20
There is no questioning in what these creatures are; it is plain to see that they are mutations created by the capitol. They look like huge wolves, but looks can be deceiving because what wolf, can jump and land and then balance easily on its hind legs?
What wolf has the knowledge or ability to wave the rest of the pack forward, the wolf beckons the rest of them forward almost like it has wrists. And these things I can see at a distance, I hate to think of how menacing they look up close.
I can see that Cat is far ahead of me now, I start to run, but I am under no illusion of how fast these mutts are, Ryder has made a beeline straight for the cornucopia, and if Cat has any sense she will follow him, I know that's where I am heading. "Jade!" she screams as she turns to find me, I can hear the desperation and panic in her voice as she calls out to me.
"Cat, go!" I reply, my voice taking the same tone of fear as hers, she scuttles up the metal of the cornucopia as fast as she can, but in this heat I know that the metal will be hot to touch. I can see that at the top of the cornucopia, Ryder, lays gagging over to edge of it. I can see that Cat, sees this as an opportunity to take him down. I reach the tail of the cornucopia, and the mutts are hot on my heels.
"Climb!" Cat calls down to me, she shoots at one of the mutts, and it drops to the floor, although she may have killed one, there are plenty more willing to takes its place. I am burdened by my knife, luckily Cat is on standby too shoot at any of the large animals. She shoots the first mutt that places its claws on the metal, opening a huge gash on its throat, as it dies; it lashes out and attacks many of the others around it. It's only now that I get a proper look at their claws. They are razor sharp and almost ten centimetres long.
Cat helps me up onto the cornucopia that's when I remember that Ryder sit's mere meters away from us, he is doubled over in cramps, and seems to be more bothered by the mutts then we are. He splutters something. "What!" Cat shouts over to him.
"He wants to know if they can climb" I say, and that is answered only a short while after the words have left my mouth. All of the mutts begin to assemble on the floor, they stick their snouts inside the metal of the cornucopia, sniffing and tasting the area. And then they stand on their back legs, and a cold shiver runs down my spine. These creatures unsettle me, their size, and their ability to walk on their hind legs, there is something else about them though, something I can quite put my finger on.
One of the mutts and a decent sized one too, jumps onto the cornucopia, landing just three meters below us. The other mutts assemble on the floor, all of them have a wide range of fur, some have sleek and smooth hair, while others have coarse and wiry hair, and they have a wide range of colours, from the darkest of blacks, to what can only be describe as ginger and blonde. This mutt has jet black hair.
This mutt must have powerful legs, it snarls at us, its lips pulling over its teeth. For a moment, nothing moves, everything seems to be at a standstill, it is in this moment, that I realise what else about these creatures makes me uneasy, their eyes, are unlike any other dogs, or wolf's or any canine for that matter, these eyes resemble the eyes of a human, and then I notice, a number on the dog, the number 4. And then something clicks, the jet black hair, the dark brown eyes, the number, this dog is Andre. A strangled shriek escapes my lips, I hold a knife in my hand ready to fire, but I was far to occupied in seeing if the mutts could climb or not.
The mutt has now started to fall its claws dragging down the metal, making a nails on a black board type of sound, it makes my bones ache. I throw a knife and watch as it pierces its throat. Its body twitches and then goes rigid, as it falls to the floor with a heavy thud.
"Jade!" I can feel Cat's light grip on my wrist.
"That's him" I choke.
"Who?" Cat asks. My eyes travel over the pack of mutts situated on the ground, I take in all of their faces, each of them a different size and colour, Tara the blonde girl from two, the small red haired boy from ten who died grappling for the back pack with me, but the eyes that stick out most to me, are those the belong to Beck and Robbie, both the wolves, each a decent size, with black hair, one sleek and smooth the other coarse, they stair up at us, and I see nothing but hatred in their eyes.
"It's them" I say. "It's all of them look" I grab her and pull her close so she can see the rest of the mutts I point at them as I call on them "The girl from ten, the boy from five. There's Robbie" I say, I pause before I point to the next mutt "And that's Beck" I say, my voice grows softer as I say his name.
Cat gasps as she recognises the faces of the other tributes who circle the floor beneath us. "Do you think that those are they're real eyes?" she asks, in an innocent tone; trust her to focus on their eyes.
"Their eyes Cat, really, that's the big picture" I say sarcastically, I know this is no time for my attitude but I can't help myself "What about their brains" I say. "Do they remember anything, or have they been completely brain washed, do they know who we are, or I the only thing on their minds killing us?" I ask.
Cat stays silent, and looks down once again, at the faces that glare up at us; waiting for one of us to slip into their midst's so they can attack us. And then I see them, planning their next attack, the mutts have split off into two separate groups and are now on either side of the cornucopia. They use their hind legs to jump towards us. That's when I feel the pull. Something grabs onto me, and is pulling me off the metal structure. Cat gets dragged along with me, but somehow she stays standing.
I scream jerks out of me, as I feel the teeth of the mutt tear into my leg. It's like no other pain I have ever felt, it's an intense pain that has spread through my body, making all my nerves and bones ache. I can feel the mutt's teeth grinding on my bones as they go further into my shin.
"Kill it, Cat!" I scream. "Kill it" and she must, because I feel the pull lessen substantially. She drags me back up to my feet, and the pair of us make our way to the top of the cornucopia where the lesser of two evils awaits us, I limp along with Cat, my leg suddenly feels numb, it appears that the shock of what has happened has found its way into my body. Ryder is still not standing, but his breathing has slowed, and his complexion is back to normal.
I am ready to throw my knife at him, but when I release it, it takes out a mutt, that has to be Jareth, who else could have jumped that high?
I feel a beat of relief as I realise we are out of the mutts reach, as I turn to face Cat, I am yanked from her side. And I know what is happening, Ryder has got me, Ryder is finally getting his wish to kill me. He holds me in a tight neck hold, cutting off my air, making it hard for me to swallow and call out to Cat.
I scratch his arm the best I can, but my only weapon is my nails, I can't reach any more of my knives. I know my attempt to injure him is a weak one, but it's all I have. I can see the panic in Cat's face as she aims two arrows towards Ryder's head.
She knows as well as I do, that the arrows won't affect his body, or limbs, I can see flesh coloured body armour stretched tightly around his limbs, this must have been what was in his pack. His sponsors sent him this to protect him from my knives and Cat's arrows, but the sent nothing for his face.
He laughs loudly, his face just inches away from mine "You shoot me" he says still a little breathless from keeping a hold on me as I struggle against him "And she goes down with me"
He's right, If Cat shoots him, she will kill me too, both of us will plummet too our deaths, falling to the mutts. It seems we are in a stalemate. Cat can't kill Ryder without killing me, but Ryder can't kill me without dying himself, the three of us knows this, and the three of us stand still like statues.
I can feel tears burning my eyes, and Ryder's grip on me tightens. Cat stands rigid with her jaw tensed. If Cat doesn't do something soon I will die anyway. I don't know how much longer I will be able to take the strain on my windpipe as he crushes it with his arm. If I die, Ryder will most likely use my body as a shield anyway.
Though Ryder has stopped laughing I have a feeling that his face is laced with a sick smile, it ripples through his body. "So what's it going to be Cat?" he asks. "The two of you or us?" Cat looks down confused, as he works his way into her mind.
"Come on Cat think about it" he says, his tone turning soft like satin as he tries to win her over "The victor should be from a high class district, that's the way it should be" he says, I can't believe he is turning this into a matter of class. "I know what I would do" he says. "We should win Cat, the two of us" he pulls at me, tightening his grip once more, his arms is wrapped around my neck, like a boa constrictor trying to kill it's pray.
I know his game if Cat kills me he will in turn kill her, the only thing on his mind is winning, and he wants to do that alone, he wants to be a sole survivor. I reach down to my leg where blood oozes from the wound the mutts teeth left in my shin. I bring back my hand that is now dripping with blood and draw and 'X' on Ryder's hand.
He realises what this means one second after Cat does, I know he realises because his grip on me loosens, but by that time it's too late. Cat has already sent an arrow into his hand. He lets go of me with a cry of pain, and loses his footings on the metal that is now slick with blood. I feel I am going to fall too, until Cat reaches out for me and pulls me back.
Cat and I hear him hit the ground with a thud as all of their air is knocked out of him, we hear the mutts make their attack, and the two of us, keep a tight hold on each other, waiting for this to end, waiting for the cannon to fire, telling us the game is over and we can go, but nothing happens because this is the final showdown, and that I exactly what people expect to see, a show.
I stand and listen to the snaps of teeth, and the howls of pain from both Ryder and the mutts, I can't understand how he is surviving any of this until I remember the armour that protects him from his ankles to his neck. Ryder must have some kind of weapon on him because every now and again, we can hear the sound of the mutts dying and the clang of metal on metal.
I know that he is trying to make his way back to the cornucopia to join Cat and I, despite his skills, he is still out numbered. I can't tell how long it has been since Ryder plummeted to the ground, all I know is that I can hear the sound of the mutts dragging him away. "Now they've got him" I mutter to Cat "Now they'll finish him off" I sit and wait for a while, but there is still no cannon.
Night captivates the arena, and the seal shines out into the sky above Cat and I but, Ryder's face is nowhere to be seen, meaning he is still alive. I can hear the faint moans of pain coming through the metal beneath us. The games are not yet over, and I don't know how long it will be until they are. There is still no guarantee or Victory for us.
The arena has turned icy, and the metal of the cornucopia that burned my skins earlier as I climbed it, now freezes you to the bone. Cat looks down to my leg, which is now slick with hot sticky blood. All of our supplies are by the lake where we left them as we ran away from the mutts, meaning we have no first aid kit. Cat pauses for a moment as she thinks of something to do, and then despite the cold, she is unzipping her jacket. She removes her top and a shiver jerks out of her body. She pulls on the jacket quickly and zips it up.
Just that short amount of exposure has been enough to make goose bumps appear on her skin; her lips are already starting to turn a slightly blue shade. She makes me lay down before she pokes at my wound. She cuts a sleeve off of her top and begins to tie a tourniquet around my shin. She uses one of her arrows to keep the knot held in place; she ties it as tight as she possibly can.
I know this is risky, by the looks of things I could end up losing my leg- it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, just one look at the garish wound tells you this. But when I think about it I could also lose my life, so when you weigh the two of them up together, what alternative is there, she then ties a bandage around my leg with the rest of her shirt, before she lies down with me.
"Don't go to sleep" she says, and a fog of breath escapes her mouth as she talks. In all honesty I don't want to sleep; there is no saying if I will wake up again.
"Are you cold?" I ask her, studying her face. I unzip my jacket and she presses against me. I zip my jacket up again, enclosing both of us. It is warmer sharing our body heat, but the night is fresh and young, and I can tell that it will only get colder.
"Ryder might win yet" Cat says quietly. She rests her head in the crook of my neck for a second and then moves it away again, she looks me directly in the eyes, and all I see when I look into hers is fear.
I shake my head "Don't count on it" I pull up her hood, but I am shaking more than she is. The next hours are the worst I have ever known, which is saying something. If the cold wasn't enough I also have to endure the sound of Ryder's cries as the mutts slowly tare away at him. After a while, I don't care who he is, or what he has done I just want his suffering to end, no one should have to go through that.
"Why don't they just kill him?" Cat whimpers. I can see tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.
"You know why" I say quietly. I pull her closer to me, it's horrible but this will be the most entertainment that the audience has had since the games began. No one will be able to switch over from this. To the game makers this will be the epitome of entertainment. It goes on and on, and all I can think about it how this will never go away, this will be continuous, there is nothing good in this world, and only bad things happen, eventually everything turns sour, in this cold harsh world where we live.
I keep dozing off but every time I do, Cat gives me a quick nudge to keep me awake. And I thank her for that. I can't die on Cat not now, nor can she die on me, if this girl dies, I think eventually it would kill me too. I am fighting as hard as I can to pull through, for me and for Cat. Probably more for her sake than mine, she isn't the strongest in mind anyway and something like that could quite easily tip her over the edge, I think it is only by luck that she hasn't already gone insane, but from the noises coming from Ryder, it could still happen.
The only indignation of the passing time is the moon sweeping slowly across the dark sky; Cat keeps pointing it out to me, trying to keep me awake. And watching it gives me little flickers of hope, that is before the darkness and sound or Ryder's agonising screams engulf me again.
And then I am whispering in Cat's ear that it's morning, she opens her eyes hazily, and looks up at the grey sky, the stars fading out of it slowly. Still no cannon has fired meaning Ryder is still alive. I press my ear against the metal, I can still hear him moving "I think he's closer now" I say quietly. "Do you think you could shoot him?"
Cat nods knowing it is the best thing for him, leaving him to die slowly would only make us as bad as the game makers and residents of the capitol, and I refuse to become like them. "Yeah" she says quietly "I can try at least" she says.
I free her from my jacket and she crawls to the edge of the cornucopia. She reaches for my hand for support, it takes her a while to find Ryder, but once she does she loads her bow and aims towards him. I keep my ear pressed to the metal, and I swear I can hear him say "please"
It's pity that sends Cat's arrow flying towards him. I pull her back up, her bow is empty but she still has a few arrows left in her quiver. "Did you do it?" I ask "Did you get him?" the sound of the cannon answers my question. "Cat, we won!" I say. "We did it we won"
"Yay for us" she says, but there is no happiness in her voice. The ground opens up and as if on cue the remaining mutts dive into it. Cat and I wait for the hovercraft to take the remains of Ryder back to District 2, we wait for the sound of the fanfare trumpets symbolising our victory, but nothing happens
"What's going on?" I scream up to the sky. The only response is the tweets of the birds.
"Maybe we have to move away from the body" Cat says with a small shrug.
I try to think, do you usually have to distance yourself from the body after the final kill? But my brain is too muddled to comprehend anything at this moment in time. "Yeah, we can try" I say "Help me back to the lake?" I say it's more of a question than anything.
"Sure" Cat says. Cat and I inch down the cornucopia; I struggle with every move that I make, it sends sharp pains up and down my leg. But somehow Cat and I make it to the lake; she takes a hand full of water and brings it to her lips. There is a low whistle that emits from one of the mockingjays and tears of joy fill my eyes.
The hover craft has removed Ryder's body from the arena, now we can go home, they can take us. But still there is no response. "What are they waiting for?" asks Cat, she arches one of her eyebrows and pouts slightly.
I shrug "I don't know" I feel dizzy from the blood loss, though the tourniquet has helped with the blood flow, I can still feel it trickling slowly from the wound. Then Bertram Sisman's voice booms out over the arena
"Greetings to the finalists of the seventy-fourth annual hunger games, unfortunately the former rule change has been revoked; it seems that under closer speculations and examinations, there can in fact be only one winner. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour"
I can feel the rage building up inside me, I feel anger, hatred and sadness all at once. The game makers were clever with this one, they never intended to let Cat and I win. They did this to make sure they would have the most memorable and dramatic final show down ever, and like fools Cat and I allowed ourselves to believe we could both live through this.
"When you think about it" she says softly "It's not really that surprising is it?"
I stand to my feet shakily, and reach for my knife, within seconds Cat's arrow is aimed at my heart. I look at her confused as I send my knife flying into the lake beside us. She lowers her bow and arrow and looks down, her face glows red with what I can only imagine to be shame.
I shrug "No, Cat. It- it's fine honestly do it" I say, I can feel myself swaying.
"No" she says "I can't do it. I won't do it"
"Cat just do it before they send the mutts back in, I am not dying like Ryder did" I say.
She shakes her head still "No, you should win. District 12 deserves it. You deserve it" "So shoot me" she says, she thrusts her bow and arrow into my hands "Just do it"
"I can't" I say "And you know that" I sit down on the floor "Whatever I'll go first anyway" I say, I start to cut away at the bandage on my leg, using my last knife to do so.
"No!" she screams. "You can't kill yourself" she drops to her knees and wraps the bandage back around my leg.
"Cat it's what I want" I say, and truthfully, I would rather die than live without Cat.
"No, Jade" she says, tears forming in her eyes "You can't leave me her alone" it's at this that I start to cry, and I can't control the tears that spill from my eyes.
"Look" I say lifting her to her feet as I stand "They have to have a winner right, so go ahead and do it. For me" I say.
Cat looks up at me. And then dives to one of the bags, she fumbles around in it, until she finds the make shift pouch we made from leaves, and I know what she has in mind. I grab hold of her wrist "No!" I say, I try to keep my voice stern, but tears are falling down my face.
"Trust me" she says, her voice only a whisper, we hold each-others gaze for a while and then she opens the pouch pouring the nightlock berries in to my palm, and then she pours some into hers. "On three?" she says.
I nod "On three" we kiss each other one last time. We turn away from each other and stand with our backs pressed against one an others I grab hold of her free hand with mine, and give it one last squeeze before I turn my attention to the sun. "Hold them out" she says "Show them, I want them all to see this"
I hold out my hand, and the dark berries roll slowly on my palm shining a deep red in the sunlight. "One" we begin counting together. What if Cat's wrong, what if this won't work what if they don't care about us living or dying "Two, three" the berries have just reached my lips when the trumpets blare out around the arena.
And the panic stricken voice of Bertram Sisman bellows above them "Stop! Stop!" he calls "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you, the victors of the seventy-fourth annual hunger games Jadelyn West from and Caterina Valentine- The tributes from District 1 and District 12"
A/N: I hope you like this chapter, I don't really know what more to say other than that. Please read and review as you have been doing- I love knowing what you think. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far I really appreciate it.
P.S: The next chapter will be uploaded very soon, probably within the next few days.