Hi, everyone. So…I've come up with this new story idea. How, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. I've read some pretty awesome fics where writers put realistic spins on the games. Basically, the games still happened, but in a more modern world. This got me thinking and those thoughts eventually became this story.
Before I start, I claim no ownership to either The Hunger Games books/movies or the Final Destination Movies. Both are so awesome and I could never create anything even close to that level of awesome. Instead, I just blended elements of both into this unique story. I'm not using this story to make money either. I have my own much more original and unique stories for that purpose years down the road.
This is going to be dark. Much more so than Austin, Vacation of a Lifetime, and Yours To Hold. Heck, it's even going to be darker than Just A Dream. I just wanted to make sure that everyone was prepared for that. You need to know what you're getting into. Haha.
Lastly, I don't know the last time I wrote an action/thriller type story (if I ever did), so I may be quite rusty. Regardless, please enjoy!
Chapter 1: Camping Trip
The weather was perfect for late July. It was not as hot as it could be, a breeze cooled the summer air a little more, and the humidity was low. This was perfect weather for camping and fifteen young men and women were excited for their vacation as they loaded themselves into three vehicles, including Gale Hawthorne's beat-up, old silver Toyota Camry, Peeta Mellark's upbeat new deep blue Chevy Impala, and weekend mentors Haymitch Abernathy and Effie Trinket's Chrysler Town and Country.
Haymitch and Effie had scouted the location out prior and had found the best spot to put up several tents for the teenagers. Because of that, they led the other drivers, Gale followed them, Peeta followed Gale, Cato after Peeta, and so on. Katniss Everdeen and her little sister, Prim, to no one's surprise made sure to find themselves in a seat in Gale's car. Everyone knew this would be the case since Katniss was dating Gale.
The drive from the initial meeting spot to the campground took about an hour and a half. Haymitch and Effie clearly took the word "retreat" literally. When they arrived at the campsite, everyone got out of their cars and started to unload their supplies. Just because they would be gone for only a few days didn't mean that they still hadn't stocked up on the essentials.
Because it would not take 30 people to set a campsite (and would probably only hinder the progress anyway), a group decided to go exploring. This left Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Effie, and Cato to set up the many tents around the campsite. Peeta and Cato teamed up to begin tackling one of the tents while Gale joined their weekend mentors.
Katniss felt out of place. Why had she not just gone and joined the others on their exploration hike? What could she do around here when it seemed that the guys…and Effie had everything under control? Turning her attention from the set-up crews, Katniss spun around to observe the surroundings. In the distance was a high mountain that looked as if it could've been a volcano at one point in time. Surrounding the mountain was an abundant forest. How she wished that she had brought her bow and arrows. She knew that Gale would enjoy hunting with her in these woods. Heck, they didn't even have to hunt, they could just use the settings for target practice. She promised her mom and Prim, though, that she would not spend all weekend hunting with Gale. Prim…her sister was not at the campsite so she must've gone exploring with the others. Katniss was okay with that because she knew that her little sister's best friend, Rue, would be there with her. When she had gotten a feeling for her surroundings, she shut her eyes and allowed herself to just feel the breeze toss her braid across her back. What a nice day it was.
"Katniss!" she heard the call, but didn't turn immediately. Her presence wasn't needed at the moment. Maybe she had heard her name drifted on the wind. "Katniss!" This time, there was more urgency in the voice, so she turned around and saw Peeta holding up one of the main poles that Cato had put together for the tent they were working on. Peeta had already staked down the tent and was now placing the poles that would provide the tent's support. "Finally! Can you help me out here? I need you to place the other side of this pole while I place this side, okay?" Finally? How many times did he call my name before I registered that he was doing so?
With a nod, Katniss hesitantly walked to the side opposite Peeta. She had never done this before. What if she did it wrong? As it turned out, it wasn't too hard. Once it was placed, they both stood up and Peeta checked to make sure the pole would hold. Confident in their work, he directed her to do the same for the other pole.
"It's too quiet here. We need some music!" Effie chirped as she strolled over a bin where a battery-powered radio sat on top. How the heck does she move so quickly across this rocky ground in those stilettos?Katniss wondered. Setting up the radio, she tuned it in to the clearest station which was playing an 80's song that Katniss had heard a few times.
I cannot lie
From you I cannot hide
And I'm losing the will to try
Can't hide it
Can't fight it
So go on
Go on
Come on
Leave me breathless
Tempt me
Tease me until I can't deny this loving feeling
(Loving feeling)
Make me long for your kiss
Go on
Go on
Yeah
Come on
"Much better!" Effie chirped again before returning to the tent where Haymitch and Gale were now working on the poles as well.
"Okay, Katniss. This time, me and Cato will place the poles. You go into the tent and hold up the center where the poles will meet. That will better help to apply support and then we can fix it if necessary."
Katniss walked into the tent and held the center up as high as it would go until Peeta and Cato told her that the poles had set successfully and would handle the support on their own. As she exited the tent, she heard a sound like an explosion and the ground shook, bringing her to her knees. What the…?
Looking directly in front of her, she noticed that the mountain she had noticed earlier was spewing red-hot lava, angry as it flowed swiftly through the forest toward the campsite. She felt Gale pull her back up to her feet just as Peeta yelled, "Run!"
Peeta and Cato took the lead with Katniss and Gale following. Haymitch and Effie paced behind them, but the going was slower because Effie could not run as well in her stilettos as she thought that she could. Gale, always the compassionate one, dropped back to assist them. Katniss was about to do the same, but Gale looked straight into her eyes and told her, "No, follow Peeta and Cato, Katniss! I'll catch up. I promise. Now, go!"
The other boys were already a good distance away so it took a steady run for Katniss to catch up to them.
"Where are the others?" Cato asked her as she approached.
"They're…coming. What's going on?"
"That dormant mountain is erupting. It used to be a really active volcano back in the day, so this could get really ugly," Peeta explained.
The three hid in a bush and watched as the lava crept closer and closer to their hiding spot. All Katniss could think about was Prim. Even if Rue was here too, why had she ever left her younger sister out of her sight? She had already lost her father and she had practically lost her mother to depression. She didn't need to lose her sister now too.
Glancing back, she saw that Gale and Haymitch had each taken a side to support Effie and run a little faster. Silently, she cheered them on until she noticed the lava behind them. A scream lodged in her throat as she tried to warn them, but it was too late. The lava overtook them, burying them quickly and ending their lives instantly.
Katniss cried out for them and threatened to run, but Peeta's strong arms gripped her instantly. "Katniss, no! We have to move or we won't survive either!" She tried to protest, but he picked her up and ran alongside Cato. Eventually, Katniss grew weary of kicking and screaming and just let him run.
Sometime along the way, a fair distance from the volcano, they met up with the group of teenagers who had gone exploring. Cato immediately ran to Clove, asking her if she was okay. She nodded, but told him that they had lost some of the others.
Katniss scanned the group at least three times, but she could not find Prim. Pushing out of Peeta's arms, she ran toward the group. "Prim! Prim!"
A soft voice stopped her screams. "I'm sorry, Katniss…"
Turning toward the voice, Katniss noticed Rue with a sorrowful expression. "Rue! Where is she? Where is Prim? What happened to her?"
"We were running away from the lava and trying to find the rest of you. Along the way, she tripped over a tree root. She was fine, but her ankle was twisted. She…she didn't make it."
Katniss pictured it happening, but all she could see was Prim dying in much the same way as Gale. How could this happen? In a span of less than a half hour, she had lost the two most important people to her.
In total, there had been six immediate casualties of the volcano. That left nine remaining group members. All were on edge, but, luckily, the lava flow had stopped and a feeling of safety returned…at least, for the moment.
The group huddled together, all shaking with fear. Katniss crept to the edge of their clearing to look at the volcano which was still slowly spewing angry lava. Nearby, she heard a soft humming. It seemed to be coming from near her feet. Looking down, she noticed a nest of tracker jackers, a type of wasp whose venom could be potentially lethal. They seemed disoriented somehow by the lava and Katniss sure as heck did not want them anywhere near her, so she turned and gave the nest a swift kick. Only when she heard a scream and a loud buzzing did she learn that she had kicked the nest right into the face of Glimmer, one of the girls in the group.
Immediately, Marvel, Glimmer's boyfriend rounded on Katniss. "What the heck was that for? I thought we were allies. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna rip you to pieces," he claimed, breaking off a sharp branch to use like a spear.
Katniss braced for the attack. She was ready to die. At least then she could see Gale and Prim again. However, it wasn't meant to be as little Rue jumped between her and the spear. With a small smile, her face reflected peace and the life drained from it.
Marvel was not satisfied and Katniss knew that he wouldn't be until he had done the same to Katniss. He advanced again, but she, swift on her feet, side-stepped the attack at the last minute. The branch in Marvel's hand hit the tree behind Katniss and ricocheted back, finding his throat.
The volcano continued to boom as more and more died. Each boom sounded like a cannon echoing throughout the valley.
It was unbelievable how that one little action had sparked an inferno. The next to advance was Clove who had been Glimmer's best friend. "You…you were just trying to break the group up, weren't you? Well, you succeeded, but that's all you'll succeed at."
Pulling a small knife from her belt, she pushed Katniss to the ground. "You're finished!" However, before she could bring the knife down in a killing blow, her head was bashed sharply to the ground by Thresh, the quiet older brother of Rue.
"You might want to go. Take Peeta and get away from here," he whispered to her.
He didn't have to tell Katniss twice. She was already on her feet, signaling to Peeta. However, before Peeta could follow, he had a brief encounter with Cato, who, blaming Katniss for Clove's death, had seen the signal to the other boy. With a quick slash, his knife found Peeta's upper leg, leaving a deep gash. Peeta refused to think about the blood loss, though, and met up with Katniss. Together, they ran, leaving Cato and Thresh to battle it out against each other.
Finding a nearby cave, Katniss and Peeta slowed and ducked in to its shelter. Both collapsing following the run, Katniss gasped for breath as Peeta hissed in pain from the wound Cato had dealt him. Katniss, whose mother worked as a nurse at the local hospital, took a look at it and was surprised by what she saw. What had started out as a simple gash had quickly become infected and she suspected blood poisoning. How had it become infected that quickly?
"I…I think Cato…coated his knife in…poison," Peeta explained. "There's…no other way…that…it would get this bad…so quickly," he explained between gasps of pain.
Trying to be resourceful, Katniss glanced around the area quickly, looking for any herbs or other plants she could use to soothe Peeta's pain. However, it was Prim who was destined to follow in their mother's footsteps and Katniss, despite her hunter's instincts, found herself weirded out by many health conditions. She had to do something, though, or Peeta would be dead in a matter of hours and she didn't want that; she had already lost Gale and Prim. It would hurt too much to lose Peeta now too.
It didn't matter, though. There was nothing that Katniss could do. She lacked both the experience and the needed remedies. No matter what, there was no other option. Peeta was going to die…and he was going to die soon. He was already fading. The light that always seemed to shine in his bright blue eyes was quickly darkening. "Peeta," she cried out, afraid to lose him, "stay with me!"
With another sharp gasp, he quietly replied, "Always." However, she knew it was just a programmed response. He had no control this time. Katniss could see his breaths becoming more ragged as the poison began to grip at his lungs.
Only minutes later, she knew his end was finally approaching. However, strangely enough, as life left his body and his eyes began to drift closed for the last time, he kept repeating one word over and over again. "Katniss! Katniss!" She shut her eyes to hide her tears because, frankly, she'd never been one to cry, but things tend to change when you lose so many people in one day. Was she the next one to die? How would she die? Would she die as violently as the others?
"Katniss!" Peeta! Hadn't he already died? What was going on? She opened her eyes and noticed that she was staring out at the dormant mountain again. Wait…it was dormant…as in, it wasn't spewing angry torrents of lava everywhere. The forest was calm. They were setting up the campsite. Whoa, back up! They. Were. Setting. Up. The. Campsite. She had seen all this before. Peeta had called her name twice. He had wanted her to help him with the poles. "Katniss!" he yelled to her again, this time with urgency. No…way. This can't be happening.
Turning around, she saw Peeta with those poles in his hand. She knew it! He was going to ask for his help.
"Finally! Can you help me out here? I need you to place the other side of this pole while I place this side, okay?"
That was exactly what he had said before. Just like before, she nodded and she hesitantly walked over to the tent that Peeta and Cato were working on. This time, she knew what she was doing; she was hesitant because she knew the outcome…and it was not good.
Let's see…what happened next? I went to go help Peeta and Cato and…oh, wait, that's right, Effie wanted music so she put on that song, Katniss puzzled over what she had seen. No reason to worry just yet. Effie was still preoccupied with helping Gale and Haymitch. Gale! That's right. Gale's still alive!
Katniss helped Peeta out with the first pole and just before they were going to start the second pole, Effie pulled herself from the other tent and did what Katniss, even though she knew she was going to, dreaded.
"It's too quiet here. We need some music!" she spoke in her chirpy voice and strolled over to that familiar bin with the battery-powered radio in it. Once she had set it up, Katniss found herself praying that the song would not be the same. However, Effie tuned into that first clear station and Katniss's heart sunk.
I cannot lie
From you I cannot hide
And I'm losing the will to try
Can't hide it
Can't fight it
So go on
Go on
Come on
Leave me breathless
Tempt me
Tease me until I can't deny this loving feeling
(Loving feeling)
Make me long for your kiss
Go on
Go on
Yeah
Come on
Disbelief played across Katniss's face and her thoughts jumbled as everything that she had just seen came back to her. Then, her mind went blank and she could only think one thing. I'm going to die…we're all going to die…
I dunno if this idea's ever been done for The Hunger Games, but, if it has, I intend to make mine a lot different. Not much else to say, so I'll get this posted up really quick and watch the end of the Packers/Chargers game.
Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. Until next time…
Posted: August 9, 2012