping water provided. Bentley spent the day searching for a new safari vehicle after his old one sank into the quicksand, and he found one early in the morning. He took out his crate of tools and worked at the vehicle for most of the day to get it working again; it would not be finished until the next morning, but he'd gotten most of the more strenuous work done by the end of the eleventh day.
By the morning of Day 12, Niles had left the rainforest and ventured into the savannah, and at that same moment Bentley put the finishing touches on the safari car. He lugged himself and his supplies inside and revved up the engine. After about half an hour, he spotted the small Niles about a hundred feet away and started chasing after him. Despite the 4 boy's small size, he was incredibly fast, and he managed to evade being run over by Bentley despite his best efforts.
Only one death occurred before Day 12 was over. While Caylee stayed at the horn sorting weapons, her ex-ally Remus wandered through the savannah in pursuit of prey. Around four in the evening, he spotted the willowy Cartier at the base of a steep slope to his right. The outlier boy had no idea that the career boy was so near, and he was blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. Remus' gaze landed on a large boulder nearby, and he knew just what to do. Using all of the strength he could muster, Remus shoved the boulder to the top of the slope and sent it rolling down. Cartier heard the thumping of the boulder too late to be saved; he turned around just as it bowled him over, flattening him against the ground and killing him in seconds.
Cartier Morrison, District 5 Male: 6th, Killed by Remus, Day 12
Day 13 was jam-packed with excitement; it hosted a total of two deaths, reducing the tribute count from five to three. In the morning, Remus sprinted down the slope and collected all of the supplies Cartier had before he died; it wasn't much, just a throwing knife, but it was better than nothing. Temperatures in the savannah quadrant of the zoo were higher than ever, and he was longing for some shade, so he spent most of the day in a smaller cave, passing his machetes back and forth between his hands.
After Bentley had fallen asleep the night prior strapped to the seat of his safari vehicle, Niles crawled out of the small dirt hole that was his home, smiling somewhat. The tricksy boy had a clever plan; he figured he had no chance of winning the games against such tough opponents and wanted his last move to be something that would make everyone laugh. Niles followed the sound of rushing water to a stream lined with rocks. He gathered up as many of the rocks as he could and returned to Bentley's vehicle. He then piled the stones of varying color and shape around the wheels, even lodging some underneath to restrict the movement of the car even further. Once he was sure that the car wasn't going anywhere, Niles stifled a giggle, satisfied he'd been stealthy enough to keep Bentley from waking up while he executed his master plan.
As Niles turned to flee, his foot hit one of the rocks, and he cursed, falling forward onto his face. Bentley was instantly awoken, and he leapt out of the seat of the vehicle. Niles let out a bloodcurdling scream as the muscular Bentley grabbed one of the larger rocks and slammed it down into his face. There was a crunch of bone, and the boy was sent unconscious immediately. Over the course of the next few minutes, Bentley beat the pitiful boy to death. By the time he was finished, his head was a misshapen blob smeared with blood.
Niles Howell, District 4 Male: 5th, Killed by Bentley, Day 13
Moments later, another cannon sounded, and it came from the aquarium. Indre was snoozing away in the restroom when she picked up on a sickening gurgle from underneath her feet. It was a trick Seneca had been saving for the end of the games, and it was quite possibly one of the most humorous deaths in games history up to that point.
Indre sped for the exit but only made it halfway there; she froze, dumbfounded with shock, as all three of the toilets literally exploded. Shards of porcelain flew every which way; Indre held her arms in front of herself to shield her face. One of the shards missed her heart by mere inches, and another buried itself into her wrist. She didn't even have time to breathe before water started exploding out of the toilets, splashing over the floor and walls and sweeping her straight off of her feet. Indre was carried toward the exit and sent careening down a nearby slope. She was deposited with a plop in the murky water of the aquarium, and she was so panicked that she inhaled two whole lungfuls of water. Indre's passing marked the first toilet-related death in Hunger Games history, and it would not be one to forget.
Indre Cubbard, District 3 Female: 4th, Killed by Drowning, Day 13
Day 14 turned out to be the final day in the arena. The first half of the day was strangely uneventful as the final three milled about in nervous preparation for the finale. Remus left his cool cave and practiced with his machetes for much of the former half of the day; a few generous sponsors pooled together their funds to send him a bit of body armor that would deflect most minor blows. Caylee stuck around at the gift shop, practicing with her trident and several other weapons that could come in handy.
Around noon, Bentley's day went from good to bad. He'd originally had the idea in his head of cinematically driving into the finale and bowling over his final competitor, but this idea was demolished as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The air around him stank of ozone and rust. Bentley dove to the left and rolled out of the vehicle just in time. Seconds after his escape, a lightning bolt descended from the sky and blasted the car to smithereens. Bentley was far enough away that he wasn't killed, but he had come very close; he was out for nearly two hours before regaining consciousness. He moved toward the gift shop with his two spears, the only things he'd managed to escape with before his car was blown to bits.
As it turned out, Bentley wasn't the only one to be struck by lightning. Remus and Caylee received similar shocks. About two-hundred yards from the cornucopia, Remus noticed the clouds flickering above him. He knew from his training that in a lightning storm it was best to stick low to the ground. He ran for about half a minute before dropping in a ditch, and just in time; an arm of lightning slammed into the ground where he had been seconds before, and he felt his hairs stand up all over his body.
Bentley and Remus had been lucky enough to survive their lightning strikes, but the third of the three finalists was not so lucky. Caylee was relaxing contentedly inside of the gift shop when the gamemaker gods blew the building to bits. With a roof over her head, she hadn't been able to see the lightning forming. Her body was incinerated almost instantly. District 4 would not have a victor this year.
Caylee Gray, District 4 Female: 3rd, Killed by Lightning, Day 14
Remus and Bentley met up at the site of the ruined gift shop minutes later. Remus was almost completely unfazed by everything that had transpired in the past few hours, and with his machetes and a bounty of other weapons he was confident he could take down his final opponent.
While Bentley was technically conscious, being so near the lightning strike had made his brain a little fuzzy; he couldn't really speak and his movements were difficult to control.
Remus made the first blow, lashing out with both of his machetes in rapid succession, and Bentley reeled; even without complete health, he still had human instinct on his side. The 6 boy decided to take the risk of launching one of the spears, and this risk paid off—the point of the spear buried itself into Remus' shoulder, and he roared, dropping his machetes and lunging toward Bentley as blood sprayed from his shoulder.
Both tributes were defenseless, and all of the weapons that would have normally been supplied had been destroyed in the lightning strike that had also killed Caylee. Groaning slightly, Remus snatched up one of the bright-red bricks that had been thrown out by the explosion, and the rest is history, one of the most iconic finale kills in Hunger Games history. Remus slammed the brick into Bentley's head, and he let out a short mewl of pain before falling into absolute unconsciousness. Remus lifted his brick back into the air and brought it down once more with all of his earthly strength, smashing in the 6 boy's skull. He was dead from head trauma in moments.
Bentley Robinson, District 6 Male: 2nd, Killed by Remus, Day 14
"Remus Daley of District 2, you are the victor of the seventy-second annual Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius shouted, Caesar sounding happy and Claudius a little disappointed; Caesar had liked Remus whereas Claudius had favored Bentley.
Remus dropped the bricks and closed his eyes stoically, the sun gleaming across his dark skin as the hovercraft descended to collect him.
Remus Daley, District 2 Male: Victor of the Seventy-Second Hunger Games, Day 14
AFTERMATH
Remus was a district hero after winning and earning District 2 its eighteenth victor. He was considered a stereotypical career by many, but it turned out that he was cleverer than most and was shrewder and more cunning than almost any victor that had come before him. He would take the job of an entrepreneur, owning multiple businesses during his lifetime, most of which would make him a fair amount of money. He didn't really need the money; as a victor, the Capitol was always giving him enormous sums of money just for existing, so he would send much of his profits to the poor of District 2. He wasn't nearly as devoted to philanthropy as fellow victor Victor Xhang, but the two would become great friends nonetheless.
Remus settled comfortably into the Victor's Village of District 2, the eighteenth to do so.
His victory tour was okay; he was an alright public speaker who knew how to please a crowd. District 6 was furious, however—they'd been so close to victory with Bentley Robinson.
Remus would live to the age of ninety, dying from cancer around the time of the one-hundred forty-fifth annual Hunger Games. He wouldn't marry, but it seemed he had a decades-long romantic and sexual relationship with Victor Xhang. He drank huge amounts of alcohol, but not because his games traumatized him; he just like to drink. He also enjoyed smoking cigars on his porch every evening.
NEWS
Remus moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, next door to Victor's home.
Cecelia Rieffel has her third child, Oliver Rieffel.
Cashmere Linden's third child, Gild, is born.
Sapphire Waber, the victor of the second annual Hunger Games, dies of liver 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)
63HG: Gloss Linden (#9, District 1)
64HG: Cashmere Linden (#10, District 1)
65HG: Finnick Odair (#10, District 4)
66HG: Victor Xhang (#17, District 2)
67HG: Augustus Braun (#11, District 1)
68HG: Iuna Mosier (#12, District 1)
69HG: Alexander Westlake (#2, District 10)
70HG: Annie Cresta (#11, District 4)
71HG: Johanna Mason (#3, District 7)
72HG: Remus Daley (#18, District 2)
A/N: Here's Remus! I hope you can forgive me for yet another District 2 victor, but like Katniss says they do win the majority of games. And to give you a bit of perspective, this is the games Katniss watches on the train to the Capitol. And then Caesar says, "this is the moment you never forget—when a tribute becomes a victor". Apparently it's popular "fanon" that those games are the 73rd, but that conflicted with my head canon so I just had to—shift it over a bit.
Stay tuned for the 73rd, the wait for which hopefully shouldn't take nearly as long as this one. As it's the last games before the canon cut-off point, I hope I don't spoil it by making it take forever :D
