Thanks to FrostyShadow, cassy2002xo, Dani H. Danvers, Very New To This, owlthewriter, Radio Free Death, & Tubelancia for the reviews!
Alright! Onto day 2! But first, a little helpful guide… where in the heck is everyone?!
Central Hub/Cornucopia: Lana (D1), Estelle (D2), Valdez (D2), Poe, hidden (D3), Mara (D4), Chase (D8)
Red Line: N/A
Orange Line: Cean (D4), David (D7), Daisy (D11)
Blue Line: Ola (D7), Pan (D12)
Green Line: Hayley & Buck (D10)
Yellow Line: Eddie (D3), Olivia (D5), Aleko (D5), Sarah (D6), & Amadeus (D6)
Above Ground: Cara (D8)
Chapter XXIII Meditations
Day 2 of the 58th Hunger Games
An arena underground meant that the Tributes' sense of time was dulled. Helpfully, the list of the Fallen gave them an indication of when dawn and dusk were.
An hour after sunrise, the Capitol anthem began to play, broadcast throughout the tunnels. Projectors turned on everywhere, broadcasting for anyone, no matter where they were, to see who had joined the dead. Alice's face appeared that morning, his creepy smile and vacant eyes looking down at the Tributes who remained. None mourned for him. Shortly after, the pipes of the arena came alive, pumping water from the cistern and pool above while recycling out the old water.
Ola sat alone in the dark, listening to the pipes come alive around her. She was lost in thought though, struggling to remember anything of note about the boy from 9 other than he was off putting. It felt wrong to remember someone just for that, but all Ola could think of when she thought of the boy from 9 was that misshapen tooth and bizarre behavior. Not a winning combination with people or the Hunger Games it seemed. Still, people could be different than how they presented, and maybe Alice had been too.
One thing was for sure though, Ola was definitely different than what the Capitol was imagining.
Since yesterday, Ola had been awash in gifts. Food, a sleeping bag, a full size flashlight, and a razor sharp silver axe had all been gifted to her within the last twelve hours. But the most outstanding piece, the gift that no doubt cost the most, was a set full body armor. The suit reminded Ola of the armor Peacekeepers wore, though it was colored black instead of Peacekeeper white and the suit less bulky – no doubt since it didn't need to protect from bullets in the arena. The armor was lightweight with foam padding and slim metal plates inserted that were carefully placed to allow for maximum mobility, covering her chest, arms, and legs. The armor also came with additional metal plates that could be inserted into plate carriers in the suit, granting further protection from sharp and blunt object attacks while not minimizing maneuverability.
Ola remembered her escort listening off the price of items that could be sponsored. It boggled Ola's mind that the Capitolites could just spend money so easily on such items. That they could just throw it away on the Hunger Games. That they were willing to spend it on her!
And that all it took for them to fall in love with her was learning she had killed her boyfriend.
It was a lie, of course. But Ola had come to realize that unless she won it would be the only truth that all of Panem knew. It would be all that she was known for, her worst nightmare come to life. But even worse than those fears was looking at all the gifts that had been given to her.
They were poisoned gifts. She was familiar with the concept.
Ola remembered her early days with Rua when she looked at the gifts. He'd get her gifts too. Nothing fancy, there wasn't anything like that in District 7. But he'd pick her flowers. Snatch her some berries from the cafeteria or an open market stall. Do what every single boy in District 7 did to impress a girl or guy and carved her little animals out wood. She had said often how dumb gesture it was but secretly loved it. And Rua knew it too.
But later, the gifts felt more like a leash. The first time he had yelled at her, he had come back with a gift and apologies. It was an impressive gift too, a wood sculpted bracelet that was done by a professional. Ola had been in awe of it and quickly forgave him. Couples fought, right? That was normal.
Then they had another fight. This time, Ola hadn't yelled. In fact, she had been certain that Rua was at fault. But he had shouted so loudly, face grown so red, and he had called her such horrible names that Ola – for whatever reason – had felt his anger justified. So, when he came back to her with more jewelry and a romantic gesture in front of the whole school Ola had been so relieved she took him back.
And she did again when he yelled at her once more. And then again when he said she was a stupid bitch with sawdust for brains. And again and again, and again until she no longer fought back, just grateful for his attention and scraps of it.
In the darkness of the blue tunnel, Ola was alone with her thoughts. It was just her and Rua's ghost, who would alternate between screaming at her and laughing that all of Panem believed she killed him. Just like he had hoped when he made the threats to hang himself and blame her.
'I never got away from him.' Ola thought. If she could cry still Ola might have.
But instead, a new feeling came over her. Pure, blinding rage. Rage at Rua, rage at District 7, rage at the Capitol. She didn't want to be weak anymore.
'If they think I'm a killer, I'll give them one.' She thought, rising from the gravel and taking her axe and supplies in hand. Rua was dead in the ground and she was still alive, still fighting to survive. She would make her own destiny.
No matter the cost.
She began to put the armor on. She was going on a hunt.
The list of the Fallen awoke all the sleeping Careers, as did the sound of crashing water. Once more, the water was being recycled and deposited anew in the basins. The Careers quickly ate, drank, and got ready to set out. They were all well rested thanks to their individual sleeping bags and tents from the Cornucopia and were eager to start the day strong.
Unfortunately, they weren't terribly coordinated.
"The other Tributes went down every tunnel except the green one." Estelle said. "It'll be a lot of ground to cover, but we already saw yesterday that the tunnels connect, so I figure we just pick a tunnel make our way through it. We'll split into two groups: Valdez and I will head down the orange line, Lana and Chase the yellow, and Mara stay here and guard the loot."
"Excuse me?" Lana said, not pleased to be alone with Chase.
"Hell no." Mara hissed. "This isn't what we agreed to last night. I'm not a guard!"
"You're not exactly fully functioning either." Estelle replied, eyeing Mara's bandages. Valdez had changed them twice and again that morning, but the underlying wounds still looked nasty. Already Mara had beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
"I can kill anyone in front of me." Mara said, threat written into her words. Estelle wasn't much impressed and Valdez jumped in to calm things down.
"We need someone to guard the camp. We can't have Tributes running back to pick off supplies. Someone has to do and I think you should be first Mara. Get your strength back and then you'll come back swinging."
Mara shook her head. She needed to get out there and start hunting. So far nobody had bothered to send her any medicine, which meant the Capitol was looking at her as a lost cause. She had to prove them wrong.
"I'm going out hunting, even if I have to go out alone." Mara said determined.
"Why don't we just hide the supplies?" Lana asked.
Estelle looked around, gesturing wildly. "Where? Should we bury them?"
"How about up there?" Lana said curtly, pointing to the elevated platform nearby. "The ladder is pretty loose too. I bet we could tear it off the hinges and hide that under the gravel."
"Sounds like a lot of work." Chase commented.
"It is." Estelle said, forced to agree with him. "It's quicker just to leave someone."
"If you leave me here, I'm leaving the stuff." Mara repeated.
Valdez leaned into Estelle. "We're already down Reko and a partner from 4. We need everyone out hunting today." He advised.
Estelle groaned in anger. "Fine!" She relented, already exasperated.
It took longer than any of them wanted, but the job got done. They formed a line, passing all the supplies down it and up the ladder, hiding it on the platform next to the still locked room. Last night, Lana, Estelle, and Valdez had all tried their hand at the locked door but were unable to knock it down. None of them fared any better with the circuit box next to it either. Whatever mysteries lied behind the door would remain hidden.
Finally, after more than half an hour, all the supplies were on higher ground and the ladder was broken off. They had tried unscrewing it but when that failed Estelle ended up slamming her boot into the thing repeatedly until it snapped. The ladder fell down, hitting the gravel below with a heavy crunch.
"Can we please bury it and go?" She demanded. They did so and then headed out, Mara with Lana and Chase and Estelle, in what was becoming a perpetually bad mood, with Valdez.
Unknown to Mara, Lana, and Chase, they had a follower. Waiting until the Careers had gone, Poe emerged from the blue line, having hidden in the shadows since the Bloodbath. She hadn't gone far. She couldn't leave Chase! And, it was fun to see that bitch from 4 suffering. Poe had feared Lana and Estelle would spot her as they ran down the blue line, but the shadows were plentiful on that line and Poe had been able to lose herself in them.
The room clear, Poe sprinted to the water basin and drank her fill. She didn't have any food but she had gone without food before. She'd make do. Adrenaline was still pumping through her, satiating her hunger as she proceeded to the yellow line.
Chase the angel was going that way! She had to keep an eye on him.
And… if an opportunity presented itself, maybe take out Lana and Mara.
Olivia awoke late after taking the second to last – and longest – guard shift for the night. Her allies had let her sleep in as thanks and Aleko woke her gently with a shoulder rub and smile on his face.
"Morning lazy." He joked. Olivia rolled her eyes and groaned, wishing she could go back to sleep. It had taken so long to drift off thanks to the hard ground of the maintenance room. The group only had one sleeping bag and ended up all using it as a pillow, sleeping four at a time with their heads on the soft, comfortable exterior of the sleeping bag. That left the rest of their bodies to adjust to the concrete floor in the maintenance room.
"Everything feels sore." Olivia complained.
"I've got a feeling that's going to be the whole Hunger Games experience." Aleko replied, handing her another sandwich. "Thank Amadeus for cooking again."
Olivia snatched and took a bite, feeling a little better. "Thank you, Amadeus!" She said. The boy just nodded to her, which Olivia took as just his usual moody self.
The rest of the alliance was already up and had eaten. As Olivia ate her sandwich, the group packed up and got ready to set out. They already formed their plan the previous night and, once packed, set off to re-enter the tunnel system, hoping they wouldn't encounter anything horrific that day.
So far the yellow line had been peaceful. Everything with bright, well lit, and clean. The group made its way through tunnel after tunnel, following every bend in the road, as it were. None of them however dared to step on the train tracks. Having all come from urbanized Districts everyone in the alliance knew full well how deadly a live rail could be.
"I lost a friend when I was little to a live rail." Olivia said. "He was seven and him and some of the boys were playing in the street. He tripped and landed on it and zap. That was the end of him."
Amadeus nodded. "We had deaths like that all the time in District 6. Peacekeepers couldn't be bothered to put up fences or something around the rail lines." He said bitterly.
"Because why do any work?" Olivia mocked. They were just walking at this point and Olivia's mind was wandering. "You know, I guess you don't really realize it when you're home watching and always have something else to do, but damn, there is a lot of time spent in these Games were nothing is happening, huh?"
"I prefer that to the alternative." Aleko joked darkly.
"Don't tell me you're already bored of the death games, Olivia?" Amadeus joined in.
"What, never!" Olivia corrected quickly, hoping a Gamemaker didn't take offense and send a mutt after her. "Just saying… in other arenas they'd at least had pretty nature to look at."
"If that nature isn't trying to eat them or do something else equally awful." Aleko commented.
That gave Olivia an idea. "Hey, Eddie, can I get you to confirm or deny a rumor?" She asked.
"Ok." Eddie said, happy whenever Olivia was talking with him.
"Are there really secret labs in District 3 where they grow mutts? Like, absolute horror show mutts?"
"I'm also curious about that." Amadeus said.
"Well… I don't actually know." Eddie said. "There's all these rumors that there are. Like, whenever the Peacekeepers impose an unexpected curfew on us everyone says it's because a mutt got loose from a lab and is hunting on the streets. So… maybe?"
"Eeeesh. That'd be terrifying. Thankfully Aleko and I just live in 5, where the silent killer is leaking radiation!" Noticing that Sarah was remaining silent and wandering ahead of everyone else, Olivia skipped up to her and looped her arm around Sarah's, pulling her in for some girl time.
"How about District 6, Sarah?" She asked. "Any silent, boogeymen killers there?"
"Morphling." Sarah said immediately.
"Oh…." Olivia said, deflated a bit by such a serious answer. "That isn't good."
"It's everywhere." Sarah continued. "People steal it from the assembly lines and labs where it's made all the time. The Peacekeeper catch them, but their addicts. They don't care."
"Did people try to steal from that drug store you worked at?"
"We never carried anything as expensive as Morphling. Mostly people just got angry they couldn't buy the brand of cigarette they liked. But sometimes people would come in thinking we sold Morphling and it'd get… violent when we didn't have it."
"Sorry. That sounds awful for you to deal with." Olivia said, giving Sarah a supportive squeeze on the arm.
"It's poverty." Sarah said calmly. "People get desperate for some sort of escape. Morphling is the only way to feel better in District 6."
Aleko was silent during the conversation, horrid memories and the start of his disease coming from Morphling. His mind went to a a dying mother, a girlfriend and a roller coaster month long romance, and a horrible note left behind. He said nothing but agreed with Amadeus when he spoke next.
"It's a poison on people. Turns them bad." Amadeus added. Sarah said nothing to that, focusing on keeping her body still so Olivia wouldn't sense anything amiss.
They kept walking after that, chatting a little more about their respective Districts, until they hit a stop. Literally. The allies climbed up off the tracks and onto the metro station proper. It was expansive, filled with nooks and crannies to explore. In the center of it all was a golden statue of someone nobody recognized.
"Probably some bigwig in the Capitol." Olivia commented before looking around for a camera. "Hey! We love this gal! If she's still around, tell her we say hi and would love if she could drop us some gifts or something." She said, giving the invisible cameras a wink.
They kept exploring. A couple water fountains lined the walls and they drank their fill. There were a few empty ticket booths with empty drawers and some chilly concrete benches but not much else. Then they checked one of the storage closest.
"Found something." Sarah said. She pulled open the door for the others, revealing pieces of heavy pipes and tire irons.
"Looks like you found some weapons." Olivia said, holding out her hand for a high five. Sarah returned it, feeling proud of herself. "Since Sarah found it, she gets first dibs."
Sarah looked over the items and quickly made up her mind. She went for a heavy, bronze pipe that was shaped like an 'L'. A perfect substitute mace.
"That's what I thought you'd pick." Olivia said with a smile. "Come on, everyone grab something."
They did. Aleko grabbed a lighter tire iron, Amadeus one as well, while Olivia grabbed a pipe and Eddie a piece of rebar. Their discoveries weren't done yet, as they opened another door that led to a long hallway. They made their way down slowly, weary of traps. Upon reaching the end of it, they opened another door and entered into an expansive room full of sunlight.
"There's an outside!" Eddie said excitedly, looking to the top of a dead escalator and the sun above.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see." Olivia said. They made their way up a massive escalator and exited through some rusted turnstiles to the outside, eager.
To their disappointment they found the outside wasn't very large. A small island with some trees nobody recognized forming a ring around it wasn't exactly game changing. The cistern at the center of the island was cool though, and all of them drank some more water from it. Amadeus was fascinated with it and the apparent filtration system in place.
"You guys just relax." Olivia said. "I'm going to check out the entrance on the opposite side. Sarah, want to join me? If I know one of us can fight it's you."
Sarah went willingly, embarrassed by the flattery. The girls descended down the escalator opposite of the one they came up while Eddie and Aleko lay by the pool, basking in the sunlight. Amadeus, meanwhile, went into the shed with the pipes leading in and out of it. He looked over the machine, recognizing it from some school trips to the desalination plants along District 6's coast line. It was a much simpler version of it, with filtration boxes full and processing the salt water outside. Seeing everything in place, Amadeus began piecing together what the load noises in the wall were: rushing water filling the pipes.
'Very interesting.' Amadeus thought, guessing how the system worked.
He went back outside to find the girls returning. As they arrived, Aleko kneeled over and began coughing violently. Olivia rushed to his side and began patting his back, trying to calm him. "Get some water!" Olivia said. Eddie quickly scooped some up and brought it over, which Aleko drank thankfully. The cough continued though until his whole body wretched and expelled a nasty glob of dark yellow bile.
"Gross." Aleko commented, feeling awful. His head was spinning now and he suddenly felt very tired. "Sorry."
"It's ok." Olivia said. "At least you got it out of you."
"I… I've never coughed something up like that before." Aleko said, concerned by the bile. He looked to Olivia, nervous. "There's going to be more of that. And at a less opportune time."
"And we'll deal with that when we get there." Olivia said, helping him to his feet. She turned to the others, noticing that Amadeus looked concerned. She pulled focus to something else. "It looks like the other stairs go down to the blue line. It was dark as hell down here, so I think we should keep exploring the yellow side. Maybe loop back towards the red line we saw? Anyone feeling especially blue right now?"
Nobody did. The alliance descended back downstairs, off to explore further. From the mangroves, Cara watched them leave. Part of her had wanted to leap out and ask to join them. It had been lonely the previous night and some people around might be nice to help support her. Plus, it looked like Eddie and the others had armed themselves.
But then Aleko started seizing up and coughing. Cara could just imagine how badly that echoed through the silent tunnels of the arena.
She remained where she was.
Whatever doubt or anxiety had inhabited Cean seemed to have been exorcised by day two. Cean was firmly in control of their group and knew it.
David and Daisy, meanwhile, went along with him and whatever he pleased.
Not that Cean was forcing them to do anything. But what had been an awkward silence between the three loose allies had turned into a sharp undercurrent of control from Cean.
After killing Alice, Cean had dumped the body over the edge of the second floor and settled in for the night. A drone had buzzed into the room and picked up the fallen Tribute. After that, Cean had started talking more freely, ignoring his previous advice about remaining quiet. He took the first watch, though Daisy and David had trouble sleeping. When they awoke, Cean took the lead. He ate first, he drank from the water fountain first, and wherever they went, Cean was first and in the lead.
And always with the pipe in hand.
He hadn't put the thing down. He had barely cleaned it off either. Alice's blood still stained the blunt tip of it where Cean had bludgeoned him. While the drone had removed the body, it hadn't removed the blood left behind. The alliance remained in that spot for the rest of the night, Alice's blood a short distance away, drying and caking into the concrete surface.
Right now they had continued down the orange line. Cean led them, though where nobody knew. In the tight tunnels of the arena nobody could get a good sense of where everything was. Daisy had hoped there would be a map or something hanging on a wall but to no avail. The Gamemakers weren't being that nice.
As they kept walking, one thought kept entering Daisy's mind. They needed to get away from Cean.
Next to her, David was feeling the same. Why in the world did he think Cean was trustworthy? Because he had been insulted during the interviews and was thought of as an outsider like him? Because he was a boy around his age? Because they both had broken noses?!
David was suddenly realizing, far too late he thought, that while Cean wasn't the deadliest Tribute in the arena and may not have been trained like the other Careers, he still had some Career training. He had demonstrated that to deadly effect the previous night. David still couldn't believe how easily Cean had dispatched the crazed boy from 9. 'And he can do that to us too!' he thought.
They didn't know each other well, nor did they feel particularly bonded together by anything, but David and Daisy would glance at each other and know they were on the same wavelength. They had to get away from Cean. Soon.
The group kept walking until they hit a large fork in the tunnel. The track splintered and went down two separate tunnels, the one on the left lit red and the on the right blue. Cean looked at both of them, weighing some invisible options, and then decided. "We'll take the blue line. What do you guys think?"
Daisy just nodded and David smiled. "Sounds good!" He said.
"Right?" Cean agreed with a smile. "I saw Ruddy run down the red line during the Bloodbath. I'm willing to bet there's something nasty down there too. It just seems so ominous, don't you think?"
"Totally." Daisy agreed.
Cean chuckled to himself. "I bet Mara was dumb enough to go down the red line. I wonder if she's got some sort of infection. Serves her right."
Cean strutted down the blue line, Daisy and David following his spiteful little footsteps.
Up Next: Day 2 Continues