THE EIGHTY SECOND ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Ghostly Scene"
INTRODUCTION
President Cassia Obsidian stayed in her influential position of power ruling over all Panem. Her constant attempts to keep the citizens of Panem at peace through reward rather than punishment played well with the entire country. District citizens, particularly those from the outlying districts, constantly had the incentive to not only accomplish their work faster but also to put more effort into the quality of their products to please the inspectors and receive their rewards. Obsidian understood that it was possible to enforce a kind of peace other than the kind of peace Snow had maintained at constant gunpoint. Despite being driven toward peace whenever possible, the president had to use force sometimes. In 5, a small rebellion had occurred after the death of Safiya in the eighty-first Hunger Games. The president's troops shot and killed two rebels. The president felt terrible, but the truth of Panem was that violence was sometimes necessary to preserve what little was left of the human race. It was an idea planted in the heads of Capitol citizens by President Snow's long and tyrannical rule—the cruel man's legacy was so great that this idea would arguably never be forgotten completely. Violet Turpin returned for her sixth year as head gamemaker. Through all her trials and tribulations, she had proven herself capable of improving every year, and the Capitol was itching to see what she and the minor gamemakers would craft this time around. Both Cadmus Flickerman and Daria Pennypacker returned to host this year's games. Both were young, idealistic, and crafty, and they didn't slow down for a second with their witty banter and playful humor. Much like Caesar and Claudius before them, the two hosts started a daily talk show where they discussed the latest victor gossip. The show was a huge success; though it wasn't a mandatory viewing, it aired in all twelve districts and the Capitol at six o'clock each morning, five days a week.
The success or failure of a games was largely dependent on the career pack. This year's batch of trained kids was somewhat weaker than average, but Violet hoped she could still managed to pull off a thrilling games. District 1's tributes were both atypical and quirky. The boy had dark hair and ashen skin, which were all but extinct in the luxury district, and he was a master archer. Meanwhile, the girl was much taller and more extroverted, and she was a rare redhead. District 2 put on a varied showing. Unlike Calandrus of last year, this year's boy was much weaker and more lacking than usual, though the Capitol liked his charisma. The girl was the star of the show this year—tall, memorable, and quotable—and she was sure to be one to remember. 4 provided another varied duo. The boy was one of the strongest tributes in these games, exotically attractive in a strange way, and he had a cool accent, while the girl was more quiet and reserved and could be awkward but in a cute way. The scores of the pack were somewhat lacking: two tens, a nine, and three eights.
The outliers were a more memorable batch, similarly to last year. There were three high scores, all of them from odd-numbered districts coincidentally. Belinda from 7 was the full package: fast, skilled, and charismatic, and she snagged an impressive nine, having showcased her survival and hatchet skills in her private session. Two eights were scored as well, both by males. Tanzi from 9 and Leonor from 11 were both tall and built like oxen; they were strikingly similar in many ways, and they allied prior to the games. Sevens were scored by Parse from 3, Korris from 5, Lizbeth from 6, and Cedric from 10. The rest of the tributes scored between six and zero in their private sessions. The most intriguing standout this year was the boy from District 8. After a particularly large breakfast, Poplin fell asleep, and he slept straight through his private session. In his defense, Poplin's family pointed to a clause that stated that private sessions were optional and not mandatory for any tribute. The boy was given a zero as his score, and with no method of judging him on his skills he was given the default 24-1 odds. There were no volunteers outside of the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Cutter Rozen, 17, (9) 7-1 and Florizel Crane, 16, (8) 9-1
District 2: Maxim Galvin, 18, (8) 9-1 and Brynn Coughlan, 18, (10) 3-1
District 3: Parse Logan, 15, (7) 16-1 and Carmi Trace, 17, (4) 23-1
District 4: Bayou Marchbanks, 17, (10) 4-1 and Merisela Starr, 16, (8) 10-1
District 5: Korris Bolter, 16, (7) 15-1 and Sofia Rylan, 14, (5) 26-1
District 6: Keith Delaney, 13, (3) 48-1 and Lizbeth Harold, 18, (7) 14-1
District 7: Saffron Kennedy, 18, (6) 19-1 and Belinda Walker, 17, (9) 9-1
District 8: Poplin Amsden, 13, (0) 24-1 and Lauma Stone, 16, (4) 27-1
District 9: Tanzi Howells, 18, (8) 11-1 and Wiley Sutton, 15, (5) 25-1
District 10: Cedric Marshall, 16, (7) 20-1 and Teagan Rose-Maylie, 15, (4) 30-1
District 11: Leonor Craven, 18, (8) 13-1 and Yolanda Pierce, 18, (6) 18-1
District 12: Emmett Delano, 15, (4) 29-1 and Stephani Boardwasher, 13, (3) 49-1
HGBO Bets: 17% on Brynn, 16% on Bayou, 13% on Cutter, 10% on Florizel and Maxim, 9% on Merisela, 7% on Belinda, 4% on Tanzi and Leonor, 2% on Parse, Korris, Lizbeth, and Cedric, 1% or less on Carmi, Sofia, Keith, Saffron, Poplin, Lauma, Wiley, Teagan, Yolanda, Emmett, and Stephani.
THE GAMES
This year's arena would go down as one of the creepiest in games history; every aspect of it was truly terrifying, and the results were certain to be spectacular. The tributes would find themselves dressed in teal hospital gowns. The arena this year was an enormous cement building: an abandoned psychiatric hospital. The cornucopia, fashioned from cement, was located in the hospital cafeteria; it held large stores of water and food, as these were particularly lacking everywhere else in the arena. The cafeteria was in absolute disarray. The tables were rusty and torn apart, and they were upturned and scattered all around. The hospital was shaped like a wagon wheel, with eight different hallways spindling off of the central cafeteria. The hallways were long, narrow, and very dark. All but a handful of the lights were either burned out or smashed to pieces, and those few that still worked were always flickering. Black mold climbed up the walls, and ugly dark bloodstains littered the floors of the hallways. The two broadest hallways, called the North Wing and the South Wing, were where the tributes were most likely to find rooms with the most useful supplies. It was perpetually nighttime, and all of the hospital's windows were shattered, revealing the endless darkness that stretched on in all directions. The gamemakers were also able to play strange sounds and create short visions that would terrify the tributes and make them think they were going crazy. The mutts that lived in the psychiatric hospital were spiders, rats, cockroaches, and other creatures of the dark. Those who were fighting to the death inside of the hospital wouldn't be the only children in Panem who would be going to sleep with nightmares.
The tributes shivered as they rose on their pedestals and the abandoned psychiatric hospital came into sight. The tables of the cafeteria were torn apart and strewn here and there as though a mad animal had lain siege on the place. The tributes glanced over their shoulders and saw the seemingly endless hallways spiraling off into blackness. A light flickered at the end of the North Wing, and Lauma from 8 could have sworn she saw the silhouette of an impossibly tall, thin man without a head.
When the gong rang, two tributes fled immediately: Parse from 3 and Teagan from 10. As the two tributes sprinted down the pitch-dark, freezing-cold hallways, the other twenty-two surged forward. The bloodbath this year would claim nine lives.
Brynn, the fastest runner this year, reached the cornucopia first. She quickly grabbed a spear, and then the neck of a small girl. The girl screamed and tried to free herself, and the career girl swiftly sedated her with a blow to the abdomen. She groaned as the point of Brynn's spear protruded from her chest.
Sofia Rylan, District 5 Female: 24th, Killed by Brynn, Bloodbath
Bayou, another fast runner, swept up a trident that leaned against the wall of the cement cornucopia. He whipped around and came face-to-face with a foolish boy who was trying to off him with a weapon of his own to eliminate competition early. The boy dropped his weapon and made a run for it, but Bayou knocked him to the ground like a domino. He used his trident like a rake to cut open three long gashes in the miner boy's back, and he bled out quickly.
Emmett Delano, District 12 Male: 23rd, Killed by Bayou, Bloodbath
Cutter had run all the way into the cornucopia to obtain a bow, and he began firing as soon as the quiver was fit securely over his shoulder. A nearby girl screamed as two of Cutter's arrows dug into her chest, and she fell to her knees, blood dripping down her chin.
Wiley Sutton, District 9 Female: 22nd, Killed by Cutter, Bloodbath
Moments afterward, Brynn made her second kill. A dark-haired boy from one of the upper districts was trying to escape down the North Wing with a pack containing throwing knives, but was intercepted by the career girl. Dumbfounded with shock, the boy watched as Brynn buried her spear into his neck. He collapsed, coughing up blood.
Korris Bolter, District 5 Male: 21st, Killed by Brynn, Bloodbath
Merisela made her first kill with class. The 4 girl, armed with a hatchet, sabotaged a muscular boy from an outlying district who had a hatchet of his own. The boy threw Merisela away, and she staggered backward, disoriented. For about a minute, the two tributes circled around each other, inflicting small cuts and scrapes but nothing major. Finally, Merisela got the upper hand when she buried the blade of her hatchet into the boy's shoulder. He made a desperate attempt to stumble to safety, but she dispatched him before he could take a step toward the South Wing.
Saffron Kennedy, District 7 Male: 20th, Killed by Merisela, Bloodbath
Florizel tackled the slim girl from 3, whose pedestal was situated next to hers. Without a weapon, Florizel resorted to the messiest way of killing. Her victim quickly lost the energy to fight back when she grabbed her head with both hands and smashed it against the cement floor. Strings of blood flew here and there, and Florizel left quickly once she was sure her victim wasn't getting up again.
Carmi Trace, District 3 Female: 19th, Killed by Florizel, Bloodbath
After using up all of his arrows, Cutter refilled his quiver. He spotted two allied tributes, Tanzi and Leonor, inside of the cornucopia, hurriedly shoving supplies into a single slate grey backpack. The boys stumbled backward as Cutter barreled into sight. Leonor dodged Cutter's first arrow by inches. Leonor grabbed a machete, while Tanzi grabbed a dagger and a cleaver, reminiscent of Haymitch Abernathy from the second Quarter Quell. Cutter fired arrows at both boys, and they both put up an admirable effort to fight back. After nearly a minute, Leonor looked down to see the point of one of Cutter's arrows poking out of his stomach. In moments, he was as dead as the stone walls that echoed with his last screams.
Leonor Craven, District 11 Male: 18th, Killed by Cutter, Bloodbath
Furious, Tanzi lunged forward and tackled the triumphant Cutter. Cutter was so surprised by this sudden burst of energy that he was too shocked to sidestep. Tanzi thrust his differently-shaped knives solidly into his opponent's torso, and the 1 boy's body was empty of life in no time at all.
Cutter Rozen, District 1 Male: 17th, Killed by Tanzi, Bloodbath
Brynn made the last kill. Spear in hand, she chased a boy a few meters away from the cornucopia. The boy had only just exited the cafeteria when Brynn thrust her spear into his back; he fell onto his back and struggled to scramble to safety with the last few ounces of strength he had left. His screams were the only ones that bounced around the large room; the other outliers had all escaped into the depths of the cement structure.
Cedric Marshall, District 10 Male: 16th, Killed by Brynn, Bloodbath
The careers were somewhat disappointed with the small bloodbath of only nine deaths. There were ten outliers still kicking, and the careers knew that an above-average effort would have to go into their hunting effort if they wanted to knock off the remaining outliers in any kind of time. Not only were there lots of supplies in the cornucopia this year, it was also difficult to see them because of the lack of light. Florizel, Maxim, and Merisela all worked together to sort through the supplies; Florizel and Merisela sorted the food rations, while Maxim mostly organized the weapons. The girls noticed an excess of food and water, which made since because they were almost impossible to obtain anywhere else in the arena. Brynn worked on clearing out the cafeteria. She shoved all the overturned tables to the perimeter of the room, clearing out a large space. This increased the pack's visibility by a long distance, which made them more comfortable. Bayou volunteered to do the traditional first hunt, where he paraded through the nearby hallways before returning to the cornucopia to inform the others that there were no outliers waiting nearby. Knowing there was an abundance of surviving outliers, the group quickly went hunting, leaving only Maxim to guard the cornucopia.
With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the ten surviving outliers swelled across the screens. The abandoned hospital was so creepy that they were all itching to get to safety as quickly as possible. Those that stayed near the cornucopia were certainly testing their luck, but most of the outliers were willing to sacrifice anything to get out of the long, pitch-dark hallways as quickly as possible. Parse sprinted down the North Wing and came to a men's bathroom. He turned on the sinks to have a wash, but all that came out was green gunk. Disgusted, he curled up on the floor and tried to sleep. Keith had a single knife, and he came to a room filled with cots. He found the cot whose sheets were least torn and curled up under the covers, crying softly to himself. Lizbeth sprinted onward for several minutes and came to a padded room that would have been used to house those who were at risk of self-harm. She crouched down on the cushioned floor, toying with her bag of scant supplies, and tried to sleep. Belinda had a hatchet and a pack containing a loaf of bread, but that was her only food. She was happy to discover a closet filled with food, but most of the food was spoiled and moldy. The only healthy thing Belinda could find was a package of crackers, and she quickly left due to the smell. Poplin was hogging most of the screen time; having not received a training score, the Capitol was eager to see what he was capable of and whether or not he would be worth investing in. After sprinting through the dark halls, he arrived at an old control room filled with broken levers and screens. Lauma had barely escaped the bloodbath with her life, one of Cutter's arrows having missed her neck by inches. Scared out of her mind, the girl sprinted down the South Wing before ducking into a small, dusty closet, trying not to shake too much. Tanzi had a bow, five arrows, and a pack containing medical supplies. In a few minutes, he arrived at a waiting room where family members would have been able to visit patients. He walked behind the receptionist's desk and fell asleep, feeling safe behind the panel of dusty glass. Teagan found an elevator and hunkered down inside. Her only possessions in the world were the clothes on her back, and even those were torn and smelly. Yolanda travelled down the North Wing before arriving at a dusty, moldy operation room. She found several cases of tools and collected the particularly sharp ones, hoping they would be of use if she had any unexpected visitors. Stephani came to the pharmacy room, where the shelves were lined with old dusty bottles of pills and colored liquids. She was terrified of the medicines, thinking they would have harmful effects. She scuttled to the center of the room and rolled up into a ball with her only pack, praying quietly.
At midnight, moments after the death recap ended, the psychiatric hospital received its first ghostly visitor. She was a young woman who couldn't have been any older than twenty, and she wore a bloodstained apron with a faded pattern. She appeared a few meters down the hall from the closet where Lauma was sleeping, screaming at the top of her lungs. The screaming ghost went on to terrorize Belinda, Keith, and Teagan, lastly spooking the careers before her removal.
The first few hours of Day 2 passed uneventfully, with most of the tributes staying put in their hiding places. However, Parse left the bathroom at dawn to search for food. He returned to the bathroom minutes later, shocked by a rabid raccoon mutt he let loose by opening a heavy wooden door. By the time he returned, the bathroom was flooded with at least an inch of stinky green slime, and he climbed onto one of the rust-covered toilets, panting heavily.
The real action was happening far away from Parse's bathroom, on the other side of the wheel-shaped cement building. The careers had returned to the cornucopia the night prior. After a good night's rest, they were reading to go hunting again. The pack left Brynn to guard their supplies. The careers were eager to hunt down the two main wings to find the tributes that were poorly hiding. However, Florizel recalled seeing the strong Belinda head down one of the more obscure hallways. Florizel's allies followed her away from the cornucopia, eager to kill off the strongest outlier in these games.
Belinda woke up in the supply closet at nine o'clock that morning. The pack of saltine crackers she'd eaten the night before was strewn across her chest, empty of its delicious contents. Belinda heard the beeping of a sponsor parachute and left the supply closet to pick up her gift. The carriage held a single paper note warning her that the career pack was near. Belinda finished reading the note just as the prongs of Bayou's trident sailed past her neck. The 7 girl screamed and raced down the hallway, followed by Florizel, Maxim, Bayou, and Merisela. The career tributes were fast, but the outlier girl had a small headstart and adrenaline was powering her forward. Finally, Belinda scrambled into a supply room and slammed the door behind her. She shoved as much furniture behind the door as she could, preventing the careers from entering. Belinda sprinted to the back of the room and ducked into a dark corner, praying her blockade would hold. The four careers banged on the door and struggled to enter, but they made very little headway in breaking in. Maxim and Bayou kept watch over the doors, while Florizel and Merisela sprinted back to the cornucopia to gather supplies that would help them break in.
Keith tossed and turned on his rusty iron cot. He was one of the tributes who'd been terrorized by the ghostly lady the night prior, and he was so terrified he couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. Keith woke from one nightmare straight into another when he looked up and saw a ghost hovering at the foot of his cot. She was an older woman, thin and gaunt, and she didn't scream. She just stared at Keith with wide, tired eyes. The boy ducked back under the blankets, quivering, and prayed that the ghost would leave quickly. Lizbeth was resting in the cushioned room when she heard footsteps from outside. Terrified, she tore a flap of cushion off of the wall and ducked behind it. The flap moved back into position, hiding the girl, just as Tanzi stepped into the room. Terrified, Lizbeth watched through a tear in the cushion as Tanzi laid out his supplies and went to sleep. The girl knew that if she made a single movement in the otherwise still room the boy would notice and she would be cornered like a rat. Fortunately, Lizbeth managed to remain still enough for the boy not to notice. Once, she desperately needed a drink of water, and she grabbed her thermos out of her pocket and took a sip while Tanzi was looking away.
Poplin was resting in the control room, his feet put up on the broken control panel, when he heard a bloodcurdling scream from nearby. Poplin watched with a blank slate look as the ghost of a young boy, crying and screaming, assembled from thin air in the middle of the room. Poplin's lips curled into a smile; he didn't think the ghost could hurt him, and even if it decided to get violent he would be able to leave the room quickly. Poplin picked shards of rust off of the control panel and tossed them at the ghost, awarding himself different numbers of points for every throw. Lauma left her small closet to search for water. Fortunately, it wasn't hard to find. A few minutes earlier, a ghost had drifted past the closet. The ghost was so cold that it had frozen the moisture in the air. Its trail was marked by a path of frost. Lauma licked the ice, and, refreshed, retreated back to her hiding place. Yolanda, hands full of the supplies she'd stolen from the operation room, ventured through the halls in search of more supplies. She soon came to the elevator where Teagan was hiding. Teagan whimpered and started to run, but stopped after a few seconds and turned back around.
"What are those?" Teagan asked, gesturing toward the tools in Yolanda's hands. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?"
"No," Yolanda answered. "I raided these from an operation room a ways down. Got any weapons yourself?"
Teagan shook her head. The two girls had a long conversation about supplies and their experiences with the arena so far, and they agreed on an alliance several minutes later. Yolanda lead Teagan back to the operation room. Teagan was spooked by all of the dark halls, but she felt much more comfortable with the stronger Yolanda at her side.
Stephani woke in the pharmacy room and let out a scream. All over the room, shelves were collapsing, and bottles of old medicine were scattering themselves all over the floor. Somebody was clearly knocking the shelves over. She could hear the breathing of what sounded like an adult male in the room with her, but he was invisible (not even transparent like the ghosts were). Creeped by her invisible companion, Stephani lay down next to the ruins of a fallen shelf and prayed some more.
Seconds after the empty death recap reached its conclusion that night, the psychiatric hospital received another ghostly visitor. The ghost was an old man with a long beard and bloodshot eyes, and his blood-caked grin was impossible wide. The man floated through the halls of the dark cement building, spooking the tributes in rapid succession, lastly travelling to the men's bathroom and terrifying Parse before his disappearance.
It was the "morning" of Day 3, and the careers had made next to no progress breaking into the room where Belinda was hiding. The girl's terrified whimpering told them she was still inside, but Belinda's brother was an architect, so she knew how to maximize the strength of her blockade. At one point, Bayou resorted to lodging his trident in between the door and wall and trying to pry the door open, but his hands started bleeding before he could make the door budge an inch.
At noon, Brynn, Maxim, and Bayou were camped out beside the door, while Florizel and Merisela were guarding the far-away cornucopia. Every few minutes one of the tributes would get up to try some new way of busting down the door, but they always failed. They were making quite a lot of ruckus. The nearest tribute, Lauma, mistook the sounds for the beeping of a sponsor parachute. She poked her head out of the closet and screamed as Brynn's spear sailed over her shoulder. Lauma screamed and tried to run, but the overweight girl wasn't nearly fast enough to evade the pack for long. After reclaiming her spear, Brynn tossed the point of the weapon into Lauma's back, and she was toast.
Lauma Stone, District 8 Female: 15th, Killed by Brynn, Day 3
When Keith woke up, he peeked out of the covers for a moment, and he burst into tears. Not only had the ghostly old woman not moved an inch, another ghost had joined her, a tiny girl with blue satin bows at the ends of her pigtails. Keith screamed and covered his hands with his ears as the little girl giggled maniacally, and he wrapped the blankets of the cot tightly around himself, struggling to block out the din.
Near the end of the South Wing, Poplin woke with a start. He heard the footsteps of two tributes outside of the control room. The 8 boy was terrified out of his mind, but he acted quickly and without hesitation. He ducked under the control panel just as allies Teagan and Yolanda strode into the room. The shadows hid Poplin well, as did the chair he hadn't forgotten to push in, so he could easily watch the allies without them seeing him. Poplin didn't want to attack the girls, but if they noticed him he knew he would have no choice to fight back. Poplin watched as Yolanda laid out a blanket and divvied her lunch between herself and her ally.
Yolanda and Teagan had been eating for almost ten minutes when Teagan turned as white as a ghost and dropped her sandwich. Yolanda asked what was wrong, and Teagan wordlessly pointed at Poplin's hiding spot. Poplin burst out of the shadows, and he'd skewered Teagan through with his knife before she could fight back. Teagan fell to the blanketed floor, coughing up blood, and Yolanda fled for her life down the South Wing.
Teagan Rose-Maylie, District 10 Female: 14th, Killed by Poplin, Day 3
Two faces shone in the death recap that night. The third set of midnight visitors to the psychiatric hospital was a pair of middle-aged women. They were both absolutely identical; they had no eyes at all, and their hands were gnarled like witches'. The twins first arrived at the cushioned room where Tanzi was hiding; Lizbeth peered through a hole in her hiding place and watched as the two eyeless women danced around the terrified boy before moving on. They went on to torment Yolanda, Poplin, and Parse before dissolving into the shadows, never to be seen again.
On Day 4, after two days trapped in the tiny room, Belinda finally decided to make a run for it. Belinda made her way silently to the door and put her ear against it. She didn't hear any sound from outside. Brynn and Merisela were snoozing on the left side of the door, while Maxim was asleep on the other. Slowly and carefully, Belinda began to remove the blockade of furniture. She was taking infinite care to remain completely silent, knowing that one false move could awaken the careers and spell her doom. Finally, the door was bare. Her freedom was so close she could taste it. Belinda turned the handle, and when she opened the door the horrible sound of scraping metal was enough to awaken the three careers immediately. The careers lunged toward her, and the 7 girl instinctively swung her hatchet in Maxim's direction. The boy was too shocked to scream as the hatchet buried itself into his chest, cracking several of his ribs. He was in too much pain to scream. He just fell to his knees, mouth wide open, rocking back and forth, until his strength finally left him.
Maxim Galvin, District 2 Male: 13th, Killed by Belinda, Day 4
Brynn made every effort possible to kill Belinda. She was like a watermelon seed, shuffling to safety whenever Brynn tried to corner her. Brynn screamed for Merisela to help her, but the 4 girl fell back into the shadows. She was experiencing the stroke of self-doubt that at least one career seemed to experience almost every year. Merisela watched from way back as Belinda took off down the dark cement hallway, Brynn chasing after her.
Florizel and Bayou, who were at the cornucopia, heard Brynn's screams for reinforcements and ran to her aid. The three careers easily managed to corner Belinda, and she ultimately had no hope of escape. The 7 girl dropped her hatchet as Bayou thrust the prongs of his trident into her chest. The four careers watched, Florizel, Brynn, and Bayou in the front with Merisela much farther back, as the girl bled out over the course of about two minutes. They were all glad to have knocked off the strongest outlier in the games, even if it had come at the cost of one of their members.
Belinda Walker, District 7 Female: 12th, Killed by Bayou, Day 4
The next several hours were deathless. Parse remained stationary in the men's bathroom just off the North Wing. The single flickering light in the room failed, plunging the room into darkness, and Parse shivered, spooked. Keith's group of ghostly companions increased in number from two to three: in addition to the old woman and the little girl with pigtails, a middle-aged man was circling around his cot. The man's face was scratched and bloody, as were his fingers. It looked like he'd torn up his face in an attempt to satisfy his thirst for inflicting harm. Keith screamed and cowered under the blankets, begging the wraiths to leave him alone.
Lizbeth had been standing ramrod straight behind the flap of cushion for several days, and she couldn't bear it any longer. She decided to take the risk of revealing herself to Tanzi. Lizbeth stepped out of the wall, and Tanzi clapped his hand over his mouth, shocked.
"How long have you been behind there?" Tanzi demanded.
"Two days, I dunno," Lizbeth replied. "If you're gonna kill me, do it now. Please."
Tanzi bit his lip. "I'm not going to. There are eleven tributes left. Alliances aren't off the table yet."
Tanzi shared part of his food supply with Lizbeth, and the starving girl was grateful to have something to eat after so many hours of her own scabs being the only things to show her kinder than hunger.
In the control room, Poplin was busy with a project of his own. His mentor Cecelia sent him a strange assortment of supplies he'd requested: a pallet of makeup, a makeup brush, and several pieces of cloth, and the victor smiled when she saw what her boy was up to. Poplin started by changing into a pair of old, torn clothes that were in a bin in the corner of the control room. Next, he layered himself from head to foot with the white makeup. Poplin began applying sickly shades of yellow and orange in an attempt to disguise himself as one of the ghosts. He shoved the pieces of cloth under his shoes to reduce the sound he made when he walked over the hard floors. He couldn't finish his makeup in only one day, but given a little more time it seemed to be an attainable goal.
Yolanda had been sprinting aimlessly around the dark building for nearly a day. It was only after nearly twenty-four hours that she realized she'd left all her supplies at the site of Teagan's death. Distraught at the loss of her possessions, Yolanda retreated to the safety of a small room at the end of one of the more obscure hallways. It was the pharmacy room. Stephani was inside. The small girl was hunkering down in a corner of the room, shielding her head with her arms as the invisible man threw small bottles and knocked over shelves. When Yolanda entered, Stephani grabbed a jar of medicine and hurled it at her. The jar cracked, dripping stinky blue liquid down Yolanda's shirt. Yolanda charged into the room and knocked a shelf toward Stephani. The girl screamed and tried to scramble out of the way, but the heavy wooden shelf hit her in the head and knocked her out immediately. Yolanda then left the room, leaving the invisible man to ransack the shelves without the living company he had once had.
Stephani Boardwasher, District 12 Female: 11th, Killed by Yolanda, Day 4
Moments after the death recap ended that night, a trio of ghostly apparitions appeared near the cornucopia. They were all young girls who couldn't have been older than seven or eight, and they wore old, torn, flower-patterned dressed. One of the girls was missing an arm, and her eyes hung from their sockets by thin, cord-like strands; a second was missing both ears, and a huge hole in her chest allowed one to peer straight through her to the other side; the last had both of her eyes crudely dug out, and whole chunks of flesh were missing around her face. The trio of girls treaded lightly around the psychiatric hospital, giggling softly and only stopping occasionally to scream at the tops of their lungs like a demented choir.
The first half of Day 5 was somewhat more monotonous than many Capitolites had been hoping for. The four careers regrouped at the cornucopia. Florizel was steadily growing more terrified. The ghostly visitors to the arena were growing more and more horrifying each night, and the triplet girls of the night prior had singled her out, terrifying her out of her mind. Florizel tried to remain calm, not wanting to fall out of favor with her stronger allies, but she felt if things got worse she might have had to split from the pack. Brynn was perpetually ravenous to hunt; there were six outliers left in these games, and with an arena as confusing as this one she didn't want to take a break, fearing she would lose her edge. She came to a compromise with the other careers; they would leave at three o'clock instead of the usual noon, giving Brynn her few hours of hunting while giving the others more time to rest. Bayou was sorting supplies when he mishandled a sharp knife and accidentally cut himself. Bayou hissed in pain as blood dripped down his hand, and he barked for Florizel's help to heal the wound. Merisela was questioning her membership in the pack even more than Florizel, and the girl made a decision. That night, Merisela would break from the pack. She shoved all of her supplies into her sleeping bag so she could quickly grab them and sprint away once the others were asleep.
The outliers weren't up to much. Parse finally left the men's bathroom and ventured down the North Wing. After several minutes, he arrived at a storage closet filled with spoiled food. He unwrapped a cheese wheel and munched on the parts that weren't covered with mold. Keith screamed even louder when he realized his number of ghostly stalkers had increased from three to five. Joining the three was an elderly couple with completely white, pupil-less eyes. His water supplies were running low, and Keith cried and wrapped the cot blankets tighter around himself than ever before, begging for the phantoms to leave him alone. Tanzi and Lizbeth got along well; they were glad for each other's company, and their friendship played well with the Capitol. They took turns leaving the cushioned room to gather water and food, and each was grateful when the other returned, knowing that they were safe. Poplin continued brushing layers of white, yellow, and orange makeup onto himself. A sponsor sent him a mirror, which helped him out significantly. Poplin was extremely talented with the makeup brush considering he'd never used one before, and it looked like he'd finish the job by the next day if not before then. Yolanda kept sprinting around the building. It wasn't much, but it kept her from fading into the background at least somewhat. When night fell, she ducked into an operation room. She didn't know it, but it was the very same one she'd found on the first day of the games. Yolanda slept on the operating table, creeped out by the dark room but trying to fall asleep.
At the cornucopia, Merisela sat up. She looked carefully around her. Bayou and Florizel were both sleeping contentedly, and Brynn was guarding the cornucopia. Taking every effort not to make a noise, Merisela shoved her supplies into a single pack and then got to her feet. In order to make a run for it, she'd have to sneak past Brynn. The 2 girl was sleepily standing guard on the right side of the cornucopia; if Merisela could get to her left side, she'd have a lot of space to worm past her.
It was now or never. Merisela lifted her foot to take her first step… and set it down onto Florizel's back. Florizel woke with a gasp, and Brynn raced into the cornucopia to see what was the matter. Merisela tried to stammer out a phony explanation, but it was all she could do to watch with horror as Brynn flung her spear into her chest.
Brynn nodded formidably. "My pack must be strong."
Merisela Starr, District 4 Female: 10th, Killed by Brynn, Day 5
After the death recap, the forms of six pale ghosts appeared several hundred feet down the South Wing. It was an entire ghost family: a mother, father, and four sons. All six of the family members had no mouths, noses, or eyes; their faces were merely blank sheets of flesh. The mother's hair was torn in chunks from her head, and the sons each had nails so long they were like claws. The family floated through the hospital, terrorizing tributes with their mysterious footsteps. Without mouths, they were incapable of screaming; their only method of inflicting fear was by stomping their feet and scratching the walls with their claws. That, and staring at the tributes with their eyeless faces.
When Keith's number of ghost stalkers increased from five to eight, he decided he had finally had enough. Screaming, he reached for the only knife he'd gotten from the cornucopia and buried it into his arm, drawing a heavy line all the way up to his elbow. He repeated for the other arm, and Keith collapsed onto the cot, screaming with utter horror and suffering for the several hours it took him to bleed out. Death came for him just as Day 6 ticked around.
Keith Delaney, District 6 Male: 9th, Killed by Himself, Day 6
That left the final eight: Florizel Crane from District 1, Brynn Coughlan from District 2, Parse Logan from District 3, Bayou Marchbanks from District 4, Lizbeth Harold from District 6, Poplin Amsden from District 8, Tanzi Howells from District 9, and Yolanda Pierce from District 11.
The remainder of Day 6 came about with a single point of excitement. The three remaining careers, Florizel, Brynn, and Bayou, woke up bright (though it was just as dark as any other time of day) and early on the morning of the sixth day. They were all well-rested and well-fed and were looking forward to a full day of hunting. Florizel volunteered to guard the cornucopia while Brynn and Bayou hunted. The two careers sprinted down the North Wing in search of prey. Tanzi and Lizbeth were mere meters away, but the duos kept missing each other whenever they passed each other. Finally, the gamemakers set off a loud bang in between them. Brynn and Bayou grinned as the terrified Tanzi and Lizbeth melted out of the shadows, and their battle began immediately.
Brynn and Bayou were both fast, skilled tributes, and in a fraction of a second they were on the front lines. Brynn lashed out with her spear, missing Lizbeth by inches, and Tanzi rushed to her aid, thrusting his two knives in Brynn's direction. All the while, Tanzi was struggling to keep Bayou from trapping them between himself and Brynn. This came at the cost of Tanzi's well-being when the prongs of Bayou's trident scraped his upper arm. Tanzi fell, screaming in pain, and with his last ounces of energy he lashed out with his knives. Brynn, shocked by his sudden burst of energy, didn't have time to sidestep before both knives were buried into her abdomen, causing her lungs and stomach to flood with blood.
Brynn Coughlan, District 2 Female: 8th, Killed by Tanzi, Day 6
Now, Bayou was Lizbeth's only adversary. Lizbeth swooped down to help Tanzi, but it was all she could do to watch with horror as Bayou thrust the prongs of his trident into his chest. Tanzi immediately fell still. Terrified, Lizbeth ran for her life down the North Wing. Bayou tried to chase after her but quickly lost her in the labyrinth of dark hallways.
Tanzi Howells, District 9 Male: 7th, Killed by Bayou, Day 6
That night, an entire society of ghosts invaded the psychiatric hospital, laying siege on its freezing cold hallways and terrifying its human inhabitants. There were at least one hundred of them, and they came from all different walks of life; some were dressed like kings, and some wore torn clothes like beggars. The one thing that united them all was some kind of abnormality in their appearance. Whether they were missing an arm or an eye or had horns or tentacles (yes, really), every one of them was deformed or disfigured in some way. Florizel was alone at the cornucopia when the legion of ghosts poured into the cafeteria, and she hunkered down in the back of the horn, sobbing for them to go away. The swarm went on to terrorize each of the other tributes (Parse, Bayou, Lizbeth, Poplin, and Yolanda) before their abrupt disappearance.
Day 7 was deathless. Early in the "morning", Bayou returned to the cornucopia, where Florizel was waiting for him. Florizel was terrified out of her mind, and she felt much safer to have a stronger tribute at her side. Knowing they would have to abandon the cornucopia, the careers discarded or destroyed everything they didn't need, including by shoving large stores of water into packs where they would be inaccessible. Florizel also found that, if she carved out a chunk of the cement floor, she could access a large empty space underneath. This was where the duo laid most of the horn's supplies to rest. Once the cornucopia was empty and the careers had only what they needed, they left down the South Wing, with Bayou trying not to sprint too quickly and Florizel trying not to whimper too loudly whenever she picked up on the screaming of the hospital's ghost residents.
Among the four outliers, there was a lot of movement but little action. Parse constantly moved around the hospital, stopping every once and a while to raid a storage closet or two. More and more of the arena's food was spoiling by the hour, so Parse ended up eating a lot that wasn't healthy, and it gave him a stomachache. Lizbeth, having sprinted at top speed from the sight of her ally's death, arrived at the most terrifying room in the psychiatric hospital. It was dark and freezing-cold, even more so than the other parts of the building, and it was divided into small areas, each of which held an iron table and a mass of chains. Lizbeth didn't want to enter, but she heard the footsteps of the career pack and had no choice but to head on inside. Fortunately, the careers moved right past the door, and Lizbeth curled up on the damp cement ground and tried to sleep. Poplin put the finishing touches on his look. Every inch of his skin was covered with a thick layer of white, and with hints of yellows, greens, and oranges, he looked just like one of the ghosts. He left the control room and travelled in the direction of the cornucopia. Once, a group of two ghosts came into sight, but they merely drifted past him. Poplin felt as though he'd been doused in icy-cold water, but he was unharmed both physically and mentally by the phantoms who thought he was one of them. Yolanda was, slowly but surely, turning into a repeat Keith. She woke up on the surgical bed and saw three ghosts surrounding her like wingmen: a young boy, a middle-aged man, and an elder who held a walking stick. Yolanda huddled under the blankets and tried to go back to sleep, terrified. Before the day was out, another ghost joined the group, a young woman with a gaping wound in her chest.
The night, immediately after the death recap finished, the largest swarm of ghosts yet appeared out of thin air. There were more than a thousand of them, and in the areas they occupied it was so cold that frost was gathering on the walls. The gamemakers ordered them to split up and drive each of the six remaining tributes toward the cornucopia, where the finale would transpire. Unlike all the ghosts that had tormented the tributes previously, these ghosts were capable of inflicting harm. They were so cold that a tribute near enough to them could easily freeze to death.
Yolanda was quivering on the surgical bed when the door of the operation room burst open and the swarm of ghosts poured inside. Breath fogging up in front of her, Yolanda jumped to her feet and tried to fight her way toward the exit. Despite being transparent, the ghosts were made of solid matter, and Yolanda had to push past them to reach the exit. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. Her body temperature was lowering at an astounding rate, and in minutes her body gave up fighting to keep her warm.
Yolanda Pierce, District 11 Female: 6th, Killed by Ghost Muttations, Day 8
Bayou and Florizel were asleep in a bathroom. They both woke up at the same moment. The swarm of ghosts was at least a hundred feet down the hallway, but they could feel the bitter chill as though they had been dunked in ice water. The allies got to their feet, and their suspicions were confirmed when they peeked out of the doorway and saw the ghosts drawing nearer. Dropping everything but their weapons, Bayou and Florizel raced toward the cornucopia.
They arrived at the empty cement horn in a few minutes, and Bayou and Florizel quickly formed a plan. As creatures of the darkness, the ghosts were terrified of light. Unfortunately, there were no flashlights in the cornucopia. There was only one weapon they could use: fire. Bayou remembered seeing a wooden couch in a nearby room. As he ran away to gather firewood, he instructed Florizel to do anything she could to keep the ghosts away until he returned.
But Florizel had no plan of staying at her post. Immediately after Bayou had left, Florizel raced from the cafeteria, in the direction of the ghosts. Her entire body shook with fight or flight instinct, but she just sighed as the ghosts froze her to death with their bitter chill. She knew that, after two career victories in a row, the Capitol would not be allowing another career to win the games, and even if they did Bayou would be the much better candidate. It was the quickest death she could give herself, even if it was excrutiatingly painful.
Florizel Crane, District 1 Female: 5th, Killed by Ghost Muttations, Day 8
Bayou returned to the cornucopia moments later, arms piled high with firewood. He glanced back and forth, searching for Florizel, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Where the heck did she go?" Bayou murmured as he kneeled down in front of the cornucopia. He arranged the firewood into the proper shape. A silver parachute landed at his side containing a jar of lighter fluid and a match. Bayou sent the wood ablaze just as the tide of ghost mutts arrived at the cafeteria. They stumbled backward, howling and hissing due to the light and warmth issuing from the smoking fire. The fire couldn't burn forever, and as the flames grew shorter he struggled to think up some other way to keep the ghost mutts at bay.
Parse was raiding a storage cupboard of its spoiled contents when he heard the warbling of the ghosts from a ways down the hallway. He didn't think the sound was a big danger, but it didn't make him very comfortable either. He took off down the hall at a brisk walk, and when he looked over his shoulder and saw the hundreds of ghosts he broke into a run in the direction of the cornucopia.
Lizbeth had left her sleeping area a few minutes prior to search for water. Fortunately, she managed to spot the legion of ghosts before it was too late. Lizbeth sprinted in the opposite direction, not knowing she was moving toward the central cafeteria.
Then, the last tribute to face the ghosts was Poplin from 8. When he saw the cohort of ghosts about two hundred feet down the hallway, Poplin downed a small green pill he'd been sponsored several days prior. The pill was designed to increase his body temperature so he wouldn't feel the effects of frostbite as easily as the others. In seconds, he had melted into the crowd of ghosts, and they didn't even notice he was a tribute. He looked just like them. He didn't have any kind of bodily abnormality, but the ghosts weren't very smart and didn't suspect anything.
At the cornucopia, Bayou bounced up and down on his feet, willing some stroke of genius to come for him. He knew he couldn't keep the fire burning forever, and when it went out he would be overwhelmed. Bayou looked down and opened his eyes wide; the point of Poplin's dagger was protruding from his chest like a horn. Bayou whirled around, but he didn't have the energy to flip off his killer before falling still.
Bayou Marchbanks, District 4 Male: 4th, Killed by Poplin, Day 8
Only one more death occurred before the day was out. Parse ran for his life through the halls of the hospital, avoiding the areas covered with frost because he knew the ghosts had been there. The darkness was restricting his visibility, so he didn't see the patch of ice coming until it was too late. The ice came out of nowhere, and he hit it with one foot, sliding forward like an ice skater. Parse tried to regain his balance, but he tumbled forward, skidding over the ground for about a yard before coming to a stop. He had broken his leg. He tried to correct the broken bone, but it was too painful to touch. Parse tried to drag himself away with his hands, but he was ultimately helpless as the ghosts swarmed him.
Parse Logan, District 3 Male: 3rd, Killed by Ghost Muttations, Day 8
Less than half an hour after it all began, the thousands upon thousands of phantoms disappeared into thin air. The interior of the hospital quickly resumed its original temperature. There were only two tributes left in the arena. Lizbeth took shelter inside a janitor's closet near the cornucopia, surrounded by mops, brooms, and cleaning products. Back home, District 6 was cheering her on heartily; if she won, she would be their third victor in ten years, which even the career districts were seldom able to pull off. Poplin camped out in the cornucopia. A sponsor sent him a sleeping bag and pillow to make sleeping more comfortable. When the effects of the temperature raising pill wore off, he was freezing cold, and he huddled down under his sponsored blankets, shivering. District 8 was cheering for him even louder than District 6 was cheering for Lizbeth. If Poplin won, be would become District 8's third victor. Being the first tribute in history to score a zero, Poplin had intrigued the districts of Panem and the Capitol. With all that going for him, it didn't seem farfetched that he could pull out the win.
The finalists met at the cornucopia on the morning of Day 9. Poplin had a single dagger, as did Lizbeth, so they were evened out rather nicely. Lizbeth sprinted into the cafeteria, driven on by a single ghost, and she dashed in Poplin's direction, knees knocking together.
Their duel was short-lived. The finalists had the same weapons, but Poplin was well-rested and well-fed from all the food he'd been sponsored, while Lizbeth was emaciated and disoriented from all her time crammed into small spaces throughout the games. Poplin easily managed to thrust his dagger into his final opponent's abdomen. Lizbeth fell to her knees, screaming like one of the ghosts, clutching her abdomen with her hands in an attempt to keep in her blood. Poplin stood by, biting his lip, as Lizbeth bled out, and then he was the only remaining tribute.
Lizbeth Harold, District 6 Female: 2nd, Killed by Poplin, Day 9
"Poplin Amsden of District 8, you are the victor of the eighty-second annual Hunger Games!" Cadmus and Daria shouted, Cadmus overjoyed and Daria disappointed; Cadmus liked Poplin, while Daria had favored Lizbeth.
Poplin had already begun scrubbing away his white makeup, as though trying to expel the memories of his games as quickly as possible.
Poplin Amsden, District 8 Male: Victor of the Eighty-Second Hunger Games, Day 9
AFTERMATH
District 8 welcomed their third victor with deafening applause. After over twenty years of watching their tributes die, they'd finally managed to take home a victor, and it was the first time in decades the children of the textile district went to bed with full tummies. Poplin himself was just glad to be home. He never took up any kind of addiction to keep away the memories, but he did struggle with PTSD like many of the other victors. Immediately after his victory, a number of sources attempted to estimate the score he would have received had he showed up to his private sessions. Estimations placed his score anywhere between four and nine. In an interview, Poplin gauged he'd give himself a six, but many suspected he was just being modest. He was in extremely high demand among Capitol women, but for different reasons than one might expect: for the rest of his life he would he hired as a makeup artist to help out with weddings and theater productions. He would never be used as a prostitute. Only thirteen years old at the time of his victory, he was the third victor under fourteen in history. It was really the age of the young victor. In the years to come a higher number of young tributes would win the games than ever before.
Poplin moved into the Victor's Village of District 8, the third victor to do so.
His victory tour went well; the higher numbered districts were mostly glad to see an outlier take home the Victor's Crown.
Poplin would live to age seventy-nine, dying from ALS two months before the one-hundred forty-eighth annual Hunger Games. He would marry and have four children, two boys and two girls.
NEWS
Poplin moves into the Victor's Village of District 8, across the street from Cecelia's home.
Meredith Powell gives birth to her first child, a boy named Alexis.
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)
79HG: Kasey Slosser (#5, District 6)
80HG: Tarquinius Orfe (#20, District 2)
81HG: Talisa Plummer (#12, District 4)
82HG: Poplin Amsden (#3, District 8)
A/N: Oooh! Spooky! It's really hard to pull off indoor arenas, but I had some good fun writing this one. And what's it like seeing a victor from District 8 and only thirteen and with a score of only zero? Unlikely at the very least, nearly impossible at the… not least? I don't know what I'm saying. But yeah. Lizbeth was also one of my faves.
Next chapter is just going to be a retelling of my SYOT, so if you haven't taken a look at that I recommend you do so. I'd advise skipping the next chapter if you don't want spoilers, but the victor's name will appear in the victor lists until the end of time so it's going to be pretty hard to avoid. Do whatever you want :D
