Day 8: The Finale
After the Feast on Day 7, Gabriel Rose (D6) stumbles down the beach and falls into the sand. He grips his new backpack - a pack he took a trident in the side for - in his right hand so tightly that his knuckles are white. He feels faint from blood loss and rummages through his things for something to treat his wound with. His mentor must realize how dire his situation is because at that moment, a parachute floats down and lands next to him. He quickly opens it to find a Strong Healing Balm which he immediately spreads all over his side. When the burning sensation has subsided, he wraps his midsection with the second gauze from his first aid kid and then falls unconscious from exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Kai Albarcore (D4) lays next to his district partner’s dead body clutching the gaping hole where his right eye used to be. He’s managed to grab the backpack marked “4M” and finds the strength to pick up Ocean’s (D4, deceased) pack off the ground as well. Struggling to move from blood loss, he drags himself to the edge of the Cornucopia Island and watches with his good eye as Ocean’s body is retrieved by a hovercraft before passing out.
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Kai wakes up in a cold sweat feeling weak and disoriented. He blinks the sleep from his eyes, confused at the immediate shooting pains until he remembers that he only has one eye now and the “sleep” was just dried blood. He sits up and notices a number of parachutes sitting beside him, from his mentor no doubt. Although his wound has stopped bleeding, he’s worried about infection and prays for some healing balm. His prayers are answered in the form of a Strong Healing Balm and a piece of gauze. Before opening the other parachutes, he takes the time to clean out his eye hole with some bottled water and then applies the balm, followed by the gauze wrapped around his head like an eyepatch.
Feeling off-balance and vulnerable, Kai awkwardly breaks open the remaining two parachutes to find a set of knives and a blowtorch. He vaguely remembers last year’s District 4 boy also receiving one on his last day but can’t remember if it was useful at all.
“Better to have it than to not,” he mutters to himself, setting the newly acquired weapons to the side and opening up the packs he lost an eye for the previous day. In his he finds a trident extender and excitedly attaches it to the handle. In Ocean’s bag he finds a barbed trident tip, another accessory he immediately adds to his weapon. Feeling significantly less vulnerable but just as off-balance as before, Kai stands and stretches, looking around for his harpoon. He can’t find it anywhere on the island and wonders if he’s going crazy when a fuzzy memory of the day before resurfaces: throwing his own trident at Gabriel, Ocean handing him hers and offering to hold his harpoon, Ocean falling to the ground, dead, the harpoon still under her body when it was taken from the arena.
So much for that, Kai thinks, agitated as his own carelessness. If he’d been thinking, he’d have taken the harpoon. If he’d been thinking, he’d have aimed better and killed Gabriel, saving Ocean and his eye. If he’d been thinking, maybe he wouldn’t have volunteered for that little boy…
No! Kai mentally chastises himself for such a selfish thought. Here he was in the final two thinking about condemning a child to these horrible games. No, he’d made the right choice volunteering. He’d done all he could for his allies. None of this was his fault.
Except it is. The thought sits in the back of his mind while he fishes for a meal. As he sits, skinning and cooking his catch, he tries to redirect the hatred he feels for himself toward someone else. The most obvious scapegoat is Gabriel. Gabriel, his former ally, who quite literally stabbed Ocean in the back and permanently disfigured him. But Gabriel was also a friend. The conflicting thoughts struggle to reconcile with one another in Kai’s brain as he eats.
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Gabriel’s side is throbbing when he wakes up. He checks his wound and, although still raw and sensitive to touch, it’s healing nicely. He gathers up his weapons and supplies and moves further up the beach, putting a bit more distance between himself and Kai, who he can still see pacing around on the Cornucopia Island.
I’m leaving this arena today, he mentally reassures himself. Whether that’s dead or alive, I don’t know. But I’m getting out of this hell hole. Gabriel thinks of all his fallen allies: Loxan, Eliana, Flint, Waverly, Mason, Ocean. Ocean. He hadn’t meant to kill her, not really. The guilt weighs heavily in his heart. He’d thrown those stakes without thinking, driven purely by rage at Kai’s betrayal. If he’d taken his time, maybe thought it through, he would’ve aimed lower. Maybe gone for their legs just to slow them down. Maybe then Kai would still have his eye and Ocean would still be alive.
But that would be one more person standing between you and getting home, Gabriel thinks. It’s true, he wants to go home. But at what cost? He’s already killed two people and it’s tearing him apart. If he kills Kai and goes back to District 6 will he even be able to live with himself?
Gabriel reaches up to feel his eyes - they’re wet with tears. Another parachute floats down and lands on his lap. Gabriel pulls out a lighter and a small, folded up piece of paper. He puts the lighter in his hand pack and unfolds the note. It reads:
You’re doing a great job. I wish I could be there to help you. I can only imagine how awful it would feel to kill your ally. But know that I’m still rooting for you. You can do this, Gabriel. You can come home.
- Juniper
More tears stream down his face as he folds the note back up and tucks it safely into his pack as well. Gabriel suddenly remembers his backpack, the one from the feast, and feels hope run through him. He hasn’t opened it yet and hopes there’s something even remotely useful in it. He reaches in and pulls out… a gun? He looks in the chamber and realizes it’s perfectly shaped to hold his stakes so he will be able to fire them long-distance. He smiles, but then remembers who he’ll be firing at. The smile falls off his face.
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Kai is seething. The longer he sits and waits for something to happen, the more intense his anger toward Gabriel grows. He knows it’s a bit unfair, but he can’t help it. Ocean is dead and he’s missing an eye, something that has become more and more problematic. He’s been trying to practice throwing with the knives he was sent but only having one eye has made aiming hard. He worries that, if it comes down to it, he won’t be able to kill Gabriel from a far distance. He picks up his newly modified trident and tries to throw it at the tail of the Cornucopia. It sails past the tail, missing by multiple feet.
“Shit,” Kai mumbles, walking to retrieve it. He throws the trident a few more times, missing his mark every time. Eventually he throws himself down in the sand, frustrated and on the verge of tears at his newfound incompetence. It’s Gabe’s fault. He will kill the District 6 boy gladly.
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He’s not sure what time it is, maybe late afternoon. Gabriel sits with his feet in the water waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knows that unless one of them seeks the other out, the Gamemakers will send something horrible to force him and Kai together. He shudders, remembering the zombie tributes from last year.
“Might as well enjoy what could possibly be my last few peaceful minutes on this earth,” he says out loud. He counts his stakes. Only three left. Not great.
Gabriel pulls his feet from the water and the sand clings to them as he walks up the beach. He’s thinking about maybe moving into the remnants of the Jungle when a sound from the water catches his attention. Where the water was calm and flat just a few moments ago it now looks to be moving. Something shiny and iridescent seems to be moving just under the surface and a head pops up. It studies Gabriel and he studies it, too. It has stringy, dark colored hair and a pale, scaly, pointed face. Its eyes look like two black holes on its face and its teeth… its teeth are so pointy they look like they’ve been filed down and there are so many of them. Rows upon rows of pointed teeth.
What could that even be? wonders Gabriel. He doesn’t want to stick around and find out, but more heads pop out of the water each one identical to the first. They make their way out of the water and crawl onto the beach dragging black and green tails behind them. Gabriel has never seen such a creature before, never even heard of one. There are hundreds of heads sticking out of the water by the time he’s gathered all of his things and begins running back down toward the Cornucopia Island.
For not having back legs, the creatures are remarkably fast. They propel themselves forward with their arms, their heads extended outward looking for something to latch onto. Gabriel runs as fast as he can, but the mutts are catching up quickly. The cornucopia is just within his sight when he sees more of the creatures advancing on Kai, who is struggling to climb the horn. Remembering the lighter he was sent earlier, Gabriel swerves into the treeline of what used to be the Jungle and grabs a handful of dead brush and branches. After lighting them on fire, he throws them backwards and smiles as one of the creatures goes up in flames. He does this a few more times until he is able to make it onto the island.
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Kai sees the first head and knows immediately that he is in danger. There were always whispers back in District 4 about the mystical women who would lure fishermen and sailors to their death with their enchanting songs. Some called them sirens, others called them mermaids, but either way they were bad news. Whenever someone, usually a man, would go out on their boat and never return the gossip would float through the district. He was drowned by a siren, enchanted by a merwoman and taken to some undersea kingdom. Never the most simple explanation, that his boat had capsized or he’d been lost at sea, always some outlandish story about a woman with a tail.
Grabbing his backpack, trident, and blowtorch, Kai sprints toward the cornucopia. The mermaids begin emerging from the water as he throws his things to the top and hoists his body up the slippery, metal side. He’s worried he may slip and fall into the pack of mutts that have gathered below him when he sees Gabriel in the distance, running down the beach and throwing flaming sticks behind him. The mermaids are apparently not fire-resistant and go up in flames, scaring off the others.
Pulling his legs up onto the top of the cornucopia last, Kai immediately grabs his blowtorch and aims it at the sirens below. He gapes at the sheer number of them, there must be at least a hundred gathered on the island, not even counting the ones chasing Gabriel. He turns the knob on the torch and flames leap from the tip, incinerating any mermaids within a 20 foot radius of the horn. More crawl from the ocean to replace them though, and Kai is horrified to see one climbing up the other side of the cornucopia. He turns the knob again and more burned bodies fall into the sand below.
Gabriel has barely made it to the side of the cornucopia when he has to jump backwards to avoid being burned alive by Kai’s blowtorch. The sudden impact of his body with the ground re-opens the wound on his side from the day before and he winces in pain as his gauze turns red. As fast as he can, Gabriel pulls himself up and begins to hoist himself up onto the cornucopia.
Seeing Gabriel so close sends Kai into a rage. He turns the knob of the blowtorch again but nothing comes out. It must be out of gas. Chucking the torch to the side he pulls a knife from his backpack and throws it in Gabriel’s direction. Already, more mermaids are coming from the water; maybe if Kai can hit Gabriel and throw him off balance, he’ll fall to the ground and into their grasp.
Gabriel sways side to side trying to avoid Kai’s knife but it grazes his arm, causing him to lose his grip with that hand for a split-second. In retaliation, he grabs his loaded stake gun from his pocket and aims it at Kai. He’s pulled himself over the side and onto the cornucopia and is about to shoot at Kai when a hand appears behind the District 4 boy. Some of the creatures have begun to ascend the horn. Instead of shooting Kai, he aims downward and shoots at the mutt just before it’s able to grab Kai’s leg. He shoots a second mutt that’s trying to climb the tail of the cornucopia. With no other creatures near the cornucopia, he shoots his final stake and it hits its mark, burying itself in Kai’s leg.
Kai falls, nearly landing on the tip of his own trident. He rolls and holds the weapon out defensively. The extended handle gives him about a 6 foot radius of protection from Gabriel, who is out of stakes and stands at the other side of cornucopia, weighing his options.
I could try to use his trident against him. The handle is so long I could grab it and try to throw him over the side, Gabriel thinks. But Kai could easily stab him in the face if he tries that and those barbed tips look like they’ll leave a nasty scar. If I could somehow disarm him I’m sure I could beat him in hand-to-hand combat. At that thought, Gabriel’s side aches and he remembers the freshly opened wound that would undoubtedly slow him down.
Kai is unsure what to do. He has two knives left and his trident. But his prior conviction to kill is gone. He’s scared. Plain and simple. He’s sure that Gabriel is scared, too. That’s why, when the mermaid creeps up behind a still contemplative Gabriel and is getting ready to bite his head off, Kai sends his trident barreling toward it.
Gabriel jumps back, sure that the trident is meant for him and balking in surprise when one of the creatures, less than a foot away from him with its teeth bared, falls backward and off the cornucopia while making an awful, guttural noise, the trident impaled in its neck.
The boys stare at one another. Eye to eye, face to face. They know that any hard feelings are gone. The games are meant to bring out the worst in people, and that they did.
“What now?” asks Gabriel, putting up his hands to show that his weapons are gone and simultaneously showing Kai his reopened and bleeding wound.
“No idea,” Kai responds, slumping over, Gabriel’s stake still impaled in his leg.
“We can’t just sit here and stare at each other,” Gabriel moves closer to Kai and sits down across from him. “They’ll just send more mutts or blow one of us up or something.”
Kai pulls his two knives, the last weapons either of them has, from his backpack. He hands one to Gabriel, who accepts it but looks confused.
“On the count of three?” Kai says. Gabriel, understanding the implication of the question, nods his head in agreement.
“One…” Kai raises his hand with the knife in it.
“Two…” Gabriel closes his eyes and squeezes them as tight as he can. A tear rolls down his face.
“Three.” The boys stab each other in the chest. Kai hisses in pain and Gabriel grabs where the knife has penetrated through his shirt. They sit there, both bleeding profusely and waiting to die.
“Infinity forever?” Kai manages through ragged, labored breaths.
“Infinity forever.” Gabriel agrees, coughing up blood.
They sit there like that for what feels like hours but is actually no more than a couple of minutes. They hear the few remaining mermaids retreating from the base of the cornucopia, apparently satisfied that they’ve done their job.
Kai feels his thoughts getting jumbled and his eyelid drooping. He wills himself to stay awake. If he falls asleep, he knows he won’t wake up. He thinks of his sisters and brother and how badly he wants to see them again. How badly he wants to live.
Gabriel struggles to breathe. Wherever Kai stabbed him must have punctured a lung. He forces the air in and out of his lungs despite the burning sensation that spreads throughout his entire chest. He thinks of his brother and of the bakery. He can practically smell the sweet breads and pastries now. He wants to smell them again one day.
Moments later, a cannon sounds.
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Gabriel lies on top of the cornucopia, blood trickling from his slightly ajar mouth, his eyes open but unseeing. Kai’s head is so stuffy, his senses so dim that he doesn’t even hear the cannon or process what is happening until he hears Claudius Templesmith’s voice.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the victor of the 50th Annual Hunger Games and Second Quarter Quell, Kai Albacore of District 4!”
Kai can’t even begin to feel happy. He’s just killed someone. A friend. And he’s lost an eye, among other injuries he’s sure will permanently scar him. He’ll never be able to forget the horrors he’s seen over the past week; his mind will never be clean again. What kind of life waits for him back in District 4? That of a disfigured murderer, dressed up and paraded around and then forgotten in a year or two.
Kai loses consciousness just as the hovercraft materializes above him.
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END OF DAY 8 —
Kai Albacore (D4): alive, VICTOR
Gabriel Rose (D6): deceased, 2nd place