Day 2 is now, I hope you enjoy.
Iris Hound D2
I wake up to the sound of a cannon. I scream and within a second am standing with a spear in hand, readying myself to kill and attacker. Another cannon goes off straight afterwards and I know 2 people have died. Right, so 2 left, I'll see their names in the sky tonight. Hopefully it's Connectus and Lucy but I highly doubt it. They're both skilled and very good fighters.
It's still dark and I lay my head down on my pillow. Tomorrow I will hunt, not for animals but for tributes. However I know that when I'm down there, there is no coming back up for supplies.
I wake and see sunlight creeping over the walls of the cavern and realise that it's morning. The 2nd day and there's 9 left. I have no allies too which must surprise the audience, with there being no career pack but that doesn't phase me. It'll be a challenge but I know years of training has been leading up to these next few days. Only that's the problem. I'm being phased out by people who a month ago didn't have a clue they would even be here and are winning my sponsors. This angers me somewhat but I know I will kill them eventually.
I gather some supplies together and have a pack of nuts, 3 apples, a tin of vegetable stew and a chocolate bar for breakfast. I stuff a bag full of food and attach my sleeping bag to it, a pillow will make myself noticeable and the last thing I want when I'm sleeping is to be noticed. I strap on a few spears, slide some knives and a sword that I just sharpened into my belt. I put some knives into my coat. I tie my shoelaces and I am now ready.
Last night there were about 7 holes still left but now only one. I notice it was by my pedestal and realise they want me to go down my one. I'm sure there must be something deadly at the bottom so I take out a knife to ready myself in case of attack.
"Right, 3, 2, 1." I plunge into darkness.
"Aghh!" I shout. But after 3 seconds of falling I hit the floor with an almighty crash.
My legs hurt but I'll live. I'm still in the light and quickly glance up and catch a glimpse of the sun that I will surely miss in the days to come. I'm in complete darkness but can see something in front of me, a light.
I walk towards it and arm myself, readying myself for attack.
I reach the end of the tunnel and nearly fall off the ledge.
I am on the edge of an enormous cavern packed full of trees. Only they're 60m below me. Now that's the problem.
I look around and there is no way down except to climb. I see a pool below but brush the thought of jumping down, I don't have a clue how deep it is and I probably wouldn't survive the fall as well.
There is no ceiling to this cavern about 400m above me and I can see the sky and sun above me. So about 3m up, there is a wall that on the other side is the cornucopia.
I search the surrounding walls for something to grab hold of and see a smaller ledge about a metre both ways directly below this one.
I'll have to sort of swing down from this one.
First I throw my bag down there and that's easy so now all I've got to get down there is myself.
I position myself so I hang by the ledge.
50m below is a pool. About a metre in front of me and 3 metres down is the other ledge. I can feel my hands sweating and I know I need to do it now before I slip and fall.
I begin to bring my legs forward then back, forward then back and forward then back. I get a good rhythm going.
"And... go!" I swing and just get the ledge. A couple of centimetres back and I would fall, probably to my death.
From the ledge is something that I didn't see before. There's some vertical stair way thing. Well it's not exactly vertical but it's very very steep. I cshould be able to slowly make my way down. I take a swig of water and sling my pack over my shoulder.
I get on my hands and knees and drop my leg down to the first step, then the second and make my way down to the bottom.
After about an hour of carefully climbing down and several near misses with death I get to the bottom.
From here I can see how tall the trees really are.
Wait, what's that over there? Is it a tribute? I squint my eyes and see 2 small girls leaping from tree to tree.
Connectus and Lucy.
I'll have to starve them out of the trees but the trees and so tightly packed that they could just run through them like they're on the ground and I bet there's loads of food up there. I'm too well built and stocky to run around up there. I'd 1, make too much noise that they'd see me and run and 2, break the branches because of my weight.
I guess I'll just have to find some other way to get them out. Unless... I rummage around in my bag and find my box of matches.
Connectus Jones D3
In the distance I see a huge girl climbing down the rock face. I turn to Lucy.
"Lucy! It's Iris!" I warn her.
"Finish your breakfast then we'll move away," she replies.
I finish eating 2 apples that we found in the tree, a shared can of soup and 4 eggs that I sucked the insides out of.
I glance over my shoulder and see she is just at the bottom and looking this way.
"We better move Lucy."
"OK, let's go," she agrees.
We leap from this tree to the next. This morning Lucy taught me some tricks at jumping from tree to tree and now I find it really easy.
We glance over at her and she's rummaging through her bag, she takes out a box of matches. I gulp.
"What is it?" Lucy asks intently.
"Matches." I reply, completely avoid of emotion, but dread showing in my eyes.
"Oh no." Lucy replies.
Iris Hound D2
I find some dry leaves and some wood then make some trails of them leading up to small trees then bigger trees. This takes about an hour but afterwards I'm chuffed with my work.
I strike a match and light the leaves and wood. It take a while to get going but once it is going it comes completely ablaze.
I wave at Connectus and she sticks up her middle finger straight at me.
I know it's not the bloody death I planned for her but it'll have to do.
My work here is done and I pick a tunnel and stroll down it.
Connectus Jones D3
"Run!" Lucy screams. The trees all around are bursting into flames. The game makers must be catching on to Iris' idea of burning us out and helping her. We're running like the wind to get away. I look up and they're closing the roof of the cavern, obviously wanting to direct the smoke down the tunnels and move the tributes together.
I trip on a branch and hurtle towards the ground in a crash. I'm not hurt but the fire is catching up to me. Lucy sees and tells me to climb back up but I'm not a good climber and by the time I'm up there I will have lost valuable time. The ground will have to do.
I run as fast as I can through the trees. I can see Lucy up to my right just ahead of me but going at the same speed even though she's in the trees.
I see a tunnel about 100m head and if I can just make it to it then I will be safe.
I pick up the pace and shout up to Lucy.
"The tunnel!" I shout. She waves her hand in agreement not wanting to slow down.
About 50m have gone by in a matter of seconds and Lucy drops down from the trees. She loses her balance and tumbles to the ground. I have to stop and help her up but I have lost valuable seconds and all my speed.
"Come one!" I beckon, "We have to go!"
"I think I've broken something," she replies, clearly in a state of 'This is the end of me' state. She looks like she is going to give up but I will not let her die.
I wrap my arm around he shoulders and help her limp towards the tunnel.
30m away. "Nearly there..." I encourage her. "Come on, you can do it." The smoke is dangerously thick now and I can feel it searching out my lungs.
20m away. I look over my shoulder and see about 100 human size lizard mutts running at us.
"RUN!" I scream. Lucy even though she is badly hurt, lurches into full scale survival mode.
I run too and in a few seconds we're in the tunnel but still running. Running for our lives. Run. Run. Run I think. Just run then think later.
We run into a small cross roads thing and slow down.
We turn around and see a tree fell in front of the entrance of the cave and no mutts have followed us. Phew! However the heat is still unpleasant and the smoke is thick.
We continue to make our way into a tunnel with a light jog until the smoke starts to recede and we can rest.
Danny Draddock D9
I wake to the smell of smoke and see 2 girls who I think are Connectus and Lucy shoot straight past me. They have cuts and bruises all over their faces and their hair is in a mess. I can't be bothered to chase after them though. I sit up and quickly pack my bag. The smoke is becoming thicker by the second and within a couple of minutes I will suffocate.
I have packed my bag and race down a tunnel that Connectus and Lucy didn't go down. I don't feel like fighting 2 people, especially not Lucy. She's 12, but deadly as a career, she even killed an 18 year old career, and she's only 12.
I carry on running full pelt for about 3 minutes and see that the smoke has cleared. I should run a bit further to get completely out of the way.
And that is my mistake.
I don't see the light ahead and hurl straight off a ledge into another huge cave. I'm falling at lightening speed, not again.
The air is humid in here and below I can just see water. There are islands dotted about but below and for about a 100m radius around me just water. Great.
I get into a diving position, buckle on my pack and hurtle into the water. It stings when I slam into the water but not as much as before. I go down about 4m and when I'm down there see the biggest snake you have ever seen. It's about 40m long and could eat an elephant whole. I scream under water. Oh thank god it's asleep.
I come to the surface. I need to get on land before it wakes and eats me.
I swim as fast as I can to the nearest island. With my clothes on it's almost impossible to swim. After about 10 minutes I get there exhausted. I slide up onto the sand and lie there for another 10 before getting up to go. The island is probably about 100m squared so very small.
I look around and sigh. I dropped my backpack in the fall. Now I have nothing but what I had on me. I sigh again. Just my luck.
I look to the distance and squint my eyes to see under the glaring hot sun. The water is rising over there at an alarming rate.
Suddenly a wall of water 15m high slams into the sand 150m away. I gulp and run to a tree.
If I get higher than the water I will be OK. I climb up the tallest palm tree I can find and begin to scramble up. The tree has natural grooves in it which make it easy to climb up. I get about 20m high when the tsunami crashes into the tree.
Come on. Hold. Hold. Hold. The tree seems to be holding until I hear a crack and I begin to sway forward. Oh no.
The tree plunges into the fast moving water and I am thrust under. I gasp for air but nothing comes. I kick and kick and kick until I reach the surface. I'm plummeting towards the other side of the cavern about 5 miles away at a ridiculous speed. I expect I'll be there in a couple of minutes. I need to find a way out of this wave.
I kick with all my might to stay afloat. One little rest and I'll be pulled right under.
I think my situation is bad enough until I see what I was dreading. The snake that I saw sleeping has just come up for air but has also just seen me. What do I do?!
I take out a knife but then I realise what good that'll do against a 40m snake. I'll have to get on it's head or something.
I stare down into the water, still going extremely quickly and see the snake swimming up to me, it's mouth wide open.
If I can just move out of the way just in time, then I can stab it in the head and use the knife in it's skull as a sort of hand hold to keep me on it's back. This idea sounds crazy but it'll have to do.
3. 2. 1. Here goes! The snake comes hurtling towards me, I make a quick manoeuvre and dart out of the way. I swiftly pierce the skin of it with a knife and it takes hold. The snake makes an ear-piercing shriek and I grip on.
The snake must have been coming up to me really fast because we both fly about 40m into the air and back down. As we fall I take out an axe and make the hole bigger. I see the snake's brain beneath the skull and stab at it. The snake makes a few quick jerks then goes limp as we hurtle into the water with an almighty splash that takes all the air out of me.
Well I just killed a 40m snake. I probably deserve to win the games for that feat alone!
I'm still in the wave though so I know I can't celebrate yet. So I'm 20m above the water level and about a mile away from the end of the cavern, a sheer rock face. Am I just going to slam into it and go splat or something?
I catch a glimpse of an entrance to a tunnel at the level of the wave. If I somehow propel myself out of the wave at the correct moment, I will fly into there and not into the wall which is where I am headed at the moment.
200m away. Here goes.
Katniss Everdeen D12
Even though I lost Lea yesterday, which wasn't too surprising, I'm still hooked to these games. I hate to say it but they're actually quite entertaining. No. Not entertaining. The games are never entertaining. They're sick and disgusting. However this year I'm rooting for my favourite and I've even given some money for a gift towards her. Her being Connectus. I've joined the District 3 team to try and get her home. Beetee is already working with Johanna because she has Lucy but an extra pair of hands is always welcome.
I'm one of the most popular victors, I hate that I am, but I am, so I have a lot of influence so within a couple of hours I had pulled about 10 rich men away from Iris and towards District 3.
The District 7 team know that I am rooting for Connectus but why should they care? They're a team and the gifts will help Lucy too.
The games is apparently the best games ever. What with the sub-games then the unexpected 2nd round and now the 3rd round. Danny has just killed a 40m snake and is riding a wave into a sheer rock face. My heart is racing. Come on Danny. Get into that tunnel.
He does and I'm relieved. I glance over at Harriet, my friend from 9 and she's overjoyed.
The head to heads must have been horrible for Harriet to watch. Watching both her tributes fight to the death. It was the most bloody by far.
The day has been packed full of excitement with the fire and now this wave. There's a battle going on right now, Nicola and Jimmy from 8 against Violet Anderson from 6. Nicola and Jimmy are the only pair from the same district left in the games. This doubles the chances of 8 getting a victor however I highly doubt they will this year. Violet puts up a good fight and completely mauls Jimmy's calf with her knife so much so that he can barely walk but she succumbs to her own wounds and her cannon fires.
8 left out of 576. 7 to go until Connectus can return home.
I hope you enjoyed this action packed chapter! Who do you want to win?
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The Fallen
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Violet Anderson District 6
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The Remaining Tributes
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Iris Hound District 2
Connectus Jones District 3
Zachary Dandi District 5
Lucy Sycamore District 7
Jimmy Richards District 8
Nicola Velvet D8
Danny Draddock D9
Simone Caracas District 11
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