Day 10:
Avonlea Headden, 18
District 4 Female
"Vivian's dead!?" I don't mean to blurt that out, but I do anyway without thinking. "You're kidding."
Olympia shakes her head. "They had her face in the sky last night."
"What do you think did it? Was it Arietis?"
"I don't know," Olympia mutters. "I can't believe someone like her died before us."
I can't believe it either. First Ganbataar, then Cy and Prism, and now Vivian. I've officially outlasted over half of my former allies. It feels…good? Deserving? I don't know. Because it doesn't seem real. Instead, it seems like a story I would read as a child. Everybody brushes off Avonlea Headden as weak and useless but she manages to come from behind and win the Games despite all odds claiming she never would!
Can I do that? Can I make that a reality?
I want to believe so.
I've made it to the top 5. I'm so close. I never actually thought I'd make it this far, but I have. It makes me feel hopeful. I can win. I can do this. I can prove the doubters wrong and I can prove to myself that I am capable of anything I put my mind to. Do I think I can win? Well, I wouldn't have spent my whole life training if I didn't. But sometimes I had my moments of weakness.
I'm not weak. Not anymore.
I hope that my family and friends are proud of me. It's not like I've never been on my own before; I'm much too old to be coddled. But I miss home. I miss my sisters. I miss my friends. I miss my mom. I even miss my dad. I just want to go back to them and have everyone look at me and agree that I've done enough.
Hell, I even miss Cy. He'd be proud of me too, right? I don't just want to win for myself, I want to win for him as well. It's the least I can do, even though I'm not sure if I believe that the dead and living can interact.
My thoughts are interrupted by a silver parachute floating into the room and hovering over Olympia's head until it begins its descent. She grabs a hold of it and opens it up. It's a small package, revealing a pin inside. It's in the shape of a lime green house broken into four segments and a roof, with a smaller square cut into one of the segments.
"That's cute," I say as Olympia smiles shyly and attaches the pin to her shirt. It looks quite striking against the pale dark blue we've been wearing for ten days, breaking up the monotony of her rather plain outfit.
I have another sudden thought. Maybe the pin is a sign rather than just a random gift? Maybe Concha and Colby, along with the District 2 mentors, are telling Olympia and I that we're in such a good spot that we don't need anymore help. We're being careful to ration our supplies, which isn't easy when you're used to eating decently all the time, but I can deal with a little bit of hunger. It's not the end of the world. We have our trusty weapons, and we have water. There's only three other tributes left out there. We're trained Careers with a combined total of three kills under our belts. Most of them don't stand a chance.
Well…then and there's Arietis. I've never liked him because he scared the crap out of me and I really don't want to fight him. I know he's stronger than I'll ever be. I'm terrified that in a fight, I won't be able to beat him. But I suppose when that time comes, I'll have to figure out what I want to do then. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be eaten by a snake before I have to cross him?
I scoff to myself. Yeah, and monkeys might fly outta my butt. I've never been lucky before and I don't think that's about to change now. Or maybe it's not even a matter of luck. Just grit, determination, and how much effort I'm willing to put in to work for something I so desperately want.
Just four more tributes to go. I just gotta keep telling myself that. If even I don't believe in myself, there will be nobody else left to.
Hunter Appalachie, 17
District 10 Male
The rope I've been sponsored helps to secure the other hallway, making this room a safe haven. With the second trap complete, I feel that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. It's not much and it won't kill anyone, but it makes me feel much better knowing that any tributes are gonna have a hard time getting in. It at least gives us enough time to make an escape and sometimes, that's all that matters.
Mila has stayed out of my way. I don't know how I feel about her. She's sullen like me, which makes me feel a little justified in my anger and annoyance at the universe at large. Misery loves company, the old saying goes. Aren't we just an optimistic little pair?
Murdery ray of sunshine, I catch myself thinking. Something Ascella said to me long ago that made no sense, and still doesn't. Maybe that's not meant to make sense. A lot of things in life don't make sense. It doesn't make sense that I'm not allowed to leave my district and go anywhere I want. It doesn't make sense that my parents were killed for the crime of simply speaking their minds. It doesn't make sense that someone like Ascella is dead and someone like me is still here when-
Suddenly I hear a faint hissing and my heart begins to pound.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit! I didn't even consider the mutts! I had completely forgotten about them! I glance over at my traps and my stomach turns. I want to throw up. That mutt sounds huge and there's no way my traps will stop them. Hell, they probably won't even pose much deterrent.
"Hunter?" Mila asks me nervously. "Do you hear that?"
"Yeah. It would be pretty hard not to notice," I bite back. I want to yell at her to not just stand there and help me think of a plan. The hissing gets louder.
"Maybe it won't notice us?" Mila's voice indicates that she's well aware she's grasping at straws. "Perhaps if we just stay still it won't notice we're in here and maybe it'll leave us alone."
I shake my head. There's no way the Gamemakers will just let that happen. They want to get some use out of their precious snakes and they want the guy who knows his traps to be a target. I've never trapped a snake before in my life. But I'm not stupid, I know we either kill the mutt or die trying.
I grab the spear and one of the knives. Mila picks up the bow and slings the quiver over her shoulder. I face the hallway I hear the hissing from and pretend my hands don't shake.
"What's the plan, Hunter?"
"Don't die."
"Sorry, but that sounds stupid."
I shrug. "It's the best we got."
The glowing green eyes are the first thing I see, making my legs feel like lead. The eyes gradually grow bigger, then the snake comes rushing at me out of the darkness.
I jump one way and Mila runs in the opposite direction. The snake's fangs tear right through the rope and rip it down. It chews on the rope as I ready my spear. Heaving the weapon, I throw it into the snake's midsection and the arrowhead pierces the scales.
So the thing isn't indestructible.
Suddenly the snake rears its head back and roars; one of Mila's arrows has struck it in the eye, blinding it. It gnashes out looking for her, but misses as Mila presses herself up against the wall. Now's my chance to attack while it can't see me. I grab a second knife and rush forward, preparing to cut myself some nice helpings of snake steak.
The scales are smooth under my foot and I almost slip as I jump into the snake and sink my blades into its flesh. I stab over and over and as the tail shakes violently, but I force myself to remain grounded. I can kill this thing, I swear, I can do it, I'm-
The snake turns onto itself and bites at me, yanking one of my shoes off and sending me tumbling off its body and onto the ground. It clamps down onto my foot, and I feel a fang sink into my ankle. Holy fuck, it hurts so bad. I don't even bother trying to hold back my scream.
Then a second arrow flies through the snake's other eye.
Mila Estedon, 16
District 3 Female Tribute
"Hunter!"
Watching him get flung off the snake has to be one of the most terrifying moments I ever seen. My third shot isn't as lucky; it hits the snake, but the mutt doesn't seem to care as much. Instead, it rips its mouth off Hunter who wails in pain. His ankle begins to twitch violently.
"Kill it!" he yells. "Just kill it!"
How the hell am I supposed to do that!?
The snake, now with blood dripping into both of its eyes, starts to thrash around violently. Its tail comes flying at me and I jump out of the way as the snake's body comes down on our supplies. I hear several things break. Some of our weapons are now embedded into the snake's skin. Bits of glass fall from its tail and onto the floor.
Wait a minute…
I see a strange liquid pooling next to my backpack. It used to be a vial of poison Loire and I were sponsored but now has been destroyed. But maybe I can use that. If I can just get over there before the snake gets me.
I start running. The tail swings at me and I almost trip over it. But I get back onto my feet; I have to. This is a matter of life or death and I most definitely do not want to die.
"Kill the fucking snake!" Hunter shouts. His ankle is now completely swollen and he struggles to stand up.
"I'm trying my best!"
I reach the poison spill and dip an arrow into it, rolling the tip around to coat as much of the arrowhead in the liquid as possible. Then I nock the arrow into the bow and prepare to take aim. I need to land this somewhere vital, where I know for a fact it will kill.
I get an idea.
"Hey!" I scream at the top of my lungs, causing the snake to briefly still. "Hey, you oversized worm!"
It works. The snake hears my voice, faces, my direction and stares straight at me. It starts slithering forward at top speed, its jaws opened wide. I can see the forked tongue.
I let the arrow fly.
It goes straight into the snake's mouth, past the tongue and down the throat. I throw the bow to the ground and run to Hunter, right as the snake crashes into the wall. It begins to emit a loud gurgling noise as it moves slower and slower, trying to reorient itself. Both of its eyes are completely covered in dried blood, rendering the mutt completely blind.
Suddenly, it goes entirely still.
Oh my God. I just killed a giant snake.
The sound of Hunter collapsing on the floor brings me back to reality. His ankle looks terrible. It's practically doubled in size and is also covered in blood for the fang's puncture wound. His leg twitches violently and his breathing is loud and heavy.
"Hunter?" I ask gently. I don't like what I see. "Are you okay?"
"I think…" he gasps loudly and his eyelids start fluttering. "I think it poisoned me…"
"No." Tears well in my eyes. There's gotta be something I can do to fix this. "If you can hang on I can go check what medical supplies we have. Maybe we can do something about the…about the…"
"You can't do shit," Hunter mutters and I know he's right. I flop helplessly down on the floor and lie there with him. What a sight we must be, hanging out next to a giant snake corpse.
"What do you want me to do?"
Hunter looks like he's pondering this for a moment. "Just…you can leave, if you want. I need some alone time to talk to my family."
"Are you sure?" I'm beyond hesitant. It seems wrong to leave a dying person alone.
"Yeah," Hunter nods. "There's things I gotta tell them that I don't need anybody else hearing."
He's made up his mind. I just wordlessly pack up what little remains of our supplies and pick a random hallway to walk down. I sneak one last glance at Hunger, whose lips are moving but I can't hear him speak.
"Goodbye" I call out in a shaky voice before turning around and walking away. It just seems like the polite thing to do. It isn't until several hours later, when I hear the cannon go, that I finally let myself break down and cry.
5th place: Hunter Appalachie, District 10. Poisoned by Calliope.
Hunter went through a lot of changes when I initially started writing him. At first he would torture the animals his family caught before I realized I didn't want to write animal abuse. So I massively toned him down to just a bit of a jerkass who didn't really care much about any living thing that wasn't himself, or at least he seemed that way at first. Time in the arena has shown that he too had his emotional moments and points he was just as vulnerable as anyone else.
And now we're down to our final four: Arietis, Olympia, Mila, and Avonlea. I'm really interested to hear predictions as to who you think is going to die next and who you think our Victor will be. After all, the finale is dawning upon us in two chapter! So get ready for that!
This is also the LAST time sponsoring will be available so if you have any gifts you want to send in, make sure you send them in now.
See you all in our penultimate chapter,
-Vr