Chapter Text
Arena - One of the nicest university campuses in the country. Tributes have full access to the outdoor green spaces, library, other buildings including accomodation and the 1km surrounding the area in all directions. The cornucopia is in the middle of the sports field and weapons consist of only knifes and hatchets, but nothing that will allow any tributes any range of any sorts. There are no mutts within the university campus, however, outside, there are rabid dogs, cats and birds that will attack any tributes on sight, but these mutts will never make their way inside the university campus.
This year, the reapings were an absolute mess, with the youngest tribute in the history of the games, who got reaped on his 12th birthday, participating. This was Lewis (4) after nobody volunteered to take his place, despite the academy having shortlisted 3 tributes to potentially participate this year. It was theorised in later years that it was agreed for the Reaping to be rigged towards Lewis and for him to be reaped regardless of who had been planned to be reaped. Out of all the tributes, half of them were volunteers this year, which left the other 12 feeling like they had no chance whatsoever. The most notable volunteers were Ashleigh (6), who volunteered for her best friend, despite being smaller and clearly physically less capable. The other was Lucian (10), who had no connection to the tribute reaped in any way, but when asked why he volunteered, he stated that his family were starving, and he’d rather die in the arena, trying to save them, rather than slowly dying of starvation. The Capitol were confused by his random statement, with some assuming he was considering the idea of starting a rebellion, while others thought he was just doing this for attention so they’d notice him more and give him more sponsor gifts in the arena.
The careers this year, who actually volunteered and weren’t “unfairly” reaped, were Elijah (1), Alanah (1), Isaac (2), Abigail (2), and Sophie (4), all of whom agreed that they would let Lewis stay with them, despite his young age, and that they wouldn’t kill him until they were at least in the top 10 tributes. However, when they offered this proposal to him, he seemed to agree, but some viewers assumed he was lying so they wouldn’t kill him instantly.
This year’s tribute parades were of a much higher quality than most expected it to be, with tributes in outfits that properly represented the districts they’d come from. District one clearly looked the best, with Alanah wearing a full length gown with diamonds delicately placed over the exterior, while Elijah wore a diamond crested suit. They were clearly some of the strongest tributes this year, especially Elijah with his muscles making the suit jacket tense slightly, especially around his biceps and chest area. Magno (3) and Melissa (3) both wore outfits inspired by circuit boards, which the Capitol viewers found amusing at first, before realising that it was, in fact, one of the more fashionable looks from the parade. Oscar (12) and Terri (12) were obviously the worst dressed of the evening, each wearing a coal mining suit and a hardhat, which was neither fashionable nor memorable. Throughout the parade, viewers were screaming and cheering, specifically for Lewis, cheering for his birthday, which made him feel less worthless in a games with so many volunteers and strong tributes. After the parade, it was said by the stylists that a fight broke out between Isaac and Dale (11), who both claimed that they had better chances of winning. The fight was quickly broken up by Abigail and Connie (11), but Isaac yelled afterwards that he was going to savour the sensation of killing Dale when he came to it, claiming that he would go out of his way to cause much more pain than was strictly necessary.
During the week of training, it was clear that the career tributes and the tributes from District 11 would not get along at all. Dale went out of his way to make sure he wasn’t close to the careers, but Isaac would randomly show up at his station to cause drama and annoy Dale even more. Lewis stayed close to Sophie for most of training, but when she was busy showing off her skills with a spear and chatting with the other 4, he made his way to Dale and Connie, offering an alliance, but not letting the other careers notice. The 2 of them were confused at first, but eventually agreed with some hesitation, before also letting Frederick (7) and Missy (7), another volunteer, also join their alliance. Preston (6) had managed to build a close bond with Melissa during training, and was even offered a place with her and Magno, claiming that 3 is always better than 2. After a moments hesitation, he proposed that they also let Ashleigh join their alliance so they can sleep for longer and take shorter nightwatch shifts when they had the chance. The 2 from 3 eagerly agreed, but Ashleigh seemed quite hesitant at first before eventually agreeing. Throughout training, Lucian was able to show off his skills in hand to hand combat, especially when given a small knife, and was clearly able to make Elijah feel a little threatened. Seeing this, Jacob (8) and Pete (9), both volunteers too, offered an alliance to Lucian, claiming that he wouldn’t be able to survive by himself after making the careers feel threatened like he’d just done. He accepted and yet another alliance was formed. Harry (5) and Luna (5) weren’t able to identify anyone they felt comfortable enough to work with, the common factor being that they were all either too threatening or were too skilled with particular weapons, or that they were too weak. So they decided to just stay with one another and not bother looking for more people to join their alliance. After this, there were only 3 tributes that weren’t in an alliance, but that was for good reason. Yasmin (8), Jessie (9) and Elle (10) were much more into gossiping than having to train in order to ensure their eventual survival, and that is what they were dead set on doing throughout the entirity of training. The Capitol who got to watch thought this was incredibly entertaining, while others were annoyed that they weren’t worth betting on. They were all pleased with the gossip however, and nobody was complaining at all.
This year, the training scores varied a lot, with 2 scores of 11 being scored to Lucian and Dale, while Alanah, Isaac and Sophie all scored 10. The lowest score this year belonged to Oscar, who had failed to do his chosen skill successfully. Everyone else had decent scores, from 4-9. The most surprising score was undoubtedly Lewis’, since he got a 9.
The interviews, like the reapings, were an absolute mess. 4 of the careers were overconfident, saying they knew they were the strongest tributes this year, while Isaac went into an in depth description of how he would slowly torture Dale to the point that he would be begging for his life to end but Isaac would prolong the torture for up to 3 hours, just because he can and Dale is a “worthless piece of shit.” Magno said that he knew his chances were slim, but that there would be a decent chance of Melissa getting out, especially if she remembers how to use natural resources to create a makeshift camouflage. Melissa, on the other hand, said she was almost certain she’d get killed in the opening minutes. She even said that Oscar and Terri had a better chance of survival than her, despite being from the weakest district. Lewis said that he knew he was the youngest tribute in the history of the games, but nobody could underestimate him, especially since they don’t know what he did to get a score of a 9. Harry and Luna both said very little, but Lucky tried pushing for them to share who they were aligned with, even suggesting that they can work with the pair from District 12. They still said very little. Preston mentioned that he had to leave his girlfriend from back home, being one of the few tributes this year with someone to get back to. Ashleigh, on the other hand, said she’s never been in a serious relationship, but if given the chance, would love to maybe date her best friend. Everyone was suddenly taken aback that there was a queer tribute this year, but most of them cheered in support. For those watching from the Districts, the cameras cut to Ashleigh’s best friend, who she had volunteered to take the place of. She looked mostly annoyed, and even started crying a bit, but her face turned red, presumably from anger rather than sadness. Frederick and Missy both spoke about their capabilities with an axe and how they feel they’d realistically be the most capable tributes, especially since they have been using axes and climbing trees since they could walk properly. Jacob, Pete and Lucian said that their number one priority was making sure that the careers didn’t get another victor this year. They really didnt care whether they would die, but they wanted someone from a district that was considered weaker to win the games this year. Their district partners, Yasmin, Jessie and Elle, barely allowed Lucky Flickerman to get a single word in, instead going off with all the gossip they’d managed to get from their time in the Capitol, especially about the gamemakers, with Yasmin stating that one of the training providers told her that the secondary gamemaker has the biggest crush on the head gamemaker, and the entire audience got much more invested. Jessie and Elle each got other information from their escorts, such as the fact that a particular family with lots of power within the Capitol had to fire one of their avoxes because it turned out that they were somehow a wanted sereal killer. Of course, they didn’t believe this was true, but its all they had to work with and the Capitol were loving their careless attitudes. Dale and Connie were mostly forgettable, no discernable personalities, but Dale mentioned his desire to get into a one on one fight with Isaac to prove which of them was truly stronger, and requested that all the other tributes respect this decision. Finally, Oscar and Terri finished the interviews at an all time low, with Oscar being close to tears the entire time, knowing he has less than a day to live, and Terri being too nervous to speak properly, though her fear is from the crowd and not her death occuring in the coming days, maybe a week or 2 if she’s lucky.
After the interviews, the gamemakers allow the camera footage in each room to be shown to the entire nation, excluding those staying in the tribute quarters, of course, the cameras are only in the public areas, not the bedrooms or bathrooms. For District 2, Abigail is suggesting that she could kill Dale when their fight begins, but Isaac refuses, wanting to win their fight with integrity. On the other hand, Dale is telling Connie that she will intervene if it looks like Dale is about to lose, so they can keep working together for longer. Meanwhile, Lewis has told Sophie that he’s not going to work with the careers and will instead be working with Districts 7 and 11. Sophie understands fully, but asks to also join them, as she knows that the other careers will be particularly messy this year. Lewis immediately says yes, not caring about the rest of his alliance, because the worst case scenario to him is that they end up killing Sophie, but then thats just one less person for him to deal with in the long term, so it would be a win-win to him regardless.
The morning of the games, the tributes are each given thick cargo trousers, a short sleeved shirt, and a thin waterproof jacket without a hood. Most stylists assumed this meant a warm arena, while Alanah’s correctly assumed that it would be an arena with lots of areas inside and a lot of shelters spread throughout. No need for thick layers as there would be plenty of opportunities to hide from any environmental changes. As the tributes rose into the arena, some were shocked by the random surroundings, being mostly flat with university buildings surrounding them from all angles and the doors being wide open. Isaac immediately found Dale stood right next to him and his eyes lit up with anticipation. Seeing their positioning, the audience cheered in excitement at what was about to happen and whether they were about to witness one of the fastest kills in the history of the Games.
As soon as the horn sounded, Isaac made a B-line for Dale, rugby tackling him to the ground and proceeding to repeatedly smash his fists into Dale’s face, causing his nose to make a horrible cracking sound. Dale was unable to fight back, barely able to scream from the pain as Isaac’s hits were consistently strong, precise and not hard enough to kill him yet. Instead, Isaac choes to knock Dale out for now, but kept him alive. Frederick and Missy were the only 2 tributes to choos to run away from the Cornucopia, making their way straight through the door that was closest to them. Upon getting inside, they went straight to the top floor, an attempt to remain hidden with a good view of where everyone else was. Sophie was the first tribute to reach the cornucopia, grabbing a hatchet immediately. She then grabbed a knife and handed it to Lewis, both of them now guarding the cornucopia to appear like they’re helping the careers. However, when Abigail tried getting past, Lewis immediately stabbed her in her neck, causing her to stumble back before dropping dead. Seeing this, Elijah charged at Lewis’ side, assuming he wouldn’t be able to react fast enough to counter this action, and managed to tackle Lewis while Alanah ran past and grabbed a hatchet before throwing it straight into the centre of Sophie’s skull when she had just turned to fight her away. She then grabbed another hatchet and bought it straight down onto Lewis’ neck, letting his head roll away as Elijah stood back up quickly to get a knife. Isaac quickly joined them, grabbing himself a hatchet and helping them guard the cornucopia structure. While their backs were all turned, Ashleigh managed to run past, grabbing a hatchet and a knife before the careers saw her and get away, making her way inside with a bag filled with bread and water. As she ran past him, she grabbed Preston and dragged him with her. Magno and Melissa quickly followed them, Magno with a bag with some more bread and water and Melissa with an odd pair of goggles. Connie tried getting a knife from the ground next to the cornucopia structure, but was quickly grabbed by Isaac, who proceeded to kick her ribs repeatedly. He even ripped the knife from her grip before smashing her head with surprising force against the corner of a crate next to them, causing her to die fairly quickly after starting hitting her head against the box. Oscar was unable to move from his podium, watching in horror as other tributes ran through the cornucopia, trying to get weapons, while others tried killing one another. He spotted a singular water bottle a couple metres from his podium and ran for it when he felt he was able to move again, grabbing it and running away as Lucian grabbed Terri and repeatedly threw her against the side of the cornucopia with such force that her back ended up being shattered. Between his alliance, they had managed to get 1 knife and plenty of bread to last them a few days, before reuniting and running away into the small alleyway between 2 buildings and managing to find a wide road which they proceed to run along together. Harry and Luna tried getting some supplies, which Luna was able to do successfully before getting away, grabbing a loaf of bread and a single bottle of water that she would try to make last up to 3 days, but Harry was less lucky, getting tackled to the ground by Alanah, before she proceed to hit the sharp edge into his back. Yasmin, Jessie and Elle managed to get 3 water bottles and 6 loaves of bread between them, and a sack of apples, which they took before running away together through the alleyway. After all this, Isaac finally walked over to Dale, who was slowly regaining consciousness, before jumping and hitting his knees hard against Dale’s ribs, causing Dale to scream out in more pain. Isaac then used his knife to slowly cut into Dale’s chest and down his abdominal area. As blood seeped from these areas, Dale began sobbing uncontrollably from the pain, fighting the urge to scream. Isaac then used his knife to slowly saw through Dale’s wrists, removing both of his hands, causing him to scream out in more pain again. Isaac then finally killed Dale by taking his knife slowly along Dale’s throat and watching him bleed to death. This took almost 5 minutes, which Isaac felt was a satisfying amount of time, especially since the torture started during training.
Frederick and Missy watched in horror as all 4 of their allies were killed so quickly, but they didn’t move, mostly because they couldn’t physically force themselves to get to their feet. They watched the remaining careers stay in the cornucopia for a lot longer than necessary and grew nervous about being seen already with their vantage point. When they were convinced the bloodbath was over, they chose to stop watching the bloodbath and to instead stay away the window.
Oscar had made his way straight past the main learning buildings and managed to find the accommodation near a lake. Without much of a thought process, he ran straight into the first accommodation building he’d seen and into a random room to hide himself. He chose to stay here for the rest of the day, using the sink in the room he’d chosen to fill his water bottle up throughout the day.
Jacob, Pete and Lucian had chosen to stay together for the entire day, making their way to the lake, thinking its the only way for tributes to get water this year and feeling that if they are able to claim it as their own, then everyone else would die off slowly, leaving them as the final 3 tributes.
Magno, Melissa, Preston and Ashleigh had made their way to the sports building, finding a large empty hall, which they assumed was once used for sports like basketball or badminton. They chose to set themselves up inside the supply cupboard, since it would allow for them to hide if anyone chose to enter the sports hall for any reason. Since it was big enough for them all, they were able to spread out, but began talking in pairs, with Melissa and Ashleigh discussing the boys they used to find attractive back home and who they wish they’d chosen to ask out before it was too late. Magno and Preston, on the other hand, were in a deep debate over the best way to provide power to a large transportation system and what technology would be the most beneficial for them to use. Magno tried encouraging the use of renewable energy, while Preston said that would be a waste of long term recourses and that they should instead use the fuel they are currently using until new technological advancements have been made that they will be able to turn the process almost fully electric before they consider to turning to renewable water sources. Despite their disagreements, they were both able to see the other person’s point of view and appreciate the thought they’d been able to put into this.
Yasmin, Jessie and Elle made their way through the university campus calmly, each talking with one another as if they were just walking through town sipping coffee. They began discussing which of the other tributes would make good boyfriends, with the common agreement being that it would be Isaac, because he was willing and able to kill, so therefore, he would be a decent person if it ever came to him needing to protect his girlfriend in the future. Jacob was a close second place, due to his caring demeanor and the fact that on the train ride to the Capitol, he told Yasmin that no matter what, they were in a lose lose situation. Either you die and your family suffer the loss of their child, sibling or grandchild, or you win and then go home to suffer a lot in the coming years, potentially decades. This showed he would never want to harm anyone and the girls all agreed this was a definitive green flag on his behalf. They kept walking through the campus until they came across a different courtyard to where they’d started, with buildings which lead underground to where the student union used to be, before the university was forced to shut down. They made their way downstairs and all got excited when they found the old bar, all 3 of them eagerly pouring themselves drinks of beer, cider and gin. That night, all 3 girls got quite drunk, much to the amusement of the Capitol, who were now intrigued how this would impact their chances of surviving in the longer term.
As night fell, the 7 fallen tributes were shown in the sky before the arena fell darker than most tributes or the viewers had expected it to. With the arena being so dark, the careers chose to start hunting now, with the idea that the darkness would cover their location from other tributes who chose to hide outside. Despite hunting for the entire night, they weren’t able to find anyone and they instead made their way back to the cornucopia.
While the careers were out hunting, Frederick and Missy ran downstairs and rushed to get as many supplies as they possibly could, each getting a hatchet and enough bread and water to last them up to 2 weeks, along with some apples, before they made a run for the opposite direction that they saw the careers go in. They managed to make their way to the accommodation buildings by the lake and get inside one of the larger rooms without being noticed by any other tributes, much to their relief.
Upon their return to the cornucopia, the careers noticed that they’d lost a lot of their supplies, and got increasingly annoyed with one another for not protecting it well enough. This fight got particularly bad between Isaac and Alanah, who ended up getting into a brief fist fight before Isaac took his knife straight to Alanah’s throat before she was able to stop him. She then fell to the ground, lifeless, before turning to Elijah and threatening to kill him too if he tried putting any blame on him. Elijah stayed silent, refusing to argue with Isaac like Alanah had.
Luna was able to go forgotten by most of the tributes, and until she was shown close to midday on the second day, most of the viewers forgot she was even in the games. She was shown to be against the fence around the perimeter of the university, close to one of the exits, where she could see that nothing was in the way and that the arena’s perimeter was still quite a long way from her current position. After checking once more that there weren’t any tributes remaining, she made a run for the 3rd house she could see, entering quickly before shutting the door right behind her. She was taking no chances of other tributes knowing where she is. She then looked around the house, searching for anything that she could potentially use as a weapon. In the kitchen, she found a knife, which she quickly took, before using her water bottle as a hammer, hitting the supports of the balinster to take them out and used the kitchen knife to sharpen the supports to create spears for her to use, managing to make 3 of them, which she made sure she was able to hold onto easily. Luna then chose to stay in the house for the rest of the day, using the tap water throughout and taking some of the canned foods that the people who used to live here had in their pantry.
Magno, Melissa, Preston and Ashleigh stayed in the supply cupboard for another day, only sending out one person at a time to find a place to refill their water bottles when they were running low. They were not found by anyone throughout the entire day.
Frederick and Missy chose to try leaving the campus, thinking that everyone else would stay on the campus. As soon as they left though, they saw a large pack of dogs in the distance, instead choosing to head the other way to avoid facing them. As they started walking though, the dogs began charging at them, so Missy grabbed Frederick’s arm and dragged him as she began running. They managed to outrun the dogs for a while, but Frederick eventually fell, and Missy kept running as the rabid dogs ripped Frederick’s flesh with their teeth, leaving him to scream for help as he was slowly tortured and eventually killed. Missy managed to make her way back to the university campus and collapsed against the fence surrounding the perimeter. As she sat down, gasping for air, she saw 3 large figures walking towards her. It was revealed to the viewers that these people were Jacob, Pete and Lucian. Missy tried getting up and running away, though she was a lot slower now due to her pure fear. However, she managed to get away from the group of 3, barely getting to the library as they caught up to her, and using the maze of bookcases to get away and hide. She managed to find a particularly dense shelf which she hid behind as she overheard the boys say that Lucian would go to the top floor, Jacob to the one just below and Pete would stay on their current floor. Missy noticed that Pete was in fact defenceless, and that she would be able to beat him quickly and easily before getting away. She kept hiding for now, managing to sneak behind Pete. She then thought for a moment longer. If she attacked Pete now, he might scream and alert the other 2 to where she was and she’d die anyway. If she just ran away though, she’d undoubteby last longer. She chose the latter option, running straight out of the library and into the largest courtyard within the campus before entering the language block, hiding in the first lecture hall she’d found under a desk on the top row.
Yasmin, Jessie and Elle all stayed in the bar overnight, with Jessie suffering particularly badly from her hangover. Between the 3 of them, they all shared the snacks from behind the bar, but didn’t leave, instead agreeing that they’d stick with soft drinks and water so they wouldn’t have headaches as bad as they had today.
Oscar hadn’t moved from the room he found the day before, thinking its safer to stay than to move.
As night fell, the 2 tributes to die were shown in the sky again, and some were particularly surprised to see that yet another career had died today. Isaac and Elijah then agreed that it would be a better idea for them to stay where they were for the night, instead of hunting other tributes, especially since a lot of them were in decently large alliances compared to them.
On the morning of the third day, only one tribute decided to move from where they’d stayed the night before, that tribute being Luna. After taking a few checks to make sure the coast was clear, upon seeing Frederick and Missy get attacked by rabid dogs, she ran back to the university campus and dived behind the nearest bush to the entrance she took. From here she had a pretty clear view of the campus, but didn’t move in case she was put into unnecessary danger by her actions. She noticed that the coast was clear if she wanted to go to the business building, and after checking once more, she made a run for it, clutching the kitchen knife tightly in her hand in case she was seen by anyone who chose to attack her. Upon entering the building, she found a large classroom and put a chair in place to block the door and looked out of the window, noticing that she was now right next to the cornucopia and was able to see the careers easily. She carefully pushed the window open, not enough to be noticed by the careers, but enough that she would be able to overhear their conversations. At that point, the careers were talking about trying to find Jacob, Pete and Lucian, because they weer the biggest threats. They also tried remembering who the other tributes were, correctly remembering everyone except Luna, thinking she was one of the district 11 tributes. She chose to stay here to go unnoticed for longer.
In the afternoon, Missy left the lecture hall she’d been in for almost a full day, and made her way out into the courtyard. As she looked around, she noticed that the arena was almost silent. She considered returning to the cornucopia for a moment, before eventually deciding to stay close to the perimeter of the university campus. She found some of the larger sports fields and a car park that led to another edge of the campus, which she hid behind some of the rubble beside the exit.
That night, when no tributes were shown in the sky, the gamemakers made it begin raining in the arena. Elijah and Isaac groaned on frustration at needing to move, and they ended up entering the business building, where Luna was hiding. She heard them enter, but stayed as still as she possibly could, trying to make sure they wouldn’t hear her.
Magno, Melissa, Preston and Ashleigh didn’t even notice it was raining, staying inside the storage cupboard they found on day 1, and still sticking to their rations. They continued taking turns to refill water bottles, however, when Melissa was on one of her trips to get water, she saw Jacob, Pete and Lucian walking near their building outside, and quickly returned to the hiding spot the group was in, having only filled 2 of the 4 water bottles they had. She quickly told the rest of them what was happening and suggested Ashleigh and Preston go to fight them. They did this, chasing the 3 boys through the rain and Preston jamming his knife into the back of Pete’s head, while Ashleigh swung her hatchet into the side of Lucian’s neck. Both these boys collapsed and died quickly, but Jacob saw this happen and ran as fast as he physically could, even dropping his minimal supply of bread as he ran. Ashleigh picked up this bread and took it back to melissa and Magno. When they returned, they shared the little bread between the 4 of them and a sponsor gift landed outside their cupboard. It was revealed by Ashleigh to be a picnic, which they split into portions to share over 5 days, before sharing the rations for the first day.
Oscar continued to stay in the accommodation building, but he couldn’t sleep at all on the 4th night. He was far too hungry to do anything, and was clearly close to falling unconscious from his hunger. As a result, he made his way carefully into the rain and to the path beside the lake, picking berries and eating them as he went. He found that these were in fact not poisonous and were safe to eat, so he emptied his water bottle and began filling it as much as he possible could with the berries, while eating some as he went, before returning to the room he’d been in for so long and emptying the bottle onto the desk and setting out rations for up to a week.
On the morning of the 4th day, Isaac and Elijah left the business building and into the, now, lighter rain compared to the previous night, before walking through the campus to try finding Lucian, since they didn’t know he’d been killed yet. While they were walking, however, the arena fell into a deep darkness, and Elijah began panicking, while Isaac told him to stay calm and to sit down, that they would both be okay.
The sudden darkness took Luna by surprise to, but she just closed her eyes and convinced herself that everyone else was just as scared.
Oscar managed to sleep through the entire dark period, but was not found at any point.
Jacob and Missy, despite being in different areas of the arena, both had pretty much the same reaction as one another, that being to remain calm and silent, since nobody would be able to find them anyway.
Yasmin started screaming, which caused Jessie and Elle to begin panicking, to the point that they all started shouting for eachother to “shut the fuck up,” or “turn the freaking lights on.” They were heard by Isaac and Elijah, neither of whom could help but laugh a bit at their panic.
Unlike the partial calmness of everyone else, the alliance of 4 were pure chaos, with Ashleigh blindly swinging her hatchet, hitting it against Magno’s head and killing him instantly. Melissa managed to get her goggles on, revealing they were night vision goggles, and managed to see through the darkness that the other 2 were trying to kill her. Sneakily, she grabbed her portions, Magno’s portions and even Ashleigh’s portions of the picnic they’d split between everyone. She then took all the water supply, before leaving the supply cupboard, and using the heavy rope on the other side of the sports hall to tie the doors to the cupboard shut, making it nearly impossible for Ashleigh and Preston to escape. Melissa then stuffed all her supplies into her backpack before running out of the sports hall.
Once the darkness was gone, Ashleigh was the first to notice that most of the supplies between her and Preston had been taken by Melissa. They got into a brief argument, but it ended up being useless, especially when they realised the doors were now locked and they weren’t able to get out of the cupboard.
Elijah and Isaac made their way to the bar that they heard Yasmin, Jessie and Elle from. As they walked downstairs, the girls heard them and started freaking out again. When the boys revealed themselves, Elle was the first to scream and panic, throwing a glass straight at Isaac’s head. The other 2 also panicked and started throwing glasses while screaming, clearly not knowing what was going on. Isaac managed to dodge the glass, and between himself and Elijah, they watched the girls freaking out over them just being in the same room as them, laughing a bit before leaving the girls to continue freaking out, correctly assuming that the viewers were finding them entertaining. When the boys left, Jessie and Elle stopped freaking out quite so much, and Yasmin even thought that they’d been threatening enough to scare off the careers, so they were clearly the best tributes from this year.
Oscar eventually woke up, eating a few of his berries before refilling his water bottle. He tried telling himself that he was doing well and that other people thought he had a chance at winning, but even he knew that the chances of him winning were getting increasingly low, especially with how little he’s been able to eat throughout the games. He eventually decided that tomorrow, he would finally leave the accommodation block and find somewhere else to hide, ideally closer to the cornucopia.
Missy moved from behind the rubble, returning to the library, where Jacob was already hiding. She found him, and even though he’d tried killing her just a couple days ago, she decided to spare him, even offering him some of her bread and water to help him regain some strength. They even agreed to form a new alliance, which some viewers thought was both confusing and somewhat stupid, especially since it’s so late into the games. They shared what information they both had, with Missy stating that there were rabid animals outside the campus, and Jacob saying that Ashleigh and Preston were aligned with Melissa and Magno in the sports buildings, even willing to kill multiple people to protect their alliance. They then chose to stay in the library together, with Missy even leaning against Jacob a bit out of exhaustion and a slight desperation for comfort.
As night fell, the 3 fallen tributes were shown in the sky, and Lucky Flickerman, the commentator, said that he was surprised the games had lasted this long already, since he assumed the large number of volunteers would make the tributes much more willing to fight and be violent. He then listed off the remaining tributes and gave a brief factfile about each of them, along with their chances of winning. As expected, Oscar’s were the worst, but to the surprise of many, the 3 tributes most likely to win, according to the Capitol’s predictions, were currently Jacob in 3rd, Melissa in 2nd and Missy in 1st. The only reason of Missy being in first is the fact that she has been able to make alliances so easily, regardless of who she talks to and what happens to her other allies. Some viewers disagreed with the odds, however, saying that Elijah and Isaac were most likely to win and some others saying that Luna was going to be a dark horse towards the latter half of the games, especially with the spears she’d made by herself and the fact that she’d not worked with anyone since her ally died on the first day.
As the mornign came on the 5th day, Luna was the first to make a move for the cornucopia, which was now unguarded. She managed to get some of the remaining supplies, those being a sack of apples and a single loaf of bread, which she then took back to her room in the business building.
Missy and Jacob slowly moved from their position in the library, making their way to the lake near the accommodation block. As they moved, however, they saw that Oscar was leaving the building, and headed their way. Missy grabbed Jacob and pulled him behind a tree to hide both of them, waiting for Oscar to be closer. When he was 2 metres away, Missy revealed herself and threw her hatchet straight into Oscar’s chest, causing him to collapse as Missy grabbed the hatchet and hit it a few more times into his head and neck. Missy then passed all of Oscars supplies to Jacob for him to keep as they continued walking, stopping at the edge of the campus again.
Ashleigh and Preston were still unable to leave the supply cupboard, even when they ran into the door at the same time or tried using their weapons to break the door, but it was made of thick metal and their efforts did almost nothing at all. They gave up for a while, slumping against the back wall as they waited for someone to finally find them.
Yasmin, Jessie and Elle continued to stay in the bar, drinking alcohol again, but at a much slower rate than before and having water or soft drinks between each alcoholic drink. They were not found, though the Capitol and other viewers knew that this was exclusively due to Isaac and Elijah sitting at the top of the stairs to the bar, just listening to the girls having fun.
Melissa walked by herself still, but she found herself back at the cornucopia, hiding herself at the very back, and nearly collapsing as she arrived. She ended up curling herself into a ball at the very back of the cornucopia as night fell.
As night fell, only Oscar’s portrait was shown in the sky. Seeing this, Luna tried recalling how many tributes were still remaining, counting 9 despite there being 11. Either way, she was suitable confident that she had a good chance of winning the games and being able to make her way home alive.
Missy and Jacob stayed by the edge of the campus, speaking quietly about the other tributes and being able to recall everyone, except for Luna, but they knew there was another one. They even commented that this would probably prove to be a bigger advantage for whoever it was, as they would be able to go unnoticed for longer. Throughout the night, they ended up taking turns keeping watch, while the other managed to get some much needed sleep.
On the following morning, Elijah and Isaac stayed close to where Yasmin, Jessie and Elle were hiding, still not revealing that they’d been nearby all that time. Occasionally, Elijah tossed down a single apple, trying to make it appear as if a sponsor wanted to help them. While doing this in the late morning, Isaac saw a silver parachute slowly lowering itself near the cornucopia, and alerted Elijah to this. The 2 of them then gathered their supplies and made their way back to the cornucopia, both ready to attack whoever was there. The sponsor gift was revealed to be for Melissa, who had been sent a small bowl of chicken broth. She ate slowly and carefully, clearly struggling. Elijah began whispering that he and Isaac could use her to set traps against other tributes if they chose for any reason to return to the cornucopia, which Isaac agreed with after a moment of hesitation. The 2 boys then revealed themselves to Melissa and put forward the ultimatum that she can either help them or they would kill her. With a bit of hesitation, she agreed, though she clearly wanted to refuse. She then gave the boys all the information she had about the whereabouts and threat level of each of the remaining tributes, being the only one to remember that Luna did not in fact die on the first day as everyone else thought she had. She also said that Ashleigh and Preston were locked in a cupboard in the sports hall, which Elijah and Isaac were both impressed by. They then suggested that Melissa could create some sort of trap for the other tributes to get caught in, but she had full power over what this would be. Within minutes, she got to work while Elijah and Isaac relaxed for a while.
Luna was able to overhear everything that was going on, and even watched to see what Melissa was doing, though she wasn’t able to work that out at all. She noticed that Melissa was digging a lot and working with wires, but working progressively further from the cornucopia structure. When she finished, she let the boys know before running away. Isaac immediately tried chasing her, but was immediately blown up by a landmine, which set off the rest to explode. Elijah barely managed to get to safety inside the cornucopia before the explosions got to him, though he injured his leg quite seriously, struggling to stand properly and bleeding quite a lot.
Melissa made a run for the exit to the university campus, but within seconds of leaving the campus, she was attacked by the rabid dogs outside, getting ripped apart and screaming in agony. Being close to this as she was being torn apart, Missy and Jacob both grew tense, listening as both canons sounded. They stayed in their position for as long as they possibly could, before getting impatient and returning to the majority of the university’s buildings. While they were in the middle, they were able to hear Elijah as he groaned from pain. They stayed hidden, trying to gauge whether he was a serious threat to them, but once they saw that he was unable to move, Missy brought her hatchet across his throat, killing him faster than he would have died otherwise. While Missy’s back was turned, however, Jacob took the knife that was a couple feet from him, and quickly pocketed it, so Missy wouldn’t see he had it yet. But he quickly gave up, and instead ended up plunging it into the back of her neck, killing her immediately, taking a lot of the viewers back by surprise, especially after Yasmin had said he didn’t want to hurt or kill anyone.
Luna had seen what Jacob did, and remained unfazed by everything, just hoping that he wouldn’t make his way inside at all so she could remain unnoticed for a bit longer.
Yasmin Jessie and Elle grew more and more confused about who was being killed, and why there were so many canons all of a sudden. Their confusion got to the point that they thought they were the final 3 tributes remaining, and like before, they began arguing. This time, over who should get to go home. After a few minutes of their fighting, Jessie smashed a beer bottle against the counter and stabbed it into the side of Yasmin’s neck, before getting tackled by Elle. Elle proceed to punch Jessie repeatedly, until she finally managed to get the broken bottle and push it with more aggression than necessary straight into Jessie’s face. It was at this moment that she realised they were not in fact the final 3 tributes, as she wasn’t called as the winner by the gamemakers. She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the stupidity of her entire group throughout the games, and the fact that they were this delusional.
That night, the 6 fallen tributes were shown, leaving only 5 tributes remaining. It was at this point that the gamemakers made an announcement that in the morning, a feast would be held at the cornucopia, in order for each of the remaining tributes to get what they need the most.
Upon hearing this, Preston and Ashleigh almost completely lost hope, but Preston pushed more firmly against the door, trying to open it even just a little so that Ashleigh could try cutting through the rope. They had completely run out of food and water, so this was their only chance at being able to survive. Their attempts were unsuccessful, but they kept trying, desperation creeping in.
The following morning, Luna stayed in her room, watching as the 5 bags rose into the arena, but they were all unnamed, so it was a guess as to which one was meant for each tribute. She noticed that one bag in particular was smaller than the rest, assuming this meant that it was medication, and she suddenly became curious over who might have needed medication and what was wrong with them. Since she had a clear view for quite a long way, she could see nobody was nearby and quickly ran down to get the smallest bag before returning just as Jacob and Elle arrived. They both began fighting with Elle swinging her broken bottle desperately and missing every time, while Jacob stabbed her throat with his knife, and killed her quickly. Jacob then grabbed the closest bag to him before running towards the accommodation block and the lake again. Luna noticed that 3 bags were still yet to be taken, which was fairly obvious since Elle was now dead, but she stayed confused about where Ashleigh and Preston were. Regardless, she quickly opened her bag and found that there was a small bottle of water, and she got a little frustrated, thinking it was a waste, before realising that someone was now ridiculously dehydrated and would get worse without the water.
Jacob found an empty room in the accommodation block and opened his bag to find a singular apple, which he ate immediately, grateful for something other than the berries he’d taken a couple days ago.
After what felt like an eternity, Preston was able to open the door just enough for Ashleigh to cut through the rope, and they were finally able to escape the cupboard they’d been locked in for several days. Immediately, they rushed to drink as much water as they were able from the water fountain. Together, they then made their way to the cornucopia to get their bags. When they arrived, they got 2 of the remaining bags and walked away calmly, later revealing that they had a bottle of water and a nutrients bar in their bags. They split the nutrients bar between them and shared the water equally.
As night fell, only Elle’s picture was shown in the sky. With a week having passed, Preston and Ashleigh tried figuring out who was still alive, thinking it was Isaac and Lucian, due to them having the highest training scores, though they were not certain. They stayed close to the lake, relieved that they were able to get some fresh air. They spoke quietly about the idea that one of them might be able to get home, but neither of them had any particular desire for it to be them, since they would have the trauma of being locked up and having the memory of killing 3 tributes between them. They even agreed that if they were the final 2, though it was too quiet for any cameras to pick up, that if they were the final 2 tributes, they would both commit suicide at the same time, to try and remove any of the satisfaction the Capitol viewers, particularly those who were using the betting system to turn a larger profit each year, while 23 tributes were dying every year.
The following morning, Jacob looked out the window and saw Ashleigh and Preston both asleep side by side next to the pond. He made his way out carefully, making sure he didnt tread on any sticks, so that neither Ashleigh nor Preston would wake up. When he was close enough, he took Preston’s knife and tossed it a little away, doing the same with Ashleigh’s hatchet before smashing his own knife into Ashleigh’s throat, killing her instantly, the sound of her canpn waking both Preston and Luna. Preston immediately got up, reaching for his knife, to find it was nowhere near him, before he screamed for help and began running away, with Jacob following him closely. Luna made her way to the entrance of her building right next to the cornucopia, waiting for Preston to lead Jacob this way. Jacob managed to tackle Preston to the ground, stabbing him repeatedly, with Preston screaming the entire time. Luna chose to follow the sound of Preston’s screams, coming right behind Jacob before plunging her handmade spear through the back of his neck, until it stuck out the other side, and Jacob coughed up a mouthful of blood. Luna then let him drop to the ground and was announced the victor of the 21st Hunger Games.
Upon winning the Games at 15, Luna returned to District 5, where she was put on a watchlist, before being referred to a therapist in the Capitol. While in the Capitol, she met trinity, the victor of the pervious year’s games, and they got married after the 30th Games, before finding a penthouse in the Capitol. She died after the 56th Hunger Games, when one of the siblings of a tribute from her Games hunted her down to kill her.