THE SEVENTY FOURTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Into the Woods"
INTRODUCTION
Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane returned for his third year. Given the ever-increasing popularity of the games, he was constantly being put under more pressure to outdo his predecessors, but Seneca was young and idealistic and didn't slow down for a second. About four months before the games were set to begin, Seneca replied to a team of paparazzi that the arena this year wouldn't be an extremely complicated one; he didn't want the games prior to the highly-anticipated third Quarter Quell to overshadow. Time would tell what twists and turns the genius minds of him and the minor gamemakers would churn out. Meanwhile, the mysterious killer that had been killing an influential woman every year since the seventy-second Hunger Games made yet another strike. Wystella Mayberry, the woman who had been designing the chariot outfits for District 2 tributes for nearly three decades, desperately called emergency services and reported hearing strange footsteps from the upper floor of her house. The call ended abruptly with Wystella's high-pitched scream. By the time emergency personnel arrived at the scene, her lifeless form had slumped itself against the wall of the bathroom she had been hiding in. The killer, whoever it was, had broken the lock of the door and created the obvious bullet hole in Wystella's chest. If you could call it a bullet hole. The bullet was nowhere to be found. Caesar and Claudius were back again as the charismatic duo commentating the games, and with the third Quarter Quell so near they were in higher spirits than ever before. Meanwhile, President Coriolanus Snow kept his iron grip as tight as ever around his domain called Panem, ensuring that the citizens of the districts stayed in line and sending his best peacekeepers to quiet rebellion wherever it sprang up.
The careers were a good-enough group this year, and they all scored well. District 1 provided their usual batch of beautiful kids. The male, Marvelous "Marvel" Fantasticness, was the third and final of the three Fantasticness brothers to compete in the Hunger Games. He was slender and lithe and very handsome, and he was quite the jokester as well. Meanwhile, the female was more of an airhead, but she did certainly have a daring nerve to her that intrigued much of the audience. Her tribute token, a jeweled ring, was found to produce a poisoned spike whenever the jewels were twisted in the proper order. She claimed she had no idea it could produce the spike, but it was confiscated anyway. District 2's tributes were both feisty and spirited, and they would undoubtedly be a formidable pair. The male was the typical all-in-it-for-the-honor career tribute, and he had a heavily sculpted upper body. He was also one of the best swordsmen the academy had seen in ages. Meanwhile, the girl had spunk to rival the Hunger Games gods, and she was ruthless and sadistic and an extremely deadly tribute despite her young age. 4 provided an okay pair, though neither of them were particularly good-looking or memorable. The male was one of the few District 4 tributes who couldn't swim, but he made up for it with his sheer speed. He was easily the fastest runner in these games, and he could sometimes be socially awkward but in a cute way. The girl, Sharka Nightengale, had a name that was quite familiar. The year prior, she'd earned the spot of volunteer, but had freaked out at the reaping and refused to shout the words. This year, the academy was willing to give her a second chance. The scores of the pack were slightly lower than average: two tens, three nines, and one eight.
This year had one of the strongest groups of outliers in ages, and with so many high-scoring tributes it seemed very possible that one of them might take home the Victor's Crown. One nine was earned. Thresh from 11 was a massive brute of a boy, nearly seven feet tall and bearing almost two-hundred pounds of sheer muscle. He'd been laboring in the fields of 11 since an early age to support his three siblings and mentally disabled mother, and the sponsors swooned over him like butterflies over the finest flowers in Panem. An astonishing three eights were earned as well. Drew from 5 was admirably determined and passionate, and he was great with a sickle and also was decently talented with trap-building and the like. Carvis from 7 was a stunning, dark-haired boy who could work magic with hatchets, and he could always raise the mood and make anyone laugh. Finally, Peeta from 12 was the handsome, blonde merchant son of a renowned baker, and he could lift hundreds of pounds and had a knack for knives as well. Niko from 3, Finch from 5, Jason from 6, Meredith from 7, and Lylith from 9 were the tributes that scored sevens this year. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. Despite scoring relatively low, Prongson from 10 was a standout. He had Polio, and his left leg was paralyzed. Another standout was Primrose Everdeen, a twelve-year-old girl from District 12. Her sister Katniss staggered forth to volunteer in her place but was denied the opportunity due to rowdy behavior. Primrose only managed to score a two, but she was still one to remember. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: the red-haired girl from District 9 named Lylith Joud. She'd grown up in a cult and had been accused by her community of being a witch due to her hair color. Her execution by burning was sentenced for the day after the reaping, and she volunteered to escape it all. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Marvelous Fantasticness, 17, (9) 7-1 and Glimmer Rambin, 17, (8) 10-1
District 2: Cato Hadley, 16, (10) 3-1 and Clove Kentwell, 15, (10) 3-1
District 3: Niko Andrews, 14, (7) 16-1 and Nettie Hanson, 13, (3) 67-1
District 4: Bodhi Fitzgerald, 18, (9) 6-1 and Sharka Nightengale, 18, (9) 6-1
District 5: Drew Dinning, 18, (8) 9-1 and Finch Crossly, 15, (7) 24-1
District 6: Jason Mitchell, 16, (7) 15-1 and Tamora Faye, 17, (5) 24-1
District 7: Carvis Olive, 17, (8) 10-1 and Meredith Powell, 16, (7) 15-1
District 8: Charle McCanister, 14, (4) 29-1 and Savannah Castillo, 14, (3) 65-1
District 9: Tarun Dixon, 15, (4) 28-1 and Lylith Joud, 14, (7) 17-1
District 10: Prongson Iglesi, 18, (5) 22-1 and Susan Gardner, 16, (3) 60-1
District 11: Thresh Agora, 18, (9) 7-1 and Rue Crimmond, 12, (4) 35-1
District 12: Peeta Mellark, 16, (8) 11-1 and Primrose Everdeen, 12, (2) 77-1
HGBO Bets: 16% on Clove, 15% on Cato, 11% on Marvelous and Bodhi, 10% on Sharka, 7% on Glimmer, 6% on Thresh, 4% on Drew, Carvis, and Peeta, 2% on Niko, Finch, Jason, Meredith, and Lylith, 1% or less on Nettie, Tamora, Charle, Savannah, Tarun, Prongson, Susan, Rue, and Primrose.
THE GAMES
Seneca Crane seemed to go back to square one with this year's arena; the terrain, mutts, and supplies were almost identical to those of the first ever Hunger Games. The tributes would find themselves in a bright-green forest teeming with life. The cornucopia was large and silver and bulkier than normal, and its supplies largely consisted of bows, spears, and knives. Despite the forested terrain, there were no axes provided. One of the main liberties that Seneca took with this year's arena was adding many more water sources. A large lake sat just beyond the silver cornucopia, and dozens of rivers sprouted from the lake, undulating through the forest. In turn, each of these rivers had hundreds of tributaries, meaning that water was immediately accessable almost anywhere in the arena. Near the cornucopia, the forest was much brighter and more open; the mutts almost entirely consisted of rabbits, squirrels, bluebirds, and chipmunks. There were also some deer. As one moved farther away from the cornucopia, they would find many more unique mutts, including mockingjays and bright-pink birds clearly inspired by those from the second Quarter Quell. There was also no shortage of the deadly wasps with hallucinogenic poison commonly referred to in those days as Tracker Jackers. There were also many bushes bearing black berries, but the tributes would have to be very cautious; while some of the berries were safe to eat, many were deadly nightlock, which could kill within minutes if not seconds of consumption. Finally, a relatively small field of waist-high wheat lied to the north. The wheat would provide a steady source of food to any tribute, but the mosquitoes, ticks, and other pests were a definite downside.
It was an agreeable temperature as the twenty-four tributes rose up into the arena on their pedestals. All around their plates, the colorful forest teeming with life sprawled outward. While the arena was stunningly beautiful, it wasn't particularly unique. Seneca would not let the simplicity of the arena get between him and a thrilling games, however.
When the gong rang, two tributes sprinted away from the get-go: Prongson from 10 and Peeta from 12. As Prongson and Peeta sped into the woods, the other twenty-two surged forward and started scooping up supplies.
Clove sprinted at the head of the onrush, bolstered onward by adrenaline and the sight of the throwing knives she'd requested from the gamemakers a few yards away. Clove snatched up the knives and spotted a smaller boy struggling to escape west with a pack containing loaves of bread. The boy screamed as two of the knives dug into the back of his neck, and he staggered to the ground, never to rise again.
Tarun Dixon, District 9 Male: 24th, Killed by Clove, Bloodbath
As Tarun fell, Bodhi from 4 took a spear and pounced toward a sniveling girl from the technology district. She screeched and held her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the boy's blows, but her efforts to ward off her killer were futile. Bodhi skewered his spear through her neck, and she fell, gurgling, as blood poured out of her mouth and nose.
Nettie Hanson, District 3 Female: 23rd, Killed by Bodhi, Bloodbath
Thresh from 11, the strongest outlier in these games, grabbed a sickle and clutched onto it so tight that the leather handle actually molded to the shapes of his fingers. He wanted to kill at least one career during the bloodbath to make a splash and impress the sponsors. Thresh leapt toward the nearby Bodhi, and the 4 boy didn't have time to sidestep. He opened his mouth wide as if to scream, but all the wind had been knocked out of him from the hard blow Thresh had dealt to his abdomen. As Bodhi made a desperate attempt to stumble to safety, Thresh buried his sickle into his back. His blood glittered across Thresh's dark skin like rubies.
Bodhi Fitzgerald, District 4 Male: 22nd, Killed by Thresh, Bloodbath
Clove retrieved her knives from the dead body of her first victim, and she was quick to make her second kill after that. A girl with her hair in pigtails had collapsed to the ground nearby, slowly bleeding out from a wound inflicted by Sharka. Clove quickly ended the girl's life, hurling a knife deftly into her abdomen. She was gone in moments.
Tamora Faye, District 6 Female: 21st, Killed by Sharka and Clove, Bloodbath
Marvelous and Glimmer from 1 ganged up on a miniscule girl from one of the poorest districts of the nation. Marvelous grabbed the wisp of a girl straight off of the ground and hurled her back to the ground with all the strength he could muster, putting so much stress on her neck that it almost cracked. As the girl groaned, struggling to make sense of what was going on, Glimmer fired two arrows from her bow, ending her life.
Susan Gardner, District 10 Female: 20th, Killed by Marvelous and Glimmer, Bloodbath
Cato hadn't made a kill yet, but as he surveyed the quickly emptying cornucopia field he spotted a perfect first victim. The youngest tribute in the games had collapsed at the foot of her plate, rocking back and forth and screaming with terror. She was having a panic attack, unable to move or think, traumatized by the carnage that was transpiring around her. Cato lumbered toward her with his sword and buried it into her torso. She was gone in an instant. She didn't even flinch.
Primrose Everdeen, District 12 Female: 19th, Killed by Cato, Bloodbath
Sharka had been stalking a slightly chubby boy around the cornucopia field for a good five minutes when she finally went in for the kill. The boy whirled around with shock, and his head knocked into Sharka's bow so hard that he nearly blacked out. He was quick work for the career girl.
Charle McCanister, District 8 Male: 18th, Killed by Sharka, Bloodbath
Clove made the final kill. A boy was hiding inside of a crate in the cornucopia, hoping to stay unseen throughout the bloodbath and come out once it was all over. Unfortunately, the eagle-eyed Clove had no problem spotting him through the netted edge of the crate. The 2 girl threw open the crate, and the boy screamed, struggling toward safety. Clove hurled a throwing knife into his heart, eliminating his life almost instantly.
Jason Mitchell, District 6 Male: 17th, Killed by Clove, Bloodbath
Once the bloodbath was over, the careers went about their business. As had become typical of District 1 tributes in recent years, Marvelous and Glimmer stayed close together and engaged in casual conversation as they did their chores, mostly sorting rations. They didn't seem to have very compatible personalities—Marvelous was the jokester while Glimmer was the flirtatious airhead District 1 so often provided—but they got along well against the odds. Meanwhile, Clove stalked back and forth, never letting her allies out of her sight. She was a natural-born leader, and she was so ravenous and spunky that the others didn't bother to tell her she was being bossy. Meanwhile, Sharka went with the flow. She wasn't a girl who liked to pick sides. She just did what the others told her to. They sent Cato out to do a little hunt to make sure there weren't any outliers hiding around, and once he returned they went hunting for real, minus Glimmer, who volunteered to guard the supplies.
Meanwhile, the outliers scattered, heading in all four cardinal directions. Niko fled north with a pack of mechanical supplies and a bucket. He came to a stop at a small stream around noon, and he fidgeted curiously with his supplies, trying to figure out a way to win the games like Beetee Latier. Drew and Finch from 5 had allied prior to the games, and it quickly became apparent that they were a dangerous duo. They had a collection of several bows and swords from the bloodbath, and they settled near a wide river. As Finch assembled a sturdy shelter, Drew killed a few chipmunks. Unwilling to risk starting a fire, they chose to chew the raw meat until their jaws were sore. Carvis munched on rye bread as he sped toward the wheat field in the distance. He liked how easy it was to remain hidden in the tall wheat, and when it was time to go to bed he folded a few stalks over his sleeping bag to hide himself from view. Meredith was extraordinarily nimble, and she was as quiet as a mouse as she sped over the foliage. She filled up her thermos with water from a small pool and then climbed a tall willow tree, resting in the lowermost bough with her thermos and hatchet. Savannah hated how cold the arena was; coming from a rich family where there was always warmth, she couldn't bear the cold, biting feeling. Fortunately, she'd grabbed a few matches from the cornucopia, and she started piling up firewood as soon as she settled for the night. Lylith, the girl who'd been accused by her cult of being a witch, had nothing but a throwing knife and a package of edible green gel. At nightfall, she came to a muddy field of damp earth, and she smeared herself with dirt and grass until she blended in perfectly with the landscape. Prongson hobbled east; with his crippled leg, he couldn't move nearly as fast as the others. He wasn't a very smart boy and almost ate nightlock berries several times. It was all he could do to pile the leaves over his body to keep himself warm for the night. Thresh moved to the wheat field, having gathered a sickle and a pack that contained food and medical supplies. He used his sickle to mark a heavy circle in the ground—marking his territory. Anybody who trespassed on his land would be sorry. Rue ran into the forest and assembled a slingshot as soon as the cornucopia was out of sight. Knowing that animal guts were often stretchy and flexible, Rue killed a squirrel mutt and used its longest intestine as the elastic in her slingshot. She slept in a tree, clutching her handiwork for dear life. Peeta had been sponsored two throwing knives for his strength and good looks. He jogged west for a few hours and found a bush of edible berries. He stuffed his face and then fell into a nearby cave, falling asleep in seconds.
Less than two hours after midnight on the second day, a young girl's earsplitting screams pierced the peaceful silence of the forest. After nearly half an hour of messing around with her matches, Savannah finally managed to get a fire going. Despite not being the most intelligent tribute the games had ever seen, she knew the basic principles of how fire worked, and in no time she had assembled a sort of teepee shape that let in enough oxygen to keep the hungry flames a 'burning. Savannah was so distracted by the heavenly feeling of being warm after so long being cold that she didn't hear the footsteps of the careers moving toward her.
Savannah gasped and turned around. Cato and Clove stood at the front of the pack, grinning, while Sharka and Marvelous were just behind them. All four were holding their weapons. Savannah screamed and tried to stumble away, begging for them to leave her alone, but they didn't listen. Cato requested the kill from his allies, and they all stepped back, leaving him to do the dirty work. Savannah gaped at him, dumbfounded with shock, as Cato's sword wormed its way into her torso. She fell, gulping and blubbering hopelessly.
Savannah Castillo, District 8 Female: 16th, Killed by Cato, Day 2
The rest of Day 2 passed swiftly. Niko sat with his back against a broad-trunked tree, absentmindedly fidgeting with his technological parts and passing his bucket between his hands. At one point, he seemed to have a sudden stroke of inspiration. He used the bucket to dig out a hole in the ground, and he placed the bucket into the hole before packing the dirt back around it. It soon became clear what he was trying to do—he wanted to run an electrical charge through the bucket so that any tribute that stepped into it would be electrocuted. The problem was, he needed a generator, and his mentor Wiress couldn't pool together enough money to give him one. Niko's tribute trap would have to go on hold for the time being.
Drew and Finch received a nasty shock around noon on the second day. It just so happened that the land they'd chosen to settle on belonged to a flock of the cotton-candy-pink birds with long beaks, and needless to say they were not very happy when they returned home and found that their land had been trespassed on. Drew was sleeping in the shelter and Finch was standing guard when the first pink birds flew out of nowhere. Finch awoke Drew, and they proceeded to fend off the bird mutts for nearly half an hour before every bird in the flock had either died or taken the hint that they weren't to be messed with and flown away.
The tail end of the day had only one point of excitement. Meredith had been resting in her willow tree for most of the day, and around eight in the evening the strap that was holding her onto the bough slipped. Meredith screamed as she slid sideways off of the branch, but by astounding luck she'd managed to grab onto it with both her hands before she could fall completely. Panting, Meredith dragged herself back onto the branch. If her reflexes had been an instant slower, she could have died.
Day 3 was a tad bit more eventful, with two deaths. Thresh stayed put in the wheat field, feeding himself by shaking the seeds off of the stalks and pouring them gratefully into his mouth. He thought he was alone in the field, but another tribute was there with him: Carvis from 7. In turn, Carvis had no idea Thresh was there; they both thought they were alone and consequently didn't make much of an effort to remain hidden as they went about their business. On the third day, however, Carvis met his end. He was strolling toward one of his prime water sources when he noticed Thresh's camp. Curiously, the 7 boy veered off course and started toward the area that the 11 boy had cleared with his sickle. Thresh was away gathering water himself, and he returned moments after Carvis made himself at home. Carvis leapt ten feet into the air as Thresh came into view. He tried to run, but his chances of outrunning his much stronger peer were slim to none. He buried his sickle into his back, and Carvis fell face-forward onto the dusty wheat. His last words were the lyrics to an old District 7 folk tune.
Carvis Olive, District 7 Male: 15th, Killed by Thresh, Day 3
The careers returned to the cornucopia for a supply restock. They filled in Glimmer on everything that had happened while they were gone and refilled their packs with food. By this point in the games, the careers' very different personalities were beginning to shine through. Clove was perpetually ravenous to hunt, and while Cato was much of the same he didn't really want to put as much grandeur into everything as she did. Marvelous and Glimmer were the typical duo from 1, and all the while Sharka hung around without much of a definite personality at all. It turned out that she'd been training with the dead Bodhi from an early age, and she was a bit shaken up at the death of her boy crush. She was too timid to put her say into anything; she just went with the flow and did what a 4 girl should.
In the woods, Rue finally put her slingshot to use. For the first few days of the games, she hadn't really been doing much other than lying around, but now that the crowd of tributes was thinning she felt obligated to do something more than just exist. Despite her young age, she wasn't faint of heart. Rue left her treetop home on the third day and started hunting for small animals—food. She was perfectly content living off of berries but knew it wasn't a very healthy diet. About an hour later, Rue spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. Thinking it was just a deer or other animal, she loaded a stone into her slingshot and launched it in the direction of the movement. Unfortunately for her, the thing she saw wasn't just an animal. It was Peeta from 12. Peeta was strolling through the leaf-strewn woods when Rue's stone landed at his feet. He was a little unnerved but ultimately thought nothing of it. Sometimes there were rocks in woods. Big deal. The bored 12 boy grabbed up the stone and threw it back in the direction it had come from.
Rue spotted the stone sailing back toward her too late to be saved. She let out a short gasp before the rock hit her in the head. Rue had a few pre-existing minor injuries in her skull, and by some freak accident the stone had hit the spot on her head where the most trauma would be caused to her body. Peeta was a strong boy; he'd given Rue more than just a concussion. Rue died from internal bleeding over the course of nearly nine hours, finally being taken by the reaper minutes before the end of the third day.
Rue Crimmond, District 11 Female: 14th, Killed by Peeta, Day 3
In stark contrast of the three days prior, Day 4 was deathless. The careers got along well enough, and despite a few arguments there wasn't any in-fighting. Marvelous and Glimmer were close friends but they kept growing more and more distant as Glimmer's very 1 female-esque personality began to shine through. Meanwhile, there was a constant duel going on between Cato and Clove as to who would be pack leader. Clove had about half a percent more bets than Cato, so she claimed she should be the leader, but Cato refused to submit to her. They spent the entire day trying to outdo each other, even if through the stupidest things like how they walked and what they ate. Neither wanted the other to die, per se—there was just that bit of angst that came from any tribute being put under the stress of the games.
Between the outliers, there was a lot of movement but little action. After several days of pooling together sponsor funds, Wiress finally managed to send Niko a generator to run an electric charge through his pail. In minutes, it was finally working, and Niko rested nearby, feeding himself on berries and sponsor foods as he waited for prey to arrive at his trap. Drew and Finch very temporarily split up. Finch sprinted to the cornucopia as a spy and checked up on what the careers were up to. It was just Cato, guarding while his four allies were away. Finch returned to camp and notified Drew, and they promptly moved toward the large lake just beyond the cornucopia for a cool wash. They couldn't stay for long, though, and left quickly. Meredith hopped between the treetops, not wanting to stay still for more than a few hours at a time for fear of fading into the background. She did kill a mockingjay with her hatchet, which earned her a few sponsors, but she didn't trust the bird to be edible and left its dead body alone. Lylith kept re-applying mud and leaves onto herself whenever it naturally washed off, and she rested in a field of flowers for much of the day feeding on berries. Prongson, who'd been hobbling hopelessly east for days, sustained a grievous injury on the fourth day. The monotone color of the forest floor was robbing him of his depth perception, and without any prior warning Prongson tripped and tumbled down a forty-five degree slope. The fall tore open his skin in several spots, and he lie at the bottom, too tired and battered to move. Thresh hung around in the wheat field, occasionally moving to the forest to hunt for small animals whenever he felt his diet of wheat was getting plain. In any other instance, he would have been considered lazy, but for a tribute as strong as him his stillness just showed how dedicated he was. Peeta was being strangely inactive for a boy so strong; it was hours after Rue's death before be finally realized that he might have been the killer. He felt awful about himself and rested in a small cave for the entire night, not crying but just staring into the oblivion of the night sky as if lost in thought.
The only really exciting thing that happened on Day 4 happened just before nightfall. Meredith and Lylith had been less than a quarter mile from each other for nearly two days, and Seneca finally drove the two together. A chipmunk mutt that stood between the two tributes began to thrash wildly, agitated by the Capitol's electrical pulses. Meredith and Lylith both raced toward the animal, but by the time they reached it, it had burrowed into the ground. Meredith and Lylith walked slowly toward each other, and Meredith proposed an alliance. The games were taking their toll, and both girls were grateful not to be alone in them. They told each other stories about their lives and eventually determined that Meredith had the better camp. Lylith sped back to her home to gather her few supplies , then raced back to Meredith, her new ally.
Day 5 was similarly deathless. Having laid at the base of the leaf-strewn slope for half a day, Prongson finally build up the energy to move. He was too battered to walk for more than a few minutes at a time, and when his energy ran out he had to literally drag himself over the forest. Bugs and dirt smeared themselves all over him, but it was worth it to keep moving; if there was one sure-fire way to get killed in the Hunger Games, it was to stay still.
Meanwhile, tensions were rising in the career pack. At least, they were with one member. Despite having fairly earned the spot of volunteer, Sharka Nightengale from 4 felt like she didn't fit in among the other careers. She had no aversion to killing, but she didn't like how snarky her allies were getting, particularly Glimmer and Clove. Sharka spent as much time away from her allies as possible, debating whether or not she should break away. She knew from past games that careers who deserted most often received horrifically painful deaths in return—was it worth the risk to her? The question turned itself over and over in Sharka's mind as she guarded the horn for the day.
The real highlight of the fifth day transpired miles away in the leafy depths of the forest. Meredith and Lylith were sitting cross-legged eating lunch and talking to each other when they heard the familiar beep of a sponsor gift from nearby. They found that the parachute was holding a single can of odd-smelling, transparent liquid. It turned out that the liquid had cost thousands of dollars to sponsor, and it was the most valuable sponsor gift given in these games so far; somebody liked the two girls.
Meredith grabbed the can, curiously watching the liquid flow as she tipped the container from side to side, and Lylith snatched up the accompanying note. It turned out that the liquid in the container was one of the most flammable substances known to mankind. A large house coated with the fluid could be engulfed in flames in seconds with the use of a single match. Realizing how valuable it was, Lylith stowed it away in the bottom of her pack. She and Meredith thought out loud and whiled away the day talking about what they could do with the flammable liquid. But they both knew very well what it had been sent to them for. And they would have to do it. What kind of tribute could pass up the opportunity to destroy the entire cornucopia and all of its supplies?
Early in the morning of Day 6, a cannon shot rolled across the forest and the wheat field. Niko from 3 bolted awake from a terrifying dream right into another. Lying in front of him was the disfigured, lifeless body of Prongson Iglesi. It didn't take Niko long to figure out what had happened. His electrical trap had worked well; Prongson, dragging himself along, had dropped his arm into the pail, and in an instant his entire body had been engulfed by the electrical current. Niko brought his knees up to his chin as the hovercraft took Prongson's body. The whirlwinds of emotions that attacked outliers when they made their first kills wasn't any less gut-wrenching when the kill was made indirectly, it would seem.
Prongson Iglesi, District 10 Male: 13th, Killed by Niko, Day 6
The second cannon shot of the day fired mere minutes later. Peeta was resting in a small cave, munching on a few drop biscuits he'd been sponsored, when he heard the footsteps of the careers. The 12 boy suppressed a scream and scrambled to the back of the cave. All the hairs rose up on his neck as Glimmer, Marvelous, Cato, and Clove started into the cave. Fortunately, Peeta had lodged himself into a dark corner; the careers would be hard-pressed to spot him unless one of them shone a light straight onto him. Peeta watched with sheer terror, struggling to keep from breathing too loudly, as the careers set out their supplies and began eating their noon meal.
It turned out, Peeta wasn't just a good-looking boy. He was very strong as well, both physically and mentally, and he managed to ignore his squirming stomach and remain still and silent until the careers packed up camp. As soon as the last career, Marvelous, disappeared from sight, Peeta let out a sigh of relief that filled the cave. Wrinkling his eyebrows curiously, Marvelous peeked back into the cave, swearing he'd heard something, and shined his light directly onto Peeta. Peeta screamed as Marvelous called his allies back to the cave. Escape was hopeless; the cave's only exit was blocked by four well-trained kids. His final goodbyes strung together into an almost unintelligible droning noise before Marvelous thrust his spear into his torso. He was long gone.
Peeta Mellark, District 12 Male: 12th, Killed by Marvelous, Day 6
Day 7 featured a thrilling burst of action around noon. Finch and Drew left their lakeside camp at dawn with the purpose of hunting for food. They returned hours later with several bluebirds, squirrels, and mockingjays they'd killed. The question then was whether to start a fire. At first, Finch was adamantly against giving away their position with the trail of smoke, but Drew showed her a trick he'd mastered in training. By punching out part of the fire ring and placing a large, flat stone in the opening, they could cause the smoke to go outward instead of upward. Finch was a little leery but ultimately trusted her ally. As Drew began assembling the fire ring, Finch ventured into the woods to hunt even more. Drew was alone at the camp.
It turned out that Drew wasn't a very responsible fire-watcher. Figuring the fire was far enough away from any trees to catch anything on fire, he sprinted about a half a minute to the lake for a drink of water. Unfortunately, while he was gone several sparks landed on the leaf of an almost-dead tree nearby. As the leaf turned black and began to crumble, the flames only spread. Drew returned about five minutes later to find the entire branch engulfed in flames. He grabbed up his pack and tried to beat out the flames, but it was no use; the fire was spreading too quickly.
Drew screamed Finch's name, and the 5 girl rushed to his side. She was too terrified to say "I told you so." It turned out that Finch was a clever girl who managed to think straight despite her panic. A sponsor sent them a pail, and Finch instructed Drew to dig a trench around the tree. As Finch rushed to fill the pail, the boy did as he was told. When one of them splashed water onto the tree, it would flow down into the trench, where they could scoop it up and use it again.
Breathing hard, Finch reached the lake, and she filled the pail to the brim with cold water. She was about halfway back to camp when she tripped and poured out the bucket's entire contents. Cursing, she ran back to the lake to gather more, hoping that Drew was alright back at camp.
At the burning tree, it was only minutes more before Drew decided to desert. He hadn't thought about the possibility of the fire spreading to other trees, and as soon as the leaves of nearby plants began to wither away he knew all chances of putting out the flames were hopeless. Drew abandoned ship, screaming, sprinting toward the lake where he would be safe.
All of Drew's screaming had attracted the attention of the nearby career pack, and, grinning, they'd rushed toward his terrified cries to polish him off. Drew was about halfway to the lake when he was intercepted by the pack. Clove instantly leapt toward him with her throwing knives, but he dodged the blades, barely missing one of Glimmer's arrows and a slash of Cato's sword. As Cato spun around to make another slash, Drew stumbled back toward the fire. His only hope would be that the pack would be too scared to follow him. In minutes, he came to the site of the burning trees. Cato and Clove looked a little leery but followed him into the smoke. Glimmer and Marvelous were just behind. It wasn't long before the group unanimously decided it wasn't worth putting their lives on the line to kill Drew. Cato, Clove, and Marvelous fled back toward the cornucopia, and unfortunately they'd forgotten about Miss Rambin in their scramble to escape. A burning log had fallen and landed on Glimmer's leg, pinning her to the ground. She died moments after her lungs flooded with smoke.
Glimmer Rambin, District 1 Female: 11th, Killed by Suffocation, Day 7
Surprisingly, Glimmer's death was the only casualty caused directly by the wildfire. This didn't mean that there wasn't a lot of action, however. As Marvelous, Cato, and Clove sprinted back to the cornucopia, Cato smacked into a hive of Tracker Jackers before he could sidestep. The angry wasp mutts flew out of the hive and chased after the pack, and their running speeds increased significantly as the Tracker Jackers followed them. By the time the trio arrived at the cornucopia, the swarm was less than five feet behind them. They screamed for Sharka to bring out their sleeping bags. She hastily obeyed, and the careers shoved themselves into the bags and zipped themselves inside. They had to wait for nearly two hours for all of the wasps to leave.
Niko got lucky when the disaster struck. He was the closest tribute other than Finch and Drew to the location the fire started, so he spotted the fire early and had enough time to run away. However, the boy had severely injured his ankle a few hours prior, so he could only hobble away from the fire. The flames spread much faster than he could run; Niko collapsed into the lake next to the cornucopia just as the tree behind him caught fire.
Drew and Finch, the creators of the disaster, sought refuge in the wheat field. The healthy-looking golden color of the stalks suggested that they were well-hydrated and unlikely to burn. They were sitting cross-legged munching on sponsored granola bars when they spotted the massive Thresh Agora mere yards away. The 5s stayed dead still until he left, and they themselves left quickly after, not wanting to be around when the 11 boy found out his wheat field had been trespassed on.
Meredith and Lylith, the allied girls from 7 and 9 respectively, had only one thing on their minds as the inferno rolled over their camp, consuming their supplies in its ever-hungry rage. They needed to save their jar of flammable liquid at any cost. They woke up to the smell of smoke and only grabbed their most precious things before fleeing. Lylith grabbed her throwing knife and fled west, and Meredith almost did the same before she remembered the flammable gel. Meredith reached into the bottom of her pack and retrieved the gel before following Lylith to safety.
It was mere minutes before Meredith and Lylith spotted another tribute: a tall, blonde boy from the richest district of Panem. Wanting to impress the sponsors, Marvelous had ventured away from the cornucopia to hunt for outliers, who would most likely be weary and off-guard after the natural disaster. Marvelous turned sharply on his heel as a leaf crunched under Lylith's foot. The 9 girl screamed as Marvelous lunged toward her, and she would have died if not for her ally Meredith. Wincing, Meredith plunged the blade of her hatchet into Marvelous' back as his spear reached toward Lylith's torso. The career collapsed, roaring with agony, and he was so off-kilter that he dropped his spear. Meredith quickly took the spear from him, and the duo scrambled in an arbitrary direction as the 1 boy bled out behind them. His screams were futile; he was much too far away from the cornucopia for his screams to be heard. Reinforcements were not coming.
Marvelous Fantasticness, District 1 Male: 10th, Killed by Meredith, Day 7
Day 8 was nearly as eventful as Day 7. It seemed like Seneca had been starting the games off slowly and was now speeding up deaths. Many predicted the finale would occur within the first two weeks. The first half of the day transpired with only one point of note, but it was an important one. Cato, Clove, and the ever-timid Sharka woke up bright and early to go hunting. But they had a problem—with so few members, and having to leave one member to guard the cornucopia, they would be left with an inefficient hunting party of only two.
Fortunately, their dilemma was given an immediate solution. Cato and Sharka left together and came to a stop at the crystal-clear lake, where Niko was humming softly to himself, calmed by the sound of the lapping water. Cato stomped once to get his attention. Niko promptly leapt to his feet, screaming, but Cato calmed him.
"Don't… why… get… leave me alone!" Niko shouted.
"We're not going to hurt you," Cato hissed, putting on a friendly tone that even the most cunning of tributes would have had a hard time pulling off. "We want your help."
"My… help?"
"That's right." Cato's smile widened. "We want you to guard the horn while we go hunting. As a reward you'll get our food and protection. But this only works if you do your job well. Stick to your post, and, if you try to abandon…" Cato chuckled. "We'll make your death slow and painful. Now come on."
Back home in 3, Niko's parents were screaming at him through their televisions screens to make a run for it, and the boy seriously considered it himself, but in the end his curiosity got the best of him. Cato and Sharka returned to the horn and introduced Clove to their new ally. They handed Niko a spear and instructed him to guard to the cornucopia while they were away.
Unfortunately for Niko, the day he was recruited to take care of the cornucopia was the day that Meredith and Lylith pulled off the escapade with their jar of flammable gel. Using a sponsored compass, the two girls found their way to the cornucopia, and they fell into a small cave about thirty yards away turning their plan over and over. Meredith, the lighter and more stealthy of the duo, would cover the supplies with the gel, and meanwhile Lylith would be on the other side of the cornucopia ready to kill any careers that were guarding. Then whoever found a match first would throw it onto the supplies once she was sure both girls were a good distance away.
Meredith Powell and Lylith Joud approached the cornucopia, Lylith in front. She spotted the 3 boy standing in front of the cornucopia holding a spear but reckoned he wouldn't be much of a threat if he tried to attack them. Their plan fell into place perfectly. Lylith grabbed a heavy stone and hurled it to the ground on the right side of the cornucopia. As Niko curiously moved to the right to investigate, Meredith darted to the left and starting coating the supplies with the gel. She found a book of matches quickly. She gave the signal to Lylith, and, after striking the red head of the match onto the box, threw it onto a nearby pack containing loaves of bread.
In moments, the cornucopia was engulfed in a blazing fiery hell. Lylith and Meredith fell back into the forest, shocked as to truly how deadly of a weapon they had used. Niko was frozen to the spot, unable to move for terror. He'd be in for the worst punishment imaginable when Cato, Clove, and Sharka returned. The careers were half a mile from the cornucopia when it went up in flames. They felt the heat of the rolling inferno and doubled back to investigate. They arrived at the cornucopia in minutes. The flames had cooled; what was once the horn and its supplies was a charred black wasteland, and Niko was standing alone a few yards away, quivering and crying to himself. Cato stormed forward, roaring with rage. The 2 boy swept Niko off of his feet, and he tried to wiggle out of his muscular arms but it was no use. There was a sickening snap as Cato grabbed either side of his neck and twisted sharply to the side. The 3 boy fell to the earth with a loud thud, dead.
Niko Andrews, District 3 Male: 9th, Killed by Cato, Day 8
That left the final eight: Cato Hadley and Clove Kentwell from District 2, Sharka Nightengale from District 4, Drew Dinning and Finch Crossly from District 5, Meredith Powell from District 7, Lylith Joud from District 9, and Thresh Agora from District 11.
The remainder of Day 8 wasn't particularly exciting. Realizing how quickly the crowd of tributes was dwindling, Thresh left the tiny wheat field and delved into the forest. He had been stayed mostly still for the first week of the games, but now that the finale was drawing near he stopped playing his defensive game and started playing the offensive game that the others were playing.
By Day 9, it became clear that Cato and Clove had made a decision regarding Sharka. Several sponsor notes had been sent to them over the course of the last few days urging them to bump her off, and even thinking fairly they couldn't deny the fact that Sharka was the weak link in the pack. When they had more living members this wasn't a problem, but now that there were only eight working sets of lungs in the arena the 4 girl was just like a weight the others had to lug around with them.
In the black field of wreckage that had once been the cornucopia, Cato and Clove rose at the same time as the sun. The night prior, they'd told Sharka they'd sleep in, and like they'd expected the District 4 girl was resting contentedly in the ocean-blue sleeping bag that her parents had sponsored for thinking it would remind her of home. Cato grabbed his sword and Clove grabbed her throwing knives. Sharka woke, gasping, as Clove threw two of her knives into her chest. She just shook and groaned, staring at the tributes she had thought to be her friends. Cato polished her off, thrusting his sword into her abdomen soon after. It was a new tactic that was a sharp contrast to the 2 boy's signature slashing style.
Sharka Nightengale, District 4 Female: 8th, Killed by Clove and Cato, Day 9
On the other side of the arena, an alliance was splitting. Drew and Finch from 5 had remained unwaveringly loyal to each other for the entire games, but it was far too late in the competition for their little dynamic to continue. The duo broke camp and split up the supplies evenly amongst themselves in pensive silence. In the next few days, at least one of them would be dead. They split from each other with a tradition District 5 salute, and then they disappeared in opposite directions. Drew headed straight toward the cornucopia, whereas Finch made more of a circular path around the circular arena's center; she wanted to cover as much land as possible in hopes of discovering food or other things of value.
There was still one alliance that refused to split, however. Meredith and Lylith rested in a small cave about a mile away from the cornucopia for the whole morning, telling jokes and just being friends. Nearly a dozen attempts to destroy the horn's supplies had been made in the seventy-four years of Hunger Games, but only a very select few had been pulled off successfully. The two really were a lovable duo. They were both funny and joking with just the right amount of cunning, and boy were they sponsored! By the end of the day, they had two sickles, mounds of water and food, and high-quality sleeping bags, among other things. This was, of course, in addition to the spear they'd pilfered from the dead Marvelous Fantasticness, which they couldn't seem to wipe all the dried blood off of despite their best efforts.
Day 9 was also the day that Cato and Clove abandoned the cornucopia. They gathered up the few supplies that hadn't been completely incinerated by the two outlier girls and travelled in opposite directions, vowing to meet in the wheat field at nightfall. Cato headed east, and Clove headed north, and they both hunted feverishly for much of the day. Both careers were determined to get in a good kill or two before the finale. At sunset, both careers headed toward the wheat field as promised. Cato reached the field first, but to his shock there was another tribute already there. Thresh had been notified of the careers' plans via a series of sponsor notes, and he had travelled back to the wheat field to attack the first tribute that arrived.
Cato was stunned with shock for an instant as Thresh leapt out of nowhere, holding his sickle. But that instant was a short one—having trained at the academy for ages, Cato had fast reflexes, so he managed to dodge the first few swings of the 11 boy's sickle. Both tributes were well-armed, and both were extremely strong; there was no obvious winner. The career versus outlier duel quickly became the only thing televisions around Panem showed; everyone wanted to be watching the moment one tribute emerged victorious. About twenty minutes into their skirmish, Seneca sent torrential rainfall onto the arena, and that was the nail in the coffin for Cato Hadley. Being from rainy 11, Thresh had experience moving around in water. Meanwhile, Cato was from hot, dry 2 and saw dust storms more than rainstorms. Thresh triumphed just as the water passed the tributes' waists, skewering the sharp point of his sickle into Cato's chest as the 2 boy clumsily tried to move around in the several-feet-high waters. His blood painted the floodwaters red. Thresh quickly moved to higher ground, not wanting to be overwhelmed by the rising waters if they continued to move upward.
Cato Hadley, District 2 Male: 7th, Killed by Thresh, Day 9
Day 10 was the last day in the arena. Seneca was a man who liked to end his games quickly, and the seventy-fourth Hunger Games was no exception. Thresh made the first move of the day. After killing Cato from 2 the day prior, he'd haphazardly made camp, too exhausted to move. However, as the sun rose on the tenth day, he had the energy he needed to get moving. This late in the games, Thresh knew it was critical to keep "stirring the pot" so-to-speak whenever possible or his chances of winning would plummet to none. He made a kind of circular movement around the center of the arena in his hunt for prey; with Cato's sword in addition to his sickle, he was far more confident. At noon, he settled on a warm boulder in a clearing, munching on a crescent-shaped loaf of District 11 bread he'd been sponsored.
Little did Thresh Agora know that, as he contentedly nibbled on the warm, flour-coated bread, chaos was ensuing about two miles away. Meredith and Lylith were sleeping in a cave at the north end of the arena when the gamemakers sent a swarm of angry Tracker Jackers in their direction with strong electrical pulses. Both girls woke with shock as the swarm descended on the cave like a hideous, humming raincloud. Lylith, who was closer to the front of the cave, let out an earsplitting scream as five of the wasps landed on her right arm. She managed to pick off three of them, but the remaining two couldn't be torn off of her flesh; they'd both dug their stingers into her skin. Lylith stumbled away from the cave, forgetting about her ally Meredith, who was hunkering down in the back of the cave.
Meredith Powell, however alone she was, wasn't anywhere near defenseless. In the back of the cave there was a sizable, freezing-cold pool where condensation had collected over the course of the entire games. As the first cohort of Tracker Jackers rushed into the cave, Meredith scooped up a handful of the icy water and splashed it onto them. A good ten of them were knocked out of the air, and the remaining three zoomed out of the cave in confusion. Meredith managed to murder half the swarm by splashing them with water, but before she knew it the pool of water was empty. She was in serious trouble.
A short distance away from the cave, Lylith's insides burned with guilt. She was safe from the Tracker Jackers that far away, but she didn't think she would ever be able to live with herself knowing she'd left Meredith behind to die. Her moral compass triumphed over her animal instinct to survive, and she raced back toward the cave without feeling like she was moving her own legs.
But the rescue effort was in vain—Meredith had managed to escape on her own. Trapped in the back of the cave, Meredith knew there was only one way to survive the wasp attack. The mutts wanted flesh, and that was what they would have. The girl grabbed her hatchet, the weapon of her district, and dug it into her left ring finger. Her screams could be heard for miles around and she tore off the finger over the course of about ten seconds. Then, trying to ignore the white-hot agony rolling through her body in waves, she dropped the discarded appendage. The hundred or so Tracker Jackers crowded around the severed finger, too distracted to notice the much larger prey escaping. As long as she could keep the mangled stump of her finger from bleeding out, Meredith was safe.
But Lylith didn't know that her ally had escaped without her, and as she fought her way through the cave, the wasp mutts stinging her from head to foot, she was shocked to find that Meredith was nowhere to be found. Tracker Jacker venom wasn't usually deadly, but in such large quantities it was impossible for a human body to keep working.
Lylith Joud, District 9 Female: 6th, Killed by Tracker Jackers, Day 10
Finch from 5, realizing just how quickly these games were moving along, packed up her things moments after Lylith's cannon shot and made her way toward the cornucopia. Finch was a clever girl. She predicted that, in the games directly before a Quarter Quell, the mutts designed for the finale would be among the most formidable yet. She was correct—the mutts that Seneca had in store would be enough to haunt the nightmares of district children for weeks to come.
Finch arrived at the cornucopia much quicker than she'd anticipated, a mere hour or so later. Clove from 2 was sharpening her throwing knives in front of the wreck of the horn when she spotted the 5 girl coming. Quickly, Clove ducked behind a scorched wooden chest, grinning as her prey drew closer and closer. The crate hid her well; Finch didn't think there was anybody home. Clove didn't pounce out from behind the chest until the outlier girl was ten feet away. Finch blanched and turned to run, but her feet were locked in place. As the career girl drew closer and closer, Finch realized fleeing wasn't an option; she had to fight. She and her ex-ally Drew had grabbed lots of supplies from the cornucopia, but over the days they'd lost most of them. All she had on her was a sword that was far too heavy for her. Clove grinned. She had this kill in the bag.
Clove, unsurprisingly, made the first move, and it was a devious one. She grabbed a throwing knife and pretended to throw it to Finch's right, like she was trying to fool a dog in a game of fetch. Finch fell for the trick, and she dove out of the way of the imaginary knife, right onto the burnt-black crate. Finch fell onto the crate and stumbled forward, landing on her face like an idiot, and it was all over from there. Clove made sure every one of her knives was bloodstained before moving away to let the hovercraft collect the girl's corpse.
Finch Crossly, District 5 Female: 5th, Killed by Clove, Day 10
Clove's fifth kill of the games came right to her. Drew, Finch's ex-ally, was less than a mile away, and when he heard Finch's screams he ran in their direction. Their alliance had ended several days prior, but he still felt an obligation to protect his district partner if she was in danger. Clove chuckled delicately as Drew ran right into her, and they both collapsed in a heap. Drew was so disoriented that he didn't have a hope of defending his life. He was gone in less than a minute after Clove landed a throwing knife in his heart.
Drew Dinning, District 5 Male: 4th, Killed by Clove, Day 10
The next few hours were mostly uneventful. If Seneca wanted, he could have ended the games right then and there, but he wanted to give the Capitolites plenty of time to place their bets on which of the three finalists they thought should win. The four or five hours was mostly moving toward the cornucopia for the tributes. Clove continued sharpening her throwing knives at the cornucopia. At first she was leery about leaving, but a sponsor note reassured her that no danger would be coming for the next few hours. Clove hauled everything she didn't need to a nearby river and dumped them; she didn't want them to end up in the hands of any other tributes. Meredith tried not to groan too loudly as blood drizzled from her severed left ring finger. A sponsor sent her a tiny pack of pain-dulling medication, but that did little to nothing to stop the blood flow. She ended up having to tear off part of her shirt with her hatchet and bind it over the wound to keep the blood in her body. Thresh didn't have a long way to go to get to the cornucopia, so he could have made it in less than half an hour, but he sprinted nonetheless. He wanted to get to the horn as soon as he could to cut down Clove. Then his only competition would be Meredith, who would be easy to cut down.
Seneca had waited long enough. It was time to release the beasts. Seven of the mutts were deposited near each tribute, and they were the most hideous things imaginable. The bodies of the deceased tributes had been forced into the shapes of ugly mutts reminiscent of dogs, and their voice boxes had been cut out and replaced so that they howled like wolves.
Meredith's scream caught in her throat as the first mutt crawled out of the darkness. Before she knew it, the dog mutt with the slim body of Niko Andrews was rearing up to devour her. As Meredith stumbled away, Niko was accompanied by Prongson Iglesi and Tamora Faye. Meredith only ran faster as Nettie Hanson and Rue Crimmond joined the party, and soon after the group was completed with the reanimated corpses of Glimmer Rambin and Peeta Mellark. As the cornucopia drew nearer, more of the mutts fell away from the 7 girl; in the end, only Glimmer and Peeta were left chasing her.
Clove, whose stalkers included Cato Hadley, Bodhi Fitzgerald, Sharka Nightengale, Charle McCanister, Tarun Dixon, Susan Gardner, and Primrose Everdeen, stumbled away from the cornucopia, gasping, as the mutts roared behind her. It would have been unfair if the gamemakers had just let Clove be while the two others were being attacked, so the mutts were instructed to chase her around a bit before eventually leading her back to the cornucopia.
Thresh, unlike the other two tributes, was not so lucky. Marvelous Fantasticness, Drew Dinning, Finch Crossly, Jason Mitchell, Carvis Olive, Savannah Castillo, and Lylith Joud were all on his tail. With so many strong tributes chasing him, it was futile to run. The only ones he managed to kill were Savannah and Finch. Thresh loped off Savannah's ear, and she toppled over, excreting torrents of black muttation blood, as the 11 boy knocked Finch into a pool of water, where she quickly drowned. He was doing his best to fend off Marvelous when Carvis, Lylith, and Drew closed in on him. They tore him to shreds in a matter of moments.
Thresh Agora, District 11 Male: 3rd, Killed by Carvis, Lylith, and Drew (Dog Muttations), Day 10
Clove and Meredith arrived at the cornucopia at the same time, each girl chased by a few hideous dog mutts. Seneca sent the mutts reeling away with powerful electrical pulses; he didn't want them to kill the tributes before they could kill each other. Clove Kentwell was the strongest tribute in these games, and as a feisty, fit, and beautiful girl, she would undoubtedly make a satisfying addition to District 2's expanding lineup of victors. Meanwhile, Meredith was the true underdog. She'd been living in the slums of District 7 with her lumberjack grandfather and prostitute mother after her father died in a forest fire when she was five. She wasn't the strongest tribute the games had ever seen, but with almost all of the non-career districts' citizens rooting for her only time would tell for sure.
Clove made the first move, grabbing two knives out of her belt and throwing one of them at Meredith's arm, not wanting to kill her but just wanting to distract her enough that she could bind her down for a satisfying final kill. Meredith made a valiant effort to fight back, and she succeeded. With the blade of her hatchet, she managed to knock away the 2 girl's throwing knife.
About ten minutes into their duel, Seneca sent torrential rainfall onto the arena. The word "torrential" was not to be used lightly. The rain fell in sheets, faster than was ever natural for rain to fall. In mere minutes, the floodwaters were up to the tributes' ankles; they'd have to kill one another soon or they'd drown. At one point, the girls lost each other through the storm, so they had to be directed back toward each other with lightning strikes.
The finale was not resolved until the water was up to the finalists' waists. Over the half an hour the skirmish had lasted, they'd both sustained major injuries. Clove had a gash in her chest that was a good half-inch deep. She would be dead in minutes if she failed to kill Meredith first. The 7 girl had it much worse. In addition to her severed finger, her left leg had been so beaten-down that it was close to falling off of her body. Clove had also landed a throwing knife in her shoulder, and blood was spouting from the gaping hole at an alarmingly fast rate.
Clove made what looked like the determining move. Panting heavily, she grabbed the last throwing knife she had and hurled it at Meredith's chest. The weapon dug into her neck. Meredith collapsed to her knees, and, with her last ounce of energy, thrust her hatchet upward. The blade of the weapon miraculously buried itself an inch into Clove's neck. It was a competition of who could last the longest. Clove put up a good fight, but her wounds were far more severe than that of her final opponent. The District 2 girl died as Meredith clung onto her life, leaving her the last tribute in the arena.
Clove Kentwell, District 2 Female: 2nd, Killed by Meredith, Day 10
"Meredith Powell of District 7, you are the victor of the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius shouted, their voices barely audible over the roaring of the storm.
Meredith didn't respond. She just floated in circles on the surface of the splashing floodwaters, desperately clinging onto her life as the medical team lifted her into the hovercraft to put her back together.
Meredith Powell, District 7 Female: Victor of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games, Day 10
AFTERMATH
Meredith's victory was a pleasant surprise for the people of the lumber district. After a thirty-seventy year wait between Grover and Johanna, it had only been a three year wait for their next victor, Miss Powell. The medical team managed to fix Meredith almost completely. They had to actually fully sever her leg to fix a few complications before re-attaching it, and it was years before she could properly use the limb again. The Capitol also offered her the choice of an artificial finger, but she turned it down—she would rather live with only nine digits than live with an unwieldy mechanical appendage. Meredith herself was a bit bogged-down with all of the attention she received, but she slowly but surely got used to it. Despite her injuries, she was a quite pretty woman, which of course meant President Snow would use her in ways he used victors from Cashmere to Finnick to Johanna.
Meredith moved into the Victor's Village of District 7, the fourth to do so.
Her victory tour was alright. Nothing of note transpired during it, though District 2 was understandably furious at her; they'd been so close to victory with Clove.
Meredith would live to age eighty, dying from a heart attack five months before the one-hundred thirty-eighth annual Hunger Games. She would marry and have two sons. She was ultimately a shier woman and more of an introvert, and she dabbled in many arts throughout her life, from painting to choreography. Meredith was one of the few victors who found it easy to block out the memories of her games; in fact, she worked as a therapist for many of the other victors. The victors liked having a therapist who knew what they'd been through, so she was a big hit.
NEWS
Meredith moves into the Victor's Village of District 7, next door to Johanna's home.
Gloss Linden gives birth to twin daughters, Marvel and Wonder.
Cashmere Linden's fifth and final child, Sparkles, is born.
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)
73HG: Apollo Reinold (#4, District 6)
74HG: Meredith Powell (#4, District 7)
A/N: What'd you think of this one? Think the games were exciting? Think I should be sacrificed by goats for letting an unnamed character win the games? Lemme know haha
This is goodbye for the last time before we dive headfirst into uncharted territory. See ya' later ;)
