Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or The Hunger Games.
Note: Results of the "final ten" poll are up on the website. New poll's up on my profile, this time asking which contestant's power you'd rather have. This one's just for fun and will have zero effect on the story (especially considering a number of the options are already dead). Just wanted something fun to fill some space before I throw a Victor poll up there, since we're still a good distance from the finale.
Change
Vincent Reid, 28
March 24th, 06:37 MST
Some things just wouldn't change.
Vincent glanced at Maria, doing his best to keep his expression neutral as she repeated her thought. There has to be something we can do.
She had a point. At least, part of him wanted to believe she had a point. As far as they could tell, Seb wasn't a mutant anymore. He shouldn't be part of the Games. But what the hell were they supposed to do about it? The MAAB seemed content to just leave him in the wild with twenty mutants and only a dog to protect him. What were they supposed to do to stop that?
What was he supposed to do?
As far as the MAAB was concerned, of course, it would probably make for a better show if they left him. Mutants attacking a defenseless human who shouldn't really be there anymore? Killing someone they technically didn't have to in order to win? That would fit their narrative perfectly. They had no reason to want to remove him from the Games.
Well, no reason except that it was the right thing to do, but it wasn't as if they could depend on the MAAB to do the right thing. But he could depend on Maria to do the right thing – or at least to want to do the right thing, even if there wasn't really anything they could do about it. Seb wasn't even her contestant, but that didn't matter to her. Three survivors would be better than two. Twenty-seven dead kids was better than twenty-eight.
So they would come up with a plan. And he would go along with it. And it would probably turn out just like last year's plan. Or just like Anita's plan this year. More likely than not, it wouldn't do any good, but they had to try. Because if they didn't…
If they didn't, that would mean giving in. It would mean admitting that the MAAB had won. But they had won – again and again and again. It was only a matter of time before they would just have to accept it.
But not today.
Vincent raised an eyebrow at Ian, who had circled around so that Vincent could pick up the thought. How much had he heard? Probably enough to know what Maria had suggested. Enough to agree with her.
Okay. Maybe they couldn't exactly send a rescue team in after Seb, but they could give him time. Right now, time was what he really needed. Time to recover from the shock of creating another version of himself, time to figure out that what he really needed to do was escape. All they had to do right now was keep the other contestants away from him, and keep the MAAB's focus somewhere else. Anywhere else.
Vincent glanced at the screens. A few of the other contestants were still on the move – albeit rather slowly. Frederick was still on the run from Emery, Florence, and Kenji, who had slowed down a bit. Savannah and Coburn were still on the move, as well, but as far as he could tell, they were nowhere near Seb. Probably. Vincent shook his head. Staring at the screens for too long was making him even dizzier. "Definitely a map next time," he mumbled.
Ian raised an eyebrow. Huh?
"A map," Vincent repeated. "With something to show where all of them are, something that updates as the Games go along. Last year, the island was small enough to keep track of, but this … it all looks the same after a while. The MAAB's using their collars to track where they are, but all we've got on these screens is … well, rocks and trees."
Penelope cocked her head a little, then reached for Vincent's notebook and pen. After a minute or two, she handed it back. It was a sketch. A map of the mountains, along with the locations of the contestants. Okay. He turned the map this way and that, as if doing so would move Seb farther away from the other contestants. But Seb clearly wasn't going anywhere for the moment.
But a couple of the contestants were…
Penelope raised an eyebrow. Maybe she could tell what he was thinking. She was standing in just about the right spot, and he was too tired to really care about which thoughts he was projecting. Besides, if this worked, it might very well save Seb's life, and he was one of her contestants, after all. Of course, depending on how things worked out, this might go badly for one of her other contestants, but it was just as likely to go the other way.
Vincent turned the map around again. He'd told himself the same thing about sending Jaime and Kylena that map – that they would have a chance against Alphonso and Seb, but that it was just as likely to go the other way. Maybe that had been true. Maybe he had been lying to himself.
Maybe he was still lying to himself.
But it would work. That was what mattered, wasn't it? Vincent set down the map and turned to Ian.
"I have an idea."
Manaka Shizue, 16
He had no idea what he was supposed to do next.
Manaka rolled over a little, still not quite daring to close his eyes. There had been no sign of a vampire or a werewolf, but the other boy had seemed quite certain that they were chasing him. It was only a matter of time before they caught up.
Wasn't it?
If they were still looking. If they had kept going in the rain. If the downpour hadn't made them lose the boy's scent. A small smile began to creep across Manaka's face. Maybe he was going to live after all. Or at least live a little longer than he'd thought. Maybe that wasn't much to hope for, but right now … right now, it felt good. He was alive.
Yes, Marcus was probably gone. No, he didn't have much left as far as supplies – not after giving most of them to the older boy who had found him. But once he got his strength back, he could get more supplies. And there was something he could do right now.
Slowly, Manaka sat up again. His head was still spinning, but the movement didn't seem to hurt as much this time. His body still ached, but it was a dull, persistent ache, not the sharp pain it had been before. Slowly, carefully, he unscrewed the cap to his water bottle and held it out, letting the rain refill it.
Okay. Okay, that was something. Maybe that was the key – to keep doing something, even if it was something small. Manaka ate a little of the trail mix and took another pill. Now he just had to wait out the storm.
The storm. There seemed to be quite a few storms here, but he didn't really know whether that was normal or not. Maybe it always rained this much out here. Maybe the snow had been perfectly normal weather for the mountains, too. Maybe he should have paid more attention in geography class.
Except … well, maybe it didn't really matter whether this was normal weather. It wasn't as if there was anything he could do about it, even if it was one of the other contestants causing the unusual weather. Not as if he would really want to do anything about it, come to think of it, since the rain probably meant that most of the contestants would stay put for a while. He certainly didn't want to go anywhere in this weather. It was too cold. Too slippery. It would be better to wait it out. He just had to hope the others would be doing the same thing.
But then what?
The thought was still there, nagging at the back of his mind. Yes, he'd managed to avoid a fight with the other boy. Yes, he was still alive. But it was only a matter of time before someone else found him. Whether it happened today, tomorrow, or weeks from now, he would eventually run into someone else. And what was he supposed to do then?
Manaka clenched his fists. He was supposed to fight. That was what they were doing here, after all. That was the whole point of the Games. They were supposed to fight. They weren't supposed to run away.
And running hadn't done him any good.
But talking … well, that had worked last time. The boy had let him live. Of course, he hadn't posed much of a danger to the other boy. And it hadn't seemed like the boy was working with anyone. Two of them could live, after all. So just because he found someone – or because they found him – didn't mean that he had to kill them. If he found someone else who wanted to work with him…
Manaka stared off in the direction the boy had gone. Maybe he should have asked. Maybe he should have suggested that two of them would stand a better chance together against a vampire and a werewolf. It was too late now, of course. The other boy was long gone.
But maybe he would get another chance. Maybe if someone else found him – when someone else found him – they would be looking for a friend rather than a fight. It was probably a long shot, but it was still a chance.
There was always a chance.
Lea Cervantes, 18
At least now they had a chance to refill their water bottles.
Lea quickly pulled her arm back under the tarp, the water bottle now filled to the brim. "It's really coming down out there." She practically had to shout to be heard over the echoing of the rain on the tarp. But at least the rain meant that they had water, and probably meant that no one would be trying to catch up to them. Not in the rain and the dark.
Dark. It was still dark. That seemed a bit odd, but maybe it hadn't been as long as she'd thought. It wasn't as if they had any way to tell time. Nothing reliable, at least. During the day, they'd been able to tell roughly what time of day it was based on whether the sun was rising or setting, and at least watching the moon at night could give them some idea of how much time had passed. Now they had nothing – nothing but a vague idea that a good amount of time had passed since the rain had started.
Maybe it didn't really matter. Eventually, it would stop raining. The sun would be out again. They would be able to figure it out then. Until then, it didn't really matter what time it was. There was no reason she should really want to know.
Except that it was one more normal thing – one more human thing – that they no longer had access to. Back home, if she wanted to know what time it was, she could always glance at a clock, or her watch, or her phone. It wasn't particularly important – not compared to what was going on – but not knowing just felt strange.
Lea closed her eyes, huddling closer to Elio. It didn't matter, really, whether she kept her eyes open at all. It wasn't as if they could see anything under here. Besides, she was tired. If there was going to be a good time to sleep, this was probably it. They were probably as safe as they were going to get.
Lea chuckled a little at the thought, grateful that Elio couldn't hear her over the rain. Being caught in a storm apparently counted as 'safe' now. But at least they had a tarp, and they had been heading uphill. Even if it rained a lot, they weren't likely to get caught in any sort of flood or anything. Was it raining that much? There was no way to tell, really, but the water bottle had filled up rather quickly when she'd positioned it so that the water ran off the tarp and into the bottle. Probably something to do with surface area.
Lea couldn't help smiling at the thought. When she'd asked Sister Beatrice when they would use geometry in real life, this certainly wasn't something she would have imagined. If they could see her now…
Except they could, couldn't they. Or at least, they would be able to once the Games aired. They would know what had happened to her. Lea swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in her throat. She hoped they would be proud of her, proud of the choice she'd made, to stay with Elio, to refuse to fight. That was what they would want her to do. That was what God would want her to do.
And it was what she wanted to do. Or at least, it had been at the start of the Games. Now … well, it was too late to turn back now. Too late to decide that she actually wanted to fight. Elio certainly wasn't going to, and she couldn't leave him now. She would just have to hope that they would be able to stay away from the other contestants.
Elio certainly seemed to think they could. That was why they'd headed up into the mountains, after all, and it was beginning to look like that had been the right call, even if there hadn't been anyone near them. The farther downhill they were, the worse the water would be, and the more the rain would start to pool up. They didn't have to worry about that here.
Well, they didn't have to worry about that as soon. And the rain couldn't last forever, just like the snow hadn't lasted forever. In fact, it hadn't lasted very long at all before it had melted. That was strange, but for all she knew, that was normal weather for Wyoming in March.
Normal. Right. Who was she kidding? None of this was normal. But it was still rather odd how quickly they had … well, gotten used to it. She and Elio had gotten into a pattern – fishing, walking, resting, repeating. The fact that another group had been close to them, and now this storm – maybe it was just a good way to force them out of that pattern.
Maybe it was time for a change.
Florence Roos, 114
Maybe it was time to change tactics.
Florence burrowed a little deeper into Emery's fur, trying to avoid the rain that was pelting down. At least, it had started as rain. It was quickly turning to sleet. Wave after wave of fierce, driving sleet. Emery had lost the other contestant's scent quite a while ago. Now they were simply moving because staying put would be worse. Staying put meant being pelted with sleet. Moving … well, it still meant being pelted with sleet, but at least it felt like they were making progress.
But progress towards what? If there were any shelter nearby, she would have suggested they head for it, but most of the terrain was open and rocky. They could head back to the caves, but even she was reluctant to suggest that. The caves had been safe, but that was before it had started raining. If the water started to fill the caves … no, that wasn't a good option.
The other place they could be certain there was shelter, of course, was the circle where they had started. There were tunnels there, but that presented the same problem. What if they were full of water? That wouldn't be much help. Still, if there were supplies back there, maybe there was something they could use for shelter. A tent or a tarp or a blanket or something. Anything would be better than being exposed like this.
But what if someone else had the same idea?
The thought sent a shiver down Florence's spine. At the start of the Games, she would have welcomed the idea. She had been certain that she, Emery, and Kenji would be able to handle most of the other contestants in a fight. But then she'd had her hearing. She had been able to fight. She hadn't been cold and wet and hungry. They had no food left. They had no supplies to speak of. And they weren't likely to be able to find anything to hunt in this weather.
All the more reason to go back and get some supplies. When Emery stopped for a moment to shake the rain out of her fur, Florence slid off her back and shifted back to human shape. "I think we should head back to the circle."
Emery nodded, as if she'd been expecting the suggestion. They were already headed in more or less the right direction. They might as well keep moving. But Kenji's hands were already moving in a flurry of disagreement. Florence caught people and there. "What if there are already people there?" she asked, and Kenji nodded. Florence shrugged. "Can't you just look ahead and see if there are?"
Kenji gave her a look that communicated just as well as words would have that there was no way he was going to be able to sleep in this weather. He glanced from Florence to Emery, and then back again. Finally, he pointed to himself, and then up ahead. Florence raised an eyebrow. "You want to go ahead and see if there's anyone there?"
Kenji nodded, but he was shaking. He didn't want to. But he understood that it made the most sense. If he went alone, he could get there faster. A lot faster. And if there was someone there, he would be able to run away quickly enough. Probably. Almost certainly.
Almost certainly.
Florence glanced over at Emery. Her mouth was moving quickly. Arguing. Probably trying to convince him that it was a bad idea, that it wasn't worth the risk. Florence said nothing. It was worth the risk. If they stayed out here in this weather much longer, things wouldn't be good. There was probably no other shelter nearby. It made sense. It was the right choice.
But it had to be his choice.
Kenji was watching her, waiting for her opinion. Maybe for her permission. But that was something he didn't really need. If he decided to take off, it wasn't as if either of them would be fast enough to stop him. Florence nodded slightly. "Be careful."
Emery turned, shocked, mouth moving too quickly for Florence to catch any of the words. But it was too late. Kenji was gone – now a blur on the dark horizon. Emery shifted back to wolf shape, ready to take off after him, but they both knew she would never be able to catch up. Florence shook her head. "Don't. If we stay here, he'll be able to find us again. If we head somewhere else…"
She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to. It would be better to wait here. They probably wouldn't even be waiting long. The circle might still be a few miles away, but that wouldn't matter. Not much. It wouldn't be a long wait.
As long as nothing went wrong.
Seb
Everything had gone wrong.
Seb huddled silently beneath Phantom's fur as the sleet continued to beat down. Phantom occasionally let out a little whine but showed no signs of leaving. It wasn't as if there was anywhere better to go, after all. Besides, he wasn't even entirely sure where he was, and setting off into the dark didn't seem like a good idea. And even if he was sure of which direction it was, the house was the only shelter he could be certain of, and the other two contestants were probably still there.
The contestants who had killed him.
Well, killed a version of him, at least. He was still trying to work that one out. Was he still him? Was he still Seb, or was he someone new entirely? How did that work? If he hadn't died but had written another version of himself, which one would be him? Probably the other one. So why would he still be him now just because the other him had died? But if he wasn't him, then who was he?
Seb closed his eyes. He was starting to get a headache, but he wasn't sure if that was from the existential questions or just the constant pounding of the sleet on the rocks beside him. It was starting to get louder. Larger. The sleet was turning to hail. How long would he and Phantom be able to last out here like this?
Seb clung tightly to Phantom's fur. He wished Alphonso was here. He would have an idea. Alphonso always seemed to have an idea. It had even been his idea – back during training – for Seb to write another version of himself. Seb had dismissed it then, but Alphonso's off-the-cuff question had ended up saving his life.
Seb swallowed hard. Alphonso had saved his life. If only he could return the favor. But Alphonso was dead, and Seb couldn't even try to write him back. He couldn't make anything appear anymore. At least the sudden loss of his powers hadn't made the stuff he'd summoned previously disappear, but most of that was back at the house.
Everything except Phantom.
Okay. Okay, he just needed to look on the bright side. At least he still had Phantom, which meant he wasn't completely exposed to the elements. And he didn't have his collar. Maybe that meant he would be able to escape. Maybe if the MAAB lost track of him, they wouldn't bother finding him again. Maybe they would count him as already dead. Or maybe they would count him as human. After all, the purpose of the Games was for mutants to kill each other. If he wasn't a mutant anymore…
He couldn't count on that, of course. Couldn't count on the MAAB to do the right thing, the compassionate thing. Hell, if they were the sort of people who cared about doing the right thing, he wouldn't be here in the first place. None of them would. And his uncle would still be alive. He would be back in Charlotte, and none of this would have happened.
And he would still have his powers.
He would still be a mutant.
Seb clenched his fists. This was what he'd always wanted. To be human. To be normal. And in a strange, roundabout way, the Games had allowed that to happen. If he got out of this, maybe he would be able to have a normal life. Maybe something good could come out of this after all.
If he survived. If he found a way out. That was a pretty big 'if,' but it was something. It was a reason to keep trying. The most the others had to look forward to if they made it out alive was a life of coaching as one of the MAAB's prisoners. But if he was human, there would be no harm in simply letting him go back to living his life.
Now he just had to figure out how he was going to survive this.
Iola Boman, 19
How long could anyone survive in this, anyway?
Iola huddled under the sleeping bag with Kiara and Fae, all thought of looking for the other boy completely forgotten. Even if there had been someone else, and even if he had still been alive a few hours ago, he wouldn't last long in weather like this – not unless he had some sort of shelter. The rain had gradually turned to sleet, which had quickly turned to hail. Not particularly large hail yet, but hard enough to sting even through the sleeping bag. She certainly wouldn't want to be out in this weather without any protection.
The thought should have been comforting. After all, if some of the other contestants happened to fall victim to the elements, well, that was fewer people they would have to fight. Fewer people who might kill the three of them. That should have been a good thing. Still…
It certainly wouldn't be the way she would want to go – pelted to death by hail. Not that there was such a thing as a good way to go, but it just seemed so … so slow. So cruel. At least when she had killed the boy who had attacked them, it had been quick. And Fae's kill had been quick. Neither of the boys had suffered. If there had been pain, it had only been for a short while. That was how she would want to go.
Iola clenched her fists. She didn't want to go at all. She didn't want to die. And she certainly didn't want to die like this, hiding under a sleeping bag. Not that the three of them were likely to die from the hail, but if anyone found them like this, it wouldn't take them long to figure out there was probably someone under here, and they would have no way of knowing that anyone was there until it was too late.
Unless the others could hear someone coming, of course, but she could imagine how loud the hail must be. Would they be able to hear footsteps on the rocks over the sound of the hail coming down? Probably not. No more than they would be able to see the shadow of someone approaching in the dark from under their sleeping bag. There could be someone out there right now, and they would never know the difference.
But they were still alive. That meant there probably wasn't anyone there right now, at least. And most of the other contestants probably wouldn't want to keep moving in this weather, either, unless something about their powers made them impervious to rain and sleet and hail. That would be nice, but it seemed unlikely. And even if one person was, what were the chances that everyone in a particular group would be that lucky?
That was assuming, of course, that everyone was still in a group. The three of them had been lucky. They were still together. They had stayed together. Henry had left them at the start, but the three of them were still here. That had to count for something.
Henry. Iola shook her head. If Henry was still alive, they were probably doing just fine in this weather. They could probably make a large enough golem to shield them from the worst of the hail, even if there hadn't been anything useful in the bag they'd had when they'd run away. But even then, they probably wouldn't be trying to go anywhere in this weather, trying to make any progress. They'd probably hunkered down to wait out the storm, just like the three of them had.
And why not? It wasn't as if there was any rush. Not as if they had anywhere else they needed to be. They still had plenty of supplies. They had food. They'd refilled their water bottles with rain before it had turned to sleet. They'd found a relatively good place to settle down, and moving somewhere else … well, it was dangerous out there. Slippery, for one thing. Dark, for another. It was safer to stay put.
But still…
Iola shook the thought from her head. But nothing. There was no rush. This wasn't a race – not really. It was a fight. And the three of them would have better luck in a fight if they were well-rested, if they hadn't spent a lot of time trying to make progress during a storm. Progress towards nothing in particular, at that. Progress just so they didn't feel like they were doing nothing.
Maybe nothing was the best thing to do right now.
Henry Helstrom, 14
Staying put was probably the best thing to do right now.
Henry shifted a little under their sleeping bags. Between the two layers and the golems blocking as much of the hail as they could, they were doing fairly well. When they'd gone to sleep the night before, they'd been hoping to get up early in the morning to get a head start on moving somewhere else, but … well, that certainly wasn't happening now. According to their watch, it was nearly noon, but it still didn't seem any lighter outside, and the hail was still falling.
Still, it could be worse. A lot worse. It wasn't as if they really had anywhere to be. They'd wanted to get moving so that they could finally get away from the other contestant's body, but that wasn't exactly urgent. They couldn't see the body from under here anyway. Maybe the hail would even have covered it by the time the storm ended.
Curious, careful of their injured shoulder, Henry lifted the edge of the sleeping bag a little and peered out. It was still dark, but a little light from their flashlight revealed a layer of small hailstones on the ground. They were just about to shut the light back off again – better to save the batteries for when they needed it, after all – when the light caught something. Something metal, shining back at them. Not too far away, either. If they stuck their arm out, they could probably reach it.
Henry shifted the flashlight to their left hand and reached out with their right. Quickly, trying to avoid getting pelted by hail, they grabbed the object and pulled it under the sleeping bag. It was a box. A small box, a little bigger than one of their hands. Where had that come from? There was a little parachute attached to it. Had it dropped out of the sky? Wouldn't they have heard something like that?
No. No, not with all the hail. Of course they wouldn't have heard one more thump on the ground. Henry removed the parachute from the box and opened the lid.
Inside was a pair of gloves.
Henry turned the box over, hoping that maybe something else would fall out. Nothing did. Just the pair of gloves. But that didn't make any sense. They already had a pair of gloves – and certainly a warmer pair than this one. The new gloves were thin and a bit shiny, certainly not made for warmth. In fact, they seemed almost scaly.
Henry shone the light inside the pair of gloves, but there was nothing there, either. No clue as to why someone had sent them. Someone. Who would be sending them things? Was that a thing the coaches were allowed to do? Or was it one of the MAAB members? But why would they send something that Henry already had? It didn't make any sense.
"Hello?"
Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Someone had probably seen their flashlight. Maybe that was why they had sent them something. Maybe they'd wanted Henry to be curious and shine their light around carelessly, drawing someone else in. Stupid. It had been a stupid thing to do, but they'd been distracted. Curious. Hell, they'd been bored. Grateful for a mystery to solve. And now…
Now they had a different problem. But maybe not much of a problem. The voice in the darkness sounded tired. If someone was moving in this weather, it was probably because they didn't have anything as far as shelter. Whoever it was probably wasn't in very good shape. Henry took a deep breath and stood up, shaking off the sleeping bags and pulling the hood of their jacket over their head. "Hello!"
A shape staggered forward in the dark, undeterred by the pair of golems that were standing beside Henry. Water dripped off their rain poncho, but their clothes underneath were wet, as if they'd only thought to put the poncho on long after it had started raining. Henry took a step closer, and the golems fell in beside them. "That's close enough!" they called over the pounding of the hail.
The other contestant nearly tripped in an effort to stop immediately, but managed to keep from falling over. Now that they were closer, Henry could see a little better. One of the older boys. There were gloves on his hands as he held them up, taking a step back as he finally saw the golems. "Look, I don't want to hurt you. I was just passing, and…" The boy bent over, gasping for breath.
Henry hesitated. This wouldn't be much of a fight. All they had to do was signal the golems, and they could probably handle the boy. Of course, it could be an act, but why? Why keep moving at all in this weather, unless he really was that desperate? Besides, he looked familiar. Henry was pretty sure they remembered—
Oh.
Henry looked down at the gloves in their hands. The gloves that matched the ones the boy wore. Was that what the gloves had been? A warning? A message? A piece of advice? Henry gripped the gloves tightly and took a deep breath.
"Are you alone?"
Frederick Bouvy, 17
"Are you alone?"
Frederick froze. For a moment, he considered lying. But what good would that do? It probably wouldn't take long for the other contestant to call his bluff. If the kid decided to attack, there wouldn't be much Frederick could do about it. The two figures beside the other contestant were larger than Frederick was, and even if he could get his gloves off in time to melt one of them, there were probably more where they came from. Besides, there was something in the other contestant's voice, as if maybe there was another reason they were hoping Frederick was alone.
Frederick nodded slightly. "Yeah. There was a group following me, but they've probably given up by now. I haven't heard them in a while."
The younger contestant's eyes darted around, as if looking for anyone else. "Would you really have heard them over this storm, though?"
"Probably would've heard howling at least," Frederick reasoned.
The kid nodded, putting the pieces together. "The werewolf?"
"And the vampire. And the kid who was with them."
"The one who could run really fast? He couldn't keep up with you?"
"I had a bit of a head start, and he probably wouldn't want to leave the others. Besides, the werewolf was probably following my scent."
"And the rain took care of that."
"Yeah."
"Must've been a real wet-down for them."
Frederick blinked. "What?"
"Wet-down. Instead of a let-down. Because it's raining." There was a pause. "Well, was raining. Anyway. At least that explains what you're doing out in this weather."
Frederick nodded. "Yeah. Probably could've stopped, but what's the point? Not much shelter anywhere, and by the time I thought to check what was in this pack, I was already soaked through anyway."
The kid cocked their head. "So that's not your pack?"
"Found it back there." Frederick gestured back in the direction where he'd left the other boy.
"Just … lying around?"
"Yeah. Took a smaller one from the werewolf's group."
The other contestant whistled, impressed. "Gutsy."
"Desperate," Frederick corrected. "I didn't have any food. I was starving."
"Not anymore."
"Yeah. I got lucky."
"That could come in handy."
"What?"
"Luck."
Frederick chuckled. "I guess so. Looks like you've done pretty well for yourself, too. Is it just you, or…?"
"Just me."
Frederick nodded. "Thought I remembered seeing you with a couple others during training."
The other contestant shrugged, wincing a little. "You too. Didn't work out?"
"Yeah. Last I saw of them, they were alive, but … yeah, it didn't work. You?"
"They were alive when I left them, but … they wouldn't want me back."
Frederick shrugged. "Looks like you're doing okay without them."
"Yeah. It's just…"
"Lonelier than you expected?" Frederick finished.
"Something like that." The other contestant shook their head. "There was a girl who found me a few days ago, suggested that we could team up."
Frederick had a feeling he didn't want the answer, but he asked anyway. "What happened?"
The other contestant nodded off to one side, where a body was still half-visible under a layer of hail. A rather familiar-looking body. Frederick swallowed hard. "Let me guess. She didn't put up much of a fight aside from trying to cover your eyes with some starlight."
That caught the other contestant by surprise. "You knew her?"
Frederick nodded. "Looks like it's a good thing I didn't stay with her."
"I guess so."
"So if I were to suggest that we team up … would that end the same way?"
The kid smirked. "I'm guessing you'd put up more of a fight, at least. Melt things a little bit?"
Frederick smiled. "I was wondering if you remembered."
"The floor melting is a bit hard to forget."
Frederick nodded towards the large figures. "Those look a little bigger than the ones you made during the talent show."
"A bit, yeah."
Frederick chuckled. "You know, I'm not sure exactly how that fight would go, but I do know I'm not in a hurry to find out."
"Me neither. And there's something else." The other contestant held out something, and Frederick took a step closer. It was a pair of gloves. A pair of snakeskin gloves.
Exactly like his.
"Where did you get those?" Frederick asked quietly.
"A box fell out of the sky."
Frederick raised an eyebrow. "You're serious."
"Sometimes."
"Why would—"
"I think it was a message. I thought maybe it was a warning, but I think … I think it was a suggestion."
"From the coaches?"
"Yeah." They held out the gloves. "It's Frederick, right?"
"Right. And you're…"
"Henry."
Frederick held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Henry."
Henry nodded, and they shook hands. Frederick relaxed a little as the two of them settled down under the sleeping bags, with the creatures – golems, Henry quickly explained – keeping off some of the hail. A few hours ago, he'd been certain he was going to die when the werewolf caught up to him, that he was only delaying the inevitable by running. Now … now things were starting to look better.
He just hoped the change would last.
Elena Burleigh, 21
She just hoped the storm wouldn't last much longer.
Elena wrapped her arms tighter around Liv and Lee, trying to shield them from the worst of the hail. The blanket was large enough for all three of them but not really thick enough to keep them from feeling the hail. So Elena had turned to metal and was doing her best to shield the other two.
Unfortunately, while it was keeping them a bit safer and didn't even sting that much, the sound of hail constantly bouncing off metal was loud. The earmuffs she was wearing were doing a little to muffle the sound, Liv had her hat pulled down over her ears, and Lee had bunched up the scarf around his ears. All three of them had the hoods of their jackets pulled up, but the sound was only muffled, not completely gone.
"Damn hail," Liv muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear. "If we ever meet up with whoever keeps causing this weather, I'm gonna kill them."
Lee shook his head. "Well, that is the idea, isn't it?"
Liv glared. "Yeah, but this is personal. I should be able to stop it. It was easier last time. But last time, the storm started off to the north. Now … now it's like it's everywhere. If I try to shove this part away, there's just … more, waiting to move in. It's just—"
"Frustrating," Lee finished. "And I'm sure getting angry isn't making it easier to try to control anything."
Liv sighed. "Whoever's doing this is just … so much better at this."
Elena cocked her head. "I'm not sure that's true."
Liv glanced up. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what you're trying to do takes a lot of control. Focus. Concentration. You're trying to stop something that's already in full swing – or nudge an entire storm in one direction when you're not even sure where it ends. All they have to do is get it to build up and let it do its thing. They're probably not even doing anything right now. They can just set the storm in motion and let it loose. For all you know, you could do the same thing. It's just that that's not what you've been trying to do."
"Because that wouldn't help!" Liv snapped. "What good is this storm even doing them? At least last time, there was a … a boundary of sorts, so maybe they were trying to drive people to a specific place. But this … this is everywhere. What's the point?"
"Maybe the point is to make us all miserable," Lee scoffed.
Liv crossed her arms. "Well, it's working."
"Yeah," Lee agreed. "And if it's working on us, even though we're relatively safe, imagine what it's doing to any contestants who aren't lucky enough to have someone on their team who doesn't mind getting splattered with hail."
Liv shook her head. "What're you getting at?"
Lee shrugged. "Maybe … well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Do you think you could make this storm a little worse?"
"Worse?"
"Yeah."
Liv glanced up at Elena. "I don't want to do anything that would—"
"I'm fine," Elena insisted. "Honestly, it barely tickles. It's just … loud."
"We can deal with loud," Lee agreed. "But there are probably some other groups who would be in rather rough shape if this storm got any worse."
Liv still looked uneasy. "Are you sure?"
Lee shrugged. "Are you sure you can even do it?"
"No."
"Then now's as good a time as any to find out. What's the worst that could happen?"
Liv shook her head. "Did you really just ask that?"
Lee chuckled. "Look, Liv, we're in a fight to the death, it's hailing, and we lost the contestants we were trying to follow. Yeah, I don't think it can get much worse. Or at least, it's not going to get much worse for us without getting even worse for everyone else, too. And that might end up working in our favor."
Liv took a deep breath, then nodded. "All right. All right, I'll try. But don't say I didn't warn you."
Lee nodded. "Warning noted. Now give 'em hell."
"Hell wouldn't be this wet," Liv muttered as she closed her eyes, concentrating. Elena waited. After a few moments, she realized she was holding her breath. She let it out and took another deep breath, but quietly, as if even the sound of her breathing might break Liv's concentration.
Which was silly, of course. If she could focus with the sound of the hailstones growing louder, she could focus with a little breathing.
Louder.
The hailstones were growing louder. Which meant they were growing bigger. Which meant that whatever Liv was doing, it was working.
She just hoped that was a good thing.
Kenji Rose, 12
He just hoped he was going the right way.
Kenji slowed down a little as the hailstones grew larger. It was easy enough to dodge the largest ones, but it was getting harder to see where he was going. The sky still wasn't much brighter than it had been, and he hadn't even thought to ask Emery if he could bring the flashlight with him. But it was too late to go back for it now. He was pretty sure he was almost to the circle. He'd certainly been running long enough.
Not all that long, of course. It only seemed like a long time to him. To everyone else, time was moving more slowly. He could make it to the circle and back before the others really had time to worry about him. And at least then they would have some more supplies, even if he didn't find anything particularly useful for blocking the hail.
He wasn't entirely sure, now that he thought about it, what he was expecting to find. There had been food in the bag he'd grabbed at the start – food, water, a few extra clothes, some bandages, and the earplugs. The earplugs that were still in his pocket – the ones he hadn't told anyone about. But there hadn't been anything that would be useful in a storm. Heck, probably the most useful thing as far as that was concerned had been the bag itself, because at least that would have kept their other supplies dry.
Would have. If someone hadn't taken it. Someone they would probably never catch up with now, because the rain, sleet, and hail had completely destroyed any trail the other contestant might have left. Besides, if they'd kept moving, they could be pretty far away by now.
Far away from the others, at least. Not far away from him. Not if they were going in the same direction. But that wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. That wasn't why he had left. He'd left to get supplies, not chase after someone he had no way of tracking. No way of tracking, and no way of knowing what the other contestant could do. Just because they'd been desperate enough to steal from a vampire and a werewolf didn't necessarily mean their power wasn't something to be reckoned with. It just meant they hadn't had many supplies.
Or maybe they had. Maybe they just hadn't wanted to turn down the opportunity for more. Maybe they'd thought a daring move like that would look good to the MAAB. Or maybe they'd simply figured they had nothing to lose. After all, even if they hadn't taken the supplies, Emery would still have been able to pick up their scent. They wouldn't have had a reason to give chase, of course, but that hadn't stopped them at the start of the Games.
Kenji let out a deep breath as he spotted something in the distance. A few bags on the ground, piled up around the tunnels. So he hadn't gotten lost after all. Good. Now all he had to do was grab a few supplies and find his way back.
Kenji reached for one of the larger bags. Larger ones were more likely to have something useful in them, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, a larger back would mean he had more room to fit as many supplies as he could. He quickly found a tarp, a sleeping bag, some bandages, a dry change of clothes for each of them – well, as dry as anything else was – and plenty of extra food. There was even a knife, which he quickly tucked into his pocket. And there didn't seem to be anyone else at the circle.
For a moment, Kenji wondered if maybe the three of them should simply come back here once the storm stopped and they could get moving again. After all, there were plenty of supplies. He could only carry so much, and there was always a chance their supplies might get stolen again. But if they stayed here…
It wasn't the first time he'd wondered whether staying in one spot might be a better idea than heading off towards goodness knew what, but he'd dismissed the thought before because he'd assumed some other groups would have the same idea, that they would want to stay close to where the supplies were. But he didn't see anyone else. Of course, that only told him there wasn't anyone else here now. They could have come and gone. They could be nearby. They could be very close.
Kenji slung the backpack over his shoulder and took off again. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. After all, as long as they didn't stray too far from the circle, he could just keep coming back. That gave them all of the benefits of being near the supplies, but without the danger of staying there. Yes, that was a better idea.
Kenji relaxed a little as he ran. Now he just had to get back to the others. That was all. Then they could all figure out what to do. He didn't need to make that decision now, and he certainly didn't need to make it alone.
Not when he had his friends to help him.
Savannah Kingston, 19
At least Coburn was here to help her.
Savannah huddled closer to Coburn as the hailstones grew larger. They were using the pillows to shield their heads and necks from the worst of the hail, but they were still getting pelted, and nothing else they had would provide much protection from the storm. They'd finally stopped once the rocks had grown too slippery, and they were huddled against the canyon wall, but it wasn't much protection. She could feel the lightning starting to tingle at the ends of her fingertips as the hail continued to pound down.
"I think it's getting a little lighter!" Coburn called over the storm.
Savannah shook her head. Coburn wasn't a very good liar. Maybe he was trying to be optimistic, but there was no sign of this weather letting up anytime soon. "Maybe we shouldn't have gotten so far away," Savannah called back.
"From what? It's not as if there was any shelter back the other way."
"There were tunnels back at the circle," Savannah pointed out.
"They're probably flooded by now."
Savannah nodded. That was probably true. But at least back there, there would be supplies. Maybe even something that would have helped protect them from the storm. Here, there was nothing. Nothing but the open sky above them and rocks all around them. Maybe they'd made the wrong choice after all, trying to get as far away from everyone else as possible.
But how could they have known the weather was going to do this? It didn't take a genius to figure out one of the other contestants was probably causing the weather, but why? Whoever it was was probably stuck out in the storm, just like them. It wasn't as if they'd seen anything else that would provide shelter. What was the point of making everyone wet and cold and tired and miserable?
Unless…
"Maybe there are only a few of us left," Savannah said quietly.
"What?" Coburn called over the hail.
"I said, maybe there are only a few of us left. Maybe that's why whoever is causing the weather decided to make it hail. If there are only a handful of us and they're trying to drive us out of hiding – or drive us back to the center where we started, where they're waiting for us. Maybe that would explain some of this."
Coburn shook his head. "But how would they know there are only a few of us?"
That was a good point, she had to admit. But there was one explanation that would fit. "Maybe they've been the ones killing people. I mean, it's been what? Five days? Six? Someone has to have killed someone by now."
"You mean besides us?"
Savannah's stomach turned. "Yeah, besides us. And the girl who killed Lilith. Nobody probably knows exactly how many people are left, but if there's someone who's killed a lot of people, then they'd have a better idea of how many might be left, even if they don't know an exact number."
Coburn let that hang in the air for a moment. "You really think so?"
"What?"
"That someone could have killed that many people?"
Savannah shrugged. "I don't know. But it fits. Why else would someone want to be causing this kind of weather? All it's going to do is make people miserable. What's the point?"
Coburn shrugged. "Uncomfortable people make mistakes. They might be gambling that if people are cold and wet and miserable, they might do something stupid – no matter how many people are left. Maybe they're trying to goad us into doing something reckless because we want the Games to be over faster."
Savannah nodded. She did want the Games to be over. She was tired. Tired of constantly being on edge, worried that at any moment lightning might come shooting out of her, worried that she wouldn't be able to contain it. She was tired of the energy that was surging through her, begging to be released. She was exhausted, but how was she ever going to be able to get any rest in this weather?
"Maybe we should lie down and … try to get some sleep?" Coburn suggested, as if he'd read her thoughts. "It's not like anyone's going to be looking for other contestants in this weather, right?"
"Probably not," Savannah agreed. She wasn't sure what time it was, but the sky was still black and cloudy behind the curtain of hail. "I know I certainly wouldn't want to be going anywhere."
Anywhere except away from here, at least. She did want to get out of here. She wanted to go home. But the only way to do that was to win. To survive. And she wasn't going to be able to do that if she was too tired to fight, too tired even to move. Slowly, she lay down and positioned the pillow over her head. Coburn did the same.
Maybe if she managed to get to sleep, it would all be over when she woke up.
Vi Voclain, 18
"I thought it would be over by now."
Vi shrugged as he and Rick huddled underneath their sleeping bags. "I guess you really wanted to be sure that wolf wouldn't pick up our scent, huh?"
Rick shook his head. "The rain probably would've done that well enough on its own. I didn't ask for hail."
Vi chuckled. Rick hadn't exactly asked for any of this. "At least we've got some sleeping bags," he pointed out. "Imagine being out in this weather without one. Not a pretty sight for anyone who doesn't have some protection. So maybe it's a good thing."
Rick looked away. He didn't ask what Vi meant. He didn't have to. A week ago, he wouldn't have picked up Vi's meaning as quickly. Now … well, they both understood that anything that was bad for the other contestants was ultimately good for them, especially if it meant fewer people they might have to fight. If the other contestants were weak from being pelted by hail or tired because they hadn't been able to sleep through the storm, that was good for the two of them. Rick clearly didn't like the thought, but he didn't have to like it.
He just had to accept it.
Besides, it wasn't as if the two of them had anywhere they needed to be. They'd been heading for the tunnels, but that could wait. They still had plenty of food. There was no reason they had to be moving anywhere right now – especially if the storm would be providing enough of a show. Chances were good that no one would be going anywhere in this weather, so the MAAB certainly wouldn't expect them to keep moving.
Would they?
Vi shook the thought from his head. No. No, that was just paranoia. If they were going to turn off his collar, they would have done it by now. It had been hours since the storm had started. Hours of sitting here, watching the rain turn to sleet, and then to hail. If they were going to make a move, they would have done so.
Vi took the bag of pretzels out of his backpack, took a handful, and handed the bag to Rick. Rick took it carefully, still not moving his right arm too much. The two of them had changed each other's bandages earlier, and the burns didn't look as bad as they had before – at least, not as far as he could tell in this light. Neither of them had wanted to turn their flashlights on any longer than they'd absolutely had to. Even if there was only a slim chance that some of the other contestants would be close enough to see it, it wasn't a good idea to draw attention.
Not yet.
Not until they'd had a bit more time to rest, to heal, to recover from nearly being burnt to a crisp. At least moving, although it had been difficult, had kept his mind off of that for a while. Kept his mind off the pain – pain that was dulled but never completely eliminated by the painkillers. He was used to pain, but it was always better not to think about it. Now, it wasn't as if there was anything else to do. Nothing but wait for the storm to stop.
Except it didn't show any sign of stopping.
"Maybe this isn't you," Vi said at last, quietly.
Rick cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, during training, there was someone else who could manipulate the weather. So maybe this isn't your storm – or at least, not entirely your storm. If someone else is making it worse…"
For a moment, Rick was silent. "So even if I'm not doing anything anymore…"
"Yeah."
"Shit."
"Yep."
Rick took a long drink of water. "Is there anything we can do about it?"
"What?"
"Well, that's what you keep asking me. Is there anything we can do about the storm, if I'm not even the one causing it?"
Vi shook his head. "I doubt it. I mean, if we knew what direction the other contestant was in, we could head the other way, but we don't."
"What good would that do?"
"Maybe none, but maybe if you put some distance between the two of you, you wouldn't affect each other's weather. I don't know. Does it work like that?"
Rick chuckled. "You're asking me?"
"Fair point. Then no, there's probably nothing we can do about it. Not right now, at least."
Not right now. Once the storm stopped, maybe they could figure out which direction it had been coming from. If they headed the other way, maybe they could get far enough away from the other contestant. Or maybe…
"Maybe we shouldn't head the other way," Vi mumbled.
For a moment, he wondered if maybe he'd been quiet enough. Maybe Rick hadn't heard him over the sound of the hail. But then Rick nodded a little. Almost imperceptibly, but it was there. A silent agreement that if they could figure out where the other contestant was, the best thing to do would be to find them, not avoid them. Because if they could find them, then they could kill them, and then they wouldn't have to worry about the two of them escalating each other's weather.
Is there anything we can do about it? It was strange to think that the answer might actually be yes. For the past few days, they'd been so focused on surviving, on getting away from the group with the fire and the lightning and getting back to the circle to resupply. Now … now they had a goal again.
It was certainly a welcome change.
Kylena Albright, 16
At least the house was a welcome change.
Kylena peered out of the window again as the pounding on the roof grew louder. The hailstones were getting larger, as far as she could tell in the darkness. She shuddered. "Good thing we're not outside in that." Maybe they'd made the right choice after all.
Jaime nodded from their seat on one of the couches. After seeing what the boy had written in his blood, they'd thought about leaving the house, figuring he might come back, thinking maybe he would want revenge. And certainly no one would be in a better position to take their revenge than someone who could conjure anything they wanted out of thin air.
But he hadn't come back. They'd put the body outside with the other one, and there wasn't any sign of … well, anything strange. Maybe he hadn't actually done anything at all. Maybe he'd been trying, but it hadn't worked, or it had been too late. Maybe they were safe here after all.
Not forever, of course, but they'd decided to at least wait out the storm. Of course, neither of them had known then that the storm would continue this long, or be this rough. Now she was glad they'd decided to stay rather than risking going somewhere while it had only been raining. She definitely felt sorry for anyone who was stuck outside in this weather.
Except … well, she knew she shouldn't. In fact, from a practical standpoint, the more of the contestants who got trapped outside in this weather without any sort of shelter, the better. What was bad for the other contestants was good for them. That was how she should be thinking, she knew somewhere in the back of her mind. But…
But feeling sorry for the others didn't hurt. It didn't matter what she felt. All that mattered was what she did. As long as she didn't go running off to find the other contestants and invite them to share their shelter, it didn't matter whether she felt bad that the two of them had somewhere warm and dry and some of the others didn't. She could afford to feel bad for them, even if she couldn't do anything about it.
Just like she could feel sorry for the boy she'd killed.
Kylena stared out the window. Jaime hadn't said much about that, just like neither of them had said much about the boy Jaime had killed. They'd both known from the start that they'd have to. Eventually, they would have to kill if they wanted to survive. Everyone else had to die. Whether the boys died now or later, whether it was them or someone else who killed them, really didn't matter.
Except it did.
It always would.
Kylena took a deep breath. She could worry about that later. She should worry about that later. If she made it out of this, she would have time to feel sorry. She would find a way to make up for it. She could do something about it. But only later. Only if she survived. There was nothing she could do right now – nothing except play along as well as she could, fight as hard as she could, for the chance to do something better later on.
Finally, Kylena dragged herself away from the window and settled onto the couch beside Jaime. Jaime said nothing, but took out one of the packages of graham crackers. "We should probably eat something," they said at last, opening the package.
Right. Food. Kylena nodded and took one of the graham crackers. She didn't have much of an appetite, and she wasn't entirely sure that anything she ate wouldn't come right back up. There was still blood on the floor, and every time her eyes strayed in that direction, her stomach began to churn. But neither of them had suggested that they clean it up. After all, it wasn't as if they would be staying here. And it wasn't as if they had much to clean it up with.
Just don't look. Kylena looked away from where the body had been – where the boy had been standing when she'd shot him. She took a small bite, and then another. Then a drink of water. Okay. Maybe this was going to be okay. Maybe she was going to be okay. It would take some time, but right now, time was something they had. They certainly didn't have anywhere else to go – not until the storm stopped.
And she had a feeling that would take a while.
Dr. Anita Donohue, 35
"You had a feeling this would happen."
Anita watched as Alvin stared at the screen in front of him, watching the weather patterns on his computer. He shook his head. "Not a feeling. A calculation. It was only a matter of time, with two people manipulating the weather. I tried to tell them, but they thought it would be okay as long as they kept the two of them apart."
"But they aren't even anywhere near each other."
Alvin shrugged. "A few miles. That's nothing, really, if you think about it."
"Maybe if they'd made the area bigger—"
Alvin shook his head. "Wouldn't have made a difference, unless they also added some way for them to move around faster. Neither of them is anywhere near the border, so changing the border wouldn't really matter."
"So what happens now?"
"It gets worse."
Anita raised an eyebrow. "Worse than being caught outside in a hailstorm?"
Alvin chuckled. "You really can't think of anything worse than that?"
From the other side of the table, Mack rolled his eyes. "Look, even if the weather gets worse, we can handle it. We prepared for this sort of thing. It's why we're safe underground here, miles away from even the border of the Games. We'll be fine, and the contestants … well, it doesn't really matter if they're safe, does it?"
"Safe?" Alvin asked. "No, I suppose not. But keeping track of them? I said from the start that was something we should be concerned about with this group."
"If you're talking about Seb, we've got a camera trained on him right now. Even without his collar, we're not going to just misplace a contestant."
"For now."
Anita's gaze strayed to the screen. Seb and Phantom were still huddled together, waiting out the storm as best they could, just like the rest of the contestants. No one wanted to go anywhere, and she certainly couldn't blame them for that. Even those without much of a shelter were making do with what little they had. Blankets, tarps, sleeping bags, even pillows – anything was better than nothing. Most of them would probably have some bruises by the time the storm subsided, but they would probably survive.
For a little while, at least. Most of them weren't going to survive the Games, after all, so Mack had a point. Why should it matter if a few of them were killed by the weather rather than by each other? Maybe it didn't make for as good of a show, but as long as some of them killed each other…
And they already had plenty of footage on that count, she was sure. Nine dead contestants. Ten if they counted Seb. Even if he wasn't technically dead, the sight of Kylena shooting him, the image of him scrawling his name in his own blood … that would certainly stick with the audience for a while.
A while. Until something else happened. Something even worse. Even more gripping. It was horrible, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She'd tried. The others had tried. They'd let the public know about the Games, and it hadn't made a bit of difference.
But the coaches … they were still trying to do something. What were they getting at, nudging Henry and Frederick into teaming up? What were they trying to do?
Anita shook her head. Maybe they weren't trying to do anything, except help the two of them survive. The pair of them would probably have a better chance together, and certainly a better chance now than they would have had after a fight. She wasn't sure which way that fight would have gone, but the survivor probably wouldn't have been in very good shape at the end. This way, they were in a pretty good position, and the fact that two of them could survive meant there wasn't really any downside to the move.
So maybe that was it. Maybe it wasn't some grand strategy. Maybe it really was just about what was best for Henry and Frederick. That made sense. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it was something more, the first move in a larger plan. But what?
What could they really hope to change?
"Nothing terrifies me - because nothing is beyond my ability to change."