Sara Holthouse
A Hunger Games story with my cows as the main characters
The White Tower
The Hunger Games with my cows
Chapter 1
Katy
`I sat at a table in my study lab room with my best friends, Primrose, Eclipse and Hazelnut. I didn't have any homework to do, so I was reading. I'm not sure really what my friends were doing. I guess they were just being themselves. We were the only ones in the room right then, except for the teacher. None of the other kids in our study lab really liked the teacher, so they all went to the library or someplace else. We were only in ninth grade, and the youngest in our study lab, because all the others were tenth grade and higher. So, no one really paid any attention to us anyway. I guess you're probably wondering why we have such weird names. Well, where we lived, those names were almost normal. Honestly, my parents' names are Snapdragon and Bluebell. Even the study lab teacher's name is Mr. Shanky! But, I guess that was just the way everyone was where we lived. I was distracted from what I was reading, by Prim asking me a question.
I didn't hear it at first, so I looked up and asked, "What?"
"I said, what do you think of the new kid, Eoywn?" Prim said.
"I think she's named after someone from 'The Lord of the Rings'," I replied, looking back down at my book.
"And?" Eclipse asked. I looked back up, and was about to answer, when the TV flickered on behind us. Prim and Eclipse looked up at it. Hazelnut and I had to turn around. The TV was on a news channel, and it was showing jet planes and helicopters sending weird, mesh like cage things into windows of classrooms, and taking out groups of kids.
"We're not sure what their purpose is, nor who they are or why no one is stopping them," the news reporter said. "But, until they go away I suggest hiding all your students in the lower levels with no windows." The TV went off. I looked at Mr. Shanky, to see what he wanted us to do. He was sitting at his desk, as rigid as a statue, staring straight ahead and not even blinking.
"Mr. Shanky?" I asked. He still didn't move. I stood up and walked over. I waved my hand in front of his face. Still nothing. I turned back to my friends. They'd all stood up too.
"What's going on?" Hazelnut asked. I had no answer, so I just shook my head. There was a buzzing noise right outside the window next to me. I looked at it, and slowly started backing up. Something crashed into the window, and it burst. Glass rained everywhere. Prim, Eclipse, Hazelnut and I shielded our faces. A helicopter hovered outside the window. One of the mesh cage things flew through the window.
"Duck!" Eclipse exclaimed. We all jumped to the floor. I slid into the wall, and heard Primrose scream. I pulled myself up. Prim was being picked up on the edge of the cage.
"No!" I exclaimed. I ran forward, and grabbed Prim around the waist. Prim fell. I followed, but something grabbed me from behind, and pulled me up into the cage.
"Katy!" Prim yelled. She got up from where she'd fallen to the floor.
"Run!" I yelled at my friends. "Get out of here!" They all turned and ran towards the door. Prim made it out the door. Something snaked out of the sides of the cage and grabbed onto the back of Eclipse and Hazelnut. "No!" I said. Before they could react, the things pulled Eclipse and Hazelnut into the cage with me.
"Guys!" Prim exclaimed, coming back into the room. The cage closed around us, and began going back into the helicopter.
"Primmy!" I yelled, standing up and running to the edge of the cage. "Prim go get help! We'll be fine! Just go get help!" Prim nodded, turned and ran out of the room. I backed up, and sat down beside Eclipse and Hazelnut. I didn't know what was going on. And I didn't know, that that would be the last time I would see Prim for a while.
Chapter 2
Primrose
Well it was shaping up to be a pretty crappy morning. But, I didn't let worry for my friends distract me. The second I was out of the room, I went running down the hall, and into the nearest room, looking for help. The teacher in that room was as frozen as Mr. Shanky. So, I kept going. Every room I went into it was the same. And there were no kids in any of the rooms. It looked like I was the only one who'd managed to escape. And that was a problem. It took me about an hour to get through the whole school. I was very tired by the time I got to the last room, and I was about to give up hope. I opened the door, and came face to face with the new girl, Eoywn. She was holding a pen. At first, I wasn't sure why, and then she jumped forward at me.
"Whoa, hey!" I exclaimed, jumping out of the way.
"Are you one of them?!" she demanded, jumping at me again. I jumped passed her, and into the room.
"One of whom?" I asked.
"Them!" Eoywn exclaimed. "The people that just took everyone away and froze all the teachers! Are you here to take me away too?!"
"No," I said, attempting to calm her down. "I'm Prim. Our lockers are next to each other. I'm in your class." Eoywn looked at me carefully, and then dropped the pen.
"Yes, I remember you," she said. "Did you escape too?"
"Yeah," I replied. "But they took my friends. I've been looking for help, but all the rooms are the same. We're the only ones who got away." Eoywn sighed, and buried her face in her hands for a second. She looked up at me, and started to laugh. "What?" I asked after a few minutes of this.
"You know what my parents told me this morning before I left?" she asked. "They said this school would be different. They said I wouldn't be an outsider. They told me I'd be accepted. They told me I'd have many adventures. I guess they didn't know how much they were right, eh?" She sat down in a chair. Her laughing slowly turned into sobs. Not sure what else to do, I sat down beside her, and put my arm around her shoulders. "What do we do now?" she asked after she was done crying.
"We need to help the kids that were being taken away by those helicopters and planes," I said, thinking. "We know the people driving the planes froze all the teachers…but what about the people outside the school? What about our parents?" Eoywn looked up at me. Slowly, she nodded.
"Yes," she said. "Yes, that might work."
"Alright, follow me," I said. I jumped to my feet. Eoywn did too. We left the room, and ran downstairs. I ran down to the front entrance of the school where the school phone was. I picked up the phone, and dialed my number. I knew my dad should be home, and should be there to pick up the phone. My dad was an author, and usually worked from home. After a few minutes, someone answered the phone on the other side.
"Hello?" my father asked.
"Dad!" I said.
"Prim?" he asked, surprised. "Prim what's going on?" I told him everything that had occurred in the last hour.
"Eoywn and I were the only ones to escape, and all the teachers are frozen," I finished.
"Who's Eoywn?" my dad asked.
"She's the new kid in my class I was talking about yesterday," I said. "We're alone in the school right now. I know you're friends with the sheriff and other important people that can help, so can you contact them and come to the school. We need to figure out a way to get them back."
"Primmy, I know you miss your friends, and want to help get them back, but don't do anything until we get there," dad said.
"Okay," I said. Dad hung up. I put the phone down. I turned to look at Eoywn. "Help is coming," I said. Eoywn nodded.
"So, now what do we do while we wait?" she asked. I shrugged. Noise flickered through the school from rooms down the hall. It sounded like all the TV's in the school had turned on. Eoywn walked towards the closest room. I followed. We came in sight of the TV in time to see a burly man, with a big beard and long, black, thick hair appear on the screen.
"Hello to the world," he said. "As most of you well know by now, I and some of my compatriots have taken most of your children out of your schools about an hour ago. We are planting them in a forest where none of you will be able to get to them. They will fight each other for survival until one lone victor remains. I won't reveal why yet, but you will be able to watch on the television to see their progress. It starts tomorrow." The TV turned off. I looked at Eoywn.
"They're gonna make them kill each other!" she exclaimed.
"Yes," I said. "And they're gonna make us watch." I turned back towards the door, and began walking towards the hall.
"Where are we going?" Eoywn asked as she began to follow.
"I don't know," I replied. "But we have to do something. It's too late to wait for the adults."
Chapter 3
Eclipse
The cage deposited Katy, Hazelnut and I off in the middle of an unfamiliar forest. I wasn't sure how far we'd traveled, but I could tell it was a long way from home. If I wasn't so confused about what had just happened in the last hour and a half, I would probably have been scared.
"What are we here for?" Hazelnut muttered. There was a sound like a microphone turning on above our heads, or like a loud speaker turning on.
"I think we're about to find out," I replied.
"Hello," a deep voice said. It was very loud, and sounded like it echoed over the whole forest.
Definitely loud speaker, I thought.
"I'm sure all of you here are wondering why we have brought you here," the man continued. "Well, I guess you could say, we've brought you here to make an impression on the world. Your objective here is to survive. And to do that you will have to fight each other, to the death. No one gets out of here, until one victor remains. And once we let that lone victor out, we will promise you that we will never bother you again, and life will go on for you as if nothing ever happened. And now, the fight begins." The loud speaker turned off. I looked over at Katy and Hazelnut.
"Well great," Katy said. "Now, we've got half of the kids in the world out to kill us."
"Not to mention, they want us to be against each other too," I pointed out.
"But, that's not going to happen right?" Hazelnut asked.
"No," I said. "It's not. Because we are friends, and we are not going to kill each other. And we have to remember, Prim is still out there. We just have to survive, until she finds a way to get us out of here." Hazelnut nodded slowly.
"Yes," Katy said. "Now, let's go see what we're up against." We started walking through the forest. We saw a few different kids on the way, but none of them paid us much attention.
"We need food and water," I said after a while.
"Yeah, but we don't have any weapons or anything to hunt with," Hazelnut pointed out. Suddenly, something metallic landed in front of us, making all of us jump.
"What is it?" Katy asked. I shrugged, and stepped forward. I bent down and picked it up.
"Careful," Hazelnut warned. I nodded. There was a clasp on the top. I pulled on it, and the thing opened up. Inside was a knife, three water skins and a book titled How to set Snares.
"Looks like they care about us after all," I said, jokingly.
"It's probably just a way to set the stakes higher," Katy said.
"Are they just doing this for their own entertainment?" I wondered out loud. I looked up from the metallic device and at my friends.
"I don't know, but these people are weird," Katy replied.
"Well," Hazelnut said, "Let's go see what we can do." I packed all the things, except for the book, back into the object, and closed it. Katy took the book, and began reading out instructions. Pretty soon, after we'd followed all the instructions, we'd made a few decent snares. Close by where we'd set up the snares, we found a river and filled up the water skins. In a little sheltered clearing in between the snares and the river we set up camp. I took a look around the camp, and found a lot of vines hung from the trees. I took the knife out of the metallic contraption, and began cutting the vines down. I made a pack out of them. I managed to tie them together, and double them, making a more than suitable pack. I put everything into the pack. Katy and Hazelnut caught onto the idea, and began making blankets out of the remaining vines. We piled leaves on the ground to make beds.
"This is a very resourceful place," Hazelnut commented. I smiled at her, laid down and dozed off.
Hazelnut
That night we were all woken up by noises that we definitely shouldn't have been able to hear in the forest.
"Do you hear a band?" Katy asked.
"Yeah," I said. A screen flickered up in the sky, like a video projector had been turned on at the edge of the forest. Katy, Eclipse and I stood up. Words appeared on the screen.
Your fellow competitors.
The three of us watched as a kid appeared on the screen. After it showed a picture of the kid, it said their name, and showed a short video describing them. It continued to another kid, and kept going. Eventually I got bored, and went back to where I'd been sleeping. I'd just sat down when I heard the voice say my name. I didn't bother standing back up, and just turned my head to look. I heard it say things about usually being with my friends, how good I am at fighting, how tough I am, and a whole lot of other stuff. Katy's video followed, and Eclipse was after. Then, the projector flickered off. The voice came over the loudspeaker again.
"Now today, none of you have met any of the others that you didn't know. But tomorrow, the fighting begins." The loudspeaker turned off, and we were left in the silence of the night again.
"Well that's intimidating," I said. Katy and Eclipse turned back around to look at me.
"We'll be okay," Katy said. Eclipse and her went and lay back down.
"Yeah, I know," I replied. "I just hope Primmy finds help soon." I rolled over, and amazingly fell back asleep.
Chapter 4
Primrose
I led Eoywn down into the basement of the school. Katy, Eclipse, Hazelnut and I had accidentally found our way down here in kindergarten looking for the bathroom.
"What are we going down here for?" Eoywn asked.
"There's something down here that I think will help us," I replied. We got down the stairs, and I went into a room that had the washing machine. It was dark, so I couldn't really see what I was looking for, but I found it on the corner of the washer anyway. It was a mechanical tracker that could track anyone if you just showed it something that belonged to that person. Kinda like a dog.
"What are we gonna do with that?" Eoywn asked.
"We're gonna track Katy, Eclipse and Hazelnut," I replied. "Hopefully it'll lead us to where they are."
"And what'd we do when we find them?" Eoywn asked.
"Not sure yet," I replied. I walked back up the stairs and into the school.
"Where are we going now?" Eoywn asked.
"In order for it to work we need something from that person," I said. "Since I don't know any of my friends' locker combinations, I am going to find Katy's book back in our study lab room. It's gotta still be there somewhere." I continued up many different staircases, until I was back in the study lab room. I walked over to the table we'd been sitting at, and picked up Katy's book which now lay on the floor. I picked it up, and held it under the tracker. Almost at once the tracker began beeping. It led me over to the window where the helicopter had been, and then back, and then to the window again.
"Oh boy," Eoywn said. "This might take a while."
Katy
I woke up, and didn't know where I was at first. Then, everything came rushing back to me, and I sighed.
"Grand," I muttered. I tried to stand up, and found my wrists and ankles tied up with ropes made out of leaves to the ground. I turned my head, and found Eclipse and Hazelnut were nowhere to be seen. "What is going on?" I muttered. Someone came out of the trees. It was a foreign looking girl, probably from some different part of the world. I sort of recognized her from one of the clips. "Who are you?" I asked. I immediately could tell she couldn't understand. She came forward and sat on my chest. I tried to break free, but I was stuck. The girl held out something in her hand. I recognized them at once as poisonous ivy berry. I fought harder. She was going to poison me. This was one of my competitors, and she was gonna kill me. The girl forced my mouth open. I tried to close it. I tried to bite her. I tried to do something, anything that would help me break free. The girl smashed my face against the ground and forced the berries into my mouth, and made them go down. Immediately my vision went blurry, and I couldn't move. The girl stood up, and untied me. But, I still couldn't move. The girl rolled me over, and folded my arms and legs, so I was in a sort of ball. I wasn't sure why. She closed my eyes. I heard her say something in her language that I didn't understand. It was probably some sort of goodbye. Then, I blacked out.
Chapter 5
Eclipse
I woke up and immediately had a feeling something was wrong. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but then I looked over at where Katy had been sleeping, and noticed she was gone. I sprang to my feet.
"Whazzthemadder?" Hazelnut asked, sleepily.
"Katy's gone," I said, alarmed.
"What?" Hazelnut asked. I nodded, and began checking around the camp. She wasn't by the river, or the snares. She just wasn't anywhere.
"She's not here," I said. "Something happened…" A rustling in the bushes made me spin around. A foreign looking girl came out of the trees into our clearing. I ran over to the pack, and pulled out the knife. "Who are you, what do you want?" I demanded. The girl didn't say anything. She just pointed to Katy's sleeping area, then she pointed back into the trees, and then she slashed her hand across her throat, like someone does when saying someone's gonna die. Suddenly, I realized what she meant. She'd taken Katy back into the trees and killed her.
"No!" Hazelnut exclaimed.
"NOOOOO!" I yelled. Without really realizing what I was doing I chucked the knife at the girl. It impaled itself in her chest. I gasped. The girl looked at me, and slowly fell to the ground. I ran forward, and pulled the knife out. Fear for Katy distracted me from what I'd just done. "Katy!" I yelled. Hazelnut got up, and joined me as we slowly walked into the forest calling for Katy.
Katy
I hazily heard my friends calling my name. I woke up slightly, but things were still all blurry, and pain had begun to form in my body. I could see someone kneeling beside me. I tried to ask who they were, but all that came out were racking coughs, that forced me to sit up slightly.
"Be still," a boy's voice said. It was kind of familiar, but in my current state, I couldn't be sure. He pressed down on my shoulder, forcing me back to the ground. "Your friends are coming." I sighed. The coughing stopped. I laid back down, and fell back into blackness.
Hazelnut
After we had called for her a few times, I was beginning to give up hope. Then, as we were about to stop and give up, I heard coughing.
"KATY!" I yelled. We ran towards the noise. We came into a cluster of trees, and found Katy laying as though dead on the ground, and a boy kneeling beside her. The boy turned around as we appeared. It was Richard Ember, one of the boys in our class. He was also one of the only boys in the class who wasn't an idiot.
"Richard," Eclipse said, surprised. "What…?"
"I found her like this," Richard said. "She woke up a bit when she heard you, but she blacked out again. I think she's been poisoned."
"Yeah," I said. "A girl came and found us, and told us she killed her. It was probably poison, because it doesn't look like she's bleeding or anything." I walked over and sat beside Richard on the other side of Katy. Eclipse came over too.
"So, what'd we do?" Eclipse asked.
"I'm thinking," Richard replied. I sat watching Katy while they were talking. Suddenly Katy wasn't moving. Not even her chest.
"Guys she's not breathing!" I exclaimed. Richard shot an alarmed glance at me, and then looked down at Katy.
"Crap," he said. Richard moved into a different position, and put his hands on Katy's chest. He started pushing up and down. He was doing CPR.
"Are you qualified to do that?" Eclipse asked.
"Probably not," Richard said. He looked up from what he was doing for a second. "But, I paid attention in Health class, so I know what I'm doing. This is gonna look a little weird." He leaned down, and began giving Katy mouth-to-mouth. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. He went back to pushing on her chest. Finally he sat up. Katy's chest was moving again. Richard smiled. Eclipse and I sighed with relief.
"Thank you Richard," I said.
"Least I could do for a classmate," he replied. "But she's not better yet. The poison is still in her system. But I think when she wakes up, she'll probably throw it up and get it out. The CPR should've gotten it back up there. I think." I raised an eyebrow at him. Then, I looked back down at Katy.
"We should get her back to camp," I said. Richard picked up Katy's feet. Eclipse grabbed her arms.
"Lead the way," Richard said. I nodded, stood up, and the three of us made our way back to our makeshift camp. Once Katy was settled back in her bed, I went to check on the snares. When I returned with a rabbit I found Eclipse building a fire, and Richard sitting looking at Katy.
Hmmm…. I thought. That's interesting. I knew there were some boys in the class that had a crush on Katy, but here was the first time I was seeing it up close. I smiled, and walked over to Eclipse.
"I wish we had a pot," she said. "Then we could make a stew. Or soup." I nodded, and handed her the rabbit. I turned just in time to see another metallic container land in front of my feet.
"Again?" I said surprised. "I wonder, do they send things to everyone?"
"Probably," Eclipse said.
"What is it?" Richard asked from where he still sat beside Katy.
"Something that we need I'm guessing," I told him. "We've had one already."
"I haven't," Richard replied. He got up, and came over. I opened the container. Inside was a pot. I laughed.
"Here you go, Eclipse," I said. I threw her the pot. She caught it, and put it on the fire.
"Good," she said. "Now we might have some reasonable food." I nodded. Richard went back to sit beside Katy, and I went to lean back against a tree. All that was left to do was wait.
Chapter 6
Katy
I woke up, and was prepared for an enemy to be standing over me. When there was nothing but our camp we'd set up, and Hazelnut, Eclipse and a boy that I didn't recognize at first. I was confused. I glanced away, and then looked back, recognizing Richard.
"What are you doing here?!" I said, surprised. Richard jumped, and looked at me. Hazelnut and Eclipse did too.
"Katy!" Eclipse exclaimed. Hazelnut and she ran over. Richard came over from where he was standing.
"You're alive!" Richard said, happily.
"Yeah," I said. "But what are you doing here?"
"Same as you," Richard said. "Got caught in their stupid game."
"He saved your life!" Hazelnut piped up.
"What?" I tried to ask, but something was lodged in the back of my throat. I coughed, but it didn't move. Suddenly, I couldn't stop coughing. I turned over onto my hands and knees, and eventually retched up the berries that the girl had forced me to eat. After I'd gotten my breath back, I turned back to a sitting position, I asked, "What happened?"
"We killed the girl," Hazelnut said. "Well really Eclipse did. And…"
"Well, I heard a commotion in the woods, and I went towards the noise and I found you tied up, and unconscious. Eclipse and Hazelnut came up and found you too," Richard said.
"He gave you CPR and saved your life," Eclipse said.
"Really?" I asked, looking at Richard. He nodded, modestly. "Thanks," I said a little surprised.
"You're welcome," he said. His face reddened slightly.
Is he blushing?... I thought surprised. I looked closer. He is… I realized. Well, this is awkward. To hide the awkwardness, I glanced down at the spit up berries on the ground. I got an idea.
"What happened to the metal container we got the book and water skins in?" I asked.
"We have it," Eclipse replied. "Why?" I looked up at her and smiled.
"I've got an idea," I said.
My idea was really a simple one. We knew there were poisonous berries in the woods that we knew. How many different kinds, we didn't know. My plan was to fill up the container with berries, and send them down from up in the trees or something on different unsuspecting kids, and they would eat them. I wasn't much for killing, but the sooner there were less of us, the sooner we could get home. My friends agreed after I explained it all to them, and we went off into the woods to find berries. At first I walked along in the front by myself, and then Hazelnut jogged up to walk beside me.
"I think you have an admirer," she whispered.
"You don't say," I whispered back, jokingly. Hazelnut smiled. We kept walking. Eventually we came upon a berry bush. After a close inspection I realized they were nightshade. Eclipse handed me the container. I filled it up the first container, and then the second one. I closed them up, and I lead the group off into the forest, looking for the first unsuspecting kid.
Chapter 7
Primrose
After the tracker had led us half way around the school, into every room Katy, Eclipse, Hazelnut and I had been in today, I was beginning to get really annoyed, and beginning to give up hope. We arrived eventually at the front doors of the school. I sighed and flopped down to the floor against the wall.
"This is taking forever," I said. "I don't know if this is going to work!" I sat back and thought, trying to think of anything else we could do.
Suddenly, Eoywn exclaimed, "Prim look!" She was pointing at the tracker. I looked down. The tracker was beeping suddenly, and there was a dot on the screen that was blinking brightly. It was leading outside.
"Yes!" I exclaimed, happily. Eoywn smiled. We ran outdoors. It beeped brighter and louder.
"They can't be that far away then," Eoywn said. We followed the beeping dot passed the softball field, and the football field, to a forest that we weren't allowed to usually go into during school. From the edge of the forest we saw a big, white tower sticking out of the middle of the forest. The dot was pointing right towards it.
"We're coming guys," I muttered. "We're coming." Eoywn and I started walking towards the tower.
Eclipse
Katy eventually found us a group of other kids in the forest. She climbed up in a tree right above them. I handed her up the first container, and stayed below, ready to hand up the second one. I bumped my hand on the tree and it felt cold, and totally un-tree-like. I pulled my hand back, and realized it felt exactly like the container in my hand.
"They're metal," I muttered.
"What?" Hazelnut whispered.
"The trees," I whispered back, "They're not real. They're made of metal." I looked up at Katy, just in time to watch her drop the berries down. Katy took a step back and slipped. I gasped. I heard the group of kids pick up the berries. Katy fell. I caught her when she hit the ground, and pulled her to her feet.
"Thanks," she whispered. I nodded. I heard voices on the other side of the tree.
"Someone's over there," one of the kids said.
"Run!" Katy exclaimed. We ran back in the direction we'd come. I was running a bit faster than the others, and apparently I ran a little south, or went a little farther than we'd originally been. I ran right into a see-through wall. I bounced off, hit the back of my head on a tree and fell to the forest floor.
"Eclipse!" Hazelnut exclaimed.
"I'm alright," I replied. I stood up, and walked back up to the invisible wall. I touched it, and looked through to the other side. On the other side, was a white office room.
"This is it," Katy said. "This is the way out!"
"We found it," I said.
Chapter 8
Primrose
Eoywn and I found ourselves at the door to the tower. It didn't look like anyone was around. The dot was leading us into the tower. I slowly opened the door. Inside was empty too. I stepped inside. Eoywn was right behind me. The door closed of its own accord behind us.
"Ok, that's weird," Eoywn said. Her voice echoed off the walls. The beeping from the tracker was getting louder.
"We're close," I muttered. The dot led us down the hall. There were many rooms on both sides, and I almost expected any of them to pop open as we passed. We were led to a big winding staircase leading upward. We went up. It led us all the way to the top, and into a white, official looking room. Slowly, I opened the door.
Katy
I joined Eclipse beside the wall.
"Maybe we can break it," I suggested. Eclipse pulled the knife out of the pack. She stabbed it into the wall. Suddenly, the door opened on the other side of the room. Two people walked in, but they didn't look like men, and didn't look very old. They turned around. I cried out. It was Prim and another girl. Eclipse pulled the knife out of the wall and left a big slash.
"Guys!" Prim exclaimed.
"Primmy!" I answered.
"Prim!" Eclipse and Hazelnut said.
"Eoywn!" Richard exclaimed. "Sis!" I looked at him, a bit surprised.
"Richard!" the other girl with Prim, who I realized was the new girl, Eoywn ran up to the wall. Richard ran up too. He ripped the hole open farther, and reached his hand through to Eoywn. She grabbed it, smiling. I smiled at the site and glanced behind them. The door opened.
"Behind you!" I yelled. Prim turned around just as a man entered the room. Eoywn let go of Richard, and turned to stand beside Prim. Prim dropped what she had in her hand, and ran forward. She got a kick in right in the man's stomach. The man doubled over, clutching his stomach. Eoywn pushed him into the wall. The man hit his head, and fell to the floor unconscious. They began to roll him out into the hall. I walked up to stand beside Richard next to the wall. I reached up to the hole he'd made, and pulled more. The hole got bigger. Richard began to help, and Eclipse and Hazelnut came forward and helped too. Finally, we'd opened up a hole big enough to get through. I stepped through, and the others followed. Prim and Eoywn turned to look back at us after they'd closed and locked the door.
"Should give us some time," Eoywn said.
"Let's get the rest of the kids out," Hazelnut said.
Chapter 9
Hazelnut
I went over to the desk that sat in the corner of the room. A megaphone sat on the desk, and I picked it up. I figured that was how the people had talked to us through the loudspeaker. Not quite sure what I was going to say, I began speaking.
"Hello everyone in the forest," I said. "My name is Hazelnut. Until about a minute ago my friends Katy, Eclipse, Richard and I were stuck in that weird forest with you. We found a wall at the southern edge of the forest. Two more of our friends Prim and Eoywn came into a room on the other side of the wall. They didn't get caught by the helicopters and have been looking for us ever since. We made a hole in the wall and made it to the room. So, if you head to the southern end of the forest, you should be able to find us, and get out. It's all over. We're free." I put the megaphone down. The door behind us rattled. The others and I turned around.
"I guess they heard that," Prim joked.
"Yeah, you think?" I said sarcastically. There was a noise behind us in the trees. I turned back around to see some of the kids coming out.
"The army's coming," Katy said. The door rattled more, and gave way a bit.
"Good," Eclipse said. "We're gonna need it." The door burst open. At least ten men burst into the room. One man stepped forward.
"Which one of you is the girl called Hazelnut?!" the man demanded. Katy and Eclipse stepped in front of me, protectively. I was the smallest of our group, and even though we were all the same age, I was the youngest by a few months. Eclipse held the knife loosely in her hand. I slowly pulled it out. She shot a glance back at me. I shook my head slightly. I had a plan. I thought. I hid the knife in my sleeve, and pushed my way passed Eclipse and Katy.
"Here I am," I said. The man had a sword sheathed on his belt. He took it out. I slid the knife out of my sleeve. But, the man with the sword had an easier reach than me with my knife. I hardly had time to react before I felt the sword catch me in the ribs. I gasped. Then, I threw the knife forward, and struck him in the chest. He fell backwards. I stepped back and fell. Katy caught me.
"Are you alright?" she asked. I didn't respond. She shook me slightly. "Come on, you're alright, you gotta be." Eclipse and Prim came over.
"Hazelnut?" Prim asked. I couldn't stay awake anymore. I closed my eyes slowly.
"HAZELNUT!" Eclipse exclaimed. I faded into blackness.
Eclipse
There was no response from Hazelnut.
"We have to move her over," I said. "This is about to get ugly." Katy dragged her into the corner. I took the knife away from Hazelnut, and the sword away from the man. I gave Katy the sword. The other men stepped forward. I stepped into the front of our group. I didn't know much about knife fighting, but I was going to protect my friends or die trying. I attacked the closest man. He fought back, blocking almost every one of my moves. I got in a cut across his cheek as I punched him in the face, because the knife wasn't working. The man fell backwards, hit the wall, and fell to the floor, unconscious. The others had joined the fight by now. More kids were coming out of the woods at all times. I turned and leapt on top of the man Eoywn was fighting, and hit him on the side of the head hard. He crumpled below me. I climbed off. I was about to find another one, when I heard something that turned my blood cold. The sound of many feet running echoed up the stairs.
"There's more coming!" I warned the others. The door burst open just as I said it. But it wasn't who I was expecting.
"Dad!" I exclaimed.
"Eclipse!" he said. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I replied. I looked around. All the men were gone. I went over to Hazelnut. She was unconscious now, and her head lolled off to the side. "We need to get her to the hospital," I said. My dad came over and picked her up. I stood up, and looked over at Katy, Prim, Eoywn and Richard.
"Is that it?" Katy asked. "Just like that, it's over?"
"I guess so," I said. Prim shrugged. The five of us followed my dad still carrying Hazelnut out the door.
Chapter 10
Katy
A few days later, I sat around a table with Eclipse, Hazelnut, Eoywn and Richard. Hazelnut had been in the hospital for about two days, and it turned out she was going to be fine. We were still in the hospital, just so the nurses and doctors could be sure. We were in the waiting room. The TV was on at the end of the table and the news was on, showing the interviews it did of some of us afterwards. The press had followed us to the hospital, and asked Eclipse, Richard and I questions in the waiting room. Then, they asked Prim and Eoywn all about how they'd escaped and found us. We were all a grimy, dirty mess.
"We look horrible," Richard said. We all looked at him, and then burst into laughter. After everything we'd been through, everything now seemed unreal. After a while, our interviews were over. I stood up and smiled. Then, I left the waiting room, and went to our hospital room, ready to sleep for a lifetime.
The End