I do not own The Hunger Games…
You know that feeling you get when a younger sibling beats you at something without you going easy on him or her? Well… take that, make your younger sibling a sadistic 14 year old girl, and put yourself in the Games. Yeah… that's what I'm feeling right now. Well, that and the blood rushing to my head.
We all start squirming, trying to get a better position to free our weapons. Rose approaches us with a triumphant look etched across her face. Judging on how close we all are together, one swing of her axe could decapitate the four of us. We're sitting ducks. This snare was created by a true master.
"You see… you really shouldn't trust the poor, innocent, helpless underdog Tributes, it may just blow up in your face. You really are just a bunch of dumb hicks," Rose taunts.
"Seriously though, I do appreciate you saving my life from those idiots in that group of five. Even I could not have gotten out of that mess alone."
"Amazing what a girl will do when her boyfriend is taken from her… Yeah, I lied about being forgiving when you told your story about Coy from your first night."
BOYFRIEND?! Either I was completely blocking out anything I heard or saw from them during the interviews or in the Training Room or they were trying their best to keep it a secret.
"It was always supposed to be just me and him from the get go. No other way. Everything was working. I even pushed Diedra into that brutal Career from 1, Emerald, at the Bloodbath, thus commencing the battle that took her life. And trust me, it was no coincidence that Praxton tripped right in front of Fab from 1 either."
"You evil little bitch!" Vi shouts angrily, "How could you do that to your own team?!"
"I TOLD you… that was the plan all along. The only future for any of us was for Coy and I living by ourselves in a life of luxury. Fame and appreciation surrounding us," she replies.
"You sick, sick girl. How could you possibly think that the people of District 12 will appreciate you for having a hand in the murders of two of your friends?" Ryann asks.
"Well that just doesn't matter now… Coy didn't show up at the meeting area. I couldn't see him from where I stood waiting either. And now… he's gone. All thanks to you four!" Rose accuses.
"Did you really expect him to get out of that alive even if we did intervene?!" Dani objects.
"Shut up! Just SHUT UP! All of you… The only thing I know is that we will be hearing four cannons go off very very soon. Well… at least I will hear them," she chuckles.
"It's been real getting to know you suckers." She pulls out her axe then – ROAR! Its scream echoes throughout the jungle. Rose immediately lowers her axe and snaps her head in the direction of the noise.
"Oh how perfect," she starts, "I'll just leave you four to die just as you did to my boyfriend! The Gamemakers have a sense of karma after all. Well, nice knowing you!"
With that, she turns and escapes into the trees… "Great, what in the Hell are we supposed to do?!" Ryann chokes out.
We flail around to try and free our arms to reach our weapons, but we are unsuccessful. The beast is getting closer, too. I look at my surroundings, trying to get something to click….. There it is!
The tree branch we are dangling from is beginning to get flimsy. "Alright! Everyone needs to jump all at once until the tree branch snaps."
With the very limited room for maneuvering , we push ourselves up a little bit so that we can throw ourselves down onto the bottom of the net. After three tires, the tree branch begins to snap. The beast is almost here… After the fifth try, we begin to bend a lot more. Stupid flexible trees aren't working with us right now.
Right before we come down on the sixth try, the mutt comes bounding into our sight. It isn't as big as the snake or eagle-lion things, but it looks just as deadly with its green, scaly body, piercing red eyes, razor sharp claws, and protruding white fangs. It almost looks amphibian-like.
Vi yells, "NOW!" And we all go slamming into the bottom of the net and then sent crashing to the forest floor. We all react rapidly and in the same manner. We roll, grab a weapon, and send it flying at the mutt right before it strikes.
My arrow hits its chest, Vi's knife sticks between its eyes, Dani's axe is buried in its stomach, and Ryann's spear he picked off Zeke is piercing its neck. Yep. It's dead.
We scramble for our things and quickly begin our pursuit for Rose. We aren't too keen on falling into one of her traps again in the arena. As we exit the jungle onto the lack of beach, we see her in the water swimming from the scene. Vi, who has always hated her, takes out one of her weaker knives and flings it at Rose's swimming body.
It narrowly misses her back as she realizes what's going on. She stops and turns at us, first with a look of shock and frustration, then with amusement. "Yeah, good luck with them!" she screams at us.
What now? I turn to my left and see two more of the beasts in pursuit of us. Perfect.
Before we can react, we are distracted by something bubbling out of the water behind Rose.
YEP. The mutts are most definitely amphibian. Rose sees our reactions a little too late. The mutt comes down on her before she can escape. The other two mutts on land have their attention drawn to the scene in the water and make their way out to finish the deal.
All I remember seeing were dark pools of red forming in the water before we fled the scene and made our way back into the jungle away from those terrible things.
BOOM! Rose's cannon.
Right as we're crashing through the jungle, we hear screams about a quarter of a mile to our right. We turn around and we can barely see through the shrubbery the three Careers from 1 being carried out of the jungle on a tidal wave. They are being sent to the spot we just escaped from. Looks like they have had much action from them recently…
"Hey guys… I…think…we…can…stop," Dani pants out. "They're done with us… for now."
We begin walking back through the forest, still trying to distance ourselves from the mess. We still haven't heard any cannons, the Careers must be winning. Suddenly, my feet are soaking wet. Damnit… I didn't think about the overflow of the water from the wave.
Since we weren't too far from the original crest of the tidal wave, we are swept off our feet and carried by the residue rushing water away from the body of salt water and deep into the jungle. Luckily, if anything, it's helping us out by distancing ourselves from the Careers.
It's useless fighting against the water; it's too strong. We end up crashing into some trees and struggle getting up due to the wind getting knocked out of us.
"You guys okay?" I finally choke out. They all muffle out faint "Yes"''s, but I can tell that we are all pretty wiped out. We've been caught in a trap, sprinted through the hot, humid jungle two different times, fought off a mutt, and got carried away by rushing water.
Wanting a relatively quiet rest of the evening, we settle down, build a fire (we know that in whatever shape the Careers are in, they will be too tired to hunt us down), and enjoy a nice meal of the filling wild bird found pretty much everywhere here.
As we're eating our meals, I decide I want to ask them personal questions about home.
"What do you think our families are thinking right now?" I begin.
"Well… I'm pretty sure they were just interviewed weren't they? I mean, since a typical Games has its interviews during the final 8, didn't they say something about the interviews would be for the final 14?" Vi asks.
"Oh yeah, I do remember that now! I suppose our folks have been busy setting up for interviews and such," Ryann adds.
"I wonder what Damien is thinking?" Dani starts, "It's crazy thinking that he could easily be here right now with us… I can't thank you enough, Ryann, keeping him out of here."
"Aww… it was nothing! I can't contain my bravery and selflessness!"
"Oooookay, nice going, Dani. You opened up his ego again," I tease.
"Haha, shut your mouth. I just hope that my parents are actually proud of me… For what I've accomplished, for as far as I've gotten now… I hope they can look past the horrors I've done to get here (I know he's thinking about Zeke and Warrick)," Ryann finishes.
I begin to think how it must be like going to desperate measures just to stand out for my family. No… I consider myself extremely blessed. Wait… I'm in the Hunger Games…Well… you know what I mean. Family wise, I'm very blessed. My parents and sisters will love me unconditionally under any conditions.
My thoughts are interrupted by the anthem. Are little frenemy from 12 was the only death today… nine (besides us) left.
I tell Ryann, Dani, and Vi that I'll take the first watch and continue back into my thoughts about my family as my friends sleep restfully.
That little punk got what was coming for her. Hopefully you didn't grow on her in that little chapter of her "niceness"! If so, sorry! You should probably stop favoring closeted psychopaths ;) . Here's an updated version of the death list:
from the Bloodbath:
Shelbee Barker (7): suicide (the rest in no particular order)…
Brock Gibson (2): Skull smashed by Daniah
Katarina Thomas (2): Knifed in the back by Violette
Warrick Harris (2): Stabbed through the back by Ryann
Josefina Morales (2): Shot in the throat by Mathias
Bryson Brady (3): Speared by Sandrine
Deborah Jameson (3): Hacked away by Plush's mace
Brayson Neartide (4): Sliced by Harper's scythe
Micah Andres (5): Axed by Willow
Brodie Braxton (5): Beaten by Emerald's club
Lee Andrick (6): Knifed in the back by Glory
Ciara Daley (6): Neck snapped by Fab
Wiley Birchwood (7): Impaled by Samuel's trident
Emilee Gilmore (8): Hacked away by Zeke's axe
Markus Osterman (9): Double knifed in the back by Glory
Merrirose Blackbird (9): Sliced up by Plush's sword
Praxton Kepheart (12): Skull smashed against the ruin wall by Fab
Diedra Hangleton (12): Throat slit by Emerald's sword
The rest of the Games:
19- Coy Farrow (12): Clubbed to death by Emerald
20- Mona Briggs (9): Fall during the scenery change
21- Baxter Morgan (9): Fall during the scenery change
22- Fiona Westhill (5): Struck by Harper's scythe
23- Fab Monroe (1): Harpooned by Misty
24- Misty Everfar (4): Impaled by Plush's sword
25- Bianka Worryman (6): Hacked by Kimi's axe
26- Boydd Thromer (6): Beheaded by Kimi's axe
27- Kimi Sampson (5): Chopped by Rayven's weapon (ew)
28- Rayven Hunter (11): Shot by Mathias' arrow, struck by Harper's scythe
29- Mack Behring (11): Accidently axed by Daniah
30-Skip Zucker (8): Speared by Sandrine
31-Samuel O'Hare (4): Stabbed by Rurik
32- Rurik Johannsen (3): Beheaded by Sandrine
33- Sandrine O'Hare (4): Stabbed by Esmeralda
34- Zeke Lees (7): Stomach sliced by Ryann
35- Rosagrace Hawthorne (12): Mauled by an amphibious mutt*
*= she was in most recent anthem