THE NINETY FIFTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Athena's Wrath"
INTRODUCTION
The sudden death of Head Gamemaker Maddox Courval took the entire nation of Panem by surprise. Many were quick to peg it as an assassination, but even today there is no evidence to show that it was anything other than a mere accident. Over his impressive nine-year career, he'd wowed Panem with his prairie arena, Arabian town arena, cathedral arena, circus tent arena, tropical island arena, flower field arena, swamp arena, and most recently, the orchard-vineyard hybrid arena. He truly was a symbol of growth and progress, and he was a great loss to the nation of Panem. Multiple different candidates to replace the recently vacated spot stepped into the spotlight, and it was quickly narrowed down to a final two. Orestilla Frondel was a young lady with a wild imagination and a fierce temper, and she was a skilled writer and filmmaker, having created many fan films about the games. She'd worked as paparazzi investigating the lives of the victors, and she was one of the biggest games fans Panem had ever known. The other candidate, Edison Jayasinghe, was much older and more stern, and he had worked as Maddox's personal assistant for almost the entirety of his career. He was streamlined, and he had worked hard to get his name to fame, from poverty (by Capitol standards) to one of the richest non-politicians in the Capitol. The gamemakers decided to bring back the scheme they'd used from the fifty-first to fifty-sixth games; Orestilla and Edison would each serve for two years, and then it would be left up to popular vote. Capitolites quickly took sides, and they waited with anticipation and thrill as Orestilla stepped forward for her first shot at running the games.
This year had one of the most legendary career packs of the first Hunger Games century. They were all strong and extremely-good looking, and then all scored elevens. District 1's tributes were polar opposites in a variety of ways. The boy was a walking stereotype who could rally the crowds with his clever sense of humor, and he was extremely handsome and popular in the Capitol. The girl was the youngest this year at fifteen, and she was of heavy Indian heritage. Her exotic beauty was enough to earn her her fair share of sponsors. District 2 provided the most stereotypical duo: another Talbot sibling and the daughter of District 2's head peacekeeper. Both were mounds of muscle and cold-blooded killers. District 4 had the strongest pair. The boy was almost seven feet tall and strikingly attractive, and he had a cool sense of humor and the surfer accent that made the Capitol swoon. The girl really stole the show this year; the seventeen-year-old pride of District 4, she had a way with words and inborn leadership skills, and her bow and axe smarts were the stuff of legends. In total, the pack earned three elevens and three tens.
The outliers were a relatively solid bunch who would be sure to make these games interesting. Kete, the field hand boy from District 9, was the early standout, having earned an eight with his survival skills and his hand-to-hand combat skills. He banded together with Fender from 6 and Thimble from 8 to form the anti-career group. The three boys weren't the strongest tributes that the Hunger Games had ever seen, but they were relatively confident and level-headed and the Capitol admired them for that. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. There were no volunteers outside of the careers. Orestilla had everything carefully picked out for her first ever games, and things were already looking good for her. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Robust Sicilian, 18, (11) 4-1 and Silvette Rainja, 15, (10) 7-1
District 2: Neptune Talbot, 17, (10) 5-1 and Calpurnia Spence, 16, (10) 6-1
District 3: Ganlen Milito, 14, (4) 28-1 and Jana Marriott, 15, (4) 27-1
District 4: Phelps Straiden, 18, (11) 4-1 and Fishy Redsum, 17, (11) 3-1
District 5: Diode Cooper, 16, (5) 24-1 and Caylee Gray, 16, (5) 26-1
District 6: Fender Hopkins, 17, (7) 15-1 and Liana Vries, 17, (4) 26-1
District 7: Jack Salvini, 12, (3) 38-1 and Breezy Ruiz, 15, (4) 29-1
District 8: Thimble Tormo, 18, (7) 14-1 and Chiffon Meyers, 18, (6) 19-1
District 9: Kete Vise, 17, (8) 11-1 and Olivea Sills, 18, (5) 22-1
District 10: Condor Guadango, 16, (3) 36-1 and Maja Catlin, 14, (3) 37-1
District 11: Nilis Hector, 13, (3) 41-1 and Delta Martins, 12, (4) 33-1
District 12: Oswin Amory, 16, (5) 24-1 and Kyrie Luvalle, 16, (4) 32-1
HGBO Bets: 25% on Fishy, 20% on Phelps, 18% on Robust, 13% on Neptune, 9% on Calpurnia, 5% on Silvette, 3% on Kete, 2% on Fender and Thimble, 1% or less on Ganlen, Jana, Diode, Caylee, Liana, Jack, Breezy, Chiffon, Olivea, Condor, Maja, Nilis, Delta, Oswin, and Kyrie.
THE GAMES
For her first games, Orestilla decided to take an enormous risk. Whether it would pay off enormously or blow up in her face was for time to tell, but she knew she had to make a splash to earn the favor of the Capitol and she was prepared to do so. The arena was pretty much an exact reconstruction of the seventieth Hunger Games' arena, which were cut short when the arena flooded due to a simple calculation error on the builders' parts. Orestilla decided to remove the entire mountain feature and throw the tributes into the roman city and forest that the Capitol never got to see enough of. The cornucopia, fashioned from boulders, stood at the center of the pedestal ring, and it only housed swords and bows. The extensive Roman statue garden sprawled out for miles in all directions. Each statue was modelled after a character from Panem's past, including tributes, gamemakers, stylists, presidents, celebrities, and more. A statue of the seventieth games' victor, Annie Cresta, stood in the center of the cornucopia field, just in front of the cornucopia, one of the few new additions. Temples to each of the Roman gods were dotted throughout the statue garden, and the temples held resources corresponding with each god or goddess' sphere of power. A thick, leafy forest took up the southern fifth of the arena. It was small, but it would provide adequate shelter for any of the tributes persistent enough to make the long trek there. Orestilla knew that reusing old arenas was almost never a good idea, but she'd made a lot of mysterious new additions and removed the infamous mountain. She thought she could make the ninety-fifth Hunger Games one of the most famous of its day if she played her cards correctly. The bloodbath this year would claim eight lives, which gave Orestilla plenty of tributes to play with after the dust settled.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Oswin and Kyrie from 12, allies, sprinted toward the cornucopia as quickly as their legs could carry them. Oswin suddenly felt strong hands wrap around his torso, and he turned to see the muscular girl from District 2, Calpurnia. Calpurnia threw him to the ground, and one of his arms broke on the landing; Calpurnia grabbed a sword and skewered it through his abdomen, ending him.
Oswin Amory, District 12 Male: 24th, Killed by Calpurnia, Bloodbath
Kyrie had frozen dead in her tracks, dumbfounded with terror and shock as she watched her ally bleed out. Fishy slowly approached, carrying a bow, and she fired a volley of two arrows into her back. She was dead before she knew what had hit her.
Kylie Luvalle, District 12 Female: 23rd, Killed by Fishy, Bloodbath
Phelps grabbed a spear and tackled the copper-skinned boy from District 10, who was trying to escape with a pack containing dried strips of meat. He hurriedly tried to dodge the thrown weapon, but he wasn't fast enough, and the weapon skewered itself through his neck with ease.
Condor Guadango, District 10 Male: 22nd, Killed by Phelps, Bloodbath
Fishy had wrenched both of her arrows out of Kyrie's back, and she heard a slight shuffling sound behind her. She quickly turned to see Ganlen from 3, who was armed with a bow of his own, hoping to eliminate competition early. Fishy had him disarmed in a matter of seconds, and he was dead in a few more, three arrows peppering his torso in different spots.
Ganlen Milito, District 3 Male: 21st, Killed by Fishy, Bloodbath
Silvette chose a bow, and she grinned with satisfaction as her first arrow arced along its path. It landed in the back of the nearest girl, and she made a small sound before she fell to her knees, never to rise again.
Olivea Sills, District 9 Female: 20th, Killed by Silvette, Bloodbath
Calpurnia had been sprinting around the cornucopia field for several seconds now, trying to corner a second victim. She really was more deadly without a weapon than with one, and she was looking forward to making another kill with her bare hands. She eventually bumped into Delta from 11, and she was in a stranglehold before she had time to scream. Her neck snapped the moment she hit the ground.
Delta Martins, District 11 Female: 19th, Killed by Calpurnia, Bloodbath
Robust had been unable to make a kill yet, but as he scouted the cornucopia field, spear in hand, he spotted the perfect first victim. A few meters away, an older girl was down on her knees, taking inventory of the contents of a peach-colored pack. Liana turned to see Robust towering over her. She was gone in moments.
Liana Vries, District 6 Female: 18th, Killed by Robust, Bloodbath
Fishy made the final kill. The female from District 10 let out a shrill screech when she spotted Fishy barreling in her direction, and she grabbed a pack and swung it in her attacker's face. Fishy hadn't been expecting it, and she stumbled backward a step or two, stunned with shock for an instant. The girl hurriedly tried to make her escape, but Fishy recovered quickly and fired two arrows into her torso. In moments, she was as dead as the old Roman civilization.
Maja Catlin, District 10 Female: 17th, Killed by Fishy, Bloodbath
The career pack was once again without a single loss after the bloodbath. They went about their post-bloodbath tributes and then went hunting. Robust from 1 and Fishy from 4 started breaking down the marble statues in the vicinity of the cornucopia to increase visibility. They left the statue of Annie Cresta intact, however; they felt like the gamemakers had placed it there to be sacred in a way, and they didn't want to tempt fate by destroying it and facing Orestilla's wrath. Silvette from 1 and Neptune from 2 sorted the food rations and then the weapons. They found that there were far fewer types of weapons provided this year: only swords, bows, and spears were inside of the cornucopia. Calpurnia from 2 and Phelps from 4 left to briefly hunt the land in the immediate vicinity of the cornucopia. They momentarily rested against a statue of Olinda from the eighteenth annual Hunger Games, and they returned to the cornucopia quickly to commence the first full hunt. The pack left Robust to guard the cornucopia when they sprinted away into the statue garden to search for victims.
The ten remaining outliers swelled across the screens. Jana from 3 jogged north until she came to the temple of Ceres, the patron of the harvest. A loaf of bread and a bowl of grain sat in the center of the ruined temple, and she crouched down into the shadowy wreck, nervously munching on the food. Diode and Caylee from 5 had allied prior to the games. They alternated between walking and jogging for much of the first day, and they eventually came to a clear-as-glass lake with a stone temple in the center: a temple to Neptune, the god of the seas. They trudged to the temple and dragged themselves onto it, and they spent the whole day practicing with the single trident they found on the altar. The anti-careers, Fender, Thimble, and Kete, had their eyes and hearts set on the colosseum-like structure in the far distance. The journey was far too long for the boys to travel in one day; when night fell, they crouched down near a statue of ex-president Lizbeth Dyson and tried to sleep. Jack and Breezy from 7 were another allied pair. They chose to leave the Roman statue garden and head to the thick woods in the southeast sector of the arena. There, they found a temple to the Nymphs, nature spirits from Roman mythology. The wooden temple was coated with moss and leaves, and vines climbed up the elegant front columns. Jack and Breezy ducked inside, stepping carefully through the rubble. Chiffon from 8 sped north and eventually came to the temple of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She found a spear on the altar, and she practiced with the weapon and flipped through the random roman books that appeared around the temple. Nilis from 11 travelled to the ruins of a crematorium, a circular stone building with a broken oven in the center. He crouched down into a dark corner, keeping as far away from the oven as possible. It looked decrepit and dysfunctional, but Nilis didn't want to take any chances. Things were pretty peaceful as day turned to night in the arena.
The portion of the career pack that was hunting kept up their efforts as Day 2 came around, and their determination paid off. The careers broke camp at dawn and started briskly walking through the grid-like pathways of the statute garden in pursuit of their prey. Less than fifteen minutes later, they spotted Chiffon. She was sitting on the front steps of Minerva's temple, munching on the saltine crackers she'd been sponsored. Chiffon froze mid-bite when Phelps' spear sailed over her shoulder. The wad of half-chewed crackers she was chewing fell straight out of her mouth, and Phelps tackled Chiffon, pummeling her to the marble floor of the temple and shaking her repeatedly. Silvette, Neptune, Calpurnia, and Fishy stepped back and watched as Phelps retrieved his spear, skewering it cleanly through her torso. Chiffon fell still against the decrepit temple to the wisdom goddess, and the career pack left quickly.
Chiffon Meyers, District 8 Female: 16th, Killed by Phelps, Day 2
The first half of Day 2 was pretty uneventful after that. However, Jack and Breezy left the Nymphs' temple and started exploring the forest. There were lots of berry bushes and lush greenery around the broken temple, almost as though it were spreading life. After exploring for about half the day, they returned to the temple. A clay urn filled with clean water had appeared while they were away; they drank the water and ate the berries they'd collected for lunch.
Later that day, the anti-careers reached the circular colosseum-like structure in the far distance. It had taken them almost two days of continuous movement, and the three boys were all exhausted. Fender had sustained a minor injury to his ankle earlier that day, and he had to be helped along by Kete while Thimble walked ahead of them. They were too tired to actually explore the structure, so they dropped down in the highest row of tiered seating and passed out.
Jana stayed put in the temple of Ceres, cool and comfortable. She found that the altar regularly replenished itself with bread and grain; she spent most of her time sleeping, only occasionally getting up to stuff herself with whatever had appeared while she had been resting.
On Day 3, the arena started getting hotter. Temperatures hovered around seventy degrees, driving the careers back toward the cool cornucopia. They spent the entire day resting inside of the horn, fanning themselves and sipping water from their tin thermoses. Fishy was starting to behave in a way very reminiscent of the 4 girl from last year's games. The statues near the cornucopia had all replenished themselves overnight, and Fishy started busting them down again, this time with just a little too much fervor. The others all agreed they couldn't have a repeat Riletta; they'd give her two more days to show them she wasn't one, and then they would kill her. Robust and Silvette from 1 banded together, as well as Neptune and Calpurnia from 2. The pack was so big that they felt much comfortable in smaller divisions. Phelps and Fishy from 4 stayed separate and minded their own business. They were the strongest tributes in these games and they felt comfortable enough by themselves.
On Day 4, temperatures rose even higher. They peaked in the low-nineties, and all of the tributes were sweating profusely by the time the sun had reached the peak of its path through the fake sky. The careers sweltered inside of the cornucopia. Fishy wasn't letting up with her seemingly insane behavior, and even her speech was becoming gargled and unclear; the careers agreed to put her down the next day if she kept this up. Jana stayed put in the temple of Ceres, fanning herself and guzzling down whatever water the sponsors sent her. Diode and Caylee holed up in the temple of Neptune, sweating and messing around with the single trident they'd found there. The anti-careers explored the colosseum; they were the only tributes doing anything exciting, so the cameras focused on them for most of the day. They found three swords hidden in the central sand-pit, and they retreated to the cool seats to practice when the temperatures started rising. Jack and Breezy frequently left the Nymphs temple to explore the forest. They never stayed out for long. Halfway through the day, when the temperatures peaked, they returned to the temple and stayed there, sweating. Nilis kept still in the crematorium. It was cool and quiet, and one of the most structurally sound buildings in the entire arena. He found a jar of grey ash in a corner, and Nilis jumped so suddenly that he smacked his head into the wall. He laid down on the hard ground, using his hands like a pillow, and willed the bleeding knot on his forehead to heal.
On the morning of Day 5, Jana woke to a quiet beeping sound. The silver parachute landed about a meter from her lap. It contained a single piece of paper, and two strange figurines. One of the figurines was a golden lion with wings, and other was an emerald-green serpent with a ruby-colored tongue. The note contained only two words: choose one. Jana picked up the pretty serpent figurine, intrigued by its bright color. Something happened then, but not to Jana Marriott. Unbeknownst to her, her choice was wreaking havoc several miles away.
Five of the careers were sleeping inside of the cornucopia, and Calpurnia was standing guard. Suddenly, she felt the sharp teeth of the serpent sink into her ankle. Calpurnia yelped and looked down; the snake had approached so quietly that she hadn't noticed it until it was too late. She pulled out her sword and slashed at the snake's scaly body, but it leapt off of her leg and flew toward her face. The snake wrapped itself around Calpurnia's neck and then slithered in an undulating pattern over her torso, crawling back and forth over her while its poison shut down her body.
Calpurnia Spence, District 2 Female: 15th, Killed by snake mutt, Day 5
The career pack didn't face any further losses, and they managed to slay the snake mutt with relative ease. Robust dealt the ending blow, slammed his spear down into the top of its head with immense force. Silvette's arrows were of little use against the thin creature, so she fell back and watched as the others fought. Nobody else was bitten. Then it was their job to decide who had to carry the thing away. They drew straws, and Neptune ended up with the task of carrying its venom-laced corpse as far away as possible.
Jack and Breeze finally decided to leave the woods. The Capitol was getting bored with their refusal to leave the small area of land. They were so deep into the forest that exiting it would take multiple days. They made it just over halfway through their journey on the fifth day, and they vowed to finish by noon the following day.
Jana was later forced away from the temple of Ceres by a heavy wind spurred on by Maddox. She stumbled through the intense breeze for several minutes, and by the time it died down, she'd completely lost the temple. Fortunately, her pockets were stuffed full of bread she hadn't gotten around to eating, and Jana took shelter in a ruined temple to the messenger god, Mercury, and nervously munched on her food.
Day 6 was deathless. Dark clouds started rolling in around noon, and before long, cold rain was pouring down onto the arena. The careers hunted. They chose not to head to the forest; they figured that any tributes there would have been forced away by the gamemakers by this point. They left Fishy behind to guard the horn, and when they returned, they found she'd demolished all of the statues near the horn, and she was grinning wildly. The others decided they'd give her one more day; they were procrastinating killing her, really. Though they'd trained for this for a good portion of their young lives, it felt wrong to kill their ally. Phelps was especially apprehensive, but he kept his mouth shut.
Jana stayed still at the temple of Mercury. The floor of the temple was caved in, creating a large hole in which water collected. The rainwater filled this area, creating a kind of pool, and Jana rested chest-deep in the water, breathing steadily in and out and relaxing. Diode and Caylee finally left the temple of Neptune and started hunting; they'd been training with the trident for long enough now, and it was time to put their skills to application. They were more confident without the oppressive heat, and they covered a stellar distance in only one day. The anti-careers stayed put in a small room underneath the colosseum, where gladiators would have once hydrated and rested between battles. Fender had healed from his ankle injury, and Thimble and Kete were ready to start hunting as soon as he was; they all had swords "gladiuses" and were more than ready to start searching for victims. Jack and Breezy finally reached the central statue garden, and they wove through the statues for much of the day. The damp ground squished underfoot. They took shelter in the temple of Apollo, god of music and light. Creepy music emanated from the half-collapsed temple, unnerving the allied 7s as they tried to sleep. Nilis almost drowned when a large splash of water came sloshing into the crematorium. Gasping, he dragged himself onto one of the half-collapsed walls and climbed up the slippery stone. He sat on top of the wall and watched with a blank, contemplative gaze as the waters rushed underneath him.
A cannon shot rang on the seventh morning. Jack and Breezy were resting in the temple of Apollo. Throughout the night, they'd gotten used to the hauntingly beautiful tune emanating from the depths of the temple. But the tune was drowned out by Jack's screams in the early morning of Day 7. Diode and Caylee had woken up bright and early to hunt, and they had discovered Apollo's temple in no time. Diode pounced, trident gripped firmly in hand, and Jack woke up screeching when the three prongs connected with his chest. Breezy screamed and leapt to her feet, and she ran for her life as Jack bled out in under a minute.
Diode's face turned red, and guilt settled in his gut like a heavy stone. His eyes were glued to the dead body of Jack, the boy he'd killed. Caylee was about ten meters away, watching with curiosity and terror. Diode suddenly lashed out, slamming his trident into the floor of the temple in angst before storming away. Caylee timidly followed.
Jack Salvini, District 7 Male: 14th, Killed by Diode, Day 7
Breezy couldn't control herself; the sheer terror of watching Jack's death was too much for the young girl, and she ran aimlessly in one direction, screaming at the top of her lungs. When she realized she was heading toward the cornucopia, she swerved sideways and started moving in the direction of the forest. She reached it in no time. Breezy searched feverishly for the Nymph temple, but she couldn't find it, and she collapsed near a thin stream, taking a short sip before falling still.
The anti-careers once again stayed put in the lower level of the colosseum. It was dark and cool in there, sheltering them from the boiling sun that was once again starting to show through the rain clouds. They weren't as much of an "anti-career pack" as they were "three allied outliers", but they needed some kind of name.
Nilis woke to a quiet beeping noise on the morning of Day 8. The water had finally drained from the crematorium, and Nilis was lying on the damp floor. He sat straight up and crawled to the place the parachute had landed. The carriage held two figurines: the gold lion with wings, and an eagle, a new addition. The accompanying note instructed him to choose one. Nilis picked up the winged lion, liking its sparkly fur. That was all the gamemakers needed before they unleashed their wrath on one poor tribute.
Breezy was that poor tribute. The winged lion mutt descended from the tree she was sleeping besides, and it landed mere meters from her face. Breezy screamed and sprinted toward safety, the lion clawing at her back. It managed to drag its claw across her back, running from her left shoulder all the way to her right hip, and Breezy collapsed, consumed by the agony. The mutt drew closer, and she held out her arm in one last desperate attempt to ward off her killer. Her efforts were futile.
Breezy Ruiz, District 7 Female: 13th, Killed by winged lion mutt, Day 8
The remaining tributes either stayed still or kept up with their daily routines. Nilis was the one exception. Maddox sent a strong gust of wind in his direction, and the small boy was practically thrown out of crematorium and tossed down the street. He splashed into the arena's largest lake and rocketed to the surface, gasping. He paddled to the temple of Neptune at the center and wrung out his clothes, shivering.
The careers once again failed to kill Fishy despite their promises to the audience. Silvette suggested the excuse that she was too strong, and they were afraid they'd be risking their own lives to kill her. Besides, she said, Fishy wasn't actually crazy. She was just having her fun demolishing some marble statues. These were just excuses; they were all terrified of confronting the strongest tribute in these games. They let Fishy do her thing, even when she started seriously pissing off the gamemakers by knocking down a few statues of victors and presidents.
By Day 9, the careers had pretty much no choice but to kill Fishy off. For the past few days, the gamemakers had been slowly severing her from her sponsors, and they had been making all preparations possible for her to leave the world. Finally, Robust's mentor sent him a note saying the gamemakers would probably kill him if he didn't kill Fishy within the next few minutes. That was enough to force him out of his comfort zone. He closed his fists tightly around his spears and crept toward the sleeping girl. The others were standing around her in a circle, ready to tackle her if things started getting messy.
Fishy leapt to full height the moment that Robust pounced. One instant, Robust was standing tall and strong. The next, he was on the ground, three knives lodged into his chest. The others pounced onto Fishy, overwhelming her with their weapons in a matter of moments. While they struggled to take down the heavily armed girl, Robust twitched and shook on the ground, slowly dying from the grievous wound he'd sustained.
Robust Sicilian, District 1 Male: 12th, Killed by Fishy, Day 9
Fishy was strong, but she wasn't strong enough to survive for long when three careers were on top of her. Silvette had arrows and a number of daggers, Neptune had his sword, and Phelps had his spear. Neptune tore Fishy's bow out of her hands and threw it sideways to Silvette, who snapped it in half on the wall of the cornucopia. Fishy gasped, realizing how screwed she truly was. Neptune delivered the finishing blow, thrusting his sword through her chest. The trio backed away and watched with grimaced faces as she bled out over the course of two minutes.
Fishy Redsum, District 4 Female: 11th, Killed by Neptune, Day 9
Days 10 and 11 were empty of consequence. Silvette, Neptune, and Phelps knew they were on the Capitol's bad side, and they figured that they had to do a lot of hunting and slaughtering to get to the flip side of the coin. So they destroyed, shattered, and broke all the supplies they didn't need and then abandoned the cornucopia. They were taking a huge risk, but they thought it could pay off in the long run if they played their cards right. Jana continued her aimless wanderings through the city, dropping down in random temples each night. Dehydration was starting to take its toll on her body, and she had to survive off of thin streams thinner than her hand. Diode and Caylee kept up their hunting. They were both in low spirits, and Diode was especially grumpy. They returned to the temple of Apollo, the music god, every night. The anti-careers once again stayed put on the colosseum. They were venturing around the dark space when Thimble found an unexpected stairway. He fell down the stairwell, groaning and screaming, and the others rushed to his aid. They found that a whole network of tunnels and dark rooms sprawled out underneath the colosseum. Fender, Thimble, and Kete explored the various tunnels for most of the two days. Fender's sponsors sent him a ball of yarn to tie to the door handle and unravel as he travelled through the labyrinth, to keep him from getting lost. Nilis stayed still in the temple of Neptune, dipping his toes in the water and watching with immense boredom as the sun rose and set on schedule. He'd smeared some dirt onto himself to help camouflage into the environment, but he was still sure to be an easy target if he was spotted by an armed tribute. For the time being, he refused to actively stir the pot.
Diode and Caylee woke to a quiet beeping noise on the morning of Day 12. Sunlight streamed in through the hole in the ceiling of Apollo's temple; temperatures were once again high, already in the low nineties. Two new figurines sat in the carriage of the sponsor gift: a man sculpted from golden material, and a woman made of cold metal. Both of the figurines held bows and quivers of arrows. They were meant to represent Apollo and Diana, the two Roman archer gods. Diode and Caylee looked at each other. Caylee shrugged, and Diode reached out and swept up the metal lady. She was as cold as ice, and Diode dropped her immediately. He'd made his choice, and a tribute somewhere else in the arena would pay.
Early that morning, Kete had ventured away from the underground chamber where Fender and Thimble were resting. He hadn't eaten in days, and he was desperate to find some kind of food to feed himself and his allies. Kete returned to the colosseum about an hour later, arms piled high with bright-red berries he'd found a few hundred meters away. His look of triumph quickly turned to a look of dread when he realized that Fender and Thimble were screaming his name. Berries spilled onto the floor as he rushed toward their screams. Metal bars had appeared in front of the chamber, trapping Fender and Thimble inside. They shook and hit at the bars, but they didn't budge.
At first, Kete didn't realize why the room was so cold. When he saw why, he knew his allies were doomed. Grey clouds had assembled in the high-roofed room, and it was snowing; there was already a two inch layer on the floor, and Fender and Thimble would suffocate to death when the snow completely flooded the chamber in which they were trapped. Kete handed them some berries through the bars of the cell, trying to think of ways to free them.
Silvette, Neptune, and Phelps were hunting feverishly through the statue garden, sweating and groaning from the intense heat. Suddenly, a strange creature pounced out of the shadows. The creature had the head of a beautiful woman, and the body of a lion. The sphinx crept slowly forward and circled around the trio for several minutes. The careers held their weapons at the ready, prepared to kill the hybrid creature if it decided to hurt them.
"Silvette, dear. What animal stands on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?"
Silvette should have known the answer to the sphinx's famous riddle, but she'd spent much of her life in the jewel cutting factories of District 1 rather than going to school. When she couldn't answer, the sphinx pounced, gashing open her torso with two heavy chops. Silvette collapsed, gasping and shaking. Neptune and Phelps tried to fend off the mutt, but it was too fast. Silvette cried and screamed as the mutt tore her to shreds, and then it sprinted away. If not for the dead body of the girl from 1, both Neptune and Phelps would have thought that the strange creature had been only a dream.
Silvette Rainja, District 1 Female: 10th, Killed by sphinx mutt, Day 12
Day 13, Nilis made the decision to move to the forest. He didn't feel safe out in the open, and he thought the forest would be cooler and safer. The journey was too long for his small body to make in one day. At nightfall, he dropped down in a cluster of statutes of past victors and tried to sleep.
Jana was wandering through the statute garden when she heard a slight cracking noise. She figured it was probably nothing and kept walking, but then she heard it again. Jana froze dead in her tracks and turned her head slowly around, and she let out a high-pitched scream; the nearby statue of Victor Amelia Bankston had cracked at the base, and it was falling sideways. The statue hit Jana at the waist and tore down her leg, gashing open her skin, and it ended up pinning down her foot. Jana struggled against the weight of the statue, but it weighed hundreds of pounds, and she wasn't nearly strong enough to escape. She'd seen enough Hunger Games on television to know how this could end, and she was not looking forward to it.
Neptune and Phelps hunted more feverishly than ever. They hadn't found an outlier victor since Chiffon all the way back on Day 2, and they desperate to do so very soon; the Capitol was starting to forget them, and they couldn't have that. They spotted Diode and Caylee from 5 about halfway through the day; a long chase then ensued. The 5s ended up escaping, ducked into the shadows of a ruined temple and watching with bated breath as the career boys rushed past. Neptune groaned in frustration and smashed the blade of his sword into the ground. The outliers were being particularly elusive this year.
Day 13 was not deathless, however. Fender and Thimble pounded against the bars of their chamber with all the force they could muster, but they were hopeless. Kete abandoned them when the level of the snow reached chest height. The two trapped boys tried to shove the snow away from them, but it piled up at a seemingly impossible speed. Sooner than later, they needed to press their mouths to the stone ceiling in order to breathe. If only Diode had chosen the Apollo figurine, and made the arena a little bit warmer…
Fender Hopkins, District 6 Male: 9th, Killed by suffocation, Day 13
Thimble Tormo, District 8 Male: 8th, Killed by suffocation, Day 13
There was a final seven this year, instead of a final eight: Neptune Talbot from District 2, Jana Marriott from District 3, Phelps Straiden from District 4, Diode Cooper and Caylee Gray from District 5, Kete Vise from District 9, and Nilis Hector from District 11.
Day 14 came, and Diode and Caylee were hunting wildly still. Hairline fractures were appearing in their alliance, which had been relatively stable up to this point, and they were getting more and more distant as their personalities grated against each other. Diode was grumpy, moody, and brimming with angst, while Caylee was keeping her cool with much more success. She figured the boy could turn dangerous as the number of tributes thinned even more, and she was considering breaking away from him in the near future.
Jana was not doing well. Her foot was completely crushed under the fallen statue, and she was bleeding heavily. All her attempts to escape brought on extreme pain or further injury. Her throat felt like sandpaper from lack of water, and she was considering the unthinkable, just to end her own suffering.
Diode and Caylee spotted her about halfway through the fourteenth day. Diode froze dead in his tracks, turning his trident nervously over in his grasp. Jana was literally defenseless and immobile, the easiest kill imaginable. Holding his breath, he stepped forward. Jana was lying on the ground at the time, crying softly to herself. When the prongs of Diode's trident connected with her side, she sat bolt upright, screaming at the top of her lungs. Jana bled out with a few more pokes from Diode's weapon. Unfortunately, the career duo was nearby. They'd heard Jana's screams; they were on their way and would arrive in minutes.
Jana Marriott, District 3 Female: 7th, Killed by Diode, Day 14
Diode turned sideways and literally screamed out loud when he saw the point of the spear poking out of Caylee's chest. Phelps yanked it out with one heavy tug, and Caylee collapsed in a heap, shaking and twitching. Diode's eyes and mouth were agape with horror as his eyes darted frantically between the dead body of his ally and the nearing duo of Neptune and Phelps.
Caylee Gray, District 5 Female: 6th, Killed by Phelps, Day 14
Diode quickly made the decision to run for his life. Both of the boys were heavily armed, and he was "outmuscled and outgunned" by a significant margin. The 5 boy manage to run for about a quarter mile before he was too tired to go any farther. He had no choice to fight. The second he turned around, he was assaulted by both of Phelps' spears, the left of which grazed him in the shoulder. Diode winced and pounced to one side, narrowly dodging the point of Neptune's sword. He'd landed on his bottom, and he jumped back to his feet. Diode raced toward the thickest area of the statue garden, hoping to eliminate the possibility of ranged combat in the crowded space.
The foot chase lasted well into the night. Both parties were exhausted beyond belief. Suddenly, Neptune stumbled over part of a broken marble statue, and Phelps kept running. When Neptune caught back up, he thought the boy looming out of the darkness was Diode, when in reality, it was his ally Phelps. Phelps roared as the razor-sharp edge of Neptune's sword cut into his side, and he turned around hissing in agony. Neptune realized his mistake too late. Phelps grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him downward; his head made hard contact with the fallen statue, and he went unconscious. The med kit he had with him did little to stop the profuse bleeding, and Phelps bled out swiftly.
Phelps Straiden, District 4 Male: 5th, Killed by Neptune, Day 15
The rest of Day 15 was deathless, as well as all of Days 16 and 17. Progress slowed to a crawl in the arena. Even Orestilla, who liked long games, was considering doing something crazy, like lighting the whole arena on fire or sending vicious mutts through the arena to slaughter half of them. Neptune came to about halfway through Day 15, confused and tired. He slept away the rest of the day and then explored the arena, alone for the first time. He eventually came to the temple of Neptune, the god that Mr. and Mrs. Talbot had named him after, and he rested inside, toying with his sword. Diode was exhausted, bloodied, and bruised from the long chase. One of his shoes had fallen off during the run, and now his foot was paying the price; blood squished between his toes, and the agony of impalement was so bad he was weeping. His sponsors sent him some bandages to help heal him up, and he rested in the temple to Bacchus, the wine god, munching on sponsor foods and the grapes that randomly appeared on the altar.
Kete and Nilis clashed on Day 17. Kete had since left the colosseum, and the dead bodies of his two allies, behind, and he was now exploring the statue garden, on the prowl for tributes. Nilis was sitting just outside of the crematorium, standing blankly into the distance. He froze in shock for a moment when he spotted Kete from about fifty meters away. A long chase then ensued, and Nilis ended up escaping, ducking into a thick cluster of statues. Kete sighed with frustration and walked about half a mile away. He spent the night in the ruined temple of Minerva, which was still splattered with Chiffon's dried blood.
When Kete woke up on the morning of Day 18, he saw two figurines in front of them. One was a hydra, a serpentine creature with nine snake heads, and the other was a gorgon, a scaled lady with claws and snakes for hair. Kete stared at the figurines for several minutes before grabbing the hydra. A tribute somewhere else in the arena met their end because of his choice.
Neptune was resting inside of his own temple, snoring softly. He woke when the hydra poked the first of its many heads through the door. Neptune yelped and grabbed his sword. The blade went through the mutt's scaly neck like butter, and the head fell with a splash. He instantly wished he hadn't; the hydra grew two heads in place of every head that was cut off. Really, the hydra was from Greek mythology, but the gamemakers didn't mind making up history a little bit if it meant adding more excitement to their games. In Greek myth, the hero Heracles killed the hydra with the help of his nephew, by lighting the stumps on fire whenever he severed its heads.
Unlike Heracles, Neptune didn't have any fire at his disposal. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked over the beast. He had no idea where even to start in killing the creature: he was cornered, trapped, and pretty much doomed. In moments, one of the heads had closed its teeth around his abdomen, and the poison steamed and frothed upon contact with his flesh. Neptune was dead in under a minute, and the reptilian creature sank back under the waves.
Neptune Talbot, District 2 Male: 4th, Killed by hydra mutt, Day 18
The rest of Day 18 was pretty uneventful. These games were shaping up to end around Day 19 or 20. If they lasted past Day 20, they would be the second longest games in history. Long games seemed to be a trend in recent years, as opposed to the early years of the games, where virtually every games ended within a week or two.
Diode sporadically rested and moved on the nineteenth day. He was pretty sporadic and unpredictable, but he kept the Capitol on their toes, so the gamemakers kept him around. He was eager to end these games, but he wasn't looking forward to doing any more killing after taking the lives of both Jack and Jana. Kete hunted through the statue garden. He was making an effort to stay relevant, even though he was unlucky enough to either pass by the other tributes or have them escape before he could kill them. Diode and Kete were pretty comfortable for the time being.
Nilis had since fled back to the forest. Late at night on Day 19, very heavy rains poured down onto the arena. The rain fell in sheets, and Nilis had to cup his hands over his mouth so that he could breathe without water slipping into his throat. The low-leveled forest quickly started flooding; by morning, the entire forest was a wet land of water and marshy, uneven land. Nilis returned to the statue garden and ducked into one of the temples whose roof was almost entirely intact. He was dangerously near the ravenous Kete, but he somehow managed to remain unnoticed.
His luck didn't last forever, however. Kete got up relatively early on Day 20, eager to make at least one kill before the finale. The only weapon he had on him was the sword he'd taken from the colosseum. Diode had a trident, and he had no idea what weapon Nilis had. He had a single throwing knife, but nothing else. Kete quickly came across the temple where Nilis was sleeping, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the shadowed form of the sleeping boy. Kete stepped through the doorway and thrust the point of his sword into Nilis' chest. He woke up with his eyes wide open, and he let a single quiet gasp escape his lips before he fell still.
Nilis Hector, District 11 Male: 3rd, Killed by Kete, Day 20
On Day 21, Orestilla let the world blaze. She'd been looking forward to using fire for quite some time now, but she didn't want to risk things getting out of hand. The fires drove the two finalists toward each other: Diode and Kete spotted each other about two miles from the cornucopia. They were half a mile away from each other. Kete raced in Diode's direction, and Diode slowly drilled forward, taking deep breaths. Kete seemed to have the advantage, but Diode was still a strong tribute who had killed before. It was anyone's guess which of the outlying males would walk home with the victor's crown.
The heavy rains and freezing cold wind didn't lessen for one second as the boys dueled for their lives. Diode poked and prodded with his trident, and Kete with his sword. They were both defying district stereotypes: virtually nobody outside of District 4 used tridents, and virtually nobody from District 9 used swords.
They were ankle-deep in water when the victor was crowned. Over the course of the night, Kete had managed to make only one deathly blow, slamming his sword into Diode's side with more sheer force than technique. On the flip side of the coin, Diode had Kete pretty much under his thumb. Holes littered his chest and gut, and Kete was minutes from death from blood loss. With one more heavy thrusting motion of Diode's trident, Kete collapsed. He bobbed to the surface of the floodwater, and Diode watched with a grimace as his thrashing limbs gradually stilled.
Kete Vise, District 9 Male: 2nd, Killed by Diode, Day 21
"Diode Cooper of District 5, you are the victor of the ninety-fifth annual Hunger Games!" Titanus shouted into the arena.
Diode finally let the tears come, and he didn't even try to hide them.
Diode Cooper, District 5 Male: Victor of the Ninety-Fifth Hunger Games, Day 21
AFTERMATH
Diode was happy to bring an eighth victory to District 5. Their last victor had been Surge back in the seventy-eighth games, and their last "true" victor had been Sally all the way back in the fifty-sixth games. They were dangerously low on hope, and Diode's victory refreshed the kids in the electricity district. Next year, the reaping would not hold quite the sense of terror it normally did. He'd spent more time in the arena than any other victor except Cordin. Diode was absolutely traumatized by the events of his games, and he would take up the vice of alcohol to dissuade his demons. He quickly developed into a rather poor example of a victor, and he joined the circle of alcoholics that stretched from Alexander to Chipson to Steer. President Stinn Hawke would enroll him in the sex industry against his will, and Diode hated every second of it, but he was just too exhausted to protest.
The payouts on his victor were pretty great, as 0.4% bet on him.
His victory tour was one of the better ones, and he was seen as a symbol of hope in many of the outlying districts.
Diode would live to age seventy-four, dying from cancer around the time of the one-hundred fifty-third annual Hunger Games. He would marry and have one child.
NEWS
Diode moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, next door to Surge's home.
Sycamora Bromley has her second child, a boy named Hatchet.
Thor Rosner, the victor of the twenty-sixth Hunger Games, is found dead in his Victor's Village home, poisoned. The killer is never caught.
Lyme Mabbett, the victor of the fifty-first Hunger Games, dies from a stroke.
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)
90HG: Chipson Harris (#11, District 3)
91HG: Mars Talbot (#21, District 2)
92HG: Arnold Scruggs (#3, District 12), Wystella Knapp (#22, District 2), and Robina Caite (#3, District 10)
93HG: Taj King (#16, District 1)
94HG: Steer Drudgers (#4, District 10)
95HG: Diode Cooper (#8, District 5)
