THE EIGHTY EIGHTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"The Web"


INTRODUCTION

Maddox Courval knew that the eighty-eighth Hunger Games had some rather large shoes to fill. It was his third year as head gamamker, and his first two years had been widely considered nothing more or less than average. The pressure to outdo himself every year was on as the crowds of Capitolites expected the newer games to be more gallant and glamorous than ever before. President Stinn Hawke continued to rule the roost in Panem, raiding the pockets of district citizens for his personal spending needs and those of his similarly cunning ministers. While the year prior had been rather quiet and timid, a number of deadly riots sprung up this year, particularly in 6, 8, and 9, the most rebellious of Panem's various districts. Stinn authorized his peacekeeper force to use whatever methods necessary to control the stirring crowds, but in due time it became apparent that managing rebellion was no longer at the top of Stinn's presidential to-do list. A few scant rebels burned down a factory on the outskirts of District 3, not knowing that it contained a newly-developed strain of a disease more contagious and violent than virtually anything mankind had ever known. The symptoms were unpleasant; first there was nothing but intense nausea and a few sneezes, and this progressed to ugly white lesions and pox-like itching on the hands and face. The disease had to incubate inside of a human body for several weeks before symptoms shone, by which time the infected had likely unknowingly spread it to multiple other people. The infection ran rampant in District 3, infecting citizens faster and faster with each month. Bodies had to be buried extremely quickly after death to keep from spreading the disease, meaning that humanity had to revert to the old days of placing bells inside of coffins whenever somebody was buried. The epidemic wasn't severe enough for drastic measures to be taken against its spread, but the Capitol warned peacekeepers to keep an eye out for infecteds nonetheless. District 3's reaping was rigged so that two healthy kids were sent in. At least for the time being, everything was under control, and for once Stinn didn't want to cause a national panic.

This year's career group seemed pretty average, but they were still at least somewhat memorable. District 1 provided a lacking duo. The male was a prissy rich boy whose parents were millionaires, while the girl was more conventional and laid-back in her outlook of things. She was ultimately the weakest career this year. District 2 stole the show, and they were both good-looking and popular in the Capitol. The boy was older and taller, and he liked swords, but he could fight with anything well. The female was an exotically beautiful career with dark skin who was built for the ranged weapons. District 4 put on a varied showing. The boy was the youngest this year at sixteen, but he had some looks on his side, while the girl was muscular and older but not exactly a supermodel. The scores of the pack were pretty good: two elevens, a ten, two nines, and an eight.

There weren't a stellar number of standouts this year, but there were a few. The girl from District 5, Sparkanne, was a huge nerd and a math-whiz, but her small size would be an extreme hiding advantage in this cavernous arena and her smarts couldn't hurt as well. With an impressive nine, she either matched or outscored half of the career packs. Three sevens were earned, by Vellum and Eloise from 7 and Kine from 10. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. Wheaton and Sickle from 9 allied prior to the games thinking they would last longer as a duo. Wheaton was sexy and comical and quickly became a Capitol favorite, while Sickle, his senior by one year, stole much of the crowd over with her charm and her looks. Due to the lack of strong outliers, none of the outliers formed an anti-career pack this year. There were no volunteers outside of the careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Fancy Mintz, 17, (9) 8-1 and Perfect Flournoy, 17, (8) 10-1

District 2: Gerome Goff, 18, (11) 3-1 and Yama Matthews, 17, (11) 3-1

District 3: Rimno Kiely, 16, (4) 38-1 and Gracie Falcon, 13, (4) 41-1

District 4: Nevel Luther-Vise, 16, (9) 6-1 and Olivea Kirstmel, 18, (10) 4-1

District 5: Alecto Demerath, 18, (5) 22-1 and Sparkanne Stocklin, 18, (9) 9-1

District 6: Tank Drudgers, 12, (4) 45-1 and Margot Leyce, 12, (3) 56-1

District 7: Vellum Muzio, 16, (7) 15-1 and Eloise Jargun, 17, (7) 14-1

District 8: Tailor Goldner, 13, (5) 27-1 and Azlon Tusselton, 16, (6) 20-1

District 9: Wheaton Naysmith, 14, (4) 42-1 and Sickle Salgato, 15, (4) 40-1

District 10: Kine Lucker, 17, (7) 16-1 and Eugenia Vilche, 17, (5) 25-1

District 11: Crocus Talbot, 18, (6) 19-1 and Carnation Pink, 18, (5) 23-1

District 12: Dylan Sadler, 12, (3) 61-1 and Seana Collins, 13, (3) 57-1

HGBO Bets: 23% on Gerome, 17% on Yama, 12% on Olivea, 10% on Fancy, 7% on Nevel, 5% on Perfect, 4% on Sparkanne, 3% on Vellum, Eloise, and Kine, 2% on Wheaton and Sickle, 1% or less on Rimno, Gracie, Alecto, Tank, Margot, Tailor, Azlon, Eugenia, Crocus, Carnation, Dylan, and Seana.


THE GAMES

Sea foam crashed onto the pedestals and scant supplies surrounding this year's cornucopia. The horn of plenty was located in a partially-submerged stone chamber. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, dangling dangerously over the pedestal ring like stone icicles. The tributes' pedestals were mounted onto stone platforms jutting out from the walls of the chamber. From there, the tributes would have to jump down two meters to the broad piece of stone where the horn was situated, feet above the waterline. The labyrinth-like cave system sprawled out in all directions, partially submerged in the water. The tributes who could swim would definitely have the upper hand this year. Blazing red torches that could burn forever without fuel were mounted onto the walls every few feet, providing the only light in this year's arena. The light was red and dim and rather creepy. This year wasn't without its fair share of dangerous mutts. The waters were inhabited by every kind of fish imaginable, including harmless fodder and deadly piranhas with razor-sharp teeth. Swarms of bat mutts hung from the ceilings of the more open chambers. The crown jewel of the underwater cave system, however, was the lone spider mutt. It had cost millions of dollars to create, but it was one of the most fearsome mutts in history and the results were sure to be spectacular. The spider was roughly the size of a pickup truck, with eight long legs spindling out from its body and two fangs foaming and dripping with poison. Whenever it moved, it made a sound like the keys of a xylophone being struck at random as though by a maniac. The spider mutt's hairs broke off at the slightest contact; they sunk into flesh like alive velcro and were as hard to remove as shards of glass. As the games progressed, the water would slowly rise, forcing the tributes farther and farther uphill until only the cornucopia was above the waterline.

The dimly-lit cave setting gradually came into focus as the tributes' eyes adjusted to the darkness. A few of them felt through the darkness with their arms and realized they were standing on small stone platforms jutting out from the walls of the cave. The horn was several meters below them, a difficult jump but a do-able one. The stone was slick with water. The supplies around the cornucopia and in its mouth weren't very sustainable, but the cornucopia sloped down into the water, and the very back held the most valuable supplies and weapons.

When the gong rang, Tailor from 8 and Kine from 10 avoided the bloodbath. The other twenty-two tributes leapt down onto the slick stone platform that supported the cornucopia. The bloodbath this year would claim nine lives.

Gerome led the onrush, spreading out his body weight so that he didn't slip as he thundered toward the cornucopia. The slanted floor of the horn carried him chest-deep in water before he found his preferred weapon. He grabbed a long, thin sword with a glowing orange gem embedded into the hilt and thrust it through the torso of the nearest tribute, a smaller girl with pigtails. With a splash and a scream, the girl fell into the water, sending out a tide of displaced water. She sank like a stone to the bottom, swiftly bleeding out from the grievous injury she'd sustained.

Eugenia Vilche, District 10 Female: 24th, Killed by Gerome, Bloodbath

Yama held out her glowing golden spears at arms' length and squinted to make out the forms of the outliers rushing past. A terrified boy ran straight into her, and the tributes collapsed in a heap. He made a quick effort to roll away from the 2 girl and escape unnoticed, but Yama quickly flipped around, pinning him against the stone floor of the cave. With a heavy swipe of her spear, he was dead.

Dylan Sadler, District 12 Male: 23rd, Killed by Yama, Bloodbath

Gerome swung his sword back and forth through the air like a blind man's cane. He felt the point of the weapon brush against something soft and lunged forward. In an instant, he was on top of the thrashing girl from 3. He subdued her with a skewer to the neck, and her terrified moans had faded to silence in moments.

Gracie Falcon, District 3 Female: 22nd, Killed by Gerome, Bloodbath

Olivea had waded all the way to the back of the cornucopia to retrieve a whip, and she smiled as she fit the leather handle snugly into her grasp. She tugged herself out of the cornucopia and then lashed out in the direction of the nearest boy, Tank. She sent him reeling with the first crack of her whip, and Tank stumbled into the arms of his district partner, Margot. Margot tugged Tank away, and Olivea now found herself face-to-face with a boy that had taken shelter behind the two district partners. With a deafening crack, Olivea wound the leather strap of the whip around his arm and yanked it off with a single heavy tug.

Vellum Muzio, District 7 Male: 21st, Killed by Olivea, Bloodbath

Fancy was holding a dagger in each hand, and he leapt into combat, pulling up beside a strong boy from an outlying district. Fancy lashed out with his left dagger, and the boy barely had time to deflect. He used a small pack like a shield to blow the 1 boy's blows, but his fast reflexes quickly overwhelmed him. Fancy finally tackled the disoriented boy, sawing open his chest with two heavy swipes.

Crocus Talbot, District 11 Male: 20th, Killed by Fancy, Bloodbath

Luck was on Yama's side, and she found her second victim moments after her first. A red-haired boy who was cowering inside of the cornucopia spotted Yama's terrifying grin and made a mad dash for the exit, but it was blocked by Yama and her friend Perfect. He seized up, mortified, allowing Perfect to slash open her chest. Yama finished him off before sprinting out of the horn.

Alecto Demerath, District 5 Male: 19th, Killed by Perfect and Yama, Bloodbath

Olivea sent a girl to the ground, howling, with a well-placed crack of her bladed whip. The teeth of the weapon had sunk into her neck, and the harder the career girl pulled the harder and harder it was for her to breathe. Before long, the skin was being torn off of her neck. A later victor would say her death was the most traumatizing she had viewed as a child.

Seana Collins, District 12 Female: 18th, Killed by Olivea, Bloodbath

Nevel from 4, armed with a spear, took down the girl from the agriculture district. Her dark skin blended in well with the dark arena; it was merely a matter of misfortune that she had been in the career's path at the wrong time. She collapsed to the ground, shrieking, at the first poke of his spear, and he peppered several holes in her chest and neck before leaving her to bleed out.

Carnation Pink, District 11 Female: 17th, Killed by Nevel, Bloodbath

Gerome had been chasing a screaming girl around the cornucopia for nearly thirty seconds, and she finally leapt into the frothing water. She couldn't swim a single stroke, but it was her only shot at survival and she did it only out of desperation. The girl tried to control her movements as she was carried down the river at immense speeds, but she had drowned in minutes.

Azlon Tusselton, District 8 Female: 16th, Killed by Drowning, Bloodbath

For the third year in a row, the career pack was unscathed after the bloodbath except for a few cuts and scrapes, and all six of their members were still very much alive and kicking. Yama found a few long, wooden boards in the back of the cornucopia which she set on the ground about a meter away from the edge of the horn's stone platform. The boards wouldn't physically stop a career from stepping off of the side, but they would let them know they were nearing the edge if they couldn't already see in the dim light. Gerome tore down a few torches from the nearby tunnels of the cave and balanced them in a circle around the cornucopia. This lit up the horn significantly and made it easier for the careers to do their work. Fancy tied several long ropes between the edges of the stone chamber, so that they crisscrossed overhead like a spider web. He then hung flashlights from these ropes, helping to further illuminate the cornucopia. Creepily, Fancy didn't know how fitting spider web design was. Nevel and Olivea, the duo from 4, sorted the weapons provided in the horn. They were perfect for the job because they could both swim well, meaning they could easily retrieve the weapons hidden in the cornucopia's submerged back end. Perfect sorted the food rations. There wasn't a lot of food at the cornucopia this year, as Maddox wanted the tributes to take risks with the disgusting edible moss and bugs he had scattered around the arena. The pack waited a while to go hunting; they were all exhausted from their post-bloodbath rituals. It wasn't until several hours after noon that they left to thin the crowd of outliers, leaving Nevel to guard the supplies while they were away.

The outliers slipped, dashed, or floated away from the cornucopia, scattering in all directions. Rimno sprinted down one of the thinner tunnels carrying a bucket, a coil of wire, and a backpack filled with rope. He had gone on for about a mile when he collapsed into a hidden fissure-like crevice and toyed with his supplies, trying to think of an imaginative way to win the games like Beetee. Sparkanne had managed to snag a raft from the bloodbath. Once she was a safe distance away, she inflated the raft using a small pump and then set it onto the swift channel of water running through the cave. The raft carried her to a large chamber filled with edible moss, where Sparkanne disembarked and practiced with the spear the bloodbath had graced her with. Tank and Margot walked alongside each other despite having never spoken a word of alliance before the games. They'd found a narrow ledge of stone that ran a stellar distance down the cave wall before coming to a stop at a dead end. Margot stopped dead in her tracks and clapped her hand over her mouth. Tank followed her finger and saw something with eight legs stirring mere meters away. Tank and Margot sprinted in the opposite direction like mad, but the spider mutt was on their trail, and now it was only a matter of time before they would have to put on their figurative fighting gear. Eloise had sustained a horrible wound during the bloodbath; the teeth of Olivea's whip had dug into her shoulder, tearing out a whole chunk of flesh when the bloodthirsty girl had pulled it back. Hobbling and hissing with agony, Eloise settled down in a hidden space near the water and feverishly washed her wounds. Tailor sprinted about two miles away from the cornucopia and then collapsed, exhausted beyond belief. He had nothing but the clothes on his back, and even those were torn and sweaty. He took a big sip of water and then passed out. Wheaton and Sickle, each carrying a spear and a pack containing food and medical supplies, sprinted south for much of the first day before arriving in a circular chamber with a low ceiling. The moment that Sickle switched on her flashlight, a swarm of bat mutts descended from the ceiling, clawing and tearing at the allies. The 9s held their arms over their heads and ran for their lives. Wheaton and Sickle resorted to scaring the batts away with loud banging noises; fortunately, there were no other tributes nearby to hear them. Kine had fallen into the water halfway through the bloodbath, and he was now being carried quickly downstream. He could swim pretty well and knew he had everything under control. At the end of the channel, the land slanted upward; Kine trudged out of the water and then curled up on the floor, trying to sleep.

The "morning" of Day 2 came in the form of a cannon shot (without access to the sky, it was difficult to define day and night. Each tribute had a watch, but many of them had already broken from water damage). For nearly twenty-four hours, Eloise had been slowly bleeding out from the shoulder wound inflicted by Olivea, and death finally claimed her at seven in the morning on the second day. When the undulating claw of the hovercraft twinkled through a fake part of the ceiling to retrieve her, it saw the girl spread out like a dead bug in a dark pool of her own blood.

Eloise Jargun, District 7 Female: 15th, Killed by Olivea, Day 2

The careers left quickly on the morning of Day 2. Fancy's watch was the only one that was still functioning properly, and he'd set an alarm for eight in the morning the night prior. Eloise's cannon shot woke up the pack nearly an hour before that, but Fancy forgot to delete the alarm. The pack quickly ate breakfast and then left, leaving Yama behind to guard the supplies. About an hour later, the careers arrived at the small tunnel where Tailor was sleeping. Suddenly, Fancy's alarm blared, and Tailor jumped to his feet. The careers had lost him in the labyrinth of dark tunnels within minutes, and Fancy's face burned with embarrassment as he vowed to be more careful in the future.

The vicious spider mutt kept up the chase, scuttling over the cave walls and ceiling as it chased after the allies from 6. Tank and Margot were about half a mile ahead of the mutt, but it was carefully engineered to smell human blood and it knew that the tributes were near. Margot suggested that they smear dirt onto themselves to mask their smell, but this did little to get in the way of the spider's impeccable smelling sense. Around noon, two more tributes came near the spider mutt: Wheaton and Sickle from 9. The 9s settled down for lunch between the spider mutt and the Tank-Margot duo. Wheaton and Sickle dropped their sandwiches and pulled out their weapons as the terrifying mutt stumbled out of the darkness, fangs foaming with satisfaction. With the first swipe of his spear, Wheaton drew a fountain of black muttation blood out of its nearest leg, and the mutt hissed, withdrawing into the shadows for roughly five seconds as it healed. This mutt was designed to be virtually un-killable, only injure-able. Sickle stumbled backward as the spider shot two jets of poison out of its fangs. The poison sizzled as it made contact with the cave floor meters away from Sickle's feet. The 9s fended off the huge arachnid for nearly thirty minutes before it finally crumpled into a heap, rapidly healing. Wheaton and Sickle sprinted for roughly fifteen minutes straight despite their exhaustion. By the time they came to a stop, there were too exhausted to keep their eyes open for more than a few seconds at a time. They passed out almost instantly once they came to a stop near the edge of the cave system, where the tunnels were narrower and straighter.

Meanwhile, Rimno was hard at work with the few supplies he'd managed from the cornucopia. He was wrapping wires around the iron pail with intricate detail. He borrowed many elements of his design from Beetee's ever-famed contraption, but he took his own few creative twists at the end. By the end of Day 2, all he needed was some kind of iron core and some kind of battery. If he were sent these objects, Rimno hoped he could cause the fifty or so coils of conductive wire to rotate around the central core, charging up the bucket with an immense electrical force. The only issue was obtaining these objects. Rimno knew the only way to earn himself sponsors was to make kills and slaughter tributes, and he was prepared to do so. He grabbed a sharp rock in each hand and hid his precious contraption before sprinting down one of the cave's main tunnels in pursuit of victims.

On Day 3, Sparkanne left the roomy, moss-filled chamber she'd been resting inside of for two days straight. Her body was tired and hot from lack of water, and she knew the gamemakers never took kindly to tributes that stayed still for too many days at a time. Sparkanne returned to the tunnels of the cavern that were flooded and noticed that the water had risen significantly, at least a meter, since the bloodbath. Unbeknownst to her, the waterline would keep rising, consuming the arena as it rose higher and higher. Sparkanne was about to return home when she saw a flash of movement in the corner of her eye: Kine from 10, who was at the riverside grabbing brightly-colored fish out of the water. Sparkanne chased after Kine, her spear lofted overhead. A lengthy chase then ensued, ending with a terrified Kine ducking into a shadowy corner which Sparkanne ran right past.

Two cannon shots fired in rapid succession later that day. Tank and Margot had settled down a few hours prior in a large, near pitch-black chamber for a short power nap. They'd only meant to sleep for a few minutes but had accidentally slept for nearly a quarter of a day. Margot heard a mysterious hissing sound and sat bolt upright, and when she saw what was happening right in front of her eyes she let out a high-pitched scream that echoed around the cave for nearly a minute. The enormous spider mutt had reached them at last, and both of its fangs were buried into Tank's chest. It was now tearing his torso apart, pulling out chunks of flesh and spitting foaming globs of poison into the gaps. Tank's cannon fired, and the spider mutt tackled Margot with its many legs. It was too late for Margot to run; her arms and legs were all pinned down. With a triumphant hiss, the spider sank its fangs into her neck, repeatedly hacking away at her neck and upper chest until the reaper claimed her.

Tank Drudgers, District 6 Male: 14th, Killed by Spider Muttation, Day 3

Margot Leyce, District 6 Female: 13th, Killed by Spider Muttation, Day 3

The majority of Day 3 passed quietly after that. The careers had been hunting in the cave tunnels far away from the cornucopia thinking more prey would be hiding there, but Gerome suggested they should try hunting nearer to the cornucopia. He was right in thinking a few of the tributes hadn't found the edges of the arena and were hiding poorly in the center. These tributes included Rimno, Tailor, and Kine. The careers' hunting trip took them to a precarious jump. The stone pathways on either side of the rushing channel split farther and farther apart at the end of the tunnel. The pathway they were on led to a dead end, whereas the other path led onward into a whole section of the cavern system they'd yet to explode. They didn't have any choice but to jump over the gap. It was about a meter, so it wasn't an easy jump by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't a hard one either. Yama was adamantly against risking her life with a simple jump, so she raced back to the cornucopia to retrieve one of the wooden boards so that she could lay it over the channel like a fallen branch to get across.

Yama returned about half an hour later, sweating profusely, neck and shoulders sore from carrying the plank. Yama laid the long wooden plank over the channel and then walked carefully across. Fancy, Gerome, Nevel, and Olivea passed similarly, without much trouble. Perfect was the last tribute to cross. She was deathly afraid of dark water, and her entire body shook with terror when she set one of her feet onto the plank. She was less than halfway across when she felt herself toppling to one side. Perfect screamed and tried to regain her balance, but her cries for help were already drowned out by the sound of water. The river washed her about a quarter of a mile east and then deposited her in a large stone chamber filled with bat mutts. The bloodthirsty creatures dove down and each took a few short nips at her flesh before the gamemakers sent them reeling with powerful electrical pulses so they could collect her body.

Perfect Flournoy, District 1 Female: 12th, Killed by Drowning and Bat Muttations, Day 3

Day 4 was deathless. On the pack's journey back to the cornucopia, a swarm of bat mutts descended onto them, tearing at their flesh with their claws and teeth. Four of them escaped uninjured, but one of bats had torn a sizable gash across the left side of Nevel's cheek, and he was now bleeding profusely. Yama helped him out with all of the medical help he needed; her mother was a nurse in one of the mining towns of 2, so she knew a thing or two about common injuries. Gerome and Yama were getting along well so far; normally, the strongest careers grated against each other, fighting for the role of leader, but the tributes from District 2 were working somewhat more harmoniously than some other years despite the rising stakes. Fancy was somewhat shaken up after the death of his district partner, so he resorted to supply sorting to soothe his nerves. First he finished sorting the rations, then he mixed together the piles of weapons just so that he could sort them again. The careers didn't go hunting on the fourth day. They needed a day to rest, but they vowed to resume hunting at noon the following day.

The outliers weren't up to anything exciting. Sparkanne was resting on the morning of the fourth day when she heard the faint scuttling of the spider mutt from nearby. She leapt to her feet and held out her spear at its full length. She stood her ground for several seconds and proceeded with caution after that, squinting to make out the shape that was slinking out of the darkness. Sparkanne hardly had time to leap out of the way when the spider mutt pounced out of the darkness, fangs bared and frothing with poison. After nearly a minute, Sparkanne had managed to poke one of its legs with her spear, while a few drops of its poison had landed on her upper chest. The skin sizzled under the highly acidic solution, and a hissing Sparkanne turned to make a run for her life.

Tailor and Kine were the most inactive and forgettable tributes so far. Tailor stayed still in various areas of the cave, scratching doodles into the chalky grey stone with his fingernails and feeding himself on the repulsive edible moss whenever his appetite got up. He relocated every morning, but the lack of any other action was starting to get the Capitol fed up. Kine just sprinted aimlessly around the arena, stopping to rest every once in a while. Kine stopped to rest on a flat expanse of stone near the channel, and he woke up about an hour later to find that he was inch-deep in water. Sopping wet, Kine trudged up the slanted floor and sprinted toward dry footing at higher levels.

Wheaton and Sickle had been sprinting in an organized pattern around the cave system ever since their narrow escape from the spider mutt on Day 2. Using sponsored pen and paper, the baker boy and the farm hand girl sketched a rough map of the maze using the small area they'd explored. They correctly guessed that the arena was symmetric in multiple directions; the twisting tunnels had some kind of order to them after all. At six o'clock that evening, Wheaton began to lay out the duo's sleeping bags and supplies on a flat stone expanse. Sickle was a few meters away, mindlessly stroking the wall of the cave. Suddenly, she felt her arm fly away into nothingness. There was a narrow gap in the cave wall that led into a hidden, roomy space. The area held few torches, so the opening was nearly impossible to see. It hid them well as the fourth night wore on.

With sponsor help, Rimno put the finishing touches on his electrical trap, and it soon became apparent that it wasn't really a trap at all, more like a weapon. Rimno would have to throw the bucket over the head of his victim and then flick on the device, frying their brain in a matter of moments. He was being extremely careful not to get any part of his creation wet, knowing that electricity and water didn't mix, so he placed a few larger rocks between it and the rising channel whenever he went to sleep.

On the morning of Day 5, Rimno heard the soft groans of a fellow tribute. He slowly sat straight up and saw Tailor from 8 about ten meters away, down on his knees. Tailor had woken fairly early on the fifth morning, wanting to get in a few good hours of exploration before the others were awake. Tailor's foot had landed on a spare screw that Rimno had forgotten to clean up, and he had topped onto his knees without warning. Rimno leapt into action, pulling out his electrified pail and throwing it over Tailor's head. Tailor screamed and tried to shake the thing off of him, but Rimno had already pushed down on the trigger, and several thousand volts of electricity were now running through the conductive metal. Tailor shook and contorted rather grotesquely with such a strong current running through his brain, hijacking his nervous system and making him unable to control his own movements.

Tailor Goldner, District 8 Male: 11th, Killed by Rimno, Day 5

The careers, woken from their heavy slumber by Tailor's cannon shot, left the cornucopia quickly. They were immensely frustrated after so many days of either failing to find prey or quickly losing their fleeing victims in the labyrinth-like cave system. Their determination would prove fruitful, and they cornered their first victim since the bloodbath shortly after noon on the fifth day. Yama was back at the cornucopia, dutifully guarding the supplies, and she heard three cannon shots fire within the span of half a minute. Two of the cannon shots belonged to her career allies, and one of them belonged to an outlier.

Fancy, Gerome, Nevel, and Olivea had been sprinting down one of the cavern's main tunnels for about half an hour when they came across the chamber where Sparkanne was sleeping, lazily caked with dirt. The girl's sweat acted like glue, keeping the dirt stuck to her skin, but this did little to keep the careers from spotting her. The reason Sparkanne was hiding so poorly was because she'd been too exhausted to search for anything better, having literally collapsed from exhaustion the evening prior. Nevel's flashlight beam landed on Sparkanne's face, illuminating her tired, emaciated form. Sparkanne leapt to her feet and grabbed her spear, thrusting it in Nevel's direction with a kind of split-second instinct she didn't even know she had. Nevel had no idea such a spastic burst of energy could come from an outlier. The point of the spear opened a gaping wound in his chest, and he fell at the feet of his career allies, choking on the blood that was now pouring out of his mouth.

Nevel Luther-Vise, District 4 Male: 10th, Killed by Sparkanne, Day 5

From there, all hell broke loose. Sparkanne stumbled backward, a torrent of emotions attacking her after making her first kill. She had more pressing matters on her mind, however, and she was quickly overwhelmed by the trio of bloodthirsty careers. The deafening first crack of Olivea's whip rolled over the others like thunder, and Sparkanne let out a scream of agony, several of the teeth having torn long gashes into her arms. Gerome thrust his sword out in an attempt to stab the strong outlier girl, and Fancy tried to get the clearance to launch at least one of his knives into her abdomen. Olivea was being much more careless, swinging her whip back and forth and not really caring where it landed. The whip wrapped around Gerome's upper torso, and Olivea instinctively yanked back the leather strap of the weapon. With a kind of tearing sound, his skin was ripped open like leather, revealing the bone underneath to the infrared cameras mounted nearby. He was gone in moments.

Gerome Goff, District 2 Male: 9th, Killed by Olivea, Day 5

That left the final eight: Fancy Mintz from District 1, Yama Matthews from District 2, Rimno Kiely from District 3, Olivea Kirstmel from District 4, Sparkanne Stocklin from District 5, Wheaton Naysmith and Sickle Salgato from District 9, and Kine Lucker from District 10.

Gerome's heavy dead body toppled sideways like a domino, landing in the central channel of water with a splash. A terrified Sparkanne was stunned into silence at the sight of his bloody body floating on the current and the spear-wounded 4 boy who lied lifelessly at her feet. Sparkanne let out a small sound when Fancy tore her spear straight out of her hand; the strongest outlier in these games was now frozen to her spot, trapped in a whirlwind of depression, shock, and terror. From there, she was easy work for Fancy and Olivea. The hovercraft had three bodies to collect once the survivors had gotten far enough away.

Sparkanne Stocklin, District 5 Female: 8th, Killed by Fancy and Olivea, Day 5

Days 6 and 7 were both deathless, rounding off the first week in the arena with a lackluster finish. Fancy and Olivea returned to the cornucopia. The two of them, along with the charismatic Yama, were the only three careers left in the arena. Yama was shocked to find out that her district partner was dead, but she was secretly satisfied, as she had always ambitioned to be a pack leader. She ordered a few changes around the cornucopia and watched with satisfaction as Olivea and Fancy began to follow her orders and trust her more and more. Olivea, who was similarly idealistic, sparked up a few good conversations with Yama, and the two became good friends. Fancy largely laid low. He didn't want to be in the others' sight because he thought that would just remind them of his existence and encourage them to kill him off, knowing he was the weakest link in their trio.

The outliers kept up their day-to-day routines. Rimno was pleased by how well his bucket-trap was working, once he got over the morbid guilt. Tailor's thrashing had damaged parts of the steel pail significantly, and some wires had been frayed or torn completely. The channel of water had risen at least ten meters in the last few days, completely submerging a few of the lower tunnels. Rimno relocated about a mile eastward. He stumbled into the midst of a swarm of bat mutts, and they chased him an additional quarter mile east before giving up. The boy settled down and rested for a few minutes before staring the long repair. Wheaton and Sickle took turns leaving the hidden chamber that had completely hidden them from sight for three straight days. For the first half of the day, only one of them hunted at a time. The theory was that one of them should always stay behind to guard the hiding spot, but at noon they scrapped that plan and just left together. The space was well-hidden by default and didn't really need a guard to keep its contents safe. After facing their fair share of bat mutts and other threats, the 9s returned to their shelter around ten that night, their precious map tucked carefully into Sickle's pocket. Kine aimlessly ran for his life through the various twist and turns of the cavernous arena. He'd been roused from sleep that morning by the carefully feeling legs of the spider mutt, and now it was on his trail. He alternated between sprinting and briskly walking, and at the farthest distance he placed about a mile between himself and the mutt. The larger-than-life arachnid would inevitably catch up to him in due time, however.

The morning of Day 8, Kine woke up screaming at the top of his lungs. He hadn't wanted to stop running, but he'd fallen against the wall of the cave with exhaustion and slowly slid to the ground. He slept like a rock for nearly ten hours and only awoke to the tingling sensation of the spider's front legs on his neck and chest. Kine screamed and made a dash down the tunnel, but the mutt eeked, leaping in his path. It turned to block his new path whenever he so much as twitched a finger. The terrified boy had been torn apart in seconds, and the spider scuttled away, satisfied. Wheaton and Sickle were near, and they heard the boy's soft sniffles about five minutes after the spider had abandoned him to die. They followed the sound of his dying breaths and knew they had no choice but to end his suffering. In unison, they thrust their spears into his abdomen, then left quickly.

Kine Lucker, District 10 Male: 7th, Killed by Spider Muttation, Wheaton, and Sickle, Day 8

The first half of Day 9 was deathless. The charismatic duo of Yama and Olivea left to hunt in the morning, and Fancy started packing his bags the moment they were out of sight. He was planning to make a break from the pack, not wanting to be picked off at the split, as he knew it was far too late in the games for a three-piece career alliance to continue much longer. Fancy escaped down a side tunnel and sprinted about a mile from the cornucopia before he came to a stop. The chamber he chose was flooded ankle-deep in water, but rising fast. By the end of the day the water level was chest-deep, and Fancy trudged up the sloped ground. He found dry footing around the same level as the cornucopia and curled up in a shadowed corner, hoping he could remain unnoticed.

Yama and Olivea stumbled upon the hidden chamber by pure chance, exposing the hiding place of Wheaton and Sickle. Yama was running her hand absentmindedly along the wall when it flew into the empty space of the near-invisible gap, nudging a sleeping Wheaton. Wheaton woke up screaming, and he and Sickle jumped to their feet, quaking, as the career girls moved closer, smiling dangerously.

Wheaton tackled Olivea, not seeing her whip, but he soon came to regret that decision as Yama threw him to the ground with one arm, leaving Olivea free to slam down the toothed leather strap onto his back. Wheaton roared, writhing with agony on the floor as Olivea yanked the teeth sharply and quickly out of his chest, exposing his gaping wounds. Sickle tried to knock Olivea off of her feet, but the 4 girl just kicked her to one side and continued mercilessly beating the baker boy with her weapon of death.

Wheaton Naysmith, District 9 Male: 6th, Killed by Olivea, Day 9

As Olivea polished off her victim, Yama threw Sickle against the wall of the cave. She felt warm blood dripping down her chin, and Sickle punched back, throwing as much force as she could muster into her fist. Her clenched hand slammed into Yama's face, stunning her for the split second she needed to escape. Sickle slipped from her grasp and dashed down the darkest hallway in the immediate vicinity. The floor of the tunnel sloped downward, and before long she felt water splashing up around her ankles. When she was waist-deep, she ducked into a crevice in the cave wall, panting and gasping as the cursing careers searched around for her.

Day 10 was deathless. Olivea and Yama gave up searching for Sickle after about an hour. They were having a higher-than-average difficulty keeping their prey from escaping this year. Sickle stayed still in the shadowed crevice, trying not to panic as the water rose higher and higher. When she finally decided to make a run for it, Sickle took a gulp of breath and slipped down under the surface. She swam to shore far away from the careers and quickly dashed toward the safety of the higher levels. Olivea and Yama knew the tunnel would be flooded in due time. Yama cringed as the water covered her shoe and shouted for Olivea to follow her as she scrambled toward safety.

The spider mutt chose Fancy as its next prey. He had settled down for breakfast in a long, thin hallway that was ankle-deep in water when he heard the xylophone-like scuttling of the spider mutt. Somehow, a wet spider was ten times more terrifying than a dry one, as it somehow managed to move its legs in perfect synchronization despite the water damage it should have been taking. Fancy ran for the hills, followed closely by the scuttling mass of legs, and he holed up near the cornucopia in a cubby-like hole in the wall where the spider couldn't reach him.

On Day 11, Olivea and Yama made the split. The girls stuffed their packs full of everything they could carry and then tossed the remainder of the cornucopia's supplies into the flooded tunnels to the north. In only a few hours, they were completely flooded. The outliers would not be getting their hands on the careers' precious supplies. Olivea headed east, and Yama headed west. Yama had been jogging in a straight line for less than an hour when she heard a small shuffling sound. She stopped dead in her tracks and squinted in the dim light to see the form of Rimno from 3 treading silently over the stone cave floor, absentmindedly swinging his wired-up pail back and forth. Yama leapt out of nowhere, brandishing twin spears, and Rimno reacted instantly. Knowing he had no chance against the strongest tribute left in these games he threw the bucket over his head. Rimno hesitated for a quick moment and then pulled the trigger. His brains were busted instantly, and the pail clattered against the stone as he fell to the ground in a heap. The contraption tumbled off of his head and rolled into the rising channel, dying along with its creator.

Rimno Kiely, District 3 Male: 5th, Killed by Himself, Day 11

Sickle stumbled in circles, terrified. If she was keeping track correctly, she was up against three careers, all three of whom had scored a nine or higher while she held a meager four. The only thing she had on her after the incident of two days prior was a single spear, and even that was waterlogged and damaged. She repaired the spear using some sponsored rope and spent the rest of the day practicing on and off. She didn't even think about returning to the hidden chamber where she and the dead Wheaton had hid for several days. She couldn't if she wanted to, as it was now completely buried under the rising water. She was about one and a half miles from the cornucopia now, and she caked herself with dirt and other natural camouflage before dropping at the dead-end of a dark hallway for the night.

Fancy had been on the run for nearly twenty-four hours when he spotted the spider mutt crawling out of the darkness, showing all the signs that it was ready for a battle. Fancy stumbled backward, holding his knives in front of him, warning it not to draw any closer as though it could understand his words. The spider lashed out, sending Fancy reeling with the first swipe of its front legs. The trembling boy turned tail and raced for his life down the nearest tunnel, but he quickly found himself up to the chest in water, and he couldn't swim nearly as well as the spider mutt could. With a punching sound, the mutt drilled its teeth into his torso, injecting its venom into his bloodstream. The spider mutt dragged him to shore and then shook like a dog to dry itself before digging in.

Fancy Mintz, District 1 Male: 4th, Killed by Spider Muttation, Day 11

On the morning of Day 12, the gamemakers terminated Olivea from 4. Sickle was one of the most popular tributes of her day; District 9, as well as all of the other outlying districts, were rooting for her, as she would bring home District 9's third ever victor if she won. Unwilling to move past his chance for a successful underdog story, Maddox decided to kill off the less popular career to give the outlier girl a fighting chance.

Olivea was curled up in a ball on the floor of the cave when she heard a faint whooshing sound, like mist being sprayed out of a spray bottle. A faint, transparent mist had appeared out of nowhere, and it was now gradually floating downward. Olivea was gagging and choking the moment the steam covered her nose, and she stumbled mindlessly uphill, eyes closed to keep the strange chemical out. In mere minutes she had reached the cornucopia, and she opened her eyes from one bad dream into another when she saw the point of Yama's spear drawing closer to her abdomen. Coughing and gagging all the while, Olivea retaliated, lashing out with her whip, but her much stronger opponent grabbed the opposite end of the leather strap and tugged her along for a few feet before tearing it straight out of her hands. Olivea collapsed in agony as Yama used her own weapon against her, slamming its teeth repeatedly into her back until she bled to death.

Olivea Kirstmel, District 4 Female: 3rd, Killed by Yama, Day 12

That left Yama Matthews of District 2 and Sickle Salgato of District 9 to vie for victory. Both girls were armed and on the move, hoping to reach each other soon and end these games as quickly as possible. The trouble was that Yama's training score was nearly three times that of Sickle's, but she couldn't let that stop her—she either had to take down her final opponent or die trying. The girls clashed in a broad hallway near the center of the arena, so close to the cornucopia they could make out its shadowy, silhouetted shape. Yama made the first move, lunging forward with her spear, and Sickle sidestepped quickly enough to thrust her spear in the direction of her left side. The spear pierced Yama's side, and she slapped it out of the way, annoyed. The wooden shaft of her spear cracked and frayed like a twig, and Sickle knew she had no choice but to run.

Sickle took an obscure side route in the direction of the chamber that had hidden her and Wheaton well for several days toward the beginning of these games. Olivea would have recognized the area, but Yama did not, having never seen it before. Sickle felt much more comfortable on her home turf, and she picked up a rock in each hand and tossed them both in Yama's direction. She tried to use her arm like a shield, but one of the sharp rocks smacked into her forehead, and Yama reeled, cursing.

Sickle knew it was now or never. She charged forward and shoved her to the ground. Yama's head made a bloodcurdling cracking noise upon contact with the hard floor of the cave, and the 9 girl grabbed another rock, steeling herself for the difficult task ahead. Sickle repeatedly slammed the rock into the 2 girl's head and then pulled it away, revealing a number of small dents. It took nearly a minute for the girl to die from head trauma, and then there was only one tribute left in the arena.

Yama Matthews, District 2 Female: 2nd, Killed by Sickle, Day 12

"Sickle Salgato of District 9, you are the victor of the eighty-eighth annual Hunger Games!" Titanius exclaimed.

Sickle staggered away from the mangled corpse of her final victim, already trying to shove the graphic memories of the games out of her mind.

Sickle Salgato, District 9 Male: Victor of the Eighty-Eighth Hunger Games, Day 12


AFTERMATH

Sickle made the welcome third addition to District 9's lineup of victors, their first in forty-four years. District 9 had been watching their tributes die literally every single time for nearly half a century, and celebrations in the grain district were endless when the young lady returned home. A few of its residents had been dreading that District 9 might never have another victor, and understandably Sickle served as a kind of beacon of hope to its youth—if she could withstand the horrors of the arena and make it home safe and sound, they might not have all been doomed if they were reaped for the arena. She was one of the quieter and more reserved victors, and she would often be forgotten on history tests taken by Capitol children in the future, but she didn't mind. Sickle was an introverted woman who liked keeping to herself. People often said her only loves were the flowers that grew on her balcony and the hummingbirds that drank their nectar.

Her victory tour was average, and nothing of note happening during it.

The payouts on her victory were good, as about 2% bet on her.

Sickle would live to age eighty-five, dying from an allergic reaction seven months before the one-hundred fifty-eighth Hunger Games. She would never marry, and she would remain celibate throughout her life.


NEWS

Sickle moves into the Victor's Village of District 9, next door to Barley's home.

Apollo Reinold has a baby girl named Tania.


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)
83HG: Pixel Watt (#10, District 3)
84HG: Dock Elizabeth (#13, District 4)
85HG: Sycamora Bromley (#5, District 7)
86HG: Bobbin Chern (#4, District 8)
87HG: Organdy Karat (#14, District 1)
88HG: Sickle Salgato (#3, District 9)


A/N: Here's another victor from District 9! It's been a while, hasn't it? Now that I think about it, I don't think District 9 is ever mentioned in any of the books of films. Nobody even knew its industry until promotional material. This lack of information also gives us writers the permission to do whatever the heck we want with District 9 characters because there isn't really anything to go by.

I liked this arena, particularly the giant spider mutt. Huge spiders are enough to make any games more interesting, I think :)

This decade passed quickly. Just two more games and it's over. Please stay tuned for the next chapter...