Night 2
Casper Cavette (18) D2M
Maybe it had been a wise decision to actually visit this village.
Everette and I had been here for the entire day, and nothing had happened. The best part had to be that the heat that threatened to kill us just a few yards away from the perimeters of the village, was non-existent here. Instead, a nice, beautiful weather persisted, although the large sun was still looming in the sky.
The two of us had found a deserted hut in this quasi-sandy village, and it was comfortable in the situation that we were in. The two of us agreed that we needed to go tribute-hunting soon, but neither of us really looked forward to it. Yes, we were ready to kill, but that didn't mean we were here to kill. That was Jordan, not us.
It was night now, although the sun never set. I could tell by the lack of hustle and bustle in the village. Everette and I had been astounded by how welcoming people here were. We were aware they were mutts, but they still didn't try to attack us once in so long. Instead, they even let us have water from a small, clean pond, saying that the tributes who went there were to be given a good welcome and facilities.
Nobody had bothered us in our little hut, and each of us had even managed to get some shut-eye. We even went exploring the area a few hours ago, and were surprised to see that life flourished here beautifully. Men and women who looked like regular people went about their business. We saw a few shops selling food and other stuff, and we witnessed the purchasers bargaining for all they were worth. We met entire family of mutts, and it kind of creeped me out how human they all were.
Everette and I were alone now, in our hut. The day had been nice, we were rested, and ready to move out from here.
"We need to get back the cornucopia," he said as he sipped the water from a weird glass made of clay.
"Yeah we do. I think only Saunder and his allies will be there right now."
"Oh goodness, since Jordan had so many kills, I'm sure they got all the sponsors too."
"Yeah…"
It was astounding how a girl from Eight had simply established herself as a Career. She wasn't as skilled as even Saunder, but she managed to get the most kills through sheer evil. I'd not want to tackle her alone. Fortunately, I had Everette with me. Ever since we met, we'd just managed to get along, and I felt that we'd make it to the final two, that we deserved to be there. And then, we could decide who was the best.
"I think we should set out now," he said, setting the glass aside.
I nodded and the two of us grabbed our bags and set out. I hoped the three of them would be asleep, so that we could end it there for them and capture the cornucopia. Sure, it wasn't ethical, and I usually wouldn't support this. But the people in consideration weren't deserving of ethics and I wanted to get away as quietly as possible.
The plan failed as soon as we got out of the hut.
There stood three mutts, the 'humans', cluttered together as if preparing to attack on their prey. One look at their smirks, and I knew who exactly the preys were.
"Run Everette!" I whispered anxiously, and the two of us hit the streets. All around us, the mutts started pouring out of the huts, their eyes looking like local village bystanders. But the group chasing us was becoming larger with each passing second, and I cursed myself for thinking that it was safe here. I should have had known! Everette and I ran as fast as our legs could carry us, swords clutched tightly in our hands.
I looked back for a second… and I wished I hadn't.
It wasn't the mutts that were chasing us… it was their hands. The arms simply kept on stretching from their bodies and tried to grab us. It was such a sick sight, both repulsive and attractive, that I stopped for a second, before Everette pulled me.
"Snap out of it Casper!"
He was right. Picking up speed, I matched his pace as we ran for our lives. We tried cutting off their hands, but those things simply avoided our every move. It was beyond frustrating, and I wondered when the chase would stop.
The perimeters of the village was in sight, and something told me that maybe that was the distance we had to cover. After all, the temperature had stabilised after we had crossed those invisible boundaries. There had to be a reason for it.
"Come on Ever! RUN!"
And with that, using all my strength, I ran for the boundaries, the hands picking their pace, more hands joining them. I felt one of them near my neck, and although I tried, I couldn't increase my speed any further.
"This is it," I thought, even as the hand grabbed my collar just as I put one foot beyond the boundary.
However, Everette, who was ahead of me, grabbed me by the front of my jacket and pulled me hard. The mutt's grip softened, and soon my ally had pulled me out into the blazing hot weather of this strange place.
The hands kept floating in the air, trying to cross the invisible line, but unable to do so. I couldn't help but laugh, and suddenly the two of us were in a friendly hug.
"Thanks man."
"No problem. I'm glad you're okay. Now let's get going."
Shama Grasswhistle (13) D7F
I couldn't believe we did it.
Right now, we were in a large room of sorts, with three tunnels leading in and three tunnels leading out. The purple glow of the place had become familiar to me, as had the unrelenting cold. The coldness of the weather matched the coldness of my heart. After all, I wasn't the same person anymore.
The old Shama wouldn't even think of doing something of the sort. I had helped kill a person, a person barely three years older than me. Not once did I hesitate, not once did I heed his pleading.
I was a murderer.
And these guys… they were no better. Canon had helped, and his tears showed how he felt. He had assisted us too, after all. I couldn't blame him though, he was attacked first. But why did I do that? And Drei… I still couldn't believe he killed Vis in such a brutal way. it was not only emotionally, but also physically painful to watch him struggle for every breath, and to watch him die slowly, in pain. I couldn't get rid of his image from my head.
I-just-could-not!
The worst part? The Capitol found it really nice that we, being so young, had managed to 'entertain' them so well. To reward our bravery and acts of valour, they had actually sponsored us with food and water.
None of us had been able to eat the food.
Our hunger had died, leaving behind a void. Water, we grudgingly consumed, and I hated myself for it. It was, after all, a reward for killing another human.
And then there was Lanai, who was dead. I had wanted to help, wanted to do something, but at that point it was important to escape. Dwayne was clear in his instruction; to take Canon and leave. He said he'd go after Lanai and bring back the girl, but then he himself disappeared. Trapped in these cave-like things, we couldn't see the sky, and hence didn't know who was gone. I just knew none people were dead, and sooner or later, I might join them.
"Shama, pass me the water, will you?"
I glanced at Drei, who looked exhausted and beaten. I had a sudden urge to smack his face, and I didn't even know why. However, I knew it wouldn't be the best thing to do, and I content myself with a deep breath, before throwing the bottle at him. He caught it easily and drank lustily, and I felt my anger at him evaporate. Vis might have killed Canon, and maybe he might have killed me too. It was because of Drei that we were alive.
The bottle soon passed to Canon, who looked lost among us. I felt horrible for him as I watched his puffy eyes. All of us here were so young! We didn't deserve this!
"*** them!" I whispered, angry at the Capitol, at the Districts, at everyone. Why couldn't they rebel?! We were dying anyway! At least then we would die free! Why wasn't I simply born in a different country? Panem just didn't deserve us.
"What's the plan now?" Drei asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"I think we should move," Canon said reluctantly, "We can run into people if we stay at one place."
"We can run into people even if we move. That's what happened last time."
Even as I said this, Drei's face darkened, and Canon looked on the verge of tears again. I sighed.
"Guys, we're all exhausted. We should rest. You two can go to sleep, and I'll keep watch."
Drei's shoulders slumped as he nodded. They were tired. We were tired. It was best we stopped for a while.
And just then a loud voice called out, "Shama!"
Dwayne Wildflower (17) D7M
I couldn't stay with the Careers for long, because they validated what I had done.
At the moment, I needed to hate myself. I had killed that helpless boy from Eleven mercilessly. Sure, he had been the first to attack, and I was only trying to defend myself. But it could have been avoided. I hated myself for not avoiding it, for allowing myself to go ahead. And Ivory and Siobhan just… tried to convince me that it was okay.
It wasn't.
But was there anything that I could do? No.
Should I give up on trying due to my guilt? No.
But that did not change the fact that I hated myself. I couldn't safe Lanai, not even after trying so hard. I killed a boy weaker than me. I hated myself.
I thought about home, my work, my boss. He had been a great boss, and it was too late to realise it. I didn't know whether I could meet him and apologise to him for being such a difficult employee. I thought about my allies, and I had no idea whether they were alive or not. I hoped they were alive, and well. However, I couldn't help it. A part of me hoped they were gone, just so that I didn't have to kill them later on, or get killed by them.
Goodness, I hated myself.
It had been hours since I left the Careers, and had encountered neither a human nor a mutt. The hours were long, and my muscles ached with the continuous walking. My body shivered uncontrollably, and it was ready to just collapse. Maybe it would be better if I just fainted, and the cold consumed me, putting me to sleep forever.
I fought against the idea, just as I fought against the cold and despair. I had to keep going, I couldn't stop. For if I stopped, self-hate would consume me in entirety.
It was then, after a duration I knew not, that I heard a few voices converse. I stopped, trying to listen to what they were saying, ready to flee if they were foes.
"…what happened last time."
"Guys, we're all exhausted. We should rest. You two can go to sleep, and I'll keep watch."
I recognised that voice, and I didn't even know why my heart jumped at it. I let out a sigh, happy that I wouldn't be alone, and rushed over to them, entering a big room.
"Shama!"
She turned around swiftly, her eyes wide, her jaw dropped.
"You're alive?" she asked in wonder as I stepped towards her.
My little friend looked lost for words, and I saw that Canon also sat up with a grin. To my surprise though, Shama had broken into tears and soon she was in my arms, and we were both crying. I cried a lot in regular life, and right now, I was just overwhelmed. All that mattered was that I was with someone from home. It wasn't much but… it was all I had.
"Dwayne!"
And soon Canon was in my embrace too. And then all three of us were on our knees, for I had believed they were dead, and they had believed the same for me.
It was then that I noticed a boy stand there a few feet away from us, looking at us awkwardly. I smiled at him; he must have looked after my allies in my absence.
"Hi there. I'm Dwayne."
"Andrei."
I released the kids and walked over to him, where we shook hands. He had a strong grip, which I liked.
"Thank you Andrei, for looking after them."
"We looked after him," Shama grumbled, and that had me laugh out.
Clapping her back, that nearly made her fall, I told her to not take credit for other people's work, for she was so stupid that she couldn't have survived this without Drei. And soon we were engaged in a verbal fight. It was irritating, but at the moment all it gave me was happiness.
"Come on guys!" Canon exclaimed as Andrei started laughing, "Calm down!"
"Aye Canon, you won't find this kind of entertainment in the arena," Drei said even as we stopped our argument, "You should enjoy it. Go on guys!"
"NO!"
Shama and I finally shut up completely to look at him, her hand around my waist and my arm around her shoulders.
"Okay Dwayne, how did you escape?"
I sighed. I didn't want to remember all of it so soon. But I had to fill them in.
"It's a long story Canon."
Aryton Masserats (18) D6M
I'll kill him!
That good-for-nothing vile creature betrayed us!
We need revenge!
I'm going to cut him in half!
I'll drink his blood and only then will I find peace!
I was sure that Saunder and Jordan were reacting along those lines more or less. Maybe not the exact words, but certainly the sentiments. However, I could clearly hear these words in their voices, and despite myself I was laughing.
Those two had no supplies left, I took care of that. I was hoping the would die due to lack of them, because the truth couldn't be denied that those two could overpower me together.
Most people wouldn't have run away from right under their noses. After all, I had an opportunity to do so when Saunder was having his 'beauty sleep' for almost the entire day. I didn't do so because Jordan wouldn't let me. Even when I did desert them, I was there for the entire duration. They never expected me to backtrack my way into the tunnel from which we had entered the room, and that was where I hid. The two idiots marched ahead, not checking once whether I was in one of the other tunnels. And so, now I was far away from them, finding my own way.
The one problem with my entire scheme was that I could not rest. There was no one to watch my back, and in case, the two of them sneaked up on me while I was asleep, I'd be doomed.
"What the hell is it with this cold? Have they just sent us to a part of north pole and are claiming to have sent us on a different planet?"
I knew there were cameras around, and I had to let them know my thoughts on their pathetic arena. In order to be creative, they had made a mess.
"The arena sucks," I said, looking at a point where I thought a camera was, "I guess it works though. Maybe you're just planning to let tributes *** die of cold this year."
And with that, I set off again.
My mind, unwillingly, travelled back to the time I committed murder. Emeline, I could let go. she was a Career, and most likely had me on target. But Mickayla… I didn't want to think about her. She didn't deserve what I did to her, she wasn't even trying to fight me. She was just… in my way. Adrenaline was gushing in my body at that time, I had lost the sense of right and wrong completely. I just knew that I needed to have a kill to my credit.
Of course, I was never a… good person, as such. But I wasn't evil either. I never wanted to kill that girl, not someone so innocent.
But I did it anyway.
That made me no better than a Career, did it? Everette and Casper let me go at the bloodbath, and it hurt to admit that they were better than me. However, I planned on going home. I had to! There was so much to be done! I couldn't just die in here!
I let out a sigh and slumped down to the ground in the middle of the tunnel. My eyes had adjusted to the purple hue, but I still hated it. It made me feel so sick.
"Who's there?!"
I looked up, sabre in hand, my senses alert. Somebody had called out, a male. I squinted my eyes, trying to get who it was walking towards me so purposefully. The figure came into view, and I was surprised to see him.
"It's me, Aryton," I replied, the sabre still ready should he attack.
"What are you doing here?" Tybal asked slowly.
"What would anyone do here, Tybal? Have a picnic?"
"Certainly not. Although…"
His eyes travelled to the three tiny bags that I had with me, and I knew what he was thinking. I drew my sabre to his neck in a swift motion. He, however, didn't even recoil.
"Easy there," he said and smiled, "I see that you're alone."
"Yeah…"
"How about it Aryton? Final eight?"
I looked at his face hard, trying to understand why he was offering to be my ally. However, if we did team up, I would have a better chance of winning this. There was no doubt about it.
"Sure."
And to that, we shook hands.
Hello all! So, as promised, a death-free chapter here! People caught up with whoever they had to catch-up with, and a new team has also formed. What did you think of this chapter? And what do you think is going to happen next? Let me know!
Alliances:
Team 1: Ivory, Siobhan
Team 2: Everette, Casper
Team 3: Saunder, Jordan
Team 4: Shama, Canon, Andrei, Dwayne
Team 5: Aryton, Tybal
Death List:
Horatio (blew up)
Lanai (killed by Jordan)
Mickayla (killed by Ayton)
Emeline (killed by Jordan and Aryton)
Wesley (killed by Teddy)
Maurice (killed by Dwayne)
Tapicca (killed by Jordan)
Liya (killed by Everette)
Lily (killed by Tybal)
Vis (killed by Andrei, Shama and Canon)
Have a great day!