THE EIGHTY NINTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"The Knot"
INTRODUCTION
The man-made disease accidentally unleashed onto the masses the year prior continued to spread through the streets of District 3 like wildfire. For several months, the mayor of District 3 refused to close down schools and workplaces; President Stinn Hawke's labor quotas were higher than ever, and with so many citizens too sick to work, the only way to meet the quotas was to work the healthy half to death. Many historians in later years would go on to pin the close quarters of 3's factories as the reason the infection spread so quickly. Even if the population of 3 decreased by several thousand, Stinn Hawke didn't think it was a big deal as long as he could prevent the illness from spreading to other districts. Of course, natural enemies were and are famously difficult to contain, and before long the epidemic had spread to nearby districts like 9 and 12. Rigging the reapings to make sure only the healthiest children were sent into the games would be substantially more difficult this time around. The games team remained the same. Maddox Courval returned as head gamemaker, ready to satisfy the screaming crowds and placate the furious ones. Maddox was engaged to be married seven months after these games came to a close, and he drew heavy inspiration from his life at the time when designing his fourth arena. Titanius Lafayette kept the Capitol chuckling with his witty banter and effortless humor. This was the last year that he would run the pre-games festivities alone, as a close friend would join him next year, the Claudius to his Caesar. The penultimate year of the ninth Hunger Games decade featured minimal rebellion in the districts, and Stinn was pleased at the effectiveness of his ruling methods. He and the dead Coriolanus Snow would have gotten along well.
The career districts put on a mixed showing this year. The tributes from District 1 were both stunning and talented, and they were one of the most memorable duos in the Hunger Games history. The boy was the son of District 1's head academy trainer, and he made the nation swoon with his smarts, looks, and swordplay skills. The girl was just as attractive, and she was a master archer and a stellar trickster and temptress. The boy from District 2 was the first of the eight famous Talbot siblings to enter the Hunger Games, and his sword talents would inspire his seven younger brothers and sisters to fight in a similar style. The girl was a bit more forgettable, but she was funny and laid-back and played well with the more easy-going part of the Capitol. District 4 was a disaster this year. The boy broke his leg on his way to the stage; despite the best treatment the Capitol could offer, there was no way his wound could heal fully before the bloodbath. The female volunteer died in a car crash on her way to the reaping, having drunk too much alcohol the night prior when she was partying with her boyfriend. The news didn't arrive fast enough for a backup volunteer to be chosen, so a flabby fifteen-year-old girl was reaped and sent into the games. The scores of the five-member pack were decent: two elevens, two tens, and an eight.
The outliers were much more forgettable than some others years, but that didn't mean these games couldn't exciting if Maddox played his cards right. The anti-career pack consisted of four tributes: Bentley from 6, Sulema from 6, Aria from 7, and Harpsichord from 9. Bentley was sexy and jocular and extremely popular in the Capitol, while Sulema was an unassuming, calculated girl with outstanding intelligence. Aria was your typical hatchet-wielding, red-haired District 7 resident, and Harpsichord was a famous musician who'd been saving up nickels for years, hoping to move to the Capitol. In a way, she had gotten her wish, even if her stay in the Capitol was temporary. The highest scores out of the two packs went to Kathlin from 5 and Velvetina from 8, and the rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There were no volunteers outside of the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Admired Thompson, 18, (11) 3-1 and Nouvelle Harris, 18, (11) 3-1
District 2: Mercury Talbot, 16, (10) 5-1 and Alsalla Rabe, 16, (10) 4-1
District 3: Satis Hartford, 17, (5) 24-1 and Techa Socolow, 12, (3) 49-1
District 4: Ermin Shipley, 16, (8) 11-1 and Naiad Marlowe, 15, (4) 30-1
District 5: Felix Dawkins, 12, (3) 52-1 and Kathlin Hart, 16, (7) 15-1
District 6: Bentley Ibach, 18, (9) 10-1 and Sulema Cartley, 17, (8) 12-1
District 7: Beecher Ward, 13, (4) 29-1 and Aria Dauphine, 18, (8) 12-1
District 8: Fleece Congrutts, 18, (5) 25-1 and Velvetina Quinn, 18, (7) 13-1
District 9: Ezra Ondopetris, 14, (4) 32-1 and Harpsichord Bevel, 15, (7) 14-1
District 10: Feline Tethers, 17, (6) 29-1 and Arachne Bundly, 18, (4) 30-1
District 11: Sorrel Duster, 12, (2) 57-1 and Rose Danthbury, 16, (4) 33-1
District 12: Orrin Rush, 15, (5) 26-1 and Alice Straiden, 16, (3) 45-1
HGBO Bets: 20% on Admired and Nouvelle, 12% on Mercury, 10% on Alsalla, 7% on Ermin, 4% on Bentley, 3% on Sulema, Aria, and Harpsichord, 2% on Kathlin and Velvetina, 1% or less on Satis, Techa, Felix, Beecher, Fleece, Ezra, Feline, Arachne, Sorrel, Rose, Orrin, and Alice.
THE GAMES
The tributes found themselves dressed to the nines, surrounded in all directions by rows of red velvet seats. They were standing in the center of a towering stone cathedral, and the bell tower could be seen through the mass of crisscrossing wooden beams if the tributes looked upward. The cornucopia, fashioned from wood, was stocked with eight circular wedding cakes with pristine (at least for now) white frosting. Besides the cakes, there was little else in the ways of food and water. Tin thermoses were stocked near the edges of the horn, and a few packs of dinner rolls, soups, and salads were supplied around the horn of plenty. Rather than cannons, the bell wound ring once whenever a tribute met their end. Outside of the cathedral, a rolling green field spread out in all directions, laden with picturesque wooden fences and animals like sheep, rabbits, and dogs. Farther and farther away from the cornucopia, the tributes could find playgrounds, colleges, and houses, depicting the progression of a human life. The colleges and houses were stocked with food and weapons, but only the most determined tributes would be able to reach them given their distance from the cornucopia. The central green field was lightly blanketed with trees, and the sun sparkled overhead like a gem. Despite the lush greenery of this year's arena, water was scarce. Only a few small streams sliced through the terrain, and they were so thin most of them could be crossed in a single stride. When the gong rang, three tributes fled from the bloodbath: Felix from 5, Ezra from 9, and Arachne from 10. The other twenty-one tributes surged forward and started scooping up supplies. The close quarters and strong pair from 1 would make for a relatively large bloodbath, with eleven deaths.
Kathlin from District 5 wanted to make a splash early on the impress the sponsors, so she tackled Ermin, whose pedestal was situated next to hers. The career boy was caught completely off of his guard, and he fell straight to the floor under her weight, frozen with shock. Kathlin grabbed him by either side of the head and slammed him repeatedly against the stone floor of the cathedral. Once he was unconscious, Kathlin ended him by sliding a dagger that sat on a pack nearby into his chest.
Ermin Shipley, District 4 Male: 24th, Killed by Kathlin, Bloodbath
Kathlin jumped to her feet, and she was instantly met by the bite of Admired's sword in her gut. She'd been too caught up in her own matters to pay attention to the other careers, and in the time it took her to kill Ermin both of the 1s had armed themselves. Kathlin fell to her knees with a loud noise, and Admired gave Nouvelle the clear to run off and search for more victims.
Kathlin Hart, District 5 Female: 23rd, Killed by Admired, Bloodbath
Nouvelle grabbed the dark-haired boy from District 10 and pushed him straight to the ground. He managed to keep his balance and keep from falling onto his back, but he stumbled backward and crashed into a pile of crates containing knives and spears. The pile of weapons toppled over and scattered, peppering dozens of holes on his neck and head, and Nouvelle polished him off with two heavy chops of her sword.
Feline Tethers, District 10 Male: 22nd, Killed by Nouvelle, Bloodbath
Admired chased a screaming girl away from the cornucopia. She banged on the nearest window, and a small hairline crack appeared in the grass. The girl eventually managed to break the glass, but the window wasn't big enough to accommodate her wide shoulders. Admired buried the blade of his sword into Techa's back, killing her in moments.
Techa Socolow, District 3 Female: 21st, Killed by Admired, Bloodbath
Mercury, the first of the famous Talbot siblings, scouted the interior of the cathedral with a sword gripped tightly in his right arm. With the first forceful swipe of the blade, he sent the nearest boy reeling. He stumbled into the nearest leather seat and collapsed onto the leather, leaving Mercury free to thrust his weapon into his throat.
Sorrel Duster, District 11 Male: 20th, Killed by Mercury, Bloodbath
The four anti-careers had all gathered inside of the cornucopia. Bentley and Sulema had swords, Aria had an axe, and Harpsichord had a spear. They were just about to flee when Alsalla, the last career without a kill, sprinted into the cornucopia for a sip of water. Sulema charged forward and thrust her sword into her torso. Her face contorted with disgust as she slid straight of her blade, and the career girl hit the floor with a thud as Sulema swallowed down the bile that had built up in the back of her mouth.
Alsalla Rabe, District 2 Female: 19th, Killed by Sulema, Bloodbath
Bentley and Harpsichord sprinted out of the horn, eager to get away from the bloodbath before the careers ran toward the screams of the dying Alsalla. Aria was close behind them, and Sulema was the last out, her eyes glued with sick fascination to the lifeless body of her victim. The anti-careers clashed with Admired from District 1. He leapt out of nowhere, grinning wildly, and Bentley probably would have been killed if Harpsichord hadn't tugged him out of his blade's wide path at the last moment. The anti-careers fought their way farther forward, Aria having punched Admired in the mouth to disorient him. Bentley, Sulema, Aria, and Harpsichord burst out of the cathedral's front doors, and they were about a quarter of a mile away from the cornucopia when they spotted Naiad stumbling silently over the grass. Naiad screeched and tried to run, but there was no way she could keep ahead for more than a few seconds. Harpsichord skewered her spear through Naiad's neck and kept on sprinting with her allies close behind.
Naiad Marlowe, District 4 Female: 18th, Killed by Harpsichord, Bloodbath
Back at the cornucopia, Admired sprinted toward the mouth of the horn, regularly wiping the blood away from his mouth where Aria had punched him. The miner girl ran straight into Admired and bounced off of him, knocking her head against the interior wall of the cornucopia in her descent. Alice was too dazed to fight back as he mercilessly hacked away at her neck and upper torso.
Alice Straiden, District 12 Female: 17th, Killed by Admired, Bloodbath
Satis was sitting on a chair inside of the cornucopia, tearing out chunks of wedding cake and stuffing them into his mouth. He'd never tasted anything but tesserae grain and tepid river water before the games. His entire face was covered with frosting and chunks of cake. The moment that Mercury knocked him in the back of the head with the butt of his sword, Satis fell sideways, a chunky kind of yellow vomit falling from his mouth. Mercury slashed his sword into his side with all the force he could muster. He was gone in moments.
Satis Hartford, District 3 Male: 16th, Killed by Mercury, Bloodbath
Admired tore the blade of his sword out of Alice's abdomen and turned sharply on his heel to make yet another kill. The girl from the textile district was nearby, and she was the strongest tribute outside of the two packs. Not one to pass up the opportunity to land a solid kill, Admired tackled the older girl, expertly forcing her to the ground. She kicked and flailed, but her futile attempts at escape were ended when Admired slid the point of his sword into her neck.
Velvetina Quinn, District 8 Female: 15th, Killed by Admired, Bloodbath
Nouvelle made the final kill. The last outlier in the vicinity of the cornucopia, the wealthy merchant girl from District 11, made a mad rush for the exit when she realized Nouvelle had spotted her. Admired leapt in front of the double doors, trapping Rose with nowhere to run. Nouvelle grabbed her by her shoulders and slammed her into the nearest window. The colorful glass display shattered in a shower of a million shards, and the force of Nouvelle's sword sent her stumbling backward onto the few shards of grace that still remained firm on the frame like teeth.
Rose Danthbury, District 11 Female: 14th, Killed by Nouvelle, Bloodbath
The careers ran through their post-bloodbath rituals and then left quickly. Admired and Nouvelle had already captured the hearts of the audience five minutes of the games; they got along well, and they had a kind of witty, sarcastic chemistry that the audience gobbled up. They sorted the supplies and the food rations and then sprinted out of the cathedral's front doors, leaving Mercury behind to guard the supplies. All the while, Mercury sat in the back of the cornucopia, his spirits diminished. He knew he was nowhere near as popular as the pair from District 1. He spent much of the day shoving wedding cake into his mouth and staring blankly at the walls and ceiling of the cathedral.
The ten surviving outliers scattered in all directions. Felix, crying softly with terror, sprinted about a mile away from the cornucopia before he collapsed from exhaustion. His small body was too tired to move any farther on the first day, so he dragged himself into a small copse of bushes and tried to sleep. The anti-careers set up their base on one of the playgrounds representing the early stages of human life. Bentley climbed up onto the play structure, and the others handed him their supplies before climbing up themselves. The play structure was an ideal shelter because it had three different exits, and if all three of those were blocked they could always slip down the slide and run to safety. Sulema's sponsors sent her a long blanket, which she laid down in the slide to reduce the friction and make the ride down smoother. She hoped they would never need to use it, but it was good to be prepared. While Bentley and Sulema set up camp, Aria and Harpsichord had a bit of fun around the playground. They took turns on the jungle gym and the tire swing to get their exercise and keep from getting too off of their guard. Beecher ran around to the back of the cathedral and found a camouflaged wooden hatch with steps that led down to the dark, musty wine cellar. He spent the rest of the day guzzling down the various wines, and his drunk thrashing and contorting was mistaken for a deadly mutt by Mercury, who was guarding the cornucopia. Fleece had eaten a vast quantity of wedding cake during the bloodbath, more than all of the other tributes combined. He was only about a quarter mile from the cathedral when he collapsed in a heap and emptied his stomach of its fresh contents. Throat and mouth burning like fire, Fleece covered himself with dirt to camouflage himself and then curled up for a nap. Ezra and Arachne had allied prior to the games. They alternated between walking and jogging until they came to the first college, a large brick building with classrooms and dorm rooms alike. They entered the building and raided the receptionist's office of the food and drinks that were supplied there. They were too exhausted after their trans-arena trek to explore any more, and the vowed to comb through the rest of the college the next day. Orrin set his eyes on one of the mansion houses in the far distance. He knew it was an ambitious journey for a tribute as weak as him, but ambitious was his middle name. Even for the fastest tribute, the journey would have taken at least two days if not more. When he had lessened the distance between himself and the mansion house by at least four miles, he settled under a shady grove of trees and munched on a few berries before he passed out. There was relative peace in the arena as day turned into night, but this peace would not last for very long.
The morning of the second day began with a single heavy ring from the high-up bell tower of the central cathedral. Fleece was trapped in the clutches of a deep, dreamless sleep, and he was lying as still as a stone only a few thousand feet away from the cornucopia, smeared with mud as a lazy method of camouflage. It was only a matter of time before he had to pay dearly for his mistake. Admired and Nouvelle had camped out the night prior near the north end of the central green, and they broke camp on the morning of the next day. They planned to sprint back to the cornucopia, restock on supplies, rest for an hour or two, and devote the rest of the day to more hunting. On the way back, Admired stopped dead in his tracks, and a smile formed on Nouvelle's face when she saw the dirt-smeared body of the boy lying in a cluster of bright yellow blossoms. Admired pounced, knocking the air out of the outlier boy. Fleece woke in a daze, and he whipped his head hastily back and forth, his mind flat-out rejecting the scene playing out right before his eyes. Admired sliced into the side of Fleece's abdomen with a single heavy slice of his sword. He treaded confidently away as Fleece bled out, blood dripping down the lower edge of his blade.
Fleece Congrutts, District 8 Male: 13th, Killed by Admired, Day 2
In the hidden cellar below the cathedral, Beecher slowly opened his eyes. He'd drunk at least three full bottles of wine in the past twenty-four hours, and the dusty floor of the cellar was littered with shards of glass as though a tornado had struck down on the place. Beecher had never drunk a sip of alcohol before entering the games, and he actually hated the taste. The one thing he liked was the way it made him forget, and he thought that was the best way he could live his last few days alive. The careers heard the noises his flailing fists made and searched all around the cathedral for any kind of passageway that led to the cellar. Understandably, they failed to find the tiny and well-hidden trapdoor at the back of the stone building. They stormed back inside angrily after a solid two hours of searching. Mercury suggested the noises might have been made by a mutt that wasn't meant to be released until later on in the games, but his opinion went unheard in the exchange between Admired and Nouvelle that was going on at the time.
Felix had found himself a nice home, but he knew that he couldn't stay there forever for a number of reasons. He was at least two miles from the nearest stream, and he could already feel the effects of dehydration on his body like a slow-acting poison that shut down his system. After a day of travel carrying nothing but the clothes on his back, Felix knelt at the side of one of the thin streams and sipped greedily for several seconds. He was on a solid path to the line of colleges on the horizon, but he was understandably too tired to continue the journey any longer so he curled up at the riverside and let the sound of trickling water put him to sleep.
Ezra and Arachne had plenty of fun exploring the college building they had discovered the day prior, and the cameras followed them around for most of the day as they pulled useful supplies out of the various classrooms they came across. Once, they came to a science classroom, and Ezra had the perfect idea. Despite his youth, he had some smarts on his head, and he wanted to fan out his feathers and impress the audience early on. He pulled out a science textbook and pulled a crate of various chemicals out of a storage closet at the back of the classroom. Arachne stood back and watched with curiosity as Ezra mixed together a number of different chemicals to firm a highly potent, toxic solution. He separated the concoction into a number of little glass vials and handed a few of them to Arachne. "If you're ever attacked, throw this in their eyes and I swear to Snow you won't have any problems escaping," he said. When night fell, they settled down in one of the dorm rooms that had a working toilet and shower as well as a whole pantry of non-perishable food. The deadly vials were stored at their bedsides so that they'd be able to grab them at an instant's notice if it was necessary.
On the morning of Day 3, the pair of careers from District 1 came across a fresh victim. Orrin from 12 leapt up from his hiding place in the shadow of a tall beech tree when a twig snapped under Nouvelle's foot. Cursing the small twig for revealing her presence, Nouvelle sprinted after the fleeing boy, Admired close behind her. Admired was the faster runner, and he eventually overtook Nouvelle. Admired knocked the miner boy to the ground, and he stumbled forward, screaming with terror and trying to untangle his limbs. Ignoring the burning pain all over his body, Orrin leapt back to his feet and smacked Admired in the mouth. It wasn't a hard hit, but it was enough to disorient him and enough to let him escape. By the time Admired had blinked back the spots in his vision, Orrin had placed at least twenty precious meters between himself at the careers. Adrenaline powered him forward though his muscles screamed with exhausted, and Orrin eventually managed to lose his pursuers in a hilly area with lots of places to hide. Orrin laid against a tall hill, hardly daring to breathe, and he shifted away very slowly over the course of about an hour as the careers searched feverishly for him. They returned to the horn in low spirits that night.
The anti-careers were forced to abandon their home on the playground when the gamemakers threw the first of the games' mutts in their direction. What none of the tributes knew was that a cloud-like swarm of at least one thousand raven mutts was hidden at the top of the bell tower. The stone that made up the cathedral hid their hiding place well, and the gamemakers made sure there was no place in the arena high enough for any tribute to see the ravens' secret hiding place. At exactly noon, the raven mutts descended in a swarm from the sky. At that point, Bentley was standing guard, while the other three anti-careers were snoozing contentedly. He let out a scream of shock, and the others woke instantly. Bentley, Sulema, Aria, and Harpsichord ran from the raven mutts for about ten minutes before they came to a stop in the well-hidden area between two tall, grassy hills. The raven mutts were programmed to only descend to a certain altitude, so the four tributes were safe in the low-levelled area. They didn't sleep a wink as the squawking swarm of angry avians fought against the invisible barrier like fish banging against the wall of a fish tank.
On Day 4, Mercury decided to take a huge risk. He knew he was by far the least memorable of the three careers. With Admired and Nouvelle hogging all of the screen time, he knew the only way to give himself a chance at survival was to knock them both off. When Admired and Nouvelle left to hunt, Mercury sprinted out of the cathedral and silently approached a bush bearing deadly nightlock berries. Nightlock berries were easily recognizable as deadly, so the bushes had remained untouched thus far. Donning a pair of rubber gloves, Mercury picked several of the berries and mashed them into a black paste with his hands. Then, he returned to the cathedral and sprinkled them into the cake that he knew the 1s were eating. He made sure to cover the chunks up with frosting so his allies wouldn't suspect anything until it was too late.
The day trickled past, and eventually Admired and Nouvelle returned to the cathedral, chatting and laughing at their latest adventures. Mercury broke out into a cold sweat when he saw them. Trying not to shake too much, Mercury watched as they each cut themselves some cake. Nouvelle was just about to put her slice into her mouth when she stopped and point a finger at the 2 boy.
"Something's up with you. You're acting funny."
Mercury squinted his eyes, trying to look as innocent as possible. "I'm fine," he responded, a note of fear in his voice. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The moment that Admired and Nouvelle tasted something funny in their cake, they tackled Mercury, pummeling him straight out of the chair and onto the ground. His head knocked against the cake in his descent, and the great culinary masterpiece toppled like a collapsing tower, revealing the black chunks of nightlock inside. Admired thrust the point of his sword into the screaming boy's abdomen, and Nouvelle subdued him with one more heavy prod to the abdomen.
"Traitor," she sighed hollowly as the bell tower chimed once.
Mercury Talbot, District 2 Male: 12th, Killed by Admired and Nouvelle, Day 4
By this point, the flock of ravens had returned to their hidden perch on top of the bell tower. The anti-careers decided to wait for a few hours in case they decided to make a surprise return. They did not, and Harpsichord was the first to suggest it was time to leave. She and Aria took a quick peek around to make sure the coast was clear. The anti-careers travelled north for several hours, and it was around nightfall when they came to a stop at the widest stream in the arena, a rocky brook that was fast and freezing-cold. They took a few long sips and then curled up for the night, huddling under the one blanket that Sulema had saved from their original camp on the play structure far away.
Day 5 was deathless and uneventful. It served as an opportunity for the cameras to catch up on the whereabouts of the eleven remaining tributes, especially those had had begun to fade into the background during the first four days. Admired had only consumed a small amount of the nightlock poison. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was more than enough to send him through a world of hurt. He curled up in the back of the cornucopia with a bowl, gasping, shaking, and retching as the poison slowly worked its way out of his system. Nouvelle took the opportunity to practice with her sword. She was glad to be alone for a while even if she was great friends with her district partner, and she liked the short period of down time. Felix, after five entire days of on-and-off sprinting, reached one of the mansion houses at the far north end of the arena. He sprinted around the creepy wooden house, raiding the knives from all of the places they were hidden. The master bedroom, which was so fancy it looked like the sleeping place for royalty, had a painting hanging above the fireplace of an old woman and a young girl staring blankly out of the canvas. The painting terrified young Felix, and he always went to sleep with the blanket completely covering his head. The anti-careers kept up their travels around the hilly regions of the arena. Around this time, Bentley, Sulema, and Harpsichord noticed that Aria was acting strange. She peered over her shoulder a lot and tried to stay away from the others as much as possible. Whenever she did interact with the other anti-careers, she seemed a little bit too bubbly and kind. They knew she was hiding something, but they weren't sure what for the time being. Beecher stayed put in the cellar underneath the cathedral, downing bottles of wine and then shaking them to get out every last drop. It seemed a miracle he got his water content from the alcohol alone, but the alcohol he drank was diluted significantly, which was also why he could drink so much without dying from alcohol poisoning. Ezra and Arachne kept on exploring the various classrooms and dorms of the university, their vials of deadly poison tucked safely in their pockets. Their explorations had lost the original charm and were now more repetitive than anything else. Orrin arrived at the same university where Ezra and Arachne were located. He moved frequently throughout the building but weirdly never came into contact with the allies. In fact, the dorm he chose to sleep inside of was just down the hallway from the place where Ezra and Arachne were sleeping. Orrin made himself a cup of coffee and a cup of noodles and then went to sleep. The caffeine kept him tossing and turning for a while, but sleep found him eventually.
The gamemakers had been far too kind to Beecher throughout the first five days of the games, but they had officially had enough of his inactivity. Admired and Nouvelle's mentors, the two Linden twins, sent each of them a note printed on transparent paper. When the notes were overlapped, they revealed instructions to the cellar door. Admired was feeling too sick from his unexpected nightlock breakfast two days before to do any more moving, so Nouvelle scampered off by herself to see what the note had been all about. She lightly opened the door of the cellar and plugged her nose when she stepped down into the dusty, dark interior. Her face contorted into a weird grimace at the sight of Beecher's unconscious body, his limbs spread in all directions like a dead bug. Nouvelle cut open his torso with two chops. Then, she dragged him into the open to make the collection job easier before returning to the cornucopia.
Beecher Ward, District 7 Male: 11th, Killed by Nouvelle, Day 6
Aria's behavior was growing increasingly more suspicious now that the sixth day had arrived. She was planning to kill off all three of her allies at once, but she knew it wouldn't be easy. Aria thought she was being sneaky by stealing all of their matches gradually, but the mysterious disappearances of their matches did not go unnoticed. On Day 6, Sulema confronted her, demanding that she tell her what was up. Aria tried her best to pretend she didn't know what she was talking about, but Sulema knew better. When Aria sprinted away for a quick wash in the nearest river, Sulema told Bentley and Harpsichord that the safest option would be to kill her in her sleep that night. The others agreed, and Aria went to sleep that night with no clue that the others knew about her plan.
That night, Aria stayed up long past the others were asleep. The night was cold and a biting wind battered the terrain. The moon was as bright and clear as a polished crystal. She carefully slithered out of her sleeping bag and retrieved all of the matches she'd hoarded, about ten in total. Aria pinched three of them between her forefinger and thumb and then spread them out like a fan. She lit the three matches at once and tossed one of them onto each of the three sleeping bags inside which her allies were sleeping. In no time at all, the sleeping bags were engulfed in smoke. Aria grabbed her supplies and fled for her life. She heard the church bell ring only once before she settled down to rest, underneath one of the play structures near the cornucopia. The play structure hid her well, and it did at least something to keep out the biting wind.
Pandemonium ensued at the camp of the anti-careers. Sulema scrambled out of her sleeping bag, screaming at the top of her lungs with agony. The fire had touched her upper leg. A black circle of clothes had smoldered away, revealing charred black skin underneath. Sulema leapt to her feet just as the sleeping bag burned completely away. She was lucky to have survived. The other two tributes, Bentley and Harpsichord, had various degrees of success in their separate escapes. Harpsichord faced a bit of her setback when her foot got caught on a metal hook near the end of the sleeping bag. When she tried to crawl out, the sleeping bag just crumpled up. It took her a dangerously long amount of time to escape, but she eventually managed to jump to safety with only a few minor burns. Bentley was a different story. By the time he realized what was happening, his lungs were completely full of smoke. He did manage to get out of the sleeping bag unharmed, but the smoke inhalation was what ended up spelling his doom. Bentley spat and vomited, trying desperately to expel the smoke from his body. The others watched helplessly as he suffocated to death before their eyes, the black smoke pouring from his mouth and nose like steam from a kettle.
Bentley Ibach, District 6 Male: 10th, Killed by Aria, Day 7
In due time, the sun rose for the seventh time, and Aria left her hiding place under the kids' play structure. She'd forgotten to take any water from the camp before she abandoned, and she knew it wasn't a good idea to put water anywhere but the very top of her priority list. Besides, she didn't feel safe staying so close to the cornucopia for any longer than she had to. Aria sprinted away from the cornucopia and came to a cluster of trees that were well-hydrated, guiding her in the direction of the broad stream about a quarter mile away, hidden between two large hills.
The next day at the cornucopia, a minor upset occurred in the beloved alliance of Admired and Nouvelle. Their water stores were running dangerously low, so they were both groggy and somewhat more delirious than usual. Nouvelle was practically going crazy from the lack of nutrients and liquids entering her system. They were having a friendly practice duel in the cathedral, and Admired accidentally thrust his sword in one direction with too much force, creating a small cut in Nouvelle's side. Nouvelle immediately tackled Admired, believing that he'd hurt her on purpose. Admired dropped his weapon and eventually worked everything out with her. What was clear to Admired then and clear to Nouvelle when she calmed down was that they needed to find more water, and soon.
Orrin continued going about his business, miraculously avoiding Ezra and Arachne. Once, he heard the allies' footsteps from down the hallway, but he dismissed them as the echoes of his own footsteps and tried not to let them bother him. His luck didn't hold out forever, though. Around noon, Orrin and Arachne spotted each other from either end of a long hallway. Orrin turned around and made a mad dash for the nearest exit. All the while, Arachne was screaming for Ezra to come help her out. A few meters in front of the university's wooden double doors, Orrin turned around to face the allies. Each of them had at least five knives that they'd scavenged from the various classrooms, and they had their vials of poison. However, they were hidden well in their pockets, so Orrin didn't see them. Ezra reminded Arachne about the handy murder weapons in their pockets, and Arachne snatched the vial of thick yellow liquid and held it at arms' length. Orrin suddenly snatched it out of her hands, and without really knowing what he was doing he popped off the cork and threw the liquid in Arachne's face. Arachne screamed at the top of her lungs and stumbled backward into Ezra's arms, gasping and shaking as the highly acidic solution ate away at her face and neck. Ezra thrust her knives into her torso, ending her suffering without hesitation, and she fell to the ground with a loud noise that coincided seamlessly with the chiming of the distant church bell. Orrin fled from the college, weaving up and down hills to place as much distance between himself and the survivor. Ezra didn't bother chasing after him. He just sighed and stepped back into the double doors of the giant cement building.
Arachne Bundly, District 10 Female: 9th, Killed by Orrin and Ezra, Day 8
That left the final eight: Admired Thompson and Nouvelle Harris from District 1, Felix Dawkins from District 5, Sulema Cartley from District 6, Aria Dauphine from District 7, Ezra Ondopetris and Harpsichord Bevel from District 9, and Orrin Rush from District 12.
The next two days were deathless and empty of conflict, and the tributes did little of note as Days 9 and 10 trickled past. Admired and Nouvelle left the cathedral together to search for water, and they were somewhat confused as to why the sponsor gifts had stopped coming given that they were the most popular tributes in these games. Maddox knew they were the strongest tributes left, but he didn't want to make their path through the games any easier because of that, so by limiting their water supply he hoped to test the boundaries of both their alliance and their sanity. After about half a day of searching, they came to one of the few streams that hadn't dried up. They drank so much water so quickly that they had terrible stomach cramps for the rest of the day, but it was worth it to rid themselves of the agony of dehydration.
Felix remained completely still in the mansion house at the north end of the arena. He'd piled enough food and water at the bedside to last him at least a week. Felix's mentor sent him a note suggesting he should get moving soon, but Felix just discarded the note and ate the buttery dinner roll that had come with it. Sulema and Harpsichord didn't take very long to realize that Aria was missing, and it didn't take any longer to deduce that she was responsible for Bentley's fiery end. The anti-careers spent most of their time walking in circles around the cornucopia. They never left the central green, as they thought prey would be unlikely to be hiding in the flat expanse of cement beyond that. They also knew that travelling too far away from the cornucopia would single them out and make them more susceptible to gamemaker threats. The conniving Aria Dauphine sprinted to the outskirts of the central green, where the first playgrounds began. Despite having the courage to break away from her allies and do it successfully, she didn't have the courage to face the careers, even with the axe she'd taken at the bloodbath ten days prior. A quartet of bunny mutts with razor sharp teeth attacked her about halfway through the tenth day. She expertly killed all of them, warranting her a bowl of steaming hot soup from her sponsors. Aria settled in a low-lying valley that night and tried to sleep. After spending one more night in the university, Ezra sprinted out of the front doors and sprinted in the direction of the cornucopia. He knew he'd been staying put for far too long, and now that his alliance with Arachne was over he knew he didn't have the plot armor of the gamemakers any longer. He ended up settling down at the wide stream where Admired and Nouvelle were also sleeping, but there was a heavy fog that day and they were at least a mile away so Ezra never came into contact with the duo from District 1. Orrin continued sprinting aimlessly around the arena. He didn't think much when the cathedral came into sight, but he didn't realize that he was running straight toward the cornucopia for about a quarter of a day. Orrin shifted his path slightly so that he would be running parallel to the wall of the cathedral rather than toward it, and at nightfall he fell down into a small ditch and hoped it would cover him.
Starting on Day 11, the gamemakers changed their game plan. The tributes were so spread out around the arena that it was unlikely for any inter-tribute conflict to occur as often as the Capitol hoped. The gamemakers decided to begin slowly driving the tributes toward the cornucopia, and they would resort to a feast if that was what it took. The notes from Felix's mentor were practically begging for him to get out of the mansion house and run for his life toward the cornucopia, but he didn't listen. He felt safe and secure in the large structure and felt as though he could survive the games just fine by waiting until all the other tributes killed each other off.
Admired and Nouvelle sprinted back to the cathedral as soon as the Linden sibling suggested it. They were in desperate need of a supply restock anyway. When they got back to the cornucopia, they saw that many of its supplies had disappeared, seemingly into thin air. The only logical explanation was the gamemakers were planning a feast, and Admired and Nouvelle vowed to be prepared when the announcement came over the loudspeakers.
Day 11 was not deathless, however. Aria's travels around the central cathedral brought her to the home of her ex-allies Sulema and Harpsichord. Aria was travelling on one of the flatter areas of the green when a downward slope appeared out of nowhere. Aria didn't have time to stop herself, and she was tumbling down the slope like a rolling pin. She bumped straight into a sleeping Harpsichord, and Harpsichord leapt to her feet, screaming with terror at the sight of Aria's axe. Harpsicord sprinted a few meters away, terrified, but Sulema was a different story. That girl, monster, Aria, had killed her district partner, and all she saw was red. Sulema lunged forward, tackling Aria to the ground, and Aria almost dropped her axe. Harpsichord had built up the courage to sprint back to the front lines, and she tugged at the blade of Aria's axe, trying to pull it out of her hands. Aria managed to reach up and punch Sulema in the mouth, and in her moment of hesitation Aria thrust her axe upward. It landed squarely in Harpsichord's chest, breaking several of her ribs immediately. Pink spit was already foaming up in her mouth, and Harpsichord fell limp like a rag doll as Sulema watched with horror and Aria smiled slightly. When the bell rang, Aria sprang upright and ran for her life, a fuming Sulema chasing after her. She was so mad that smoke could well have started pouring out of her ears, but she quickly lost Aria in the land of sudden drops and heights. Sulema stabbed her sword angrily into the earth and then buried her head in her hands.
Harpsichord Bevel, District 9 Female: 8th, Killed by Aria, Day 11
At nine o'clock in the morning on Day 12, Titanius Lafayette's voice spoke into the arena. The tributes knew what this entailed the moment the first syllable was spoken. "A feast is to be held at noon tomorrow at the cornucopia. Attendance is not mandatory, but please think twice about not showing up. Good luck, tributes. May the odds be ever in your favor."
The seven remaining tributes had varying reactions to the news. Six of the seven tributes ended up deciding to attend. Admired and Nouvelle leapt for joy when they heard the news, and they opened the cathedral doors wide, welcoming in any outliers who were to come. They both had elevens, and the highest scores outside of their alliance were the eights of Sulema and Aria. They spent the day practicing with their swords, and at nightfall they sprinted about half a mile away from the cornucopia so that the feast could be prepared. Sulema was all by herself after the death of her ally Harpsichord, and she was dangerously low on supplies. All of the arena's streams dried up over the course of the twelfth day, including those near Sulema, so she decided to head to the feast for a supply restock. Besides, she knew she might get the opportunity to kill her sworn enemy Aria. Aria was worried about the feast, but her logical sense told her that it was absolutely worth it to attend. Whenever there was a feast, the tributes who decided against attending almost always died soon after. Ezra continued his long sprint back to the cornucopia. He couldn't make it all the way back in one day, so he settled down on one of the playgrounds. Unbeknownst to him, it was the playground that the anti-careers had taken over all the way back on Day 1. He slept peacefully in one of the tube-shaped slides, and it kept out the cold night wind well. The swarm of Raven mutts descended on Orrin about halfway through his journey to the cornucopia. He pulled his shirt over his head and scrambled downhill, where he was safe from the swarm of black birds. Doing so required him to take a short detour away from the horn, but as long as he woke up before eight the next morning he would still have more than enough time to reach the horn before the feast.
Felix from 5 was the only tribute who decided against attending. He stayed stubbornly still in the large mansion house, eyes glued to the creepy painting of the old woman and the little girl. Their eyes were sad and filled with a kind of longing, and it terrified Felix out of his mind. The gamemakers didn't want to resort to killing him, but it might have been necessary if he stayed still for a few more days.
Admired and Nouvelle awoke the following morning to see that a large hedge had been placed around the cathedral, far too spiky to climb or pass through. Their camp was at the top of a hill that was the second main vantage point of the arena besides the cornucopia. They sprinted back to the cornucopia and waited eagerly outside of the hedge, prepared to lunge forward and scoop up the new supplies the second the hedge was lowered.
At exactly noon, the hedge slowly lowered into the ground, and the tributes scrambled out of their hiding places. Admired burst through the front doors of the cathedral first. He discarded his old sword and picked up a longer, thinner blade with a razor-sharp edge. The blade was designed to kill via either stabbing or slashing, which theoretically made it two times as dangerous. Admired and Nouvelle stood on either side of the front doors, prepared to tackle the first tribute that ran through. Ezra didn't see them until it was too late, and he sprinted straight through the front doors with his eyes set on the jug of water and sickle sitting on a table mere meters away. Admired and Nouvelle tackled Ezra to the ground. The boy screamed and thrashed his limbs back and forth. He managed to smack Nouvelle in the upper chest, but it wasn't a very hard hit. Escape was hopeless. Ezra was helpless as Admired thrust the bladed edge of his sword into his side and sawed it back and forth, creating a deep gash oddly reminiscent of an axe wound.
Ezra Ondopetris, District 9 Male: 7th, Killed by Admired, Day 13
Orrin from District 12 burst out of his hiding place and made a mad dash for the cathedral doors. While Admired and Nouvelle were occupied killing Ezra, Orrin leapt straight over them. He thundered to the cornucopia and threw a backpack over either shoulder. He quickly realized his mistake; Admired and Nouvelle were blocking the front doors. Orrin's eyes landed on the window that Rose from District 11 had shattered during the bloodbath and ran for his life. Orrin leapt out of the empty frame. Nouvelle chased after him while Admired stayed behind to guard the cathedral, but Nouvelle gave up the chase in moments. Sulema and Aria had still yet to show up to the feast; there were more pressing matters on her mind than pinning down the running miner boy.
There was a reason Sulema and Aria were taking such a long time to reach the feast. Sulema was sprinting quietly over the fuzzy lime-colored grass of the central green when she spotted another tribute about half a mile away. Sulema had no doubt that it was Aria, the girl who had killed her two closest friends. Sulema charged in Aria's direction, seeing nothing but red. Aria gasped as Sulema appeared out of nowhere. She scrambled to grab her hatchet, but it fell straight out of her hands when Sulema jammed the point of her sword into her upper abdomen. Aria fell onto her back, shaking and gasping, the life force being siphoned farther out of her with each drop of blood she lost. Sulema was extremely loyal and very devoted. Nobody killed her friends under her watch.
"Karma really is a bitch, isn't it?" Sulema mused as the distant bell chimed once.
Aria Dauphine, District 7 Female: 6th, Killed by Sulema, Day 13
Sulema quickly ran the rest of the way to the cornucopia, and she managed to escape the feast without being seen and without a single scratch being laid on her body. What none of the other tributes had discovered was that there were several disguised entrances around the perimeter of the cathedral apart from the main double doors. Sulema slipped through the ivy-covered door and silently gathered everything she needed before scampering away.
Day 14 was deathless. Admired and Nouvelle were in high spirits after the feast. With five young men and women still alive and kicking, they only had three more victims to hunt down before the finale, and they didn't want to waste a moment of hunting. They rested overnight and left as soon as the sun rose in the sky on the morning of the fourteenth day. Around noon, a pack of the fluffy white bunny mutts attacked, baring their razor sharp teeth. Nouvelle managed to survive the attack without injury, but Admired had sustained a small wound to his ankle. He was hobbling for the rest of the day but ultimately healed quickly.
Felix stubbornly stayed put the bedroom of the mansion house at the north end of the arena. The begging notes from his mentor suddenly stopped on Day 14. The gamemakers had decided to end any and all connections between him and the Capitol, planning to terminate the inactive boy at noon the following day. Sulema raced about a mile from the cornucopia and rested on the outskirts of the central green. She was too exhausted from the feast and her encounter with Aria to do any hunting, but she quietly promised the gamemakers she'd do something exciting the following day if they let her live. Orrin slept in the bare bed of one of the wider rivers that had once run through the arena. He was shaken and terrified out of his mind from the feast, but the huge risk had been worth it; he now had enough water to last for at least five days and several new, more efficient weapons than the single knife he'd been sponsored all the way back on Day 4.
Felix woke on the morning of Day 15 to a faint rumble. He peered over top of the blanket's white satin hem. The rumble wasn't very loud at all, but it was certainly there, like the echoing hum in the aftermath of an orchestra's final note. Suddenly, the noise rose to an explosion-like medley of popping and banging, and Felix burst out from underneath the covers. Using a series of small explosions, the gamemakers had caused the east wing of the house to collapse to rubble, and the rest of the house was now slowly collapsing. Felix sprinted down the hallway and suddenly felt the ground snapping and bending underfoot. The nearest tribute, Orrin from 12, watched grimly as the house collapsed in on itself. The gamemakers had more than a little bit of trouble trying to retrieve his corpse from the mass of rubble.
Felix Dawkins, District 5 Male: 5th, Killed by Collapsing House, Day 15
True to her promise, Sulema fit in several good hours of hunting on Day 16. The supplies she'd grabbed from the horn included a sickle, which fit snugly into her grip and ultimately suited her supple, lithe form. She already had one kill under her belt, so the audience knew she had at least some skill to her. For this reason, they were excited when Sulema unknowingly turned in Orrin's direction. The two remaining outliers in these games were expected to clash late Day 16 or early Day 17 if they continued moving toward each other at their current paces.
Until then, the cameras mostly focused on Admired and Nouvelle and their hunting journey. They only hunted for about half as long as they had done the day prior; knowing the finale was near, they didn't want to wander too far away from the cornucopia. Their high spirits from just after the feast were beginning to wear off ever-so-slightly, and they were beginning to spiral back down into mild depression and insanity due to lack of water and lack of victims. Admired was the first to suggest they head back to the horn at noon on Day 16, and Admired didn't argue.
The sun had set for the sixteenth time, and Sulema was sprinting quietly over the green. She heard Orrin's soft snores and froze dead in her tracks. It was merely a blip on her radar, and it blended in almost completely with the sounds of the night, but she knew for certain she had heard something. Sulema started around the area for nearly ten minutes before she converged on the sleeping boy. He was curled up somewhat peacefully in a bed of thick grass that towered over his thin form. Sulema bit her lip and pulled her sickle out of her belt, steeling herself for the task ahead. Orrin woke up screaming when Sulema slashed the sickle across his chest. The blade cut a gash about a foot long in its wake. Orrin hissed in pain and grabbed the business end of the sickle in an effort to tug it out of his killer's hand, but she yanked it backward, sending Orrin tumbling to the ground. The friction of his chest against the grass just tore open his cut farther. The writhing boy gradually stilled over the course of about thirty minutes, and then only three tributes were left in the arena.
Orrin Rush, District 12 Male: 4th, Killed by Sulema, Day 16
Sulema watched with squinted eyes and a set jaw as Orrin bled out, and then she raced toward the cornucopia like her life depended on it. The only remaining tributes besides herself were Admired and Nouvelle, and Sulema figured they were both at the cornucopia or very close. Knowing the gamemakers would force her to head to the cathedral if she didn't move there on her own accord, she sprinted for about fifteen minutes until she was within a day's journey of the large stone structure. She wanted to keep running, but she was far too exhausted to travel any farther. Sulema practically collapsed with exhausted and dragged herself into a low-lying, shadowed cluster of trees before passing out.
On the morning of Day 17, a cannon shot rolled over the arena, and it belonged to one of the District 1 tributes. In the cathedral, a dehydration-crazed Nouvelle was resting in the back of the cornucopia, while Admired was farther toward the front, sharpening his sword. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for Nouvelle. She thought that Admired was sharpening his sword with the intent of killing her in her sleep. Nouvelle leapt to her feet and grabbed her own sword, holding it out in front of her like a peacekeeper's gun.
Admired tried to explain himself, but Nouvelle wasn't listening, and she charged. Admired leapt out of the way hoping to disorient her, but Nouvelle stopped herself before she could stumble a single step. The blade that she thought had been meant to kill her was now out to take her life for real. The first injury was dealt roughly two minutes later, with Nouvelle thrusting the point of her sword into Admired's abdomen. The wound was roughly half an inch deep, and blood oozed out of it in one solid river that dripped down between his legs.
Admired raced toward the exit of the cathedral. He didn't like having such a heated duel in such close quarters, as he preferred the openness of the outdoors. He was only about halfway there when the entrance was blocked by a charging, fuming, cackling Nouvelle. Admired abandoned all forms of caution and tackled his district partner, expertly twisting her sword out of her hand. Nouvelle's head banged against the door frame in her descent. Nouvelle rubbed her head and tried to blink back the spots in her vision. Admired cut open her torso with two heavy chops, and then carried her outside for the hovercraft to collect as the single note of the church bell echoed around the cathedral like thunder.
Nouvelle Harris, District 1 Female: 3rd, Killed by Admired, Day 17
On Day 18, Maddox herded Sulema farther toward the cornucopia using fireballs. A fireball struck down one one of the colleges at the north end of the arena, and in moments the building was a column of smoke and flame. Despite how lush and well-hydrated the arena grass was, the fire spread quickly, and Sulema woke to the smell of smoke when the fire was about three quarters of a mile away from her.
Sulema charged in the direction of the cathedral with the fire close behind her. She had a significant head start, but the flames were tearing over the ground significantly faster than she was running; if she stopped for a rest, it was only a matter of time before she was helplessly overtaken. She prayed that the gamemakers wouldn't unleash the swarm of carnivorous raven mutts, and they did not; they wanted to give Sulema a fighting chance of reaching the cornucopia, and that would be substantially more difficult with two natural threats to evade rather than one.
Sulema staggered into the cathedral roughly fifteen minutes later. Admired was sitting in front of the cornucopia on a fold-up chair, cross legged, bouncing his sword over the stone ground to keep himself occupied. Sulema froze in fear when Admired stood up and walked toward her at a leisurely stroll. She peered over her shoulder and considered making a run for it, but she could already feel the scorching heat of the fire on the back of her neck. Both of the tributes were effectively trapped.
Despite their size differences, the finalists' scores were relatively close: Admired had a cool eleven, but Sulema still had an impressive eight. The most serious injury dealt in the first minute was sustained by Sulema, who stumbled into the stone wall of the cathedral after Admired yanked the blade of his sword out of her thigh. It took every ounce of Sulema's self-control to keep from falling to her knees.
Her fatal mistake was thinking she could fight off Admired from that one spot without moving. She thought the point she'd chosen was advantageous because he could only approach her from three directions rather than four. In reality, when Admired decided to charge, she had nowhere to run. She tried to escape to the left, but she was helpless as the career boy sawed the blade of his sword back and forth over her chest before spearing it through in one deft thrusting motion.
Sulema Cartley, District 6 Female: 2nd, Killed by Admired, Day 18
"Admired Thompson of District 1, you are the victor of the eighty-ninth annual Hunger Games!" Titanius cheered.
Admired put on a striking grin and held his sword into the air for all to see.
Admired Thompson, District 1 Male: Victor of the Eighty-Ninth Hunger Games, Day 18
AFTERMATH
District 1 welcomed Admired as their fifteenth victor. They were now halfway to their second multiple of ten, and only five victors behind District 2. They were also a solid two victors ahead of District 4, which meant they had outdone them for the time being even if District 2 had outdone them both. Admired was glad for all of the honor and attention he received in the immediate aftermath of his victory, and he was one of the true patriot victors that Capitol loved, very much similar to Gold Carson and Brutus Cordley before him. President Stinn Hawke would use him in ways he had used similarly attractive victors like Tarquinius and Organdy, but he didn't care; Admired had accomplished his life's goal, and nothing could diminish the sense of pride and accomplishment that was to ripple through the remaining years of his life.
His victory tour wasn't the best, particularly in District 6, where he received ugly stares and gestures for the entirety of his stay.
The payouts on his victory were pretty much nonexistent, as 20% bet on him.
Admired would live to age one-hundred four, living a long and healthy life before his death the month before the seventh Quarter Quell. He would marry and have three children.
NEWS
Admired moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, the fifteenth to do so.
Kasey Slosser gives birth to her first and only child, a girl named Elizabeth after her ally during the games.
Sycamora Bromley marries her boyfriend Oakley Lane.
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)
89HG: Admired Thompson (#15, District 1)
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this one! I know I say this a lot, but this year was honestly one of my favorites. I just buried myself in the arena and the tributes and I couldn't stop writing! Next chapter we're wrapping up decade number 9 and then we're on the turf of the fourth Quarter Quell...
