Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 30
Chaper 12
I wake up from the nightmare with Peeta and Gale sitting on the ground both looking down at the grass next to me, then I realise I should have stayed asleep as this nightmare is happening whilst I am awake.
I look around and notice Frostine, Helsa and Fergus all sobbing. I remember the feeling when I was first picked as tribute for 12, your mind goes blank, everything around you disappears the only thing you can think of is how you are going to die. No one else matters only this time we don't get to say goodbye to our loved ones, we can't wave to our fellow districts before boarding a train. No, today we are in the Games without even knowing it.
"Well this is just great, you win one games then get picked to go in another, just because you won. Now there's another one we have just happened to stroll into" Johanna says waving her axe around. I am tempted to tell her to calm down, that reaction will not be helping the others who have not seen the inside of an arena before. But I know what she is going through, perhaps it's better to let it all go now rather than when we have to fight to stay alive.
"Do you think it's like before, only one victor" Peeta says pulling up some grass. I gaze at his hands as he grasps it tightly before letting it drop to the ground. I have seen this before and remember Finnick with his rope, he said it was to let him focus, for his brain to forget everything that hurts.
"I don't know, but one thing's for certain if we can get to the tower we can stop it all" I reply. Gale overhears and slaps his hands on his legs. "That's it, we get to the tower break in and kill Joanus, it will end all of this" he says confidently.
"Gale, it's not as simple as that, you may at some point have a decision to make whether to kill someone in this group, Katniss, me, Johanna? Could you do that with no thought" Peeta says. Gale ponders the question for a moment, he looks up from the ground and stares out over the hills. "I guess I have to; you both have done it before you tell me" he replies.
"No Gale, in the games before, everyone in the arena were strangers I only had Peeta, even when we had allies you couldn't let your guard down for one second. We know everyone in this group; it would be like killing one of your friends" I say.
"We stick together, like you said we are all in the same team, we all help each other. If we stay together no one will be able to pick us off" he says. He is right; we must carry on but make sure no one gets left behind. I take several deep breaths and tell the group the plan, it seems to cheer one or two of them up but I can see some are still visibly shaking.
We all begin moving once more towards the area we found on the holo. It may have been the reason Joanus found us but we now have the upper hand on anyone else in here, we can find things quicker. My worry now is what the blank area is; could it be like the pods in the Capitol ready to fire on us with bullets or flames, or what I am hoping places where we shouldn't be that might help us find food, water or even to escape.
We reach a small dip between two hills and we can now see the round shape in front of us. We still have no idea if it's a water tower but we are close enough to it now to avoid getting lost.
"Maybe 30 more minutes and we will be there" Gauis says.
I begin to slowly edge my way down the slope and notice my footing beginning to give way. I shake my head and take a few more steps. This time I stumble and put my hands out behind me to stop my fall. "You ok Katniss, those boots not great for rock climbing hey?" Tenney says. I grin, but just as I am about to lift myself back up I feel the ground move. "Did you feel that" Gale shouts over. "Yeah must be something going underneath, I bet they have tunnels all over the place" Peeta replies. I manage to get to my feet and brush my hands, then all of a sudden a loud thunderous roar echoes around the hills. We all freeze in our spots; I look up expecting another hovercraft to be blasting above us then the ground begins to move once more. "This doesn't look good" Peeta shouts trying to stay on his feet.
Immediately after the words had left Peeta's lips some of the rocks around my feet begin to roll down the hill. I feel myself rising upwards as though I was on an escalator, I turn round to look at Peeta. A crack has formed between us and I stand motionless, watching it snake its way around the ground getting larger. "Earthquake, grab on to something" Fergus shouts. I slam myself to the ground grabbing onto anything I can find, roots, grass, stones. Everyone is now lying face down on the floor when the loudest noise I have ever heard makes me cover my ears. Huge mounds of rock banging into each other, I am helpless and watch Tenney, Frostine and Helsa disappear below us. Johanna gets up and begins to run towards me, I put my hand out to give her something to grab on to and then the ground beneath her feet drops away. At the last second she manages to find enough energy to throw herself through the air, almost as if the time had been slowed down I watch the desperation on her face.
Her hand grabs mine and she falls on top of me; I feel her slipping down my back and her hands frantically grasping at my legs. I turn and put my hand back towards her and she manages to cling on. The ground is bouncing up and down violently; Gale who was just a few feet away from me is now drifting further and further away as though he was an iceberg in the ocean. My eyes are rapidly scanning for Peeta; I can't see him "Peeta!" I scream at the top of my voice, but it's drowned out by the smashing of rocks. I feel a pull on my arm and turn my head Johanna begins to wave at me and points.
Its Peeta, the ground he was on has moved up above us and he is peering down from the edge he is clung onto. Despite the horrific situation we are in, I am relieved that Peeta is ok. Then his section drops from the sky and falls into darkness.
I can't breathe; it feels like someone has my neck and is closing their grasp to cut off the last remaining air from my lungs only no one is. I can't be bothered anymore, what's the point, we are all going to die here in this death trap and the rest of Panem will fall to Joanus. My children will have the life I had in fear that the Games may one day come for them.
Even if 13 retaliates, even if they try to defend the soil, they can't launch attacks on their own people. If Joanus gets his troops into Panem we would have no way of finding them on such a large scale. He would then be able to eat up every last bit of hope from the inside out.
The dust settles and the ground becomes still once more. Johanna is still clinging on to me, almost breaking the skin on my back with her nails.
My ears are still ringing from the sound of rocks banging against themselves, but in the distance a voice. "Everyone ok?" it's Gale, I look over towards the voice and he is stood on a section of earth no bigger than a table with drops all around him. Johanna shouts back "We are ok, but we can't see Peeta and Tenney, Helsa and Frostine went down over there" she says. "Yeah we good" Fergus shouts with Gauss staggering next to him. "Nothing a drop of water won't fix anyway" he adds. "Peeta" I whisper to myself "Why, why did we do this?" "Come on lets' see, he might be ok Katniss, he might be just lower down" Johanna says pulling my arm to get me up to my feet. We edge our way over to the side of the rock we are on and look over the side. I am so scared, shaking, I am not sure I want to know. What if he is at the bottom of a deep cavern lifeless.
"See, I told you, he's a fighter just like you Katniss" Johanna says. I open my eyes and there some 50 feet below us Peeta is staring back up at us. He looks rather comfortable considering he is on a ledge barely bigger than himself. "Ouch" he shouts up to us almost laughing. "I was going to say jump to me but I guess that wouldn't have been a good idea" he adds. Once again, at the thought of losing Peeta a tear rolls down my cheek. That boy, he is either really lucky or really unlucky and I can never work out which it is.
"Don't suppose you have any rope up there do you" Peeta shouts. I turn round to look, Stipar, he was carrying all the wire we had when we got separated by the force field.
Just then we hear a thud next to us, Gale has somehow managed to traverse across to us and now there is 3 of us all huddled together. "Can't he jump up; you know with his legs" Fergus says sitting down on the ground across from us.
"Peeta, use your legs, try and get a grip somewhere and pull yourself out, your strong, you can do it" I say, partly to get him to at least try but mostly to reassure myself. He looks back at us with a sense of amazement of what I had asked him to do, Jump up 50 feet from a ledge just a foot wide. Thinking it back to myself it is actually a crazy idea, but we don't have any other options and who knows if it will start again. We need to get away from this area.
Peeta stands looking up at the wall of earth and begins stepping to the left and then the right mapping out things he can grab onto, roots, rocks, pipes, as long as they are secure enough it doesn't matter. Then as if in a split second he leaps up. I want to close my eyes, but before I can even blink he has jumped onto a thick root and is frantically swinging to get a foothold onto a rock. The three of us look on helplessly as he manages to get his left foot onto a rock just before the root begins to come away from the wall of mud. He leans his whole body onto his standing foot and pushes up. Unbelievably in just 2 leaps he has his hands on the edge near our feet. Gale pushes between us and puts out his hands to help him up, as if he wanted to save him. Perhaps he knows that we need Peeta if we are ever going to get out of this place.
"What about the others, they must be in the same situation I was" Peeta says scanning the surroundings.
"If they are we have no way of getting to them. That gap is more than a hundred feet; we can't get across that with what we have" Gale says. "We can't just leave them to die, I won't" I reply. Then I remember my holo, I can see them on it maybe there would be a way of contacting them. If not to speak to them maybe just to let them know we know where they are.
Joanus located us from my last transmission attempt as we entered the arena, it won't make a difference now if I use it. I switch it on and check the map scanner. Our dots are shown instantly, then after a couple of seconds I can see the others and even better they are all moving together. "They made it, they are alive" I say happily. "That's great Katniss, perhaps if we go round we can meet back up with them" Peeta says. "We carry on to the water tower, we need that first and then we can see where they are from then" Gale replies stubbornly. I agree with him though, it will be no use if we haven't gotten the water, after all it's why we were here when this happened anyway.
It doesn't take us long to reach the edge of the tree's, we can see below us a small building and to our delight a water tower. Now our problem is getting to it, if Joanus is anything like how barbaric his father was, no doubt it will not be a case of simply walking up to it and pouring into our bottles. There could be traps or even worse "contestants" if that's what we are to be called now.
I notice Gauis walking up behind me and he stands there silently as if he was waiting for me to announce something. "I'll go; you all watch the area and let me know if anything looks wrong" he says. "No, we stick together, I don't want any more of us to be split up, we are safer in numbers" I reply.
"Thing is Katniss if we all go in, what if it's a trap, we could all be killed instantly" Gale adds. "I will go with Gale and Gauis, three of us should be enough for anything, it would be good if someone could watch over us". Peeta says strongly. Gale seems to be slightly reluctant to agree, he has never seen inside an arena. The Capitol wouldn't show anything that wasn't exciting so apart from girls and boys killing each other. He doesn't know what it's like to be so scared of approaching something or someone it makes you physically sick. He goes along with it though, maybe it's the stubbornness showing itself again, maybe he is too proud to say he's scared.
I sit down with Johanna, Tressa and Fergus and we watch as they begin walking down the hill together. "He still loves you" Johanna whispers to me. "I know, that's why he shouldn't be here, it could jeopardise everything. I don't want him trying to get one over Peeta and getting us all killed, even worse getting Peeta killed" I whisper back. She looks at me dead in the eyes before lowering her head "You don't have feelings for him at all?" she says. "Not anymore, I didn't know what love meant until Peeta was electrocuted in the games. It was then I knew I couldn't be without him" I say. "Nothing to do with the bombing outside Snow's mansion then?" She adds. "No, I know Peeta would do anything for me, and I would him. When Snow told me it was 13 who dropped those bombs I knew Gale would be involved in it somewhere. But deep down I wanted to think he wouldn't have let it happen. If he knew we had medics on the ground. I never wanted to see him again after that day, but now we're here and although I am glad we can still be friends I knew it was only Peeta I wanted well before then" I reply.
"They're getting close" Tressa says; probably trying to stop us from gossiping. My eyes are flicking back and forth trying to cover all the area around them, then I notice them all stand still at the same time. Gale walks forward on his own, I try and adjust my eyes to try and see what he is walking towards. Then I notice a man kneeling down against the base of the tower. "Gale!" I shout down to them. It's too late.
The man gets up and runs towards Gale he has a spear type weapon in his hands. Gale turns and attempts to run but the man leaps at him and swings the spear into Gale. We all get up and begin running down the hill. Although the water tower is just a couple of hundred feet away It feels like miles as I struggle to keep my footing. As I get to the bottom, just a hundred feet from me I watch as they both fight on the floor rolling one way and another. The man pins Gale down on the floor and raises the spear. The point is lined up towards Gales head, he brings back his arms above his head and starts to push down. I begin to stumble on the uneven ground beneath me, just as I am about to hit the ground Peeta comes from the side and smashes a rock to the side of the man's head.
The man falls to the side with blood gushing from the side of his face. Gale pushes him off and sits up. The man lies motionless next to him. I get back to my feet and continue to run over. As I get closer I can see a big gash in Gales arm. "What did you think you were doing" I scream over to Gale. "You don't get to talk to people, they are not here for a chat, they have been forced to murder in here, don't you get it?" I add. I kneel down next to him "It's Ok Katniss, I'm ok, just a flesh wound, I just thought—" he says. "That's it, you don't have time to think in here right?" I shout back.
"Don't worry it won't happen again, besides Peeta saved me". Gale gets gingerly to his feet and slowly walks over to Peeta. He puts his hand out "Thank you Peeta, you, you saved my life" he says. Peeta puts his hand out and they shake firmly "No problem, I owe you for not killing me in the Capitol, heck there was so many times you could have just got rid of me and you didn't" Peeta replies. They both look at each other knowingly. I am not sure what to think, Gale was almost killed and Peeta's saying he could have been by Gale, now they are both shaking hands!
I walk up to Peeta and put my hands on either side of his face and kiss him "Thank you Peeta". I say. He knows that Gale probably still loves me but he is that great a man that he would save anyone even a rival. "We need to get you cleaned up" Tressa says to Gale pulling out a length of cloth. She ties it around his arm. "That should stop the bleeding, it's not a deep cut, could do with stitches but I don't think Joanus will let us have any of that. We will have to keep a look out for anything to change it as soon as we can".
"I just hope we get to Marcus so I can have my moment with him" Johanna says. It may have been what she meant but it certainly managed to make us all refocus. "Hey, if you aren't too busy there's water here we need to collect" Fergus calls over to us all. We quickly rush over to the tap to fill every bottle we have. Then we hear a sound I know all too well, a canon the signal of someone losing their life. I had hoped that Joanus would have overlooked that deathly gesture, but I guess with it being one of the main 'attractions' to the Games he would have wanted to have kept it in for posterity.
We have managed to fill all our 12 bottles and the poor soul now lying dead at the base of the tower had 3 bottles as well so we have enough for all our group, if we ever find the rest of them that is.
"We should have a look inside the building, see if there is any food or other supplies we can take with us" Fergus says walking over to an iron door. "It could be trapped" I shout over.
He is just about to turn the handle on the door when we hear a hissing noise coming from a speaker in the roof of the building and then Joanus speaks. "Well, well, well. Seems you aren't the fighter you are made out to be Katniss. And as for your friends, 3 of them are heading in the complete opposite direction to you and your head of security almost gets killed by the first person he sees. My Games aren't for the enjoyment of the public, my games have a purpose. Oh and his name was Brinyard, he was from district 7. You might see some others from that district on your travels Johanna" he begins laughing. Johanna pulls her axe out from her belt and runs up to the speaker. "Now, now, don't be like that we are all in this for the same reason remember. Panem needs a leader that can truly lead, if Katniss had anything in her she would be where Paylor is now; she was supposedly the one who won the uprising? Anyway before you destroy my speaker he's a little something for your journey".
The door next to Fergus clicks and opens, Fergus takes several steps back expecting the worst. "Don't worry, we don't have sponsors in here, you see, just some small rations. I am enjoying watching you Katniss, I do hope we get the chance to meet, but I fear there will be only two opportunities. Either you are just about to kill me or I am in my rightful place in the Capitol and President of Panem". Johanna's axe crashes down onto the top of the speaker and in a flash it smashes into half and falls to ground in flames.
"Will you do me one thing in all this Katniss" Johanna says. "Let me kill him, I don't want you changing your mind like his Father" she adds. I feel hurt by her comments; she is a harsh woman who hates indecisiveness. I had to do what I did otherwise we would have had two enemies Joanus and eventually Coin once the people of Panem revolted against her new games.
"I will get it done Johanna, we need to put an end of this legacy once and for all" I reply.
We walk into the building and suddenly the room lights up inside. We know there are camera's watching us, but there in front of us is a wooden crate full of food. Game, rice, bread.
"They could have given us something to carry it all in" Peeta says trying to force as much as he can into his pockets. After a short while we have all gotten as much as we can carry and leave the building. "Where do we head now" Gauis says looking over at me. "I guess we head towards the centre, hopefully meet up with the others" I reply.
We walk to the base of the hill and I notice Fergus isn't with us. I turn around and look back at the building. He comes running out, just as he gets a few feet away from the doorway a huge fireball comes streaming out of the door with so much force it flies off its hinges. A cloud of black smoke rises up into the sky. Fergus rushes over to us and we all stand and wait for his explanation. "We don't want anyone else finding what's left do we" he says out of breath. "I wired the lights up together and poured water over them, quick way to cause an electrical fire" he adds. "He's right, we have enough food now for a good few days, we don't know how many enemies we will come across on the way. Hopefully they haven't been as lucky and they will be weak" Peeta says.
I don't reply to either of them, I turn and begin to walk up the slope of the hill I fell down earlier. They are both right but I don't like the idea of a beacon of smoke rising up for the whole of the arena to see.
As we reach the top of the hill I turn back to look at the building. The smoke has risen so far its touching the top of the force field over the arena. "It could work in our favour; perhaps the others will see it and head this way too?" I say to the group. "We need to hurry then, it's starting to get dark and if they are coming to us, everyone else could be as well" Gale says.
We have been walking for around half an hour when we hear a scream in the distance. We all fall to the ground to cover our position and hope no one can see us. It's almost complete darkness now, in the distance we can see what seems to be a flashlight moving rapidly across the fields. It moves one way then the other before coming straight towards us. It's a good way off so no one would be able to reach us from that far away. Then all of a sudden the light drops and points straight to the sky. It seems to flash on and off for a few seconds before staying still. "What was that" Johanna whispers. The cannon sounds again, it seems to echo around several times as though it had fired more than once but we know it was someone being killed. There must have been a chase happening and whoever it was holding the light had made themselves too visible to others. "Could have been one person against another or a group of people together" I say.
"Do you think they would have allies, in here?" Peeta questions me. "I wouldn't know; you know how hard it was for me to agree to have them in the last games. But I am different, I don't make friends easily" I reply.
Peeta smiles "You do; they only have to ask you what your favourite colour is" he replies. I prod him in the chest jokingly "Did you tie your laces today" I smirk back at him.
It's been a while since the cannon sounded and we haven't seen any movement near us so we continue the walk towards the middle. As we reach the valley of two hills we notice a river running between us and the centre area, it has trees around its edge deep enough for someone to hide away.
"This looks like a good place for us to stop for the night" Gale says. Tressa calls over. "I'll do first watch; we take it in turns Katniss?" She says. "Yes I'll go second". We find an area in the middle which has a small clearing and put down our food and gear. "Make sure your weapon is within touching distance and don't let it out of your sight" I say to the group.
Gale sits down at the furthest part of the clearing looking out towards the river. I don't know why but if he is anything like me the first night in an arena is a lot to take in. The rest of the group seem to prefer to sit close together.
Just then a beam of light points in from the middle of the arena to the top of the force field. It's the contestants who have been lost in the day's battles. Another haunting image I wished I would never have to see again.
Two people are shown, Brinyard Masons and Candair Raven, the second one was a girl who looked no more than 13, long golden hair down to her shoulders. I couldn't help but think of Prim but at least I can remember her having never had to participate in this torture. That poor girl was obviously running away from someone; she must have been terrified. I just hope her end was a quick one. The light goes out and the arena is plunged into darkness again.
Johanna walks over to me and Peeta and lies back looking up at the virtual sky. "I hope I get the chance to be like you with Peeta if I ever see Marcus again. I want to have what you have." she says. I put my arm around her, she really is a difficult person to read, one minute she wants to fight the world, the next she is like a loved up school girl. I prefer her like this. "You will, I will make sure of it" I reply. "If Joanus has put him in this arena with us, if he's dead, I have no reason to live again, and to be honest I don't think I can take it any more" she says beginning to cry. I pull her close trying to give her as much reassurance as possible. "He will be ok; I don't think even Joanus would put him in to be killed without there being a dramatic ending. No he's still alive; my worry is if he will recognise you if he sees you" I say. "He doesn't know I'm here" She says sitting up quickly. "He never mentioned my name on the main announcement" she adds.
"Maybe there's a way we could let him know, somehow" Peeta says obviously having heard the entire conversation.
Fergus gets up and walks over to us, he sits down beside me and Johanna. "If we can find a way of accessing the system that displays up there; I could get a message up?" he says. "Could your holo do that do you think?" Johanna says excitedly.
"No it wouldn't be able to do it without it being connected to the system" I reply.
"Yes that's what I meant, I know how the system works and what the connections look like, all we need to do is find one and I can get in and get a message up" he says.
"Where would we find a connection though, this place is huge" Peeta adds. "If it's like what the Capitol had in their arenas there will be access tunnels around where they can ferry in supplies and fix damaged equipment. If we can find one, I can do it" Fergus says.
"My best guess is in the centre where the cornucopia would have been" I say.
"That's it then, at dawn we get across the river, head into the centre and see if there is anyone from the districts captive and look for a tunnel" Johanna says standing to her feet.
I don't need to say anything, I just look at her and nod my head. It could work and if we can get a message to Marcus what's stopping us putting out a message to Helsa, Frostine and Tenney. What if we could tell the other contestants in here we are here and to fight with us, not against us.
We have a plan, whether it will work or not is another matter but for now it's a glimmer of hope that will allow us to get some sleep before once again heading into the unknown.
Chaper 14
I feel rage washing down my body, something I haven't felt since finding out about 12 after being grabbed out of the games by Plutarch. I begin pacing back and forth trying to work out how to get this done and quickly. "What do you want to say Katniss" Fergus says looking at the screen. "You managed to get in so we can put a message on" I reply.
"Even better than that" he says lifting a camera from the side of the computer and placing it on a shelf pointing at me. "Go ahead Katniss, the arena is yours" he says enthusiastically. I clear my throat, take a deep breath and Fergus puts his thumb up.
"I am Katniss Everdeen of District 12, Panem; I want everyone in this arena to listen to me. We are here to save you from Joanus; we are here to get you out of Precia.
I have just been informed that this country has declared war on Panem and in the last few days 3 districts have been invaded. We need to stand together and fight against our captors, for our family; for our friends.
You are all here against your will, Joanus is making you fight for nothing and you don't get to leave freely if you win. You are sent back to Panem to fight for Precia. Don't let them fool you. We need to rise together to defeat him, we can do it; tomorrow we will unite for one cause. Panem!
Helsa, Tenney, Frostine, we know you are alive, you know where to go. Marcus, I have Johanna here with me she loves you, we are coming to get you".
Fergus turns off the camera and begins clapping. "Thank you Katniss" Johanna says hugging me tightly.
I turn to look at Gale and Peeta "This is going to get bad real fast now" Gale says turning for the door. "Come on we have a lot of ground to make up to get to the tower for tomorrow" I say ushering everyone one out of the room. Fergus picks up the holo. "Wait, I'll pick it up, you meet me outside with the others" I say. He frowns at me and looks confused but leaves the room.
I turn to the screen and press the contestant launch button and disconnect the holo.
As I begin to leave the building I am greeted with a deafening screeching noise like metal scraping against itself, the walls are beginning to lower all around the building. I rush out, I don't want to be inside if the whole thing is about to fall down. When I get outside I can see all the contestant pods rising up from underground, all pointing at the building. The others are all just staring.
"My god, they force the contestants to look at the bodies just before they start the games" Peeta says.
Johanna begins sobbing. "Marcus, what have they done to you" she weeps. It's not the time to pretend to her that he is going to be ok, we don't even know what state he is in. But one thing is for certain though he is still alive. "We will find him Johanna; I promise". She looks at me in doubt but she forces a smile. "Let's just hope we get to him before anyone else does." she whispers.
The Tower is still a good way off, but it is easy to track as it reaches up over the whole arena. The river we have just crossed seems to go back on itself and it looks like we will have to go over it again as we get closer.
"I think now would be a good time to eat and take in some water" Gale says taking his bottle from his pocket. I agree and we decide to spend the next thirty minutes or so preparing ourselves for what might lie ahead. We don't know if my message convinced anyone in this place to help us, I am certain Joanus will not be pleased about us hijacking his system.
I notice Peeta and Gale sat together again and although they are a reasonable distance away from me I can make out what they are saying clearly. "You've done well; you know with how you have managed to shake off the hijacking" Gale says to Peeta. "I have to take each day differently to the next, I am not pretending to be able to control it, you saw me just then. There are times I have to just get away, not because I want to hurt Katniss, but because I don't want her to see me like it" Peeta replies.
"You got plans for getting married, actually do it this time instead of making it up?" Gale says resting on his elbow. "I want to, although I have never asked, guess we haven't gotten around to it yet, we will though" he replies. "Well if you do one thing when we get out of here, propose" Gale replies. Peeta grins and looks up at the sky "You can count on that, I just hope she doesn't turn me down". "She won't" Gale says.
I gush of warmth flows through my body and it's not the stifling heat this time, it's a real sense of being wanted. I am not sure we will get out of here but I now have another reason to look forward to. My Children, my mother, Peeta and marrying the one person I fell in love with.
It's time to move on once more, we all slowly pack away our last remaining food supplies and water before checking our weapons. We are going to need them now more than ever.
Peeta and I lead the group with Gale and Johanna next in line, the others stay together. I can't blame them; they obviously went through training together and although they are still young they have made friends for life. I couldn't think of anything worse than not having anyone to care for you if you are dying in here.
We have been walking for around an hour when we come across something we have never seen before in here. A vast stretch of boggy grass lies between us and the river bank. As we step on to it our feet begin to sink in to mud below, we have to be quick or we risk being trapped in it. It's difficult but it's something we can manage, besides its making us move quicker. We are almost half way through it when I hear a scream behind us, its Tressa. We turn around; she is waving her arms around in the air and struggling to walk properly. I begin to fight my way back through the mud we had just walked through to get to her, when Fergus swings his machete at her feet. "Fergus, what are you doing" I cry out. I grab my bow thinking that something must have happened to him when I feel something tightening around my foot.
I look down and struggle to make out what it is, the grass, leaves and mud obscuring most of my feet. For a few seconds I am just stood there glaring at nothing then I feel a sharp pain in the back of my other leg. Turning round it becomes obvious, this swamp isn't just something to slow people down, to trap them, it's full of snakes. Worst still from their deformed appearance its clear they are mutts.
"Run!" Peeta shouts lifting one off his shoulders and throwing it to the ground. Gale is swinging his sword around and bits of grass, mud and parts of snake are flying through the air. Tressa falls to the ground face first, she raises her head "Go, get out of here, it's no use" she yells. Fergus looks at her and puts his hand to his face before turning and striding towards me. I stand there helpless as a snake wraps itself around her neck and pulls her under the surface. "We have to go. Now!" Gauis shouts. I turn back but which way do we head we are in the middle of all this?
I drag my foot out of the mud and kick off the snake that had wound its way around it and begin pushing my way through. For some reason it's harder to walk now, perhaps it's my brain telling me what I am actually walking through isn't just mud. Another needle like pain shoots up my other leg and it feels like boiling water rushing up to my back. I feel sick but we have to make it across to the other side.
Peeta runs over to me and acts as a balance on one side to help me move quicker. Gale is up ahead pointing to us the best ways to get through it and eventually, exhausted, we finally push our way out of it. We fall down at the edge of the river in a mix of emotions. Happy we have got through but devastated for Tressa. "I can't believe she's gone" Fergus says desolate. "I couldn't get it off, I couldn't get it off her" he adds.
"You did your best, we were all in the same situation it just overcame her, you couldn't do anything more than you did" I say to try and console him. Fergus gets up and sits down at the side of the river looking across the water. Nothing can be said to him that will make him feel any better, I know how he feels. It's best to just leave him alone to make up his own mind and put it to rest in his own time.
It's beginning to get dark again, with us being inside an arena we have no idea how long the days are, maybe Joanus wants to end today as quickly as possible, so whatever he is planning can be setup during the night.
We all knew it was coming but the sound of the cannon makes us all jump; I say to myself "Bye Tressa, I am so sorry". Moments later, the beam of light shines up from the middle of the arena on to the roof. Tressa's picture is displayed, then of the 2 from the bridge. "The others are going to be worried seeing that" Gale says looking up at the pictures. I just hope they are ok and seeing the sight of just one of us lost after so long is enough to believe we can do this.
The crossing this time will not be as easy or as obvious as the last time. There are no bridges to compress contestants together, the only away across this time is going through it. The flow doesn't seem as strong here so at least we won't be dragged further away downstream. The problem is whilst we are in the water not only are we susceptible to anything in it, but also we are prime targets for anyone who sees us and there will be little we can do about any attack.
We pluck up our courage and start to gradually lower ourselves into the water. I hadn't thought about it but almost immediately I feel better as the water is cool, not so much as it takes your breath away but enough to take the edge off the heat of the arena. It also helps with my bites on my legs, I haven't even looked at them yet but already they feel better simply by standing here.
Within a couple of minutes we are in chest deep, it's beginning to be a struggle to keep balance. Although the flow isn't strong, the ground is uneven and it appears to have rocks and plants that makes my footing slip. I look around the banks, its dark now and hopefully the rest of the people in here have given up for the night. We are just about half way across when I see Gauis suddenly drop below the water. I gasp not sure whether to shout to the others, my eyes as wide as torchlight's, then as quickly as he went under he comes splashing back up yelling. I am the first to him and it's difficult to make out what he is saying, something about his leg or ankle. My first thought it to put my head under the water but it's useless, with it being dark outside it is impossible to see just a few inches in front of you beneath the surface of the water.
Gale and Peeta reach us and they begin lifting Gauis up. "What is it Gauis" Gale shouts at him looking at him straight in his eyes. Gauis is obviously in severe pain and simply can't form a sentence anyone can understand; the only word we can make out is "Leg". None of the rest of us are having any problems so it seems as though there are no traps in this water. "Can you two help him across, we are over half way now" I say. Peeta and Gale simultaneously grit their teeth and let out a grunt as they both lift Gauis' arms above their shoulders. I wave Johanna and Fergus on up ahead to keep going, it will be better for us all if we can get at least two of the group to the bank ahead of the rest of us, to enable us to get Gauis out easier.
We are all on edge again trying not to make too much noise. We are three quarters of the way across, ahead of us Johanna stops and grabs Fergus. They are a little too far away to make out what's happened but it's clear that it's not good. "You're not going to believe this" Johanna shouts back to us. "Whatever we have just walked into isn't water and its pushing against us" she adds. "Is there a way around it?" I say. "No and it's getting worse Katniss" Fergus replies.
We catch up with the two of them quickly and can now feel what they were both complaining about; it almost feels like we are standing waist deep in glue, just putting one foot in front of the other is almost impossible. "This isn't going to work" Gale says looking at Gauis, who is almost unconscious with the pain of whatever is wrong with him.
For nearly ten minutes Peeta and Gale use all their energy trying to get Gauis through the thick black liquid and only manage a couple of feet. The bank is still thirty or forty feet away and neither Johanna nor Fergus have made it and they aren't carrying a three-hundred-pound man.
"We are going to have to allow the flow, push us away downstream, we have no choice Joanus must have set something up here to make it harder for us to cross" Peeta says struggling to keep Gauis above water. "We don't know how bad he is, we don't know how long we have Katniss and we need to decide now" Gale adds.
A million things run through my head all at once, this is a decision that could shape our futures and it's got to be done in seconds.
"You two keep going, reach the banks, once you have follow it downstream, we are going to ride it until we can get across easier" I shout to Fergus and Johanna. They both look confused but neither raises any arguments and carry on wading through the liquid.
Gale and Peeta look at each other and nod, before raising Gauis once more and letting go of their footing. They speed away instantly and before I have even turned in their direction they are twenty feet away. I lift my feet up and feel a gust of water beneath me, almost like a jet and I am forced back down the river behind the other three. I try to glance back at Johanna but they are already far out of view. We are now hurtling down a river in pitch black darkness not knowing where we are heading or what we might hit.
For a few moments I feel a sense of relaxation my body floating along the water moving its way around my worn damaged body there are stars in the sky, it's quiet apart from the feint hiss of the water. Then just as I feel myself breathing deeply the flow begins to speed up and my head drops below the water. I come back up gasping having taken a mouthful of whatever this river is, I look up to see the others but they are now out of sight, again my head is pulled under the water. This time it's more of a battle to get back up and I seem to be pulled further down, as though we were in a sink and someone had pulled the plug. I am a strong swimmer having spent many days at the lakes and streams in 12, but this was something different I was a feather in the wind, the water was controlling me, it was deciding where I went. I was helpless, my arms were flapping aimlessly trying to steer myself towards the bank or anywhere away from this. I shout out "Peeta" when something hits my head and everything goes dark.
I wake up face down in grass, my head is throbbing, I feel my feet and they are still being moved back and forth by water. I try to lift myself up but I am too weak, I turn my head and the light shines down on my face, once again it's quiet, too quiet. I force myself to roll over on to my back and look down. I am half in the river, I put my hand up to my head and feel a cut on the side of my face, and then I feel something far worse, something that will almost certainly kill me. I feel alone. I look around struggling to turn my neck, there is no one around, no Peeta, no Gale no Gauis. I am once again on my own in an arena.
I call out for them a few times but there is no reply, the only consolation to all of this is that I am on the right side of the river. Today is the day I said we would storm the tower. I must pull myself together and carry on with what we started. I will find the others; I know I will. I take the bottle of water out of my belt and drink the last remaining drops in my small pocket and there are some nuts which was supposed to last me the remainder of the journey. There's no point in saving them, so although it's not the best of breakfasts it will have to do.
I look down at my legs, they feel ok but I have to see what the snakes did although I am not exactly keen on looking. I pull the cloth upwards along my legs and glance down. There is a bit of swelling and there are two very distinct bite marks on my left leg, but maybe there was salt in the water and it helped. The other leg isn't as good, around the bites there seems to be a green tinge to my skin. There isn't a great deal I can do about it now, but I will have to get someone to look at it as soon as I can find them.
I managed to finally get to my feet and begin walking back up the river in the direction we had agreed with the others. I am worried for Peeta and Gale; they could have come out a lot worse than me especially with Gauis. I am now trying to block any negative thoughts from my mind, but every time I allow it to wander it falls on the same thought. What if Peeta or Gale are dead, even worse what if they have been captured?
Then to top off everything that has happened I realise not only am I away from the others, but where my Holo was positioned on my belt all that remains is a snapped piece of cloth. If I am to make it, I am doing it on my own and completely at the mercy of the arena.