Karina and Alexander are both eighteen, and have been in a relationship for a number of years. What happens when they both get reaped in the 95th Hunger Games? Note: Peeta died in his games, Katniss was the only victor, and there was no rebellion.
Chapter Eleven
The next morning, I was woken up by the sun shining in my face. My first thought was, where are we? And then I remembered the events of the night before, and I quickly looked over at Alex. He was still asleep, a thin layer of sweat covering his skin. Despite that, he looked peaceful for the first time since we had arrived in the arena. I debated on waking him up, but decided to let him sleep for a little while longer. I stood up and stretched, then headed outside. I hadn't gone past the door frame when I heard speaking. It was Blaze. Who was she talking to?
"..if you're going to do anything, you should've done it last night. Alex-"
"Which one is Alex?" Another voice asked.
"The guy. Can I finish?" Blaze asked impatiently. "Thank you. Geez Wren, you really need to pay more attention. "Anyway, he had some sort of fit. They got medicine sent to them from their mentors that was supposed to help. I figured it would be easier to get to them, so here." She had stolen the medicine? "I probably should get heading back, before they notice."
"Aw, come on, Blaze," Wren said. "Can I have a little kiss before you go?"
I heard a sigh. "I figure we have about an hour before they wake up," Blaze said. I went back inside and shut the door as quietly as I could.
"Alex!" I hissed. "Alex, wake up!"
"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "I was sleeping you know."
"We have to go! Come on!"
"Why?" he mumbled.
I rolled my eyes. "I'll explain later, we don't have time," I said, grabbing the food and putting it back into the bag. Alex laid back down. "Alexander Nathan Ryder, get up now!" At my use of his full name, my husband raised his eyebrows. "Will you come on?" I said, almost pleading. We had to get a little bit away, before Blaze came back. If not... Well... I glanced over at him as he slowly stood up. The little effort left him panting, and I knew that there was no way he would be able to fight until the effects of the withdrawal left. "I'm sorry love," I whispered. I put his arm back around my shoulder, and supporting his weight, went out the backdoor.
I'm not sure how long we hurried down the street, but when we stopped, the sun was high in the sky and Alex couldn't go any further. We were out in the open though, and I didn't want to stop here. Glancing around, I noticed a black truck sitting in a ditch. "Alex," I whispered. "Do you think you can make it to that?" He shrugged tiredly.
The two of us made it to the truck. Luckily it had a back seat, so we put the front seats forward. I sat down, and Alex laid his head on my lap, exhausted from the long trek. I was tired too, and fell asleep, my head leaning against the window.
I woke up to my arm shaking. Looking down, I noticed Alex was twitching in his sleep, a sign he was having a nightmare. "Alex," I whispered. "Alex, wake up!" He jerked awake, panting and looking around frantically. "You okay?"
"I'm... I'm okay," he said slowly, laying back down. "My chest feels kind of tight though... hurts to breathe..."
"Are you happy now?" I whispered to the ceiling of the truck, imagining the game makers standing in front of me. "This is entirely your fault. If you had just left us alone we wouldn't be here!"
"Hey," Alex whispered, tugging gently on my hand. "Don't. I'm fine."
"What is your definition of fine, Alex? Because this certainly isn't it! We would be fine if we were home with Rachael and our parents. We would be fine if we weren't in these games. Fine is not what we are right now!" I was crying now. Alex didn't deserve this, yet he was suffering because of the damned Capital.
Everything could be traced back to them. The fact that Alex's brother had had to work in the mines when he was still a teenager. The fact that Alex had to go get him because the Games were about to start. The fact that he had been trapped there for hours before anyone cared to go find him, because the Games had started and everybody was in the Square.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, concentrating on stroking Alex's hair. "I'm sorry," I whispered to him. "I wish we could get out of here, both of us, and the baby too."
"Me too," Alex said with a small, sad smile, tracing a circle on my arm. I smiled back, and let my eyes close again.
Here's Chapter Eleven. Almost done with this story, I think. I have the rest of it planned out in my head, I just have to get it down on google docs. Short again I know, but I just wanted to end it here.
