Night 3

Casper Cavette (18) D2M

Everette and I had visited the cornucopia early in the morning, or what we thought must be the morning, and had retrieved supplies. We had enough food and drinks, and had managed to get sharper swords. We would have taken more weapons, or more supplies, but then weird rocks started falling from the sky, and we had no choice but to run for the craters, since these things were landing just about anywhere. Once it was so close that I was sure that I would be buried underneath it. we barely managed to avoid it, and I still couldn't forget the horror of it once we were back down in the maze.

That was some time back, and I was glad we could secure a couple of jackets from our time at the cornucopia. It was still very cold, especially after our endeavour at the village, but the jackets helped. It also helped that they had pockets, and we kept some food in them.

Right now, I was sure it was night time. Two people had died already, and I wondered who they were. They used to display the faces in the sky, but since we were all underground, I doubted anyone knew who was alive and who wasn't. I wondered if any of the Careers had been offed recently. Obviously, I hoped Jordan was gone, being the maniac that she was, even if it were the other girls who had turned on us. I still hoped both Ivory and Siobhan were doing well. They were young, and it took guts to volunteer for the Games.

"I just realised that we're in the final twelve," Everette said abruptly as we sat down.

"Yeah. What day is it? Second? Third?"

"I think it's the third day."

I sighed as I leaned against the wall. Everette had turned quiet now, quieter than he was earlier, and I was worried for him. Even as he shut his eyes, tired, I rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"You don't look fine, friend."

Everette kept staring at the opposite wall, his eyes lost in thought, as if seeing something that wasn't even there. His lips thinned as he continued to stare, not looking at anything else. I was sure he wasn't going to answer, and decided to drop it.

"I think we should split up after final six."

"What?" I asked, surprised. What the hell was he saying?! We were strong as a team, and we could easily be the final two!

"Nothing against you, Casper. Just… I don't want to turn on you before the final two, and I don't want the same to happen to me. I trust you; I know you won't do so. But this arena is… I want to win, Casper. And I know you want so too. But I don't want to end our friendship on a bitter note and-"

Before he could say anything, I put my arms around him, taking him into an embrace. He returned it, becoming silent instantly. I could understand his feelings well, even if I didn't want to part ways. But his intentions were clear, and if he wanted to break the alliance at final six, then who was I to stop him? The main thing was that I didn't want our relations to go sour at the end of either of our lives.

"We'll have it your way," I told him with a smile, drawing away just a couple of inches so that I could see him. He nodded, a fist bump followed, and soon we were on our feet again, not willing to stay at the same place for long.

My heart felt heavy as I walked, and I glanced at Everette again, I hoped that we did make it to the final two.

Teddy Formico (16) D12F

By this time, I was so bored that I could honestly face a few mutts, or tributes.

I hadn't had any human contact since the bloodbath, and I was sure the Capitol was finding me boring right now. They might be getting restless, but what could I do? I was trying my best to find the other tributes so that I could get a kill, or attempt to, but I didn't even have a chance encounter with anyone. At this time, I wasn't even worried what the Capitol thought; I just needed to see a face, any face, to remind myself that I wasn't the only person existing in the universe.

I had not bothered to return to the cornucopia to refill my supplies. Somehow, I was sponsored with more water, and it was surprising. Sure, I knew my father was working for this, but water must be expensive now. And I already had food, so I stayed safely down here in the maze. But right now, just for the sake of a chance meeting with any tribute, I was considering going up there.

At least something would happen!

It was eerily silent where I was right now, and I wondered if any mutt would show up. I held my butter knife tightly, eyes darting as I moved, trying to locate any movement. But none came and I was soon through that tunnel into something like a room. Noticing the ladder, I looked up, seeing the entryway to one of the craters. I wondered which one it was, and was contemplating whether I should go back up or not, when the movement that I'd been waiting for, happened.

It took me a few seconds to recognise him, and when I did, I could not believe it. I stepped back, eyes unable to leave his gloomy, void face. My jaw dropped and the only thing I whispered was 'no'.

The boy, only a few years older than me, stared with a vacantness in his eyes. I remembered him, how could I forget him? Due to my complaints, his hands had been chopped off. The servant boy from the training centre had had his hands replaced with some weird metallic tubes.

"Hello ma'am," he said, tears forming in his eyes, and as I looked on, tears starting pooling in my eyes too to the extent that they stung.

"How did this…?"

"They cut off my hands ma'am, because I made a mistake. They didn't listen to however much I pleaded. And then- and then-"

"What?"

I didn't even realise when I whispered it out, but my eyes couldn't leave his face.

"They said I deserved a worse punishment, that my hands being cut off wasn't enough. They did this," he gestured at the tubes, "And they told me that I could save my life in only one way."

He looked at me hard, and I knew what he was saying.

"By killing me."

He nodded sadly, and raised what would have been his arm.

I tried to swallow, tried to do something, but my feet were frozen to the spot. I couldn't think straight, and I wanted to run far from here. But even as I thought that, the web like structure started spreading across the entrances to all the tunnels, leaving no room to escape.

And then, tentacles shot out from the tubes.

My instincts kicked in, and I jumped away at the last moment just as they hit the web. I rolled over, looking at the boy, not wanting to do what I had to. Sure, he attacked me first but… I was the reason he was here despite not being a tribute.

No Teddy! You can't go soft now!

I jumped away again as the tentacles again attacked me. The boy was wailing now, even as his new 'hands' literally chased after me. I knew what I had to do, and holding my butter knife, I ran in a circle towards him. something else shot out from the tube, something that looked like a metallic whip, and it hit me hard on the chest. I was thrown against the wall, where those muttated webs sent my body into painful shocks. My whole being burned, and I screamed in agony as the whip hit me again, throwing me into another wall.

I wanted to give up, to just accept this. After all, I only had a butter knife to defend myself. A butter knife.

I turned around and started running towards the tunnels, the tentacles chasing after me. As soon as they were about to grab me, I rolled underneath them and got away. It was swift enough for the servant to not able to decide what to do, and the tentacles got stuck in the web. I watched with mild satisfaction as the metal started burning slowly, before I set off again towards him.

His eyes had widened in horror as he tried to retract his 'hands' but to no avail. And soon I was on top of him, and unwillingly I was crying again along with him. but it had to be done in order for me to survive, and so I drove the knife through his chest.

He stopped struggling immediately, even as his eyes glazed over, staring into nothingness. My tears fell on his face and soon I was screaming, screaming in agony, in pain, in guilt.

But I had to do this, I had no choice. I had to survive this thing… even if it meant that the Capitol had its way with me.

Aryton Masserats (18) D6M

The one advantage that I had since Tybal and I teamed up was that I was well-rested.

The second advantage was that, apparently, the viewers were enjoying our team. They had sponsored Tybal with a mace, and myself with an even better and sharper sabre. It wasn't as if I didn't like the old one, but this was lighter too, so it helped.

And the final advantage that I had of being with Tybal was that he saved my life.

The two of us had been on our way, talking about our backgrounds, whiling away our time. I told him how much I liked wielding, and how attached I was to my work. It had been lonely all this time, with Jordan and Saunder only talking about murder, so when the boy from Nine was ready to listen, I told him everything.

I return, Tybal told me about his family… or what called itself his family. He didn't say a bad word about them, but his tone was enough to let me know of the contempt. I felt as if there was something that he was holding back, for although he told me he worked for his family, he never elaborated on the said work. I didn't push the subject further, but had the incident filed away in my head.

We were still in one of the countless tunnels underground, when we heard something. The two of us came to a stop, holding our breath, even as we tried to listen. The voices were faint, and barely audible, but one sentence alerted me immediately.

"I'm going to rip out his heart for ditching us with all the supplies!"

That was literally the only thing I heard clearly, but my feet started moving backwards, much to Tybal's surprise.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Shhh! Come quick!" I whispered back.

No, not now, not now! I had travelled in the exact opposite direction to where they had proceeded! I couldn't just stumble across them now! Jordan and Saunder would kill me on sight!

"Are they your allies? I mean- former allies."

"Yes!"

I turned around and started running, and Tybal followed suit, keeping up with me.

"We can kill them Aryton!"

"We can't Tybal!"

"Both of us have weapons. We're strong Ary! We can finish them off!"

"We have weapons Tybal, but we're not infected with blood-lust, unlike that piece of *** Jordan!"

"Man, it's hard to take you seriously when you curse."

"*** you!"

In front of, the way had branched into three, and I pointed at the right one.

"There, let's go there!"

Before we could proceed, the webs started closing the entrances, even as I heard the faint voice of Saunder saying, "Jordan, do you hear anything?"

"Oh no!" I whispered, my heart racing as if it had run a marathon. There was a dull pounding in my head, and I felt a hollowness in my chest. Maybe for the first time in years, I was panicking. No way would we be able to escape this place alive. Sure, we had weapons, but so did they. Tybal too, looked lost then, as if unable to decide what to do.

"We can't get away, can we?"

Tybal suddenly snapped out of his lost thoughts and snatched my old sabre from my hands, and I watched him as he cut the webs with it. To my surprise, the webs, although hard, cut away due to his brute strength. He managed to make a hole in it although the weapon had almost melted by then.

"Saunder, I think I hear something!"

Jordan's voice was much closer now, and soon Tybal's hand closed around my wrist, and then he was pulling me along into the new tunnel, and then dragging me along through it.

"Come on! They'll notice that the webs have been cut!"

The harshness of his voice reminded me that I had to do something. It brought me out of my panicking daze, and soon I was running along with him, running as fast as my legs could carry, running for all I was worth. He pulled me into another tunnel to the left, but we didn't stop running. We ran and ran, until I fell due to exhaustion, and Tybal was on his knees for the same reason.

"Thanks Tybal."

"Remind me to never be with you when you panic. You get useless."

Now, I would usually reprimand him for such a statement, but he was right this time. Plus, I couldn't really be angry right now.

The two maniacs didn't find us, and that was enough for now.

Shama Grasswhistle (13) D7F

The day, after the two cannons earlier, had been pretty calm, and I couldn't help for any better.

The boys all trudged ahead, talking about random things, and I couldn't understand how they could forget everything so quickly. Had it been yesterday when we killed Vis? I didn't know, but I knew I shouldn't judge them. After all, I was arguing about cake with Canon earlier, so that really didn't give me the right to judge anyone.

But as they walked a few steps ahead of me, I couldn't help but cry as I walked. I wanted to be home, with my mother. I wanted to work at the grocery shop again. I wanted to go to school. But I had accepted that I couldn't really get home. How could I win? I was a little girl from Seven, with no weapons, and no skills. I was hopeless, and that's what the mentors thought too, I was sure. What chance did I have against someone like the Careers? Against Tybal? Aryton? Teddy? Jordan? Even Ari? None at all.

"Hey Shama."

Dwayne had fallen back from the other boys, who walked ahead, chatting about stuff that didn't have a place in the arena. But they were young boys, and how long could they resist? The eldest boy drew me closer, wiping way my tears with his other hand.

"Why are you crying, idiot?"

"Because I'm an idiot," I replied, "We don't need rhyme or reason to do anything. We just do it."

"At least you admitted you're an idiot. I'll count that as a win."

"Only losers count their wins."

"Now that's like you!" he exclaimed in disgust, "And I thought you were actually getting better."

"To make yourself better, you need to surround yourself with better people. My current company, in that regard, is a little less."

He whistled at that, catching the attention of the other two boys, who stopped to look at us even as he pulled me even closer to the point that I actually felt warm.

"Thanks Dwayne."

"I was just feeling cold, girl."

Drei laughed as Canon face-palmed, as they walked towards us and soon Drei had his arm around me too, even as Canon started making faces. Pulling down his lower lids, he stuck out his tongue, and his innocent attempts at humour made me laugh out loud. I freed myself from the other boys and hugged Canon tightly, which he returned. It felt even warmer when the other two joined in, and I could delude myself for a while to think that I was safe. Of course, with that feeling came another thought, thought that made me want to pull away. In order to go home, all these people had to die. Every one of them.

I shivered, and was about to pull away, when we saw that two figures had emerged, their swords pointed at us.

Andrei hastily got behind Dwayne, his eyes widened. I myself felt rooted to the spot as I eyed Everette and Casper. The boy from Two didn't look like the person he was before the Games. He had been so gentle then… right now his eyes were burning, and I thought that the only reason they hadn't attacked was that there were four of us.

"Oh hi guys," Canon said sheepishly, "Uh, hope we didn't disturb you."

Everette frowned at him as he lowered his sword just a bit. But before he could say anything, the ceiling overhead started trembling. We all looked up, standing still for a second. This trembling was not like the one that happened every day. Just then, dust started falling from the ceiling.

I ran.

I didn't bother shouting out a warning for others, it just didn't come to my mind. I only knew I had to save myself before the ceiling fell, and then everyone started running even as the ceiling started coming down.

"Aah!"

I heard Andrei cry out, and I turned around to see him injured, blood oozing from his head. I wanted to help, but the ceiling was falling. I ran, getting into the tunnel, even as Andrei followed. However, just then a rock was about to fall on him, and I grabbed his wrists and pulled him with every ounce of strength that I had into the tunnel even as Canon and Everette rushed past me. And then, the entire ceiling fell in.

"Th-thank you Shama," Andrei panted as he eyed the blocked entrance of the tunnel, his face scrunched up in pain.

"Are you okay?" Canon asked tearfully, looking at the wound.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Dwayne wasn't with us, nor was Casper. Since there had been no cannons exploding, I knew that they weren't dead. They might have escaped into some other tunnel.

Everette tore a part of his shirt that he was wearing under the arena outfit, and soon he was bandaging Andrei's wound even as the boy watched him apprehensively. It was interesting to see a supposedly brutal Career helping out a little boy, but Everette had always shown in his behaviour that he wasn't the regular evil Career.

"There, I think it should hold up."

He got up and started walking away, and without meaning to, I grabbed hold of his wrist.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I don't know," he sighed, "But I've been separated from my ally. I'll try to find him if I can, or actually get some kills."

The response chilled me greatly, but I held on nonetheless.

"Can we come with you?"

"Shama!" Andrei remarked. He didn't say anything else, but his voice betrayed him. He was obviously thinking why I wanted to stay with a Career, when he could easily kill us. But if he had to kill us, he would have done that long ago.

"Alright," he said, surprising all of us.

And nobody protested this any further. After all, we all needed some kind of protection, and everyone here was ready to ditch the Career as soon as they were far into the Games.

Hi guys! Hopefully this wasn't too boring? Another no-death chapter, just to set a few scenes. We'll hear from Jordan and Saunder properly next chapter, because they haven't appeared in a while. Please let me know your thoughts on the events here!

Also guys, I've put up a poll on my profile and I request you to please vote! Your vote matters! Act like the responsible readers that you are and vote! XD It's precious!

Alliances:

Team 1: Everette, Shama, Canon, Andrei

Team 2: Saunder, Jordan

Team 3: Aryton, Tybal

We don't know what happened to Casper and Dwayne, so I'll update that next chapter.

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)

Ivory (killed by Ari)

Ari (killed by Siobhan)

Have a great day!