Author's Note
I do not own the Hunger Games.
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District Ten Female, Laika Bergfalk, 18
"I guess we're meant to go this way, huh?" Laika said, peering into the tunnel. The lights in their room had died halfway into the rest period, and the screen shut down shortly after, leaving them in darkness. It had been Aiolin that noticed the hatches and spent almost an hour prying one open.
"How long are we thinking this thing is?" asked Hunter.
"All the way to the abyss," replied Ariel.
"Pipe down if you haven't got anything useful to say," grumbled Diego.
Laika shrugged. "Well, I went first for swimming, so who's up this time?"
"I vote Ariel," said Hunter.
Aiolin sighed. "Not her. We need to talk about what's ahead. I'll go."
"I should go. I'll kill any threats ahead. Not that it'll save us," said Ariel.
"Could you please stop saying creepy things?" snapped Hunter.
"I cannot help those that refuse to listen," replied Ariel, crouching at the tunnel and crawling inside.
Aiolin reached for her with a protest of, "Ariel, wait!" but she was already going ahead.
Laika sighed and folded her arms. "Guess we're using that one, huh?"
Aiolin bent over to frown into the tunnel. "How does it look in there?"
"Dark. But nothing run by machinery lasts around me."
Laika frowned. "Wait. Did you kill the lights then?"
"Nothing ever lasts long," Ariel said again.
"You little bitch–"
"No," said Aiolin, raising her hands, "No, wait. We can use that."
District Six Female, Venus Albryte, 14
Atlas wasn't just a factory-raised kid.
He was, in fact, completely bonkers, and Venus needed to get herself away from him as soon as she could.
"Any ideas what these tunnels are?" he asked, kicking at the still sealed hatch.
Venus shrugged. "I guess we'll find out when they open."
Given this was the Hunger Games, and an arena, almost certainly another kind of death trap.
Maybe she'd get lucky and it would take Atlas for her. That would solve one problem.
"I'm going first," Atlas said, far too pleased with himself.
Venus shrugged. "Be my guest."
If he wanted to be the first into the suicide run, he could do so.
"You're meant to be the clever one. Figure it out."
"I won't know until it opens." Venus made an indication at the circumference of the room. "And there are three of them. They might be different."
Atlas grinned. "This is goodbye then."
"How'd you figure that?"
"I ain't draggin' some no-fighter girl-brat with me. Even if you are pretty smart."
Venus shrugged again. "Works for me."
She wanted no part in that big alliance that had formed, but there were a handful of smaller ones. Or she could go it alone, plenty did in the Hunger Games. It would remove the need for her to constantly worry about allies.
But she had time to think about all that.
Right now, she had to concentrate on getting through this.
District Three Male, Toshiro Micron-Bundar, 13
Three tunnels. Six of them. Two each. Divided by District. It worked. Except–
"I don't know if we should split up," said Bakula.
"It makes sense timewise. It would give us all the best shot at living," Toshiro replied.
"If we separate, we might never see each other again."
Said as though they knew each other. As though they cared about each other. As though they were friends.
"I think we should stay together," Bakula argued.
"Why?" asked Greg.
"We're all the smaller ones, the younger ones. If we end up in trouble, we'll be better off together than on our own. What if we run into those kids from Nine?"
"Then I don't think they'd care whether there was six of us or sixteen of us!" snapped Toshiro. There had been forty eight of them in that flooding hall, and they had still killed the other District Eleven boy right in front of everyone.
"Fine." Bakula crossed his arms. "Who votes we should separate?"
Toshiro stuck his hand up, as did Kai. After a moment, Rhea followed.
"And who votes we should stay together?" asked Bakula.
Him, Cash, and Greg.
"I know!" declared Cash, bouncing on the spot. "Why don't we just go in groups of three? That way everybody wins! "
It was a reasonable solution. Toshiro could see the logic.
"So long as I'm not with him," he muttered.
Bakula scowled. "Fine by me."
"Done then."
"Done."
District One Female, Daisy Jetson-Brie, 15
Whatever lay beyond the three hatches that had sprung open in their room looked terribly dark and uninviting. Daisy couldn't see any taps, but she couldn't see much of anything else either. It was too dark inside.
"So what do we think's down the deep dark hole?" asked Amarine.
"Don't start," muttered Jarrod.
"I was just asking!"
"Yes, and I was just warning you."
"I can't see anything." Daisy reached out to stick her hand through the gap.
Marcellus caught her arm. "Let me try."
"Are you sure?"
"It's only polite." Warily, he laid his hand on the threshold of the hatch before pushing it further through. He was wearing a brave face, but Daisy could see the way he was trembling. Carefully, he felt around the entrance of the tunnel. "Nothing sharp; nothing weird feeling. It's just all metal."
"Well, I don't suppose we have a choice," said Daisy.
She'd never wanted to play the Capitol's games. She wanted to be free from their tyranny, even in the smallest of ways.
"Well then," said Cali, looking around them. "Who's going first?"
"Are we staying together down the same one?" asked Jarrod.
"I think that would be best. That way we can warn each other of what's ahead," replied Cali.
Because it wouldn't be as easy as the instructions said. Even Daisy knew that. She squeezed her eyes closed as thoughts of Tatiana re-emerged.
She didn't deserve to die.
"Who's going first then?" asked Jarrod.
They exchanged looks.
Marcellus sighed. "I'll do it."
"Are you sure?" asked Daisy.
He grinned. "Can't have one of you girls going, and Micah's…"
Only a year younger than Daisy, but so much more immature.
"Besides, I volunteered. Wish me luck."
Daisy touched his shoulder. "Good luck."
District Nine Male, Wolf Willows, 18
It was a relief that the hatches sprang open, revealing where they were. It was a neat hiding place away under the bunks, and would force them to crawl to get through. There was no sign of anyone already inside.
"Separate tunnels for each room, maybe," Wolf said, though depending on how long they were, that wouldn't be logistically possible. They'd start ramming into each other. Besides, tributes were meant to fight, and they were meant to hunt.
"I can't see anything," Willow complained.
"There won't be much room for taking our bags through." He swung his from his back. "Might be best to wear them on our fronts."
It would provide them some padding and defence there, too, if they ended up in a fight.
"We can't leave them?"
"Might not get more," he replied.
Wren hummed crossly, but removed her bag and strapped it to her front.
"I'll go first. You follow." He glanced at the two unneeded tunnels. If there were more tributes in the room, he supposed, having more than one tunnel out would be logical. But since it was only them, they were unnecessary. "We don't want to get separated."
They'd already been divided from the other tributes, and he doubted whoever was running this death trap cared for the fact they were siblings. They'd be broken up just as much as any of the other tributes.
"I won't leave you," Wren said.
"Of course not."
They belonged together. Born together, hunted together, forsaken together.
They'd be weak if they parted.
District Seven Female, Sage Odin, 17
Sage barely slept. She didn't know any of these people, and part of her wished she'd headed off up one of the staircases in search of somewhere more private. But then she'd be alone, and in the Hunger Games, that might be worse.
"I say we don't play their games!" declared Millie, just as loud, proud, and angry as she'd been the night before.
"Agreed!" said Rusudan. She was as small as Sage, but far bolder, even at only twelve.
'Are you in or out?' signed Nixxie. It had taken Sage barely a moment, the night before, to realise that was what the other girl was doing with her hands. According to Nixxie, she couldn't speak, but she could hear.
And she held a burning hatred for the Capitol.
As did Millie and Rusudan. The three had banded quickly together, declaring their loathing for the Capitol.
Judas and Sally, meanwhile, were quieter and more reserved. Sally had spent much of the night crying about wanting to go home, while Judas had barely said a word and just sat and watched. There was something unnerving about him. He made Sage's skin crawl.
'I'm out,' Sage signed. She didn't like this any more than any of the others, but she wasn't dying for whatever insanity they had inside them.
Nixxie shrugged. 'Suit yourself. But they're not going to play fair with any of this.'
Sage turned to Judas, Mercury, and Sally. Sally was now panicking at having to enter one of the tunnels, while Mercury was trying to calm her down, but Judas had already climbed into one and was disappearing through it.
Well, if he could do it…
Sage crouched and scrambled through the central hatch, shuddering at the cold metal. She could do this. And if the others didn't want to come, or thought they could spite the Capitol, she'd do it alone.
It wasn't like anyone ever truly liked her anyway. She'd been doing stuff alone for most of her life.
District Eight Female, Nadine Stitcher, 16
This was where keeping a couple of her allies would have been useful. She could have dent them ahead to tell her what was safe.
Instead, she was on her own.
Well, fuck. She could do this on her own. She wasn't some pathetic, snivelling child.
Nadine adjusted her backpack, attempting to pull it closer against her, and crouched to poke her head into the tunnel.
It was all metal, dark and ominous, stretching out before her. The floor hummed with a strange vibration. She steadied herself and pushed onward into the unknown. A red light flashed above her. Something dropped from the ceiling and vanished into a narrow crank in the floor.
Nadine swallowed her screwball and the urge to throw herself backwards. So the place was trapped. Of course it was.
She closed her eyes and breathed deep. Maybe the trap wouldn't be triggered again, or maybe it was on a timer. She couldn't stay here frozen if she wanted to live. And Nadine definitely wanted to live. She'd all but sacrificed that boy from Eleven in order to do so. Maybe she should feel bad, but Nadine felt nothing at all. She was going to live, no matter what it cost others.
Slowly, she inched forward. There was a whoosh, and the blade shot upwards again, narrowly missing her hand. Nadine's heart skipped a beat. She yanked her hand back.
When she found the others, she was definitely going to be staying with an ally or two for a while.
She hung back, far too close to the swooshing blade, until it spun through the tunnel again. It hadn't been making the trips too close together, which meant there was enough time to crawl forward and get to the other side.
Ahead of her lay the dangerous hum of further traps.