Writer Games: Pending Secrets

Task Two - The Water Runs Red

Running around frantically, President Cummings recites the last of the pre-game instructions. He's prepared for this as much as possible, but yet it seems that all of that preparation has come to nothing. Said blatantly, he is unprepared.

"Katurall, I said to put the pedestals two yards apart, not just one!" He yells at the female gamemaker. Before she can respond, he quickly adds with a snap, "It's a miracle that they aren't running right along the center!"

"I can fix it now if you want," she says, hopeful her boss would accept the compromise.

"It's too late now, we must make due with your idiocracy."

Hopeful not to have reached his mental breaking point, he hurries to Elecsai and peeks around his shoulder. "How are the traps so far?"

Elecsai turns and looks into the president's eyes with confusion. "Traps? Sir, I-"

"I understand if they aren't ready, I told you to get them done by tomorrow," Cummings reminds his assistant.

Elecsai fearfully looks away and intently on the screen. "I, uh- I never got the go-ahead on them."

Cummings looks at Elecsai in surprise. "You mean, there are no traps?"

Elecsai nods impotently. "No, sir. None, other than the ones previously-"

"I do not care about the other ones!" The president roars into his assistants ears. "I reminded you quite frequently about each and every one we had coordinated. And I'm sure you attended quite a few of the meetings regarding them. Excalibur, tell me those traps are about ready."

Knowing that his job, and quite possibly his life is on the line, Elecsai thinks quickly. "Sir, we can come up with a compromise!"

"We?" Cummings asks his assistant with a venomous edge to his voice. "There is no 'we,' Excalibur. Create a proposal for what we are going to do to replace those traps. I expect it by tonight."

Elecsai quails into his chair, nodding innocently. "Yes, sir."

****

The tributes rise into what looks to be an endless ocean. The pedestals form a giant circle, surrounding a large slab of concrete which seems to float in the endless ocean. In their confusion, they fail to notice the walls extending from the bottom of the slab, descending down into the bottomless abyss of water.

Surrounding the circle of pedestals are more slabs of concrete, some risen higher, or sunken lower. On some, they notice windowsills, some missing their former windows, some not.

They are above a sunken city. What they don't quite know yet is where the cornucopia is, let alone where anything is. It seems that there is only ocean.

Soon, a voice rings out into the arena. "Welcome tributes, to The Hunger Games, a competitive fight to the death," the voice they hear belongs to the infamous Elecsai Excalibur. "The games will begin in sixty seconds. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

The tributes are left in a panicked confusion as the countdown rushes by and in no time, it reaches zero. The pedestals then sink down into the water, slowly but surely forcing the tributes into the icy water.

****

TASK: This, my friends, is the bloodbath, nothing else said.

ARENA: This arena is a fun one. It is practically a sunken city. The pedestals are risen over the ocean and surround a large skyscraper, forming a circle. As soon as the countdown reaches zero, the pedestals descend back into the ocean, dropping the tributes into the freezing water. There, they must eventually figure out that the cornucopia is inside the large building on the top four floors. All the windows are protected by a force field which lets anything in but salt water, meaning the tributes can get into the building safely. What cannot be promised, though, is escaping safely. Inside the top floor are weapons, beneath is food, beneath that is tools, and on the floor beneath that is shelter making supplies. From there, the tributes can travel down to the other 26 floors.

DEATHS: THREE tributes must die in your entry, it doesn't matter how, when and why, and you must ballot FIVE tributes as well.

VOTING: TWELVE tributes will be up for votes, and FOUR will be saved, meaning EIGHT will be eliminated.

DEADLINE: Tuesday, March 29th at 6 PM PST

WORD LIMIT: 1500

PLEASE READ: Like the last task, please make your final draft in Wattpad, because another formatting for some reason doesn't work and it ends up
looking
like
this. Anyway, if you do that, I won't fix your entry and it may even affect your score, so please make your final draft in Wattpad. Thanks :)

Please remember that my email is BrambleStar365@gmail.com! This will be the last time I repeat it, from then on, you'll be on your own. Also, please remember to put your tributes name and task number (which is two) in the subject line, it makes it a lot easier to organize through the entries.

Good luck tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favor.