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XXXIV. The 68th Annual Hunger Games
The Avox injects the liquidised medicine into my arm and I force a smile. "Thanks," I mutter under my breath. Pulling out one of the two wheelie chairs in front of District Four's table, I sit down next to Wiress. I greet her with a polite nod, and she offers a smile that's not quite there. But then again, she's never really appeared to be very sane.
"Launching in one minute."
The mentors are finally greeted with the map of the arena this year. A string of curses weave through the group of mentors as we gather around our screens. With twenty-three mentors, the room seems crowded even if it is large.
The arena is a perfect square, split right in half from the top right hand corner to the bottom left corner. One half is desert with sand dunes, sedimentary rocks and caves, and the other half is an arctic environment with light snowfall and glaciers. Despite these two contrasting environments and the lack of plant life they often have, the arena is decorated with trees, which don't seem to be the least bit affected by the extreme climate. It seems almost surreal, but I suppose the Gamemakers can in fact, make anything happen.
Haymitch laughs drunkenly from across the room and yells, "District Twelve lives for snow."
Unfortunately, District Four's weather is nowhere even close to either of these two environments. Sure, it can be hot, but it's more of a tropical rainforest climate than a desert. I'm assuming that Thomas would head for the desert, while Marlene situates herself with the Careers right at the border in between, which would be the smartest choice.
The desert region shows to have no sources of water, and in an instant, we all know that this specific element will be the hardest to maintain. Trekking through nothing by ice is undoubtedly a difficult task, though I have no experience.
The countdown begins and a tense, hushed silence comes upon us. Checking the next screen, I breathe out a sigh of relief as I notice that Marlene has over a million dollars' worth of sponsors. Clicking back, I scan my eyes over the screen, instantly spotting Marlene's long, black hair.
This year, the ring of tributes is set smack-bang in the middle of the arena, with twelve on the desert side and the other twelve in the polar region. Even an idiot would know that the one situated in the desert will reach the golden Cornucopia first - unless someone decides to slide along the ice, which isn't the most logical solution.
Thankfully, Marlene stands on a pedestal in the desert, between the girl from Eight and Corbin. The others in their alliance are spread out evenly, and Dee stomps on her pedestal in rage when she realises she's received the disadvantage of starting off on ice. Topaz (Cashmere's tribute), Corbin and Marlene are all situated on the same side and seem to be engaging themselves in a silent conversation with only eyebrow lifts and hand waving as gestures.
I don't understand. Neither does Cashmere nor Blight.
The gong rings out from the speakers and the bloodbath begins. As all the tributes surge forward to grab their weapons or flee to escape their death, the mentors start screaming at their screens. Everyone's screaming at their tributes to do whatever, despite the fact that they can't hear their mentors anymore.
Joseph and I watch as Thomas make a lunge for the backpack in front of him and flee back into the desert. Good choice.
I lean forward, silently and watch as Marlene rushes forward quickly with Topaz right at her heels. My tribute grabs hold of a nearby spear, Topaz manages to retrieve a set of knives and Corbin grabs his axe. Together, the three of them band together to fight off the pettier tributes, while the other half of their alliance struggles to move towards the Cornucopia. Evidently, not many have experienced snow.
Marlene makes the first kill of the Games. She flings the spear out of her hands and the weapon impales itself in the stomach of the boy from Eleven. He collapses onto the ground, blood dribbling out of his mouth and gags for a few seconds before falling limp. It's a quick kill, at least.
Next, Topaz flings a dagger at a nearby tribute - the girl from Three. The dagger embeds itself into her side and before she can even think of taking another few steps, Corbin's slammed the sharp edge of his axe into her stomach. Another dead.
To many mentors' disgust, Dee has given up on reaching the weapons, and she's using her own hands. She's tall and strong; her arms reach out to the tribute beside her easily and with one easy push, the tribute's feet slide from underneath him and his body collides onto the ice with a loud thud. Dee grabs a hold of his head and smashes it onto the ice.
"Ouch," Joseph mutters.
"Fuck you!" the male mentor from Five booms at Enobaria.
Several tributes manage to escape the clutches of the Careers either by grabbing a weapon and simply surviving, or fleeing. Wielding only a dagger in her right hand, Marlene lunges for another female tribute about half her size. The girl releases a strangled scream as Marlene yanks her hair and slits her throat.
The bloodbath takes twenty-seven minutes this year and for that duration of time, I'm sitting right on the edge of the seat. Marlene seems to engage in several duels and constantly gains the upper hand against her opponent. Thrice, she's done so and ended up sandwiching the other tribute between herself and either Topaz or Corbin, with the latter completing the final blow with a deep slice at the back of the neck. It seems like they're the power duo for now.
Half an hour into the Games, ten tribute screens in the Mentor Room have gone black. The girl from Three, both from Five, the girl from Eight, both from Nine and Ten, the boy from Eleven and the boy from Twelve are gone.
"There isn't even snow. It's ice," Lance, the male from Two, complains, basking in the sun.
"Quit your whining already," Marlene replies with an eye roll. "Everyone, pick your weapons and set camp up, yeah?"
"Who made you in charge?" Dee questions, towering over her.
"No one but I don't see anyone else doing anything so I decided to step up," she says, smoothly. "Besides, you three didn't even claim any kills."
"I killed one."
"Yeah, uh, it isn't that hard to get someone to trip onto the ice and slam their head into the ice. Quite pathetic, if you ask me."
Dee's face turns an ungodly shade of purple as she points a threatening finger at Marlene. "Lance and Orion didn't even claim any kills."
The canon goes off and ten gongs sound. "We," Marlene says, gesturing towards herself, Corbin and Topaz, "claimed six of those kills. You three are out hunting first."
Marlene's actions during the bloodbath have left me questioning whether she's lost it or not. Has she given in to the bloodlust? Her eyes, calm and collected, seem to tell a different story, but now, I can't be certain anymore. With a flick of her hair, Marlene unzips her jacket and enters the Cornucopia, running her hands recklessly over the collection of weapons. Weighing two of the same swords in each of her hands, she slides one into the sheath she has that's tied around her waist and hangs over her tracksuit pants. Gingerly, she clips two small knives into the inside of her jacket and straps two spears to her back. Topaz and Corbin come in, like little lap dogs, and grab their own item choices - knives and axes. Orion, Lance and Dee assign themselves their own weapons, which mostly consist of the same as the other three.
As the others loiter around outside and set up their own sleeping arrangements, Marlene decides to stay in the Cornucopia. "What's she looking for?" Joseph asks me, but I'm just as baffled. I shrug, shaking my head helplessly.
It must've been at least five minutes until the slightest shadow of a smirk appears on her face. She reaches forward to open up the lid of one small crate in the back corner of the Cornucopia - a crate nobody else had noticed.
Gloss laughs and shakes his head. "You've got a smart girl there, Odair."
What?
Marlene folds her hand around an object, which creates a familiar sound - one that I can't quite pinpoint - and without opening her fist, she shoves the time in her pocket, her eyes flittering towards the opening of the Cornucopia.
"What was that?" I ask Joseph.
"No idea."
She pulls out a pair of knuckle-dusters, wrapping one around her right hand and hooking the other into her belt loop. Now, I finally understand why Gloss had said she was smart.
Gloss had used a pair of knuckle-dusters, a sword and a set of throwing knives to win his Games, and it seems that Marlene has the same plan, with the exception that she's better with spears than knives. Of course he'd think she's smart.
"Well, come on," Marlene says. "You guys going or not? No one could've gotten that far."
Dee shoots her a scowl, while Orion and Lance comply to her orders. Suck ups, I think as they venture out into the dense foliage behind the Cornucopia. "Should we camp on the ice or in the desert?" Corbin asks.
"Ice," Topaz replies instantaneously. "Like, if you're cold, you can always put more layers on and if you're hot, it doesn't even help if you're naked."
"Do you have the sponsors to keep you warm?"
She winks at him. "No but body heat will."
Marlene watches them two of them in disgust and picks at her nails. "This is the goddamned arena. Couldn't you have flirted during training instead?"
That night, the other three of the alliance turn up without any kills. "Everyone's in hiding," Orion had explained before the six of them begin feasting on the food the Gamemakers have supplied in the Cornucopia. They're huddled up in two sleeping bags each, and still shiver. Hovering my mouse over the icon of the electric blanket, which apparently doesn't even need electricity in the arena, and click send. The bucket drifts down and lands inches away from Marlene's feet. Her lips curve up into a small grin as she wraps the blanket around her. "Thanks, Odair," she murmurs, softly.
By now, almost every tribute has fallen asleep and the Mentor Room is silent, until a knock on the door is heard. The female Avox from before enters, holding a white slip of paper with blood red calligraphy written on the centre of it.
"Who's that for?" Cashmere asks.
It turns out there are two slips - one for both Cashmere and I. Holding back a sigh, I read the address. Looks like I have another customer tonight.
"Look out for Marlene, would you?" I say to Joseph. He nods and waves me off. "Of course. Go do whatever."
A/N: Sorry for the super duper boring chapter! I really don't like it because I feel like it's really rushed (and I'm pretty sure it is) but I just can't seem to make it any better or at least, any more decent, so I gave up. To be honest, I really don't know how the 68th Games will go on. I've planned out the Victor and the after-events, but not anything that happens in the arena, SO that means everything will be pretty spontaneous - my apologies