~ The Pods ~
No place in Panem was more beautiful than the Capitol. Sweeping landscapes. Tall, green mountains. Soaring skyscrapers. Quirky architecture. But all of it shone once the sun went down. Citizens brought the city to life with constant parties and buzzing celebrations. Neon colors lit up the city, making it glow just as much as it glowed in every single heart. But straight after a devastating war, it was different.
The young man peered over the crumbled concrete, his swollen hands trembling. The rumble of the explosion rocketed through the ground and his stomach was trying to keep in all it could. His eyes caught sight of the ferocious flames blasting up from the ground. Smoke poured out into the air and moved about five meters in the case of a second. Men plastered in tough, iron armor leaped backwards for safety. Some weren't quick enough. Once the ear-pounding sound of detonation faded, deep voices filled the air.
"The block has been cleared! Move on!"
Heads poking out from alleys and behind trash cans formed to full bodies. The workers marched down the war-torn road, navigating over ash piles and bits of broken infrastructure.
"Soldier Joss!" a voice roared in the young man's face. "Get your ass up and keep moving! Keep up with the squad!"
Joss slowly got up to his feet, wiping away the dust from his baggy trousers. He held up his Holo, scanning the environment around him. Orange dots slowly loaded across the screen and he gasped.
I can't do this... he muttered to himself. There's too many... I can't-
"Keep up with the squad!"
He tilted his head up and watched as the others strolled around the left corner. Quickly, he tagged along just behind as they made their way through the damage from the explosion. More smoke. More ash. More bricks. More blood. All Joss could do was guess whether he was really seeing human remains or if it was just visions from what he had seen earlier. The man leading the group was as fierce as ever. He was tall, buff, fit with the tightest beard you'd ever see in your life. His black hat covered all of his head and no one ever knew what his hair looked like.
He held up his very own Holo, watching as orange filled the street on the screen.
"Get back everyone!" he warned as he picked up a rock from the ground. Everyone ducked behind rubble, everyone but Joss. Instead he stood in awe, watching as the rock flew from his hand and straight into the air. It clashed on the ground with a thud and out came a cannon from the wall to the left. Without delay, it fired, sending the cannonball straight towards the opposite wall. It collided with a nasty bang, bringing down bricks and debris.
The squad continued to carry on, Joss looking around every corner with his Holo for any pods possibly forgotten. Out they came to a large intersection filled with various pods.
"Everyone take one each! These pods require patience. They're the strongest I've seen yet. To activate them, groups of people are needed!" the leader yelled. Soon after, everyone was at their own section of the area slowly teasing the traps with rocks and pebbles. Joss got to his knees beside one, and when he looked to the left, he couldn't believe what he saw.
The girl looked back at him with her sparkly blue eyes. Her hair waved in the soft breeze and she looked like she was straight from a Capitol television show.
"Hi," Joss said.
"Hey," she replied, back to concentration on the pod. She gently rolled a rock across the terrain until it came to a spinning stop. Not a single motion was made. Nothing had activated just yet.
"What's your name?" Joss asked.
"Marene. Yours?"
"Joss."
"Cool."
"Yup."
Joss said nothing more and Marene looked at him confused. She gave a small laugh. "Don't you think you should be trying to work out your pod?"
"Nah. It's too tough."
"Too tough? Why'd you sign up for the job anyway?"
Explosions are set off as the other pods activate one by one. Slowly but surely, Marene and Joss become the last people to activate their pods.
"I didn't... I wanted to be a soldier, and now Coin's orders make all soldiers get rid of the pods."
Marene turned around and focused all her attention on Joss. "But all soldiers have to face pods anyway... Didn't you face them in the war?"
"A few. They weren't that dangerous though," Joss replied.
"Name a few."
"Okay, lets see.. There were poisonous rats."
"Was nobody affected?"
"There was one woman in our team bitten by one. Her leg swelled up for a few hours but we had cream to heal it."
"Well I faced a huge wall of prickly vines that shot straight up from the ground," said Marene in a somewhat boastful manner.
"Cool."
"No, not cool," she said. "You like almost getting torn to death?"
"Torn, like thorns that were on the vines?" Joss jokes.
"You're funny."
"I know I am."
Marene picked up a small pebble and threw it straight at Joss. It hit right the tip of his nose and he jerked back in surprise.
"Gotcha."
"No.." he said and he gathered a cluster of stones in his hand. "Got you!"
His hand let them go and they flew through the air, showering down on Marlene as she squealed.
"You think that's funny?" she asked as Joss started to chuckle. "What about this?!"
She stood up and marched forward. Joss raised his hands up in defense, but he didn't need to. Not even his hands could defend him from what would happen next. With her final step, the weight of both a full human and a footstep set off the explosion. The explosion that unleashed a pool of smoking, steaming hot tar that spewed up into the air. It rocketed high into the sky in a geyser and showered down across the whole intersection like rain. Screams. Deafening roars. Blood. Boiled flesh. Burnt skin. Nothing remained of the squad in the end.
But with or without the squad, at least their orders were fulfilled when the tar destroyed all the pods.
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed this quick little oneshot! I've had this idea in my brain for a few weeks. Now I thought it was about time to write it! A bit of a sad ending... Marene blew herself up and the entire squad was killed by the tar.. Umm, lol? If you want to know what I mean by 'tar,' it's the tar wave in Mockingjay Part 2.
If you liked this, maybe you would like my other Hunger Games stories! I have one in-progress right now about the eightieth Games that I'd think you would all love!
If you have some spare time, leave a review if you'd like!
Thank you all so much for reading, byeeeee! :D