*WARNING GRAPHIC VIOLENCE*

When Shea Prescott woke up that morning her head was throbbing with pain. It was early in the morning The sky was a velvety blue color, not a single cloud in the sky or flake snow drifting through the air. The girl unzipped her silver sleeping bad and sat up against the black brick wall behind, staring at the wall not four feet in front of her. Overnight the alliance had slept in a tight alleyway in the southern part of the arena, about an hours walk from the cornucopia. Colin had assumed they were nearing the perimeter of the arena and didn’t want to venture further, so here they made camp, in a random cramped alleyway that bordered a plain squat warehouse. She hadn’t slept very well that night, her spine pressed against one wall and her feet against another.

Shea sat there her legs pulled up to her chest to save room. She reached into the small grey bag besides her and reached into it, pulling out a bottle of water. She unscrewed the plastic lid and set it on the cold damp ground before chugging half the bottle. She then put the lid back on and threw the bottle back into the bag before zipping it back up. As she set the bag on the ground she heard her stomach emit a low yet loud grumble, It had been three days into the games and she had yet not eaten a single thing. She did suppose these were the hunger games after all but still- something felt peculiar. In past games there had almost always been one continuing theme- the arena had been set in nature. In nature there were plenty opportunities for food, as long as you were smart enough to find it. Here there was no nature at all. How were they to acquire food. Shea estimated by the end of the week most of the tributes would be too weakened and tired to fight, and with the games usually last twice that time … Well Shea didn’t know what to think.

She looked to her right, a small yet somehow older boy resting his head on a bundled up white snow jacket. Shea pondered how the boy wasn’t freezing. She took a hand placed it on his shoulder- which was covered by the thin aluminum foil looking sleeping bag- and shook him. Patricia’s eyes slowly opened as he groaned.

“What the hell do you want?” he mumbled as he looked up at Shea, her hand still resting on his shoulder. She looked down at him before whispering.

“C’mon… Get up. I wanna talk about something.”

“What the hell could you wanna talk about at this hour?”

“Shut up and just get up… Please?” Shea responded with a sudden change in her voice. Pat for once had no response. Instead he just sat up, grabbing the bundled up jacket and placing it on the wall behind him to act as a headrest. He turned his head and looked at Shea.

“So… Um- whatcha wanna talk about?” he asked her, his dark brown eyes drooping with weariness.

Shea let out a breathy sigh, watching her breath fog up in the cold air.

“Have you realized that there is no food here in the arena?” She asked him, keeping her voice low. Pat looked down at the ground for a few seconds thinking.

“I guess so… I mean I know we haven’t eaten anything in like forever but I mean… I’m sure there is food somewhere- right?” he responded his voice losing its confidence as he continued. “Like this is the hunger games. It’s supposed to be about killing and bloodiness right? What's the fun in watching a whole bunch of kids starve?” he asked Shea, the girl nodding her head in response.
    “True… But if there is food in the arena, where is it?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Pat!” Sheas voice rose with intensity and volume. “Don’t you get it?! Something is wrong here. There is no food in the arena, no nature, no animals-”

“Okay okay… I guess I get it. It’s weird. There, ya happy?” Patrick responded to the sudden outburst from the usually quiet girl.

“Sorry…” She said her voice climbing back down. “ This just bothers me, this is more than strange. I almost guarantee you that-” She started, unable to finish her sentence before the shrill sound of an alarm rang out through what seemed the entire arena. As the alarm and rung and screamed another boy in the alley woke up next to Patricia. Colin Cini got up moaning as he clasped his hands around his ears.  He looked around at Pat and Shea, whose eyes were wide with surprise. Nobody knew what was happening.

Suddenly the awful ear shattering sound ceased followed by a series of seconds filled to the brim with intensity, the quietness causing the three tributes hearts to race. Shea looked over at Patricia.

“What was that?” she whispered. The older boy looked at her, shock clearly still on his face. He paused for a few seconds before responding.

“I dunno…” Is all he could say, completely clueless and hopeless. Then as if an answer to their prayers the crackles and buzzes of a microphones static began to grow in their ears. Shortly following a voice rang through the arena.

“Welcome to the third day of the 76th Hunger Games.” It was the light and soulful voice of Peeta Mellark. The boy paused for a moment, the sound of a breathy sigh barely audible. Shea looked away from Pat and into the sky, Pat’s eyes stilled glued on her in a desperate attempt for answers. He knew she was the most intelligent one there. “As I’m sure you're all aware of you are in a predicament. In this urban arena there is no food supply” Peeta continued as Shea took a sharp breath in.

“It won’t be long before you all start to sicken and soon die of hunger… Or resort to more vile methods of obtaining nutrition.” Peeta started again after a brief pause. Colin let out a small exhale as the reference to ‘Titus’ the famous cannibalistic tribute was made. “ You all need to find a source of food or else you will die… How will you do that you ask? Well you are all in luck… Today we are offering you all a chance to obtain food at three different feasts located throughout the arena… Good Luck” and with that the microphone and the tributes were left to their own devices once again.

“Speak of the devil I suppose…” Patricia mumbled eliciting a glare from Colin who had no idea what the boy was talking about.  Shea looked up at Patricia her eyes teeming with some unknown feeling- a combination of pride and of fear. She had been right, but part of her wished she wasn’t. Right as she was about to say something she saw something out of the corner of her eye, a bright beam of blue light being shot off into the sky in the distance.  She looked up and over to Colin.

“That's it…” She muttered standing up. “That's it. That's where the feasts are.” She continued stepping over Pat and then over Colin who shortly afterwards stood up too.

“Well I could of figured that.” Colin sneered at Shea who kept walking down the alleyway, leaving footprints in the random patches of snow that covered bits and pieces of the dark dank alley. Shea ignored Colin and continued down the alley until she ended up in the streets of the arena, the colorful neon lights that lined the streets still radiating with cosmic atmosphere. Shea looked back up at the velvety blue sky, the sun peeking out over the horizon. As she looked around Shea saw three different beams of light reaching into the sky, all of them apparently coming from different places in the arena.

“They’re beacons” Colin said running up to her. “We need to start on those immediately-”

“Or wait out the violence...” Shea interrupted still looking up into the sky

“I said we should start on them immediately” Colin retorted to the much shorter girl. He looked down at her as she looked back down from the sky and began stomping back towards the alley.

“Fine” she stated before leaving. She quickly began down the alley not bothering to say anything to Pat as she stepped over the boy, who was still sitting down in his sleeping bag. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder before turning to Pat.

“ We going somewhere!? It’s barely light out yet!” He complained looking up at the girl who nodded her head in response.

“C’mon… Just pack up the sleeping bags and lets go” She said in a much quieter tone than earlier. She barely made eye contact with him, keeping her head low as she continued to step over him and head back down the alley and into the arena.

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    As Galve Oceanworth made his way to the strange beacon on the far end of the arena he couldn’t help but become lost in thought. He clung close to the walls of the towering buildings and skyscrapers, making sure to walk where the snow couldn’t find itself. Whenever he would accidentally step into the shallow glittering snow he would make sure to bend over and using a small pale hand, would wipe the spot clear as to erase any obvious tracks. The boy felt as if he could easily be headed into the same directions as many other tributes and wanted to make sure no one could track him down. Ever since that night when he saw Hunter Gallowind’s cold and expressionless face rise into the sky he had felt safer, but not safe enough. You see, back into the Capital Galve had known Hunter. Well, by know he had meant that the older and stronger teen was bullied and antagonize him ever since he was eleven. He knew that if would to encounter the blonde he would find no mercy. But now he was dead.

    It was only three days into the games and everything had changed for Galve. His number one threat was dead, but also his only ally. Ally was a strong word for the relationship between Galv and Blaze. They had aligned for no more than twenty-four hours before it was decided they would only weigh each other down. And yet when Galve watched West shoot him in the back, Galve couldn’t help but scream. He knew he was about to kill Park, a sick a vile act, but he still felt pain. Blaze was the only person he could even remotely trust.

    “Snap out of it,” Galve whispered to himself as he continued to walk towards the beacon. It was getting closer. Galve stopped for a minute. He held his breath and listened to the sounds of the arena. There was nothing, no screams, no clanging of weapons and no cannons. It had been at least an hour since the announcement had been made by Peeta Mellark and still nothing had happened. Galve looked around, the sun had finally risen in the clear candy blue sky, lighting up the roads and buildings with warm yellow light, a sharp contrast to the past few days of grey snowy light.

    It was bout another twenty minutes of walking throughout the desolate city that Galve arrived at what seemed to be the origin of the the beacon he was after. It was a fairly large city square, a park of sorts. Lining the square were several trees with thin silvery white trunks, white birches if Galve was correct. Despite the trees there were no grass or flowers or anything of the sort, just the pale concrete and dirt surrounding the base of each tree. At the center of the fairly plain square was a beautifully sculpted ornate fountain. The marble statues in the center of the fountain depicted a beautiful oak tree whose trunk was twisted and warped as if it came right out of a fairytale. Water dripped and streamed out of the ends of the bare branches and into the pull surrounding the sculpture.

    Galve approached the fountain looking at the top of the life sized marble tree where a collection of branches met, holding up a strange circular device which predicted the holographic blue beacon into the sky. When Galve looked into the fountain he noticed a four black circles , lining the ground in the water. Each circle was large enough to fit a human being, like a sewer grate. Galve sighed looking around, where was all the promised food? His stomach groaned just thinking about the proposition of food. Galve stepped back and scanned the area, there were no signs of food or tributes, just this weird fountain. He swore under his breath as he turned back around a stepped towards the fountain looking in once again at the strange black circles. As he stared at the one in front of him he noticed something. The circle looked almost uneven, or crooked. He stared at it longer investigating it, he noticed that around it the water seemed to flow towards directly towards the circle- almost like a drain. It finally then hit him.

    Galve stood there for a moment before slowly climbing into the fountain, the water reaching his knees. When Galve finally got in he was almost in shock, the water was one of the coldest thing Galve had ever felt. He stood there unable to move, deep yet harsh. After a few seconds Galve got on his knees, whimpering as the water reached his rib cage. He let out harsh curses and sighs as he reached a arm into the water. His fingers brushed against the black circle, feeling that it was indeed a ridge. He tried grabbing the circle ridge and pulled on it, moving the entirety of the circle revealing a hole. Water started draining the whole more and more as Galve moved the cover almost the whole way off of the hole. WIthin seconds the entirety of the fountain had drained into the hole in front of Gavle.

    Galve looked down into the hole, watching the cold water flow down into it. Galve saw a thin metal ladder reaching down into what Galve could only describe as a sewer. Galve a deep breath as he approached the hole and lowered himself onto the ladder, the grips on his boots preventing him from slipping on the slick metal. He started down the ladder until he was fully into the hole. He looked up and out into the sky, water dripping onto his face and head. Then the cover seemingly moved into place onto its own, cutting off his only light source and trapping him. It was now pitch black, leaving Galve all alone. He continued to climb down the ladder, startled every time a drop of water fell onto his head, dampening his black hair.

    Once he came down to the bottom of the ladder he fell onto all fours, his hands feeling the cold damp ground. The ground seemed to be made of some rough concrete, which had been slickened with water and maybe some kind of algae. Galve couldn’t tell simply by feeling it. The dank smell of mildew floated on the strangely warm air. Galve thought it to be absolutely disgusting. He stood up looking around. It was still pitch black. He turned in a circle looking for some source of light. There was nothing so he was forced to continue walking, no idea where he was going. He placed one hand on the slimey wall and just began to slowly walk, letting the wall hopefully guide him to his destination.

    Galve walked for what felt like forever. He felt his path twist and turn in many directions, disorienting him completely. He had no idea where he was, which quite scared him. It was so dark and so quiet with the exception of the frequent sound of dripping and sloshing water. It was like claustrophobia, except the wall weren’t closing in on him, it was the emptiness and darkness. This continued until Galves feet became tired and his ankles ached. Moments before Galve would have given up he saw something, a literal light at the end of the tunnel. He finally made it- or so he thought at least. His pace picked up, his hand dropping from the wall and falling back to his side. As he ran through the tunnel, he kicked up water, splashing some of it into his boots. He kept running as the light became brighter and brighter, closer and closer. When he came to the end of the tunnel he saw across a thin and almost invisible wall of glass, the feast

    In front of him was a circular room in the sewers, the ground flooded with greyish green water. The walls were a very similar color to the water, a pale gray with hints of green algae and mold. It was slimy and gross. At the center of the room was a large circular metal altar where piles of prepackaged food laid. Packs of crackers, dried fruits and meats, netted bags filled with gleaming red and green apples, woven baskets filled with fluffy bread and plump grapes and bottle of filtered water. A bright white hung from the ceiling above the altar, lighting up the room with synthetic light.

    Galve then noticed three other tunnels branching off from the room, one across from him and two on either side. In front of each one there was a wall of glass, similar to his own. And of course behind each pane of glass, there was a tribute. Across from him was the beautiful Rebekah Lockwood. She stared into the room with ferocity and determination as she took of her snow jacket and tied it around her waist. Galve quickly looked on his sides to see two of the most powerful tributes, Ark Lade and Blaze’s murderer, West Coast. The two men stared at each other across the room, ignoring Galve and Rebekah. Galve placed a hand onto the pane of glass feeling it and leaving a slimy hand print. When were they going to let the tributes into the feast? Galve had no idea what to do.

    Then answering his questions, a long and shrill beeping sound was sent throughout the sewers. Galves eyes widened as the sound concluded and the glass wall in front of him began to shake. It vibrate violently for a minute, making Galve take a step back. Then without warning the glass exploded, opening the tunnels for the tributes.

    Immediately the four tributes ran into the room racing for the food. Galve ran up to the altar, frantically looking around as Ark and West approached each other. He couldn’t see Rebekah in the room though. THe water got deeper and deeper as he approached the water, soon coming up to hips. He waded in front of the altar and started stuffing food into the pockets of his jacket. He grabbed random items by the handful and shoved them wherever he could. As soon as his pockets were full and he had nowhere else to put food he grabbed the mesh bag of apples and quickly started wading back out towards the tunnels. He went as fast as he could, the weight of the food weighing him down , the bag of apples dragging through the water. Then he felt something push against his back with massive force. He fell forward, face planting into the water. He quickly rolled over, gasping for air.

    Galve looked as water ran into his eyes to see Rebekah hovering over him and before he knew it the girl had her hands around his throat. She choked him, her nails digging into the sides of his throat as they closed his airway. She pushed forward, dunking his head into the water. Water flowed into his nostrils and choked him even further. He began to fade in and out of conscious, waves of darkness and bright light clouding his vision. Then suddenly it all stopped. Rebekah's hands were soon gone and nothing weighed the boy down.

    Galves head came above the surface of the water once more as he choked and coughed up water. The room seemed much more chaotic and loud, yet Galve didn’t look up as he coughed up all the water he could. His face was flushed red as were his bloodshot eyes. Water dripped from his nest of hair and from his watering eyes. The deraggled boy then looked up and saw the violence about him. Above and all around him Galve noticed several large pipes spewing out water into the room with tremendous pressure. The water was rising up quickly, now up to his stomach. He saw Rebekah a few feet from him, rubbing her eyes and coughing up water as he just was. The pipe must of shot her in the face when they turned on Galve concluded.

    As Galve looked about he spotted the two other boys still fighting each other. They wrestled each other in the water, trying to beat ants drown each other. It seemed as if in the scuffle they lost their weapons. Ark now had a hand clenched around West’s throat, who in turn repeatedly bashed the other boys head with his fist as hard as he could. Galve watched West move about as they fought, struggling to survive. Memories of Blaze ran through his mind; when they first met, the first day of training, watching his former ally in the interviews and of course his death. He remembered that last part the most vividly.

    Glave’s eyes glazed over with malice as he looked upon the murderer of his one and only ally. He waded through the water towards the two, unaware of what he actually planned on doing. As he got closer and closer his fury only grew, clouding his judgment. He saw the glint of metal down in the water near the pair. Hw quickly bet down into the now warm water and grasped at the weapon, it was a small throwing knife- a kunai. Galve looked at the weapon in his hand- it had his name inscribed onto the handle- what a coincidence. West murders his ally and takes his weapon. Galve decided he would soon have his weapon back.

    Galve ran forward the best he could in the water and rose his weapon into the air screaming as he did so. West hurriedly turned around pulling out another knife as Galve brought the weapon down and sunk it into West’s chest. Galve watched as West’s eyes widened, in shock unable to register the pain in his chest. Galve pulled the weapon out as West screamed driving a hand forward. Galve winced as something breached his stomach. Before he knew it, Galve was backing off, Ark turning the other boy back around. Galve could barely watch as Ark beat the already dying boy, dunking his head into the water. He turned around and swam towards the tunnels, the water already flowing into them.  

BOOM

Galve swore under his breath as he swam after hearing the cannon. God, was he responsible? He afterall stabbed- he had no time to ponder upon these things. He had to get out of these sewers before he drowned. He noticed a pain in his stomach growing as he moved through the water, but he couldn’t concentrate on it at the moment. He swam towards the tunnel from which he came from and grabbed onto the ledge, hoisting himself up into it. Water was starting to flood the tunnel, he knew he had time though, he could escape. Galve started walking back into the darkness as fast as he could, only looking back one last time. He saw West’s dead body floating in the water, crimson red water surrounding him. He also saw Ark, who’s ands were dyed a bloody red, run up to Rebekah and bash her head against the wall. She fell back into the water, seemingly unconscious as Ark leapt into a tunnel and disappeared. The girl would drown soon enough.

Galve made his way through the tunnels as he did before, one hand against the wall guiding him back towards the ladder that led him into this forsaken place. He kept another hand extended to his side, using it to feel for the ladder so he couldn't’t miss it. As he walked the pain in his stomach grew more and more. The area became warm as if someone was pouring warm water onto him which dripped down into his groin and legs. He continued walking trying to ignore the pain, instead intent on escape.

When Galve finally found the ladder he near fell upon it. He was feeling weaker and weaker every moment. He knew something was beyond wrong but he couldn’t give up now. If he was going to die he wouldn’t die here in these sewers. He started up the ladder, slowly climbing up the slippery round rings. About midway up the ladder there was another cannon.

BOOM

Galve winced in pain has the cannon startled the boy, making him slip down a ring of the ladder. He groaned and moaned in pain as he forced himself up the ladder. He felt as if he was almost there, almost out of those wretched sewers. He shot a hand up with the remaining energy he had, feeling his hand collide with the ceiling. He pushed a little bit harder before hearing a popping sound. The cover unlocked from its place and Galve climbed out of the sewers and back into the light.

Galve lazilly pushed the cover back into place and sat down in the fountain, the base filling up with freezing cold water once again. As the water rose to his stomach some of the pain went away, the water numbing it. Galve sat there for a minute, unable to summon the energy to move. He summoned the courage to look at what was causing him all this pain, knowing that it couldn’t be anything good. When he looked down he couldn’t see anything. Around him was a ocean of crimson red. He was bleeding, a lot.

“Fuck fuck fuck…” Galve muttered as he looked down and around him. He knew it in that moment. He was going to die.

He stood up from the water and looked down once again, and there it was- a small knife embedded into his stomach. He watched in shock as he saw the blood dripping from his own stomach and into the water. He swore again as he turned around faced out towards the city. He took a step forward before collapsing onto the rim of the fountain, pushing in the knife even further. Galve screamed as he looked down onto the dry ground in front of him, his legs abdomen still in the water. There he laid, gently falling asleep and unable to move. It was amazing how peaceful and violent those moments were for him- the most incredible pain he ever felt mixed with the most comforting emotions he had ever held. He thought of home, of seeing his father once again- to say one last goodbye. And of course he thought of Blaze. Not of his quick and sudden death, but rather of what friendship they had, for even that short time…

BOOM

And so there lied Galve Oceanworth's body draped over the bloodied fountain, a monument to the violence and death of the innocent that is the Hunger Games.

RIP WEST COAST, REBEKAH LOCKWOOD AND GALVE OCEANWORTH