thearena | Carnage in the Caves

Who| Participants in the bloodbath
What| Murder and mayhem ensue after the jabberjays chase people into the caves.
Where| Deep within the caves. This area of the caves cannot be broken into or escaped from until 24 hours have passed.
When| Over a twenty-four hour period beginning now.
Warnings/Notes| Violence, death, gore, etc. You have been assigned a target to kill, but you may run into other characters in the caves as well.

The jabber jays begin their screaming, driving you deep into the caves in an attempt to escape the cries of your loved ones being tortured, beaten, or killed. When the maddening sounds finally cease, you will find yourself trapped in a series of corridors and caves, sealed tight with no chance for escape. Luckily there are plenty of weapons and supplies at hand (machetes, axes, hunting knifes, swords, maces, spears, clubs, hammers, scythes, bows & arrows, food, water, clean clothes), but any delusions of good fortune are soon squashed when an announcer assigns each person a target and gleefully informs you that you must kill your target within 24 hours or else you will run out of oxygen and die.

Over the next 24 hours, you will be tasked with killing this person in any manner you can. You may also happen upon other unfortunate souls trapped in the caves, but be wary of befriending them down here. They're on a mission too, and there's no rules against collateral damage.

Good luck, and don't forget to put on a show.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He grins a little, pleased that Albert had asked. Sam's got a story for that one, about how he'd only found out because birds are his thing, and a guy in his unit had been the same way with dinosaurs and had been real indignant that Sam didn't know how close dinosaurs and birds were.

But before he can go into it, he hears his name, he hears -

"Riley." It's barely above a whisper, because he can't believe it.

It's a voice he hasn't heard in years, only in his nightmares, and this is right out of them, except it's real. It has to be, because every grounding technique Sam's trying to use on himself is telling him that this is real.

"Riley!" It's a scream this time, as Sam starts deeper into the cave. He doesn't go running after him, not yet, because Sam knows better than to charge into a dark cave without looking at other options first, even when Riley's involved. "I'm here, where are you? Give me a status report, where are you?"

He forgets everything around him, forgets that Albert's standing right there. There's a part of him that knows this could be a Capitol trap, but he doesn't care, not if they've brought back Riley and dumped him in here.

"Sam!" Albert rises in a smooth motion and immediately grabs his friend's arm.

There aren't any real words in the screaming, nothing to make out except for Sam's name periodically through the wordless torment. It's harrowing, and if it's really Sam's wingman, he can't imagine what could be happening to the man to draw that sort of agonized sound. But the timing and the location is suspect and while Albert has sympathy for Sam's reaction, he lacks the emotional connection to the voice's owner that prevents the cyborg from reacting viscerally.

"Sam, stop. Think. It's likely a trap." Like Hilda showing up two Arena's prior, following him as a specter of his past then trying to kill him, forcing him to react the same. He should at least spare Sam that nightmare. "We'd be better off getting the sloth back to the others."

There's hard stone in his voice and a knowledge that he's being cruel to be kind, but he'll be damned before he lets Sam go off blindly into a cave to follow the screams of the long dead.

He drops a little when his arm is grabbed, lowering his center of gravity to a more defensible position and very nearly turns around swinging before his mind catches up with him.

Albert. Sam's fists unclench a little as he tries to listen to what Albert's saying, but he keeps going back to the screaming, mind skipping like the broken needle of a record player. It can't be there, it can't be Riley.

Nightmare, it's just a nightmare, you have to shake it off. Your name is Sam Wilson. It's 2015. There's rock under your hand, snow everywhere. Riley Eldridge is dead. Riley Eldridge is-

The screaming gets louder, Riley begging for help, and why can't it be him?

"I don't care if it's a trap. You don't have to go with me, but I'm not going to leave him down there!"

"He may not even be down there!" He's got one hand on Sam's arm and the other slightly raised to catch his friend's fist since it seemed close to flying. He struggles to be heard over the din of screaming, other voices joining what Sam hears as Riley's.

"Think, Sam! We've been peaceful this far, the Gamemakers want us panicked, want drama. They'll try to separate us and trap us, or force us into situations where its kill or be killed." He nearly yells himself, the screeching echoing all around them in the cave, voices becoming deafening.

Becoming familiar.

"Albert!"

He goes still.

“How do you know that?” Sam demands. He’s shouting now too, both to be heard over the screaming voices, and to try to drown them out. “Why can’t it be him down there? Steve got Bucky back and the Capitol brought back Psiioniic, why can’t it be Riley?”

As soon as he hears what he just said, it yanks him back out of himself a little. He didn’t mean that, he really didn’t. He wouldn’t wish that for Riley.

The cave snaps back into focus as he notices just how still Albert is. How Sam isn’t sure if Albert’s even listening to him or if he’s caught up in the screaming. It’s not just Riley anymore, Sam can hear that now, but it’s Jet and that doesn’t make it any easier to try to believe what Albert had said about the Gamemakers. It’s true, it has to be, but those are Sam’s brothers down there and he doesn’t think he’ll ever forgive himself if he turned his back and it was really them.

“Albert.”

That’s all he gets out. Honestly, he has no idea if he’s trying to talk him down or still trying to argue for going in there.

He doesn't. Jet's screams remind him that even as absolutely certain he is that this is a trap, he doesn't know that it's not Riley or that it's not Jet or that it wasn't Hilda or Natalie or Jet's actual parents in the Capitol and even Sam saying his name doesn't spark him to movement. He barely even registers Sam saying his name, his all too good hearing focused on the voices from deep in the caves.

"It's still a trap," he mutters even as he takes out his knife and pulls away from Sam, starting deeper into the caves with purpose.

It's a trap, but if Jet is caught in it, there's no other option.

Well. That's the decision made for him, then.

"I know," he replies even if he's not sure if Albert was even talking to him.

It is a trap, that's the only thing that Sam's certain of. But he's going down there anyway after Riley and Jet, and it looks like Albert is, too.

"Stay close." He's trying to keep his focus, to watch Albert and watch out for that trap he knows is coming, but it's hard with Riley's voice screaming in his ears.

A nod is given to Sam's directive as they head down into the dark, the screams growing too loud to speak over regardless. Every junction they come to, Albert uses hand signals instead to communicate which way they should head, knowing Sam's military background will guarantee he knows exactly what Albert means and it keeps them moving at a good clip.

Until he stops at a particular junction, the noise a cacophony of agony from two directions. Jet's voice comes from one and Riley's the other, equally urgent. Albert takes a breath, not sure if they should split up or try to rescue one and then the other.

And then Jet's voice breaks through above the din, screeching at the top of his lungs and calling Albert's name. Albert meets Sam's eyes for a long moment, but even in that gaze he believes they both know what's going to happen.

"I'll find you after."

It’s easier like this. He’s made a decision and he’s sticking with it, going after them with someone he trusts with him. It’s like being back in the military, especially with Albert making use of hand signaling, and that makes it easier not to let the screaming get to him.

So of course he has to choose. Of course they can’t be in the same place. As much as he needs to get Riley, he doesn’t want to turn away from Jet. Or to let Albert go anywhere in here without him. They don’t have radios or a comm system or anything to stay in contact with each other.

When he looks at Albert, though, he knows what they’re both going to do.

“Both of you come back safe.”

He knows Albert can’t promise that, but he’s going to say it anyway before he heads off down the tunnel after Riley.

Carnage in the Caves

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