Shimmer Argent, 18, District 1
Our campfire is dim, but it illuminates just enough to see a few feet in every direction. Now I keep watch. I'm not about to risk having Carn fall asleep on us again, not when there could be any number of creatures stalking us in these woods.
Creatures…or people.
I lean against a tree, my eyes slowly scanning the shadows around us. Eight tributes stand between me and victory. Just eight.
Two of them are lying asleep in front of me. Carn and Thera. If they were to team up—which they won't. They hate each other too much for that—against me, there's a chance that they could overpower me. I could kill them both right now. Poisoned knife in the bloodstream. They'd never even wake up.
And I would, if it weren't for Jude and Robin. I've yet to see them in action, but I'd bet that they've been behind the other kills—the girls from Six and Twelve. I would much rather outnumber that duo than go it alone. After they're dead, then I'll kill Carn and Thera. Maybe Jude will take down one of them for me.
Probably Carn. He probably wouldn't notice if there was an axe in his skull anyway, the idiot.
Then there's Bergamot. If I jump him, he's dead. If he jumps me… I won't let that happen.
Who else is out there? I frown, thinking.
The Elevens… That scrawny little boy, and the girl. It was dumb luck that they got away at the Cornucopia. All that that girl has is speed, and that won't protect her from a poisoned knife. The boy's helpless without her to protect him.
I'm missing someone. Who am I forgetting? No one dangerous, surely…
I think back to the Reapings, and the days at the Capitol, comparing the faces there to the faces of the dead. Who's the odd one out…?
Carn stirs, rolls over, and stands up.
"Bathroom," he mutters before skulking off into the trees and out of sight.
I don't like not knowing something. I take out a knife and toss it into the air, where it flips until the handle lands back in my hand. Again I toss the knife, and again I catch it as I think.
Then it hits me, and I almost laugh out loud. The girl with the limp. District Nine. Dismal training score. It's a wonder she's survived this long.
If I find her, then fine. Otherwise, I'll leave her until the end. She'll be an easy kill.
XXX
Carn Hurdy, 18, District 2
I pull my pants back up, but instead of turning back towards camp and the light of our campfire I continue to walk through the trees and up the mountain. Everything's so quiet here at night. District Two is a city in the mountains, with the clamor of rocks and trains. There aren't so many trees there. It's different here. It's kind of nice, in a strange sort of way.
I'm ready to go back home, though.
The sounds of hurried footsteps somewhere in front of me bring me out of my thoughts very quickly. I freeze, and then I hear a swishing sound, and then a grunt of pain, followed by more footsteps.
I inch forward. There's a clearing just ahead of me. I peer out from behind a tree as a tall figure runs by, his hood up and a bow in his hands. Just before he reaches the trees on the opposite end of the clearing, another figure drops down from a tree, knocking him to the ground.
"Hurry, Jude!" she calls as she struggles to hold him down. Her victim tries to throw her off, but she determinedly stays on top, forcing his arms behind his body. There's a crack, and then the girl tosses the bow aside, broken in two.
A third figure enters the clearing, limping and dragging a huge axe behind him. It's Jude.
"Quick!" Robin shouts. Jude heaves himself over to them.
"Get out of the way," he snarls. Robin rolls off of her victim, keeping his legs pinned.
"Please," I hear the boy on the ground whisper. "Please, no…"
Jude swings his axe, burying its blade in the boy's stomach. The boy groans, but stays mostly quiet.
"Did he get you?" Robin hisses.
"In the leg," Jude replies, pulling his axe out of his victim's body. "The arrow fell out. I'm bleeding pretty bad."
"Let's get back under cover; then I'll fix you up. He won't live long."
The two District Seven tributes head back into the trees, the noise of their movements fading away. I wait until they must be a long way away, and then I walk over to the fallen boy. There hasn't been a cannon yet. He's still alive.
I stand over him, and all I can see is blood, dark red liquid running everywhere. Suddenly, I feel very nauseous.
The boy stirs. I don't think that he sees me, but he lifts one hand up to his face. In it he's clutching what appears to be a leather bracelet.
"T-Thalia…" he sighs, and then his arm goes limp and he lies very, very still.
Now, the cannon fires.
I hesitate, leery of putting my hands anywhere near all that blood, but I grab a few arrows out of the quiver on his back. Then I turn and quickly walk back towards my camp.
When I get there, Shimmer and Thera are on high alert, probably aroused by the cannon. Shimmer's eyes narrow at the sight of the arrows in my hand.
"Bergamot Palentia is dead," I announce, tossing the arrows onto the fire.
Thera looks at the arrows, and then at me, and then at Shimmer, a disbelieving look on her face. Shimmer just frowns thoughtfully. I sit down next to the fire and watch the arrows burn.
XXX
Vivienne Derry leans back in her chair, running a hand through her long, graying hair, which has gained a few more strands of silver this year. She looks around the room. There are only five tables left in a room that originally held twelve. This is the Sponsor Center.
Today's been a slow day. A few rich-looking folks had come up to the District Seven table earlier that morning, after Jude and Robin's latest killing, giving enough money to clean and bandage Jude's leg, but that was all.
"Do you want to go to lunch now?"
Vivienne turns to the speaker, who sits at the District Eleven Table.
"Not yet, Aspen," she says. "Not quite yet."
Aspen Rall shrugs. "I don't think we're going to get anything."
"But if I'm not here, then it doesn't get written down," says Vivienne. "And if it doesn't get written down, then it doesn't help Kayla."
"I know that," Aspen sighs. "We all know that."
Vivienne looks back at the door. Aspen watches her for a minute, and he notes the tenseness in her stance. He won the Games right before hers, so they've known each other for quite a while.
"Look," says Aspen. "I'm sorry about Bergamot. He was a good kid."
"They're always good kids." Vivienne mutters. "Each and every one of them."
The door slides open, and a man walks in. He has dark hair and rainbow-colored skin. Aspen raises an eyebrow at Vivienne. No matter how many years go by, he's never managed to understand the Capitol fashion sense.
The man glances around the room, looking over all five tables, and then he approaches Vivienne.
"This is for Kayla," he says, taking an envelope out of his coat pocket. "And this…for Anise and Briar," he continues, handing Aspen an identical envelope.
"Your name?" Vivienne asks.
"If you must put something down, write 'Anonymous Donor,'" the man says as he turns and walks back outside.
That wasn't too unusual. Plenty of sponsors prefer to be anonymous, although most like to have their names out in the world, desperate for any grab at fame.
Vivienne opens the envelope. Her eyes widen, and she looks over at Aspen, who nods.
"Me, too," he says.
"Just when I thought that nothing could amaze me…" Vivienne mutters, quickly entering the incredibly high amount.
The lower Districts never get high-paying sponsors. But this much, on day five of the Games…this could buy food. This could buy medicine. This could even buy a gift, something to make Kayla feel more comfortable. She had been pacing again this morning. Vivienne hated to think how the girl would react to find out that Bergamot was dead.
"Lunchtime?" says Aspen.
Vivienne nods, thinking.
XXX
Briar Tussen, 12, District 11
I sit down on a rock, resting. I've been hiking all day, up the mountain and towards a peak that I have yet to find. I take a sip from my water bottle. It's running low, despite my efforts to conserve it. Hopefully, there will be water at the peak. I definitely heard rushing water at the Cornucopia, so it's got to be around here somewhere.
I look up, and then I leap back to my feet. There's a silver parachute caught on a branch in the tree above me!
Sponsors! For me? Yes!
I climb up the tree as quickly as I can, pulling the parachute free and sitting on the branch as I open the package hanging from it.
Inside, there is a full water bottle and a long coil of rope!
I put the water bottle in my backpack next to the other one, but I hesitate with the rope. What am I supposed to do with this? Ah, well, it could be useful later. And I have space for it in my backpack now…I'm starting to run out of fruit. But those berries this morning were good, so no worries.
In a much better mood now than I was a few minutes ago, I climb back down to the ground and continue up the mountain.
XXX
Kayla Rakkor, 15, District 9
The Capitol logo flashes, and I count the seconds until it goes away in an attempt to lower my anxiety. Who died last night? Who's still after me? I need to know… I need to know!
After what feels like a lifetime but was actually exactly sixty-five seconds, the logo disappears, and then the picture appears.
It's Bergamot.
"Iceberg…!" I wail, stretching my hands up to the sky, trying to touch the face of the boy who is now dead…but then it fades away, and the fanfare plays, and I am all alone in the darkness once more.
"Bergamot…" I whisper to the stars, sagging to my knees. My head hangs, staring at the ground but not seeing it.
"The bravest hunter of them all…
Don't you hear his trumpet call?"
The words find their way out of my mouth on their own.
"Through the woods the hunter runs,
For his hunt has just begun.
Now gone to another place,
Where he will have prey to race,
Where the birds sing songs of praise,
Where the sun sheds joyful rays,
Where he will not be the least,
Where he'll always be at peace,
Where the trees give pleasant shade,
Where he'll wander through the glade,
With his arms around his love,
In this place so far above."
I turn my face back to the sky.
"Farewell, hunter. Fly you far.
My guide shall always be your star."
XXX
Remaining Tributes:
Tribute-Name-Age
1G Shimmer Argent 18
2B Carn Hurdy 18
2G Thera Adrastea 17
7B Jude Paraux 17
7G Robin Sarabia 16
9G Kayla Rakkor 15
11B Briar Tussen 12
11G Anise Leenan 15