The Third Day

Reynard Ciervo (18) D10M

Would sponsoring us with some water kill the Capitolites?

The lack of it would certainly result in my end.

"I c-can't…" I whispered as Sevarian shook me, trying to wake me up. I didn't want to wake up. The thirst would be worse if I did, and I had no desire to face it.

"Reynard, take a sip," his voice drifted to my tired ears.

Take a sip?

I opened my eyes warily, only to shut them back. The morning light was too bright. Too blinding. I turned around and then opened my eyes, only to be met by the scene of the horrible green grass.

"Wh-what happened?" I groaned.

"Sponsor gifts," Sevarian replied, "Here take a sip."

And when I had the bottle in my hand, for a couple I could do nothing but stare at it and then the liquid was slowly moving down my throat. It was life. Really, nothing had ever tasted as good as water did at that time.

"Thanks," I said, passing it to him and watched as he drank again. Maybe we should have saved some but then I saw that there was another bag on the ground apart from our own. I pulled it towards myself and rummaged through it. There were three more bottles, and lots of fruits. And wafers. And a rope. A torch too.

"Nice," I said, pleased with the things in it. The bag we had taken from Arrington had a sleeping bag, a blanket and a small of first aid kit. We had plenty of supplies for now.

"I think we should move," Sevarian said, flinging the larger bag on.

I nodded and then forced myself on my feet. Now I was cursing myself. There had been no need to sleep so much. I hadn't been alert. Sevarian could have killed me in my sleep… And I wouldn't even know. The thought was too terrible. No, I couldn't take the chance. Not anymore. We were in the final twelve. Top ten, and then I would depart. It wasn't safe, not at all.

As we walked, I felt as if the forest was thinning, the place looked vaguely familiar. I had seen it a long time back. Well not really but it felt like that. Wait…

We were out of the forest, in front of the garden.

The tree, which was the cornucopia, loomed over us, all majestic in its ancient glory. There was nobody present there.

"Where are the Careers?" he asked.

"Maybe they have gone… hunting," I replied with distaste.

"Should we take it over?" he asked. I saw the greed in his eyes and that was not good.

"No," I said, "That isn't a good idea. They can return any time."

"Two of them are dead," he retorted, "I say this is a good chance to gain power and make sure that our chances of survival are greater than they are."

I pursed my lips. Too much greed was never a good idea but I could clearly see what was on his mind. I nodded.

"Alright," I replied and put on my helmet. I didn't like it, it felt as if I was suffocating in it. I saw Sevarian do the same and then the two of us ran towards the cornucopia. The first thing I did was to drop my hatchet and lift the slender sword. I used it better, having spent some good amount of time training with it during the training days. Then I started sorting through the stuff, trying to find things with which I could make a decent trap.

Sevarian had relaxed a lot and was now sitting under the tree, examining the throwing knives.

I knew we couldn't stay there for long. I had to be ready. And just as I thought so, they arrived at the spot.

Alessandra "Aly" Farro (13) D9F

Bridge's presence was comforting, to say the least. He cracked the worst jokes at the worst times and made me laugh when I wanted to cry. He himself looked sad and I understood why, but he tried to not let it show.

I couldn't believe he had killed two people already.

And now he was dragging me along, trying to find water. I was too weak to move, clinging to him as tightly as I could. "Stop…" I groaned, "I can't move…"

"Hold on," he said in his shrill voice, "We- we will find something."

"No!" I said.

"Aly," he said, "The cornucopia is close."

I stopped.

"Bridge," I said, "We can't do it. what if the Careers are there, again? After Asher…"

"Do not worry," he replied and the very next moment he had his chakram in his hand. I didn't like the way he looked at it. It was… manic.

"No Bridge. We can't-"

"Aly," he said, "We can't go on without food and water forever. I am sure that we'll find something at the cornucopia."

"I know we will," I said in exasperation. It was already getting too hard to speak, to do anything. My throat was too dry…

"But there are trained killers there, Bridge. We, we don't stand a chance!"

"As long as I am heeereee

"Do not feeearrrr

"Anyone who comes neeeearrrr

"I will teeearrrr."

Despite myself, I laughed. He was so adorable! Even when holding a deadly weapon, more than ready to kill others, he managed to cheer me up. His songs! I laughed.

"I love your songs man," I said and he grinned. For a second I thought that he turned red in his childish embarrassment and I gave him a hug. He giggled nervously but then it faltered when I spoke in his ears.

"Don't do it Bridge. Don't."

"Stay here Aly," he said, "I'll bring something for you. Don't worry."

And with that he shoved me to the side. I fell down on my elbow, giving a cry of pain as he muttered a hasty apology and then ran. No, I wasn't going to let him go off alone, not where all those dreadful Careers had made their hub.

"Bridge! Bridge!" I called after him, putting on my helmet simultaneously. My voice was muffled after that but that didn't bother me much. And soon, I was there, standing at the edge of the forest, staring at people I had not expected to be present.

There were Sevarian and Reynard in one side, Bridge stood a little ahead of me, discs in hand, and then there was Arrington on the other end, near the Deserter's Bell. She looked mad, angry. Her eyes were bloodshot and I could see that she was trembling, possibly from rage. Not good. Not good at all.

"Bridge!" I said, "Let's leave."

"Well, why are you here?" Sevarian asked.

"We're not here to fight," Bridge said, "We're here only because we don't have supplies. No food. No water. please, just let us take one bottle, only one. This thirst is unbearable now."

"Ha!" Arrington, no Ivy, said and then laughed, "Wrong place kid! You can't expect any kind of help from these rascals! They'll kill you. It's better you leave!"

"I'm not leaving," Bridge replied, "I will use force if I have to but I don't want to. So please. Just one bottle."

"Use force?" Sevarian asked. From his voice I could sense he was smirking. No…

"Yes."

"What will you do? Throw those discs at us?"

"Yes."

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Bennett made his entry into the garden, and was standing behind Ivy, who jumped back at the sound of his approach.

"Very well," she said, "Now since we are all gathered here, let's start the party."

"Ivy-" Reynard started.

"Don't you dare say my name!" she cried, "Don't!"

For what seemed like an eternity we all just stood there silently, staring at each other, but then Sevarian threw his knife at Ivy, who rolled out of the way, and the knife hit Bennett. He wasn't injured too much because of the thick jacket but then the boy from Five threw his knife at the roses around Ivy's feet.

"No!" his ally cried even as the knife hit the roses around both her and Bennett's feet.

What happened next was gruesome.

The petals, the leaves, the thorns, they all started forming a cocoon around the two. They screamed, and it was the most haunting voice I had heard. Ever. Slowly, very slowly, the flowers encased the two, and soon even the screams couldn't be heard. All that was heard were two cannons in a row, echoing in the place, frightening everyone to the root.

Bridge didn't stop.

During all the chaos, he had retrieved a bag for me and pulled me along, thrusting it in my hands. From the corner of my eye, I saw Reynard take off in the opposite direction, while Sevarian stayed where he was. he had two kills to his credit now, he had no reason to worry.

And in an instance, lots of things happened. First came the sound of Amaranthine and Galilee, then Bridge shoved me behind some bushes roughly, and a spear went right through his left arm. His right hand moved to throw the chakram with a lot of force but Amaranthine ducked the move…

… And the chakram hit the Bell.

Amaranthine "Amaranth" Carteret (16) D2M

The sound of the Bell was loud enough to cause an earthquake. Or do something worse.

The giant thing moved to and fro in its place, and Bridge gave a scream of anger and desperation, along with a cry of unfathomable pain.

"Tributes! No fighting!"

Lorenzo's voice filled the arena, even as I saw a hovercraft descend into the garden. Bridge shook his head as two men in suits like ours marched towards him.

"NO!" he cried, "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I DIDN'T USE THE BELL!"

"Accident or not, kid," one of the men said, "You are coming with us to the Capitol. And then you'll be going home."

"NO!" Bridge yelled as his discs were snatched away and he was forcefully being dragged away, towards the hovercraft. He struggled and struggled, trying to do all he could. The Bell still rang, sounding too much like the knell, and then Bridge was thrown into the hovercraft.

"BRIDGE!"

I turned to see Alessandra running towards us. In a swift motion she grabbed his discs and then jumped on top of me.

"Miss Farro! Stop Miss Farro!"

"You did this to Asher! You almost killed Bridge! YOU ATTACKED FROM BEHIND!" she cried, her voice not sounding like a thirteen-year-old girl anymore. It was hoarse and loud, broken and almost as if she was choking on her voice. "YOU WILL NOT GET OUT ALIVE!"

Galilee forced her off me and the younger girl kneed her in the stomach and then slashed at her stomach with the disc. Galilee jumped back and then Alessandra kicked her at the legs. Then she threw a disc at me, which I barely evaded.

"NO BRIDGE!" she called out, and this time she was crying. Her voice was shaking and then I saw the hovercraft ascend, swiftly departing form the arena. The Bell still rang and while it did so we couldn't really attack.

But it seemed that Alessandra had lost it.

She was rampaging, crying about Asher, about Burgundy and Rowan, about Bridge. None of her discs hit either of us, or even Sevarian, who dodged it expertly, but she still fought with her hands and legs and screamed and howled.

Galilee knocked her out.

I felt bad for the girl. She was too young to even be here and I lifted her in my arms, carrying her to where her bag was, and I lay her down gently.

"Final nine," Galilee said.

Final nine. I hadn't even realised. Who had died? There were two bodied in the Garden, and Sevarian would have to move away for them to collect them, but we couldn't understand whose corpses they were. I hoped they were not any of our allies.

The two of us turned to Sevarian, who held his knives firmly in his hands. From the way he stood, he radiated confidence. And ruthlessness. I did not have the strength for any more fights now. I didn't want to.

"Sevarian," I said, "Will you like to consider a truce with us?"

Galilee looked at me, possibly perplexed. But honestly, I didn't want to fight anymore.

"Sure," the boy from Five replied, "Make yourselves comfortable."

We moved towards him when Galilee stopped. Her eyes wandered over to the male body on the ground and then she ran towards it. It was unrecognisable but…

"… Ben?"

Her voice was soft but I could feel the rage in it. She was angry… More than just angry. I could feel that she was murderous at the moment. She and Bennett were friends from before… And I knew with a certainty that Sevarian had killed him.

I didn't feel sad or calm anymore.

I could feel Galilee's anger, I shared it with her. I turned around to confront Sevarian…

… But he was already gone.

This wasn't supposed to happen. I swear it wasn't. In fact, I was going to have a death-free chapter but… I don't know how this happened… And I feel like a mess right now. And finally, the Bell was used! Even though accidently, but still! Okay, I promise that next chapter will be death-free. And most probably the one after that too. I hope so. Hmm…

Eulogies:

12th: Arrington Hart- Arrington, or shall I say Ivy?- was a really unique tribute. She was different, she was fun, and I just loved her MPD. She was good to write for but I just felt her time had come. Rest in peace, Arrington. And Ivy.

11th: Bennett DeVallier- Bennett was different from most Careers. He had a good reason to volunteer, and all I feel bad about the most is that you'll never be able to speak. I liked you a lot, but you were never victor material for me. Sorry. But it was a delight to write for you. Rest in peace, you'll be missed.

10th: Bridge Carter- Okay, Bridge was my favourite. He was the most complicated, the most unique and the most fun character and he had the most detailed form, with the exact amount of information that I needed. He was a villain but had the potential to be a hero. He was the ideal person who could use the Deserter's Bell, and I am glad he's still alive. You will be missed.

So… I think slightly shorter POVs for the next two chapters will be fine, covering every tribute that's still around? I need to cut down on the death rate… too fast. Too fast.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and that it wasn't too boring. I'll post the death list next chapter. Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter.

Have a great day!