The rest of the night was extremely uneventful, thankfully. Minus the big storm that engulfed the arena toward the end. Immediately, all of the girls went to seek shelter, but the boys held their positions.
Vera hoped that Treech didn't freeze to death because of his stubbornness.
Nonetheless, all the mentors decided to spend the night in the auditorium in fear that something would happen during the night.
Nothing did.
And the next day, Vera woke up grumpy from lack of sleep only to find out the the arena stayed the exact same.
Well, besides one thing. Thankfully, the storm seemed to knock out most of the snakes, only leaving a few stragglers hiding by the corners of the arena.
With a grunt, Vera pulled herself off of the ground, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with a yawn.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Did you all sleep here last night?" Vera heard from behind her, revealing an oddly chipper Festus.
"What are you doing here? Weren't you dismissed yesterday?" Vera muttered as Festus let out a laugh.
"Brought breakfast," Festus exclaimed, holding up egg sandwiches and apples, "Camaraderie, see?"
"Can't say no to that," Vera muttered, taking the food with a thank you before letting him move on to the others. After that, Vera made her way over to her comminicuff, noticing the way Treech also seemed to be waking up.
With a smile, Vera sent the boy an apple and some bread to match her own, waiting until the food arrived to begin eating hers.
Just like old times, Vera thought as she bit into her food. She couldn't help but be reminded of all the times she had shared meals with Treech through the fence and the way he would compliment her every time.
Back then, it never failed to put a smile on Vera's face. But now, it just made her sad. Remembering the fact that they'd never experience that again. That they might not even see each other again if Treech didn't survive.
Still, she could enjoy this moment from afar as Treech seemed to be doing as well. Vera wondered if maybe Treech had been thinking of her and the times that they spent together before the games. She wondered if he still thought about their relationship the way she did and felt motivated by the idea of seeing her again.
But then again, she'd asked him not to. But who knows if he would even listen. It was pointless to ponder on it for too long. She needed to focus on making sure she used his sponsorship money well and that Treech didn't do anything stupid in the arena.
-
As always, the arena remained fairly motionless. Reaper, Mizzen, and Treech all sat in their respective spots in plain sight. But the girls continued to stay hidden for quite some time.
At one point, Vera even caught herself laughing as Treech kicked his feet on top of the scoreboard. But other than that, the group remained fairly quiet.
That was until Teslee showed up. At first, Vera just assumed that she had come out to get some food, but then, she noticed the modified drone in her hand. What was she doing with that? Is this really what she had been working on all this time?
Then, slowly, the girl positioned herself under Mizzen, who was currently miming to the camera for food. And with a flip of a switch, the drone began to fly in the space between her and Mizzen. Connected to her wrist by some sort of string.
"What's she planning to do with that?" Persephone Price, Mizzen's mentor asked, clearly confused by her actions.
Mizzen, too seemed rather perplexed, staring down at the girl with furrowed brows. But soon, he was distracted again by his gifts, turning away as he grabbed onto part of his breakfast.
Vera watched in curiosity as the drone that brought Mizzen's breakfast began to exit the arena before circling back around and heading straight for the boy on the beam. Mizzen, who was rather quick on his feet, dodged the drone out of the way, trying to swat at it.
The drone, however, tried the same thing again, and then, it was soon joined by a second and a third drone. This made it extremely difficult for Mizzen to escape, scratching him right in the eye as he helplessly clawed at them.
"Is there any way to contact the Gamemakers?" asked Persephone, clearly worried, "I sent three more."
"There's nothing they can do," responded Urban, "She's got control of the drones."
And Urban turned out to be right. No matter how much Mizzen tried to run and swat the drones away, they just kept coming back. And his injured leg didn't help as he attempted to hobble down the pole, leaving him dragging toward the pole.
All his fight was not enough to stop the drone from ricocheting into his body and soon enough, Mizzen let out a piercing scream as he fell off the beam, plummeting to his death.
Teslee, clearly happy that her plan worked, turned off her drone and hugged it as she looked around the arena, planning out her next victim. Would it be Reaper? or maybe Treech? Both of them were strong contenders for winning, if it came to a physical fight, she'd definitely lose.
From the auditorium, Urban erupted in cheers as he went on and on about how smart Teslee was.
But his victory didn't last long.
Soon enough, someone Vera hadn't expected popped up on screen. Treech.
-
Treech watched in horror as Teslee mutilated little Mizzen with her drones, by nothing more than flipping a switch.
There's no way he could compete against that. No, those drones were ruthless and persistent. Even if he was able to run, they'd most likely follow him. And Reaper didn't seem to making any sort of moves to stop her.
He needed to find a way to get rid of Teslee now.
And with one look at his axe, he knew what he needed to do.
Quietly, Treech made his way off of the scoreboard, climbing down the posts as he landed somewhere in the stands, looking to see if anyone had noticed. They hadn't.
Then, Treech crept through the stands, staying low as he walked around so that he would appear behind the girl -- this way, she couldn't see him coming.
With a deep exhale, Treech gripped his axe, looking between Teslee and the blade.
He can do this. He needed to do this. He needed to win.
With a big leap, Treech stepped into the arena, swinging his axe down. Teslee had no time to react before his axe connected with the middle of her skull, splitting it open and killing her instantly.
Treech let out a cough as he tried to catch his breath, kneeling on the ground as his heart hammered in his chest.
He did it. He killed someone. He was a murderer, Treech kept thinking as he stared at the blood that had begun to pool onto the ground.
What would his parents think? What would Tilli think? What would Vera think?
No. No, Treech thought, catching himself before he got completely lost in his self-pity.
He needed to do it. If he didn't he'd be dead. He wouldn't be able to go home. To see Vera again.
And with that, Treech pulled the axe out of Teslee's skull, flinching as some blood flew on him.
Only two more to go.
-
He'd done it. Treech had killed someone.
Instantly, Urban grew angry, turning toward Vera, who had been staring up at the screen in awe.
"That's not fair! He didn't even let her celebrate first!" Urban yelled out, causing Vera to roll her eyes.
"Oh please, he just did what he had to. It's the same thing Teslee did to Mizzen," Vera replied, scoffing as Urban clenched his jaw.
"It's not-" Urban began to say, but caught himself, grunting as he accepted his fate.
"Fine. You win. But watch out, your boy still has to take care of two more."
Vera smiled as she waved Urban off.
"Don't go worrying about me too much."
And with that, Urban stalked off, heading toward the exit.
Quickly, Vera reached for her communicuff, sending treech some food and water now that there was no fear of Teslee reprogramming them.
She felt odd rewarding him for murdering someone, but then again, he didn't have a choice and if he was going to be forced to kill, she might as well support him by keeping him fed.
Treech sent the camera a nod before heading back up to his hiding spot with his food. Back to safety.
Vera let out a sigh as Reaper made his way into the arena, clearing out the bodies and adding him to their morgue -- ignoring any food Clemmie sent him.
Lucy Gray was nowhere to be seen as per usual, most likely hiding out until the arena seemed clear again.
This was it. The final three. All Treech had between him and coming home was Lucy Gray and Reaper.
Would he be able to take them both down? Lucy Gray might've been easier to fight, but the girl was smart and stealthy and she also most likely had an upper hand that only she and Coriolanus were aware of.
And Reaper was definitely his toughest competition -- being much taller and stronger. But Reaper had not made a kill the entire game. And the malnutrition seemed to be getting to him, staggering almost like how Jessup did. Maybe that could give Treech an advantage.
Vera just hoped he had a strategy and didn't go into it blindly.
a/n: slay kinda a boring chapter ig </3 sorry yall,,, also it was so hard writing the deaths in this chapter,,, I love both teslee and mizzen sm
anyways, thank you guys for reading !! I really do appreciate all the support you give me and I hope you continue to enjoy what little left we have <3
love you guys,
hannah <3