The scream. It came from nearby. I don't exactly know why, but I find myself yelling, "Who's there?"
"Skyle!" somebody screams. "Skyle!"
Caddy?
I break into a run. Running past the trees. Past the roots. Towards my District partner. The only person out here who knows my name.
"Caddy!" I yell. "Caddy, where are you!?"
"Skyle! Skyle, help me please!"
"Caddy!"
"Skyle!"
"Hang on, Caddy! I'm coming!"
As I break through the grove, I hear Caddy's shouts get louder. We continue screaming each others names, in hope that maybe there's a chance I can save Caddy. Before something happens. Something deadly happens.
I see her. She's stopped screaming, because she's seen me.
Caddy seems paler than last time I saw her. Her jacket is covered in dirt and dust, ripped in some places. Her fingers are coated with blood. She lies on the ground, her ankle twisted inside a large trap.
"Caddy!" I immediately drop down beside her. "Caddy, are you okay? I'm gonna get you out now, Caddy. I'm gonna get you out."
I pull my knife from my bag. Lay it on the ground beside me as I grab a hold of the trap and try to yank the sides apart. The spikes lining the inside cut through my fingers and send jabs of pain through my body, but I ignore them, hoping that I can find a away to take care of them later.
Somehow, I manage to pry the trap open enough to the point where I jam the blade of my knife in, careful to avoid piercing Caddy's flesh. It takes even more time, but I finally open to trap and set Caddy's leg free, which she quickly yanks out.
Caddy stares at me for a while. Then, out of nowhere, she wraps her arms around me and gives me a large hug. "You're alive."
"Yes," I say quietly. "...wasn't easy."
"What happened?"
"Death. People died. Some trying to save me."
I want to tell her everything. Tell her about Barle. Tell her about Lilac. About Spence and all the other tributes who perished in front of my very eyes. The cannons. The collected bodies. The faces shown in the dead of the night. The weapons. The blood. The nightmares that never go away.
"Everyone is dead, Caddy. We're two of the only ones left."
Caddy looks at the ground. "Skyle," she whispers. "I saw them die as well."
"You did? Who?"
"That boy from 11...he couldn't have been more than 13...he was stabbed...repeatedly...until he couldn't produce any more blood...still, stabbed even after that...he was just the first..."
The death sounds absolutely horrible. I finally know what happened to the District 11 male. Who died 6 days ago, just before the avalanche hit and I came across Lilac's bloody body...
"Do you think you can stand?" I ask. I suddenly have the urge to leave before a Career starts stabbing me repeatedly to death. Caddy nods and wobbles to her feet. She clutches my hand tightly, as I watch the blood begin the seep from her ankle. I'm now healing expert, but the wounds might be able to hold off before they get infected or something. Or worse.
"We have to clean that," I point to Caddy's ankle. "Well, I'm not sure if it's a priority, but we better do something before it just gets worse."
"Skyle."
"I've got some water. Do you have any cloth? Or maybe a sturdy enough leaf?"
"Skyle!"
As soon as Caddy points him out to me, I see him. That boy from 1, armed with two axes and a third one tucked into a holster around his waist. Tall, muscular, no more than 17 or 18. Grinning evilly, having come across here to see if the trap has caught for him an unlucky tribute.
And we are his catch of the day. The tribute throws one of his axes. Thinking fast, I shove Caddy to the ground and look up in time to see the axe literally inches away from me, leaving me nowhere to go.
The axe slams into my shoulder with such force I'm knocked to the ground. The impact loosens the blade, which falls clean from the cut it made. But that only worsens the pain.
I bite back every curse I feel that I'm about to let free, and force myself to get up. But the pain is just too much and every movement only hurts even more.
Caddy's doing worse than I am. She can't get up, what with her ankle and all. But the District 1 male looms over her, and struggles to pull his third axe free.
I finally manage to sit up, but I realize that I might be too late. An armed career, with two weapons in case one misses, over an injured tribute. Someone is going to die right now. And it won't be the person with the axes. I'm powerless. I won't be able to arrive in time to do anything. To save Caddy.
But doesn't mean he won't.
The last time I saw the District 4 male was at the Bloodbath, while he fought with the boy from 3 for a bag. Now, he runs through the trees and lunges himself at the District 1 male. Grabs hold of one is his arms. Preventing him from grabbing that ax. Giving me the chance to stand up. And eye my knife.
Perfect.
No matter what, in combat between Districts 1 and 4, the latter will always lose. But I'm on my feet now, and I still have my knife. And as soon as the District 1 male throws the boy from 4 off him and his axes into the air, I charge and stick my knife forward.
When I pull the blade back, I realize that it's covered in sticky red blood.
The Career crumples at my feet, and I see the gaping hole and the shaft of his stomach. I killed him? I killed this boy from 1? Who could've overpower all of us in-
His axes are gone.
The sickly sound from behind me tells me everything. The District 1 male threw his axes like that because he figured he could be going down. And planned to take something with him.
The axe doesn't look like it buried itself that deep into Caddy's chest. But from its position, I know better. The axe has broken through an important organ. Was it her intestines? Her lungs? Her heart?
The District 4 male doesn't look any better. The axe has cut a deep red line through his throat. Neither of them deserved this. To be killed like that.
"Caddy," I whisper softly, taking Caddy's head into my lap, stroking her hair. The boy from 4 weakly shoots him arm out and grabs my hand. I let him clutch it, giving him something to hang onto, as he's released from this world.
"Skyle?" Caddy's voice sounds hoarse now, and I know it won't be much longer. "Are you there...?"
"I'm here, Caddy. I promise, I won't go. Ever."
"Skyle...can you...stay...?"
"I'm staying. I won't leave you."
The cannon fires. For the dead tribute from District 1. Shortly afterwards, two more cannons fire. And I know that there's no longer a point in staying anymore.
Caddy lies motionless in my lap. Her eyes, that were once a beautiful hazel have become a depressing grey. The signal of death.
I carefully slip my hand out of the District 4 male's grasp. Look at Caddy one more time.
As I walk away, I see it. The mockingjay. Waiting for a song. Looking at me, then the dead bodies, then me, then the bodies. Then me.
"Forget it," I mutter. "I'm not singing today. Neither are they. Because they're dead."
The mockingjay gives me a look. Clearly, it won't take no for an answer.
"Forget it!" I yell. "They're dead, alright!? I watched all of them die in front of my eyes! The Careers killed them! Just like they did with my friends! The Careers killed my friends!"
I push past the mockingjay and head straight for the first cave I see. I collapse as soon as I get inside, and drop my bag down. My shoulder still hurts, so i pour a bit of water onto the cut, which just makes it sting a little more.
I throw my knife straight into the ground. Watch as the blood seeps off it onto the cave floor. Dead, I think. They're all dead.
All my friends are dead.
It takes some time before I leave the cave and glance around. With three tributes gone, there's only three of us left now. Two Careers, one lowly tribute from 10.
I'm no longer myself anymore. Days have gone by where I've watched everyone die. From other tributes to my own friends and allies, Lilac and Barle.
Caddy's death has lit the energy stored within me has been filled to its maximum capacity. With hate. Pure, cold hatred. Which will seep through me and won't go away, until every Career is dead.
This is the price Dominic and his careers must pay. The price for every tribute they've killed. And as the night falls and the faces are shown in the sky, I think of how this must play with Dominic. Understanding that I have won over his ally, killed him with my own weapon.
I can do the same to anyone, now. I can do the same to Dominic. Kill him. And then I'll go home a victor.
But it's not just about me anymore. It's about them. Those who died at the hands of each and every Career.
"Let the 73rd annual Hunger Games begin, Dominic," I mutter, staring up at the night sky, as Caddy's face fades away for the last time. "Let them begin."
"For real."
The Fallen:
6th place-District 1 male. Killed by Skyle.
5th place-Caddy. Killed by District 1male.
4th place-District 4 male. Killed by District 1 male.
Remaining Tributes:
Dominic, District 2.
District 2 Female, District 2.
Skyle, District 2.
The 73rd Hunger Games are now 9 days in and down to the final three. Which one of them will take home the victory of it all? Will the winner be from 2, or 10? Let me hear your guess!
Please review! It lets me know what you think of the story and if there are any more ways i can improve it.
