Charydbis Kincaid- No Way Down D2F
It couldn't be healthy to spend this much time inside. There were windows, sure, but that wasn't a real substitute for just really being outside. After I clear this floor, maybe I'll go check out the garden outside. There were probably a few outliers out there. If I was from one of the rural Districts, I definitely would have gone for the garden. They knew all those edible plants and things like that. Maybe there were even some fish in the pond.
My inner musings snapped off when a doorknob down the hall from me turned.. I rushed through the doorway on my left and peeked through the cracked door at whoever was about to come out. I wasn't sure, but I thought he was from one of the outlying Districts- Eleven or Twelve, maybe. Once it was clear he wasn't from one of the big alliances, I leaned out into the hallway and threw my trident. The boy gasped as it sank into his stomach. He fell forward halfway out of the doorway, awkwardly twisting sideways so the trident wouldn't jam in further.
Shoot. I should have waited an instant longer and taken better aim. It was a lingering wound- he just might be able to get up and run a fair distance. Even with the blood trail, I didn't like being without my weapon for even a few minutes. Besides, I didn't want him to suffer.
I was cautious as I approached the boy. He was grievously wounded, but an injured opponent is all the more dangerous for having nothing to lose. He had his hand wrapped around the trident handle, ready to pull it out and attack when I got close. I feinted that I was about to bend over and go for the trident, but kicked him in the face instead. I hoped that would knock him out and stop the pain, and it worked. I knelt by the boy to pull the trident out and finish him off.
Zebulon Pike- Wandering Souls D12M
I knew it was over for me. The only question was what would happen to Sky. By some miracle of situational awareness, she hadn't made any noise when I fell. I desperately wanted to check on her, but looking over my shoulder would give it away that someone else was in the room. Sky's best chance was that Charybdis might not know I had an ally and might either assume the room was cleared or only give it a cursory check. I heard a faint noise of Sky scrambling behind me, seeming to go deeper into the room. As Charybdis' foot cocked back, I wished Sky well.
Sky Larch- Wandering Souls D12F
She wasn't going to get away with this. Zebulon was dying. I couldn't save him. If Charybdis searched the room, she'd probably find me and then I'd die, too. Time for a desperate move, then. I crawled across the room to our bag of supplies, worrying the noise would alert her but knowing there was no other way. I pulled out one of the Zebulon's caltrops. We'd been too afraid of marking our position to use them. That didn't matter anymore.
I scrambled back across the room to right behind Zebulon. I wished I could let him know I was there with him, but any reaction would give me away. Charybdis' shadow fell across the door and suddenly I wanted to cry. I might have been the only one left in this arena who had never killed someone. Even if it was to save my own life, and even if Charybdis chose to be here, I still wanted to cry.
Charybdis' hand appeared just beyond the half-closed door I was behind. I felt the caltrop in my hand, my fingers carefully between the poisoned spikes. I wished there was anything else in the world I could do, but there wasn't. I brought down my hand into her arm.
Charybdis Kincaid- No Way Down D2F
A hand shot out from behind the boy's body and there was a dull prick in my arm. I pushed backwards on my butt but was relieved to see it was only a shallow dent in my skin. Just before I was about to look up at whoever was in the room, I felt a cold and urgent certainty that I was about to die.
I fell sideways onto my shoulder, suddenly unable to keep myself upright. Through the gap in the door, I saw a girl looking out at me, her expression a mix of fascination and horror. Her lack of urgency confirmed what I already knew: she'd poisoned me.
No, I thought. It can't end like this. I'd come so far. I'd risen up out of a hell I couldn't describe but knew others were burning in still. I was going to help them. We were going to get better.
I felt the trident lying heavy in my hands. I had just enough strength left to throw it. I didn't, thought. I was dying. It was over for me. Killing the girl out of spite, when she'd only been trying to stay alive, wasn't right. Instead I focused on trying to breathe. I only had a few seconds of the life I'd just recently begun to value. I wanted every second.
Arielle Ermin- 28th Hunger Games D4F
I was never much of a student. It didn't surprise many people to hear that the Academy tended towards more of the "jock" personalities. We valued strategy and stealth and things like that, but most of us weren't the type to pore over science books for a long time. A long time, in my case, since so many of the words were too long to read, much less understand. Finally, after nearly a day of study, I had what I needed.
Hey, Careers! I typed on Tuesday's blog. Did you know that citric acid, sulphuric acid, and hydrochloric acid can all melt metal? You probably think this is a trap (I totally see why), but look it up and you'll see it's legit. Zibby will probably comment on this anyway since she won't be able to resist and she's way smarter than me. If you pour a little on the latch of a door and then shut it quick, it'll warp real bad in that tiny space inside the door and the door will be stuck shut. It would be a shame if all the outliers didn't have a million places to hide since we were all clearing rooms and then sealing the doors shut. Hope this helps!- TheCoolerRemainingFour
Nene Palmer- Swing Vote D6F
Tabitha cheered at the cheerful chiming of a sponsor gift. I snagged it out of the air and checked the number. "Oh, it's for me," I said as I saw the 6. I hadn't been expecting many sponsor gifts. I wasn't really rich at home and I didn't have a circus family like the rest of my allies. Pretty cool.
I opened the box and saw a handgun laying in the bottom.
"Woah Nellie, you got a sugar daddy?" Richard asked.
"I don't think so," I said. Sometimes friends told me someone was flirting with me when I hadn't noticed at all, but I think I'd know if I had a whole sugar daddy.
"It's probably for the whole alliance and is from all of our friends," Tabitha suggested. "It's still yours," she said to me, "but probably everyone helped."
"Wonder why they gave it to Nene," Richard said as I picked up the gun. I racked it back, cleared the chamber, and dropped out the magazine to check how many bullets were there.
"What was that?" Richard said, looking at me like I had two heads.
"What?" I asked.
"You did that like you've done it a million times," he said.
"Not a million times," I said, as I put it together that he was thinking of my motorcycle gang past. "I've never even touched one before. I just saw them a few times and happened to remember." My gang was more of a "ride around and roughhouse" gang than a "drive-by shootings" kind of gang. Even our worst members wouldn't think about that level of crime. Just being near a gun could get you executed. I should have spoken up when Petro was bragging about his new "piece", but I'd been worried everyone would call me a baby.
"Guess that's why they sent it to you," Tabitha said.
"So you know how to aim it and stuff? I've heard it's hard," Richard said.
"I never saw one get shot," I said. Petro wasn't that stupid- a gunshot wasn't exactly subtle. "Guess I'll wait until whoever I want to kill gets real close."
47th place: Zebulon Pike- stabbed by Charybdis
Zebulon and Sky got away a long time by just staying under the radar. There aren't as many outliers left, though, and there's a lot of Careers. Since the Careers are in general more stealthy, they tend to evade each other and get the outliers instead. I originally was going to kill Sky as well, but I thought it was kind of interesting to leave her alive. Zebulon didn't get that mercy- ha ha get wrecked. But really it's sad to lose him. He didn't get explored as deeply and that's too bad.
46th place: Charybdis Kincaid- poisoned by Sky
Charybdis was a frontrunner. Her cool story about depression and her mission in life gave her a lot to write about. She was blossoming into the person we hadn't been able to see past all the depression. I killed her so bluntly here because it seemed extra impactful for someone who had just really started to come into her own. Every tribute thinks they're the main character. For so many of them, their story ends when someone kills them and not when it reaches its natural climax.