Day 9:

Mila Estedon, 16
District 3 Female Tribute

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish I was back on the old spaceship. At least there, I had places to hide. At least there, I didn't have to worry about mutts. Because apparently the Gamemakers designed I didn't have enough to worry about as is! For fuck's sake, the Games are so unfair!

Of course, why did I ever expect a game all about the murder of twenty-three children a year would ever be fair in the first place. If life was fair, I wouldn't be here. Nobody would. There's nothing fair about ripping kids from their families and friends just to dump them in an arena and force them to try to survive for some rich populace's entertainment.

Either way, I miss safety and security. If I didn't have it before, I definitely don't have it now. All I want is to just go home. I don't want to be here anymore. I want my girlfriend. I want her to hold me in her arms and promise that everything will be alright.

Hunter has set a little makeshift trap in one of the hallways, by securing a tripwire made out of rope across it. I let him work on that. He's not a very talkative guy from what I can tell, and I don't blame him. I'm a stranger he's only working with out of pure survival. I'm only staying with him because I'm absolutely terrified. We don't know anything else about each other. I'm not Ascella. He's not Loire.

Loire…fuck. I miss her too. I know I barely spent much time with her, but she was the only person in the arena I could trust and maybe I had come to rely on her a bit too much for my own good. What am I supposed to do without her now? Can I have the same alliance with Hunter that I had with her? Or am I truly a dead girl walking?

I don't want to die. That's all I know. I've made it this far and I want to believe that please oh please, I can actually get out of here. But I'm scared that won't be the case.

A floating parachute distracts me from my thoughts and I feel hope in my chest. Sponsors! There's people out there still rooting for me to win! I watch as the parachute drifts through the hallway and gently lands on the ground beside me. I open it up to reveal a large pack of dried meat. It's nice to know we can stretch our remaining but meager food portions a little longer today.

Hunter comes over. "What did you get?"
I hold up the meat pack. "I'll share it with you."

We both slump against the wall and I rip the dried meat in half. Hunter groans in satisfaction. "Oh yeah. Reminds me of the jerky my aunt used to make. God, I miss meat."

I just shrug in response. Not that I hate peanut butter, but it's nice to eat something else for a change. Small luxuries suddenly feel like a game changer. A motivator. A sign that maybe things will be a bit better someday.

Hunter wipes his mouth with his sleeve. "We'll need to keep an eye on that hallway since I don't have any defenses there. Sucks you didn't have any ropes or wire or stuff. Would've loved to fortify this place with a second trap."

I eye the trap warily. "And how does it work?"
Hunter rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "It doesn't kill anyone, unfortunately. But it catches them and suspends them in the air, meaning they can't kill us. And that gives us a chance to run or take someone out before I have to reset things again."

My stomach flips in knots. "This isn't the first time you've used it, huh?"
Hunter doesn't respond.
"Who'd you kill?"

"Messier," Hunter finally says in a flat tone. "From Seven."

I feel a sudden pang of guilt but try to push it down. It doesn't work. Great, so now I'm allied with a killer who has a plan and meanwhile I just know I'm lucky to make it to tonight unscathed.

How badly I just want to go home and pretend this is all just a horrific nightmare. Why must reality be so much crueler than even the worst of dreams?

Reggie Baxter, 18
District 12 Male

If I've been keeping track of the deaths correctly, it makes Kerkylas and I have made it to the top eight. It's surprising, to say the least. I'm just some guy from the little old mining district that has spent the past ten years on the verge of irrelevancy. We never stand a chance.

And yet despite the odds, I'm still here. I've never believed in shit like that, like luck and fate, but I really don't want to jinx myself. I've got too much stuff at home riding on me to not die.

I'm so close to going back home I can taste it. I just need everything to go my way and then I'll finally get out of here.

The amount of new supplies we have is a godsend. Do I feel bad that those little kids died yesterday? …no. Look, it's the fucking Games. Tributes will die. And it's not like I directly killed them. But it doesn't escape me that if I do want to win I might have to kill someone eventually.

I sneak a glance at Kerkylas and my heart sinks. God I don't think I'd be able to win a fight against him any day. My best bet is he gets taken out before we have to face each other. Now that I've come this far, I have to start planning my path to victory. It's cold and it's calculating and it might be a tad manipulative, but I realize I don't actually care.

I can do this.

Kerkylas begins pacing around the chamber we've found ourselves in but are too scared to leave. We now know what's out there and I do not want to come across that snake again. Snakes aren't supposed to be that huge. Ugh, it's just like the Gamemakers to put some kind of abomination in a space arena, as if enough shit wasn't already going down.

So, now what? Are we just to stay here like sitting ducks and wait until another snake chases us again or a tribute stumbles upon us? Maybe it is better to go on the defensive. I don't want to test my luck. I can't afford to. One small slip-up could cost me everything and I've made it too far to give up or lose now.

Seven tributes, I remind myself. Six tributes plus Kerkylas. I need seven other people to die and then I can go home. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I know it's what has to happen. And it's morbid. I'm not supposed to take lives. I'm supposed to save them. Improve them. How do I intentionally kill a child?

Now I desperately need a distraction , so I start rummaging through the supplies, looking for something to eat. We have a ton of stuff. The sponsors have been somewhat nice too, sending us some pretty useful stuff like treats and poison…and a pair of codpieces. Which feels like a cruel joke to give to only the two trans guys in the Games. I guess it's a bit funny but still, what the actual hell am I supposed to do with these things!? The only idea I can think of is throwing them at Kerkylas just to see what his reaction will be. That would eat up ten seconds of my time. Hey, I guess it could be fun.

Kerkylas's pacing grows quicker. He must be nervous. I am nervous too, but I like to think I'm doing a better job of hiding my nerves. I can't afford to freak out. If that happens, I lose control of the situation and that's when bad shit happens. What can I say? Sometimes, there's merit in being a control freak. I know Lyle might scoff at that and tell me I need to calm down, but he's not here. And if I want to see him again, I have to continue to keep a level head.

I find myself staring into the endless expanse of one of the hallways. The dark makes it hard to see more than a few feet, but…I think I hear something. Am I? Or is my heart pounding? No, I can't get nervous! Am I going insane or do I actually hear something? Am I imagining two figures and one of them with a knife or-

All I feel is a sharp pain exploding in my head as Vivian's knife collides with my face.

Arietis Rammestien, 18
District 2 Male

The boy from 12 goes down almost immediately, coughing and choking as his blood pours down his face from the wound in his forehead. It's almost pathetic. I would've expected at least some kinda fight from an older tribute, but he was looking right at us and still didn't see us coming until it was too late and he's dying.

This, I think, is why it sucks not to be a Career. We know way better than to let something so stupid get us killed

"Reggie?" His ally finally turns around and notices the body on the floor. Is that the boy from 10 or 11? I honestly don't remember; the outliers honestly blend together after a while and it's hard to tell them apart when they're dead. But whoever this guy is, he gasps in shock when he sees his dead ally and then snarls at us. "You!"

Vivian blinks. "Us?"

The boy pulls an axe from his backpack and brandishes it. "You'll regret messing with Kerkylas Andros, you bastards!"

"We'll see about that," I snicker, then charge. He charges at me. Vivian is right behind; I can tell from her echoing footsteps. Kerkylas (ohhhhh, so that's what his name was) swings the axe at me, but his form is so clumsy that I easily duck under his arm. Vivian sneaks up behind him and brandishes a throwing knife, holding it up to his throat. Kerkylas almost drop the axe.

I heave my spear and prepare to skewer him through the stomach when Kerkylas does something completely unexpected.

His arches his torso and falls backwards, sending him and Vivian to the floor with all his weight landing on top of her. Vivian groans loudly as the wind is suddenly knocked out of, getting crushed by Kerkylas. I throw my spear but Kerkylas spins around and it only grazes his arm as he raises the axe to the air and brings it down on her chest. Then a second time.

I hear Vivian scream and I lunge into action, grabbing my second spear and sending it straight for Kerkylas's back. I hear him yell "FUCK!" loudly, but he suddenly slides off Vivian. I pull the spear free and blood squirts everywhere. Some of it lands on my shoes. Kerkylas weakly reaches for his axe but I kick it across the floor.

I could deal with him, but I know his wound is fatal and it's just a matter of time. Instead I kneel down beside Vivian. "Hey. You okay?"
Vivian laughs and coughs loudly. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

I feel a pang in my heart but I force myself to push it down. "Well, you're still making snide comments at me, so I think you'll be just fine."

A trickle of blood runs down Vivian's lip and she tries to spit it out, but it just dangles from the corner of her mouth. "You better win this, you son of a bitch. It's not gonna be a Career victory, it's gonna be an Arietis victory."
"Yeah. I promise. I will win this."

Vivian nods. "I'm glad that if it couldn't be me, it was you. Fuck." She laughs again but it's much weaker. "I wanted this more than anything…I was gonna make my mom proud…gonna take care of my folks…they'd never…ever…"

I don't get to hear what she wants to say; the words die on her lips as her chest stops rising and falling in harsh movements. Three cannons suddenly echo in my ears. Kerkylas must've finally succumbed to his injuries. I just stare at Vivian's corpse and my blood feels cold.

She's a Career, just like me. Careers aren't supposed to die, especially to outliers. We're supposed to win and bring home the glory. Which suddenly seems so far away despite me now being closer than ever.

I feel…guilty.

But I decide as suddenly as the feeling crept up on me, I'm not gonna feel it anymore. Vivian's dead and isn't coming back, and now it's just me. I've got an arena to dominate. These are my Games to win. And win I will, or I'll die trying.

"See ya," I say to her, my final parting words. Then I walk off and prepare for whatever the Gamemakers throw at me next. I can handle it. I've trained for this all my life.

8th place: Reggie Baxter, District 12. Knife thrown into head by Vivian.

Ahhhhh, my little morally gray Scorpio. Reggie was a very fun tribute to explore: someone who knows they've done horrible things and aren't a nice person, but is constantly trying to avoid consequences or justifying their behaviour. Sadly, he's very realistic. I'm sure we all know someone like Reggie who refuses to own up to their actions and just accept that they make mistakes. Something tells me he won't be missed by anyone except Lyle.

7th place: Vivian Shaw, District 1. Chest axed open by Kerkylas.

Vivian was my attempt at putting a spin on the typical "bad bitch" from District 1. She knows she looks good and she totally doesn't mind using that to her advantage to get her far in life, but she also isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and work for what she wants. She had to build herself from the ground up and fighting to prove she earned her spot in the Games, which I think she did well. She was also the first intro I wrote, so I have a bit of a soft spot for her and will certainly miss her.

6th place: Kerkylas Andros, District 11. Speared in the back by Arietis and bled out.

I feel a bit bad for Kerkylas cause I was constantly poking fun at him throughout the story, but he wasn't really meant to be taken seriously. Honestly, he is pretty hilarious because as if this story already didn't have enough toxic masculinity with the likes of Reggie and Arietis, here comes Kerkylas to blow them out of the water. I feel bad for him because he very much is a product of his environment and struggled with the need to prove himself when he truly didn't have to prove anything to anyone. Thanks for him, Silver!

Congrats to our final five (I say as four of them are featured tributes lmao)! As we grow closer to our end, who do you think will pull through and take home the crown? Which placement do you think each tribute will get?

See you all next chapter!

-Vr