Author Games Compilation [Cycle 2]

Task 2 ▵ The Fall of Icarus [EEK]

But they still stuck the barrel of a gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. Where Eloise stood, she took the brunt of the spatter. It sprayed her pink pajamas; it splashed warm and sticky on her cheeks. All she did was blink.

A separate Peacekeeper, one that'd stayed out of the action, stepped over to her mother and handed her a jangling sack. "For your troubles, ma'am. Thank you for your cooperation." Her returning smile was forced, but she seemed content with her earnings. The only distaste she seemed to show was towards the bodies and the blood pooling over the concrete towards the doorway to their home. Then, she saw Eloise. Her eyes widened and her mouth twisted in horror. "Oh, honey."

Eloise, unbothered by the blood misted on her clothes and face, merely grinned up at her mother. "You got the bad guys."

The arena reminds her of this night - and the many nights following that played out in much the same way - in Two. It reminds her of Two in general, really. Perhaps it is Two, and once she climbs out of the caldera, she'll trek through the rocks and mountains and find her home nestled just outside a quarry. She almost believes it. The air here is the same: cold, crisp, biting. It turns the eyes in her sockets icy. Thankfully, it hasn't penetrated the thick pants or jacket she wears as a uniform, and her gloves are effective enough, but after eighteen years of living in mountains just like these, she knows the warmth she's brought with her from the underground won't last long at all.

Her eyes take a solid sweep of the caldera and the other pedestals. No, the other tributes. She squints against the sunlight reflecting off the snow - Christ, it's blinding - and readjusts the thin cap on her head, tugging it down. There's Eitan, clear on the other side. He's taking this time to judge everyone's positions just like her. Bakari might be doing the same, but she can't tell. He's closer, but there's this hard look on his face and he's got his eyes trained on the bronze Cornucopia, nowhere else. Benthic stands unreadable and solid, but there's tension in his shoulders. Nerida, a few pedestals away from him, swings her arms back and forth. Could be for warmth. Could be excitement, restlessness.

A similar bubbling fills Ellie's chest. This is it. This is what she's spent years waiting for, the moment this gong goes off. She starts bouncing lightly upon her pedestal, tapping her foot against the platform as she waits for the holographic countdown to reach zero. Really, it doesn't matter which tributes she's up against. In the arena, everyone may as well be treated as a rebel, and if they must die, then they'll die for the benefit of her country. Positivity! Positivity. A hum settles in the back of her throat, a quiet song just for herself. She licks her lips.

It's silent aside from the rustling of uniforms and the whistle of wind around the Cornucopia and the heavy click of the countdown and her hmm, hm-hm, hmm.

When a girl begins gagging a few pedestals away, it's noticeable. Eloise shifts her gaze to the girl who's fallen to her knees upon her silver platform. She recognizes her from training. Kagura, maybe. She dry heaves over the side of pedestal, back quaking, nails breaking against the edge as she grips on tight. A sob sits tight in her throat, noisy but staunched. Eventually, something comes up, a heavy yellowed sludge, and she hurls it over the side, a spray from mouth to ground.

As soon as the sludge makes contact with the snow, a flash of light ripples from her, a light that blinds and forces Ellie to hold a gloved hand up in front of her eyes to block it out. There's some force to the explosion, but not enough to knock her off balance. Just enough to kill the girl who couldn't even make it through the countdown and to make everyone's ears ring. A spray of something warm and sticky speckles her clothes and cheeks. When she brings her hand down, she finds the back of her glove wet. A trickle teases the corner of her mouth. She blinks and wipes it away with her thumb.