Chapter 20: Tragedies

Nyla's POV

"You sure this will work?" Iris asks as she lifts up a piece of vine from my trap.

"I assure you, it will work," I tell her as I gather it up in my arms, "I'll pick the easiest route to the Cornucopia and place it there. It's large enough to catch all of them."

"What if they're already there?" Iris asks another question, crossing her slightly tanned arms.

I shake my head, making my short brown hair bob a bit, "They won't be there. They'll probably be off in the other islands, because they know that with a whole turkey on their hands, they'll need to hide from other predators."

"What if they come in another direction?" Iris asks again.

I shrug and say, "Then we'll figure something out. At least we'll try this and if it works, that's great, if it doesn't then we'll just have to fight harder."

Iris still doesn't look convinced, but since it's nearing noon, she says, "Alright, fine. I'll go get the weapons."

As she walks off, I allow myself a brief moment to say my silent goodbyes. I know I will not come back from this one, and partly I don't want to. I have no one back at home now that my father is dead, and I don't want to return to the District that betrayed me. I'm going to get Iris home, and I'll risk my life to do that.

But I close my green eyes and start saying goodbye to everything. The trees, the bushes, the flowers, the grass, the birds, my home, District 6, everything. The last thing I leave off with is Iris. I don't know what to say, and I wish we weren't in the Hunger Games, because I knew we would be good friends. Very good friends in fact.

Maybe it's because I feel like I need to say a goodbye with her listening. But how? I don't want to discourage her, and she'll just argue with me, saying that I should deserve to go home as much as she does, as anyone else does or did in the Games. But she doesn't know that I have no one left to love back in District 6, so what's the point?

I really wish there weren't so many tragedies in our lives. Not just mine, but in Iris' too, and you might as well count most of Panem. The Districts have to watch children fight and kill each other for their lives, and the poorest of them get a better chance of entering because of tesserae.

I hope that wherever I go after my life ends, it will be a better place than Panem. I hope everyone goes to a better place one day, free of the Capitol's ways and the Hunger Games. Was it truly only 25 years ago that it began? Is it possible that people still know what it felt like to go through each year, not dreading the Reaping? Not entering the Games? Is it possible that all the other Tributes in the other years, dead or alive, do not know what it feels like to be betrayed by your own District? To be chosen to enter the Games by your neighbors and friends?

I guess so, because there are people to prove it. I just wish that we had a peaceful nation, without the Hunger Games, without the Capitol, just peace. But I know that will never happen, so maybe it's better to get out when you can. I know where I'm going it will be peaceful, or at least I hope.

And maybe one day, there will be a rebellion against the Capitol again. Maybe there will just be a spark, and the whole country will go up in flames, rising against the Capitol again. Maybe we will even triumph? I wish I could be apart of it, but my fate is already set. I just hope, years from now, if it ever happens, people will pay for my death and the deaths of the other innocent children from these Games.

I hear Iris' footsteps and I end my goodbyes and thoughts, leaving Iris' till later. She comes out with her sword and two very sharp and long knives hanging by her belt. She hands me my spears and the harpoon contraption I made. I nod to her and slide them behind my belt as I lift the trap over my shoulder.

"Well?" Iris looks at me with her gray eyes, "Ready to do this, once and for all?"

I lend out my hand for her to shake, "For our families."

She shakes it, "For our families," She agrees.

I'll see you soon Mom and Dad, I think silently. I'll see you soon.

Iris' POV

My heartbeat is quickening as we get closer to the Cornucopia Island. I wish I was as fearless as Nyla seems to be, but I'm the child who used to be afraid of the dark only a couple of years ago, I don't know how I've made it through this. I know this will be our last day in the arena, and I give it a silent farewell as I make my way through the river.

Thanks for nearly killing me, or going to kill me, arena, I think. I really enjoyed your 'entertainment'.

We scramble on to the Cornucopia Island and begin to fight our way through the thick undergrowth. We make it to the easiest path way to the Cornucopia, which isn't far from where we came. Nyla spreads out her contraption and sprinkles a bunch of leaves on top of it to hide it. I only hope it will work.

"Let's go," She says as she leads the way over to the Cornucopia.

We don't try to hide, and we actually make it obvious that we're here. I pull out my sword and get ready as we near the Cornucopia and Nyla pulls out her harpoon contraption. We step into the clearing and walk over to the Cornucopia, waiting. But no one is here.

"How long do you think it'll take?" I ask, my voice a mere whisper.

Nyla shrugs and whispers back, "Depends."

I scan the Cornucopia for any good items, but it seems that the Careers have taken all of the good things. Most of it is just useless stuff, like sticks of beef or something like that. We don't need that anymore, I know I won't, because I'll either die or never go hungry again back in District 11.

District 11. I shiver when I think about it. I can't help but feel betrayed by my own District. I don't think I can ever feel at home there again, but where else am I going to live? And my family needs the money; they need my help, that's the only reason why I'm fighting, and because I refuse to let Sage's death go in vain. If it was up to me, I would be dead with Sage. But my family needs me now, and Sage's death will never be in vain. I will show the Capitol they will never destroy me or my love for him.

This is for you, Sage. I'm fighting for you and my family.

And right as I think that, it begins.

"Watch out!" Nyla cries as she tugs me down to the ground with her.

Right as I slam against the ground, an arrow goes shooting past me, aimed where my head was. I let out a sigh of relief before jumping to my feet. The Careers race out, their eyes hungry for blood and gore. Zach is in the lead with Gray and Kellie on either side of him. I point my sword towards them while Nyla takes one of the spears. We're ready.

Gray has a bow and arrow while Zach has Peter's trident. Kellie has a very large and sharp axe which I'm surprised she can carry. But, Kellie has surprised me many times, I guess that's nothing.

I chuck one of my knives at them and it catches Zach in the leg. He screams and yanks it out. It's covered in his blood, but I have seen so much blood and horrifying things it doesn't make me flinch anymore. In fury he sends it right towards me. And it's with so much force that I just barely miss it. It slices my shoulder open though, and blood starts pouring out.

Gray let's out another arrow, but Nyla and I dive out of the way quickly enough. Nyla sends one of her spears towards Zach, but it just barely cuts him. He grins cruelly at us before raising his trident. He aims it towards me and he's just about to throw it, when the unimaginable happens.

The ground gives a large jerk and we all stumble. I manage to regain my footing and we suddenly hear a loud moan. It's coming from the Cornucopia.

Slowly I turn around to face the Cornucopia. My gray eyes widen in horror and disbelief as I see it morph into a spinning vortex. But this vortex is armed. Armed with guns that stick out of the gold body. The horn shape is gone and it is now shaped like a tornado, constantly spinning and rotating with the guns coming out. Machine guns.

"Duck!" Nyla suddenly screams and she grabs my arm.

I gasp as she yanks me with such force that we fall to the ground, just behind a tree. And right as we're in the cover of the tree, the guns from the Cornucopia start shooting. I cover my head as I hear bullets fly every where. The Careers scream and run for cover. I scrunch up beside Nyla as the bullets pierce the tree and now we only have its roots to cover us.

"What's going on?" I scream over the gunfire.

"My dad invented this!" She screams back.

"What?"

"The Capitol asked him recently!" She explained, her hands still over her head and she's still shouting over the gunfire, "It spins so that it can cover the maximum amount of space in a very small amount of time. You have about three seconds before the next round of bullets come!"

"How the hell do we stop it?" I scream at her.

"Someone has to die," She tells me, flinching when the next round of bullets come exactly three seconds after, before continuing, "when a bullet pierces the body, it sends a signal to the main system and it shuts down."

"And if it doesn't?" I dare to ask.

She looks at me and says, "Then it just keeps going."

There's silence in between us, the only noise coming from the terrified screams of the Careers and the loud gunfire of the Cornucopia. Someone has to die, and unless one of the Careers is shoved out, then this will go on forever. And it's not like Nyla and I have very great coverage, it's just a tree that is being shot so many times it's about to fall over.

"Iris," She grabs my shoulders, but I know what she's going to do.

"Don't do it, Nyla!" I scream at her, partially from horror and fear and also because the gunfire is so loud, "Don't!"

"There's no one left for me at home!" Nyla says, her voice filled with determination and pain, "My father died after I left. Iris," She looks me in the eye, "You have a family, you have a family that needs you. You need to win, for them, for Sage, for Sabine, and for me!"

"No, Nyla, no!" I shake my head, refusing it, "I won't let you die!"

"You have to!" She protests, "It's the only way. I'll drag out one of the Careers, but that's all I can get before the bullets come again. You'll have to do the rest on your own."

"But, Nyla-no, you can't! You can't leave me!" I suddenly realizing that I'm crying again, but I don't care. I'm glad everyone can see my tears, now they can see what they've done to me and the people I care about.

"Have a wonderful life, Iris," She hugs me and murmurs, "please, never forget me."

And then, before I can do a thing, she runs out. I reach out my hand for her and scream, "Nyla!" But it's too late.

She runs over to the Careers, her short brown hair flowing out behind her and her green gaze filled with determination. She grabs Zach by the arm and hauls him forward just in time for the bullets to strike them. Their bodies jerk from the impact and they both slam to the ground.

Nyla's green eyes, once filled with determination and spirit, are now empty and reflecting the sky. Her blood slowly pours out of her, having a pool of blood around her. The color in her face is already gone and her body is limp, so limp that it's like the wind could pick it up from the ground.

Next to her, is Zach. He's spread on his back, two wounds in his stomach. His eyes, once so filled with hatred and venom, are now empty like Nyla's. He has more blood around him, and he and Nyla are practically making their own blood lake. The weapon in his hand slips out and lies on the ground, covered in his and Nyla's blood.

I grip the bark of the tree that hasn't been punctured by the bullets. I see the Cornucopia Tornado slowing down and finally stop. It returns to its horn shape and the bullets stop all together. The guns withdraw back into the Cornucopia and everything seems to be the way it was before this happened.

Except for the puncture wounds the area has received, and that Nyla and Zach are dead. So that leaves me, Gray, and Kellie all alone to fight for the crown. A 12 year old has never made it this far, and I guess I'm supposed to be proud of that, but I'm not. No, I am definitely not.

Because two canons fire, and I know that one of them belongs to my friend from District 6, Nyla.