THE SEVENTY EIGHTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"A Mother's Love"
INTRODUCTION
In a great number of history books published in the years to come, the year of the seventy-eighth Hunger Games was considered to be the height of the second great rebellion. The year prior, President Snow had ordered his peacekeepers to contain rebellion within Districts 6 and 8, and while this strategy worked for a few months it was bound to fail somehow. An event as enormous as the rebellion that was blooming in the transportation and textile districts was simply impossible to keep quiet. A peacekeeper might tell his brother about what was going on, who might tell his wife, and before long nearly every citizen of Panem knew about the series of great riots transpiring in 6 and 8. In no time at all 9 and 3 had jumped onto the bandwagon, followed by 7, 12, 11, 5, and even 4 in that order. By February only Districts 1 and 2 were refusing the join the cause, remaining loyal to the Capitol as they had always been. For this the Capitol rewarded them enormously. In the months of February and March nearly a hundred clips were aired showing Capitol trucks delivering supplies of food to the poor and destitute of both districts. But this didn't dissuade the other ten districts. Fires tore across entire districts. Peacekeepers shot and killed thousands of citizens without mercy. If Snow's troops were succeeding at one thing, it was keeping rebellion out of the Capitol. Enormous walls were built around the nation's capital city, crossable only by a very short list of government officials, and all citizens living in the Capitol were forbidden from leaving until further notice. Food and other commodities were brought in by hovercraft, which were carefully inspected before they could be placed in stores. For years the Capitol's best scientists had been working hard on something that could scare the districts into compliance, and in April it was finally perfected: a flawless military tool, the perfect weapon with which to elicit fear. The contraption was an awkwardly-shaped metal case about the size of a small car. Snow ordered for it to be dropped on the town where the rebellion began the instant it was perfected. When it made contact with the town square, the metal cage exploded, emitting an enormous amount of invisible, noxious gas. By the time most of the town's residents realized what was going on, it was too late to escape. The gas was powerful enough to kill within minutes. If one were to visit the town the day after the bomb was dropped, they would see a scene of absolute desolation. There were no bodies at all; the gas was corrosive enough to completely dissolve a human body in the course of merely twenty-four hours. When exposed to oxygen for more than a day the gas became unreactive and therefore non-dangerous, keeping it from killing everyone in the nation as it spread. The president's message was clear. We have the power to kill all of you and you're testing us. From then on rebellion began to, slowly but surely, peter out. By games time in late June the rebellion was less than half the size it had been four months previously. With fear President Snow had triumphed once more.
The career districts were once again excited to each send a pair of their best recruits. District 1 provided two natural beauties as always, and they were both tall and somewhat thin. The boy was a master archer with some of the best eyesight and hearing of any tribute, and he had a rare condition that allowed him to see as many as three times as many colors as the average person. He was also the son of one of the richest couples in 1, which would definitely help. Similarly to last year, the 1 girl was the star of the show this year: one of ex-head gamemaker Celesta Mirthe's twin daughters, Nicolette Mirthe stole the show with her beauty and mastery of weaponry, particularly with bows and axes. She was also a stellar trickster and tactician and sharply clever. District 2 offered up a weaker-than-average pair. The boy was younger at sixteen but had definitely earned his promotion into the games via his stunning throwing knife skills, while the girl was much taller and more elegant and built to use a sword. She was also one of the first openly bisexual tributes. District 4 provided a pair of fast swimmers who were used to the elements. The boy was shier than most but had a striking young face and a cute smile, while the female, two years his junior, was a stunning, dark-skinned girl with thick-rimmed steel glasses. The scores of the pack were substantial: three tens and three nines.
This year had a strong crop of outliers that would certainly make the games interesting. Three eights were earned, all by females coincidentally. Corabelle from 8 somehow managed to score an eight despite being only twelve years old, and she was cute and funny and quickly became a Capitol favorite. Poe from 10 was one of the few citizens who could afford to dye her skin. Her entire upper body was dyed with speckled bands of blue and violet, which appealed to the Capitolites. She was a lot like them, and they liked that. The last eight was earned by the charismatic, lithe, and beautiful Hydrangea from 11, who entranced the Capitol with her sheer charm. There was another major standout coming from 5 this year. Cynthia Upsdell was the first pregnant tribute ever to enter the games: she was nine months down the line and she was expecting her baby around Day 6 of the games. As soon as she was reaped her husband Theo stepped forward as the male volunteer, knowing his help would be needed throughout the birth. Mack from 10 was another standout. He was an animal collector, the proud owner of: three dogs, seven cats, a parakeet, a number of small hamsters, an entire colony of ants, about twenty goldfish, and a tarantula. The Capitol wouldn't let Mack take any of his beloved pets to the Capitol with him, but he took a whole stack of pictures which he displayed in his interview. Other than Theo from 5, there was only one volunteer outside of the careers: Saturn Scholz from 6, who volunteered for his mentally disabled younger brother. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Leopold Strauss, 18, (10) 4-1 and Nicolette Mirthe, 18, (10) 3-1
District 2: Ronan Curtis-Taylor, 16, (9) 7-1 and Calypso Rios, 18, (9) 6-1
District 3: Linus Blanche, 15, (5) 26-1 and Electra Chapman, 17, (7) 13-1
District 4: Herman Stellan, 18, (9) 6-1 and Seraphina Cheser, 16, (10) 6-1
District 5: Theo Upsdell, 18, (5) 24-1 and Cynthia Upsdell, 18, (2) 79-1
District 6: Saturn Scholz, 17, (4) 43-1 and Oriana Tulin, 16, (3) 60-1
District 7: Roscoe Mallard, 15, (7) 15-1 and April Becker, 14, (7) 17-1
District 8: Faris Carp, 16, (6) 20-1 and Corabelle Linette, 12, (8) 10-1
District 9: Theodore Bruckmann, 18, (5) 24-1 and Sasha Shonk, 13, (4) 47-1
District 10: Mack Wiles, 18, (6) 21-1 and Poe Ring, 18, (8) 8-1
District 11: Carlo Hutton, 17, (4) 40-1 and Hydrangea Ansel, 15, (8) 9-1
District 12: Pickaxe Guarini, 18, (5) 26-1 and Kimbie Townsend, 16, (3) 65-1
HGBO Bets: 14% on Nicolette, 12% on Leopold, 11% on Seraphina, 10% on Calypso and Herman, 7% on Ronan, 5% on Corabelle, Poe, and Hydrangea, 4% on Electra, Roscoe, and April, 2% on Faris and Mack, 1% or less on Linus, Theo, Cynthia, Saturn, Oriana, Theodore, Sasha, Carlo, Pickaxe, and Kimbie.
THE GAMES
Violet Turpin had returned for her second year as head gamemaker. For the past year or so all high-ranking government officials had been trapped in a series of large underground shelters to deter assassinations or kidnappings, a place where Violet had had a whole lot of time to plan out a number of arenas. This meant construction of the arena could begin as soon as the president declared it was safe for Violet and the others to emerge back into the world. After her snowy mountain arena, the head gamemaker decided to try out a fantasy landscape this year. The tributes would find themselves in a seemingly desolate landscape that was not quite of this earth. The ground was made of a kind of scraggly yellow rock that was terribly hot to the touch, and enormous blue boulders were scattered here and there, like mysterious ancient monoliths standing against the sky. It looked like at some point there might have been civilization in that place, however. Here and there stood the faint outlines of places where buildings once stood. The most concrete evidence, though, where the small piles of white brick. There were thousands of these little towers around the arena, and they were carved with queer little symbols from an alphabet Violet and her team invented themselves. Instead of trees, there were huge, scraggly bushes that looked like the hands of skeletons trying to claw their ways out of the earth. The only shelters from the boiling sun were the various caves scattered around the arena. Every cave's entrance was blocked by a large stone, but if a tribute could roll this aside they would be able to access the cool, dark, roomy interior. To fit the landscape, the mutts of this arena were very unusual as well. The most common mutt was something you could call a rat—though its tail and whiskers were twice as long as they should have been and its skin was covered with a thick, jiggly red kind of armor. The only birds were huge vulture mutts that roosted in a series of tall cliffs to the north. Their claws were long enough to kill any unsuspecting tribute. Despite the seemingly bare landscape, water was plentiful. It was able to be found in a number of thin, swift streams that scissored through the barren plain. The sky was a dull purple and in the west the morning sun was coming up as red as blood.
The tributes gasped as the roofs of their pods opened up and sank into the ground, leaving them to be washed over with the scalding hot morning air. The arena this year looked to be the polar opposite of last year's, boiling hot instead of freezing cold. But this arena would be just as deadly as its predecessor. Everything about it was creepy. Even the handles of the weapons were eerily reminiscent of bone.
When the gong rang, only two tributes fled the bloodbath: Theo and Cynthia from 5, who wanted to keep the baby inside Cynthia out of harm's way. As the couple disappeared into the plain, the other twenty-two tributes surged forward.
Nicolette sprinted at the head of the onrush, her stunningly clear, golden-blonde hair rippling behind her. She snatched up a hatchet that sat in a copse of bushes twelve yards from her pedestal and rooted her feet firmly to the ground, ready to accomplish some killing. Nicolette swung the axe for several seconds before hurling the weapon like a projectile, landing the blade with perfect precision in a nearby girl's chest. Her knees buckled and she was dead, just like that. She didn't even flinch.
Sasha Shonk, District 9 Female: 24th, Killed by Nicolette, Bloodbath
Seraphina, another fast runner, quickly found herself some weapons: a pair of twin machetes hidden inside of the cornucopia. The boy from 12 was just nearby, and he stank of coal dust even after a week away from home. Seraphina watched with satisfaction as the first of her knives dug into the boy's throat. He collapsed, moaning for help, only for Seraphina to polish him off with a blow to the torso.
Pickaxe Guarini, District 12 Male: 23rd, Killed by Seraphina, Bloodbath
Leopold picked up a smaller boy and threw him to the ground like nothing. The victim's neck broke immediately upon impact with the hard stone ground, and Leopold swept up a bow and quiver of arrows, prepared to polish off his first prey. The boy held his arm in front of him a futile attempt to shield himself from Leopold's arrows, but it was hopeless.
Linus Blanche, District 3 Male: 22nd, Killed by Leopold, Bloodbath
Having wrenched her hatchet out of Sasha's chest, Nicolette fluidly attacked his next victim. About twenty yards away, the girl with elaborately-dyed skin had collapsed to the ground, slowly bleeding out from a stab wound inflicted by Herman. The girl was grateful to be put out of her suffering as Nicolette swung her hatchet into her chest, killing her immediately.
Poe Ring, District 10 Female: 21st, Killed by Nicolette, Bloodbath
Ronan had been fumbling with a belt of throwing knives for several seconds, trying to clip it around his waist. When it was finally secured, the 2 boy began firing. One boy screamed as one of Ronan's throwing knives sawed into his chest, and he staggered to the ground, coughing up blood.
Theodore Bruckmann, District 9 Male: 20th, Killed by Ronan, Bloodbath
Herman tackled a lanky boy from the agriculture district, easily overpowering him and pinning him to the ground. The career buried two knives into his lower abdomen and the boy immediately started bleeding, hot droplets of blood splattering over the stone and glittering like rubies. He bled out in moments.
Carlo Hutton, District 11 Male: 19th, Killed by Herman, Bloodbath
Seraphina and Calypso ganged up on Saturn, the volunteer boy from 6. Saturn was down on one knee, riffling through a crate containing loaves of bread, when the two career girls approached. He didn't hear them coming until it was too late. Calypso buried the blade of her broadsword into his shoulder. Saturn roared with agony and tried to run, but Seraphina had already carved out a good chunk of his back with her machetes. With so many injuries he was beyond saving.
Saturn Scholz, District 6 Male: 18th, Killed by Calypso and Seraphina, Bloodbath
The tiny Corabelle from 8 had filled a whole backpack with supplies. Now, she was making an attempt to flee west. Before she could escape, she was intercepted by Leopold, who didn't want a girl with as a high a score as her to escape. Corabelle gasped as Leopold jumped in her way, knowing she would have to fight back or die. If the fight progressed to fists, Corabelle knew there was no way she could overpower the trained career. Leopold made a devious move, pretending to fire left but instead making a blow to Corabelle's right side. The 8 girl keened in pain, and quickly threw out her foot. Leopold stumbled for in instant, and this was just what the outlier girl needed to triumph. Adrenaline giving her strength she never knew she had, she grabbed a case of water bottles and slammed it into his chest. As the 1 boy collapsed, groaning, Corabelle thrust her knife swiftly into his neck, leaving him to die.
Leopold Strauss, District 1 Male: 17th, Killed by Corabelle, Bloodbath
Soon after, Nicolette increased her kill count from two to four. Two allied girls had both grabbed knives in an attempt to ambush her. The 1 girl heard the clumsy girls coming and their whole plan collapsed. Nicolette tackled the taller of the two girls, knocking the other one down like a domino. The two outliers were tangled together on the ground. They couldn't escape fast enough. Nicolette hacked them both to bits with her hatchet until there was only a pile of ribbons.
Electra Chapman, District 3 Female: 16th, Killed by Nicolette, Bloodbath
Kimbie Townsend, District 12 Female: 15th, Killed by Nicolette, Bloodbath
Ronan made the final kill. He was searching around the cornucopia when he saw a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark. A sixteen-year-old boy was hiding inside of the cornucopia, hoping to wait out the bloodbath and come out once it was all over. The boy tried to duck out of sight, but he'd already been seen. In no time Ronan had him cornered like a rat. A deft volley of three arrows was enough to instantly kill the boy, and then the eleven cannon shots rolled over the plain like thunderclaps.
Faris Carp, District 8 Male: 14th, Killed by Ronan, Bloodbath
With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the five surviving careers regrouped at the cornucopia and waited around for the hovercraft to finish collecting the dead. There wasn't a single one of them who wasn't dripping with sweat. Once the coast was clear they quickly pulled all of the supplies into the cornucopia. Outside of the horn's shade, it was unbearably hot, and having everything inside would minimize the number of times they'd need to leave. Herman mounted a fan into the back of the cornucopia, which helped get the air circulating, and the careers crowded around it, letting the cool air blow over them. As he tied it down securely, Ronan and Calypso from 2 sat down to sort the food rations. They'd been good friends at the academy for years, and a good portion of the audience thought their little friendship was cute. They told jokes and laughed a lot. Meanwhile, Seraphina sorted the weapons. She was an expert on weaponry and was clearly the woman for the job. By the end of the day she'd sorted everything into several different piles as well as organized them by size and blade thickness. Meanwhile, Nicolette did a short hunt of the land in the immediate vicinity. This hunt was not fruitless. Hydrangea from 11 was hiding behind a large boulder just beyond the cornucopia, waiting to run in and grab what she could as soon as the careers left to hunt. Nicolette spotted her and tightened her grip on her axe. The 1 girl was famously delicate in her movements. She never kicked a pebble and never made a sound. Hydrangea's world suddenly cut to black as Nicolette sliced off her head with one swing of her hatchet. The pest would not be taking their supplies any time soon.
Hydrangea Ansel, District 11 Female: 13th, Killed by Nicolette, Day 1
The rest of Day 1 was deathless. Theo helped Cynthia escape west, letting her lean on his arm to keep her balance. Being so late in her pregnancy, Cynthia couldn't run, so the duo had to keep their movements at a fast walk. When the horn was finally out of sight, the duo collapsed in a jagged terrain where it would be hard for anyone to spot them. Theo helped Cynthia to a shady, cool area, and then the sponsor gifts poured down: food and water and medicine and painkillers and anything else a tribute could need in the Hunger Games. By nightfall the couple had a whole pile of supplies. The odds of Cynthia living long enough to see her baby were looking pretty good. Oriana ventured diagonally away from the cornucopia with a mint-green pack containing iodine capsules and a coil of wire. About an hour later, she settled down by a short stream, a tributary of one of the larger rivers of the arena. She used her wire to create a number of snares, which Oriana set at the riverside in hopes of capturing unsuspecting wildlife. Roscoe was less than half a mile from the cornucopia when he accidentally stepped in a snake nest, awakening the two loathsome brown rattlesnakes sleeping within. The 7 boy had to run at top speed to keep from being bitten, and only then he was barely keeping ahead of the angry rattlesnakes. He finally arrived at a small cave and pulled the large stone out of the way, revealing the entrance. Roscoe crawled inside and rolled the stone back into place behind him. He was safe, but he'd dropped all of his supplies. Now he had nothing but the clothes on his back, and with the snakes just outside he was trapped for the time being. April and Mack, allies, raced north. Little did they know that they were coming dangerously close to the cliffs where the vultures roosted. At nightfall they divvied up their food and water supplies and then nestled themselves under a scraggly copse of bushes, sharing a pillow they were sponsored. Corabelle was terrified out of her wits after escaping the horn. The confidence boost she got from killing Leopold disappeared in an instant. All she had was one knife and some twine and she was alone in the middle of the god-forsaken wasteland. Half a day of travel took her to a small patch of dead trees, where she rested for the night. Having scored an eight, Corabelle was strong, but her little twelve-year-old self wasn't slow to snap under the pressure of the games now that they were in full swing. There was relative tranquility in the arena as the blood-red sun set below the east horizon.
The careers woke early on the morning of Day 2 and left to hunt almost immediately, leaving only Calypso behind to guard the cornucopia. Nicolette, Ronan, Herman, and Seraphina ventured west, and a few minutes later Ronan pointed out a faint smudge on the land a few hundred yards away. The pack drew closer to investigate and found a broken-down safari vehicle with open sides and a canopy roof. All four of them made an effort to repair the vehicle for their use, but they all failed. However, they knew that one tribute from 6, Oriana, was still alive. They figured if they ever found her, they'd refrain from killing her and instead see if she could help them out a little.
Several minutes later, Corabelle woke up covered with mud, her skin scratched all over from rolling around on the crumbly, earthy ground in her sleep. Corabelle knew she would have to leave sometime, but she didn't want to leave the little oasis, if one could call it that, just yet. She spent most of the day digging little holes and then covering them with dry leaves and sticks. The hope was that if a tribute or mutt was chasing her she might be able to break their ankles or at least disorient them enough for her to escape.
Theo and Cynthia had slept remarkably calmly through the night, and they woke at eleven in the morning to the beeping of a sponsor parachute. The carriage of the parachute held only one tightly folded slip of paper. Theo read the paper aloud. It contained directions to the nearest cave, where the duo would be much cooler and more comfortable. Both tributes let themselves sleep for another hour or so and then they got moving. They arrived at the cave about two hours later. Theo could fit inside easily, but Cynthia's torso being so bloated from the baby made it much harder for her to enter. Eventually, Theo managed to help her inside, and they rested for most of the day, Theo administering his wife food and painkillers when the baby started kicking at her.
The only other tribute inside of a cave, Roscoe from 7, was doing anything but resting. After twenty-four hours he was still trapped underground, unable to leave without being attacked by the snake mutts that were just outside. Roscoe nervously paced back and forth, licking condensation off the walls to keep himself hydrated, desperately struggling to think up a plan to save his soul.
April and Mack spent the later part of the day making a journey around a series of jagged mountains, but disaster struck sooner than later. April tripped on her untied shoelace, and she stumbled to one side. April tumbled about ten feet down the cliff side, coming to a battered stop on a flat shelf of land. She wasn't injured, but she was in terrible pain. Mack knew April needed rest, and so they stopped climbing for the day.
April and Mack woke on the morning of Day 3 to a terrible cawing sound that sent shivers down their spines. Mack, the animal expert, identified the call instantly as belonging to a fierce species of vulture found exclusively in the south of District 2. Mack helped April to her feet and ordered her to flee in a zig-zag pattern, which would make it more difficult for the birds to track her. He also told her that, if she managed to catch one of the vultures, her first priority should be to damage its wings so it couldn't fly.
But as the first vulture mutt appeared over the cliff top, both tributes realized catching it would be hopeless. The beast was the size of a pickup truck, with claws a long and sharp as steak knives. Mack and April screamed and ran down the hill, toward safety. Mack was abandoning all forms of carefulness, instead barreling down the cliff as quickly as his legs could carry him. April was moving downward carefully and therefore slowly, and the vulture mutt caught up to her. April screamed as the vulture picked her up with its talons and carried her high into the sky—then it dropped her. Mack, who had ducked into a fissure in the cliff face, couldn't bear to watch as her body made collision with the ground. She was killed instantly.
April Becker, District 7 Female: 12th, Killed by Vulture Muttations, Day 3
Around noon the four hunting careers returned to the cornucopia. Calypso shared a bit of strange news with them. While they were away, Calypso said, a small pool of steaming purple liquid had appeared next to the cornucopia. She said she'd dipped her finger into the liquid out of curiosity, and then held up a fingertip that was burnt almost black. Nicolette started into the cornucopia and returned with a large tarp she thought would be able to cover the poisonous pool. Nicolette, Ronan, Calypso, Herman and Seraphina all had to work together to cover the pool. At one point Seraphina stumbled, and she might have fallen in if Ronan hadn't grabbed her by the back of the neck just in time.
That night, Herman stayed up long after the other careers fell asleep. He was getting very fed up of having to bring four other tributes with him whenever he wanted to hunt. Tonight, Herman told himself, he was going to get in a few solid hours of hunting all by himself. He volunteered for the first shift and snuck off once he heard the soft snores of the four tributes.
At one in the morning on Day 4, Corabelle slowly opened her eyes. She could see a dark figure moving a few yards away. Silently, the terrified outlier girl pulled herself into the shadows, where she wouldn't be seen. The figure moved into the pale purple moonlight, and Corabelle was able to make out the form of the 4 boy (she recognized him from the training center). At first Corabelle was tempted to stay in hiding until he left, but she didn't think she could live knowing she'd passed up the opportunity to kill another career. Her hope was that Herman would step into one of the holes she'd dug… yep, he did. Herman fell to his knees, gasping with pain, and Corabelle leapt out of the shadows. Corabelle planted her knife into Herman's back as quickly as she could. By the time Herman realized what had happened, the tiny wisp of a girl had melted away into the night.
Herman Stellan, District 4 Male: 11th, Killed by Corabelle, Day 4
The sun rose on Day 4 and Oriana was the first tribute to wake. For days she'd been aimlessly wandering the landscape, desperately searching for a water source. There were several rivers near her, but dehydration was distorting her vision, making it even harder to find water. She had no idea the careers were specifically searching for her. If she knew, she might have given herself up to them voluntarily, if it meant they would supply her with food and water.
Roscoe finally got up the courage to leave the cave he was trapped inside. The snake mutts outside had left hours prior. Roscoe pressed his ear to the door. He didn't hear the hissing or rattling of the snakes… were they gone, or just being quiet to trick him? Paranoia was messing with his mind, and Roscoe figured if he didn't leave now he never would. So he rolled aside the stone and stepped out into the wasteland. Fortunately, the snake mutts were gone—but suddenly a fiery agony bolted through his leg. The boulder had rolled back into place due to gravity, crushing his ankle against the ground. Roscoe struggled to escape, but failed. He tried to move the boulder with his hands, but without being able to reach under it was a futile endeavor. He was trapped. If a mutt decided to attack he would be helpless. His only option was to somehow roll the blue boulder away, or to cut off his entire leg below the knee. Without a blade, both options seemed impossible.
Later in the day, Nicolette, Calypso, and Seraphina went hunting. The trio ventured north, toward the cliff where the vultures roosted, and they came closer and closer to the fissure where Mack was sleeping. The three hunting careers settled for lunch on a flat region of the cliff side. They'd been eating for several minutes when Seraphina perked up. She heard Mack's soft snores from nearby. Seraphina peeked into a nearby fissure, and sure enough she saw the body of the resting boy. She hissed for Calypso to pass over her machetes, and then Seraphina hurled the knives down toward Mack. The knives landed in his neck and lower abdomen. Mack woke moaning, and tried to crawl to safety, but he was surrounded by Nicolette, Calypso, and Seraphina in a triangle shape. The trio stood around for about ten minutes to watch him die, and then they left, not wanting to be around when the blood stains all around them started to stink.
Mack Wiles, District 10 Male: 10th, Killed by Seraphina, Day 4
Less than a minute later, one of the career tributes met her end. Nicolette, Calypso, and Seraphina had departed in the opposite direction they'd arrived, heading across a thin pathway that ran perpendicular to the cliff face. They eventually reached a point where the path was only a foot wide; the girls would have to drop down from that point one at a time. Nicolette went first, and fell down safely. Seraphina, similarly, got down safely. Calypso was a different story. On the way down, she'd forgotten to make her legs even, and only one of her feet landed on flat ground. Her left foot landed over empty air. To the horror of her two allies, Calypso was sent tumbling hundreds of feet down, and she was torn to a pulp in a matter of moments.
Calypso Rios, District 2 Female: 9th, Killed by Falling off of Cliff, Day 4
That left the final eight: Nicolette Mirthe from District 1, Ronan Curtis-Taylor from District 2, Seraphina Cheser from District 4, Theo Upsdell and Cynthia Upsdell from District 5, Oriana Tulin from District 6, Roscoe Mallard from District 7, and Corabelle Linette from District 8.
At ten o'clock that night, Cynthia's water broke. That meant she had about ten to twelve hours before contractions started and the baby wormed its way out of her body. Theo gathered together all of the painkillers she'd been sponsored over the course of the four days and told her to take them whenever she needed them, but to save some of the most powerful for when actual labor pains began.
Cynthia woke up screaming at eight o'clock the next morning and told Theo that labor had started and the baby was ready to come out. The story of the next hour is one filled with a lot of screaming and crying and panicking and blood and a number other unidentified substances. At long, long last, Theo held a baby boy in his arms. He quickly wiped all the fluid off of it and then wrapped it in a fuzzy blue blanket before handing it to Cynthia, knowing it would need her milk. The couple named their child Surge Thomas Upsdell—Surge for Cynthia's father and Thomas for her grandfather. Surge was the first ever child born in the games, and the youngest human being ever to enter a Hunger Games arena.
Toward the middle of the day, the careers found what they were looking for. Ronan and Seraphina had followed a river to the large watering hole that was the source of all other water sources in the arena. To their pleasure they saw a small girl lying at the side of the water hole, sipping greedily—Oriana from 6. Ronan and Seraphina cornered her against the lake and proposed a compromise.
"You. We'll take you to the cornucopia and you're going to fix a little broken car we found. As soon as that's done we'll give you enough food and water to last for the rest of the games. You won't regret it. And if you try to abandon ship… I think you know what'll happen."
Oriana's parents, and the entirety of 6, were screaming at their television screens for the girl to make a run for it, but she was too tempted by the offer of never going hungry to turn it down. Oriana followed the two tributes to the cornucopia. While Oriana fixed a few wires and such under the hood of the vehicle, Ronan and Seraphina filled in Nicolette on everything that had happened. They were trying to decide who should kill the 6 girl once she finished repairing the car when the girl returned, saying that she was finished.
Nicolette followed the girl back to the repaired car to inspect her work. Oriana explained that she had gotten the car moving, but not very quickly, only five miles per hour at top speed. She was really lying. She hadn't been able to get the vehicle moving at all. It would be an entire day before the pack found out.
Nicolette pounced toward her and swung her hatchet blade into her skull, nearly cleaving it completely in half. Now that she wasn't of any more use to the pack there was no point letting her run free. Sure, the careers had lied to her, but lies were the basic building blocks of some of the best stories of the games—and some of the best victories.
Oriana Tulin, District 6 Female: 8th, Killed by Nicolette, Day 5
The rest of the day passed swiftly. By that point, Roscoe had given up all hope of rolling the boulder off of his feet. He attempted suicide as many as four times throughout the day but failed every time—his body's natural instincts were keeping him from running the jagged stones into his wrists at full force. If he didn't succeed in suicide, dehydration would naturally claim his life sooner than later, meaning his suffering would be over briefly.
Corabelle spent Day 5 fashioning a new weapon. After killing Herman, she now had three knives, but she wanted to fashion a fourth by herself, one that would fit snugly into her small hand. She found a piece of rock that was strong and brittle and chipped away at it for most of the day, her feet dipped into one of the large rivers of the arena. When her weapon was finally finished, the sponsors sent Corabelle a piece of rubber to wrap around the handle as a grip. This knife felt more natural in her hand than any of the others, so Corabelle figured it was the first one she would use if she was attacked.
A few minutes after midnight on Day 6, a cannon shot echoed over the barren plain. At the cornucopia, Nicolette and Seraphina were snoozing, while Ronan was sleepily standing guard. Suddenly the two girls woke to Ronan's screams. Seraphina grabbed a flashlight and shined it toward the entrance of the cornucopia to see what was going on. Two of the oversized vulture mutts had attacked Ronan on either side of his body, trapping him between their talons like a cage of cartilage. Seraphina sprinted toward Ronan to aid him, but Nicolette stopped her. She knew that the boy was beyond saving, and she didn't want Seraphina to get them both killed by revealing their position. Nicolette slunk into the shadows, and Seraphina reluctantly followed her as the vulture mutts carried away the screaming boy for supper.
Ronan Curtis-Taylor, District 2 Male: 7th, Killed by Vulture Muttations, Day 6
The sun rose a few hours later, and the first half of Day 6 was largely uneventful. Cynthia and Theo were sponsored a lightweight baby carrier that Cynthia strapped to her chest. Cynthia gently placed Surge into the carrier, and the couple slowly walked westward in search of a reliable water source. Surge started crying instantly after his mother started bouncing up and down, so Cynthia had to stay home with Surge while Theo went hunting for water. The husband returned about half an hour later with two canteens full of fresh water, saying he'd filled them up from a small stream about the width of his hand.
Two more deaths occurred that day, in rapid succession. Miles away, with his ankle smashed and crushed under the stray boulder, Roscoe had been lying lifeless on the ground for hours, staring blankly into the magenta sunset—the last sunset he would ever see. For an entire day his body had been slowly shutting down, until something disappeared in the depths of his green eyes and dehydration closed its hands around him at last.
Roscoe Mallard, District 7 Male: 6th, Killed by Dehydration, Day 6
Less than five minutes later, another cannon shot fired. Seraphina was the only career who was hunting, while Nicolette stayed back at the cornucopia. As the sun started to set, Seraphina turned back in the direction of the horn, hoping to return to her ally by dawn. Nearby, Corabelle was out of bed, wandering through the plain in search of a water source after the watering hole dried up. Corabelle should have known it wasn't a good idea to be out after dark. If she had stayed put in her damp little oasis she probably would have survived the night.
Seraphina had less than two miles of her journey left when she saw the scuttling 8 girl a few yards to her right. The career girl crept toward the outlier as quietly as a cat, and she didn't hear her coming until it was too late. Corabelle screamed as Seraphina dug her twin machetes into the back of her neck. Corabelle tried to run, but she was so disoriented she ran right into her killer. Seraphina leapt out of the way, and Corabelle fell flat onto her face, a dark pool of blood spreading out around her, glistening creepily in the moonlight.
Corabelle Linette, District 8 Female: 5th, Killed by Seraphina, Day 6
There were now only four tributes left in these games, five if baby Surge was counted. Cynthia filled a bottle with her milk and then wandered off to gather more water, while Theo stayed behind to care for their baby. Neither member of the couple was eager to think about how the following days would unfold—one of them would have to die, and the remaining parent would have to win and bring Surge home with them. Unless they were both killed, or, heaven forbid, Surge was.
Meanwhile, Nicolette and Seraphina both left the cornucopia and spent the entirety of Day 7 hunting feverishly. They were desperate to rat out Theo, Cynthia, and their baby before the finale, but the duo was hidden well. At one point Nicolette came about a quarter of a mile from the place where Theo and Surge were resting, and Violet conjured a swarm of red rat mutts to drive her away. The two careers returned to the cornucopia at sunset, their hunting efforts fruitless. They were both horribly frustrated with their inability to track down the remaining contenders; falling asleep would not be easy.
But one of them wasn't planning on falling asleep. Seraphina stayed awake long after Nicolette fell asleep, and silently grabbed her machetes. Seraphina knew she was much less popular than Nicolette, and she knew that killing her off in the night when she wouldn't be awake to put up a fight would be her best shot at victory. Nicolette didn't think Seraphina had the guts to kill her off, which was why she didn't feel endangered staying allied with her so late in the games. But she was wrong. Seraphina could find it inside her to kill off her stronger companion. She could and she would.
Nicolette woke with a start and let out a gurgle as the first of Seraphina's knives sawed into her chest. The 1 girl stared up in disbelief, but she didn't have time to mutter a curse or try to retaliate before Seraphina finished her off with her second machete. Her death came in seconds.
Nicolette Mirthe, District 1 Female: 4th, Killed by Seraphina, Day 7
The first half of Day 8 passed quickly. The only career left in these games, Seraphina hung around at the cornucopia, practicing with her machetes and a number of other weapons. She didn't think she would have any problem taking down Theo and Cynthia once the finale started, and their baby certainly wouldn't pose a problem, so Seraphina wasn't nearly as worried about hunting them down as her now-deceased ally Nicolette had been.
When the river nearest their home dried up, Theo and Cynthia had no option but to move. They stuffed all of their supplies into their packs, and as they moved, Cynthia carried Surge gently in her baby carriage. At noon Theo spotted water about a mile away in the form of a wide pond. The only problem was they'd have to come within a mile of the cornucopia in order to reach it, and they were afraid Surge would start crying and reveal their position. So, Cynthia stayed back with Surge, while Theo went forward to quietly fill their thermoses with water.
Seraphina was resting at the cornucopia when she spotted Theo's willowy form silhouetted against the bright morning sky. The girl grabbed her machetes and raced toward the boy, aiming to kill. Theo spotted Seraphina coming quickly enough to sidestep the first blows of her knives. Theo rolled sideways over the rock in an effort to escape, and he leapt to his feet once he'd regained his senses. Seraphina made a devious move, lashing out with her machetes to both his left and right, and Theo had no direction in which to run. Her two machetes cut into both sides of his body, and Seraphina tore them free, opening up two enormous holes through which blood could leave his body. Over the course of about ten minutes the father bled to death.
Theo Upsdell, District 5 Male: 3rd, Killed by Seraphina, Day 8
Seraphina was about to return to the cornucopia when she saw the sun shining on the footprints Theo had left on the dusty stone. Grinning, Seraphina followed the footsteps backward, and in no time she arrived at the place where Cynthia and Surge were hiding. Seraphina leapt out from behind a rock formation, ambushing the mother, and Cynthia roared with horror, throwing herself in front of her baby. Seraphina had two machetes, but Cynthia had a fold-up spear she'd been sponsored, so she was far from defenseless.
Seraphina's first move inflicted a great amount of damage to Cynthia. She managed to bury her knives into the left side of her opponent's torso, drawing a thin stream of blood that rolled down to the ground. Cynthia keened in pain and retaliated by thrusting her spear into Seraphina's neck, but the trained 4 girl easily managed to block the blow.
At that point Cynthia realized Seraphina was staring at baby Surge, and Cynthia grabbed a handful of rocks, hurling them as hard as she could at the career girl and screaming, "YOU… WILL… NEVER… TOUCH… MY…. SON!"
Adrenaline was powering Cynthia onward so much that she managed to knock Seraphina unconscious before she could withdraw. The 4 girl now slumped over on the ground, Cynthia grabbed the girl's own two machetes and thrust them into her back.
Seraphina Cheser, District 4 Female: 2nd, Killed by Cynthia, Day 8
At that moment Cynthia burst into tears and collapsed next to her baby boy, kissing him over and over again. She would finally be able to go home with her son and give him the beautiful life she knew he deserved. She waited for the trumpets and the hovercraft. But they didn't come.
At that moment, in the far-away Capitol, there was chaos in the control room. A child had never been born in the games before, and nobody was quite sure what to do; did Surge count as a tribute? Violet Turpin knew she would have to get the president's word on the matter. She scheduled an appointment with Coriolanus Snow immediately. Violet knocked on the door of Snow's study and then entered.
"I already know what you're going to ask," Snow growled. "And the answer is no."
"Please listen to my argument," Violet retaliated. "As Surge Upsdell was born in the games, he should not count as a tribute, and therefore should not…"
"My answer is still no," Snow repeated. "I have given you infinite sums of money and workmen to build this arena, Violet. All I ask is that you stick to tradition and law and have one victor!"
Violet threw her hands in the air. "Then I propose a compromise. We pretend the baby was killed and take only the mother out of the arena. She can live out her life as your pretty singular victor. The baby will be smuggled out, and allowed to live out his life without the knowledge of the public."
"No!" Snow barked.
With great sadness, Violet realized there was no point in continuing to fight back. She thanked the president for his time and then returned somberly to the control room to inform her fellow gamemakers of the news.
Cynthia was cradling Surge in her arms when suddenly the voice of Violet Turpin rolled over the plain. "My deepest congratulations go out to the final two tributes of the seventy-eighth Hunger Games: Cynthia and Surge Upsdell. May the odds be ever in your favor."
One moment, Cynthia was frozen-still, staring off into the distance, unable to process what she was hearing. The next moment, she'd jammed both of Seraphina's knives into her own chest. She gave her precious angel one last kiss and then slumped to one side, falling flat onto the ground. She was dead in moments.
Cynthia Upsdell, District 5 Female: 1st, Killed by Herself, Day 8
"Surge Upsdell of District 5, you are the victor of the seventy-eighth annual Hunger Games!" Violet shouted.
The baby slept peacefully as he was carried up into the hovercraft. His family prayed the memories of the horrible things he had seen would leave his mind quickly.
Surge Upsdell, District 5 Male: Victor of the Seventy-Eighth Hunger Games, Day 8
AFTERMATH
Despite access to a large supply of sponsored baby food, Surge was incredibly weak, having consumed only a small fraction of the quantity doctors recommended in the first few days of a baby's life. For much of the hovercraft ride to the Capitol he was fed on milk and baby food. He was the youngest victor in Hunger Games history, only four days old on the day he won. In the centuries of games that were to come this record would never be topped. He was also the victor the fewest kills, and the first victor never to make a kill during their games. In District 5 Surge was placed under the custody of his aunt, Cynthia's twin sister, an infertile woman who'd always wanted a son, and the two were finally allowed to move into the Victor's Village when Surge turned twelve. Surge's aunt made sure he understood his mother's sacrifice from an early age, and knowing that his mother's love lived on in his skin made him a very wise boy. It gave him a beautiful heart. As he grew from a baby to a child to a teenager to a young man to an elder, his politeness and graciousness were remarkable by everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. His hours of charity work were countless as well. There was no doubt Theo and Cynthia would have been proud.
He was the second victor not to settle into the Victor's Village immediately after his victory, instead living with his aunt for twelve years.
Surge was the first victor not to have a victory tour.
Surge would live to age ninety, dying from a tumor around the time of the one-hundred sixty-eighth annual Hunger Games. He would marry and have two children, whom he would name Theo and Cynthia after his parents.
NEWS
Surge is adopted by his aunt and sent to live with her until he's old enough to move to the Victor's Village.
Rye Boyum, the victor of the forty-fourth annual Hunger Games, dies from liver disease.
Victor Xhang and Remus Daley have a son via Victor's cells and a surrogate mother. They name their son Rochford.
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)
78HG: Surge Upsdell (#7, District 5)
A/N: Aw, that finale was really sad. If only Cynthia was still around to see what was to become of her son ); The arena was pretty desolate once again this time, but that won't be the case next year…
Which brings me to next year's arena. It's been brewing in my head for ages and it's crazy that I've only now found a gap in my schedule to fit this one in. I figured I'd put it here to get you all hyped for the next chapter. Violet finds an old set of the Harry Potter novels and so… Hogwarts arena! The tributes are sorted into houses, and they have to go to lessons, do homework, earn house points, return to their common rooms at night, have a wand choose them, and put up with the constant torments of a certain mischievous poltergeist. Now that I've mentioned this I'm sorry to say it might not be out for a while. I really want to take a week or so to focus on Broken because I want to wrap that story up soon… then this story will be getting my full attention again, just like the good ol' days. See ya' around :D
