Ephemeral

Tape record:

Section: The Hunger Games LXXIV; Day 13 4 hour 9 minute

Deaths: 12F, 11M

Injuries: 2F

Summary: After the Feast is announced 2F and 2M go to the cornucopia and wait for the other district tributes to show up. Bloodbath occurs.

0:00 12F is hiding in the bushes.

0:22 12F begins to run. She stops.

0:26 5F runs first and gets bag.

0:33 12F resumes running.

0:40 12F grabs bag.

0:44 2F throws a knife.

0:46 12F counters with an arrow. Wrestling.

1:06 12F on bottom. 2F makes wild stabs.

1:23 12F is pinned.

1:25 2F: Where's loverboy? 12F: no answer. 2F slits 12F cheeks into a smile.

1:30 2F cuts both of 12F jugulars before decapitating 12F.

1:35 11M pulls 2F off 12F and hits 2F head with a rock. 2F is limp. 11M tries to hit again, this time with more force.

1:37 2M cuts off 11M left hand before 11M can do anything more. 2M cuts off 11M right hand.

1:40 2M slashes down 11M chest. 2M pins 11M.

1:45 2M carves out 11M heart and holds it in his hand. 2M cuts it in half.

1:50 2F is on ground. 2M runs to 2F and checks 2F skull. 2F is still breathing.

2:00 2M opens up backpack. 2M puts on body armor. 2M opens up 12 backpack. 2M opens up 11 backpack.

2:50 2M collects 12F weapons and backpack items. 2M: we need medicine to lower brain swelling.

6:00 2M receives medicine. 2M gives it to 2F.

Result:

Capitol polls show that another Feast has been successful. Ratings rise dramatically, by 30%.

62% want 2M and 2F to win

21% want 2M to win

15% want 12M to win

2% want 5F to win

There are two other tributes alive; Cato has been keeping track. All students before going into the games, in his district, are trained to be insensitive to killing, but they are not taught to be patient. And Cato wants out.

He is much smarter than Clove had originally given him credit for. He knows that she won't live for much longer without Capitol treatment, but he doesn't want to leave her alone knowing that Foxface is alive.

All students before going into the games, in his district, are trained to make decisions quickly. It is not difficult for him to take a risk and leave Clove under a shady tree. If Clove dies, he tells himself, it will not be his fault. If Clove dies, he says, he will not feel sad.

He knows Foxface is hungry and attempts to trap her. Even the cleverest an make mistakes. Sometimes it comes down to a game with oneself. Can you live through the thirst and hunger or will you take a risk? Or are you risking death by not taking risks?

He leaves with the bow, like he is hunting. All students before going into the games, in his district, are trained in heightening their senses. It is not difficult for him to hear her following him. All students before going into the games, in his district, are trained in all weapons. It is not difficult for him to shoot her.

.

Peeta dies in his own shit, vomit, and blood. His organs all eventually shut down, but his heart fails him much earlier, when he realizes that his love isn't coming back, and that she probably never loved him anyway.

Cato hears the cannon and worries that it's Clove's. But as he sprints back to the Cornupia, where he left her, a hovercraft picks him up and he is reassured that she is alive and well.

(She is not well, but she is alive for now.)

.

In a district where people rarely value life for what it's worth, a mother sits at her child's bedside and wonders why she played along with the Capitol's games.