This chapter is really depressing and gory. Yes, my friends. It is that chapter. Asper dies in this . . .
Blood
(FINNICK)
Johanna and I move slowly down the hall, talking about everything and nothing all at once.
She's in a surprisingly good mood today. She's . . . Smiling. Ignoring the fact that her nails are thoroughly un-bitten.
I haven't seen her this happy in years. It's a refreshing break from her usual cynicism and sarcasm.
"What's gotten into you?" I ask.
"I don't know," she says. "I'm just really . . . giddy today."
"Giddy?"
"Yes, Finnick!" says Johanna, laughing. "Giddy!"
"I see. And what brought on this bought of giddiness?"
We're just outside the Observation Room when Haymitch bursts out of the door, fist clutching a half-empty bottle of liquor to his chest.
"I can't watch," he whispers.
Well, that can't be good.
I stand still for a moment, trying to absorb what he's saying when Johanna grabs me by the hand and quite literally drags me into the room.
Now we're sitting on a velvet couch right in front of the television, Beetee on my right.
On screen, a pair of beaten, bloody children are pried off the ground by hands with even bloodier knuckles. Annie and Asper are the children; the bloody hands belong to the Careers.
Talon grabs a half-conscious Annie behind the arms and loops his hands back behind her head. On the far wall, her light is flickering, threatening to go out.
Asper is still fighting, though. I didn't know someone so small could put up such a fight.
Balinor tries to get him by the neck as Shine gets his hands, but Asper shoves his head forward at the last second. Balinor's nose responds with a sickening crack as blood begins to gush from it.
"Hold him!" Egma cries. She picks up a sword from the ground and limps toward him, wincing as the sword becomes too heavy for her broken fingers.
Shine secures his hands behind his back and Balinor knots his finger's in Asper's silver hair, forcing his head away from his body.
"Balinor," Annie gasps. "You were my friend."
"Somebody has to win, Annie," he hisses. "I'm just doing what I have to in order to get home."
Egma raises her sword above Asper's head as he and Annie yell for one another.
Her sword comes down hard on the back of his neck, but his cries don't stop. Between her weakness and Asper's fighting, Egma has failed to sever Asper's head.
More screaming follows, as well as an ocean of blood as Egma raises and drops her sword seven more times.
Asper's screams aren't wordless, no – they are a mix of cries for help, for Mama, and finally, for them to kill him. It abruptly cuts off with a gurgling noise as Asper begins to drown in his own blood.
Finally, mercifully, Asper's head rolls to Annie's feet, leaving a river of blood to follow.
On the far wall, his light switches off and I know that his suffering is over. His life is over.
Why? Why didn't anyone volunteer for him at the reaping? We're a Career district! There are plenty of eligible boys who could've taken his place!
No, that's not fair. I'm not being fair.
I knew that he would die from the moment his name was called. I chose to try and bring Annie home. I'm just as responsible for his death as anyone.
My mind is going numb.
In the arena, the group is taking a moment to swallow it all before they finish off Annie. I can only pray that she won't suffer too much.
But Annie has other plans.
Talon's knife is tucked into his belt. Annie stomps on his foot, grabbing the knife as he instinctively releases her.
She drags the blade across his throat and blood pours from his neck. When Talon falls to the ground, Shine screams for him and runs over to where he's writing on the ground she holds his head in her lap as he dies.
She completely ignores Annie, who is tossing her knife at Egma.
Egma dies immediately.
A knife in the temple is far too easy a death for her. It's one free of pain and fear. But it's death all the same.
Annie takes off in a run for the edge of the building.
Blood is everywhere now. On the ground, on faces, on clothes and hands and weapons. There's so much of it, too – Annie's, Asper's, Talon's, Egma's, everyone's.
Balinor manages to land three arrows into Annie's left side before she dives over the edge of the building, seemingly to her death.
The cameras circle her as she falls.
She hits the ground and no, it's not ground at all. It's that out-of-place river.
Annie is alive. Annie is alive.
The current carries her downstream for a few miles before she pulls herself up onto the street, where she becomes violently sick.
Once it's done, she begins to sob. It's the most heartbreaking thing I've ever heard. I want to rip off my ears just to escape the sound of those whimpers.
She draws the arrows out of her side, one at a time. She makes no noise of pain, even as she rips out one that was lodged into the bone of her hip.
She does continue to cry, though. I don't think she can stop it. Once she flicks aside the arrows, she goes into the fetal position, clamping her hands over her ears.
For hours, the cameras search for a source of entertainment for the audience. But there's nothing.
There's only Annie, moving mindlessly through the streets, looking for shelter. There's only Shine and Balinor, wrapping their wounds. There's only the other tributes, scouring for water and a meal.
It's after dark when Annie finally collapses from blood loss.
She's not alone for long, though.
Tachs of 12, whistling as he walks, crosses paths with her. He calmly sets his pack on the ground and squats beside her.
Checks her for any supplies, but the only thing she's got is the bottle of pills that I sent her, which he quickly returns to her pocket.
Notices that her blood-soaked hands are pressed against her side. Reaches across her and lifts her shirt a bit, looking for the source of the blood. He makes a gagging noise when he sees it and quickly replaces her shirt.
Then, Tachs gets the bright idea to check her pulse.
"That's interesting," he mumbles once he realizes she's alive. "What am I going to do with you?"
He looks around for a moment before shouldering his pack, looping his arms under her knees and back, lifting her off the ground, and walking away with her in his arms.
He's still whistling that little tune.