TW: Mentions of radiation poisoning.
Day Three of the Arena
July 4th, 2427
Day Amatore, 18
After their run-in with those faces last night, Day is always sure to stick close to what little light there is in this vast underground network of tunnels that their alliance has been wandering through.
The sheer scale of this underground labyrinth is hard for the girl from Dawning Avenue to comprehend. The Capitol sure did put every effort into every meticulous detail of this place… if only they would put the same effort into the living standards of the districts. But instead, it's left to people like me and my family to sort out.
Day stops, suddenly needing to cough; their throat feels tight, like a vice is pressing it together.
Meridian is the first to notice. "You okay?" he asks, concern written all over his face.
Day nods, and points forward. They continue their march. In truth, Day hasn't felt good since yesterday, but she doesn't have time to be ill.
(They haven't had time to be ill since Prime Birdie destroyed Dawning Avenue.
If they were ill, then who would be there to help make sure little Lucky and Ava didn't starve to death?)
"You should tell me if you need to take a break," Meridian protests.
"We can't afford to take a break - don't you get it?" Day shoots back.
Meridian's eyes drop down, and Day almost feels bad for snapping at them. But then again, why should she? She's talking to the kid that ruined her life.
Either way, it is unusual for Day to lose control of her emotions, but these tunnels are proving to be stifling. She cannot think straight. It doesn't help that the devices in their pockets have been making a non-stop racket.
As they are passing through the tunnel, they notice that Liz has come to a standstill next to a door on the left.
"It's stuck," the painter girl says, tugging at the door handle. She turns her eyes to the pair from Five. "Can you help me get it open?"
Day rushes forward to the door, attempting to yank it open, desperate to get out of the tunnel.
But then, Liz hits them with a question that they don't want to hear. "Where's Meilin?" the Eight girl asks, her dark eyes moving around the tunnel skittishly.
"I thought she was with you," Day answers.
"No, she was with you!"
Day's heart floods with panic. She peers around the darkness of the tunnel in search of the little Three girl.
"Mei!" She whispers sharply.
"Well… when did you last see her?" asks Meridian, glancing back at Liz.
Liz flutters her eyelashes, attempting to recall. "Urm… a while back… I was tryin' to chat with her." She shakes her head. "She hasn't been herself lately, ya know? Then I assumed she hung back to walk with you guys when we found this door?"
Day and Meridian shake their heads in unison.
"Damn it!" Liz curses, curling her fists.
"Then she must have wandered ahead," Meridian realises.
The three teenagers hurry down the tunnel into the shadows in search of their friend - the one who brought them all together, the one that needs their help more than ever now.
The group trails off into the darkness, muttering Meilin's name repeatedly as loud as they can while, at the same time, trying not to make themselves a target for any other tributes or mutts.
Just as hope of finding Meilin seems to be getting snatched from them, Day spots a girl with jet black hair and a yellow hazmat suit perched on a ledge at the end of the tunnel - Meilin!
Day's panic is switched for relief. She takes a deep breath.
The trio rush over to Meilin, beginning to bombard the girl with questions -
"What are you doing?"
"Why did you wander off alone?"
"We thought we lost you!"
"I got lost," Meilin says with a casual shrug.
Before the games, Meilin was always the one with her head on her shoulders. But since the bloodbath, it's like Meilin has had a part of herself stolen, and that job of straight thinker has been solely thrust upon Day.
(In fact, over the last few days when they stare at Meilin, they could be staring at their sixteen-year self after they lost their home and their entire life.)
It's then that Day realises Meilin has been sitting on the edge of some kind of underground canal. Only, the water is a sickly-green shade, like someone has dumped a ton of poison in it.
"Mei… you didn't touch the water, did you? I don't like the colour of it," Day says, pulling the Three girl to her feet.
A distressed gasp escapes Liz's mouth; she points to the water as something begins to stir underneath the surface.
Before Day can react, a reptilian head shoots out of the water bearing two dozen razor-sharp, hooked teeth, and swiftly clamping down on Meilin's leg.
The small girl lets out a harrowing cry as the creature's teeth sink into her leg.
The Fives and Liz urgently work to force the monster to realise their friend by stomping on its head which, after a few agonising seconds, succeeds.
Day drags Meilin to her feet. As they race back down the tunnel, the Five girl glances back to the grotesque sight of a horde of creatures chasing them; they resemble crocodiles but stand on two hind legs with knife-like claws on their fingers. Their scales are jagged and spiked, and Day is sure they could slice through a person like a butter knife through butter.
Liz stops halfway down the tunnel at the door she was fiddling with earlier. "In here!" she yells, finally having managed to get it open by flipping a switch underneath the handle. Being chased by a bunch of ravenous crocodile monsters is all a great motivator to get it open, it turns out.
Day ushers the now limping Meilin inside. Meridian is close behind, and when everyone is through the thick metal door, Liz slams it, sealing it shut.
The group breathe a collective sigh of relief. They all made it, again. But a question keeps plaguing Day's mind like a migraine - how many more near misses will they get?
They descend a staircase into a bunker with the Fives each shouldering one of Meilin's arms around them to help her down the stairs.
When they reach the bottom of the bunker, for the first time in a while, they get a pleasant surprise - before them is an expansive, underground greenhouse where food is being grown… food that could last them a while. There is plenty of light for the plants, so they will be safe if those faces decide to make an unwelcome return.
"Well you know what they say… you gotta eat your vegetables," Liz says, playfully winking at her allies.
Day and Meridian share a look - it's a look of nostalgia and bewilderment at the surrealness of this situation. Bewilderment that, on what could be their last days on Earth, they would be in a place that mirrors so much the last night they shared together in Day's Community Garden.
The Fives set Meilin down against a wall; she winces as they apply the antiseptic spray from the bag with all their medical supplies to her bite wound. They then rapidly work to bandage up her leg.
After that, Day begins scouring around the indoor garden to dig up any ripe vegetables for the alliance's dinner tonight - something she took a great deal of joy in doing in the community garden for all the citizens of Dawning Avenue.
Meridian stands beside them, doing the same, although not as efficiently.
"I almost feel wrong just being in here," Meridian says as they squeeze a potato to check if it is edible.
Day sighs and shakes her head. "Just… don't."
"No, it's important… I - I realised there's no point in having a mind unless you're able to change it."
Day drops the potato she's examining and turns to face their district partner. She places one of her hands on her hip.
"L-look I'm not expecting you to forgive me for what I did. It's just important for you to know that I'm sorry." Meridian suddenly stands up straight, growing more confident the longer they speak. "Whoever the kid was that betrayed you… it wasn't me … either way, I don't think he knew what he was doing. Meilin helped me realise that… she helped me realise who I truly am, that I never needed my father, and if I make it out of here I'll tear his stupid dam to the ground myself." Meridian pauses to collect his breath then says, "Either way, I wanted you to know… I'm truly sorry for everything."
Day removes her hand from her hip, glancing around the greenhouse at the surprisingly serene environment. They are lost for words. That entire apology probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an hour.
"A-anyway… I just wanted you to know that," Meridian adds.
Day struggles to keep her emotions in. A thick lump forms in their throat, preventing them from speaking without tears spilling out. "I'll… go and check on Meilin."
"Good idea."
Day turns and heads over to where Meilin is slumped against the garden wall.
For a moment there, she felt a tingle in her heart that she hasn't felt since that night in the community garden with Meridian, and they're sure he felt it too.
Liz is sitting next to Meilin, watching Day with a pleased grin on her face.
After making sure Meilin's leg isn't infected, Day wanders off, feeling the need to be alone. Having an entire bunker of fresh vegetables, Meridian apologising… things are going too well, and Day knows better than anyone else that good things never last in life.
As she is walking towards the carrot section of the garden, she begins coughing. Not again. She doesn't have time for this. She's been sick before many times, and her parents and the other citizens of Dawning Avenue would be fast to bring them remedies. This however, is different. It feels like… they're burning up inside.
Her nose then begins to run. She brushes her hand against her face, thinking nothing of it, but when she glances down at her fingers, she sees them covered in blood…
Lilac Rafflesia, 16
A dark blue haze hangs over the lonely, ruined town that the twenty remaining tributes have been thrust into. Dawn has broken for the third day in the arena.
Lilac and Fuma lie close to each other under the church roof next to their still-burning campfire.
Lilac is awakened by light kissing her eyes. She peers around, but only sees one ally sleeping next to her…
She hurriedly shakes her dozing ally awake. "Fuma!"
Fuma's eyes flutter open. "Huh?" The tall, Seven girl always has a very mature look in her eyes, like she's already seen her share of the horrors that life has to offer… not too different from Lilac.
"It's Zora… I drifted off for a second, and when I woke, she was leaving." The skinny, pale girl from Twelve points off into the distance at their other ally, who is rapidly getting smaller as she gets further away. Zora appears to be heading to the large square building opposite the church, in which they have been sleeping, with her bag around her bag.
Fuma is quickly jolted to alertness. She scrambles to her feet, ready.
The gravedigger lifts the spear that she got from outside the cornucopia. She charges over the rubble in the direction of Zora with Fuma close behind her.
She wants to kick herself for being so careless and drifting to sleep. Those faces could still be out there, it's barely even light yet.
"Lilac, wait," the ranger calls from behind, "let's not rush into anything. It could be a setup!"
Lilac ignores her ally, tightening her grip around her spear. Does she not trust Zora? Lilac will prove her wrong.
However, before they can reach the young girl, she slips through the entrance to the large, dull, grey building that she's heading to.
As Lilac follows her inside, despite the building being sparsely lit, she quickly becomes aware that they are in some kind of hospital. Although she only ever saw patients at the morgue, when they were too late for a hospital, she guesses this is one from all the various rooms with operating tables and medical-looking equipment dotted around under the flickering light.
Zora is nowhere in sight, so Lilac's best guess is that she turned on the first corridor to the left as the other corridors are much further back.
Fuma grimaces. "What the hell is she doing?"
They turn left. Immediately before them is a staircase that climbs up to higher floors.
The entire building is covered in an eerie silence. The two girl's footsteps seem louder than ever as they bounce between the walls.
The staircase is crawling with bright-red glowing cockroach-looking creatures that are larger than a hand. Lilac shudders and kicks the bugs out of the way.
When Lilac reaches the top of the stairs, she nudges the door open to be met with more long expansive corridors and dim plain, white walls.
But then, her heart jumps with hope when, at the end of the corridor, she spots a small girl with dark hair in a blood-red hazmat suit - Zora.
Lilac quickly alerts Fuma, "over there!"
Suddenly Lilac is brimming with excitement. She won't let Zora become another Dario. She won't let her leave the land of the living; she knows what happens to people when they do.
The two of them push the doors open, but then Lilac stops dead like she's facing the monsters that took her mother away from her. About halfway down an adjacent corridor to her left is another tribute in a light-red hazmat suit. She recognizes the back of their head straight away - the boy from Eight. The boy who delighted in making Dario's death as slow and agonizing as he could. The boy who smiled as they plunged their knife into her friend's body.
Lilac's jaw clenches as she recalls what she promised herself she would do to him if they ever crossed paths again.
Fuma whispers sharply to grab her ally's attention. "Lilac!"
Lilac keeps her eyes trained on the Eight tribute.
"It's not worth it! We need to find Zora," Fuma urges.
"Yeah, you do, before those other two get to her. I'll deal with Eight."
"Lilac… no." The tall, Seven girl always has a very mature look in her eyes, like she's already seen her share of the horrors that life has to offer… not too different from Lilac.
"It's okay," Lilac shoots a look back at Fuma with a victorious smirk. "He hasn't seen me yet. He's a mouse caught in a mousetrap. Go!"
Or a grave robber caught in a grave.
With the Seven girl reluctantly following Zora, Lilac advances towards Eight with a killer's instinct. A spark is ignited inside of her.
She's come to enjoy the land of the living and those inside of it, and now Fuma and Zora have the chance to remain a part of it and to savour it just like Lilac has learned to. There's one person that she knows will not be staying in the land of the living for much longer - that murdering dentist from Eight, who's standing in front of her. She'll enjoy turning him into a corpse, and unlike the boy's victims, there will be nothing left to bury; Lilac will make sure of that.
However, just as Lilac is about to raise her spear above her shoulder to strike, the Eight boy jovially skips through the door into the next section of the Hospital and out of Lilac's line of sight.
"Damn it!" The Twelve girl curses his luck under her breath - they were moments away from being impaled like a marshmallow on a barbeque.
Was it luck? There's no way he could have known I was there.
Lilac hurries to the door, not sparing a second.
As she creaks the door open, she raises her spear, in case of the unlikely chance of an ambush waiting on the other side of the door. That's impossible, he doesn't know I'm here - she tells herself.
She proceeds inside the room, her eyes moving around like a detective in a crime scene - nothing. No sign of them. Of course. He doesn't know where she is either, right?
This room is much darker than the corridor and a spine-chilling silence hangs over it. Amongst the damaged and ruined medical equipment are rows of empty hospital beds.
Lilac relaxes her arms, lowering her spear as she investigates the room. She has nothing to fear; she's the banshee, the dark is her weapon, and she uses it against those who deserve it.
(So why is a part of her telling her she needs to get out of here?)
It's then she notices something unusual - one of the beds has the curtain drawn around it, while all of the others are open. Lilac furrows her eyebrows and steps closer to it.
Without warning, the curtains around the bed are whipped open. Lilac's heart jolts in her chest. Eight is standing there, a wide, sadistic grin on their face, his eyes fixed on Lilac like a hawk on its prey.
He was hiding there the entire time. They'd been toying with her the entire time, just like at the cornucopia.
Taken off guard, Lilac is unable to stop the murderer from quickly grabbing the nearest hospital bed and rolling it into her. Suddenly, she is wedged in between the bed and the wall with her arms and spear trapped.
Eight's unbreaking smile turns Lilac's fear into anger which seeps into her veins like a drug.
"Eager for round two, ey?" Eight taunts, leaning in across the table. "Your district partner… what was his name?"
"Dario!" the Lilac snaps.
"His screams were like music to my ears. A beautiful symphony. Will yours be the same?"
Like a phoenix from the ashes, the inner banshee is awakened inside Lilac. She howls in anger and shoves the table back in the opposite direction, sending Eight spiralling to the floor.
The boy hastily gets back to his feet, but not before Lilac swipes the tip of her spear across their face. Eight stumbles back, grasping their face in agony. Blood now pours from a deep gash across his cheek, but his smile remains strong. He licks the blood from his face gleefully.
Lilac seizes her opportunity and advances towards them, jabbing furiously with her spear. However, the sneaky rat is nimbler than she expects - he slides across the smooth floor and then snatches a pair of incision knives from a table.
She can't let Eight get away - the banshee is fueled by the need to spill more of their blood. She lunges at them, thrusting her spear. But Eight is ready. He sidesteps in a swift movement, avoiding the attack, then immediately closes the distance.
Before Lilac knows what hit her, she feels a sharp sting in her torso. Eight's smile widens - he has one of the incision knives impaled in her ribs. He moved so fast.
Winded, Lilac desperately sucks in a breath. The shock makes her freeze, giving Eight the chance to tackle her to the floor and stabbing her twice more in both arms. She can only watch now in despair as her grip loosens on her spear and the monster kicks it away with delight.
(Is this it? Will she die whimpering on the floor? No. Her mother fought the monsters to the bitter end and so will she.)
Eight raises the knife up, preparing to stab Lilac's stomach, but the Twelve girl isn't done yet. Something inside of her keeps her going, allowing her to fight through the pain in her ribs. She plants her heel into Eight's gut, knocking the wind out of him. He drops down to his hands and knees, allowing Lilac to smash her elbow into the side of his head. He groans in surprise, dropping one of his knives.
Lilac then bears down on top of him, yelling in fury and striking the boy in their injured jaw, further splitting it open and caking her fists in his blood.
At last, she has wiped the smile from their face.
She did it.
Thus, even when Eight stabs her again in the stomach, and the life is drained from her, and her senses begin to fade out, she knows she is not spared from victory.
She did it. She escaped the cemetery. She experienced the joys of the land of the living; Zora and Fuma will stay there because of her.
"You did it," this time it's her mother's voice. "You fought the monsters."
It didn't matter whether her stories were true or not; they let her conquer the monsters and save her friends. That's all that matters.
Everything is becoming fuzzy and numb now.
Then, Lilac can see her mother's face before her eyes. She's missed her so much - especially her gentle, yet warm and courageous smile.
"Mum, tell me the story about the skeletons," Lilac smiles, childlike.
Then, everything fades to darkness.
Zora Iskra, 14
What am I doing here?
That thought keeps repeating in Zora's head like a broken record. She should be having that picnic with Bexley, laying on the soft cushiony grass, staring up at the clear blue sky.
But she's here.
Zora races through the hospital corridors as fast as her little legs can carry her. Her breaths become raspy as her stamina rapidly depletes. She was never meant for all this; Bexley was always the sporty one of the two. Zora cares for knowledge and science. It's only through science that the world seems clear to her. If things cannot be explained logically then nothing makes sense to her.
(So then why is she here? How does that make sense?)
She turns into a narrower corridor, not sure if her two pursuers are still on her tail - the tall boy from the prison district and none other than Zora's own district partner. She trusts Jokull to stick to the pact that they made back on the train, but she made no such pact with his new serial killer friend.
Having run out of air, Zora stops in the middle of a corridor. She places her hand on the wall to catch her breath. It's like her lungs are tearing with each breath.
Are they still following her? There's no way of knowing. It wasn't supposed to go like this. Nothing is turning out the way it's supposed to.
Footsteps suddenly pick up again behind her and with it, her adrenaline returns and she conjures up the last of her energy like she's reanimating a corpse. But she knows she cannot outrun them.
She looks around for a way out of this - this corridor is too long, they'll catch her in no time, but there is a door leading to a smaller room to her left. If she can't get away, then she'll have to try to hide.
She enters the room and discreetly pushes the door shut behind her. It's an office room with various tables and stationery cluttered together. But most importantly, there is a wardrobe; the left door is broken in half but that's okay, Zora is small, she can hide behind the right door. So, she does exactly that, and holds her breath as the footsteps on the echoing hospital corridor get closer…
They keep getting louder until they are right outside the door. Then, they suddenly stop. Zora's heart sinks.
"What are you waiting for?" A voice asks from outside the door - Jokull's voice.
"I'mma hazard a guess, that she might be behind this door right here?" A deeper voice answers - the boy from Fourteen.
"And if she's not? Then we'll be allowing her to slip away," Jokull protests.
"It can't hurt if we're quick."
Jokull knows I would have hidden in here. He's trying to protect me - Zora convinces herself.
She gasps inside as the door to the room swings open. This is followed by the sound of objects being tossed around as the two boys ransack the room.
Then, the unthinkable happens - the door to the wardrobe is opened. Is this where Zora's journey ends? It can't be. There's still so much to learn about the world, so much more to understand, questions that need answers.
The panicking Six girl attempts to dart for the door, but the tall, shaggy-haired boy from Fourteen grabs her by the back of the collar to prevent her from escaping.
"I knew it!" Fourteen says victoriously. He raises a large machete up, preparing to bring it across Zora's throat for a swift death.
The vision of the picnic in the park starts to dissipate.
Zora closes her eyes. Hopefully, it won't hurt too much.
Suddenly, the stars seem to align themselves for Zora for the first time in a long time. Jokull holds out his arm. "Wait!" A hint of panic is in his voice.
The boy holding Zora pauses. "What?"
"She has allies, right?" Jokull shrugs. "She could lead us to them… get multiple kills for the price of one." He lowers his crossbow and then zips it up inside his bag.
The Fourteen boy narrows his eyes suspiciously at his ally but eventually loosens his hold on Zora's collar. She gasps for air.
"She's got the same dark-red suit as you…protecting your district partner, I see?" The tall boy questions, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't be a dumbass, Ozias. I barely even know her," Jokull retorts.
"You got an answer to everything, don't ya? We'll see about that." Ozias throws Zora to the floor; he keeps his large, shining knife trained on her. "Let's see what Ren has to say about this," he says.
Jokull glances around. "Speaking of, where is that little tooth puller?"
A cannon blasts in the distance.
The two boys raise their eyebrows at each other. Then the taller one, Ozias, seizes Zora by the collar again and drags her along with them.
Her eyes and Jokull's briefly meet for a second but Jokull hastily looks ahead.
At the same time, she fears for the worst; she fears that the cannon was Fuma or Lilac. No, it can't be. They are safely behind the walls of the church, completely unaware of Zora's current troubles. She can only hope that they don't come looking for her and run into this unruly crew.
"Well, where did you last see him?" Ozias asks, continuing to drag their captive along.
Jokull points to their right. They turn a few more corridors in this grim place until a third figure comes into view at the end of one. As they near the figure, Zora recognizes them - Ren, the murderous boy from Eight. The sprite tribute now has a face gushing with blood, starting from the cheek, which only adds to their bloodthirsty eyes.
"What did we miss?" Ozias requests.
Ren grimaces and wipes a handful of blood from his face. "The girl from Twelve… she joins her district partner in the grave."
It feels like Zora's heart shatters into a thousand pieces. "No!" she cries, dropping to the floor, and attempting to curl into a ball to weep.
Did Lilac follow her in here to her death? Is it her fault? If true, that thought will eat her up inside, and it will erode far faster than acid.
Ren ducks their head to get a look at Zora, having only just noticed her. "Kind of you to bring me another… the last one was too fast," he says to his allies, stepping toward Zora with his knife.
But Jokull intercepts the twisted tribute, placing his hand on their shoulder. "We need her alive. She's gonna take us to her remaining ally," he states.
Ren observes Zora's district partner with dubious eyes. He then responds with a grunt and pushes Jokull's hand away.
"Before that. I think it's time we paid the careers a visit," Jokull smirks.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
Jokull's eyes dart to Zora for a miniscule moment then back to Ozias. "Uh-huh."
"Good, then let's haul ass. With any luck, they'll leave their water unguarded for us."
Ren cackles maniacally and begins shoving Zora along with them. She grits her teeth. First Dario and now Lilac. She's never truly felt hatred for another human being until now. Eight will pay, she'll make sure of that.
But for now, she has to keep it together - that's what Bexley would be telling her if she was here. "You can do it, Zora! You're the strongest person I know."
That picnic doesn't seem completely out of reach, after all.
Jokull Askeli, 18
Jokull knows he should be tired; they have been moving since the first light crept over the top of the buildings. But he was always used to staying up late in Six, especially if he and Xun were going on a race sabotage.
The march back to the cornucopia isn't as far as Jokull remembers, which is a good thing if they're going to catch the careers unaware. He hasn't quite figured out how they will poison the career's water yet, but that doesn't matter. The street urchin from Six plans out half of his moves and improvises the other half - he always found that method to be the perfect balance for survival in this world of liars and cheats.
The gang turns into a narrower street, lined with broken and decaying cars. Ozias strolls beside Jokull, while Ren aggressively pushes their new captive along behind them, making sure she doesn't try to slip away.
"This plan of yours better work," Ozias mutters, taking a quick gander at the Six boy. "One wrong move against six careers and we're dead."
"It will. We only gotta wait for the opportune moment, my friend. And with any luck they'll blame each other, and their alliance will break apart from the inside."
There is a thud from behind them as Zora is shoved to the broken-up concrete by their sadistic ally.
"Move it!" Ren snarls. He drags Jokull's district partner back to her feet, then shoves her again harder.
Jokull clenches his fists. He hangs back, allowing the two of them to pass him.
Ren gives Zora another malicious threat, "As soon as you've outgrown your usefulness, I'll gut you myself."
Zora shoots the Eight boy a glare. "Then that doesn't give much incentive to be useful, does it?"
Jokull finds himself smirking at his district partner's comeback.
Ren, on the other hand, doesn't find it so funny. They stop and purse their lips, "Go on then, keep trying to be clever. Watch what happens," they say, slipping a knife into her hand.
Jokull knows that Zora is terrified inside. Yet, even with this blood-soaked terror threatening her with a knife, she maintains her composure and never breaks eye contact. This girl is as unwavering as stone.
Jokull clasps the handle of his own knife that's tucked in his arena suit. He steps toward the two of them and then beckons Ren over, "Yo, Ren."
Ren looks at the Six boy. "What?"
"Turn around."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Hesitantly, Ren turns his back. As soon as they do, Jokull thrusts his dagger upward as fast as lightning, and then there is a screech as the blade hits its mark, but it is not Ren's screech. In fact, there had been a bright, orange, cockroach-looking creature clinging to Ren's back for some time, which Jokull just kindly relieved them of.
Ren spins back around, his eyes wide at the sight of the bug impaled on Jokull's blade.
"You gotta watch your back around these parts. You never know what might be lurking," Jokull says, giving the other boy a deathly glare.
Ren glares back, but slowly backs away with that pretentious scoff he does.
Jokull places the blade of his knife against one of the cars and crushes the bug underneath his boot, never taking his eyes off Ren as he does it.
Then, Jokull shifts his attention to his district partner. "These are dangerous people, Zora, you gotta be careful."
"I know what I'm doing," Zora retorts. Her usual soft brown eyes instead show an undimming anger at Ren; an anger that reminds Jokull of himself on the last night at the orphanage.
"Are you pack of freaks coming or what?" Ozias calls from ahead; the boy flicks his long scruffy black hair out of his face. "I'm in the mood to ruin the day of some stuck-up career," he smirks.
The three "freaks" look as shambolic as ever as they trek through the rugged streets on their foolhardy mission. Yet somehow, there's a method to their madness. The street-racing saboteur guides them into the underground rail tunnel to give them a more secretive path to the cornucopia. The former inmate from Fourteen holds his head up high, striding just behind, arguably the lead clown in their little circus. Meanwhile, poor Zora is dragged along for the ride by the fiendish dentist from Eight, who's still simultaneously nursing the slash on his cheek from the Twelve girl.
Upon arriving at the station called "factory," they know they are just underneath the cornucopia. They proceed through a heavy metal door and then up a flight of stairs before finding themselves back in the dark corridors of the factory, which surrounds the cornucopia. It's so poorly lit, that they almost get lost a few times.
On their trip through the factory, Jokull devises that Ozias and Ren will distract the careers, while Jokull and Zora will administer the poison in their water bottles. The poison works almost instantly, so it's likely that they'll only get one or two - but it will be enough to satisfy, for now.
As they turn another corridor to the left, Jokull finishes explaining his plan, "At the end, we'll meet back at the station unless you have a career on your tail, but the idea is you lose them in the corridors."
"If your district partner gets away while we're split up, we're holding you responsible for losing another kill," Ozias informs him calmly.
"I wouldn't worry about what I'm doin'. Just worry that you don't get distracted by you-know-who."
Jokull knows that Ozias understands he's talking about Emery. Yet he still tries to hide it by pretending to look at Jokull like he's speaking a foreign language to him.
Ren holds up their hand. "Wait!"
"What?"
"I hear voices," they say.
The group falls into dead silence.
Jokull places his hand on his ear to listen closely. Ren is right. Two voices echo between the walls further down, but drawing closer and closer. One is lighter and softer than the other, but both sound more on the older side of the tribute pool.
The group slowly inches backward, careful not to give away their position.
Amongst their irrelevant conversations, the voices say two sentences that stick with Jokull - "Aida… why is she in worse shape than Brizio?" and "It'll all be fine once we find the anti-rads."
Jokull and his alliance back up all the way down the corridor until the voices die down. Then, they take cover in what appears to be a storage room.
"Well, looks like we just missed your lover, bet you're devastated," Ren whispers to Ozias.
Ozias gives them a look that indicates he would like to pull their head off.
Ren quickly changes the subject, "They're sick," he notes. "Maybe we won't need to poison them after all."
A lightbulb activates in Jokull's head. If it were a real lightbulb, it would be the clearest and most electrifying light bulb he's ever seen. "No… this just makes our job easier," he says.
He places his backpack on the floor as quietly as possible and unzips it. Underneath his crossbow, he finds the stash of the small bottles that the Capitol calls "anti-rads," which he found in the Hospital. When he first discovered the anti-rads, Ren tried to tell him it was a waste of time because none of them had radiation sickness, but Jokull held onto them in case he became sick in the future. Besides, he had a feeling they would come in useful later for something.
He lifts one of the bottles into one hand and then his bottle of poison into the other.
Jokull grins ear to ear. "Plan out half of it, improvise the rest," he mutters to himself.
The other two boys soon catch on, so, Jokull begins distributing the miniature bottles of medicine between them, keeping only a couple to himself in case he gets sick with radiation.
For the first time since they've known each other, Ren gives Jokull a compliment, "Turn their medicine into poison… I like the way you think."
Although, praise from Ren is like a kick in the teeth to Jokull; he's nothing like that twisted, out-of-control monster, is he?
Jokull holds one of the anti-rad bottles close to his face and squints. On the label big bold writing reads - anti-rads. Below that are words too long for Jokull to read. Still, he attempts to fumble his way through the first word, "con-cen-tra… what does that say?"
"Concentrated potassium iodide," Ren says sharply.
"Then we should only use a concentrated dose… to make it believable."
"Nonsense." Ren snatches the poison bottle from him and, with a smile, he tips the pills from the medicine bottles into his bag before filling them with the liquified poison.
Jokull rolls his eyes, but can't be bothered to argue.
Ren passes some of the poisoned bottles to Jokull and Ozias to fill up more of the bottles. Working like this, they manage to pack an entire box full of this poison in disguise, before placing it neatly on a shelf to be clearly visible.
Not long after, the voice of the female career and Emery grow louder once again, but this time there is another male voice as well.
They are coming. But it's too late for them.
Wasting no time, the gang tiptoe out of the storage room, with Ren dragging Zora by her suit so she doesn't try to escape.
Just as they turn the corner, three flashlights light up behind them. Jokull is confident they made it out without being seen, but he and the others pick up the pace anyway. Well, except for Ozias, who suddenly stops and stares in the direction of the other alliance. Jokull has no doubt who he's staring at.
"Come on," Jokull sighs, dragging his ally by the arm.
The male career voice calls from the storage room, who Jokull recognizes as the Two boy. "Over here."
The careers are about to get bamboozled by three scheming little outer district kids.
There is something immensely satisfying about that to Jokull.
Genevieve Ardelean, 17
Geneve has been sitting against the bunker in the middle of the Cornucopia since dawn broke, studying her token - the page she took from her mother's old spellbook. Nothing they are trying is working in this arena. Nothing makes sense. So maybe her only option is to go back to the supernatural?
(Things were normal back then before her family died. She would spend hours with her mother, reciting the different spells and what they do.)
To her left, Aida lets out a groan while stirring under her sleeping bag; Geneve is snapped back to reality.
The Four girl has been in this delirious state all morning - constantly rolling under her sleeping bag and muttering incoherently to herself. The only thing that Geneve can make out from the girl's mumbling is the name "Sadie", which she keeps repeating every few minutes - probably the name of somebody from back home.
Feeling the need to pick up the pace, Geneve stuffs the page of her mother's spell book into her pocket and moves over to her sick comrade. She places her hand on Aida's forehead; it's warm, very warm, like she's touching the door of an oven.
She needs the medicine - Geneve tells herself.
She can't let Aida die. She's the last person Geneve truly trusts in this alliance.
Geneve begins rising back to her feet. "Are y'all ready yet?" she calls to the other careers. "I don't know how much longer she'll la-"
She feels a tug on her hand - Aida pulls Geneve back towards her. The sick girl then starts muttering again, but this time more clearly. "I-I'm not supposed to be here."
Geneve furrows her eyebrows in confusion, but quickly brushes the comment off as simply disorientation.
"You're not well," The One girl responds. "Don't worry, we're gonna get you some medicine."
"No," Aida croaks. "… I killed someone."
"I know. So did I. It's all part of the game. You can't feel bad."
Aida shakes her head frustratingly and gulps. "No… before the games… an accident. I… it was never supposed to be me."
Geneve furrows her eyebrows deeper. Is this the truth that she was trying so hard to dig up back in the Capitol before the games started? She had moved past that - she trusts Aida now, she has to, so she simply waves Aida's words off in her mind as confusion and delirium from the radiation.
She pulls herself away from the tight grip of the Four girl, and faces her other allies.
Romulus tightens his backpack around his thick arms. His face is more smug than ever, probably due to the condition of Brizio, who is sitting on the ground with one hand cradling his legs to his chest and the other rubbing his temple. At least Emery is staying by his side.
Geneve hides her disdain for the cocky Two boy. He's actually enjoying this, isn't he?
"They're dead weight," Romulus sighs, "we should just put them out of their misery and be done with it."
Geneve gives the young man a glare so powerful that he visibly recoils. "We're finding the anti-rads," she tells him.
Romulus glances over to Brizio again. He smirks. "and if that doesn't work, we're doing my idea." He heads off towards the exit.
Geneve turns back to the others. "Who's staying, and who's coming?" she asks.
Emery stands up straight away. "I'm going with you."
"Okay then, you stay and watch over them," Geneve tells Landon.
The red-haired boy's eyes widen. He enthusiastically accepts the responsibility. He plonks himself down next to Brizio. "Don't worry mister Brizio, nothing gets past Carrottop."
Brizio's face collapses in his hands as he lets out an exhausted groan.
With that, Geneve, Romulus, and Emery head through the large double doors.
Once inside the dark corridor, Romulus ignites his flashlight and hands the other to Geneve. "When we came through here the first time, I'm pretty sure there was a storage room," he says, marching ahead of the other two, and guiding himself with his flashlight.
They search through multiple empty rooms and corridors. Romulus strides ahead, searching through the rooms, leaving Geneve and Emery together.
"We'll find it, don't worry," Geneve says.
Emery nods, keeping his eyes facing forward. "After-" he hesitates. "After all the fucked up things I've done in my life… I thought I'd at least get the chance to save the guy who saved my life."
"You will… we both will."
Sometimes, it's hard for Geneve to believe half of the things that the Fourteen boy said about Emery. When she looks into his eyes, all she sees is a guy trying to make the best of things. Maybe he and Brizio were sent here to make each other better people. Geneve would like to believe that.
"There's something that still doesn't make sense though… Aida… why is she in worse shape than Brizio?" Geneve asks, shaking her head.
"Probably cos… Brizio got his mask on first? I dunno."
"It'll all be fine once we find the anti-rads."
All of a sudden, Romulus shouts from ahead of them, "Hey, I think I found something." He disappears to his left into a room. "Over here."
Geneve is met with the clanging of items being tossed around from inside the room. She gives Emery a quick glance before they run into the room together.
The Two boy is crouching down by a shelf with a box of tiny glass bottles on them. "I believe this is your medicine," he says, handing one back to Geneve.
Geneve holds the bottle closer to her eyes. He's right. On the bottles there is big, bold, black writing that reads anti-rads, and below that is much smaller writing which she squints to read - Concentrated potassium iodide.
"We got it!" she exclaims, taking the entire box of the glass bottles and sliding them into her rucksack. "Let's get outta here!"
Romulus holds his hand up, "Not so fast." He peers around the room. "I bet there's more stuff we could use in here."
Geneve ignores him; she has much more important things to concentrate on, like saving Aida. If she saves Aida then maybe she can be enlightened on this "Sadie" person and finally put any suspicion to rest.
"Come on!" she declares, looking at Emery, who has the same excitement in his eyes. Using her flashlight, Geneve hurriedly directs the two of them through the factory corridor and back to the cornucopia.
I can save her. We can save both of them.
Deaths:
20th: Lilac Rafflesia (District Twelve Female): Killed by Ren - Stabbed. Thank you so much Sakura for sending in Lilac. I had so much fun writing her, in particular, her deadpan sense of humour. She may be gone but at least she got out of her cemetery, met some friends, and had an adventure like her mom. I hope you enjoyed what I did with her!
Left it on a bit of cliffhanger there :DD don't worry everything will be explained soon enough including how Jokull got the poison. Let me know what you think in reviews!
Kill counter:
Geneve: 1
Romulus: 1
Aida: 1
Ren: 2
Chaney: 1
Auren: 1