Thank you for the support around the first chapter. This is a long chapter. Be sure to check out my other stories. Enjoy.
Scenario: Where a utopian society run on government power brings teenagers together. Based off The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Emma walked down the stairs at the entrance of the high school and made her way home. She had to stay late that day to finish a project so she could prepare for a fancy dinner with Mia and Jane. Thankfully, her group members were flexible with their schedules in order to accommodate for hers, and the project looked up to her standards for one that was rushed on in three hours.
Throwing on her fake leather backpack, she paced herself in order to reach home as quickly as possible. She wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her because stepping on the colored tiles and avoiding the gray ones was occupying her imagination at that moment. She crashed into a red blob, grabbing hold of the object before she slipped.
"Watch where you're going," the object said.
She looked up, seeing a face that she'd noticed around the school a few times each week. Seeing him so near her sped her heart a bit, for he looked even better up close. Eyes wide, she straightened herself and apologized.
"I'm so sorry. It's probably just anxiety for tomorrow, I guess," she looked away, fiddling with her hands.
Groaning, he replied, "You need to chill. You're not gonna get picked. Just get over it."
She furrowed her eyebrows.
"You don't think there's even a possibility that either of us could get chosen?" she asked while he chuckled half-heartedly.
"I heard that they choose the weakest of the weak to play the game, so it's all staged. You and I are fine."
As he left without another word, she glared at his back. How could he be so insensitive to the fact that there were people younger than them with the possibility of being chosen, and he's laughing that they're probably going to get picked? She muttered to herself how foolish she was to even think that it was worth wasting her infatuation on him and headed home.
. . . . .
Emma woke up the next morning as she always did, slamming the alarm off and having to force herself off the bed. Her hair was a mess, and she only had twenty minutes to get ready before school. Today was an interesting day, for today was the day that the picking for the games would begin. The games lasted over three days, for there were 10 separate areas of the state to choose people from. Emma read a book somewhere called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was one of her favorites, and it captured her mind, making her think that her own government took inspiration from a book that was over 30 years old. She tied her hair into a braid and wore one of her favorite school uniforms. It was still ugly, but it was better than the choice of wearing khakis.
She finished putting on her stockings and plaid skirt and headed downstairs. Skipping breakfast, she immediately rushed to her parents and gave them a hug in case it was their last.
"Mom, Dad, I love you both," Emma rushed. "If anything happens, keep yourselves safe."
"Emma, doll," her father began, "Nothing's going to happen. We've been through this for the past three years. By now, you know that nothing will happen to you."
She nodded, but a tug at her heart gave her that creeping feeling that she was in for more than she could handle.
The auditorium was crowded, but her friends sat in the middle of the main bleachers. She took a spot in between Mia and Jayden, watching as the lights dimmed to black and a video began on the screen.
"Ten years ago, teen pregnancy rates were at an all time high. For every ten women, seven were pregnant. Then, we created the Games. As a result, the rate of pregnancy dropped to the lowest it's ever been. For this, we have the Games to thank. Today, two people in your district, one boy and one girl, will be chosen to represent a pregnant couple. They will be given two months in a forest to attempt and escape. If they find an escape to the hospital before the two month mark, they survive. Any couples after that will be given ten days to escape. For each couple after the first that escapes in ten days, the rest will have a day taken off their time until all couples have either escaped or died. If the one of the two people dies, the other will die. We hope that this serves as a lesson to teach you that pregnancy is not a joke.
"It is most likely that the girl and boy chosen will be from separate schools, so we doubt that you will know your partner. Today, we are choosing representatives from Area 10, the last area for choosing before the Games."
Emma gulped. This is it. It's okay, Emma. You're not going to get chosen. There are thousands of other people who could be. Remember what everyone said, she thought.
"For the male representative," the voice read. People were holding their breaths everywhere. Silence. "Troy Jason Burrows of Harwood County High."
Emma felt tears well up in her eyes. She turned to her left and saw him walk down the steps of the bleachers, an expression on his face as if he hadn't just told her yesterday that there was no chance they would be picked. She faced forward and sighed, remembering that it was nearly impossible for two people of the same school to be chosen.
"For the female representative, oh wow. Emma Marie Goodall of Harwood County High."
Emma stood up, no feeling in her heart except confusion. The tears that threatened to spill did not come out. She couldn't hear the sound of Gia crying or the gasps around her. All she could see was Troy telling her that they wouldn't get chosen. She walked down the steps, taking the hand of a guard to help her walk outside to the car waiting for them. She slid inside the limousine and stayed silent.
She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking about her parents and their reaction to seeing her face on the television screen. A sob. They probably regretted having a child because of the pain that came with imagining her dead. Another tear. She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. Emma looked up and saw Troy staring at her intensely.
"S-stop staring. It's all your fault," she whispered.
"How the hell is it my fault?" he answered lowly, being sure not to yell and grab the guard's attention.
"You told me yesterday we would be safe. Because of you, I told myself that I'd be okay. I lied to my parents this morning when I agreed that everything would be okay. It's not. I don't know what to do."
"Can you stop crying, please? It's not my fault that you let your guard down."
"It's not my fault that you told me to!" she cried and tried to punch him, but he held her wrist. "I can't protect them. I can't take care of them now. They're going to grow old and wonder where I am to help them, but I'll be dead!"
The rest of the ride was silent as Troy did not comfort her on her last statement. He looked out the window, letting himself know that there was a chance that they would die.
. . . . .
The car parked in front of a large hotel near the capital of the area, and they were escorted to their room.
"Alright, my loves! How are you dears?" a man walked in and clapped his hands. He looked at Emma and frowned. "My darling, what's wrong? Don't cry, love. Tomorrow, we're going to make you look even more beautiful than you already are. First, let's show you around."
They were shown around the kitchen, bedrooms, living room, and balcony. A small home for them to temporarily stay until it was time for the Games. Saying goodbye, the man left the two alone. Emma looked to Troy, who gave her a small smile.
"What do you want to do?" he asked.
"Well, first I'd like to actually introduce myself since we've just been fighting," she smiled. "I'm Emma. And I'm a senior at Harwood."
"I know who you are, Emma. You and I have Biology together. I'm Troy, and I'm a senior."
She frowned at the fact that she'd never seen him in Biology until she realized that she sat in the front and was always late from Photography class.
"Can I get a hug?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow. "It's just to say sorry for being rude earlier."
He reluctantly agreed and scooped her up due to the height difference.
. . . . .
Emma couldn't sleep.
Sleeping wasn't an option when the thought of death occupied her thoughts. She sat up and threw on a robe. Opening the balcony, she took a seat and stared out at the black sky. Lights twinkled from every building in the city, even after midnight. Every room had a person with a different story. Hundreds of different stories for how they got there, what they were doing, why they were who they were. She just hoped that she would one day be able to tell hers.
"Hey," Troy sat down.
"Oh, hi."
She looked back ahead, feeling slightly amazed that they would coincidentally be awake at the same time. She dreamt back about how one of the stories of the people in the lit rooms was her parents. They wouldn't be sleeping right now. They'd be attempting to call her and tell her how much they loved her. She sighed sadly. She turned to Troy, and when he didn't seem to dislike her company, she rested her head on his shoulder.
"It starts today."
She closed her eyes, nodding at his statement.
"I don't want to go to the forest," she whispered. "When it starts, who knows how long until it ends."
"Why are you so bent on the fact that you're going to die?" he looked at her.
"Well, it's going to be tough to stay alive while trying to find you, so I'm definitely going to die right after it starts. And when I'm gone, you'll find someone else to be with and take care of her."
He turned so she lifted her head again, anger in his eyes.
"You realize how stupid you sound, don't you?" he asked. "We're together in this. It is my job to be yours and to protect you. I'll make sure that you're safe. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."
She grinned, unable to stop the smile from spreading on her face.
"Don't ever doubt my loyalty to you. My sole purpose is to be there with you when it gets tough. I'm not going to take you for granted. They're going to stick something in you that simulates a child. I have to protect you and whatever the hell they stick in you."
She cringed at what he just said about the simulated child.
"How do you know all of this?" she asked.
"My friend was chosen the first year that he was eligible. He made it, but he died right after from cancer. He told me everything they do because he wanted to make sure that if it ever happened to me, I'd be able to protect my girl."
As if their exchanges could not get any more cheesy, she hugged him tightly, knowing that if she tried letting go, someone else could take him away.
. . . . .
Time flew by. It was time for the Games to begin. Emma took a sip of a liquid that would knock her unconscious, and she woke up ten seconds later on the grass in the middle of a forest. She knew not to move from the circle surrounding her until the alarm sounded or else she would die. The area she was in was vacant of human life as far as she could tell, so she feared for Troy's life. She longed for that night they spent together.
Her stomach felt weird after drinking that liquid. It must've been the simulation. She looked at the watch they gave her and remembered there was a way to send out her distress signal. She realized that anyone could see her signal if she issued one, so she had to hide in a bush and wait for him to send his signal. How did she know which one was his? She noticed her suit had red lining on it, so he probably had red lining on his, too. She opened her watch and saw for any distress signals. She could only see a white one coming from the center of the forest, probably being used as a way to mark how far away she was from the center.
Suddenly, she heard an alarm, and she knew it was time to hide. Her heart raced as she searched for a place to hide from sight, and she found a bush spotted with red berries. Knowing they weren't harmful berries because her mother was a botanist, she jumped inside and waited. Opening her watch, she counted five signlas coming from around her. Two orange, one yellow, one green, and one blue. She waited ten more seconds, and the second wave of signals came in.
She found no red.
Was she doing this properly? Was he signal even red? What if someone was trying to hurt him and his signal was actually blue, but she didn't know? What if he was dead?
The third wave of signals came in. No red. She decided it was best to wait for a few minutes in case people were coming her way.
She looked down and saw a red signal. Right next to the center. She gasped quietly, knowing that was her Troy waiting for her. He left the signal on for a few more seconds, not moving, and disappeared. She knew where he was, carefully got out of the bush, and ran.
A large thud shook her out of her running state. Someone was behind her in the trees. She ducked into a bush, hearing a shot. Footsteps approached her bush, and she held her breath. If they couldn't hear her, they'd think she was dead. Besides, she guaranteed that no one would want to touch a bush without knowing if it was poisonous or not, and she bet she had the greatest knowledge.
The footsteps left. How was it this easy? She relaxed, opening her watch and seeing a quick red signal. She sent out her own, waiting for his to move. It did. He was coming for her.
. . . . .
It had been thirty minutes, and she was still in the bush. She sent out a few signals, only one given a response. A tear blurred her vision. She was on television right now, the whole country watching her crying in a bush.
"Emma?" someone whispered.
She looked out through a crack and saw Troy standing, ready to fight. She took a second to swoon but finally got up. She held onto her gun in case someone was waiting for her. Why would they be waiting if they could shoot Troy? She shook her head and ran to him. He grinned boyishly and lifted her up.
"Emma," he sighed into her hair, "you're okay."
"Troy, we have to go. Somebody's here."
"I found a spot next to the center where there's water. Follow me."
Emma nodded and ran behind him. Suddenly, a boy jumped down from a tree, a gun pointing at Emma.
"Well, look what we have here," he said, "a woman. It's tough to find any girls here because they're all already dead."
Emma whimpered as Troy pulled out his gun.
"Leave her alone," he commanded.
The boy smiled and walked closer to Emma, brushing a piece of hair out of her face. His hand went down to her cheek, and she flinched away, grimacing.
"You are so beautiful," he said. She nearly gagged and ducked as she heard a gunshot, and the boy was dead.
She gasped and ran to Troy, and the two went to the pond.
. . . . .
Seeing the fresh water made Emma cry in joy, and she jumped in the water. It was so cold compared to the hot and humid weather.
"My makeup artist would probably kill me for washing off my makeup," she joked. Troy finished setting up a tent using the kit inside his bag. "Don't you want water?"
"Already have some in a bottle. How'd you know it was me sending the signal?"
"Our suits have red lining on them, so we're Team Red. I figured your signal would be red. How'd you know it was me?"
"Right after I sent the call, I saw only one person send a signal back. I figured if I sent it later than everyone else, no one except you would see it because they'd all find each other before that," Troy replied.
She grinned and started filling her bottle with water. She stopped when she saw something move from her peripheral vision. She turned and saw a girl walk up.
The girl was stunning compared to Emma. She made the female red feel insecure almost immediately.
"It looks like we have someone here already," the girl said, her voice causing Emma to shake of intimidation. "Damn, your guy's hot, Red."
Emma almost growled of possessiveness, causing the girl to laugh.
"Now, let's see. I don't have that much time before someone comes and tries to kill me, so let's get this over with," she said as she pulled out a sword.
Emma took out her gun, getting ready to shoot until she saw another person appear from the shadows. Was that, was that Jake Holling? He shot the girl, letting her body fall in front of the tent.
"Jake Holling?" Emma asked. Jake smiled and ran to her.
They hugged, Emma elated at the fact that her friend was here to support her.
"Look, Em, I have a group of people with me who are all injured. They're my friends, so they won't hurt you. I need to bring them here since there's water," Jake rambled.
Emma nodded, telling him to bring them as soon as he could, and he ran away to get the others.
Night time fell before he returned, and Troy was silent.
"Hey, are you okay?" Emma asked.
"Yeah," he grumbled.
"No, what's wrong?" she grabbed his hands before he could go in the tent.
"Who's the Jake guy?"
"Is my Troy... jealous?" she giggled.
"No, leave me alone," he muttered.
"You're definitely jealous, but don't worry," she hugged him. "He can't protect me like my hunky man can."
Troy chuckled, "Hunky? Are you high?"
She laughed and shook her head, leaving to go help the injured people coming in.
. . . . .
Days passed, and Emma got to know the friends that Jake brought. There were Jake and Gia from area 2, Jason from area 4 who couldn't find Kim, and Lauren and Antonio from area 9. Jason was suffering from a hit on the head that was causing him to hallucinate. They didn't know how to help him, so they had to let him count down his days.
One day, Jake was missing.
Emma woke up especially early that day to practice her knife throwing, and she noticed that Jake was gone from his watch post. She searched around, whispering his name, but he didn't respond. She decided to give him a few hours before she told the others when they woke up.
She was about to begin throwing knives when she saw a note on his post. She picked it up. It was a slip of paper with coordinates. She opened her watch, and instead of sending a signal, looked for the coordinates of the place on the slip. She woke up Troy, much to his discomfort and a lot of whining, but he went with her to the location. It was a small hill on the side of the cement pathway with a cage. The cage was empty and frankly starting to freak Emma out.
"Hey, look at this," Troy said while pointing to buttons. "What could this be?"
"I think it's for a code to unlock the cage. But there's no clue."
"Check the coordinates. Do you see anything?" Emma shook her head.
She did she a bit of shadow on the paper like there was a watermark.
"Wait, I see something."
She held the paper to the sun, and she found five letters.
Y
Emma entered the letters into the system, watching as a dog was lifted through a tube into the cage, and the cage itself unlocked.
"The dog's name must be Poppy. Wait, it has a collar," Troy said.
Poppy
If you are seeing this, I love you.
Remember Us Now And Whenever Agony Yearns New Optimistic Wanderers.
Emma reread the message until she realized, "Troy, this is from Jake. The dog is from Jake."
"How the hell did he get a dog here? And what the hell does that message mean? Agony Yearns New Outgoing Wanderers? This is bull," Troy cried.
"Why are the letters of that line capitalized, but the others aren't?" Emma asked. She looked at all of the first letters. "Oh my goodness."
RUN AWAY NOW
Suddenly, Emma heard a ticking sound and turned to her left. The cage was operating a bomb, and they had to run immediately. Troy grabbed Poppy and sprinted to the pond, Emma leading the way. She pulled out her gun, attempting to shoot a guy a few feet away. He appeared unarmed, for he sprinted away just as she shot.
Troy grabbed Emma, letting go of Poppy, and they fell to the ground. He acted as a shield around her, and the last thing she saw was smoke everywhere, the sound of a bomb sending her to unconsciousness.
. . . . .
"How many weeks has it been, Troy?" someone asked. Emma opened her eyes, grabbing her forehead as the world spun for a few seconds.
"Four, five at the most. We have to start making progress. Travelling a mile every day isn't going to work. Oh, Emma," Troy sighed of relief.
Was she in his lap? She groaned, placing his hand over her face to attempt to cover her eyes from the light. She could practically feel him smiling.
"Emma, Jake is dead. We found his body floating at the shore of a lake nearby. The dog he gave us was apparently the one you wanted for your 15th birthday."
How did he know all of this? She sat up, confusedly looking at the golden retriever puppy sleeping next to her. It had a scratch from when Troy dropped it, but other than that, it seemed perfectly fine.
"You wanted a puppy?" Emma nodded in response.
She held Poppy in her arms, watching the puppy adjust to its new position. She looked up at Troy with a smile.
"He still remembered."
The afternoon went by like a bore. The only injured person was Emma, so Troy had to carry her since her foot was damaged.
"This is so boring," she whispered.
"Quiet, we're in enemy area," Jason said.
They travelled uphill, downstream, through a field of grass, and finally stopped at a clear patch of earth in the middle of trees.
"It seems suspicious that there's a perfect spot to stay," Jason remarked. Gia told him to stop complaining about what he was given when she was pausing from moping over Jake's death.
That night, Emma couldn't sleep. She was heartbroken that she wouldn't be able to say "thank you" to Jake, nevertheless say anything to him. Her "big brother" was gone, but he never stopped loving her. The fire was completely dead, so it was just her in the middle of the earth, waiting for her night watch to end. She heard the crunch of leaves from behind her.
"Who's there?"
Was that Jason?
"I know someone's there, and I'm going to kill you if you come near me or my friends!" Jason was looking right at her.
"Jason! It's me, Emma!"
"You killed Jake! You murderer! The real Emma would never hurt Jake! She's on night watch!"
"Jason, I am on night watch! I'm-" Emma couldn't finish as she took out her knife and aimed.
Jason was charging at her with full speed, the amplitude of their exchange waking the others up. Throwing her knife, the next thing she knew, Jason was dead. He fell to the ground, silent.
Emma was traumatized. She had killed someone without meaning to. She screamed until Troy covered her mouth and told her to calm down. Tears rushed from her eyes as she could feel the agony of Jason's family members, possibly Kim if she was alive, and anyone who really knew him.
"It's okay, Emma. It's okay," Troy cooed in a desperate attempt to calm her down. She heaved breaths when he uncovered her mouth, trying to catch the air that she lost during his death.
"I'm so s-sorry, Jason. I'm so sorry," she cried.
The wind swayed the trees as if Jason was attempting to let her know that it was okay.
. . . . .
The rest of the journey was numbing. Emma was secluded, save for when someone tried to talk to her. Her thoughts were occupied with Jason's death and his face before he lost his life. She didn't feel pain anymore. She felt empty, numb.
She felt as if the people watching her through their screens could feel her numbness. She looked at a camera from one of the trees, sending a signal with her eyes that everything was not okay. She glared at the camera as a way to intimidate the people leading the Games.
But they had not done anything to her. They provided her with a watch, gun, knife, and bottle, and she turned herself into a monster.
"No, Emma, you're not a monster," Gia hugged her. She must've said it out loud.
She had killed Jason, meaning Kim couldn't survive, meaning both the families of Kim and Jason were devastated. She had indirectly killed two families.
At that moment, she understood that this was what she was signed up for the second that she stepped into that car. Pain settled down in place of the numbness she felt earlier, and she gratefully accepted true pain over agony. Poppy walked beside her, staying even quieter than she did. She remembered the message on Poppy's collar.
Remember Us Now And Whenever Agony Yearns New Optimistic Wanderers.
Poppy was the closest she would get to having Jake, so she held the golden retriever in her arms, making sure that she wouldn't let this piece of him get away.
. . . . .
There were two weeks left until the two months ended. Which meant 4 days until the final 10 countdown arrived.
The 14th to last day was when real trouble started.
Emma's leg had a cut in it that no one had seen before, and the lack of attention caused it to form an infection.
"Emma, we don't know what to do. Our best shot is getting to the hospital ASAP," Antonio told her.
Emma took out her watch and had an idea.
"How many of us are there?" she asked.
"Five," Gia said.
"Okay, and we know that four died in front of at least one of our eyes. So that means we have eleven people to watch out for."
"Wait, I remember hearing that area 1 died of these red berries they found on a bush," Gia added.
"Okay, so we have nine people to watch out for. It's guaranteed that since it's morning time, at least one person has strayed from their group to find food. If I turn on my signal, someone's gonna see it."
"Wait, what? Why are we attracting people?" Troy asked.
"They'll think we're idiots. They're gonna have their watches on to look out for signals from their team since they've strayed. If they suddenly see a red one, they'll know they have someone to kill. And as far as I know, most people think Gia, Lauren, and Antonio are dead. That means they'll call some backup to fight you and me, Troy. They'll probably only call one other person because we've been under the radar, so they'll think we're weak. Because of that, they're gonna come two at a time, and after two or three calls, we should have almost every area dead."
"What's the point of this plan, though?"
"If at least one person is dead from each area, then the other person will die."
Gia cried, thinking about her upcoming death. Emma consoled her quickly before continuing.
"We have to find a way to get Gia out, too."
So with that, Emma turned on her signal for ten seconds, being sure to count. After ten, she turned it off, hiding in a bush. She was waiting for someone to come as soon as possible before her legs cramped, and she was rewarded with the sound of nearing footsteps. She aimed her gun, seeing two more people come. They must've been part of a group. Emma saw the others pointing guns, and when she was ready to shoot, she made a clicking sound as a signal.
Five gunshots fired all at the same time, killing the three people.
"Okay, that's round one. We've got both members of area 7 and a girl."
"Wait! That's Kim!" Gia exclaimed.
Emma walked up to Kim's body and took her backpack. She emptied the contents, finding a picture of Kim and Jason. She sighed of regret for what she had done and placed the backpack on the ground. They dragged the bodies into the stream, watching them float away.
"Alright, here's round two," Troy said. He sent a five second signal this time.
They knew to make the signals different lengths so no one caught onto their plan. They ducked into the bushes, aiming guns in five different directions.
Two people of different colored suits arrived, pointing guns. How they were all not able to catch onto her plan, Emma didn't know.
Click.
The two people were dead, one boy and one girl.
"I think those were the partners of the two people we killed," Troy said.
"How can you tell?" Lauren asked.
"They're wearing the same colors as the other two."
"That means all of areas 3 and 6 are dead," Antonio said. "We still have 5 and 8."
"How can we get one person from each area?"
"I have an idea," Lauren said. "Antonio and I will go to one side of the forest and ring our alarms. Since they think we're dead, they'll have to investigate. You three stay here and ring your own."
"Wait," Emma interrupted. "What if this is the last time we see you?"
"Then... we'll see you in another life," Lauren smiled sadly and hugged Emma.
"Since this is the last time I see any of you because Jake is dead, I just want to thank you for treating me like a family. I don't think any of us would have known we existed before this, so at least we have one reason to thank the Games," Gia stated as she brushed some tears away.
Emma wiped a traitor tear and hugged Gia.
Emma added, "I would also like to thank you guys. I've said some horrible things in the past, and I regret all of that. Like Gia said, we've all been a family that's had its own problems but in the end, we'll always be toge-"
A gunshot.
Gia fell to the ground, a wound through her head from the bullet. She was already long dead, so the four had no time to waste. They took out their guns, and Lauren spotted a girl in the nearby bushes. She shot, hitting perfectly and destroying another opponent. Antonio found a boy in the trees and threw a knife. It didn't hit the boy, but he lost his balance and fell, the height of the fall being the reason of his death.
With no time to mourn, they all ran.
"Area 8! We still have to kill Area 8 before they find the hospital!"
"Antonio, we have to find the hospital first! There's no time to waste!" Troy yelled.
Emma couldn't run that quickly, for the infection in her leg was spreading rapidly. Troy scooped her up, picking up the pace as more gunshots could be heard in the distance.
"They're here!" Lauren cried.
The gunshot became louder until Emma could practically hear them zooming by her head.
"Everyone hide!" she screamed.
Troy and Emma ducked into a bush while Lauren and Antonio stayed in the other. There was silence for a full minute, and it was driving Emma insane. She saw a camera pointing at the two inside the bush, and she gave it a look of pure horror.
She heard two voices whispering.
"David, are they there?" the girl asked.
"Shut up, Hailey."
Emma glared. The guy had no right to treat Hailey like that. She took out her gun and tilted her view so she could see where they were.
"I just want to know if you see them, that's all," Hailey said.
"Will you please shut up? Hell, you're so stupid."
Emma saw a foot, and what he just said was enough for her to shoot him in blind fury. She saw the others were pointing their guns.
Click.
Both of the people were dead. Emma was upset that Hailey was shot, but who knew how powerful the girl was. She got up and brushed herself off, sighing and thinking back at everything that happened that morning.
Attention, a speaker said, because it seems we have an alliance happening here, we have decided to change the rules. Today is the last day to find the hospital. Whoever finds it first survives. Even if both members of the other group are alive, they will die. Thank you, and enjoy the Games.
Emma looked at Lauren and Antonio who mirrored her expression of disbelief.
"Emma, we won't hurt you. Please, don't hurt us," Lauren cried.
"No, no. Of course not," Emma said breathlessly. "I guess this is goodbye."
"Yeah. Thank you for everything," Antonio said.
"Good luck," said Troy. "We're glad we could meet you both."
Lauren and Antonio nodded and ran away. Emma hugged Troy, tears spilling from her eyes.
"We're alone, Troy. We have no one," she sobbed. Troy felt himself crying too.
"We are. It hurts so much. Not even Poppy's here."
Emma couldn't even imagine what happened to Poppy. She spent another ten minutes crying before she realized that Lauren and Antonio were well on their way to finding the hospital.
"How do we know where to go?" Emma asked. "How did we know where to go this whole time?"
"I don't know."
This whole time, they had been travelling without any knowledge.
"Did your friend say anything to you about the hospital?" Emma asked.
"He did mention something about the most dangerous area."
What was the most dangerous area? Emma couldn't think of anything that could be as dangerous as-
"The center," Troy stated. "That's where the hospital will be."
"Why didn't anybody go there?" Emma asked.
"Haven't you ever read the Hunger Games? That's like the deadliest place!" he exclaimed.
. . . . .
The sun was halfway done setting, and Emma was extremely close to going mad.
"How long do you think it'll take us to get there?" she asked.
"Probably another ten minutes. Do you want to run?"
She nodded, and they watched their radars to see how close they were getting to the center. After four minutes, they stopped and saw a light coming from the center. Walking closer, they noticed that there was a small building. They raced down, being sure to hold onto each other's hands.
"Ready to go in?" Troy asked as they reached the entrance.
"More than ever," Emma said.
. . . . .
Twenty four hours later, Emma was back home. Headlines blazed the screen - Emma and Troy this, Troy and Emma that. She turned off the television, hugging her parents as tightly as possible. Troy walked in through the front entrance, smiling when he saw her parents.
"Thank you, thank you! You saved my daughter!" Mr. Goodall exclaimed.
"Actually, it was her doing," Troy smiled at her and winked.
In that moment, Emma had no doubt that Troy would be there by her side for the rest of her life, and honestly, she was completely for that proposition.
Thank you for reading. This was a long chapter, so reviews would be appreciated! I would especially like to hear suggestions for future topics from the readers!
