THE SEVENTY SEVENTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Let it Snow"
INTRODUCTION
President Coriolanus Snow clung onto the presidential throne for another year. The year prior he had predicted that the second great rebellion would peter out and die within a few months, and as such he'd been reluctant to waste money and supplies stamping it out when it would swiftly die on its own. However, things were never as they seemed in the early days of Panem. As the seventy-seventh Hunger Games rolled around rebellion only grew. By April it became apparent that shutting down rebellion was hopeless. By early May, an estimated third of the populations of Districts 6, 8, and 9 had joined the cause, either by leaving their homes to take part in the enormous riots or by openly displaying their opposition to the Capitol's rule. Snow then ordered a strategy change of his troops. If they could merely contain rebellion within these three districts for a few years, they might be able to prevent all twelve districts joining into the cause. All lines of communication were cut between the districts. Enormous and costly walls were installed at the borders, crossable only by licensed government officials with special badges. By games time, District 9 had mostly jumped off the bandwagon. That left only 6 and 8 demanding constant supervision from the president's best peacekeepers. An estimated thirty riots were occurring in District 6 per week, and so many in District 8 it might take an entire novel to name them all. Fires killed thousands of rebels, peacekeepers, and non-participating 8 residents. Factories were burnt to ash. Houses went up in smoke. A scene of gross rebellion had truly not been seen since the dark days seventy-seven years previously. After two years of searching, President Snow finally found the head gamemaker he was looking for. Violet Turpin was a short, dark-skinned lady with a curtain of wavy purple hair. She'd served as the stylist for District 1 tributes from the fifty-first games to the sixty-ninth games, and then she'd served the seventieth to seventy-sixth as one of the minor gamemakers. All the while, Violet had been working hard to maintain her cute little fashion shop on the outskirts of the Capitol where she sold skirts and parasols and lace fans and the like. Violet wasn't really willing to take the role of head gamemaker, but when offered the role point-blank in a private meeting with the president she didn't really have the option to say no.
The career pack this year was your average group of standard-issue killers. That being said every games needed career tributes and these six were sure to pack a punch. District 1's tributes were as beautiful as always. The male was 1's mainstay, tall and blonde and holding a good sense of humor. He was a magician back home and spent his interview wowing Caesar and the audience with his tricks. The female was the one who really stole the show this year. The sixteen-year-old Harper Jesetta was the full package, extraordinarily talented, charismatic, and very pretty. She also wore contacts that caused her eyes to rapidly change color, terrifying the outliers and capturing the hearts of the audience members. 2 provided your average duo, and both were formidable fighters. The boy could cut down all of the dummies in the training center with his sword if he was allowed. He seemed particularly adept in "short bursts" of energy, where he could summon extreme amounts of energy for a short period of time, which would take hours to recover from. The girl was tall and well-muscled and rather masculine. She had a little slip-up during the chariot rides. She accidentally dropped the laurel wreath she was holding, causing it to land in the mouth of the horse pulling the chariot. The horse then stopped to munch on the wreath, and if not for some split-second electrical pulses to get the horse moving again all twelve of the chariots might have had to stop. District 4's tributes were both very small, but they weren't to be underestimated. The boy was tiny, not possibly more than four or five feet tall, but he was among the fastest runners the games had ever seen and he could swim as effortlessly as a penguin. His tolerance for cold temperatures would undoubtedly help him in the frozen mountain arena this year. The girl caught a lot of attention when her stylist garbled her in a dress made of colored scales, and from there she kept the audience's attention on by joking around in her interview and just trying to be cool. The scores of the pack were pretty decent: two tens, three nines, and a single eight.
The outliers were an interesting bunch this year. The early favorite this year was the tiny thirteen-year-old boy from District 3, Router Lowell. His father was a mechanic back home and Router wowed the gamemakers (and the whole nation) with his prodigious electronic smarts and his sheer wits. He scored a nine, outperforming every other thirteen-year-old that had entered the games in the past few decades, and everyone could tell he was going to make these games interesting. One other nine was scored. Blackthorn from 7 was tall, handsome, and charismatic, and had a knack for throwing axes. There was also an eight: Sienna from 12, who was speedy and flexible and quick on her feet. Sevens were scored by Zinaida from 3, Larch from 7, Sprout from 11, and Cullen from 12. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. There were numerous other standouts as well. Cheri from 9 was a real party animal who was always looking for fun. She was the best darts player on her side of 9, able to hit the bulls-eye blindfolded three times in a row and down a pint faster than any of the men in the pub. The local bars started pooling together a fund to sponsor her, and it looked like Cheri was a good candidate for the win. Camlet from 8 had been bullied and abused by his drunken father his entire life, and he refused to let his prep team cover the huge scar on his forehead. He wanted his father to see where his worthless son had ended up, being adored by thousands. Abeline from 8 was famous across the district for an event she hardly remembered. At age eight she was pronounced dead from influenza and placed in a coffin underground. Mere moments after the box was covered, the mourners heard her kicking and screaming from inside. She was dug back up and found to be as alive as she could be, as though she had come back from the dead. The doctors couldn't believe it. She was a living medical mystery to that day. There were no volunteers besides the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Giovanni O'Lenyd, 18, (9) 8-1 and Harper Jesetta, 16, (10) 3-1
District 2: Icesulus Clark, 18, (10) 3-1 and Rebecca Corver, 18, (8) 9-1
District 3: Router Lowell, 13, (9) 12-1 and Zinaida Pinn, 18, (7) 14-1
District 4: Skipper Thomas, 17, (9) 7-1 and Vanessa Sailor, 17, (9) 8-1
District 5: Erik Hammond, 15, (4) 46-1 and Sonia Fitzgerald, 16, (6) 20-1
District 6: Stanton Casillas, 18, (5) 23-1 and Ivonne Bowen, 12, (3) 73-1
District 7: Blackthorn Rawls, 18, (9) 10-1 and Larch Fortini, 18, (7) 15-1
District 8: Camlet Zakher, 16, (5) 29-1 and Abeline Dyer, 13, (3) 62-1
District 9: Dylan Mccardle, 17, (4) 40-1 and Cheri Davis, 17, (5) 22-1
District 10: Wilder Alcorn, 14, (3) 67-1 and Megan Jones, 15, (6) 19-1
District 11: Sprout Holt-Dwyer, 18, (7) 13-1 and Planter Rod, 18, (5) 24-1
District 12: Cullen Esters, 17, (7) 15-1 and Sienna Foxley, 18, (8) 9-1
HGBO Bets: 17% on Harper, 14% on Icesulus, 11% on Giovanni, 8% on Skipper and Vanessa, 7% on Router, 6% on Rebecca, 5% on Blackthorn, 4% on Sienna, 2% on Zinaida, Larch, Sprout, and Cullen, 1% or less on Erik, Sonia, Stanton, Ivonne, Camlet, Abeline, Dylan, Cheri, Wilder, Megan, and Planter.
THE GAMES
At first Violet was a little awkward in her newfound position of power, but she quickly got used to it, and just as quickly began sketching out designs for her first arena. When completed, the arena was an enormous range of snowy mountains. The steel cornucopia, sleeker and more angular than usual, was situated on the center of an icy lake that looked to have been frozen solid for years. The tributes would have to be careful when sprinting toward the cornucopia lest they slip and break any number of body parts on the hard ice. Among the supplies in the cornucopia, there were dozens of climbing pickaxes, machetes, and bows with stone-tipped arrows. There were also a number of sleeping bags and heating packs to keep the tributes from freezing. Surrounding them would be row after row of tall, rocky mountains covered with feet of frost and snow. Temperatures ranged from forty to sixty degrees Fahrenheit during the day, while they could drop as low as twenty below zero after nightfall. Here and there the tributes might find a cave that could provide some warmth. On the insides of these caves were ugly green lichens that stuck to the tributes like alive Velcro, often found near edible squishy moss. The tributes would also have to be careful for silver wolves that were nearly impossible to spot through the snow, as well as snowy owls with razor-sharp claws and foxes with some of the best vision of any mutts in history. In the middle of this barren hell frozen over, there was one source of sanctuary. At the peak of the tallest mountain in the arena, there sat a small wooden cabin. The cabin was stocked with food, clean water, medical supplies, weapons, and much, much more. There was also a running sink, toilet and shower, and a stove as well as a warm bed with at least five wool blankets. The inside of the cabin was toasty warm, regularly heated to around eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Inside of the cabin with a number of warm blankets and a hot drink, one might peer out of the nearest window and feel a kind of guilt. Even the sole tribute safe and warm in the cabin would eventually have to drag themselves back out into the snow to meet the other competitors. Many would go on to speculate this was a metaphor for the fact that many district citizens had a part in the rebellion whether they were actively burning down buildings or not. And only the sole tribute who took the initiative of obeying the Capitol and cutting down their final opponents whether they liked it or not would be rewarded with Victor's Row.
As the tributes rose into the arena there was the usual wash of panic that came whenever there was a colder arena, but it seemed as though this year would be far less harsh than some games past. For one, there was a lot of heating equipment in the horn, and the days were long enough that the tributes could get pretty much everything done before nightfall, when it got much colder.
When the gong rang, all twenty-four tributes decided to head into the bloodbath. They'd seen enough of the games to know that running away from the horn in an arena as harsh as this was never a good idea.
Harper sprinted at the head of the onrush. She was not only beautiful but extremely dexterous and she managed to even out her weight on the ice to keep herself from slipping. The 1 girl quickly found her way to a hatchet, and she turned sharply on her heel and vaulted it into the head of a nearby outlier girl. She fell with a crunch as the blade punctured her skull, making her death the first of the games.
Megan Jones, District 10 Female: 24th, Killed by Harper, Bloodbath
Icesulus, another fast runner, snatched up one of the many stone pickaxes in the cornucopia. He'd never used one before, so at first he was a bit awkward swinging around the heavy weapon, but he quickly got used to it. A nearby boy groaned as the pickaxe made contact with his shoulder, crunching the bone under the impact site. Blood soon started pouring out of his body, and Icesulus started away from his first victim as the outlier boy let out his last breaths.
Erik Hammond, District 5 Male: 23rd, Killed by Icesulus, Bloodbath
Skipper from 4, a natural-born sailor, had undoubtedly the keenest eyesight of any tribute in these games. He'd managed to somehow spot out a bow through the blizzard, and he quickly reached the weapon before throwing the quiver over his shoulder. Two of Skipper's arrows landed with perfect precision in a nearby boy's chest. His arrows were almost immediately lethal at that close range.
Dylan Mccardle, District 9 Male: 22nd, Killed by Skipper, Bloodbath
Giovanni's bow flew through the air like an extension of his arm. He fired arrows this way and that with sheer mastery that bespoke years of practice. The girl from the lumber district was in the wrong spot at the wrong time, and one of the Giovanni's arrows skewered right through her torso, protruding from her back. By the time she hit the ground with a loud sound she was dead.
Larch Fortini, District 7 Female: 21st, Killed by Giovanni, Bloodbath
Having wrenched her hatchet out of the skull of her first prey, Harper quickly attacked her next victim. About ten feet away, a dark-haired boy had fallen to the ice, slowly bleeding out from a wound he'd sustained from the fall. Harper was more than happy to polish him off with a hatchet blow to the neck, nearly blowing off his head in one motion.
Cullen Esters, District 12 Male: 20th, Killed by Harper, Bloodbath
The two tributes from 2 teamed up to make their next kill. Rebecca grabbed a pair of twin machetes, while Icesulus took a quick moment to wipe the blood off of his stone pickaxe. Rebecca pointed out a worthwhile victim nearby, the tall, broad-shouldered boy from 10. The boy screamed as Rebecca dug the first of her two machetes in his chest. He whipped around in a panic only for Icesulus to carve out his forehead with his pickaxe.
Wilder Alcorn, District 10 Male: 19th, Killed by Rebecca and Icesulus, Bloodbath
Vanessa was the last career without a kill, but as she scanned the cornucopia field she spotted a light-haired boy several yards away, on his hands and feet on the ice to keep from slipping and sliding. When he spotted Vanessa coming his way, he tried to get to his feet and escape, but the clumsy boy just fell back down. The girl's machete found its way straight between his eyes, killing him almost instantly.
Stanton Casillias, District 6 Male: 18th, Killed by Vanessa, Bloodbath
Blackthorn from 7 was one of the two outliers in these games to have scored a nine. He knew if he could use his initial boost of popularity as a foothold, he would easily be able to climb his way up to the Victor's crown. But that couldn't be done without making a good kill or two early on. Blackthorn sprinted over the ice and found his way to a pickaxe that laid fifty yards from his pedestal. Nearby, Giovanni from 1 was removing his arrow from the dead body of his most recent kill. Blackthorn approached and dug the blade of his axe into his back. Giovanni let out a gasp and fell onto the ice. He tried to fight back but just couldn't find the energy, and he was gone in moments.
Giovanni O'Lenyd, District 1 Male: 17th, Killed by Blackthorn, Bloodbath
Rebecca fluidly attacked her next victim. Two outlier girls were grappling over a pack nearby, and Rebecca dove toward the taller of the two girls. She planted one of her machetes into the girl's chest and tried to attack the other, but the second managed to escape. The first girl fell onto her back, moaning and coughing up blood, and in seconds she was as dead as the thousands of other outliers that had perished in games past.
Sonia Fitzgerald, District 5 Female: 16th, Killed by Rebecca, Bloodbath
Router from 3, the most popular outlier in these games, was struggling to escape north with a package of mechanical supplies and other tools, but he was intercepted by Harper and Vanessa, who didn't want to let him escape and pull a Beetee Latier that would get them all killed. Router managed to duck under the first swing of Harper's hatchet, and he pulled a spear out of his pack, ready to fight back. Vanessa managed to plant one of her machetes into his torso, drawing a little blood. It turned out that Router was particularly adept in trickery, and he swung the pack like a weapon, knocking over Vanessa and Harper in turn like dominoes. In a crumpled heap on the ice, Harper made a reckless move, swinging her hatchet in an arbitrary direction. She accidentally severed the entirety of Vanessa's lower arm, and by the time she realized what had happened Router had escaped. Blood was leaving Vanessa's stump of an arm to fast for her to survive much longer.
Vanessa Sailor, District 4 Female: 15th, Killed by Harper, Bloodbath
Skipper sprinted through the blizzard and made hard contact with a strong girl from one of the poorest districts of Panem. The girl was strong enough to keep from falling on her butt, but she did slide a little, and she was disoriented enough for Skipper to go in for the kill with his arrows' lethal stone tips.
Planter Rod, District 11 Female: 14th, Killed by Skipper, Bloodbath
Icesulus made the final kill. Several minutes earlier, he'd buried his pickaxe into the neck of a small boy, and the boy had dragged himself into a dark corner of the cornucopia field, weeping softly and trying to cover his wounds with his hands. By the time Icesulus noticed him again, he was mere seconds away from death. The poor boy barely felt the 2 boy's ending blow.
Camlet Zakher, District 8 Male: 13th, Killed by Icesulus, Bloodbath
The rest of Day 1 was deathless. The four remaining career tributes cleaned their weapons and then regrouped in the icy cornucopia, huddling together to maintain warmth. At first they tried to go about their business putting up with the cold but they soon realized installing some sort of heating system into the horn was the only way to keep them freezing to death. Harper dug through the horn to gather as many heating packs as she could. Meanwhile, Rebecca collected a number of blankets and hung them over the entrance of the horn. Harper's heating packs slowly warmed the interior of the cornucopia, and the toasty air was kept in by Rebecca's blankets. Meanwhile, Icesulus sat in the back of the cornucopia, sorting weapons. There was a massive amount of arrows in these games, so much that the 2 boy could afford to sort them into various piles depending on the shapes of the tips. Skipper sorted the food rations. In minutes some of the foods started freezing, so he got Rebecca to help him drag all of the food into the warmest area of the cornucopia to continue his work.
Meanwhile, the outliers scattered, crunching and dashing and slipping over the frost to get to safety. Router had successfully escaped the horn with a bag of mechanical supplies, as well as a stone knife. He climbed a few hundred feet up the nearest mountain before settling down in a small cave to tinker with his various supplies. Zinaida stumbled east until she reached an icy frozen river. She grabbed a stone and pounded at the surface of the ice until it cracked up, revealing the liquid water underneath. It was so cold the girl had to splash it around in her mouth for several seconds before swallowing it. Ivonne was suffering from a migraine, due in part to the lack of oxygen as she travelled higher and higher. When she was too sick to climb any higher, she dug out a patch of snow and settled down on the rock, groaning and willing the pain to dissipate. Blackthorn stayed near the cornucopia, tossing his single hatchet between his hands. He let the audience know that he was planning a raid on the cornucopia, where he planned to kill one or two of the careers and then make a run for it with whatever he could carry. Around noon the 7 boy was attacked by three silver wolf mutts, and he took turns hacking at them and running away from them for about an hour until each of them was dead. Abeline didn't read the instructions on her heating pack when she strapped it to her back, and in seconds it was overheating, sending severe burns down her back. She screamed and threw the pack off her back before collapsing to the ground in agony. She cleaned out the burns with some snow and settled down right then and there to heal. Cheri had managed, among other things, a grappling hook from the cornucopia. She used it to climb one of the nearby mountains, and when she reached one of the caves she had a crunch on a granola bar she was sponsored. Sprout had a handsome supply of weapons: a bow and quiver of arrows, and two machetes. With the bloodbath at his conclusion, he raced to a hidden area and practiced with his weapons until long after nightfall, when he settled in a small crevice to rest. Sienna was the first tribute to spot the cabin: a small brown smudge at the peak of the tallest mountain. Her instincts told her she should push it out of her mind, but curiosity got the best of her, and Sienna started traipsing toward the mountain that housed the small structure. Temperatures were mild on the first day, only dropping to around thirty degrees as night fell. The worst was yet to come.
Day 2 was similarly deathless. After an entire day of lying around, the career pack got up and prepared to hunt. Icesulus stayed behind while Harper, Rebecca, and Skipper ventured into the icy mountainous landscape. Skipper stayed in front: he had the best eyesight and the keenest hearing of the careers, making him the perfect leader despite his lacking score. Harper was a little sour that she wasn't the leader but knew what was best for the pack and kept quiet. At eight in the morning the career tributes spotted Zinaida sleeping beside the frozen river. The small and nimble 3 girl easily managed to escape the careers, though, and she collapsed in a fissure in a mountainside, crying softly to herself.
Minutes later Ivonne woke with a start. She'd spent nearly twelve hours sleeping off her motion sickness, and she woke up as a snowy owl mutt dug its glistening talons into her chest. Ivonne leapt to her feet and sprinted to a nearby pile of stones. In a few minutes a second snowy owl mutt appeared. By the time the girl had knocked both owls out of the sky her chest was bleeding at an alarming rate. A sponsor sent her a few bandages to quell the bleeding, and it was another day of resting and healing for the small girl.
Blackthorn postponed his raid of the cornucopia as the cold intensified. Daytime temperatures on Day 2 were around fifty degrees, about ten degrees colder than those of Day 1. To keep the Capitol entertained he made an effort to build a small igloo. This attempt was an epic fail, and Blackthorn scrapped the project after about half an hour.
In his high-up cave, Router from 3 was hogging most of the screen time. He seemed to be a natural with his little mechanical parts, and sponsor gifts were bringing him more and more by the hour. He refused to show the cameras exactly what he was building, at least at that point. If he was planning to keep the Capitolites on the edges of their seats he was succeeding.
Day 3 featured only one death. Sprout figured he'd been practicing with his weapons long enough: it was high time he get on the move and see as much of the arena as he could while the mutts were at a minimum. After about an hour he found himself at the foot of a tall, narrow mountain. There was a single green smudge about a hundred feet up. This smudge was really only a large patch of overgrown moss, but it captured the boy's attention. Sprout had only scaled twenty feet up the mountain when disaster struck. A thick patch of snow he was grabbing on to broke straight off of the mountain face, and before Sprout knew what had happened he was tumbling backward. He hit the ground after the long fall and his neck was snapped instantly. A quick way to go at least.
Sprout Holt-Dwyer, District 11 Male: 12th, Killed by Breaking Neck, Day 3
The rest of Day 3 passed swiftly. Zinaida got a good portion of the Capitol on her side when she chased a fox mutt to the frozen river, where she drowned it by shoving it through the hole in the ice. She wasn't sure yet what to do with the meat, but she figured the sheer cold of the arena would preserve it on its own, so she didn't bother to ask the sponsors for salt. Sienna continued her long journey toward the cabin. It was thoroughly exhausting every part of the girl's body, but it was giving her something to focus on and keeping her at least partly prominent in the games. However, toward the end of Day 3 Cheri noticed the cabin and started moving toward it. Now, though neither girl knew it, it was a race to reach the cabin first. Cheri and Sienna both stopped their separate journeys at nightfall.
Meanwhile the careers continued hunting. At eleven o'clock that night, Harper, Rebecca, and Skipper sprinted back to horn. By the time they reached the cornucopia Icesulus was already sleeping for the night. The threesome stepped into the heated horn and sighed with relief, removing their layers to stand in the heavenly heat that seeped down into their bodies.
Day 4 was also deathless. Violet had plans to make the first few days of her games as disinteresting as possible so that it would be extra-satisfying when the games crescendoed into an action-packed conclusion a few weeks in. Come morning Rebecca found a small machine that could make hot chocolate. She prepared hot drinks for herself and each of her allies, and they rested for much of the day, telling stories to each other and the audience. Router's mechanical contraption was beginning to take some kind of shape. Around noon he demonstrated his handiwork for the first time. It moved in a strange way, almost like a spider with scuttling legs and a car rolling on wheels at the same time. He took the second half of the day off and took the much-needed rest he deserved. Zinaida finally decided she wanted to cook the fox meat, so she gathered as much driftwood from the river as she could and placed it in a small cave to dry out, heating it with her breath to make it dry faster. Ivonne kept resting, recovering from her motion sickness and the wounds the owl mutts had inflicted. Blackthorn postponed his cornucopia raid once more as a small tuft of snow fell down and buried him to the waist. It took him about a quarter of an hour to get out, and he was too shaken up to do much for the next few hours. Abeline was the third tribute to notice the cabin and start heading up the slope of the mountain. Now three tributes were racing for the cabin. Cheri and Sienna spotted each other about halfway up the mountain at three in the evening, and they moved toward each other. Sienna proposed an alliance, and Cheri nervously agreed. Sienna and Cheri exchanged stories as they made their way farther and farther up the slope, until they reached a level area which they both agreed was the perfect place to spend the night.
In the early morning of Day 5, a cannon shot rolled over the arena, causing loose pieces of snow to fall from their heights. Zinaida had been up late the night prior debating whether or not she should continue attempting to start a fire to cook the meat of the fox she'd killed. After a night's rest she decided to go through with the plan. Zinaida's driftwood had had a good day to dry and was now almost completely free of water. Inside the cave, she created a cone shape and was pleased to find that the first spark quickly expanded over the rest of the wood. In no time she had a crackling fire roaring high.
However, Zinaida had overlooked one crucial point. As the fire burned, it began emitting more and more smoke. The cave quickly filled with the noxious grey gas. The girl had run to the back of the cave for a sip of water, and she didn't realize her mistake until it was too late. She sprinted for the exit, lungs burning from the smoke, vision growing hazier by the second. Unfortunately the smoke was making her delirious and escape was impossible. The fire went out on its own about half an hour after Zinaida's death.
Zinaida Pinn, District 3 Female: 11th, Killed by Suffocation, Day 5
The cannon shot woke up Cheri and Sienna, the allied mountain-climbing girls who were resting on the face of the tall rock feature. At first they tried to go back to sleep, but weren't able to. Cheri suggested they get moving and they quickly broke camp, continuing their trek toward the cabin.
About half an hour later Router demonstrated another feature of his little creation to the audience. He'd surrounded the blob of mechanical parts with a series of specially-shaped pieces that could cut through snow with incredible efficiency. Router demonstrated how he could place the contraption on the ground and cause it to worm its way under the snow before coming back out like a loyal pet dog. When Router stomped, the loose snow would be sent tumbling down the mountainside, possibly enough to disorient any tribute long enough for the 3 boy to escape.
Down at the cornucopia, another tribute met their end. For days, Violet had kept a trio of rabid wolf mutts circling around the cornucopia. She was hoping one of the careers would discover the wolves, but they were stubbornly keeping still in the horn, unwilling to go back out into the cold before they caught up on their sleep. Come Day 5, Violet used strong electrical pulses to send the wolf mutts reeling in the direction of the horn. In no time they caught onto the scent of the careers' blood. All hell was about to break loose.
Even Harper, who was keeping guard, had no idea the wolf mutts were coming until they pounced. She let out a scream of terror and dove to one side, missing the razor-sharp teeth of the first wolf mutt by inches. In seconds, Icesulus, Skipper, and Rebecca had jumped to their feet and grabbed their weapons. Icesulus and Skipper quickly managed to kill the smallest of the three wolves, but the other two were more problematic. While Harper was still keeping the first occupied, Rebecca was desperately struggling to fend off a medium-sized one with red eyes. Skipper dove to her aid. A few seconds later Rebecca was able to corner the mutt, leaving Skipper free to lope off part of its snout. The wolf mutt roared in agony and climbed onto its two hind legs.
Rebecca's chest had been torn to shreds before she even knew what had happened. With a crunch she tumbled to the snowy earth. Skipper knelt at her side. He knew instantly that he was beyond saving. He was right.
Rebecca Corver, District 2 Female: 10th, Killed by Wolf Muttation, Day 5
Day 6, the persistent procrastinator Blackthorn had no choice but to get moving. His mentor Johanna sent him a note saying that he was being a lazy bum and that he had better get moving or else there were plenty of mutts and natural threats the gamemakers would throw his way. Blackthorn had originally intended to stay close to the cornucopia. When attacked by the wolf mutts several days prior, he had been driven several additional miles north. Finding his way back to the cornucopia was not an easy task, but by nightfall he saw the lights the careers had set up at the horn. Blackthorn burrowed his way down into a deep fissure in the earth, hoping it would keep him hidden for the night.
A few minutes before midnight on Day 6, disaster struck at the cornucopia. Icesulus and Skipper were fast asleep in the back of the cornucopia at the time, while Harper had fallen asleep on guard duty. What none of the careers knew was that, for days, a somewhat heavy stone sword was leaning against one of the wires connected to the heating contraptions set up by Harper. For nearly a hundred hours the sword had been slowly pulling at the wire. Finally, out of the blue, a spark flew and the blankets covering the horn's entrance were in flames. Harper woke screaming and fled out onto the frozen lake to avoid breathing in the noxious smoke that was filling the horn. Fortunately Icesulus and Skipper made it out safe and sound. All three reckoned it wasn't worth returning to bat out the flames. The chance that they would be burned in the endeavor was too great. All they could do was sit a hundred feet away shivering with cold and counting the stars overhead while the blankets smoldered away into thin air.
Cheri and Sienna woke up bright and early on Day 7. They knew there was less than half an hour left of their climb. The cabin was so near they could make it out more clearly than ever. They had been climbing for less than ten minutes when Cheri met her end. The two girls found themselves at a vertical wall leading straight up to where the cabin sat. Cheri whipped out the grappling hook she'd scooped up at the cornucopia and threw it as high as she could. Cheri began climbing the chain of the grappling hook, but in seconds she slipped. Sienna watched with horror as her ally tumbled thousands of feet down the mountain before disappearing from sight. Cheri was killed instantly upon impact with the ground.
Cheri Davis, District 9 Female: 9th, Killed by Falling off of Mountain, Day 7
With Cheri's death, the final eight was formed: Harper Jesetta from District 1, Icesulus Clark from District 2, Router Lowell from District 3, Skipper Thomas from District 4, Ivonne Bowen from District 6, Blackthorn Rawls from District 7, Abeline Dyer from District 8, and Sienna Foxley from District 12.
At four in the morning on Day 7, Blackthorn's mentor Johanna sent him a message demanding that he get his ass moving. He picked up his hatchet and took a look at the weather. He was pleased to find that the perpetual snowstorm was thicker than it had been in several days. Surely none of the careers would see him coming, and by the time they felt the blade of his hatchet in their bodies it would be too late.
Blackthorn swirled toward the cornucopia in the midst of the cohort of snowflakes, shaking with anticipation. Skipper was standing guard, but even with his eagle eyes he couldn't see far enough through the blizzard to spot the 7 boy. The lights of Skipper's world suddenly cut to black as Blackthorn buried the blade of his hatchet into his neck. The sharp metal plate used with that much force was enough to easily decapitate the small boy.
Skipper Thomas, District 4 Male: 8th, Killed by Blackthorn, Day 7
In the back of the cornucopia, Icesulus woke to the sound of Blackthorn sweeping up supplies to his heart's content. Icesulus shook Harper awake and gestured for her to keep silent. Icesulus scrambled for pen and paper and scribbled out his plan. Harper nodded, and the duo grabbed their weapons before slowly rising to their feet.
Blackthorn was seconds from fleeing when Harper appeared out of nowhere. The clang was deafening as Harper knocked Blackthorn's axe out of his hand with her own. As Blackthorn fell to one side to retrieve the fallen weapon, Icesulus swooped down and buried the sharp end of his pickaxe into the 7 boy's calf. The outlier boy was now confined to the ground, wriggling to and fro like a dying fish. Harper had no trouble finishing him off with another steady swing of her hatchet.
Blackthorn Rawls, District 7 Male: 7th, Killed by Icesulus and Harper, Day 7
The remainder of Day 7 was deathless. It was largely empty of conflict for the four surviving outliers: Router, Ivonne, Abeline, and Sienna. Router, having finalized his avalanche-inducing machine, left his little cave and set himself out on the move, searching for a tribute on which to test his creation. Around noon, two fox mutts melted out of the shadows and pounced toward him. Router managed to kill the first by knocking it down the mountainside, while the second posed much more trouble. It dug a sizable gash in his chest before the 3 boy finally managed to beat it to death with a rock. Router had to rest for the remainder of the day while the wound healed with the help of some disinfectant sent by sponsors. Ivonne had been largely inactive thus far, and Day 7 wasn't an exception. She cowered the day away in a small cave, feeding on edible moss and halfheartedly throwing rocks at mutts that came near. In her sleep she rolled into a patch of pesky lichens, and she woke to find several square feet of fungus latched onto her skin like velcro. It took hours to remove every last hook from her skin. Abeline continued her journey up the mountain, moving toward the cabin. Halfway through the day, disaster struck. The girl's foot slid on a slippery stone and she was sent speeding down the mountainside. Fortunately, there was a clear path to the base, so she was unharmed. Her only injury was a cut on her forehead. Abeline rested for the entire day. She really did enjoy staring death in the face and laughing at it. At long, long last, Sienna reached the cabin. She reached out the blue hand that had no feeling and turned the knob. A blast of hot air overwhelmed her, and Sienna stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was an open pantry to her left, loaded with food. She gorged down as much hot soup as she could. Then Sienna took a long, hot bath. At night she slithered down under the comforters. It was the first time any tribute had been toasty warm since the games began.
In the early morning of Day 8, Router found his victim. He was trekking across a flat, snow-laden path winding around one of the taller mountains, and he saw the small form of a girl sleeping about one hundred feet below. He reached into his bag and pulled out the machine he'd spent days working on. Router set it on the ground. Then he watched as it wiggled under the snow to do its job. It emerged about half an hour later, and Router already knew his plan was going to work. He sent a few tufts of snow downhill and in seconds an avalanche of snow was barreling down toward the sleeping girl. Abeline's mouth had filled with snow before she had time to scream. She was buried alive for the second time in her life, but this time no miracle came to save her.
Abeline Dyer, District 8 Female: 6th, Killed by Router, Day 8
Minutes later, Sienna woke in the cabin. She threw aside the warm blankets and took a morning shower before making herself a bit of coffee and having some biscuits for breakfast. She'd eaten biscuits almost every day back in 12, but they were always cold or stale. The food Sienna ate during the games was the most delicious stuff she'd tasted in her life.
Harper and Icesulus were the next two tributes to wake up. They ate a quick breakfast, and then it was time to decide who was to go hunting and who was to stay as the horn's guard. Out of nowhere, something hard and warm slammed into Harper's chest. Half an hour earlier, two wolf mutts had attacked Ivonne. She didn't have the energy or the skill to fend them off. She had no choice but to run. Ivonne had been running for her life down the mountainside, the wolves right behind her. If she stopped for a millisecond to catch her breath she would have been toast. Now her only hope was that the careers would take pity on a girl like her and defend her from the wolves. Harper had to grab onto a nearby countertop to keep from falling as Ivonne ran straight into her, and of course she didn't listen to her begs for mercy. A single swing of Harper's hatchet was enough to kill the small girl, and then only four tributes were left.
Ivonne Bowen, District 6 Female: 5th, Killed by Harper, Day 8
As Ivonne let out her last breath, the two wolf mutts emerged from the blizzard, snarling. The wolves were fierce predators, but they were no match for the two trained careers. Icesulus' life was saved as one wolf's fangs rammed into his elbow; if not for the piece of transparent body armor he was wearing, he almost definitely would have been killed. Even with the disadvantage of having the poorer sight, the careers easily vanquished both of the muttations. The two played rock, paper, scissors and Harper ended up with the nasty job of carrying the wolf corpses away so they wouldn't have to put up with the stink.
The start of Day 9 was largely awkward for the final four. None of them knew if it was early enough to start venturing toward the cornucopia for the finale. What's more, Harper and Icesulus were in a bit of a pickle. They weren't sure whether they should split now, wait until one more death to split up, or stay loyal to each other until the very end. They spent the whole day lounging around at the horn discussing options, and by the time night fell they still hadn't decided. Icesulus asked his mentor Remus Daley for a bit of advice, and he sent him a note suggesting they should stick together as long as possible. Harper Jesetta and Icesulus Clark had remained allies for another day.
Meanwhile, Router started toward the cornucopia. Weirdly, he didn't make the journey all the way—about halfway there, he picked a mountain and climbed it. The climb was long and excruciating. By nightfall he had reached the peak of the mountain, and he had a perfect view of the cornucopia below. Router went to sleep with the mischievous sparkle in his eyes so often seen in District 3 tributes who were planning to pull off something spectacular.
Day 9 wasn't completely deathless, though. One death occurred at eleven o'clock that night, long after the sun had set. Sienna was sleeping comfortably under the blankets when she heard a howl from outside. Given its volume she knew the wolf must have been close. At first Sienna was in shock, but she knew she had to act quickly. She got out of bed and tip-toed to the stairs, which led down to a small, freezing-cold basement. She heard an enormous bang from upstairs as the wolf mutt broke straight through the door like nothing, and Sienna jumped into a nearby closet, closing the door once she was inside. There, she held onto the handle for dear life, hoping to heaven that the thing either wouldn't smell her or wouldn't be able to penetrate the door.
Neither of her prayers were answered. The wolf learned what she smelled like by sniffing around the laundry room and in no time at all Sienna was cornered like a rat. Sienna screamed as the wolf leaped toward the door of the closet. Plaster fell from the ceiling and the door let out a groan that told her it was about to break. In seconds more the wolf had broken down the door and there was no way Sienna could escape.
Sienna Foxley, District 12 Female: 4th, Killed by Wolf Muttation, Day 9
The games were resolved shortly after the sun rose, the morning of Day 10. The cool morning wind woke Router up bright and early. He had a short breakfast on some sponsored soup and then put his precious insectoid mechanical creation in front of him. It wormed its way under the snow and then it was off. Router couldn't help grinning a little as it returned to him. He was about to end these games. He was going to be the first tribute under fourteen to ever hear the trumpets and the booming voice of Caesar Flickerman from all around.
With a small kick a little piece of snow fell hundreds of feet down toward the cornucopia. Router dislodged a few more chunks of frost and then literally tons of snow began free-falling through the chilly morning air toward the horn. The enormous avalanche landed on top of the cornucopia in one piece. Harper and Icesulus knew as soon as they woke up that worming their way out of their snowy prison was impossible. All of the horn had been flooded except for a small area in the back, where Harper and Icesulus were standing. It took them about three hours to use up all of the oxygen in the small space. The hovercraft had to break through the roof of the cornucopia to collect their bodies, and the cameras picked up on the grotesque manners in which they had died, clawing at their throats and each other as lack of oxygen slowly pulled them out of the world.
Icesulus Clark, District 2 Male: 3rd, Killed by Router, Day 10
Harper Jesetta, District 1 Female: 2nd, Killed by Router, Day 10
"Router Lowell of District 3, you are the victor of the seventy-seventh annual Hunger Games!" Caesar shouted.
Router grinned, staring at the sky, refusing to squint his youthful eyes despite the light of the morning sun.
AFTERMATH
It was no surprise when Router became one of the most popular victors of the first Hunger Games century. He was the first victor under fourteen, and only the second under fifteen. As he grew from a teenager into a young man, many would learn to love his charm and his wit, and his knack for cracking jokes. Despite his looks he was one of the few victors to never be prostituted; by the time he was old enough an onslaught of newer victors were in higher demand and nobody paid much attention to Router. Like Finnick, Router served as a beacon of hope for younger children in the outlying districts; if he could win the games safe and sound, maybe they weren't all doomed if their names were read at the reapings.
He settled comfortably into the Victor's Village of District 3, the ninth to do so.
His victory tour went pretty well; he knew how to please a crowd and his jokes garnered a good amount of polite laughter.
Router would live to the age of seventy-nine, dying from appendicitis the month before the one-hundred thirty-fourth annual Hunger Games. He would marry and have five children. He would keep the machine he assembled during the games on a shelf in his home his entire life, and after he died it would be put on display in a glass case in a Capitol museum.
NEWS
Router moves into the Victor's Village of District 3, the ninth victor to do so.
Cecelia Rieffel adopts a young girl named Celly.
Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta get married. It is the most attended wedding in Panemian history up to that point.
Struve Lockman, the victor of the seventy-fifth Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell, dies when two rogue Capitolites break into his home to slowly dismember him.
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)
75HG: Struve Lockman (#19, District 2)
76HG: Porcelain Wing (#13, District 1)
77HG: Router Lowell (#9, District 3)
A/N: Another chapter! This is the last chapter I'll be posting in 2018, so I'll say happy new year here! I feel obliged to mention a few resolutions but I don't make them. If I want to make a change to my life I kinda just start whenever I want.
How'd you like this one? If you went through my SYOT with a fine-toothed comb you might find a short passing mention of this dude. It's been quite a while since a District 3 won the games… was the last one Wiress? It's been quite a while, that's for sure.
I have something pretty unique planned for next chapter. I don't want to reveal too much now but it's going to be the second games ever with more than twenty-four tributes… take that how you will
