28th Hunger Games

The 28th Hunger Games took place during the presidency of Luperca Galba.

## Arena

The 28th Arena was an archipelago of three tropical islands. The Cornucopia was floated near the largest of the islands. The smallest island was farther away but within swimming distance. The third island was reachable only by an exceptional swimmer or by boat. The biome was rainforest and the temperature averaged 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with only slight dips at night.

### Flora

The Arena had the high biodiversity characteristic of most rainforests. Large, thickly growing trees covered most of the islands beyond the sandy beaches. Fruit trees, bromeliads, and water-filled vines were plentiful, ensuring that the Tributes did not die of hunger or thirst. Strangler figs, ferns, moss, and many other species teemed within the forests.

### Fauna

The small size of the islands made apex predators nearly nonexistent. The only specimens were the gigantic anaconda and the thresher shark placed there specifically by Gamemakers. Smaller wildlife, such as birds, fish, small mammals, and herbivorous monkeys, thrived.

## Games Description

### Day One

The Cornucopia was floated on a raft between the islands specifically to create a small space for the beginning of the Games and to induce a larger Bloodbath. The Careers readily complied, and the opening minutes of the Games were filled with violence. Four female Arielle Ermin was especially successful, given the watery Arena. When the cannons started to sound, seven Tributes had been eliminated: Rotary Oxford of District Three, Calden Orygin of District Eight, Chase Enders of District Five, Lilith Sparkes of District Five, Jaxxon Fop of District Twelve, and Aimee Anderson of District Six.

The deaths came quickly after that as the Careers stalked the small, inescapable islands. Sabrina Pewer of District Seven was the next to fall at the hands of Pray Jager of District Two. She was followed by Angus Jenkins of District Ten.

### Day Three

After a day without finding anyone, the Careers reached Leo Serrocold of District Eleven. However, he was tougher than they planned for and killed Mako Dale of District Four before he died. On the same day, rogue Career Chantal Ivingin of District One speared Vesper Lynd of District Twelve, killing her.

### Day Five

Alexa Cadence of District Nine was killed by a thresher shark mutt after building a raft and attempting to sail to the farthest island. After Belisarius Komenus of District Two left the Career pack out of reluctance to kill, the pack dispersed when Arielle Ermin jumped into the water to avoid a dangerous confrontation with sole remaining pack member Pray Jager.

### Day Seven

Starling Heights of District Ten was speared to death by Chantal Ivingin. Damien true of District Nine ran across Mei Cheung of District Three, who was dying of infection from a wound she sustained at the Bloodbath. He did not kill her, opting instead to take her supplies and leave.

### Day Ten

Arielle Ermin reached the far island, populated only by Silken Alois\* of District Five and Kazuo Braun of District One. She found Silken alone and attacked him. The fight was evenly matched until Silken spontaneously began to hemorrhage from his nose, eyes and ears. He died as Arielle fled in uncertainty and confusion after a short fight with Kazuo. On the same day, Eleanor Cotton of District Eight was attacked by an anaconda mutt. Despite its massive size, she killed it by stabbing it through the head with a dagger multiple times.

### Day Eleven

The Gamemakers had been planning a storm event from the start, and they unleashed it on the eleventh day. The storm flooded the middle island, populated by Oakley Woodson of District Seven and Belisarius Komenus. Oakley escaped into the water and was washed to the nearest island, but Belisarius was trapped under a fallen tree and drowned.

### Day Twelve

Mei Cheung succumbed to blood poisoning. Damien True was found and speared by Chantal Ivingin. When Arielle Ermin ran across Oakley, they formed an alliance of necessity to fight Kazuo. Pray Jager found Eleanor Cotton and threw a knife at her. When she missed, Eleanor followed the movement and attacked, knowing Pray would hit her in the back if she ran. The fight was drawn-out and both sides sustained heavy injuries, but Pray eventually killed Eleanor by stabbing her in the throat. However, she suffered two broken ribs in the fight.

### Day Thirteen

Arielle and Oakley were attacked by Kazuo. Knowing they had superior numbers, he fought in a unique style taught by the Academy for use against two opponents. He focused on Arielle first and succeeded in mortally wounding her in the stomach. She then crawled away and Kazuo was easily able to fight Oakley, who was untrained. He speared the boy through with his sword and yanked it up, disemboweling him. Oakley died in seconds. Arielle had time to crawl to the water, which reminded her of home.

### Day Fourteen

Pray Jager became increasingly savage and unhinged throughout the Games as she confronted her mortality and the reality that she might not win. This was readily apparent in her fight with Chantal Ivingin. Pray and Chantal fought like two animals, scrabbling and clawing on the ground. Pray was unafraid to fight dirty and broke Chantal's pubic bone with a groin kick, stunning her for the second Pray needed to throw two spears into Chantal's stomach, killing her.

The Gamemakers were eager for a finale, and they sank Kazuo's island to spur him toward Pray. Despite this, the two were unable to find each other until sunset. As Kazuo walked underneath a tree, Pray, who had been waiting for hours, sprang from it and landed on his shoulders. She wrapped herself around him like a wildcat, wearing the silver claw finger covers sent to her by a sponsor. Kazuo fought desperately to get her off, cutting off one of her fingers and nearly severing her leg. Pray, who at that point was completely feral in the heat of the fight, held on despite the terrible wounds. In the single most brutal moment thus far in Games history, she tore him to death with her bare hands and teeth. After biting off his ear and clawing out one of his eyes, Pray killed Kazuo by ripping his throat out with her claws. She did not stop tearing at him until the pilots of the hovercraft sent to retrieve her blasted the horn in an attempt to rouse her.

## Controversy over Silken Alois

Years before the 28th Games, President Galba created a top-secret group of undercover operatives tasked with infiltrating the Districts to learn about and report potential rebellion. Two of the Tributes in the 28th Games belonged to this group: Silken Alois and Kazuo Braun. Silken, who was born in District One, had previously been sent to District Five for a mission. He was given the cover name Farlan Lionhardt, and it was under that name that he was sent to the Games, likely because of his dangerous knowledge. Kazuo Braun was Reaped under similar circumstances, though he was still living in his home District and fought under his true name. After Silken began to fragment mentally during the Games and split into two personalities of Silken and "Farlan", he began to reveal confidential information. Because of this, Galba ordered his execution via detonation of the minute bomb carried in his tracker. The kill was credited to Arielle Ermin, but she knew something was strange, because Silken began to hemorrhage after she inflicted a minor wound on him. The program is still in place and occasionally overlaps with the Games, such as the case of Onyx Soul.

## Placings:

24th place: Rotary Oxford, District Three

23rd place: Calden Orygin, District Eight

22nd place: Sojourner Douglass, District Eleven

21st place: Chase Enders, District Five

20th place: Lilith Sparkes, District Five

19th place: Jaxxon Fop, District Twelve

18th place: Aimee Anderson, District Six

17th place: Sabrina Pewer, District Seven

16th place: Angus Jenkins, District Ten

15th place: Mako Dale, District Four

14th place: Leo Serrocold, District Eleven

13th place: Vesper Lynd, District Twelve

12th place: Alexa Cadence, District Nine

11th place: Starling Heights, District Ten

10th place: Silken Alois, District Five

9th place: Belisarius Komenus, District Two

8th place: Mei Cheung, District Three

7th place: Damien True, District Nine

6th place: Eleanor Cotton, District Eight

5th place: Arielle Ermin, District Four

4th place: Oakley Woodson, District Seven

3rd place: Chantal Ivingin, District One

2nd place: Kazuo Braun, District One

Victor: Pray Jager, District Two

## Statistics

Deadliest Tribute: Pray Jager, six kills

Most common cause of death: Pray Jager

Victor Kills: 6

Odds-on Favorite to win (Before Arena was revealed): Belisarius Komenus

Odds-on Favorite to win (After Arena was revealed): Arielle Ermin

## Trivia

* Silken's death marked the only time President Galba directly determined a Games placing.
* Unlike most years, when natural deaths outnumber murders, this year had only one true natural death unaffected by other Tributes or Gamemakers: Sojourner Douglass' drowning.
* Pray's leap from the tree and attack on Kazuo has been on Polyphemus Ignotus' Top Ten Hunger Games Moments list every year since it happened.