I know that I kinda introduced this story and disappeared, but I was a bit been busy with my senior year of university. Here's chapter two. Things should hopefully start picking up now.
In my defense, I have been meaning to get back to this. This chapter should be a good one, so I hope that everyone's excited!
Chapter 2: Dormant Volcano Erupts
"Katniss, hey, Katniss! Come on, I need you to help me by holding up the center of the tent!" Peeta's calling brought her back to earth, but she did not move.
"We're…all going to die," she spoke softly.
Peeta had looked up and noticed that Katniss remained rooted to her spot. However, he had not heard what she had said and approached her slowly. "What was that, Katniss?"
"We are all going to die!" she yelled. "You see that mountain in the distance. It's going to erupt and cover this whole area in smoldering lava. We are all doomed if we stay." Katniss knew how crazy she must have sounded, but she had to make everyone understand. The longer they stayed here, the more danger they would all be in. "Look, I know that it sounds insane, but we have to leave! Now!"
Hearing the commotion between Peeta and Katniss, Haymitch and Effie came over from setting up the other tent to find out what was wrong.
"There isn't trouble over here, I hope," Effie screeched in her high-pitched voice.
"Katniss thinks that mountain over there is going to erupt and that we're all going to die," Peeta stated flatly. From the tone of his voice, Katniss could not tell what he was thinking, but she guessed it was that he didn't believe her and he didn't want to stand just as crazy in front of the mentors.
Effie sighed and turned to face Katniss. "That mountain…well, its volcano, that is…hasn't erupted in over seventy-five years! What makes you think that it will, after being dormant for that long, just suddenly disrupt to burst and on this very day?"
"I know that it sounds crazy. You know that group that went hiking? Call them back here to the campsite. Then I'll explain everything. There isn't time to explain it twice." Katniss could see the skepticism that still shone on Effie's face, but the woman did turn to her mentor partner and ask him to call the group's leader.
Katniss could not hear Haymitch from where she stood, but she saw him take out a transmitter radio of some sort and she knew that he was sending the message out to the leader of the hiking group. The group must not have traveled too far because it was not long before they had returned to the campsite…either that or Haymitch had actually expressed that there was urgent business to discuss.
"Okay, everyone is here!" Effie chirped as if calling the group to pay attention. "Now, Katniss, what is so important?"
Stepping to the center of the quickly-formed semblance of a circle to be sure that she would be heard, Katniss told them what she had seen. "After that volcano erupted, the lava rushed through and engulfed this campsite," she told them quickly, trying to speed up the explanations and get everyone to safety. "then, I saw the survivors dying one-by-one in very savage and brutal ways." Finishing, she took a quick glance around at her peers and mentors, their skepticism showing plainly on all of their faces. "Look, I know you don't believe me, but if we don't leave now, we will all die! I just know that this wasn't some random vision. It felt too real! You have to believe me!"
No one spoke. For a very brief time, the only sound was the wind rustling through the trees. Surprisingly, it was Peeta that spoke up. "I think Katniss should probably go home. I'll take her. Anyone else coming?" Little Rue, who had become quite attached to Katniss in the short time since they had met, silently joined Peeta and Katniss away from the group. Her older cousin, whom Katniss only knew by his nickname "Thresh" also joined them.
One of the girls, Glimmer, (Katniss still wondered what kind of parents would name their daughter that) growled slightly. "So dramatic. If anyone's bringing drama, it's going to be me. That's why I'm going back too."
Katniss did not quite understand the other girl's reasoning, but, as she could guess, Glimmer's exit convinced her best friend, Clove, and their boyfriends Marvel and Cato, respectfully, to also leave.
Seeing the small group that had formed around himself and Katniss, Peeta knew that there was no way they would all fit into his small Impala. "We're going to need another car."
"Here, take mine. Just don't wreck it," Gale told them, tossing his keys to Cato.
Peeta decided that he would take himself, Katniss, Rue, and Thresh in his car while the others would go in Gale's, which Cato would be driving. As she made to get into the passenger seat of Peeta's car, Katniss heard familiar voices call to her. Turning back, she came face-to-face with her boyfriend and her sister.
"You'll be okay?" Gale asked her. "Prim and I can come too."
Katniss sighed, conflicted. She wanted them to come, but she also didn't want this...whatever it was to ruin their weekend. The looks that she had gotten from everyone when she told them about what she'd seen proved that they did not believe her. Yes, it had felt real, but what if it wasn't? Could they forgive her if she asked them to come and nothing happened? "No, you don't have to," she decided, "I don't want you to ruin your weekend because of this. Look, both of you, have fun and I'll see you Sunday night, okay?" They nodded and she turned and walked briskly to Peeta's waiting car.
She sat in the passenger seat and, once she had confirmed that she was comfortably situated, Peeta shut the door and jogged over to the driver's side. As soon as he was seated, Peeta signaled to Cato that the other could lead the way and he would follow.
The two cars had not ventured far from the campsite when a tremor jerked the wheels, causing the steering wheel to slip from Peeta's hands. "What the-?" Katniss stole a glance out the rear windshield. She, along with Rue and Thresh and Peeta (who was using the rearview mirror to see) were met with a startling sight. Just as Katniss had predicted, the once-dormant volcano was now actively spewing its red-hot lava once again.
"N-no…" Katniss whispered, still in shock that this was actually happening. "Gale. Prim." She reached for the handle to unlatch the door. It mattered not to her that Peeta was still driving. All she could think about were the endangered lives of her boyfriend and her beloved little sister.
"Katniss, don't!" Peeta yelled in warning, but she barely heard him. He did not matter right now. Unfortunately for her, Peeta refused to just let her ignore him. Taking his right hand from the wheel, he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to the center of the car. His grip was strong, too strong for her to pull from. Quickly, Peeta removed his other hand from the wheel to swipe his fingers over the lock button. Also, he pushed another button on the door that shut off the ability to lock and unlock doors from the buttons on the passenger side; only he had control over the locks. Satisfied that Katniss was safely stuck inside the car, he returned both hands to the wheel and sped up away from the danger.
The rest of the way back home Katniss sat quietly, pouting, in the passenger seat of Peeta Mellark's car. It was childish and she knew that she should be thanking him for saving her life, but she was still shocked and grieved over the unfortunate and untimely deaths of Gale and Prim. Peeta dropped Rue and Thresh off at one of their houses. Katniss was not sure which of the two lived at that house; she had not been paying attention to the conversation. Nor did she really care. All that ran through her mind was the final conversation she'd had between herself, Gale, and Prim before entering Peeta's Impala. I could've asked them to come. They were ready to follow and there was still another car that could've been used. It's my fault that they're dead. If I would've just said…
"Katniss?" Peeta asked again in a whisper that somehow cut through her thoughts of self-pity. Noticing that he finally had her attention, he said, "You seem to have a strange habit of zoning out when I go to speak to you. Don't tell me that you're envisioning another random volcano eruption."
"That's not even funny, Peeta," Katniss bit back softly, but even that lacked much emotion. She just could not muster it right now.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I wanted to just ask you to refresh me on your address so I can take you home."
Home. Katniss was not looking forward to walking through her front door. Several years back, Mr. Everdeen, Katniss's father, had been tragically killed in a work-related accident. Her mother was heartbroken and had withdrawn for weeks, months. At the time, Katniss had been too long to understand how her mother could get so emotionally upset over the loss, but now Katniss was beginning to comprehend. Now that Gale was gone forever, Katniss knew. Peeta was still waiting for her address, so she softly gave it to him and then silence returned to the interior of the small car.
Why her? she wondered. Why was she the one to see the vision of the horror that would shortly befall them all? It didn't make any sense, but she did not have enough time to truly puzzle this because it was not long before Peeta had stopped his car outside her house. She did not immediately exit his car, but instead sat staring sightlessly out the front windshield. Peeta did not care; she knew that he was giving her the time she needed to grieve for her losses, but that was only part of the reason for her hesitation. How would she break the news to her mother? She'd already lost her husband and now her youngest daughter was also dead.
Taking a short breath to calm herself, Katniss reached for the door which Peeta had recently unlocked. "Thank you," she muttered shortly to Peeta as she opened the door.
"Katniss," Peeta stopped her before she could shut the door. She looked to him and her silver eyes met his ocean blue ones. "It'll be okay. Just give it time. Go get some rest and I'll see you at school."
She nodded, grabbed her belongings, and shut the door. Seeing that he would not be driving away until she entered her house, she did so quietly. Maybe if she doesn't hear me come in, I can put off the explanations until…
"Oh, you're home early, Katniss. Where's Primrose?"
Too late. "She's…she's…" All the possible explanations that she could use ran through her head, but they all sounded too fake. "She's not coming back," Katniss spoke quickly and she could see that her mother had not quite caught her words, but she did not care. Dropping her belongings by the door, she raced upstairs to her bedroom and shut the door, locking it before collapsing face-first onto her bed and burying her face in her pillow to soak up the tears she had been attempting to keep inside. Her strong façade broke just like that and all her emotions came flooding out with her tears. She did not leave the room for the rest of the night. Instead, she allowed her tears to take her to the not-so-bliss comfort of a mostly-dreamless sleep. Dreams that she did have that night quickly turned to nightmares as her unconscious mind tormented to her to relive the deaths of her dearest friends and relatives over and over again like a horror movie on repeat.
888
The next morning, sunlight woke Katniss from the blackness of her sleep. How can it be so bright and sunny and cheerful after all that has happened? Wait, maybe that's just it. Maybe it was all just a nightmare. Silently, so as not to wake her mother, Katniss crept next door to Primrose's bedroom. The door was shut and Katniss hoped to find her little sister there, still asleep on this Saturday morning. Secretly, though, she knew what she would find. Cracking the door, slightly, she was not surprised to find the made-up bed empty. It wasn't a nightmare.
A growling in her stomach alerted her that she was hungry. This made sense; she had come home yesterday and gone right to her bedroom, skipping dinner. As much as she wished that she could just skip breakfast, she knew that starving herself to death was not an option. She needed to be there for her mother. She, Katniss, was the only one left from their small family of four members and her mother would be heartbroken if she lost both of her daughters in addition to her husband. No, she had to be strong…for both of them.
Downstairs, she found that her mother was already awake, sipping silently on a mug of coffee. Without a word, Katniss made to grab a box of cereal, a bowl, a spoon, and the milk from the refrigerator. Laying in her spot at the table was the daily newspaper. The front page news story was the very same one that she had been trying to forget. Volcano. Eruption. Dormant. Casualties. Several words stuck out to her from the title of the article and the sub-headings prior to the news story itself.
"Katniss," her mother began softly. She must've caught her eldest daughter staring. "That's…what happened to your sister, isn't it?"
Knowing that there was no point in delaying the answer (her mother would find out the truth eventually anyway), Katniss raised her eyes to look right into her mother's. "Yes," she whispered, sadly.
A silence hovered between them. Neither knew what to say or how to respond. Finally, Katniss's mother picked up her coffee mug, stood up, and left the table. Katniss, without turning around, heard her mother walk up the stairs and into the master bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her.
Forgetting about breakfast (she wasn't hungry anyway), Katniss turned her attention to the newspaper that was laying nearby. What did the news story say? How much detail did it provide?
Dormant Volcano Erupts
A volcano thought dormant erupted late yesterday afternoon. "This volcano hasn't erupted in over 75 years," Caesar Flickerman, a researcher, explained to press after the disaster, "it was completely unexpected."
It is also reported that a local camp was in attendance at a site nearby. Though no report was available at press time, it is believed that there were casualties. Authorities seek any available information…
…and again I am reminded why I do not usually add fictional news stories into my fics. I did not take journalism in college, so I apologize if the little newspaper excerpt sucks.
Also, I did not realize that a year has passed since I posted the first chapter. Sorry about that, guys, I've been meaning to update forever, but this story has longer chapters and it just takes me a long time to motivate myself. Hopefully the wait for chapter 3 won't be quite so long.
Posted: November 17, 2013
