Taylor Treadle- District Eight female (16)
I didn't even know which way I was running. I should have made a plan while I was on the platform but the next thing I knew the gong sounded and everyone else was running. A split second later I was running, too.
Just as suddenly I was jerking backwards. It was so violent the only thing I could think was that I'd gotten my shirt caught in some machinery, like Donatella that one time. But there was no machinery here?
I rolled over, dirt and bits of grass root scraping my face, and saw Kendall had chosen me as his first quick victim, before he ran into the Bloodbath. I hadn't even noticed he was close to me during the countdown. He raised his foot to stomp my head. He took an awkward step forward, his leg grazing my side, and coughed in surprise.
"Come on!"
Someone grabbed my hand and I took a crawling step before lurching into a run. I barely saw the orange-sized rock rolling away from Kendall before I looked in front of me and saw Amberlynn running next to me. I had no idea what to do, so I followed her.
Robbie Emmers- District Nine male (18)
Rowena and I ran at each other so quickly we smashed together and bounced off each other. We ran to get Josie, who was running toward us. Something flashed in my vision like a fish darting through water. Just at that moment, Rowena tripped.
"Are you okay?" I bent over her and only then saw the spear through her stomach. I was trying to pull her to her feet, terrified at the damage it would cause but knowing she'd certainly die if I didn't, when Josie reached us.
"We have to get out of-"
An arrow sprouted from her eye. It must have been instant but I swore her face went scared before she fell across Rowena's unmoving body.
This can't be happening. It can't. Ai. I need to find Ai.
Through the tangle of fleeing children and crawling wounded I picked out Ai fleeing toward Yarrow, who was running toward the building-sized playhouse near the garden. Cactus hit him from the side like a truck. I'd barely started toward them when Cactus pinned Ai to the ground with a foot to the neck and swung his axe. It was grotesque, watching a boy's body torn open. His chest and stomach ripped to either side around the blade. His back arched as bits of white stringy flesh came up with the axe as Cactus tore it out. Through the spraying blood I saw Yarrow still running
He's dead. He's dead. They're all dying. I can't have lost them all. I can't have only one ally left.
Dorian came out of nowhere, his sword flashing.
I can't have lost them all.
Octavia Jacobs- District Two female (18)
Val and I were mostly meant to just guard the supplies and scare off the outliers. We hadn't protested what might seem like a demeaning assignment because while we obviously couldn't tell them this, our main worry was making sure Val didn't get too stressed. That… wasn't good for epileptic people.
All the same, I let my eyes wander over the weapons table we were standing by. When I noticed a blowgun I picked it up.
Can't hurt to get rid of some competition…
Trayne Treadwell-Lang- District Six male (17)
I wished I could go into the Cornucopia and get some of the stuff in there, but Trydan was right. We'd just get ourselves killed. Instead I ran to him, jumping over a horribly small body on the way. Alara ran past me, almost hitting me, and as I ran I saw Kallik in the corner of my eye looking out toward the platforms with a stricken look on her face. We reached the tall grass and Trydan threw himself down, reaching behind him to grab a bottle of water from the dirt.
"Crawl!" he said.
I flopped down next to him and followed as he picked his way in between grass stalks so they wouldn't break and make a trail. As we made our way away from the Cornucopia its terror faded and others took its place.
Giant grass. Giant Arena. There's gonna be ants.
Tommy Jute- District Eight male (14)
The maces in the Cornucopia taunted me during the countdown. What was worst of all was that I almost could have done it. There were so few Careers this year that the rest of us almost had a chance. I wouldn't let myself, though. I hated that I had to run.
A little metal packet glittered on the ground. I remembered from training that it was an emergency blanket. I hadn't thought about how cold it might get at night. The trainers said that was the one thing Tributes always underestimated.
As I scooped up the blanket I felt a tiny bite. I went to slap off the mosquito when I remembered what Arena we were in. My stomach dropped as I saw the dart in my ribs. It kept dropping as the rest of me caught up. It was like the life was just flowing out of me like a punctured bottle. I swayed, and then I couldn't stand, and then my hands and knees gave out. I lay on my side, fighting harder for each breath.
Why are they killing us? It's been forty years. When will it ever be enough?
Lana Mason- District Six female (17)
There was a water bottle not too far from me. Dorian was two platforms away. I couldn't know what he was thinking. All I could think was that I would live or die based on whether he decided to go straight for the supplies or attack me first.
I could not articulate the terror of the first few second of the Games. At any instant I could die. I was exposed and helpless and my life could end at any instant at all. I grabbed the water bottle and ran for the pond, wondering when I would feel the arrow in my back. The Careers would take the pond for themselves, but only after the Bloodbath was over. I would go straight there, fill my bottle and keep running. I'd be there and gone before they were done killing.
Dorian Sargasso- District Four male (18)
It was all weapons. At the edges of the platforms there were some smaller items but in the Cornucopia proper I saw nothing but weapons. I should have guessed it. An Arena like this was overflowing with food. Every morning there would be dewdrops the size of watermelons on the grass. As for tools, clearly the Gamemakers wanted us to get creative. We were about to be in the Stone Age again, stealing life for ourselves with nothing but ingenuity. It would be the most creative of us who won these Games. Unless we could find those of us and kill them first.
Enzo Charmont- District Twelve male (18)
They didn't have to put the lighter right in front of me. It siren-called at the edge of my vision as I ran alongside the Cornucopia, scooping up whatever was in my path as I angled to meet Persi behind the Cornucopia and out of sight of the Careers. I wondered briefly if Clover would make it to the rally point. If he did I hoped he brought me a lighter.
Persi and I met just before the tail of the Cornucopia. She was holding a canteen and a bottle of something. Iodine, I thought, which wasn't as fun as matches but probably was more practical. I hadn't even looked at what was in the fanny pack I'd grabbed.
As Persi and I rounded the Cornucopia's tail we saw the animal girls absolutely cleaning up. With the Careers distracted in the Bloodbath, Virgo, Alara and Birdie were positively festooned with smaller but still invaluable this-and-thats. I hadn't thought about it before, but how many Victors were Tributes that happened to be on platforms at the rear of the Cornucopia? Alara jumped as we came into view and looked over at her allies. Virgo had a knife out and pointed at us as she squared up. Birdie was looking for the best direction to run. Persi and I were past them in a flash, running into the grass just trying to get away.
24th place: Rowena Aspen- speared by Kallik
I departed a little from the usual death POVs because this was the perfect time to do so. This is something of a silly Games already because it's chaos reigns. Also I'm doing the other story on Clatniss so that will give me the chance to make it up to people who get somewhat shafted in this story. That meant I had the chance here to shift things to Robbie's secondhand POV as he watched all his allies die. There's no out-of-universe reason Rowena died first. It was just last chapter I wrote she was next to Robbie so she was the most practical choice. I have a soft spot for impulsive Tributes with age-appropriate personality flaws so I hope she does better in Survivor (one would doubt it but Survivor is always surprising). Thanks 4everlark for being brave enough to give Rowena real weaknesses and see you in Survivor.
23rd place: Josie Stone- shot by Kendall
Some of you guessed it- I decided to kill all of Robbie's allies. In Josie's case I would have even if that hadn't been my plan, not because I don't like her but because I thought it might be kinda surprising to kill the little schemer before she could do any of her schemes. Womp womp. Thanks neonfunerals for a clever Tribute who probably wouldn't have been so nasty if she hadn't had a nasty life, and I think we're both more excited about seeing her performance in Survivor than here.
22nd place: Ai Latier- Slashed to death by Cactus
Cactus might have had Trydan and Trayne in his sights but he's also an opportunistic sort. He happened to be a lot closer to Ai and that was that. Ai was sent as a potential Bloodbath and that fit neatly with Robbie losing all his allies so I went for it. Pi is always good for a smol bean but that wasn't all of Ai. He had a lot to give and a lot of potential stories (plus despite his young age he's not actually that small. His form notes he's stocky). Can't imagine he'll do well in Survivor with everyone mad he already has a rich dad and thus doesn't need the money, but time shall tell.
21st place: Tommy Jute- shot by Octavia
Oh boy I've been dreading this. It was his submitter's request, I swear. I didn't just kill the trans kid early for no reason. I know there has been some unrest in that regard from me in the past so I just wanna tell everyone this was Vr's request since she stopped following CR and wanted the invested readers' Tributes to last longer. Had Tommy not been a Bloodbath I was looking forward to him just going feral with his mace. Alas, perhaps in another life.
20th place: Yarrow Venus- shot by Kendall
And so the last of Robbie's allies falls. Yarrow was probably the hardest one to decide to kill. I feel a bit bad because it's almost a fridging, you know? I think I should give her some extra care in Survivor to make up for this (not that I decide the placings there but I can do some extra in the pre-Games chapters). It DOES have a cool angle in that I tend to want to give Tributes with a bad life some time in the Arena to make some positive developments but this time I just went ha ha nope have a sad blunt death to go with your sad blunt life. So it wasn't entirely her alliance at least. Sucks to be Yarrow, just like it always did. Though she DID have a loving family. Bummer she couldn't love them back. Thanks Nyan and I will do better by you in Survivor.
Funny story I actually was finally going to do a big Bloodbath this year. I had eight Tributes marked out for death. Then, literally ten minutes ago as I was writing, I realized how hard it was to find ways to kill them since almost none of the Careers are really killers. Kendall is the only one of the entire bunch who's really devoted and even he did this for his sister and not entirely for himself. Instead of forcing it I decided to let the Tributes decide the Games and pulled back the death count to five. Virgo, Trydan and Alara, count your lucky stars. As for Taylor, yeah I would normally kill her in the Bloodbath, but I decided you know what? Chaos Reigns.
Another funny story, I just yesterday realized that even if people are trying not to, the placements here are going to affect people's opinions on the Tributes in Survivor, so I'm going to be switching focus to Clatniss' Survivor story for a bit to catch up. Survivor Games are such a absolute riot of angles and tactics and happenings that could never happen in a normal Games and they're so rare I really want to make the most of them. In order to get pure unadulterated Survivor hijinks I'm going to let that story play out without this story biasing voters. I didn't want to leave you all hanging with the Bloodbath though so I went ahead and wrote this far.