[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

pike-everheart:

Pike heard the word “fucker,” and knew that voice and word would be burned into her memory forever. 

She could hear the crash, and turned around for a brief moment to see the blood and bike atop the small girl. A loud sob broke from Pike and she felt sick. If adrenaline and her desire to live weren’t in play, she probably would’ve puked on the spot.

She accelerated on the bike, praying she would make it to the gap in time.

She couldn’t breath. The bike squashed down on her chest cutting into her skin. Her fingers were starting to feel numb as she stared after the shadow of the girl a sob got caught in her throat. Her vision got blurry: “This is not fair. This is so not fair.” What did that girl have that she didn’t? Hiccups shook her body as she crouched together fresh blood staining her hands. Hands reaching up to wipe her cheeks her gaze got caught on the crimson colour, the smell filling her nostrils all at once. She was going to die. She was going to die and she would never get home or see her mother again. She was actually going to die. The pain blinded her nerves, shooting through her veins, pumping through her ears. Her heart throbbed harshly against her ribcage and she couldn’t help but wonder for how much longer it would. The pain was becoming unbearable; it made her hands quiver and limbs shake. As she crouched around the bike that was slowly crushing her she reached into the pockets of her sweater shaking fingers pulling out the letter her mother had written her. The paper was dry and tear stains littered it, but at that moment she didn’t care. She cradled it close to her chest as if the words on it could make time stop- as if it could stop the inevitable. As tears rolled down her cheeks she pressed it as close to her skin as possible hoping that it could somehow get her out of it- somehow get her away from all of this where she could live happily for the rest of her life. “Mommy-“Her lips quivered as she spoke up quietly and yet- somehow knew that the words would be carried on by a camera. „I love you-“her voice broke halfway through the words choking on blood. “I love you so much.” It didn’t matter that she had lied to her all of her life, it didn’t matter that she hadn’t told her who her father was until it was too late. All of that didn’t matter. Now she just really wanted to be back in her mother’s arms and feel safe for the first time in days. The sound of the arena behind her dissolving made her heart clench in fear shivers running down her back and cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. The blood seemed to drain out of her face as she tried one last time to get the bike off of her, but instead only managed to drain herself of her last energy. This was truly it. The words kept repeating themselves in her head over and over again. She would die and she wouldn’t even get real time to spend with her father a man she had wasted so many years on hating. A man who had showed her such kindness, a man who had taken the news of her immediately and helped her, but maybe. Maybe it was for the best. He hadn’t showed any interest in her once she was in the arena, not a single gift, not a single note- nothing. He probably didn’t even want her to get out. She meant too much trouble. Too much pain. It was all she ever meant. No one ever did stay with her for long. No one she had ever met, her friends didn’t, the people she didn’t consider real friends didn’t.  And he didn’t either. Was never going to. He had his own family to take care of. He didn’t need her as well.  No one did. Her breathing became quicker, thoughts running wild in her head; her palms became sweaty as she started hiccupping and sobbing. Come home for River River needs you to win. This couldn’t be true; it had to be a lie. He didn’t want her, never did. He must have lied to her. “I get it.” She shouldn’t have made herself believe it. It had been too good to be true. And now she was going to die. “There was no space for me. I really get it. You gotta keep your family together and I- I just wished I could have been a part of it, but I get it. I would have ruined everything anyway.” She felt like she was choking, breathing got harder; tears making her vision go blurry. Her chest felt like it was bursting as she strained to fill her lungs with air. She should have never even told him. He was happy before she came along, he would be once she was gone. She was just a small nuisance in his happy live. A live where she had been given the smallest flicker of hope for the briefest of time that she could have a place in it. Where she could have people she actually liked and that would stay with her. Where she could have her mom and her dad and for once be normal. Not the weird kid that bosses everyone around and that had not father. “It’s for the better. It just wasn’t meant to be.” She was not supposed to have that kind of live and she should have known. Merle glanced around eyes wide in terror as she kept watching how the world around her slowly dissolves. “Mommy I’m scared….” She managed to coax out blood once again curdling in her throat, but she could barely see anymore. Her fingers were still trembling, voice still shaking as her eyes fell closed tears continuing to flow down her cheeks: “Sun goes down and we are here together Fireflies glow like a thousand charms…” She started singing to herself voice quiet and airily as the noise barely made it past her lip. It was a lullaby her mother had used to sing for her, but she had started to pretend to had outgrown it a long time ago. “Stay with me and you can dream forever Right here in my arms tonight Sounds of day fade away Stars begin to climb Melodies fill the breeze” The words had something soothing s Merle curled up as much as she could arms wrapped around herself. With her eyes closed she could pretend. Pretend that she was at home with her mother. Pretend that this was all nothing but a nightmare. That she was still loved. “Sweeter all the time Sun goes down and we are here together always with you, whether near or far Fireflies glow like a thousand charms How sweet to hold you Stay with me and you can dream forever Right here in my arms tonight” As the last words left her lips Merle was left a sobbing mess unable to register anything that was happening around her. She didn’t notice the left of the arena vanishing, didn’t hear the last canons sounding through the night. All she knew that she was going to die, to vanish of the face of earth just like the arena. And that it was good that way. That she had never mattered anyway. The last thing she remembered was the fall, the falling, the feeling as if she could fly. And then- how it stopped.

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[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

pike-everheart:

Pike’s tears were freely flowing now, unable to stop herself. She didn’t dare take her hand off the steering to wipe her tears; the wind was doing a decent job of it for her. Because she felt like torturing herself more, she turned to look at Merle attempt the brakes, and Pike’s heart broke.

My plan worked perfectly.

“Yes, I’m so sorry!” Pike kept saying, loudly the first time, then subsequently whispering the words to herself. She really didn’t want her plan to work on the youngest tribute in the game, but it had. And Pike couldn’t stop it.

Gritting her teeth Merle cramped up staring stoically ahead. This was it. This was the end. “Fucker.” She spat out letting go of the bike with one hand to wipe her tears. After all this- this was going to be how it ended? It was so unfair. Her gaze found Pike’s and she glared at her unable to deal with her fear in any other way. This couldn’t be it. She couldn’t die like this. Not today. Not tomorrow. She was supposed to live a long life.  She had just gotten to know her father this is not fair. And then she could feel it the turn was too sharp- her bike to fast And within a moment she was skiddering across the floor skin ripping open and blood smearing the floor. Her scream was muffled by a gasp as the lung was kicked out of her lungs as she could feel the dagger slicing at her skin opening it easily.  Pike was nothing more than a shadow on the silhouette and as she lay on the ground bleeding and aching she let the tears loose wetting her cheeks. This was so unfair!

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

pike-everheart:

Pike could barely hear the young girl’s voice over the roar of the engine. She did, however, and turned to see Merle riding the bike Pike had tampered with. Pike’s heart sank. She thought the bike belonged to one of her older competitors, not the young girl. Pike could feel tears welling in her eyes before shouting “I’m sorry!” to Merle. She then tried to accelerate her bike so she didn’t have to witness what was about to happen.

“What are you sorry for?” Narrowing her eyes she yelled against the wind now slapping against her face bringing tears to her eyes. Speeding up again to follow the girl she leaned forward in her seat biting on her lower lip. “Tell me what you are sorry for!!” The dagger Glitter had sent her lay heavy at her side and she wondered whether she was supposed to use it, but- she could barely stand up let alone let go of the grips. She was breathing heavily her hands almost slipping from the bars as she turned another counter sliding dangerously close to the floor. One look back only managed to raise panic in her chest as she hiccuped. This was going too fast. Way too fast- the arena as deleting herself and Merle needed to reach that end, yet- this was going to fast. She didn’t have the machine under control anymore. As she tried to step on the brake though she froze. Pushing harder and yet- still nothing. Hot tears entered her eyes: “Did you do that?!”

[manthegreatlight]

Pike was using her gifts to her advantage, connecting the batteries to the wire, and then the wire to the circuit board. She wasn’t sure what she needed yet, but she knew she would need the framework done before it could be anything.

Suddenly, Pike had to cover her ears when an alarm sounded. She listened to the instructions carefully, then jumped as a white lit bike appeared about fifty feet in front of her. She picked up her tech supplies and started sprinting towards the bike. She mounted it and took a second assessing the balance before pumping the gas and biking towards the gap to, hopefully, victory.

On her way, she noticed a matching bike in grey a few feet off. She decided to take a chance. If she could hurt the other bike, she’d have more of a chance to win. With a deep breath, Pike stopped her bike, and ran over to the other bike. She ripped off one of the protective plates before giving a quick glance to the hardware. She noticed something that resembled a braking system and reached inside to rip the wire. It took all her strength, and she got lightly electrocuted at the impact,but the brakes were successfully sabotaged.

Proud of her work, she quickly replaced the protective plate to make it look like nothing was touched, and ran towards her own bike. She mounted it, and resumed her ride towards Sector IV.

@merle-briversdoom

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

Merle’s nerves were tingling. Her eyes were wide open as she hurried across the arena squares behind her deleting itself. She didn’t understand what was going on, not completely at least. All she got was her heart racing inside of her chest, pumping blood through her veins faster than ever before. This was it- do or die. As she found her bike she was quick to climb it, her short legs and arms barely able to reach  the places they were meant to be. She had to stand up in her seat to be able to ride. Her breath got caught in her throat as the bike started far too fast for her liking, but that was how it had to be, right? Fast enough for her to win. As she rounded a sharp corner she couldn’t help but screech as the bike tilted to her side. In front of her though she could see another one the light glistening in the light of the dissolving area: “You again.” She coughed out at the girl from three as her hands started to sweat. How was she supposed to win against someone as  old as the other girl?

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A small box is attached with a note from mentor Glitter Caulder. Inside is a full canteen and a granola bar The note reads: “River needs you to win.”

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A medium box is attached with a note from mentor Glitter Caulder. Inside is a dagger. The note reads: “Come home for River."

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

NEM15 Merle read the words over and over again. She had no idea what they were supposed to mean. Was it some kind of secret she hadn’t been let in on? She was frowning at the sky a little dizzy from the sudden temperature change. Sweat was starting to begin to dry on her back as she had returned to hide near the coolers. Her cheeks were still tear stained, eyes red and skin so dry it started to hurt. She was still miserable and tired, but the message surely must have meant something. Maybe- maybe it was soon going to be over. Maybe she would finally be able to go home- there were not many more tributes left. Maybe- maybe she could actually do it. Get out and survive. As she heard another cannon bell through the night she stood up straightening her clothes out the dried blood now shining brightly on them: it was time to get herself together and fight. She needed to do this. She needed to get back to her mom and clear everything up. She needed to enjoy her life and live it fully. She just needed to and maybe- maybe she would even get to.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A small box is attached from anonymous. Inside is three packs of trail mix. There is no note.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A small box is attached with a note from mentor Marina Oakland. Inside is a full canteen. The note reads: “Your dad needs you."

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A small box is attached with a note from mentor Glitter Caulder. Inside is a granola bar. The note reads: “Please win for him."

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

Merle was tired. Her legs were aging and her eyes were puffy from crying herself to sleep. She didn't know whether she would make it out alive. The chances were unlikely. There were tributes more liked, more favoured. She knew that she only got the gifts from glitter out of pity. The women probably didn't even want her to get out. Merle could ruin their family. She hadn't received a single gift from River so far and it was starting to make her doubt whether he truly was trying. Maybe he had only pretended and didn't want her either. It would have been just her luck. As the arena started to cool down again she couldn't quiet believe it. Had someone pushed a tribute in? Had someone jumped on their own will? There were too many possibilities for her to consider them all and she was too tired to realise it. And so as the tributes faces shown in the night sky Merle fell asleep unsure of what the future was to bring to her.

[manthegreatlight]

Pike had just finished her medium meal before she heard a strange sort of barking sound. With fear hitting her immediately, Pike grabbed her backpack and started running away from the noise. It was only then that the noise got louder, and Pike could hear the clear, yet technologically distorted, sound of mutts barking. She looked over her shoulder to see three chasing her down.

Uh oh, this is it, isn’t it?

Pike kept running, sprinting to get as far away from the mutts as possible. She kept running until she saw she was back at the cornucopia. There were probably other tributes there ready to kill her, but she decided to take her chances.

She felt teeth sink into her ankle, and she cried out in agony. She hit the mutt with her fist, trying to extend her life as long as possible. Then, just as Pike had submitted herself to her fate, the mutts all turned around and sulked away.

Pike breathed heavily, reaching down to grip her leg to stop the blood flow. She looked around her, looking for anything that could stop the bleeding. Then, she saw it: a single roll of bandages, about ten feet from her. She pushed herself onto her feet before limping towards it. She grabbed the roll and started to wrap it around her leg before she saw letters forming in the sky.

ARENA STORAGE ALMOST AT FULL CAPACITY. PLEASE DISPOSE OF TRIBUTE PROGRAM USING THE TRASH RECEPTACLE TO CONTINUE.

Pike read it, realized what it meant, then proceeded to panic. If someone didn’t sacrifice themselves to the arena, who knew what would happen to the rest of them?

Pike was worrying about this when she saw another tribute approach. She pushed herself up to prepare to defend herself.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

It had become unbearable hot as the fans had stopped working forcing Merle out of her hiding spot and made her wish to wear anything beside her underwear beneath the pullover. She wasn’t entirely sure what the message was supposed to mean though it had already dawned on her that it couldn’t possibly mean anything good. As she trudged through the arena breathing heavily and ready to drop dead asleep to the ground she couldn’t quiet be sure whether the person ahead of her was real or just an illusion her mind was projecting: “Who- who are you?” she stammered out voice as loud as possible.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A medium box is attached with a note from mentor Glitter Caulder. Inside is a slingshot and a trail mix pack. The note reads: “You can do this."

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

Merle was out of breath- her arm was sliced up by an attack of one of the viruses, but she could handle it so far. She had no idea how she had outrun the viruses, her feet burning and muscles aching.All she could remember was her taking turn after turn ducking and hiding beneath corners not seeing a single soul all the time, but merle didn’t care about that. All that mattered was that she was alone right now, alone to let the tears that had steadily formed in her eyes trickle over her skin alone so that she could wrap herself up in her own arms whipping back and forth on her heels gently. She waned to go home- she wanted to go home to her mother and forget about all of this. Maybe- maybe this as a dream that she would wake up from within minutes. Maybe if she were to imagine that all of this never happened then maybe it didn’t. her blood had already died and she barely even noticed it anymore as she sunk to the ground eyes almost dropping on sight. the hymn rang through the air and Merle couldn’t help bu feel disappointed. Only one tribute had died- 7 more tributes were alive. her chance of dying was still far too high for er to feel comfortable. She had found her was into a cooler place- having no idea how computers functioned she feet at lost at this arena having no idea what to do. S she judged it by the most primal things she hadn’t fund food except for the gift that Glitter had sent her before the plot drop. if she ever were to get out of the arena, she remembered herself, she would need to thank her properly. As she leaned against the wall she pressed her back against the cold material swallowing harhsly.. She needed to focus- she needed to want to come out alive. Yet as her eyes dropped fully leaving her asleep without any guard the last thought that entered her mind was how she just wasn’t old enough to die.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

It was like waking up from a dream-the slow dawning of fear that sprung upon her as her memory stabled itself again bringing up thoughts she would have preferred to stay gone. She was barely back to thinking straight when she heard the movement. her mind hadn’t yet completely wrapped around the idea of the arena being a computer- or the insides of it. And so she couldn’t describe the sound the viruse s made as they moved or if it was merely a feeling, but Merle knew that they were coming and that was all that was counting. Gathering the few things she started running blindly letting her feet lead her until she bumped into a tribute and fell on her back.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

Kill1... Kill 2

Her hands were bloody face drawn in a snarl. Blood stained her knuckles and it was almost as if she could feel the other tributes pulse beneath her fingertips even though his heart had long stopped beating. Tears were already streaming down her face silently begging for someone to take her away- to get her to her mother, her father, anyone she knew. It had almost been an accident- almost. He had been in her way- she had simply wanted to get out of there. Away from the bloodshed, but he hadn’t let her.  She didn’t even know him, but within the next moment she had been on top of him biting and scratching at everything she could. Merle couldn’t think straight- no in this moment. Not when he had a dagger and she only had her teeth to protect herself. And the next thing she knew his neck was torn open with the dagger she had managed to unwind from his hand hers fingers shivering the weapon dropped almost immediately. And then she saw her- long hair twisted into a braid blood sprinkles on her face. “Hey there sweetheart- how about we play?” “I’d much prefer not to.” She stammered out shaking her head as she backed up leaving the corpse n the ground almost slipping on the spilled blood. The dagger lay long forgotten on the ground to far out of her reach and for a split second she wondered what to do. But she couldn’t run. Fights were still going on around her, but the girl from 2 was focused on her. But then the girl had moved too fast and once again that morning Merle saw red. As she fell on her back the other girl hovering above her it was almost as if she was blind or at least it was blind rage that formed in her gut as she trashed around ripping at the girls hair and then she heard it- the sickening crack of a head turning to far. It all happened to fast for her to fully comprehend. One minute she was pulling at her head the next the girl fell limp crushing merle beneath her body as she cramped and Merle screamed yet not sound came out of her mouth as she lay horrified unable to move. She could only hope that she would be able to move away enough to go into hiding.

She had only wanted to get away.

[silverfierro]

She was drenched in the blood of her victim’s and her own, which had only just stopped after the axe’s blade met her shoulder and was lost as it ran off on the hip of the District 7 girl. Just another enemy, Zoe thought to herself. With only ten tributes remaining, it was just a matter of picking off the others one by one until only she stood. It was simple enough and only required overpowering anyone who dared to challenge her. The only person her conscious whispered in fear of running into was Wyatt. Killing him would be the hardest. Hard, but not impossible but any means.

Zoe was circling around what looked to be gigantic folders when she began to panic slightly. The light blue coloring of her surroundings began to frighten her, their purpose unknown. She stumbled across the same room twice without realizing it, the titles of the folders refusing to stick in her mind. She grabbed hold of one of them and read the name aloud. “Zoe..Kendrick..,” she breathed out. “That sounds…that’s me…isn’t it?” She grabbed hold of a chunk of her hair in frustration, failing to notice someone else occupied the maze of folders.

[storiesofthedeceasedandforgotten]

Merle was brushing the back of her head mindlessly wondering how she had got here. The last thing she could remember was meeting he boy from three and then going away. her nose was still bloody from her encounter with Pike and it ached a little bit. maybe it was splintered or something although- wouldn’t it hurt more then? As she picked up on the voice she decided to walk closer curious as to who it was: “Don’t know. You never interested me.”