Posi Rio (D5) sits in the Cornucopia, keeping watch with his binoculars as Rhys Bullock (D11) and Tesla Watt (D5) sleep snuggled into their sleeping bags at the back of the horn. The sun has not yet begun to rise and it’s still pitch black. Posi has barely slept; all night he stayed up tinkering with the countdown clock from the bloodbath. In the early morning hours a parachute arrived for him from his mentor. The headlamp inside, while useful on its own, was not what Posi was after. He’s stripped the components from the lamp and removed the high voltage battery to use in his own little project. 

​

Continuing to work until the sun begins to rise, Posi puts on his snow goggles. Snow has begun to fall in the arena once again, lowering visibility significantly. Bess sits in her box at Posi’s side and he picks her up excitedly when a low humming sound indicates that he’s been successful. 

​

“Bess look! Isn’t it awesome,” he smiles and shows the beetle his project. Between the wiring and hardware of the clock and the headlamp’s battery, Posi has put together a taser. And it works. 

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​

Astrid Luca (D9) wakes up, still secured up in her tree. She eats the other half of her bread from the day before, now a bit stale and no longer reminding her of home, and drinks some water from her canteen. Home. Astrid leans back against the trunk of her tree, indulging for a few minutes. Her family is very poor, but that’s never been a problem for her. She has a mother and a father - more than some in District Nine can say. And she has a sister, Celeste, who she misses desperately. She allows a tear to slip down her face at the thought of her sister, but whatever sadness she feels suddenly turns to determination. I will not leave Celeste alone. 

​

Astrid wipes her eyes dry and repacks her things in her pack. While carefully climbing down the tree, she decides that her odds will be better with a new alliance. When her feet are planted firmly on the ground again, Astrid hikes her pack further up on her shoulders and heads off to find another group of tributes, hopefully ones who haven’t heard about her last alliance. 

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​

The Sugarcube Alliance sits idly in the Snow Banks when a barrage of parachutes float down. Tiberius Bournes (D10), whose leg has swollen to nearly twice its size and become an angry, red color, sighs with relief when he opens his gift to find a tub of healing balm and some bread. Ianthe Berengy (D6), who is sitting next to him, opens a stick of meat jerky and smiles, tucking it away in her pack. 

​

Tiberius turns to Ianthe, holding his tub of balm to her. Help? He signs and Ianthe, who paid very close attention to the previous night’s rudimentary sign language lesson, nods her head and smiles at the young boy. She pops off the lid and begins spreading the balm on Tiberius’s leg. 

​

Nearby, Leah Deleware (D3) takes a bite of her newly received bread and grins, looking for her water canteen. She’s finally beginning to feel better after her bloodbath injury and contemplates her options. The alliance is on thin ice, this is obvious. Siren Acquafredda (D4) and Ivy Hunter (D7) sit huddled together a few feet away to Leah’s left, and Ianthe is helping Tiberius with his injury off to her right. If she can just make it through today, she can take off in the middle of the night. She finally finds her water canteen near a bush. Weird, she thinks. I swore I left it closer to my pack. Not thinking much of it, Leah takes a big gulp of water from the canteen.

​

Siren and Ivy eat their bread, watching Leah take a drink of her water. They share a grim look. The pair want to leave, breaking off their alliance, but can’t find the right time to do so. The previous night the duo hid most of Leah’s weapons in a bush, but the District Three girl had not yet realized her things were missing. They had also tipped the contents of a single hand warmer into Leah’s canteen. 

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​

Cal Dynam (D2) and Malia Wells (D1) take turns keeping watch from the window of the hay loft in the Stables. They’re growing restless, not wanting to stay put but also not wanting to go out picking fights with bigger alliances who easily outnumber them. It’s nearly midday when two parachutes drop into the loft, floating unnaturally sideways in through the window. Food and water are a welcome sight, especially since Cal ran out of water on Day 2. The allies have a small feast and continue keeping an eye out the window for someone to fight.

​

It’s another hour or so before a single, small figure appears among the white snow. It’s Astrid.

“Malia, look,” Cal points her out. She’s alone, the perfect target. 

“What do you think she’s doing out here,” Malia wonders aloud. “It’s pretty dumb, especially since she’s got no allies.”

​

“Maybe that’s what she’s looking for,” suggests Cal. “But she murdered her last allies. Normally I would say strength in numbers, but not for her.”

​

“She’s not just going to go away. Let’s go,” Malia pockets her sais and her knives, as well as the ones she picked up off of Amber Nelson (D8, deceased) and Skye Stones’ (D7, deceased) bodies. She also hands a few knives to Cal, who has his swords secured on his hip. The two descend the ladder out of the loft and into the main section of the Stables, lying in wait for Astrid. 

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​

Tesla examines the spear sent to her by her mentor. It’s a definite upgrade from her knives, but she’s unsure how well she'll be able to use it since she’s now missing two fingers off her right hand. The previous night she applied some healing balm from her pack to the wounds and wrapped them in a piece of fabric from her jacket. It’s awkward and clumsy to use her right hand now, but thankfully she’s left-handed, so she should still be able to throw the spear and use it in close combat. 

​

Rhys has been sullen and a bit closed-off since Aisly-Parca Sullivan’s (D11, deceased) death. He’s still not sure where he stands with Tesla and Posi, but he has to trust them because otherwise he’ll be on his own. Posi has been messing around with his new taser all morning and Rhys has to admit, it’s impressive. His own mentor sent him a bunch of hand warmers and some food. He hasn’t decided what to do with all of the hand warmers yet, but he’s sure there’s a good use for them. In the meantime, Rhys sits and constructs makeshift shields, using sticks and glue collected from the Workshop and the sheets of plastic provided in everyone’s packs. 

​

Posi sits on top of the Cornucopia and peering through his binoculars, he can see five figures in the way-off distance, camped out by the Snow Banks. He can’t make out who they are, only that they’re a bit scattered. 

​

“What do you two say to a little spy mission?” Posi says, putting down his binoculars and walking back into the horn. Tesla and Rhys look up, interested. Rhys is still having trouble making eye contact with the District Eleven boy. 

​

“What kind?” Tesla ventures, sitting up a bit straighter. “Are we talking sabotage, reconnaissance? A blitz attack?” 

​

“Just reconnaissance, I think things are tense over by the lake,” Posi says. He pockets his taser and knives, as well as Bess, making sure to be careful not to squish her. 

​

“Alright, it beats just sitting here all day,” Rhys nods and puts on his talons. 

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​

Chivonne Ashford (D8) almost sobs with relief when the parachute falls next to her. She rips open the gift from her mentor and opens the healing balm first, leaning over to nudge Matilda Gilbert (D12) awake.

“Matilda,” she whispers, not wanting to wake up Harvey Zea (D12) or alert anyone to their presence. “Here. For Harvey.” 

​

Matilda sits bolt upright and sighs with relief, turning over her district partner’s sleeping form and revealing the ugly, open wound on his chest. She hisses and reels backward at the sight of the blood and tissue. She takes a handful of balm and tentatively begins rubbing it on Harvey’s chest. Chivonne opens the first aid kit and uses the second healing balm on her own wounds, her arm having been badly mauled by the wolves. She takes a strip of gauze from the kit and hands it off to Matilda and then wraps her arm in a second strip. Matilda does the same for Harvey’s chest. 

​

After eating and refilling her canteen with some melted snow, Chivonne suggests that the alliance move their camp. It’s difficult to maneuver Harvey, but between the two girls they are able to get him moving at a reasonable pace. 

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​

Ivy is carving Tiberius some stakes from the nearby trees using her axe. She knows it’s a little stupid to make weapons for someone she may eventually have to kill but Tiberius is just a kid. They all are, but he’s especially young and she feels bad. She’s made three and is handing the third to Tiberius when rustling in the nearby trees and bushes catches her attention.

​

“Everyone be quiet! I heard something,” Ivy whispers at her allies. She raises her axe and creeps closer to the vegetation, keeping her eyes and ears open for any intruders. She thinks that maybe she’s mistaken an animal or some wind for an attack and is turning back to her allies when Posi jumps out of the trees, pulling out his taser. Tesla and Rhys follow Posi out of hiding and Ivy falls back, her allies taking her lead and moving south, closer to the lake.

​

They all make it to the Frozen Lake, the hole made by Tiberius only having grown since yesterday. Everyone is armed except Leah, who wasn’t able to find her hidden sword in time, but the lack of a weapon is the least of her worries right now. Her stomach is severely upset and the cramping has her doubled over in pain. Ivy and Siren share a knowing glance as Leah throws up, the contents of her stomach a telling black color. Using this as an opportunity to attack, Tesla advances and stabs Leah in the back. Her precise placement and the fact that the area is already wounded from Anderson Westin’s (D1, deceased) bloodbath attack make the shot fatal. Leah’s cannon sounds and her body falls over, dropping into her own sick. 

​

Rhys looks around at the remaining Sugarcube Alliance, a lightbulb suddenly going off in his head. The fight has moved onto the ice, a risky move since the integrity of the ice is questionable at best. Rhys pulls out the hand warmers sent by his mentor and shakes them, hoping they activate in time for his plan to work. He tosses all 10 of the packets out onto the ice toward Ivy, Siren, Tiberius, and Ianthe. Ivy and Siren seem not to notice, preoccupied with fighting off Posi and Tesla respectively, but Ianthe and Tiberius do notice. They quickly move off the ice in Rhys’s direction. 

​

“You need to go, now!” Ianthe urges Tiberius in the opposite direction, into the trees. She holds one yo-yo in each hand, ready to attack. “I can take him but you need to go. I’ll find you later.” Ianthe nudges Tiberius toward the trees again and he’s reminded, painfully, of his final moments with Flora Harper (D10, deceased). Not wanting her death to have been in vain, he obliges, hobbling off into the trees.

Rhys detaches three of his talons and throws them in Tiberius’s direction but the boy, although moving rather slowly, is smart enough not to go in a straight line. His zig-zagging motions keep him from getting hit and Rhys turns on Ianthe.

​

Posi and Ivy stand face to face, neither making a move to attack the other.

“I don’t really want to kill you,” Posi admits, throwing his taser into the snow behind him. Ivy looks at him funny before lowering her axe. 

​

“Well, these are the Hunger Games,” says Ivy, still looking at Posi contemplatively. “People have to die.” 

The sound of cracking ice deflects both of their attention from one another. Posi looks down, seeing the hand warmer at Ivy’s feet. The ice has been melting quickly and steadily and it must have been a thin spot to begin with. A large crack has formed directly beneath Ivy. Suddenly and without warning, the ice they are standing on gives out and they both fall into the freezing cold water.

​

As he’s submerged under the water, Posi is thankful that he didn’t put the taser back in his pocket. He could have been electrocuted. He is not, however, thankful that he has fallen in the water. He opens his eyes, looking around for Ivy and for a way out of the freezing water. He kicks his legs, trying to stay afloat. He can see the hole in the ice directly above him and Ivy right below. He tries to reach down and grab Ivy’s arm to pull her up with him when he sees a glowing light emerging from the depths of the lake. He’s unsure what it is, but Ivy sees it too and begins kicking furiously, trying to get away and grasping for Posi. He tries to reach for her again when a muttation with the head of an anglerfish and human-like arms and hands grabs her first. She screams silently beneath the water as the muttation pulls her down, down, down. Posi watches in horror and propels himself upward when he hears a cannon sound above the surface and sees the water around him begin turning red. More frantically, he pushes himself up and manages to break the surface of the water, gasping for breath.

​

When they saw Ivy and Posi disappear beneath the ice, Siren and Tesla moved their fight off of the ice and into the snow. Tesla strikes at Siren with her spear but Siren manages to parry it with her trident. After a few more half-hearted strikes, Tesla sees Posi’s head pop out of the hole in the ice. She knocks Siren’s trident from her hands and, while the other girl is retrieving it, runs carefully back onto the ice to help pull her district partner out of the water. He’s screaming, something about a light and so much blood. 

​

“Shhhh, shhhh,” Tesla tries to calm Posi down but he’s nearly catatonic. Using all of her strength, Tesla pulls Posi out of the water and drags him into the snow. He’s bleeding from his leg, it looks as though a huge bite has been taken out of his calf. He’s losing a lot of blood and he’s ice cold - Tesla looks over at Rhys, who is fighting with Ianthe, and makes the decision then and there to break off the alliance and leave with Posi. She grabs his taser from the snow, pocketing it, and then drags him off and away from the  Frozen Lake. 

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​

Astrid opens the big wooden door of the Stables and walks into the warmth. She’s cautious, moving as slowly and quietly as she can but unfortunately, Cal and Malia already know she’s there. 

“Nice of you to join us,” says Malia, appearing from behind a stall door. Cal emerges from an adjacent stall and Astrid freezes, tensing up. What has she just walked into?

​

Cal feeds a handful of hay to one of the reindeer and it grunts in appreciation. He pets its head, his other hand securely wrapped around the hilt of one of his swords. Astrid decides to go out on a limb, she is looking for allies, after all.

​

“Glad to be here,” she says nonchalantly. “Actually, I have a proposition for you both.” She puts her sword down to show that she’s non-threatening and puts both hands up in the air. “Allies?” She reaches out her right hand to shake with Malia, who is the closest to her.

​

Malia scoffs and Cal laughs. They share a knowing look. 

​

“Allies?” Malia looks at Astrid like she’s crazy. “After what you did to poor little Kacey?” Astrid looks shocked that someone knows of her betrayal but then puts two and two together - it must have been Cal and Malia who entered the Stables that night.

​

“We were here,” says Cal, advancing toward Astrid as well. “We heard everything. That’s pretty low, especially coming from an outlier like you. So thanks, but no thanks.”

 

Astrid feels her mouth go dry. “Well, pick up your sword. Or you pitchfork, whichever,” Malia taunts her. “We don’t like to kill someone without giving them a fighting chance.” Astrid is shocked. She reaches back and pulls her pitchfork from her pack, preferring the feel of the wooden handle of the familiar tool in her hands over the cold metal of the sword. Once she’s stood back up again, Malia strikes at her, her sais in both hands. 

​

Astrid is able to deflect the first couple of blows from Malia with the handle of her pitchfork but once Cal joins the fight, she knows she’s only biding her time. A few more stabs from Malia and a swipe from Cal and Astrid is on the ground in the hay. Malia is closing in, her sais wielded menacingly, and in a last-ditch effort Astrid throws her pitchfork toward the girl. She moves out of the way easily but the pitchfork still grazes her shoulder. It doesn’t seem to phase her, though, and Malia laughs. 

​

“Is that all?” Malia uses her foot to pin down Astrid and the smaller girl struggles beneath her. “You know, your former ally, the one that you betrayed? She killed Skye. And we don’t take too kindly to that.” 

​

“Can you hurry up, I want to eat dinner,” Cal yawns, watching as Malia uses her knife to carve into Astrid’s skin. Astrid screams herself hoarse and the reindeer begin grunting in agitation at the disruptive noises. After nearly half an hour, her cannon sounds. 

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​

Chivonne, Harvey, and Matilda have moved up and around the Frozen Lake, closer to the treeline. It’s an uneventful day, which they are thankful for since Harvey and Chivonne are still far from fully recovered. Matilda tends a fire and keeps watch over her allies, who are sleeping through their discomfort. It’s nearly evening when something catches Matilda’s attention in her peripheral vision. She turns slowly and finds three hulking muttations walking toward them, perhaps attracted by the light from the fire. Matilda quickly stomps it out and rouses her allies. 

​

“Chivonne. Harvey. Get up, now,” Matilda shakes them both awake, picking up her bow and quiver of arrows urgently. Chivonne looks around groggily, trying to find the danger when Matilda yanks her upright, followed by Harvey, who groans in pain.

​

“Look, what is that?” Matilda points at the anglerfish muttations, the tell-tale lights hanging over their heads. “Are those fish? How are they out of water?”

​

Chivonne’s eyes widen at the sight of the rows upon rows of sharp teeth on each of the muttations. She grabs her and Harvey’s things and helps Matilda hoist him up. The trio runs in the opposite direction of the mutts, but they are fast - much faster than the tributes who are weighed down by injured allies, weapons, and packs. 

​

“Faster!” Chivonne urges, looking back at the mutts who are quickly gaining on them. 

Matilda notches an arrow and turns, shooting at the mutts. She manages to shoot one right in the eye and it drops dead, but this only angers the other two and they move faster. It’s not long before they have been overwhelmed; Chivonne is now solely supporting Harvey as Matilda walks backward shooting arrows at the mutts. 

​

“Just go!” Matilda yells at Chivonne, tears forming in her eyes. She only has one arrow left and she holds it like a knife. “Get away! I’ll follow you if I can.” Chivonne looks sadly at Matilda before nodding reluctantly. She continues dragging Harvey, who’s semi-conscious and able to walk a bit himself, away from the mutts, further north. 

​

She can’t help but look back at Matilda, who has successfully killed another one of the mutts with the arrow. She’s turning to stab the last one when it bites her in the neck. Chivonne looks on, horrified, but feels a bit of relief wash over her when Matilda, with her dying breath, manages to stab the final mutt in the head. It drops to the ground and so does she, boom! Her cannon sounds. Chivonne’s face is wet with tears as she forces herself to turn and continue moving. 

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​

Ianthe uses her yo-yos strategically, trying to hit Rhys in the arms and legs. He’s quick, though, and his talons turn out to be rather dangerous. Rhys swipes at Ianthe and she jumps backward, out of the way, retaliating by throwing one of her yo-yos at his arm. He, too, is able to dodge the attack. A commotion from the lake draws both of their attention and they watch, transfixed, as Tesla helps Posi out of the lake. He looks horrible, thinks Rhys. He and Tesla make brief eye contact before she turns away, dragging Posi away from the lake with her. 

​

“She just abandoned you,” Ianthe points out. She looks smug but he can tell that beneath that, she’s nervous. Ivy and Leah are dead and Tiberius is in the wind. Siren is still trudging through the snow, retrieving her trident and looking for Posi and Tesla. 

​

“What a shame,” says Rhys. “I was just warming up to them, too.” He reaches forward to try and strike Ianthe but she’s faster than he is. She throws one of her yo-yos to his left and the other to his right and by the time he can figure out what’s happening, she has already pulled forward. He can feel the sharp pain of the wires and blades pushing into his back and hips. Ianthe has managed to wrap her yo-yos together behind him. He knows if he tries to push her away, the wires will slice him in half so instead, he uses the blade of one of his talons to cut the wire on one of the yo-yos. 

​

Ianthe screams when her beloved yo-yo is decimated, retracting the in-tact one. While she’s distracted, trying to re-tie the wire on the broken weapon, Rhys is able to limp away, his arms wrapped around his heavily bleeding midsection.

​

Groaning in frustration, Ianthe puts her yo-yos back in her pack and walks over to Siren who is standing at the edge of the Frozen Lake. Rhys’s hand warmers have worked - ten new, gaping holes now litter the lake with large cracks spidering out from each. The closest hole is right at the edge and Siren looks down into it. 

​

“I can’t believe Tesla and Posi would leave like that,” Ianthe says, peering into the hole as well. She looks up to see Siren staring back at her, a weird look on her face. “Siren?”

​

“Sorry, Ianthe,” Siren raises her trident and makes a move to stab Ianthe in the stomach, but Ianthe sees it coming and moves sideways. The trident only pierces the top of her right arm. She reaches out and instinctively pushes Siren, who topples backwards and falls onto the ice. She hits her head and Ianthe hears the sickening crack of bones breaking. A cannon sounds and Siren’s body falls into the hole in the lake, sinking into the water.  

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END OF DAY 3 STANDINGS

​

Malia Wells (D1): alive, allied with Cal Dynam, mildly injured (shallow cut on left shoulder 

from a pitchfork) 

Cal Dynam (D2): alive, allied with Malia Wells 

Leah Delaware (D3): deceased, 14th place (stabbed in the back by Tesla Watt)

Siren Acquafredda (D4): deceased, 10th place (blunt force trauma to the head from falling on 

ice) 

Tesla Watt (D5): alive, allied with Posi Rio 

Posi Rio (D5): alive, allied with Tesla Watt, severely injured (chunk of calf bitten off by 

anglerfish mutation and hypothermia) 

Ianthe Berengy (D6): alive, allied with Tiberius Bournes, moderately injured (stabbed in the right 

arm by a trident) 

Ivy Hunter (D7): deceased, 13th place (drowned and killed by an anglerfish muttation) 

Chivonne Ashford (D8): alive, allied with Harvey Zea

Astrid Luca (D9): deceased, 12th place (stabbed and sliced by Malia Wells) 

Tiberius Bournes (D10): alive, allied with Ianthe Berengy

Rhys Bullock (D11): alive, severely injured (sliced in the back and sides with wire and blades) 

Harvey Zea (D12): alive, allied with Chivonne Ashford 

Matilda Gilbert (D12): deceased, 11th place (killed by anglerfish muttations)