Dathan Lynn/D4M/17:
I just can't take it anymore. At this moment in time, I want the ground to open up and swallow me. I've gone through too much. Back in U-District 4 with Crimette. Tackling all the streets of the Capitol. And now this.
It begins with something shiny off down the street. Then the rumble shoots through the tarmac under my feet. Then I can barely see what's happening. Daggers. Blades. Sharp razors. Some sort of death trap gobbling up the street to get to us. Not again. I just want this all to be over. And I can end it all within seconds, so that's what I decide to do.
I sprint away from the group towards the blades and I see the trap in full view. Blocking up the whole street, they shoot up through the ground and savage everything in their way. Rapidly approaching me, I don't stop running. This thing is dangerous, whatever it is. This can't be stopped. Not even if we shot bullets at it. Oh, no. This is unstoppable, and I know it won't come to a halt until we're all torn to pieces.
"Dathan!"
I don't know who's voice it is, but I recognize that it is feminine.
"Stop!"
But I don't stop. This death machine is only meters away and I won't stop until it catches me. That way I won't have to deal with any of this trouble. I'll end it all the way Loffia did. One leap from the edge of a building, and I will just need one leap from the ground into the blades.
Suddenly, I feel something clutch around my wrist, then I'm suddenly being pulled back. I look back to see Eden and Johanna trying to drag me backwards while the others begin to catch up. I scratch at their hands and try to get them to free me, but they won't.
"No!" I yell. "Let me go now! It's going to either be just me or all of us, and we can't have all of us dead!"
Boniqua and Xanva latch onto my other arm while Keeka and Ross push my from behind.
"No Dathan," begins Eden, "it's going to be all of us dead or none of us dead."
I tilt my head back and I'm happy to see the blades clawing their way towards us even quicker, but now it's going full-speed ahead. Pretty soon, we're all going to be dead. And I can't let that happen. I need the others to stay alive. For once, I begin to push forward and I stop struggling against their grasp on me.
The blades behind us start eating at the tarmac, rubble scattering everywhere. There's barely any time left. Only feet away, I can feel the chunks of rubble hitting the back of my legs. "Hurry!" I squeal. They all finally let go of me and we're all on our own now. Eden speeds on ahead while me, Ross and Keeka are closest to the machinery.
I press my hands against Keeka's backpack and give her a hard push. She boosts on ahead and now paces along beside Johanna. Then I notice something off. A loud, ear-wrenching creak fills the air and I watch as the two buildings up ahead at the beginning of the intersection begin to push outwards. Slowly moving out onto the road, I know exactly what's happening. And I know exactly what's going to happen if we don't get to the two buildings on time.
"Come on!" Eden shouts up the top. "If we don't make it they're going to shut us in!"
And she's right. I know I'm destined to get what I once wanted when I hear the blades slicing just behind me. I barely look behind and I watch as they tap at my feet. A large rumble in the ground makes me wobble, and I know I'm directly on top of new sets of blades about to activate. I leap forward just as the ground beneath my feet opens up with sharp daggers clawing at the air.
The buildings up ahead are near to closing shut just as Eden passes through them and onto the safe street on the other side. All three of the pods have been mauled into nothing as I look back behind me. Johanna, Boniqua, Xanva and Keeka all make it through and I'm nearly there. I'm barely able to snatch my spear from the ground as the blades continue to chop away behind me.
"Come on!" they shout, their voices trembling. The walls are tightly and I just manage to get through. But I'm not satisfied. Now I've escaped unharmed. I must continue now.
"Where's Ross?" Keeka asks.
It's almost like everyone's face turned as pale as a ghost the moment Keeka asked that. I look back through the closing buildings and manage to see him walking on ground that is breaking under his feet. Without thinking, I automatically sprint back through the buildings that are seconds moments from shutting. Everyone behind me scream in terror, calling my name angrily. I slide through on my side and I'm back in the street with the blades. This can be my excuse. That I was 'just going to save Ross.'
In fact, I don't even look at him. I run towards the daggers that sprint towards us, and just as I'm about to leap to my doom, Ross pushes me back. I'm like a barrier now, not allowing him to pass me. He continues to shove me as the daggers shave away the back of his boots and I'm pushed back in between the walls. He tries to pass me, but he's unable to. Now he has his hands on my face, pushing me back desperately.
I fall backwards onto the safe street and I watch as Ross tries to squeeze through the gap in the buildings, but it's to tight now. The blades catch up to him and within seconds he's torn down to a stump.
He's like a strawberry in a juice blender now. His full form being mauled into red liquid. I bang at the walls once they shut, screaming out gibberish words. I try to pull them open by sliding my nails through the crack in between the buildings, and for a moment I'm crazy enough to believe I can do it. I'm pulled backwards but I continue to scream.
"Let me back in there!" I roar. "He's dead because of me!"
"Dathan, he's not dead because of you. Don't feel guilty," Eden comforts me.
"He wouldn't have died if he didn't come back to save me! How do you answer that?"
She then remains silent.
A shadow casts in front of me and I look straight into Johanna's haunting eyes. I immediately stop shouting, her stare asking for my death. "If you want to be dead, I'll happily let your wish come true," she says waving her gun around in the air.
"And I have you know that I will not stop shooting until you look like swiss cheese with holes, so I recommend you pull yourself together!"
My legs begin shaking as Boniqua helps me stand up.
"In fact, if anyone wants to give up now, I'll put bullets through all your heads!" Johanna continues, now shouting even louder than I was. "We're so close to the mansion, so why give up now? If you think for one second that putting an end to your life is the best way out, you're wrong! Every single soldier that we lose, every single rebel that we lose, goes towards the Capitol taking back what is ours. And we must not stand for this!"
She then proceeds to send a bullet into the ground with her gun.
"We will make them burn for what they have done for one hundred years! We will make them burn for killing thousands of children for fun! We will make them burn for making us burn!"
Her voice bounces off the walls, but she's soon cut off by sounds of commotion.
"What's that?" Xanva asks.
Without letting another word slip from my mouth, I obediently hand Eden my jawt from my backpack when she requests it. She taps around on the screen and her mouth falls open. "Oh my gosh.."
"What is it?" Keeka asks.
"Around that corner is the Tribute Avenue."
The Tribute Avenue. The place we rode into the Tribute Center on our charriots. I remember it all. Even when Tranthan and Erenis got electrocuted behind Eden and I. I remember everything.
Johanna nods towards Xanva. "You said you and your team were ordered to capture the entire Tribute Avenue with the other squads there, correct?"
"Correct," he replies.
"Well.. You don't really have a squad anymore."
His mouth shakes as he tries to get his words out.
"Uh- um.. Yes. They are dead now."
"I suggest you skip the Tribute Avenue and come with us instead," Johanna says.
We begin to pace down the street quickly with Eden and Johanna tightly packed beside me. Of course, both of them are probably making sure I won't escape and do something crazy. My plans were ruined because of Ross, and now he's dead. There's no other path I can take now. No other way to give up. I have to stick with the team. But that still doesn't stop my thoughts of wanting to just die.
We quickly pass around a corner and I watch as Peacekeepers guard citizens as they flee their appartments. "Get back," Johanna whispers. We duck down behind the edge of a bulding and Eden takes a quick glimpse of the map on my jawt.
"They're sending them down the right pathway towards the mansion.. That immediately cancels out our only route to take."
"What about the other route? I saw a gigantic opening to the left," Boniqua says.
"That's the entrance to the Tribute Avenue. But we're not assigned to go there. We need to get to the mansion, and down that road is the only way."
Of course the one route we need to take is full of Peacekeepers. In fact, when I peek around the corner I see tons of them. Just six of us against the hundreds of Peacekeepers and Capitol citizens is asking for automatic death, which is what I wanted really. And I kind of still want it, but I've got to stick with the squad.
That's when a pair of green eyes glare at me through the dark alley across from us.
I quickly point the figure out and everyone stops whispering to stare. I barely see a hand stick out, holding three fingers. Then it switches to two. Then one..
The being jumps out and I'm relieved once I see his black, rebel uniform labelled with 'U-D2.' But that's not all. A pack of bloodthirsty soldiers follow out from behind him shooting their guns wildly. Johanna pushes us out into the opening and yells at us to attack.
That's when I realize that they've been waiting, at least the moment I see a crowd storm out from the entrance to the Tribute Avenue. It's not just six of us all alone anymore. There's tons. Hundreds.
The colorful Capitol citizens get another shade to their extreme clothing: red. The stuff pours everywhere as the Peacekeepers begin spin around with their guns.
I feel someone shove me forward and I'm in amongst dead bodies now. My feet are glued to the ground with thick, steamy blood. I barely manage to duck under shots of guns as the rebels and Peacekeepers battle it out. I charge forward and throw my spear down the fenced-off street, the tip driving it's way into a Peacekeeper's stomach, the bullets shooting out from it and taking down more citizens.
"Move forward!" another rebel man shouts from the other squad. The first section of the street is now stained with colors. White suits. Pink wigs. Green eyelashes. But of course, everything is outshadowed by red.
Hovercrafts begin to pass through the skies, missiles taking down some of the ships while others drop bombs. The buildings behind us crumble, some by the bombs and some by the crashing rebel and Capitol hovercrafts. Down the road ahead lies another group of Peacekeepers and citizens, but there's no turning back now. Turning back only means turning back towards the rubble of fallen buildings. We're blocked in now.
"Fire!" someone screams.
I pluck my spear from out of the Peacekeeper's body and I put it back into the sheath on my back. Now I've got my gun in two hands, and I rapid fire into the group. The Peacekeepers fire back while the citizens run wild. All of the rebels charge forward, sparks from the tips of guns forming everywhere. Bullets skim past me. Bodies drop in front of me. I'm in the middle of a bloodbath. For every citizen and Peacekeeper that falls, another rebel falls too. I push through the crowd and I feel that I'm not going to make it out alive.
That's when I see some of the citizens whip out shotguns.
Of course they would have them armed when out in the streets in the middle of a war. How stupid could we have been. A bullet flys over my shoulder as I continue to fire. Plastic from bullets fly. Blood spurts everywhere. This is the time that it's Peacekeeper against Peacekeeper, citizen against citizen, rebel against rebel. No one is aiming now, me neither. Everyone is just firing aimlessly now. This is the time that even my closest of friends could kill me.
I accidently shoot a rebel from another squad in the face, a gaping hole in just underneath her left eye. But there's no time to rush over to help. No time to think about what I've just done. I sprint forward continuing to shoot. Someone wraps around my leg. I'm pulled down. Now I'm on the ground. Someone is stepping on my head. Now on my back. I'm being walked over. I scream in pain and I try to get up, but nothing's working. The feet eventually stop stomping on me, but I catch a glimpse of a Peacekeeper's white boot to my right.
Immediately, I drop my head onto the cold ground and play dead. It's hard to play dead when you're covered in sticky, clammy blood and your body is shaking mercilessly. The shots of guns continue to ring in my ears, but I manage to hear words from peoples' mouths.
"I think they're all dead.."
"We need to go forth. The City Circle is just ahead.."
"Dathan!"
Her voice pierces my ears. I instantly look up and glare into Eden's eyes.
"Are you alright?" she asks, helping me stand to my feet.
"Yeah.. I just played dead.. I'm fine."
I look at my surroundings. Pale, cream walls and slabs splashed with blood. The entire street in front of me laying beneath tons of bodies. In fact, my feet are standing in inches deep of blood. Forget the beginning of the Games. This is the real bloodbath.
The other squads storm on ahead while our squad stays behind.
"We must go," says Johanna. "The City Circle is at the end of this street, and so is the mansion!"
We push on forward even though we are all clearly tired. Keeka's bright, blonde hair looks like it has been dyed with a red color. We catch up with the other squads just as they enter the City Circle. A large fountain sits in the center, clear water drizzling from the top into a large pool at the bottom.
Within an instant, the firing starts up again. Peacekeepers sit on the tops of trucks shooting down at us while others launch huge missiles. The ground is torn up within seconds, gaping holes everywhere. That's when the lamp post to my left becomes apparent. There's no way to shoot past the rebels in front of us without killing them, so it's my only option.
I put my gun in one hand and wrap my other arm around the pole. I drag myself up onto the high base and I'm above the heads of the crowds. The gun is heavy, and I'm seconds from dropping it, but I manage to keep it aimed on one particular Peacekeeper. My finger begins to pull on the trigger, and that's when I see him.
The large, snow white mansion lies before the countless amounts of Peacekeepers and citizens with hovercrafts shooting over it. Behind the glass door on the marble balcony, I see him staring out.
I can almost see his snake green eyes from here.
His puffy lips.
His face that's gone through way too many sessions of plastic surgery.
I see him just before he steps backwards and fades into the darkness of the room.
2,937 words without the Author's Note... YAY!
So hello everyone! What did you think of that cliffhanger?! It was quite insane, even though no one was being hurt or was dying, it was insane because Dathan finally saw... 'him' again.
If you liked this chapter, please leave a review! I always appreciate the support!
And stay tuned for the next chapter! We're coming to the end, so it's going to be intense... Also, the next chapter will be the first chapter of PART IV!
What is going to be the name of PART IV? I'm not sure, but I've had a few names popping around in my head for a few days now.
So anyway, that is it for today... Stay tuned... PART IV is coming, and so is the end to this sequel... The Puppetmaster series is coming to a close :'(
Thank you all so much for reading, byeeeeee :)