Thanks to AstralKnight98, owlthewriter, Dani H. Danvers, Very New To This, Singular Scissor, & Skeekiest for the reviews!

Penultimate Games Chapter. Enjoy!


Chapter XXX Island Jubilee

Day 2 of the 59th Hunger Games

"That's insane." Maddie responded.

"That's because you lack imagination." Cas chided.

"I don't understand why you need me for that plan either." Maddie replied, ignoring his crack.

"Just to spread the fire faster!" Cas explained. "Amaya's original plan was just 'burn them all' and while that's fun, it wasn't exactly detailed. I theorized that if we get a good, controlled burn at the start of the island, we'd get a suitable blaze going. But, it could take longer to spread. If we had your arrows, you could shoot a few fire ones deeper onto the island and help things spread faster."

"And sacrifice my arrows?" Maddie said, guessing his game.

Cas shrugged. "I'm sure the Capitol or your family would be happy to sponsor a few extra for you."

"And then what?"

"Well, we wait for the whole island to burn and cannons to sound." Cas continued. "There really wouldn't be anywhere for the Tributes to hide either. And they can't go in the water because the mutt will get them."

"What if there are caves or tunnels?"

"The smoke will probably get to them. And, if not, Amaya and I planned to basically repeat what we did on the northern island. We'd split up, each going a separate direction and find the survivors to pick off. Then, when we met up again – and everyone else was dead – we'd have one final fight to end things and we'd have our Victor."

It wasn't an awful plan, Maddie allowed. The forest fire could also take out any nasty mutts the island might have. That, and she needed a better angle on Cas.

"Fine." Maddie said. "Allies for now."

Cas smiled sweetly. "I wouldn't want anything more." He told her.

To both the last Careers surprise, their uneasy alliance held. Maddie, bow still drawn, walked carefully up the ramp and met Cas, who backed up slowly with his shield raised, at the top. It would be an alliance of convenience and nothing else, one that had a time limit on it. As soon as the island and the Tributes on it were gone, they'd be finished.

Cas already had one of the fire starting kits over his shoulder, but Maddie wasn't going to haul the other two. "Pick up the other." She commanded.

"Only if you pick up one too." Cas told her. "At the same time."

So, carefully, she picked up a rolled up kit just as he did and slid it over her shoulder. Maddie kept waiting for him to break and attack her but Cas seemed committed to this plan. Her use was clear to her. Maddie though he could manage without her, but she wasn't about to contradict him. It was a good idea. One that the Capitol would absolutely love. And it would give her a chance to get at him. She just had to pick her right moment.

'And this time, not miss.' Maddie told herself.

The Capitol seemed to agree. Once she was on the island, a beeping noise from above alerted them to a sponsor gift, labeled with the number "4." Maddie opened the container carefully, eyes on Cas the whole time. Inside were six arrows. The pair had the Capitol's blessing.

With the kits grabbed, they made their way down the ramp on the opposite side of the mesa and towards the southern island. It was a delicate balance for them. Cas refused to turn his back to Maddie and Maddie refused to go first, so Cas was forced to walk backwards down the ramp and onto the sandbar, shield still raised the whole time while lugging two kits, his armor, and his weapons. He'd abandoned his night vision goggle, partly as it was broken and partly since he knew they'd be finishing the Games in the daylight. Maddie had followed suit, knowing she couldn't be weighed down in the no doubt harry fight to come.

Before they stepped onto the sandbar, Cas changed positions. "Should we do a little trust exercise?" he asked her with a smile. It bothered Maddie to no end how Cas always remained calm and light in his tone. "Step closer to me. I'll lower my shield and pull out a chakram. You fire at me or try to call that freaking scaly mutt to nab me, I'll throw my chakram and do the same. Then we can let it decide who it takes."

Reluctantly, she let him.

They took the sandbar slowly. Every curve was an exercise, every slippery rock a mountain to traverse. At multiple point, both Maddie and Cas just considered trying to make a move and kill the other, but both knew it would be too risky.

Finally, the arrived at the southern island. The sandbar crossing straightened out upon approach to the island, which is where Maddie brought them to a stop. "Do your part and then come back onto the sandbar. I don't want you slipping into the forest."

"Like I could when this inferno starts."

Cas exited the sandbar with the two fire starting kits. As he prepared the blaze next to some of the rotted trees, Maddie did her part. She unfurled the fire starting kit and grabbed the pitch and wiring, carefully wrapping it around the tips of her arrows and dosing them in kersoine for good measure.

Cas finished first. He had taken the pitch and some of the dead branches and leaves and mashed them against the dead tree's roots, carefully placed so that the fire could go up the tree and wouldn't be snuffed out early. Once that was done, all that was left was to light the flame.

'This will be a true spectacle.' Cas mused. "Ready?" He called out to Maddie. She merely nodded back, the six arrows now readied to be lit at a moments notice. "Here goes nothing."

He struck the match against the flint, a flame igniting instantly. A small one, but already the heat burned against his fingers, a portent of what was to come. He lit a second match, then a third and forth, and tossed them against the pitches. They instantly caught a flame and Cas retreated as the blaze quickly rushed up the tree and spread to their dead branches. As he retreated back to the sand bar, the fire was already moving up the twisted, mangled dead branches of their trees and spreading to the next connecting tree. Within minutes, the entrance to the island was aflame, utterly unpassable.

"Now your turn." Cas said to Maddie.

She needed no encouragement. The flames alone at the entrance wouldn't be enough. They need to choke out the oxygen quicker for a true blaze. The Academy had taught her how to make fire arrows and while Cas had been working, she'd already done them. She had taken some of the cloth from the kit and sprayed kerosene over it, soaking the material and making it stick together. The kit also had flint and a foul smelling powder that she grated over the cloth, adding sustained ignition. With the cloth ready, she wrapped it around the tip of the arrow, soaking it again in kerosene to seal it and make sure it stuck. She quickly lit the tip of one of the arrows. Then, she raised the bow, pulled the drawstring back, and let the arrow loose.

It flew through the air quickly, the kerosene helping keep the arrow lit as it cut through the wind. It fell back to earth and landed amongst the dead trees further into the island. Within a minute, a trail of smoke rose from the patch of dead trees. The fire was brewing.

Maddie repeated the process. A second flaming arrow flew through the air, then another. The next three she shifted direction, shooting them deeper into the right side of the island. When that was done, the wind suddenly shifted, a small gale blowing south and encouraging the fire to spread. Smoke and flame choked the entrance of the island, but the wind prevented it from blowing back onto the sandbar and the two remaining Careers.

Before long, an inferno had taken the front part of the island, and quickly spread to the back.

Cas settled in, his shield raised again as he looked directly at Maddie, his back to the fire and an inferno blazing behind him. Maddie had raised her bow again, an arrow already readied for the inevitable between them.

Now, they waited.


While the sour mist was thick, enough daylight still pierced through the coverage to allow Fest to see where she was going. So far, the forest seemed the same as the one she passed through earlier. Devoid of life and no distinguishing features beyond the trees. If this was District 7, all of these trees would have been cleared for the fire hazard they clearly were.

She kept moving, having no real need to search intensely. The trees offered little coverage for Tributes to hide, so either she'd see them or they'd see her. For now, she had her sword drawn and the soda filled bottles tucked safely in her pack. She'd try one of them first on a Tribute, curious of its effects.

To her surprise, the Capitol had another option for her. Through the fog, a sponsor gift dropped from the sky and landed just a short distance in front of her. Compared to the gift yesterday, the container was bigger, which delighted Fest. Hopefully it was something good.

Fest wasn't quite sure what she was looking at as she opened it. Inside was a hooded cloak that went down to just below her knees, though the material was bizarre. It was light weight, more of a blanket than proper cloak, the material smooth and somewhat pliable. It was an ugly maroon color too, and was reflective of light. The lining inside of it was soft, sort of feeling like cotton but off.

The mask was clearer. She had seen these in District 7. All children were taught in school what they were – masks in case of forest fires. The mask would cover her entire head with a transparent face shield to keep out smoke, sparks, and flames. The whole thing was coated in a silver, fiberglass material that reflected light – much like the cloak did – and single use filter on the front made it clear to Fest that her earlier worries weren't far off.

'It's a warning.' Fest realized darkly. She quickly threw the cloak over her should and tucked the mask into her pack, eyeing the trees with suspicion.

There was nothing to do but keep moving.


Ophelia really hadn't thought she'd gone far from 11, but apparently so as after a half hour of walking she still hadn't found their camp at the base of the volcano. She wasn't in a particular rush to find them either, so when her stomach started to growl she settled down and ate a little bit of the bread she nabbed from them.

The fog was thickening around her, Ophelia realized, the sour smell growing even more bitter that it was disrupting her nice meal. She groaned at the development, especially as the wind seemed to pick up and blow harder south, throwing the bitter taste in the air directly up her nose and into her mouth. The smell seemed off though, but Ophelia wasn't able to place it, the sourness still too strong.

She leaned against the hard volcano wall, letting out a breath. Hopefully everyone else would just kill each other and she'd be the last one standing. Ophelia was fine being one of those Victors who was just wandering aimlessly when the final cannon sounded. The Capitol would hate her, but who the hell cared about that? She'd be alive.

She looked up to the sky, letting out a breath. She missed District 12 and its lush forests. How was it that the Capitol had all this money to build arenas of death and they created something this ugly? They really were a rotted people.

Ophelia closed her eyes, imagining home. She could see the fence that was never electrified around the District. She was slipping through it and running out into the wild. Green leafed trees and bushes and grass all around her. She reached a hand out and snatched leaves off of a bush, feeling them as she crushed them between her fingers. She rolled down a small hill, twigs and dirt sticking to her clothing. Freedom, it's all she ever wanted.

The delusion was shattered thanks to her nose. The sour smell had abated and was replaced by something distinctly different. Like hot tar or like a lit garbage bin in the dead of winter. Ophelia looked around for the source, but the fog was thickening and dark that she could no longer see too far ahead.

A heavy gust of wind blew past her again, sustained and hard, unnaturally so. 'The Gamemakers!' She realized. Ophelia was on her feet immediately, charging into the fog to look for what was was coming. She fought through the darkness and came upon a horror.

A row of trees, all aflame, fire spreading from branch to branch. All consuming and island cremating. Ophelia's eyes went wide and she was fleeing the other direction.

Her lungs began to hurt immediately, having breathed in enough smoke disguised as fog to cause damage. She kept moving though, screaming at the arena and the Gamemakers and everyone watching these stupid Games! But the wind picked up again and the fire grew closer, overwhelming her with unnatural speed.

The Gamemakers were after her. Payback for all her attitude to them. There was something darkly funny about that and Ophelia could only laugh at this development. She howled at the flames as they overtook her, spreading to the trees around her and encircling her in flame. Smoke filled her nostrils and lung, but she kept screaming and running, defiant to the end.

"Screw all of you!" She roared, tears in her eyes from the flames and her fury. "You'll never beat me! Never!"

As the flames took her, defiance was how she wanted to be remembered.


It wasn't a great plan, but it was the best they had at the moment.

Calen had broke down more dead branches and reinforced the wall they had made the previous night for their camp. Tilly had laid out the remaining wire, delicately laying out the thin silver wire between trees and keeping just enough slack to allow someone to trip and catch themselves.

Again, it wasn't a good plan, but in a crisis people went with the best worst option. Both had plenty of experience planning that between the Peacekeepers and homelife.

With their fortress set up as best as it could be, the pair settled in, gripping their weapons tightly. Tilly was silently hoping that Calen would be capable of taking a life, an idea that she was struggling with and realizing would become reality soon. A cannon blast distracted them briefly.

"Five left." Tilly noted, heart racing. Her palms were so sweaty that she was afraid her hatchet would slip through them. Her hands looked so tiny around the grip of the weapon, like Barren holding it. Just the thought of them gave Tilly some strength.

'You'll see them again.' She thought. 'Please.'

The cannon blast ate at Calen too. His heart was pounding through his chest and he kept loosening and tightening his grip on the sword. It was a horrible feeling of wanting something to happen and praying that nothing did. The sword gave him strength though, added power to a hopeless Game. He was resolved to make sure his face didn't betray any of the fear though. The Capitol would feed on it, like gluttons they were, and he wouldn't give them an inch.

'If I die, I won't give them any satisfaction.' He thought.

Around them, the density of the fog increased and grew darker though – notably – the sour smell didn't. The tartness seemed to dissipate as time went on, replaced by a stark, unmistakable smell. "Is something burning?" Tilly asked.

Calen smelled it too. Together they stuck their heads above the wooden walls they built and looked around. There was nobody out there, just dark fog and a mass of dead trees being lost in it. But through the fog, there was a lick of color: orange, dancing softly through it.

Fire.

"Fire!" Tilly screamed. "What do we do?!"

Calen panicked, the orange light of the flames growing brighter and the fog clearly becoming smoke. Both had seen similar scenes too many times back in District 11, when Peacekeepers would go out with flamethrowers and burn down fields to remove tracker jack nests left over from the Dark Days or take down a low producing field. Sometimes they would "forget" to check if people were in the field. That same mindset was at play here.

"The water!" Calen said instantly. "We can hide in it until the flames die down!"

There wasn't any time for debate. The fire was catching quickly and rushing towards them. Smoked out of their hide out, they fled their hideaway at the base of the volcano and sprinted to the shoreline. Calen nearly tripped over the wire, only saved when Tilly screamed at him to look out. The flames were still a fair distance away, but the smoke was starting to overwhelm their senses, causing their eyes to water. They reached the rainbow waters, the smoke and fog abating enough for them to see the fire was now dangerously close to them.

"I'll go first and you follow!" Calen instructed. But he put one foot into the water and that plan was washed away.

Both District 11 Tributes screamed when a giant mutt burst from the water darting out of the water and passing them by. Calen screamed and fell back, helped by Tilly who's instincts kicked in and grabbed her partner, pulling him away from the gaping mouth of the mutt, who dove back under the water, causing waves to crash against the rocky shoreline. The water would not save them.

"What the hell?!" Calen screeched.

"We have to climb the volcano!" Tilly said.

"We can't!" Calen reminded her, desperate for an escape. "We have to run around back to the entrance and escape!"

"That's too far!"

"We don't have a choice! Get up and run!"

They did so, retreating back into the forest and sprinting the opposite direction of the fire, the flames licking at their heels and the heat overwhelming them.

Soon, the fire would too.


The scent was horrifying, intimately familiar to Fest, who's nerves were on fire as phantom pains flared across her body. As she moved towards the southern point of the island, nearing the full bend around to head back north, the smell was undeniable and the fog grew from annoying to suffocating.

She immediately began scaling the tallest nearby tree, horribly aware of just how brittle the branches and bark were. When she reached the top and broke through fog, it was horrifying clear.

Fire was churning up, turning the island into a flaming mound of rock. Bellowing up, all consuming, indiscriminating flames were not so much creeping towards her position as they were racing, sucking in all oxygen and dry branches in its path with unnatural velocity.

Fest looked at the scene, the light of the flames dancing in her eyes, hell coming straight for her.

'Not a chance!' Fest thought, defiant.

Immediately, Fest was on the ground. She rushed down the tree so fast she feared she had twisted her ankle with her hard landing. Just as quickly, Fest threw off her pack and unfurled the hooded cloak. She threw it over her body, sliding the velcroe into place and keeping the cloak snug around her body. The mask she put on through shaking hands, a sign of weakness, of cowardice, that made Fest scream in rage. Through trembling fingers she hooked the mask over her head, hiding her hair underneath it and adjusted the mask so the translucent face plate was perfectly aligned with her line of sight. She breathed in deeply, taking in the fresh air from the filter, and put her pack back on before sprinting back towards the rocks and soda stream.

It was the only safe place to be. The soda stream and jutting rocks had no plant life in their small section. The flames wouldn't cross there, couldn't cross there! She was sprinting full force towards safety. But no matter how fast she ran, the flames suddenly seemed to catch up to her.

They were everywhere. The cloak and mask kept the heat off of her, but she soon began to sweat, adrenaline and anxiety coursing through her. Fest's limbs turned heavy, her stomach did knots, and she remember all the things she suppressed. The memories of fire and screams and melting flesh of her parents and brother. Of her dragging her broken body out and-

"STOP!" She screamed out loud to herself, hating how her raspy voice cracked from the pressure. Suddenly her armor no longer felt like safety but a drag on her. The weapons were anchors around her waist, slowing down her movement. And the cloak and mask were constricting, heavy weights that limited her airflow and stunted her movement. She needed to scream but the filter only had so much air and the flames were too high and everywhere.

Branches snapped and fell in front of her, threatening to obstruct her path. Fest sprinted past them, barely dodging as they fell to the dirt ground and sparks flew off them from impact. The embers struck her cloak and bounced off, unable to reach her or set her ablaze. It did little to cool Fest's anxiety though as she suppressed a scream and focused on escaping.

The snap of wood and quick cracks, like whips through the air, followed her path. She remember the sound the roof made when it collapsed on Fest and her family. A loud pitch, several starts and stops like an engine revving, and then loud groan as it collapsed down. It crushed Granger, and his suffocated scream, from the smoke and his own pooling blood, rang through her ears.

"MOVE!" Fest screamed at herself. She hadn't made it too far from the soda streams! She could make it! "MOVE!"

The flames were everywhere, fire and blinding flames obstructing everything. She was an animal, fleeing towards safety she didn't even know was there. She kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and with one final scream, she leaped through an inferno and escaped. The forest gave way, the flames abated and stopped against a neat little line and Fest made it out of the fire and to the safe slice of the island.

She didn't stop, she kept running from the edge and moved closer to the water, as far as she could be from the flames, before collapsing on the ground. She didn't take off the mask, unwilling to trust the hazy air for safety, and she gulped in breath after breath, trying to steady herself. Without meaning to, Fest collapsed into a ball, struggling to maintain control.

Fest was alive, but breaking.


In less than thirty minutes, the southern island had been turned into a kiln. The destructive burn had taken the island, with dense smoke, flames rising higher than the tree tops, and heat that felt like it could melt skin.

District 11 continued to fight through that hell. The heat had evaporated all the fog, taking the sour smell with it and replaced it with suffocating smoke. Neither Tilly or Calen could see clearly, the heat singeing their skin and smoke hanging low on the island and clouding their eyes.

"Put your cloak over your mouth!" Tilly screamed at Calen, fashioning her pink cloak into a face mask. It wasn't much use, the smoke to heavy to be blocked out and material too thin to keep the soot out. Tilly was coughing, deep heavy ones that choked her smaller lungs. Twice she vomited, once her meager breakfast, and then just saliva and stomach fluid that burned her throat as much as the smoke did.

The second time almost caused her to fall, the smoke obscuring a root that she tripped over. Calen caught her though and dragged her along. The flames were so hot that it felt like they were touching their skin, though they swallowed every tree around them and reduced them to cinder.

"Move!" Calen screamed through his cloak covering, desperate and strained voice not muffled by the cloth. They kept running, dodging between falling branches and burning trees. They could escape the fire, but there was no escaping the smoke.

"C-Calen!" Tilly screamed, losing sight of him again, blinded by the brightness of the flames and sting of the smoke in her eyes. 'One foot in front of the other.' Tilly kept telling herself, but her lungs were on fire. It felt like each breath was cutting into her airways and burning her insides, like a hot cheese grater was shredding her lungs.

Calen struggled too. He was relying on instincts now, just following the one direction he knew was the way towards the island exit. He looked back, not realizing he had gotten so far ahead of Tilly. "Tilly!" He screamed, only to begin hacking away. He cut back, throwing his arms out wildly to try and find her in the smoke. His arm caught something and he howled, pulling away as bits of burned bark stinged at his flesh.

"Tilly!"

Only the burning of wood was his response. But through it all, a small figure burst through the flames and smoke. Had Tilly always looked so tiny? She was shrunken now, bending over and moving wildly, coughing and head spinning as she looked for her ally.

"Tilly! Here!" Calen called again.

Tilly heard her partner and took off towards his voice. "Calen, help!" Tilly screamed. She felt so weak, so lost, alone. She needed Calen. She needed someone to be with her!

Above her, a loud snap and whush of air coalescing around danger. Tilly looked up and ball of fire, kindled by a heavy branch, descended down at her. With a shriek, Tilly dived forward and dodged the flaming branch but couldn't escape it's impact. As soon as it hit the ground, embers jumped off and hit her legs, igniting parts of her pants. Tilly screamed and with her bare hands beat the embers into submission, leaving part of her pants smoking and with small holes.

She screamed again as hands lifted her up. Calen had her and was pulling her away. He was carrying her now, roaring from the exertion as his skinny muscles – tired from the Games and smoke inhalation – struggled to support her. The burns on his arm were excruciating, but he wasn't letting Tilly go. Not again. He sprinted forward, hobbling along as he tried to navigate and Tilly coughed tried to adjust.

"You have to put me down!" Tilly pleaded. It fell on deaf ears as Calen kept moving, "I can run!"

Soon, he had no choice. A wall of fire erupted in front of them as two trees collapsed. Flames flew at them, the heat wave sending Calen reeling back and the pair toppling over. They hit the ground hard and Tilly came loose, rolling away as Calen screamed, afraid the flames had touched him again.

She couldn't move. Every breath felt like torture and she could only suck in little pockets of air and expel them just as quickly. Even that was too painful. Tilly tried to rise but it was too hard without air in her lungs to help. She tried to call out, but her voice was too weak and throat too dry. She couldn't even taste her own saliva, just the burn of stomach acid and smoke.

As her mind went dark, it clicked that she was dying. She wouldn't survive this hell! Unable to stand, she curled up on the ground, panicked and pained breaths overtaking her. She didn't want to die afraid! She wanted people around her, her family, her siblings! Through the haze of her dying mind, she tried to imagine them there with her, the heat around them a feature of her memory.

Of a simpler time. It was summer in District 11, before mom died, before dad turned brutal to Teo. The family was poor and only had two beds for five kids. One bed for the boys and one for the girls. But the younger ones always shared and snuck into Tilly's bed and, occasionally, even Teo did too.

'You're hogging all the blanket!' Barren would complain.

'It's too hot! Tillly get out!' Greenie ordered as Philip snuggled her tightly.

'This is my bed! I'm not leaving.' Till replied, as the siblings fought over the blanket, giggling.

'Room for one more?' Teo teased as he jumped into the bed, causing the other children to laugh and shriek.

It was happy and warm and loving. 'Hold onto it!' She thought of the memory. 'Hold onto it! Hold onto them! Don't forget me!'

Calen was up again, fighting through the smoke and fire. He screamed for his partner, who he found lying a short distance away. But before he could grab her again, a thick, heavy snap cut through the noise. The trunk of a nearby tree came undone as the fire ate through it. It began falling and Tilly, on the ground and unresponsive, wasn't moving.

"No! Tilly!"

The tree crashed into Tilly, it's dead branches snapping as it hit the ground and her. His partner was lost in a cloud of smoke and flame as Calen screamed.

It turned to a wail when, over the roar of the fire, a cannon broke through.


Alright everyone, next chapter we're going to have our Victor! Please leave a review saying who you think is going to win!

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Up Next: The 59th Victor