A/N: TW: Gore and overall intensity after this point. I can't believe we're at the games already! The tributes that made less of an appearance will get their screen time, everyone will get at least 1 pov before they die as well. Hope you enjoy!
Morton Moreno, 18
Day one of the games
10:00 hours
His entire life has led to this moment.
Over the last week, that fact has become clearer and clearer to him, like steam fading from a mirror and unveiling his reflection. In the moments following Shayna's brutal murder, when Ren was ducking and diving behind alleyways, they thought something had possessed them, a dark spirit maybe. They ran and they hid from the dark entity which had taken them over, but to no avail. When Ren spilled his crimes to the entire country with glee, he finally understood that he was never possessed - this is who he is.
Better yet, this is what The Capitol wants him to be. It's who the world wants him to be. For the first time in their life, they'll be rewarded for their efforts, not cast aside like some unwanted stray dog.
Before Ren is escorted out to join the other tributes, he is fitted with a light-red, thick, rubber hazmat suit. The suit is split into two halves - a top half and pants. A single zip runs up the centre of the top while various other zips lead to pockets. Then, a mask is strapped to their back like a backpack. Lastly, a keycard is placed around their neck, and some kind of gadget with numbers - like a measuring device - slid into their pocket.
A tracker is hastily inserted into Ren's wrist. They wince from the sensation but the feeling also curls his lips into a smile. That pain will be dialled up to a thousand for whoever is unlucky to cross my path.
Ren is then swiftly taken outside to a landing bay, where a hovercraft is waiting. The other tributes are brought out beside him; they are all wearing hazmat suits much like his own, although only his district partner's is the same light red as his. The rest of the colours of the outfits vary by district, ranging from black to teal green to bright yellow.
Not a second later, the twenty-six tributes are commanded to step onto the hovercraft. Ren hopes that it is the last command they'll ever have to receive.
(When they are a victor living in Eight's Victor's Village, there will be nobody to give him orders.)
Ren takes a seat opposite the girl from Ten, who's wearing a black arena suit; it's the same girl who shoved him during training. The girl sets her eyes on each of her competitors, glaring at them while chewing on some gum from her apartment.
Next to Ren sits Jokull, whose suit is a darker shade of red than Ren's. As the craft lifts into the air, the Six boy waits in silence as usual like a shadow in the corner of the room. He munches his way through a bag of chips while studying the other tributes with his cold stare.
Ren has no interest in waiting in silence. Instead, Ren decides to test the water of his adversaries by verbally prodding at them. "Me, Jokull, and Ozias already have quite the body count between us. If any of you wanna add to it, then be my guest." They grin at the tips of their fingers as he plays with them. "I'd be happy to describe my last victim's screams if you don't believe me," he gloats.
"Why don't you meet me in the arena and describe them there? I'd be happy to oblige," the muscular career boy from Two yells over the noise of the hovercraft engines. The slimmer boy from One gives his ally a nudge on the arm, then tries to tell the Two boy not to stoop to Ren's level, as if they're the ones who have anywhere to stoop to.
Ren's sly eyes meet both his allies', as they recall their plan to tear down the careers.
The hovercraft is lowering back towards the ground now. Jokull tosses his bag of chips aside after swallowing the last one.
A peacekeeper steps in the middle of the tributes and quickly glances between them to give them one last check; she halts on the Ten girl. "Miss, you're gonna have to lose the gum."
Ren glares at the foreboding girl from Ten, who she glares back before intentionally ejecting the gum out of her mouth and onto his polished boot, smirking while she does it.
Ren's gaze shifts briefly to the gum stuck to his boot, dripping with saliva, then back up to the girl sitting opposite him. He beckons her forward with his finger, so she leans in. "Looks like your parents never taught you any manners. Don't worry, I'll be more than willing to."
The Ten girl's expression is unwavering. She simply sits back in her seat, not breaking eye contact.
Suddenly, alarms ring through the hovercraft. Before Ren knows it, they are dragged out along with the other tributes and taken to their own chamber, which is empty except for a transparent tube at the end of the room.
The Eight boy checks the digital clock on the plain white wall - 09:55.
Peacekeepers hastily usher Ren into the tube that encloses around them. No going back now. As they are taken up through the ground, they know they should probably feel the hairs of their skin spike up, but instead, they feel an air of elation rush through their body.
Ren rises up to the surface, raising his arms out like a gladiator before a roaring crowd.
A fierce light strikes their vision but soon clears, allowing them to take in their surroundings. The area surrounding the Cornucopia is closed off from the rest of the arena by a thick, concrete, oval structure which towers high above the twenty-six tributes, and is as tall as a block of flats. At the very top of the circular opening, an outside can be gleaned, but it is shrouded by some kind of thick smog that seeps into the structure and threatens to strangle the tributes.
Dotted around the grey, concrete walls are rusted, metal ladders leading to different exits around the structure. Meanwhile, directly behind Ren are two large, main doors. Luckily, I'm between the tributes and the door, which will make escape for them difficult…
An old-fashioned, square TV suddenly erupts from static and white noise to a solid red countdown.
Ren closes his eyes as the timer rolls down. 45, 44, 43, 42, 41.
He can hear the faint noise of the girl from Three begging everybody not to fight, but Ren pays it no attention - to him, it is nothing more than an irritating buzzing fly in the corner of the room.
The countdown fast approaches its climax. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…
Ren is cast back to that last night in their parents' practice. Shayna has her back to him. He prepares to inject her with the anaesthetic. A killer instinct was born.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Ren opens their eyes, to find that killer instinct inside them once more. They've missed it.
He zones in on a meat cleaver just outside the cornucopia...
Meilin Seacole, 15
Meilin Seacole is ready.
When she was younger, and the other kids would tease her for her endless enthusiasm and positivity, she knew she would change the world one day.
This is her moment.
The countdown begins. 60…59…58
Meilin hesitates. For the first time in her life, she is unsure what to say.
Instinctively, she takes note of the concrete structure in the centre, surrounded by weapons and supplies. What am I doing? I won't need it. None of us will.
33…32…31…30
Time is ticking down. It's now or never.
Meilin clears her throat and desperately searches for her voice. She's never had the fate of so many lives on her shoulders. But it's okay, it's what she's meant for.
"Everyone!"
A few heads turn to her from around her podium.
"I know you're scared, I'm scared too. But you need to hear me out," Her voice is suddenly meeker than she expected.
"That's what they want. They want us to be scared. That's how they've controlled us all this time but we can't let them!" Her voice grows louder and is suddenly charged with passion. It's going to work. They'll listen to me.
"When the clock hits zero, stand still with me. Don't move. They'll have no choice but to stop the games… maybe forever, and it will be because of us!"
10…9….8….
By now, half of the tributes are staring at the Three girl, but most still ready themselves to run to the cornucopia.
Meilin begins shaking uncontrollably, like she has been zapped with an electric current.
They aren't listening to her…
Why aren't they listening?
"No…" she mutters under her breath. She makes one final attempt "You have to trust me!"
"Anyone that doesn't move… I'll cut you down where you stand," The Two boy bellows.
"No!"
The girl from Eleven, who is on the podium beside Meilin, shifts to her. "I'm sorry," she says. "If I don't fight, they'll kill me… I have a little sister to go back to."
5…4…3….2…1
The gong sounds and the tributes collectively leap off their podiums. Some turn to scramble up the ladders, but most race to the centre, including the Eleven girl.
"Wait!" Meilin throws her arm out, pleadingly.
But the girl is already in the middle in the blink of an eye.
She can't move. It's like her feet are being held firmly in place on the podium by a pair of invisible hands. Meilin can only watch in horror as the carnage unfolds before her eyes.
Her eyes follow the girl from Eleven as she collides with the career boys from One and Two. There's little more than a brief tussle before the girl's throat is severed open by the sword of the athletic Two boy. As the girl is reduced to a lifeless corpse, blood spews out in a jet. Meilin wants to shut her eyes, but she can't.
She can't move anything. She can't do anything.
More death and brutality follows as the bloodbath rages on, but Meilin can't even begin to fathom how much time has passed - It could have been thirty seconds, it could have been a minute, it could have been ten minutes. All she knows is that she's frozen in place.
The sounds of the battle fades to silence around her, and her fingers go numb.
Eventually, the career boy from Four locks eyes with Meilin. He calmly draws a particularly sharp arrow, and pulls back on his bow to fire.
Meilin's breaths pulsate in her lungs, like they're about to burst. Why can't I move?
A body slams into her from the right, forcing the petrified girl off her podium. Her heart is hit with relief when Liz tumbles on top of her.
"Miss me?" The Eight girl manages a smile despite the dire circumstances.
Meilin is still unable to speak, still unable to move - but luckily, Liz does it for her. She hauls Meilin to her feet, then scans the area for an escape route.
Meridian suddenly appears at their side, his panicked eyes glued to Meilin. "Are you okay?" he pants.
"She's in shock. Get her out of here. I'll get Day," Liz exclaims. She winces, clasping at something on her shoulder. "Hurry!"
Meridian takes Meilin by the hand, dragging her through the chaos to the main door, like she's a doll.
Meridian fumbles for the keycard around their neck, then shoves it towards a scanner next to the doors.
"Come on! Come on! Open!" They plead, slamming against the metal.
Finally, a green light activates on the scanner. The doors slide open.
(Meilin cannot recount anything that happens after that. The voice of Meridian is replaced by a ringing in her ears, and finally, her vision starts to blur until it dips out entirely…)
When Meilin re-awakes, she finds herself in a dimly lit room. It is cramped, and junked up, with old tools, gadgets and scraps of metal in the corners and on the shelves.
To her left is a platform containing numerous buttons - some sort of control panel. There are two large windows behind that; they are so dirty that Meilin can barely see the cornucopia through them.
Meridian's voice finally interrupts the ringing in her ears. "Meilin!"
Meilin blinks back into the present. She is slouched against one of the walls, still trembling.
Meridian is crouching in front of her with concern written all over his face. "Meilin," they repeat, softer this time.
"Day… Day. Did she make it?" Meilin croaks in response.
Meridian's eyes light up. "You… you're speaking again… you worried me there for a moment." He pinches his nose. "Yeah Day's okay… she's safe with us."
Meilin swallows. Her face collapses into her hands. "You were right… what you said before… people enjoy trampling on each other…"
Meridian furrows his eyebrows. "What? No! I-I didn't even know what I was talking about." their eyes fall down. "It's fear. Fear can make people do terrible things. But you… you're amazing. You brought all of us together. We're alive because of you… you showed the world it's possible to bring people together no matter the circumstances."
Meilin releases her tear-soaked face and gives him a soft smile.
Her ally then offers out his hand. "Come, we need your help… Liz is hurt."
Meilin's heart jumps with fright at the news as she follows Meridian to her other two allies.
"It's nothing… really," The Eight girl groans.
Meilin gasps aloud when she sees the arrow that the Four boy fired, sticking out of Liz's shoulder. She wants to kick herself for forcing her friend to take the arrow for her.
Seeing Meilin's shocked eyes, Liz glances at her shoulder. "Oh yeah… okay, it's probably gonna hurt in the morning…"
Liz's sense of humor seems to be her coping mechanism, which Meilin doesn't mind since it's causing the only relief she's felt all day.
"It's nothing I can't handle," Day interjects. "I patched up enough wounds in my old neighbourhood; an arrow shouldn't be too much of a stretch…"
"Shouldn't?" Liz shoots back.
The team quickly put together a makeshift fire, using some of the supplies from the bloodbath and some of the junk lying around the room.
Meilin's hands shake as she heats up a metal rod in preparation to cauterise Liz's injury.
The girl from Eight groans in pain as Day carefully pries the arrow out of her shoulder. Meilin diverts her eyes away from the sight of blood.
Day hastily prepares to cauterise Liz's new shoulder wound. "Try to hold still," they say.
"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one with the gaping hole in your arm," Liz quips back.
A chuckle shakes Meilin but then it vanishes when she hands Day the red-hot metal rod.
Meilin has to cover her ears to block out Liz's cries as Day cauterises her injury with the metal rod, but it is soon over. Meridian tosses a bandage to their district partner from the bag they got from the cornucopia.
"Thank you," The Eight girl murmurs to Day.
"You saved my life. I save yours. That's how we did things in Dawning Avenue," Days smiles.
"We need to get outta here, someone would have heard that," Meridian says.
"Agreed."
Meilin helps Liz to her feet, and together, the alliance gingerly head for a dark, withering staircase that feels like it could collapse beneath their feet at any moment.
Despite everything, Meilin discovers she can move again. Although, that's the only thing she recognises about herself as she follows her allies deeper into the unknown…
Romulus Ryker, 17
As soon as the gong rings, Romulus surges in a single line to the centre of the circular structure - his path to freedom. His target is the sturdy concrete cornucopia in the center; he can just barely make out a swung-open metal door that seems to lead underground.
Fortunately, Romulus is a natural sprinter, so he is the first to arrive. He grips the top of the door frame and acrobatically swings straight underground to the stash of more dangerous weapons hidden inside the bunker.
A silver-shining broadsword gleams at Romulus from the corner of the room; it beckons him to wield it against his foes. He wastes no time in snatching it in his two hands and heading back outside the bunker.
He scans around the hurried chaos for any sign of the tribute from Eight who was boasting on the hovercraft. Time to teach them a lesson.
Instead, his eyes land on the girl from Eleven - a deer caught in headlights. She already has a bag slung on her back, a hatchet in her right hand, and is in the midst of making her escape.
Romulus steps in front of her, cutting her off. He inches forward with his sword gripped firmly in his hands, forcing her back up against the wall of the cornucopia.
Seeing no other choice, the girl lunges at him and swings her blade down on the career repeatedly. Romulus uses his broadsword to deflect, parrying all her attacks with little effort. The sound of their metals clashing rings through the air.
Romulus's gaze catches Landon's a few metres behind the Eleven girl; they lock eyes, Romulus's filling his veins with relief, then he sends him a subtle nod.
As stealthily as he can, Landon retrieves a machete from one of the stacks of weapons, and sneaks up behind the girl. She raises her sword up to strike again but as she's doing it, Landon slices through her sword arm from behind. Her cries of agony are short-lived as Romulus hastily brings his sword across her throat, staining the blade with her blood.
Romulus immediately commends his ally. "Nice work."
However, the One boy's face is suddenly pale, and, for the first time since Romulus has known him, he is lost for words. Is he having regrets? He needs to snap out of that straight away, Romulus thinks. Romulus offers out his fist and Landon limply bumps it.
Something just above them draws their attention - the bulky girl from District Fourteen has climbed on top of the cornucopia and is guarding herself tightly with a spear. Geneve is trying to pursue the girl to the top, but each time she gets close, the girl keeps her at bay by jabbing her spear, and the One girl drops back down with frustration. Brizio is also at the bottom aiming his bow at the girl, but he's unable to line his shot up because she's moving too fast.
Romulus crosses his arms and begins sarcastically tapping his foot. "Looks like you guys could use some help," he mocks.
Romulus watches Brizio clench his jaw and trace his vision from the tip of the arrow head to the Fourteen girl. He releases the arrow; it zooms through the air in a stringing motion and strikes the Fourteen girl in the shoulder. She yelps in pain, losing her footing, then tumbles down to Geneve's feet,; swiftly, the One girl seizes the Fourteen girl by the hair and slits her throat.
By now, most of the other fights have concluded. As the last of surviving tributes scatter away up various ladders, the careers gather around the cornucopia. Geneve, Brizio and Emery start hauling most of the supplies and weapons into the middle. Romulus observes Brizio slipping several long knives under his suit and in his backpack. I'm watching you - Romulus makes sure to let Brizio know this by staring him directly in the eyes.
"We should move all of the supplies into the bunker," Geneve says. "That way, they'll be harder to steal."
"I'm not planning on stickin' around," Romulus counters. "We should take this opportunity to get a few more kills under our belt while they're tired."
Geneve shakes her head. "No. It's best to conserve our own energy for today."
Landon is muttering something next to Romulus.
"What?" The Two boy interjects.
"Have you noticed? The air is so quiet and… almost… metallic. I feel …trapped."
"Trapped? Nah, we're free now, remember?" Romulus consoles, rubbing Landon's shoulder. "How many bodies do you count?" He requests.
Landon blinks back into the moment and glances around at the slain tributes on the ground. "Three… four." His eyes widen on the blood body of the Eleven girl. Shortly after, he disappears behind the cornucopia. The sounds of him coughing and eventually vomiting follow. There goes his breakfast.
Geneve furrows her eyebrows.
"He's not used to the sight of blood, I don't think," Romulus says.
Geneve, Brizio, and Emery shake their heads and return to moving all the bags and weapons. Moments later, Aida storms past him, kicking one of the bags in frustration as she heads for the bunker. A second after, Romulus hears a footstep next to him - it's his district partner. "That girl from Six, she slipped out of my grasp," Meridia grumbles.
"If you're still eager to make a kill, then you can join me tonight," Romulus murmurs. He then steps forward and raises his voice. "I extend that offer to the rest of you. If you'd rather not sit around at the cornucopia twiddling your thumbs then you're more than welcome to come hunting with me."
Landon pokes his head out from behind the cornucopia. "I'll come," he declares, huffing and puffing from throwing up. "I-I need to get outta here…"
"I heard a scream from the direction of those windows," Meridia points up to what looks like a control panel. "We could start there."
Romulus sends Geneve, Brizio, and Emery a victorious smirk. The three do their best to ignore it by shaking their heads and going back to what they were doing.
Round one goes to me.
Chaney de Kuyper, 17
"So… what's your answer?"
"I…I…I."
Briar never gave an answer. She backed off into her room, her eyes still brimming with shock. He didn't see her until the next day when they were whisked away into the hovercraft and prepped for the games.
Did he think it through? No. But then, he's never really thought anything through; he's lived his entire life that way because there's no telling what's going to happen tomorrow, so why worry? Never did that sentiment apply more than last night.
The gong rings. Despite the pleas of the girl from Three, the tributes begin leaving their podiums and begin the nightmare that they will be trapped in until only one wakes on the other side.
All we ever have is now, Chaney mutters in his mind.
Right now, his thoughts are on Briar. She's all that matters. She's all that ever mattered. He can't leave it like he left it last night.
His eyes rush between the different tributes before they land on her - he'd spot her even if she were adrift alone in an ocean and he was stranded on a far-away land. Her dirty blond hair flows behind her as she runs for the cornucopia, determination in each step. She's following their plan - Briar and Chaney grab the best weapons and supplies from the middle, then they meet the others by the edge while Auren covers their escape.
Chaney wastes no time, flying towards her like they are two magnets.
It is when Briar is no more than two metres from her destination that Chaney gasps internally. The well-built boy from Seven takes her off guard, swinging ferally at her with a hatchet - the axehead is so sharp it gleams even in the sunless steps back to avoid the first few swings; in doing so, however, her foot gets caught in one of the bag straps, causing her to lose her balance and hit the concrete.
"I see you! I'm coming!" Chaney cries.
In that moment the boy from Nine runs faster than he's ever run before as the axe-wielding tribute bares down on the love of his life. She's all that matters. His heart races at a million miles an hour in his chest.
The Seven boy swipes at the floored Briar, and she only narrowly manages to roll out of the way. The boy's axe dents the concrete. Taking advantage of his failure, Briar plants a firm kick into the boy's knee, which buckles his entire frame - although this does little more than delay him.
Red mist descends over Chaney's eyes. His hand goes for the first weapon in between him and the Seven boy, which happens to be a hefty warhammer. The boy from Seven is preparing to hack at Briar again, but Chaney closes the remainder of the distance and swings for his head in a fell swoop.
CRACK.
The boy from Seven never even knew what hit him. The sound of his neck snapping back turns Chaney's stomach. By the time the red mist clears from Chaney's eyes, Briar's attacker is already lying at his feet, and the blunt side of his hammer is stained with blood.
Time slows around him. He drops the weapon to the floor in terror at his butchery. He cannot hear whatever Briar is shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Chaney!" Her voice suddenly penetrates his skull. Her face is as stricken with terror as his. "You have to go!"
Suddenly, Auren is by their side, carrying a metal mace in her hand. She smashes it against the Seven boy's head twice more to make sure he won't get up again. Chaney hopes that those were blows that killed him.
Auren's eyes travel between the pair, confused. "What are we all waiting around for? Let's go."
"I have to get what I came for," Briar insists, bolting for the inside of the cornucopia.
Auren lets out an exasperated groan and shifts to Chaney. "Meet us over there," she points to a ladder by the edge. "I'll find Reese and the… other one."
Chaney is still too stunned to answer. He replies with only a vacant nod.
He stands guard for the next few seconds, his bones shivering. Finally, Briar emerges from the concrete structure with a large backpack around her shoulders and a scimitar. "Come on!" she exclaims.
Chaney's legs carry him after Briar. If she hadn't come out from the cornucopia then he might have just stayed where he was. But Briar's skin seems to be radiating light to guide him through the battle.
(Did he just kill someone?)
(He wasn't thinking.)
(He was going to hurt her.)
(He never thinks.)
Lilac Rafflesia, 16
Lilac imagines she is back home in her cemetery, chasing after the grave thieves; only this time she's defending supplies for her allies rather than possessions of dead people.
Her eyes focus on a backpack on the outskirts of the cornucopia. She readies her legs to sprint for it. But then, she notices a tribute on the other side of it, about the same distance from it as she is.
It's the boy from Eight. He snarls at Lilac and flips a meat cleaver in his hand. "Meat for the slaughter!" he exclaims excitedly, then unleashes the butcher's knife at the gravedigger's head.
Caught off guard, Lilac only narrowly ducks out of the way, but the blade still grazes her shoulder. She sucks in a breath to ignore the pain, glaring at the sadistic tribute from Eight like her eyes could burn a hole through his skull. She has to awaken the banshee inside of her - it's the only way she'll have a chance to fight this demon in front of her.
She dashes for the bag but the Eight boy reaches it just as fast, and before they know it, the two of them find themselves in a tug-of-war for it. Lilac yanks the straps of the bag with sudden, jerking movements, but the Eight boy's grip is just as strong.
The boy's sharp features twist into a grin. Is he enjoying this? It's like they're playing some sick game with her.
"You shouldn't try to snatch things from people, you know, it's rude," Eight remarks.
Dario's voice rings through the air. "Lilac!"
Her district partner descends upon the tribute from Eight in a rush of adrenaline. He rips the bag from Eight's hands then swiftly lands a right cross to their jaw.
The sudden loosening of Eight's hold on the bag causes Lilac to fly backwards and land on her back with a thud. From then on she can only watch as Dario continues to smash his fist against the Eight boy's face - once, twice, three times. But the sadistic grin remains plastered on Eight's face. They draw a serrated knife into their hands from their suit. Dario winds up a fourth punch, but then he gasps in surprise.
He looks down. His jaw drops. Eight has thrust the knife into his chest, and they keep doing it. Again, and again, and again, the Eight boy doesn't stop.
Lilac wishes she could forget Dario's screams as the Eight boy continues to stab his blade, but somehow she thinks they'll be with her for the rest of time.
Rage pumps through her veins. By the time she is back on her feet, Eight has finally stopped and Dario is lying in a pool of his own blood.
She was too late. She couldn't save him.
(Could she?)
Any guilt is quickly replaced by anger. She wants to tear Dario's killer limb from limb. She needs to.
The Eight boy turns his sights to Lilac; his blade gleams against his heartless eyes. His teeth are gritted like a wild wolf.
Bring it on - She thinks to herself.
Just then, Eight's two allies turn up beside him - the tall boy from Fourteen and the shorter boy from Six. Both are armed, and suddenly, Lilac is outnumbered.
She has to be smart. She can't take them all on. She'll make Eight's death slow and agonising - like he did to Dario - but it will have to wait until another day. She has allies out there, they are alive, and they need her help.
Lilac turns and flees from the fighting, slinging the back around her back. I'll have to wait to party six feet under!
She knows what her mother would be saying right now if she were still alive: "The only thing you have to fear is fear itself." When her mother was around, Lilac was able to conquer any monster. The Eight boy is just another monster that she will conquer.
She spots Zora ascending one of the metal ladders out of the cornucopia. So, that is where she heads. Where her other two allies are, she's not sure yet.
Lilac follows her younger ally to the top of the ladder, hopping onto the metal gratings moments after her.
Zora shifts around, wide-eyed and panting, readying a small pocket knife in her hand.
Lilac shoots her hands up. "It's just me," she breathes.
Zora lowers the knife, then bends over to catch her breath. "Fuma… we can't leave without her," she protests.
Lilac moves back over to the edge of the platform. Where is she? They can't wait around to die. Then she spots her - the ranger from Seven is scaling one of the ladders a few metres across from them.
"Come on!" Lilac exclaims. She runs around the circular structure to the spot where Fuma will climb to.
Fuma's face crumples in relief when she sees Lilac heading towards her, and then her eyes light up when she spots Zora behind the mortician. The tall girl from Seven dashes past Lilac and wraps her arms around the much shorter girl from Six. "Zora! You're okay!"
"Yeah…"
"I-I wasn't sure if… never mind." Fuma releases her ally, probably realising that it's a bit much.
"I'm fine." Zora smiles faintly.
It's then that it dawns on Lilac that she hasn't seen the two of them speak since the Private Sessions.
Fuma turns to Lilac.
"I'm not hugging ya," Lilac quips. "I got a bag," she changes the subject.
"Me too," Fuma says, unzipping her rucksack and eyeing the contents inside.
"Where's Robin?" Lilac asks.
The Seven girl shakes her head. "I-I'm not sure. Dario?"
"He's dead," Lilac answers bluntly.
Fuma glances up and stops rummaging in her bag. "I'm sorry," she offers.
Lilac's eyes fall down. "We can't stay here. We need to get going… hopefully Robin will be able to catch us up, if he's still alive." Although, her tone is not optimistic that he is.
Fuma leads the way, guiding Zora through the first door they come across. Lilac follows closely behind.
Darkness begins encroaching around them as they navigate their way through the factory, and soon all Lilac can see between the overcast lights are Dario's lifeless eyes.
(She's seen plenty of dead bodies before. But something about seeing Dario alive and wandering around Twelve's apartment only yesterday to becoming what he became today has shaken Lilac like nothing before.)
(It's only now that she can see how fragile life truly is - and how empty death is.)
Reese Haricot, 15
When the gong strikes Reese feels a knot tighten in his stomach. For a split second, he stands still, his next move lost on him. Then he remembers Briar's strategy back in training: "Link up with Jarvis. You two work well together. Grab some supplies at the edge and wait for us."
Reese would rather attempt to help his allies out of the slaughter that is taking place, but at the same time, he trusts Briar's judgement.
He makes a beeline to his left in the direction of a large backpack on the other side of the area, narrowly avoiding crashing into several tributes racing directly for the centre. His hand clasps around the bag - a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. "Yes!" He throws his arms out and turns to face the middle, and then-
The career girl from District Four locks eyes with him.
His heart sinks. She squints and raises her spear up to his chest level, determination burnt all over her features.
There's no way he can get to her in time. So instead, Reese remains still as the career prepares to strike him down by launching her javelin. All he can do is attempt to dive out of the way.
The knot in his stomach tightens.
Suddenly, the girl flutters her eyes to her right as another girl holding a mace bears down on her. Reese yells out her name - "Auren!"
Surprised, the Four girl is forced to raise her spear to block Auren's mace.
CRACK
The shaft of the spear splits in half, leaving the girl with one half of the spear in each hand.
"Reese, you idiot, what are you doing? Run!" Auren yells back. She swings at the Four girl again, but this time, the career slides back out of the way.
Chaney's words replay in Reese's brain like a recording - "If I tell you to run, I need you to run."
But Reese cannot run away. He's brave, right? He has to help his allies. But then again, I'll be no good to them dead, he thinks.
So Reese doesn't run or fight. He stays frozen in place, unable to reconcile his dilemma.
"Reese, run!" Auren orders again, pacing back, away from the career and closer to him. Reese quickly glances at his ally. Her hands are gripped tight around her mace, which is already stained with blood. Whose? Reese isn't sure.
The Four girl grits her teeth in fury after glancing at her broken spear and readies herself to attack with just the bladed tip of the spear. But with all her focus on the menacing Ten girl, she doesn't notice Jarvis in time to stop him from tackling her from behind.
The Three boy gets into a brief scuffle on the ground with the career girl, before pushing himself free of her grasp and charging in Reese and Auren's direction. It all happens so fast that Reese barely has time to register what's going on, but the two of them take that as their cue to make a break for it. So they turn and race for the nearest ladder that leads out of the bloodbath.
Moments later, Chaney and Briar join them, seemingly uninjured. Reese wants to throw his arms around them in relief, but he figures now probably isn't the best time. So for now, he resorts to a simple but delighted "You're okay!"
Chaney's eyes are shell-shocked and vacant. He stares through Reese like neither of them are really there.
"We need to go… unless the plan is to stand around in a circle like this," Auren says.
Reese glances back - Jarvis has not yet caught up to the group, and the Four girl is still trailing him.
"Not without Jarvis," Reese insists.
Auren ignores him and aggressively shoves him to the ladder. "Up!"
Reese looks down again. Jarvis has just reached them in the nick of time. That and Auren's impatient eyes force him to begin hauling himself up the ladder, one arm at a time. This is just like climbing my favourite tree, only easier.
Reese arrives at the top and rolls over onto some metal gratings. He acts quickly to help the rest of his allies up, one after the other - Auren, then Briar, then Chaney, and finally Jarvis, who is hugging his arms around his chest; in the heat of the moment, Reese thinks nothing of it.
Reese peers over the edge; the Four girl is halfway up the ladder, angrier than ever. He frantically tugs at Auren's arm. "The career! I think you made her mad."
Auren thinks fast, slamming her mace against the hooks of the ladder. Catching on, Briar gives it a push, causing it to plummet down along with the Four girl.
The alliance then wastes no time in darting for a door as the career's rage-filled cries echo behind them.
Reese knows he should be embarrassed. He froze up back there. He wasn't brave. But instead, he's just glad to be alive, and glad that his friends are safe and not hurt.
The knot in his stomach relaxes.
It took Reese and his alliance the better part of fifteen minutes to navigate their way out of the factory.
Reese breathes a sigh of relief when they reach the outside, but he finds that the air is thick, like a choking invisible entity is weighing it down. The sun is nowhere to be seen because the sky is covered by grey smog.
Reese swallows in despair. He needs the sun. The sun brings hope and gives life to the world and its inhabitants. A bubble of sickness surrounds this place, a sickness that is infecting the lively boy from Eleven.
They begin trekking their way through a desolate street. Around them, the streets are cracked, and filled with holes and dents. There are overgrown blocks of flats on either side of them, half collapsed into rubble. Cars line the street but they are brown with rust, and their windows are smashed.
There is stark silence amongst the group. Not even Chaney is talking; he is still in a state of what Reese can only describe as an empty shock. For a while, the only sounds come from the gadgets that were placed in their pockets in the Capitol. They begin making some kind of faint clicking sound, its speed and volume increasing and decreasing in intervals.
Auren is the first to break the painful silence. It's the usual, mostly just complaints about the arena and the other members of the alliance, and how slow they were back in the bloodbath. Reese supposes it is her way of coping with the ordeal they just went through. But he doesn't mind; it brings a surprisingly warm familiarity from their blissful day yesterday at the theme park to the present moment.
As they enter a park, Jarvis releases a pained groan from behind Reese. Reese turns - all the colour has disappeared from the Three boy's face, and his movements have become sluggish and uncoordinated.
"Jarvis… you okay?" Reese murmurs.
His ally's walk transforms into a stumble. "No I…I think I've got a problem…" He removes his arms from around his torso, revealing the very tip of the Four girl's spear lodged in his chest. So that's why he was hugging his arms around his body.
"I-I didn't wanna look," Jarvis says, his eyes faint. "Is it bad? I… I didn't wanna look." He collapses down to his knees.
The Four girl must have stabbed him while he was fighting her… while he was fighting her to protect Reese…
Panic and guilt floods into Reese's face. He rushes over to catch his ally in his arms. "Help!" he screams to his other allies.
The three of them halt, and face Reese and Jarvis, having only just noticed something is wrong.
Reese swallows back his tears. "Oh, Jarvis. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't wanna worry you," Jarvis coughs.
Reese checks the Three boy's wound… there's so much blood. He swallows again to prevent himself from bursting into tears.
"We can't stay here," Auren presses as she steps beside them.
Moments later, Jarvis's eyes fall shut. Reese places his two fingers on the boy's neck - he still has a pulse.
"He passed out… help me move him," Reese says.
The Four of them lift Jarvis up by his four limbs and take him out of the park, placing him up against a carousel.
"We can't remove the spear," Reese explains, his heart pounding against his chest. "Did we manage to get any medical supplies?" he asks, desperately glancing around.
Chaney begins rummaging around fruitlessly in their bag for some kind of bandage but everyone knows it's only a matter of time.
"We're gonna have to leave him. We're wasting time," Auren says.
Everyone ignores her.
Jarvis's eyes burst open again. "What's happening? Where am I?" He pants.
Reese cannot answer, he can only stutter a few words. "I…I…I."
Javis's frightened eyes go to the wound in his chest. "I am dying?"
Reese looks to the others for an answer, but they too are lost for words. They can't comfort Jarvis at this moment, but maybe Reese can.
"I don't know," Reese attempts, placing his hand on the Three boy's arm. "Just… picture your family. Imagine they're here with you."
Everything is silent again, save for the sounds of the swings creaking faintly. Jarvis stares off into the distance. A final smile slips onto his face as he sees his family before his eyes. The last thing he does is reach into his pocket and place a card into Reese's palm. Then Jarvis falls still and takes his last breath.
Five cannons fire.
A stream of tears soaks Reese's flushed cheeks and runs down onto his suit. "Did he just die?" He croaks.
Unexpectedly, Briar stands beside him and places her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, and unless you wanna join him, I suggest we get a move on. We're sittin' ducks out here,'' Auren protests. Briar shoots her an annoyed glance.
They allow for a few moments of silence before Briar and Chaney haul Reese back up to his feet.
While his three other allies are collecting their bags and preparing to turn off, Reese pulls open the blood-stained card Jarvis placed in his hand - it's a sixteenth birthday card from his dad.
Reese fights back more tears. But then, a lightbulb ignites in his head; it's a thought that would be illogical if he was in his right mind.
"Wait…" he calls to his allies, who have just finished collecting their supplies and resumed their march through the wasteland.
"I mean… all these people," he stares back in the direction of the cornucopia. "It doesn't seem right just… leaving. We should collect their tokens too… so they're remembered."
Auren rolls her eyes. "And waste more time? What an excellent idea. Why don't we ask the careers for theirs too-"
"Why don't you shut the fuck up?" Briar snaps back at Auren.
"Oh, I'm sorry… I'm just trying to make sure we don't die. But okay. I'll just shut up." Auren sits down on a swing and folds her arms.
Briar turns back to Reese. "Reese… we can't. I'm sorry."
Reese shakes his head and quickly drops the idea. He keeps a distance behind his allies as they traverse out of the park, desperately trying to rub the tears from his cheeks.
(He left a part of himself behind in that park that he fears he'll never get back.)
Deaths
26th: District Eleven Female: Killed by Romulus - Throat severed.
25th: District Fourteen Female: Killed by Geneve - Throat slit.
24th: Robin (District Seven male): Killed by Auren and Chaney - blunt force trauma.
23rd: Dario (District Twelve male): Killed by Ren - stabbed in the torso.
22nd: Jarvis (District Three male): Killed by Aida - speared in the chest.
Kill counter
Geneve: 1
Romulus: 1
Aida: 1
Ren: 1
Chaney: 1
Auren: 1
Well here we are at the games. I'm so excited to enact all my plans with this cast, I have plans for all of them and they'll all get their screen time don't worry. Let me know what you think of this arena. See you next time – Jay.