Author's Note: I know what you're thinking. Panem's at war, why another Games? Well, it's the Capitol and you just know they would have to have one last roll of the dice. Oh, and District Twelve, I know it's cliched, but we have to return to them at some point.
There will be a break in uploading next week. I'm not happy enough with the rest of the chapters and my edits won't be ready in time. We will resume on 21 August.
….
The Ninety-Eighth Annual Hunger Games: Daisy Charles, District Twelve (16)
Nobody understood what was happening. The entire country was at war. But the Capitol announced that the Ninety-Eighth Annual Hunger Games would go ahead and attendance at the Reaping was mandatory. Panem was going through a civil war and the Capitol wanted one final show of power. But in many respects, it made sense. The Games were an act of war. Now, everyone could see that.
The Reapings were strange. Nobody could hide their allegiances any longer. In District Twelve, Haymitch looked dishevelled and that alone was not new. But the outline of a gun in his jacket pocket and torn, dusty clothes made clear where he had been. Peeta and Katniss stood in front of them, appearing taller than usual, albeit tired and unwashed. The victors had not walked in from the Village that morning.
Mayor Undersee was old and shaky. Everyone knew his daughter Madge was pulling his strings now. She stood near the front of the stage with a keen eye on her father and the peacekeepers surrounding him. Key rebels lined the square, standing among the peacekeepers and jostling for position. Gale Hawthorne and his brothers were in prominent positions, armed and dirty from fighting near the entrances to the mines.
Daisy did not know what to think when her name was called. She was barely given time to react before four peacekeepers forced her forward, holding onto her so tightly she would be left with bruises. She had no intention of not complying. Panem was at war and her life was on the line one way or another.
Peeta met her at the top of the steps and freed her from the peacekeepers' grasp. Daisy watched as he did the same for the boy, making clear his thoughts on the day's events. Daisy and her district partner were led off the stage without the usual fanfare. They followed Haymitch who wanted to be out of the line of fire as soon as possible. Katniss and Peeta had a hand on each of their shoulders, guiding them inside and away from public view.
The peacekeepers and escort tried to insist on the group boarding the train immediately, but the three victors were having none of it. The children would get their time with anyone who came to see them. They would make sure of it.
Daisy and her family were all resigned to what seemed inevitable and she was soon on the train leaving District Twelve. Their escort kept her distance from them in the dining car and barely engaged. She sat to watch the Reaping from the other side of the living room to the confused glances of everyone else.
"We're not going to kill you here, sweetheart," Haymitch said.
Katniss laughed but Peeta hit him on the shoulder in warning.
"I'm only playing games! Just like she is!"
The games Twelve's victors were playing were nothing like what they witnessed from the other Reapings. If their escort feared Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta she would never have coped with what they could see from the others.
In Eleven, gunshots could be heard throughout the Reaping and the children were separated from the onlookers by two rows of peacekeepers, the first pointing at the children and the second at their relatives. Chaff and Marshall were also at gunpoint on the stage, and they looked absolutely murderous and fresh from the battlefield.
Ten's and Nine's victors looked confused. Their districts were not at the same stage as Eleven, but it was clear that tensions were about to spill over, and the Games were an unwanted distraction. Ten's tributes also volunteered and only Ryan and Sandy were seen boarding the train to the Capitol which caught Katniss and Peeta's attention.
District Eight was complete carnage. The victors' arrival at the square was marked by Calico Paylor throwing the dead body of the peacekeeper who had accompanied them to the centre out of the vehicle. Along with Calista, she shot at the peacekeepers who tried to confront them before Cecelia escorted Cotton outside and onto the stage. The entire Reaping was conducted at a standoff. The peacekeepers had their weapons raised towards the victors and the victors mirrored them. Somehow, none of the victors were shot. Daisy watched as the victors next to her looked on in amazement.
Johanna Mason's fight with the peacekeeper assigned to escort her to the stage made the broadcast. As did Cameron headbutting the peacekeeper who tried to strongarm Poppy into moving faster onto the stage. She wanted to take her time, so the cameras had nothing to focus on but the state of District Six as it too descended into war. The Reaping continued with Cameron's head bleeding and Poppy shaking her head at her victor.
Districts Four and Five were eerily calm. Both districts conducted very short Reapings with none of the usual ceremony or mindless chatter from the escort. It was not lost on anyone how narrowly the cameras focused on District Four and ignored what was happening to the sides of the stage and the pens where the children were standing.
"About 80% of the peacekeepers defected the night we found out what happened to Seeder and the poor boy. Can't have the rest of us seeing that", Haymitch laughed whilst their escort shot him a furious look.
One and Two were boring. They went through the motions and got the volunteers on stage as quickly as possible. But District Three was quite literally explosive.
Events began with the execution of five supposed rebels. Their victors and their Mayor had refused to stand on the stage and watch. But as soon as the last rebel fell to the floor, the Head Peacekeeper exploded. The assumption among Twelve's victors was that he had been wearing a vest that had detonated. Daisy was confused and Peeta told her to ignore the outside world, even though the chaos was obvious. She should concentrate on her plans. They would find out whether District Three had any tributes at the Parade.
Daisy and her district partner were hauled through the Training Centre preparations under tight security. They were separated from the audiences at the Parade and interviews through glass screens and everybody kept their distance wherever they could. It was as if the Capitol was worried that they would explode like Three's Head Peacekeeper if they touched someone from the districts.
The arena came around quickly, and Daisy found herself in a coliseum, like the pictures she had seen of the first decade of the Hunger Games. Beyond hiding, she had no idea what to do so she made it her mission to stay out of the way of as many tributes as possible. Daisy ran to the Cornucopia on the first night as the volunteers left to hunt tributes in the dark. She armed herself with a knife and water bottle and hoped to remain hidden for as long as possible.
But it was the Hunger Games, and the Capitol had other ideas. Muttations began to crawl out of the walls and through the chambers below the main floor. Daisy had to escape and found herself in the vicinity of the girl from District Six.
Before either tribute could react, the centre of the arena exploded, instantly wiping out the volunteers who had returned to the Cornucopia. There was an almighty crash and Daisy could feel the arena move around her. She was thrown to the ground from the force of the explosion.
Daisy remained on the floor, hands covering her head as the arena collapsed. Rubble descended from the top of the arena and the structure of the coliseum crashed down. She remained hidden, protecting herself. Daisy had no idea what was happening, but she could not imagine this was what the Capitol had intended. Something had gone wrong.
….
These Games were different. That was obvious to all the victors. They were hauled from place to place under guard and were allowed limited time with the sponsors, all with strict peacekeeper supervision. It had been difficult to shake off the peacekeepers and officials who followed them but in escaping the Training Centre at night, most of the victors managed it.
Finnick, Halley, and Poppy attended meetings with known Capitol supporters of the rebels. They put their heads above the parapet to confirm they were in charge in the districts. If the Capitol rebels wanted to work in tandem with them, they would have to accept their authority.
Peeta managed one last trip to the casinos he frequented. He wanted to mix with the richest who were likely to continue gambling whilst taking in their chatter to determine how they viewed the developing war.
It was a far cry from leadership in Twelve, but Peeta was still the charming rebel hiding in plain sight. He continued to move among the Capitol's richest and would report back what he heard. He did his job for Daisy, obtained sponsorship pledges and took their money at the poker tables. He played his usual game, relented in the middle and swept in at the end to take the entire pot in one last victory.
The casino was full of peacekeepers, both uniformed and undercover. Peeta knew his presence would have attracted attention. He would no doubt be escorted back to the Training Centre the second he collected his winnings. He did wonder if he would be prevented from cashing in his winnings but among the richest and oldest families who still frequented casinos whilst the Capitol collapsed, there was a code of honour to uphold the winner. Peeta left the casino under guard as he expected, with a final pot that he decided to divide between the victors.
The intelligence he had gathered was more important than the money. The Capitol was expecting attacks in the districts to continue. Reinforcements of peacekeepers and conscripts were imminent. They were willing to deploy the Capitol Guard the second it was necessary. But they had not envisaged any attacks on their territory and Peeta knew that would embolden Finnick, Halley and Poppy as they met with Capitol rebels and coordinated their response.
….
There were no pictures in the sky the night the arena caved in and no cannons despite it being obvious that several tributes would have died. There was no rescue party, no parachutes, and nothing from Peeta to indicate anybody knew what was happening.
But Daisy knew she was alive and that was what mattered. Somebody, Capitol or rebel had tried to kill them all, but she was alive. The girl from Six was not as Daisy tried to rummage through the wreckage to see if the girl had survived. Daisy did not know if she, or any other tribute who might be nearby was friend or foe. She did not know who else was alive and what would happen to them. They were trapped in the wreckage of the arena. Nobody was going to rescue them.
….
The victors were just as surprised when their screens went black, and they could make out the echoed sounds of an explosion. The Mentors' Centre was initially silent before they all turned to each other to see if anybody was privy to information they were not.
Beetee turned to Halley and Finnick who assured him this was not their idea. Attacks on the Capitol were planned, but not the arena. Their estimates given the time their tributes were collected on the first day suggested the arena was close to the Capitol, but they did not know the exact location.
A contingent of Gamemakers made their way to the Mentors' Centre and nobody was quite sure whether they were accusing the victors of sabotage or not. They indicated that a bomb had gone off at the centre of the arena and they had lost control over and connection with the arena. The victors had questions and wanted confirmation of whose tributes were alive.
The Gamemakers confirmed no rescue attempt would be made. At the point of the explosion, half of the field was still alive and as far as they were concerned, the tributes remained in the arena, and they could continue the Games of their own accord. Nobody was happy with this idea and even the victors who had not aligned themselves with the rebel cause were calling for the return of their tributes.
As soon as the Gamemakers left, the victors turned to each other in expectation, looking for someone to take the reins.
"Explosions are my thing." Halley started. "And I may have rigged up the Head Peacekeeper's chest plate, but I wouldn't bomb the kids. Let's make that clear."
"We're all in the dark. The Gamemakers aren't telling us what they know. We're not bugged in here anymore so we can speak freely. What are you all thinking?" Finnick said.
"The Capitol bombed the kids. It's obvious," Chaff spat.
"How do we know it's not the rebels?" Luxor shouted back.
"I don't think we can be sure of anything," Halley said. "But if anyone here does know anything they should say. It's not as if we can get any messages to the kids right now if they're even alive, so it's on us."
Nobody spoke up. Finnick, Halley and Poppy looked at the faces of the victors across the room and decided that everyone was telling the truth. Nobody in the Mentors' Centre knew what was going to happen or who was responsible.
"The tributes were collected approximately ninety minutes before launch. We know that much. The arena must be near the Capitol borders."
"We need more information," Halley said. "Let's find out what we can before committing to some reckless idea when we don't know who is alive."
….
Daisy was still alive. Night had fallen and she knew it was real, not a Gamemaker manufactured darkness. Wherever she was in Panem, it was night, and nobody had to come to help them or even let them know what was happening. But she, along with everybody else in the arena, was just a child from the districts. She knew that meant they did not matter to the Capitol. They would not try to help. They might have even caused this.
She tried to sleep and managed to drift off for a few moments before she heard crackling sounds followed by voices coming from afar. She could not place them, and the arena was dark, so she did not know if she was about to face an opponent who had stumbled across her.
Daisy tried to focus on the voice and the direction it was coming from. She had heard the clipped accent before and then realised it was somebody from the Capitol.
The voice introduced itself as Lucretius Flickerman and Daisy didn't know how she could not have instantly known. She had been next to him only days previously.
"Tributes, the Games are still on. There are ten of you remaining.
Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favour."
Daisy laughed before covering her mouth. She did not want to give away her position, not now they had been told what to do. She needed to move and started to run in between the piles of rubble and scaffolding that had fallen through the arena to her next hiding place. There would not be any grand rescue, the Games were still on.
Once she had settled, she had no idea what to do. Given the location of the explosion, Daisy assumed the volunteers had died. It would be up to someone else to take the initiative and start the killing once more. But Daisy did not think that was her. She had told Peeta that she was prepared to kill, but she did not see herself as the type to lead a hunt. She wanted to stay alive, but she wanted to play the Games her way. Peeta understood her immediately.
Before the arena exploded, she had collected some water and just under half of the bottle was left. If she went to the remains of the Cornucopia, somebody would no doubt spot her and she would be exposed. With nine others still alive, it was a risk she did not want to take.
Daisy had not seen any other tribute return to the Cornucopia after the bloodbath so unless there was an alternative water source, her opponents would begin to struggle. She figured she could get further into the Games simply by outliving some of the others. But she was tired and decided not to think too far beyond that.
She did not have too much time to think before a second explosion rattled the arena. Daisy's hiding place fell from beneath her. She plummeted through the ground and into the underground chambers of the arena. In the fall, she hit her head and was cut by falling debris so when she came around, she was in a much worse state than before. She could feel dust and debris clinging to her and she knew she was bleeding from her head and the various cuts she had obtained.
She could barely see the daylight anymore and did not know whether this second explosion had killed anybody else. But she decided the nature of the Games was just the same. She had to survive and among the rubble around her, there would be ready-made weapons to use against anybody who found her. Daisy knew she had to stay alive.
….
The Gamemakers had regained connection with the arena and Peeta and Katniss could see that their tributes were somehow still alive. They knew that ten tributes were alive and in varying states of health and District Twelve had a chance. That chance was difficult to understand as this was new territory. Nobody knew what the Gamemakers' next move would be and for the first time in decades, the victors were in the dark.
Peeta was briefly allowed to meet with the sponsors again although he had no idea what good that would do. He did not know if a gift or message could reach Daisy. But, if the Games were continuing, he would do the right thing by his tribute.
The volunteer mentors were at a loss. It was very rare for all their tributes to have died so quickly. But this was no normal Games. The usual figures decided to go to the Training Centre gym once their peers had returned from the sponsors and Peeta joined them.
In their advancing years, Lyme and Brutus refereed and watched from the sidelines, guiding the younger victors through various moves and throws they had learnt or developed themselves. Peeta was still strong, much to his relief. He fought evenly with Paulus and Diana and regularly beat Mason. He was the best match for Cameron, and he found himself cornered by Six's middle victor as they sparred under Lyme's gaze.
"We've got you," Cameron said. "Us in Six. We'll help Twelve."
"What do you mean?"
"We know what you're facing."
Peeta sighed, "The prospect of my district's total annihilation. I don't trust that the Capitol won't do it now, while we're out of the way."
"No. They'll wait until you get back. Don't think the Capitol want the three of you to live as an example to anyone else. This isn't a Haymitch situation. Poppy told me about that, so I know."
"And Poppy has told you to have this conversation with me."
Cameron laughed, "Of course. She's having the same conversation with Katniss right about now. But don't think I disagree with her. She's right, as usual, and Twelve will need help. Your people have to go somewhere when it happens. We won't let the three of you die either. Get to the north, take as many as you can, and we'll be there. Poppy is talking to Cecelia and Calico about Eight helping too."
"Thanks," Peeta started. "We appreciate it. But say if this works, what happens then? Twelve is divided and hidden among other districts."
"You're alive and that's a damn good start. Your people won't be useless, and I reckon Poppy is imagining having you at her right hand. Katniss can shoot whatever she likes and Haymitch knows the Capitol's tactics better than most."
"We don't know much about Six, only what you've told us."
"That's more than almost anyone else. It will be fine. We'll help, just get out in time."
….
The inevitable had happened to Daisy. Another tribute stumbled across her and she panicked. She doesn't know what district they were from, only that she stabbed him as he tried to attack her, but she was faster. She stabbed him until he died and then she ran away.
She sat with tears in her eyes and her head in her hands. She sobbed until she heard a groaning sound next to her. Daisy thought another part of the arena was going to collapse so she stood to make her escape but then she felt a hand grab her ankle.
"Don't scream," came the voice. It was a boy and he sounded weak.
Daisy looked down to where the hand had met her ankle and realised it was her district partner.
"Let me help," she said, as she tried to move some of the rubble that had fallen on top of him.
"It's no use," the boy said. "Something heavy has come down on me. It's crushed me and I can't feel my legs. Just stop."
Daisy tried to continue until she realised what the boy was saying was true. A steel structure had fallen and caught his legs. Everything from his hips down would be crushed by its weight and there was no chance she could lift it.
She sat beside the boy instead and took his hand.
"You've been crying."
"I did what I had to do," Daisy said.
"Good. You need to. To get out of here. You're in much better shape than me. You can do it."
"We don't know how many are left."
"Doesn't matter. You just need to be the last one alive, Daisy."
"I don't even know where to start."
"There was ten when Flickerman came back. You've killed one and I've got no chance."
Daisy squeezed his hand.
"Don't say you're sorry or anything. Bombs or not, only one of us gets out. The odds aren't in our favour. But they're more in your favour than mine. There are eight left, including you and that's only if everyone survived the second explosion. I doubt that too."
"You're saying I might only need to kill five others."
"The arena will kill more than you will. The Capitol doesn't care."
"There might be another explosion."
"I'd bet on that."
The two spoke at length about matters beyond the Games until it became clear that the boy was suffering. Daisy wet his lips with some of the remaining water she had somehow clung onto. She had no idea how she had kept the bottle alongside her, but she supposed it was part of the luck that had got her this far.
She sat closer to him and held his hand tighter.
"It's going to be okay," she offered tentatively.
"I want it to be over," he replied.
"Soon. One way or another it will be, for both of us."
"You're going to win, Daisy."
"I'll do my best."
"Can you distract me? Anything, something from home."
"Like what?"
"Twelve has good songs."
"I can't sing."
"Neither can I. But we've been taught plenty."
"I don't think we should sing them."
"I don't think either of us should have been put in here."
Daisy relented, sighed and paused in thought before starting.
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree."
…
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where a dead man called out
For his love to flee
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree."
Peeta watched as Katniss quietly sang alongside Daisy. She had taught Twelve's children these songs. It was the song they used on their footage after Seeder died. It was a song with history in Twelve's folklore that Katniss seemed to know. He knew her mother was worried when she sang it but given the climate in Panem, it felt right. Their tributes, despite their predicament, were in tune with the country. In ordinary times, they probably shouldn't sing 'The Hanging Tree' but it was no ordinary moment.
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run
So we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree."
Blight accompanied Katniss in her quiet singing. He had picked up the song from watching Twelve's material and listening to their district's children singing. Peeta heard Haymitch humming alongside them and Chaff knocking his good hand against the table in time to the words. Everyone else in the Mentors' Centre was silent.
Charo wiped tears from her eyes and Peeta locked eyes with Eight's victors. Cecelia and Cotton held back tears whilst Calico looked furious, just as she had done since the Reaping. Calista was shaking her head and muttering something about Twelve that Peeta could not pick up.
Finnick looked over to them and met Peeta's eyes. He nodded in their direction. District Twelve had inadvertently created another moment. Their tributes' words were relevant, and they forced the audience to face the reality of the Games. The song had rebel connotations and a sense of foreboding, something everybody was acutely aware of.
Katniss' boy was dying and Peeta held her hand in his. It would be over soon. Not just this Games, the entire system was crashing down around them and soon there would be no more Hunger Games. It was part of what they were fighting for. To end the continued suffering and for a better District Twelve.
Peeta had long taken the tribute they thought had the worst chance of making it. Katniss worked best with the one who showed the most fight, albeit it was difficult to judge with only a night spent with the children before they arrived in the Capitol. It was what worked best for them. But now, Peeta would be left with the surviving tribute.
….
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope
Side by side with me
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree."
Daisy continued to sing, and her district partner tried to join in, his voice raspy and fading with each line. The words were acutely relevant to their situation and Daisy doubted it was lost on anybody. The Capitol would likely be furious, but she didn't mind. She knew the boy alongside her didn't care. He was about to die, why would he care about what his killers thought?
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run
So we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree."
The boy stopped breathing, and his face froze. Daisy felt his hold on her hand slacken and she let go. Her district partner had died. She was alone in the arena once more. She looked at him, closed his eyes, brushed the hair from his face and removed the dust that covered his head and shoulders. He could have been sleeping but the chaos around him told a different story.
Daisy knew what she had to do. The boy was right. She should do what she could to get home. Twelve would get another tribute home, the first in over twenty years. She stood up, looked back at her district partner for the final time and tried to make her way through the rubble to another hiding place. Only this time, she was not scared to face another tribute. She would do what she had to do.
A parachute descended towards her as she moved into a space where the arena had not entirely collapsed. She collected a pack of dried fruit and a bottle of water half the size of what she had found at the Cornucopia. It would do. It would save her the job of trying to find supplies. She had no idea how much this would have cost Peeta either but given how the Games had gone so far, she imagined it would be extortionate.
If Peeta had been able to get sponsors and the Gamemakers could send in gifts, the Games continued properly. She had not seen any other parachutes descend so Daisy decided to escape quickly in case she had attracted attention.
Night fell again and Daisy tried to sleep but found she couldn't. Each time she closed her eyes and started to drift, she saw her district partner's face and re-imagined the previous explosions that hit the arena. She stayed half asleep until she heard the sounds of explosions once more. She thought she was dreaming and revisiting the previous horrors in her sleep but then she realised it was happening again. The centre of the arena was now on fire, and she knew she had to stay far away from the smouldering remains of this latest bomb.
She collided with another tribute in her attempts to move under cover and in the panic, both of them slashed each other with the knives they were holding. Luckily, her opponent had only managed a shallow blow to Daisy's non-dominant arm and in her panic, she went frantic until the tribute was on the floor, bleeding heavily and she was sure they were dead.
She continued running, clinging onto her bleeding arm and had to dive to the ground as more of the arena collapsed. The structure was barely standing. Daisy wondered how much longer this could continue.
As soon as she found somewhere that was not about to collapse on her head, Daisy stopped to gather herself. The arena fell quiet once more, the silence only punctuated by groaning from a girl somewhere in the arena. The noises were sporadic and grew shallower until they stopped altogether.
The voice from the Capitol reached them again, apologised for the disruption in the usual service of the Games and told them that only three tributes remained.
Daisy knew what she needed to do, and she was spurred on when she saw a parachute descend towards her. The parachute fell short, and she had to crawl to reach it but when she did it, she found an energy bar, more water and a note from her mentor.
"You can do it, Daisy. Get out of there.
P, K and H."
The note was from each of Twelve's victors and Daisy felt reassured to know at least three people were supporting her. Her home's victors wanted her back and whilst she only knew them in connection with school, it meant something.
She waited for a while, ate the energy bar and sipped some of the water before moving again. She did not move far until the ground beneath her collapsed. Daisy found herself falling through the rubble of the arena once more.
….
They had lost connection with the arena several times in the Mentors' Centre. Each time the picture returned, the arena looked worse and even fewer tributes were alive. The Capitol were clearly at a loss and no real action was being taken to address the situation.
Peeta and Katniss watched in horror as the images returned to find Daisy slipping and falling into the rubble. Haymitch had gone to meet Effie. Peeta hoped he would be telling her to go underground and remain hidden. She would surely be a target for both sides because of her past role and her current steadfast support of District Twelve. Peeta and Katniss had met her for their usual lunch the previous day and she had been especially generous in finding support for Daisy.
It took time for Daisy to regain consciousness and reorientate herself in the arena. Haymitch had returned by the time she was moving again, and they watched Daisy's movements keenly. She crawled through the lowest levels of the chambers, moving rubble from around her to create a route through. The arena had been plunged into darkness, almost entirely collapsed with small fires burning on the main floor.
Daisy was still underground when Peeta realised what she was doing. Katniss and Haymitch had realised too and were laughing, much to the confusion of the other victors. Chaff and Marshall were looking at Haymitch in complete bemusement.
"Finally! District Twelve has taught a tribute something useful!" Haymitch started.
"It's only been ninety-eight years!"
"Forty-seven years of mentoring it's taken for a kid from Twelve to have an advantage!"
"I still don't understand, Haymitch," Chaff interrupted.
"She's using the mine collapse procedure. Kids are taught it in school."
"In the unlikely event, that the Capitol's strongest mines collapse, this is what you should do," Katniss said, mimicking the words children heard and read in school.
"Come on Daisy! The best of District Twelve!" Chaff shouted.
….
Daisy decided to follow what they were taught in school. This was not a mine collapse, but the conditions resembled what the teachers had told them and what the pictures in the books looked like. She fought through her tiredness and fear to remember what to do and set about reaching the top of the arena.
It would take her time and there were only two other survivors, and she had no idea what condition they were in. Her clothes were torn, she was caked in dust, fragments of rubble and blood. Infection was surely setting into her arm, her head hurt, and she would need to get out of the arena alive for treatment.
If she made her way to the top of the arena, she might be able to escape or be rescued quickly. Nobody would have to search through the wreckage. In working her way out slowly, she might outlive the others and end up the victor, if that was even possible now, given she had no idea what was happening in Panem beyond the broken arena.
She continued to climb, focusing on the shards of light which cut through the rubble. Her journey was interrupted by another announcement confirming only two tributes remained. Daisy had no idea who her opponent was, so she continued to climb.
Daisy focused solely on her plan and kept on pushing. She climbed to the arena's main floor and ran as low to the ground as she could, covering her nose and mouth with the remains of her jacket to try to avoid smoke inhalation. She dodged the sparks and small fires blowing across the arena floor and made it into the remains of the stands.
She stopped to observe when she reached the stands. There had been no sign of her opponent on her journey. Daisy cast her eyes across wherever she could see. There was so much debris that it would be difficult to make out another person, but Daisy felt as if she was completely alone.
She continued climbing and sat in the light that streamed into the arena and waited. She could feel sunlight on her face and knew the arena ended on the other side of the threshold. But she dared not cross it. There was no noise from the arena beyond the crackling of the fires and the sounds of rubble falling on top of rubble. Daisy wondered if anybody was watching or if she was truly alone.
She was visible to her opponent if they were still alive. There had been no cannons for days, so Daisy assumed that function was broken. The Capitol's connection with the arena had obviously been damaged so she had no idea what was going to happen. She decided that if night fell and she was still inside the arena, she would look to venture outside.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another, final note.
"There's nobody else. We're coming to get you.
P, K and H."