AN: Sorry for another short chapter. Next one will be longer.
Chapter 10- A Thousand Screams
The world descends into complete madness, everyone is fighting and screaming and grabbing as many supplies as they can carry. No one is paying much attention to me so I sprint to the fountain and grab a backpack. Marlon skids to a stop next to me, clutching a bow and a sheath of arrows.
"Here," He presses a knife handle against my palm, "Good luck."
He's gone before I can thank him, sprinting off into the destroyed city. I'm about to sprint off too but then I realise that Marina and Rosemary could still be around and they could need help. Frantically, I scan the town square, trying to find a rush of orange hair or a curtain of Rosemary's blonde hair. Neither are found. "Marina! Rosemary!" I yell their names but receive no reply.
Something slams into me, knocking me off my feet. It's Cynthia, the girl from District 1. She has a jet of shoulder length blonde hair, worn in two plaits. Her eyes are as black as her hair, with an evil glint in them. She is unarmed but my knife is tucked into my belt and I'm unable to reach it.
Why did I put it in my belt? Cynthia has her hands locked around my throat, strangling me in her lack of weapon. I reach up and cover her face with one hand, whilst prying her fingers from my neck with the other. I push her and she falls to the ground next to me. I jump to my feet and start running, managing to grab a fallen pair of night vision sunglasses from the ground as I go.
The city beyond the town square is a maze of crumpled buildings with no life in them. After a few minutes running, I slow to a walk on a street that looks exactly like all the others I've walked down. There's nothing distinguishing to tell them apart. When I begin to run out of breath, I sink to the ground against a wall and hold my head in my hand. All I can think about is my family, watching my every move back home. They're probably still showing the events at this year's Cornacopia- the fountain- where the battle will no doubt be continuing. My head rings with a thousand screams. The screams of this years Tributes and any other Tribute that screamed in the Games in the past.
The building next to me has a ladder fixed to the side, leading into the building. I rise to my feet and climb it to the third floor of the building before my fear of heights kicks in and I climb into the building through the smashed window, earning a cut on my leg. The room I've arrived in has no furniture but there are two doors, meaning a good escape if needed. This will be a good place to spend the night.
As night draws in, I unzip my backpack and tip the contents onto the floor, hoping to find something for may now bleeding, stinging cut. There's a bandage but that's the only helpful thing at this point. I manage to stop the blood and wrap the bandage around my leg before I fall asleep.
I'm awoken by the sound of music and realise that I've missed the canon but am in time to see who had died. Both from District 1 are alive but the girl from 2 is dead. The boy from 3 is gone but the time he was in the Games implies he was killed after the Cornacopia. The boy from 4, the girl from 5, the girl from 6 (the latter also killed after the Cornacopia), the boy from 7 and... Marina. All dead. Marina. Killed at the Cornacopia. Marina. My friend. Marina. I could have stopped it. Should have stopped it. I only vaguely notice the other fallen tributes, the girl from 9, the boy from 10 and the boy from 11. When I close my eyes and try to get back to sleep, all I hear are a thousand screams resounding.
All of them are Marina's.