Hallo readers,
This is the newest update so far (obviously) and I just wanted to make a few things clear, which might not be easy to understand from this chapter! I did the little time frame thing to show what happened because a dying person isn't actually a very reliable narrator. And yes, the rebels are the ones who tried to overthrow the Capitol at the start of the Games. You haven't heard much from them because... well. There isn't much happening in their cell. Next chapter will explain why they failed.
Also, I'm very sorry to those who died this chapter. Poor Rye, he was an OK chap. Today I totted up all the reviews by EVERYONE and I decided to kill the tributes who's submitters hadn't reviewed at all. My condolences, but there is a chance you won't even read this.
Apologies and full of guilt,
*In the Blink of an Eye
Alyssa "Ace" Berg, District Eight
My skin is burning and melting off as I stare. Bubbling, frothing like a pan of boiling milk. The pain is like having hot needles stabbed into my chest, the agony restricting my lungs, making my scream bubble into nothingness.
Dancing black fairies flitter at the corner of my vision. Not enough to block out the white face of the One boy. He's pale and shaking. Wiping his hands on his shirt and turning to run. But he doesn't make it that far. At that moment, an even stronger wave of pain crashes over me and my eyes clench shut.
By the time I can open them again, the boy is on the ground, a spear in his chest, heaving and contracting as the muscles readied themselves for rigor mortis.
But what is this!? Is the pain leaving? A calm, soothing feeling swoops over me. Where there was agony, there is now tranquil emptiness. I sigh in relief. My life isn't over!
I am still thinking this happy thought when the dagger pierces my forehead.
Mylo Kingfisher, Head Gamemaker
The footage is intense – real action with tension so palpable, you could eat it. I replay the clip which is going live to Panem in just a moment.
10:02:34 PM
Rye Kuna is sitting in his cave, waiting out the night with a knife beside him. But when the lizard mutt he thought he'd killed earlier springs to life, there is only one thing he can do. Kicking the creature into the tepid night, he settles down once more, vigilant for trespassers.
10:18:09 PM
When Alyssa Berg manages to noisily peak the summit in front of him, and at the same time Gamemaker Frenzy releases another mutt, Rye reacts in a way that no Games has seen before. He bats the second mutt into the air with his pack and it lands on the late Alyssa Berg. How convenient.
10:19:52 PM
Rye Kuna is speared in the chest by one, Lash Frist, as he tries to escape the scene.
10:20:41 PM
Alyssa Berg experiences the late chemical reaction of the mutt poison, feeling as though she is cured. Even if she hadn't been stabbed in the head by Lash Frist, the last fatal misleading symptom of the mutt poison would have occurred, resulting in death.
...
I nod approvingly at Gamemaker Avery Glutton to broadcast the footage and I walk over to Gamemaker Dolenius Frenzy.
"That was some good work there, my friend." He looks a little apprehensive. Being the deputy Mutt Controller, he never got much attention from higher authority. "As a reward for your achievement, I am promoting you to Head Mutt Controller."
Dolenius Frenzy goes a very pale shade of white. "A-a-are you s-s-s-s-s-su-sure?"
I had to pick the stammering fool to promote didn't I? "Yes-s-s" I reply mockingly, and turn back to resume my perch on the balcony. "Oh, and Mitius Deliric," I call over my shoulder, "you're demoted."
A messenger enters the circular room a second later. "Kingfisher? I have a message for you." He looks at me meaningfully and I get his gist. We move away from the working Gamemakers.
"The rebels are ready to be seen."
Suddenly, my day gets one hundred percent better. I smile widely and take the note from the messenger's outstretched fist. It has the room name 'Pluto XX010' scrawled on the creamy surface.
Ten minutes and four angry guards later, I am entering the cell. Five dishevelled, shackled figures sit, drenched in life's misery. I clear my throat, crack my knuckles and get reading to begin the harsh interrogation.
"So you though you could outsmart us, did you?"
The Fallen:
Rye Kuna, District One Boy [Cause of death: Spear in chest-Lash Frist]
Alyssa "Ace" Berg, District Eight Girl [Cause of death: Poison + Stab in the head-Rye Kuna + Lash Frist]