Disclaimer: I do not own the Hinger Games. They belong to Suzanne Collins.
Note: I have been really looking forward to writing this chapter, so much like you wouldn't believe. The end of the story is looming near and I'd say overall this one's been among the best, maybe? I think if nothing else it's certainly fixed several issues from the first story. Time to see Gadget's plan get put into action... will it succeed, or will it all crash and burn horrifically? Let's waste no time in finding out! And a question for the reviewers... in your view, what would be the most terrifying Mutt imaginable?
ACT 3: THE EXPLOSION
Part 7: Bring It Down!
I've only ridden in a car a few times before now. From the reaping to the train station, from the Capitol train station to the tribute building, from home to school and back... point is, all of those car rides were fairly slow. Gentle, even.
A far cry from the one I am in now!
It's bumpy and wild as Bovin drives us along at an extremely high speed. All of us in the back seats are being rattled around every time the car goes over a pothole or soars through the air over a ramp made from some sort of junk. Bovin, somehow, never loses his look of concentration. Sash, too, is completely focused.
I'm certainly glad for this. With so much riding on this plan - like, our lives! - we can't have anything less than complete concentration.
"So, what's gonna happen once we get there?" Julian asks, his sword still in hand. "You just set down the landmines and that's it?"
"Pretty much exactly that," I say, nodding. "The plan is complex as it is, no need making it even more complicated."
"Well, how are you going to detonate them from a range?" he asks, curious. "I mean, they need to have something hit them to blow them up. You don't have a remote to active them."
"I was thinking that I might throw a few rocks at them to try and set off a chain reaction," I say to him. "There's no shortage of rocks in this Arena, so it makes sense."
"True, but it'd make more sense to throw a landmine at the rest of them. Damages the skyscraper a bit and it'll ensure they all blow up at once. Saves us a bit of time," he suggests, looking out the window. "Hmm, this part of the Arena looks familiar,"
Julian is right, that would probably make more sense. I should've thought of that, but I guess the stress is making it hard to plan things out properly. Thinking over the plan a few times in my head, I calm myself just a little. It seems planned out as best as it can be, so now all we have to do is actually do it. If all goes well, it won't even take half an hour once we reach the skyscraper.
"Hey Gadget, look," Lacey says, pointing out the window at Julian's side of the car. "It's the Cornucopia. Oh, it's still got stuff in it."
"Wait, really?" I peer to look at the silver horn out the window. Sure enough, even as the turntable continues to rotate endlessly, I can see that there are some supplies littered inside. A few unopened boxes too, I think.
We can't pass this chance up. Once we're out of here, who knows how long it will be until we find a long-term shelter. Water and food will be precious, and we'll only have what we've got in our supplies now.
Not enough, that's for sure.
"Bovin, stop the car," I say, sitting up a little. "We need to grab some of the supplies. If we're gonna be out there in no man's land, we need more food and water."
"Understood," he says, screeching the RAT to a quick hold. "C'mon, let's go. Quickly now."
We all scramble out of the RAT and get up the dirt hill to grab everything we need. Julian stands guard, his gaze practically piercing through the darkness. Smokey, meanwhile, rests inside the RAT. She's in no shape to be carrying around supplies and going up and down a dirt hill.
It's a good thing we came this way and that I made us stop. There's still plenty of food here, such as wrapped loafs of bread, cans of soup, dried meat and even a chocolate bar. Nemo may think nobody saw him discreetly grab it up and put it in his pocket, but I saw him! Besides that, there's plenty of water as well. Thing is, will it be stale by now or... well, off? It's been here for a while now in weather both hot and cold. I think the Cornucopia is filled the night before the Games begin, so that means it's been there just over a week.
Grabbing up a container of water, I decide that stale water is still better than having no water at all.
As Sash and Bovin load everything up while Nemo gets back into the RAT, perhaps to comfort Smokey, I sit on the dirt hill and look up at the sky. Still cloudy, but it's starting to clear up a bit now. Fake or not, the stars and moon look beautiful.
Lacey sits down beside me, and it's clear she's worried. I guess I can see why. It's been a horrible time for her ever since the last Games. Not only that, but with escape so close... so is the chance of a failed escape. I don't want to think about what would happen if we failed to get out of this place. If we crash and got caught...
"How are you holding up?" I ask her, moving closer. I lower my voice to barely a whisper. "Not much longer."
"I know," she replies just as quietly. "But I'm just worried. Scared you could die, scared daddy could die... scared for all of you."
"...Are you scared for yourself?" I ask her. "We're all gonna be alright."
"Can you promise that?" she asks. I notice she didn't answer my first question...
I'm silent. I can't promise it with certainty. I'd love it if I could, but things could still go wrong and any of us could end up paying the ultimate price. An eternal price, at that.
We're silent for a few moments as the adults pack away the last of the supplies that we're bringing with us. What should I say? What can I say, really, that is helpful or comforting? I can only make reassurances, ones that may not be true sooner than later if things go wrong.
"What's gonna happen to Gleam and Binary?" she asks after a few moments.
Her voice is so quiet and so... uneasy. I guess it's a valid question though, because they're not in on the escape plan. They'd attack us on sight, and kill us just as quickly if given the chance to. But if we're leaving them behind, what fate are we condemning them to? I highly doubt the Capitol would just shrug, fire seven cannons and then make them fight it out while we flee in the RAT.
If we escape, they'd both be interrogated in a way most brutal and then, whether they know anything or not and in this case I'd say not, they'd be painfully executed. Maybe over several hours. It's... a horrific way to go, and certainly not one I'd want for myself. To condemn them to that kind of a death... ummmmm...
Call me a brat all you want, but Binary deserves it. Sure, if we're being very technical about it he's my daddy, but he's nothing to me. Certainly not family, and especially not somebody I have a single good thing to say about. Snow can do with him as he wishes.
But Gleam... I guess seeing her so broken and hopeless... it reminds me of my own breaking point last games, sorta. Maybe it's worth at least trying to offer her the chance to come with us and live?
Though, perhaps I'll do that once I have a solid knife-proof barrier between us. Knives hurt!
Oh, Lacey's waiting for an answer. She's not impatient though, just sitting very close to me and watching the night sky as she waits. The moonlight casts a glow upon us both, no doubt showing the stress in our eyes. When will it end? If I have my way, very soon.
"I'm not sure," I whisper. "I guess... dying is the most likely outcome. It's the one I hope befalls Binary, honestly. But Gleam... think she could be talked to? Reasoned with?"
"I don't know," Lacey says, softly. She runs her hands through her curls. "I'm so tired, Gadget."
"Same here Lacey," I agree.
"We're ready, girls!" Sash calls to us, stuffing a bounded length of rope into his pocket. "Come on, we can't go without you!"
We're quickly up on our feet and scampering over to the RAT. Reaching the door first, I hold it open for Lacey to get inside.
"After you," I say to her, trying to sound more like a gentlewoman than a dork. "Uh, m'lady."
Lacey pauses, giving me an odd look for a moment. Before I can worry that I may have done something dumb, or maybe just dumber than the norm, she laughs. Feels nice to know I made her laugh and smile, even for just a moment.
We'll need the good feelings for what's about to happen. It'll go either really well or really badly, no chance of anything in-between.
We may have water, but I'd kill for a bottle of cherry shandy right now... well, not literally kill, but... I just really want a drink, ok!? I'm scared...
But, as the RAT takes off once more with Bovin at the wheel, I know that I am not just scared, but determined as well. It'll work.. it'll work, and I'll save us all.
"Gadget..." Smokey mumbles, slowly turning to face me. "What if your dad attacks us?"
"Seven on one... I don't think he would," I assure her gently. "If he does though... Julian, would you want to take him out?"
"I'll let him choose between quick and painless or slow and horrible," he says as he leans against the window. "I'm rigging the choice towards slow and horrible."
That there is a solid plan of action, I think we can all agree. Before then, still a few miles until we reach the skyscraper. Might be enough time for a short rest. After all, everybody else besides Bovin and Sash is doing that already. Yeah, a small nap sounds nice.
(Not much later...)
We're here. The massive skyscraper looms above us, kind of intimidating with just how tall it is. I can't fathom how heavy it must be, but what I am sure of is that it far surpasses the weight the forcefield can absorb. Just beyond it I can see a few ripples in the air. It requires some focusing to see it, but once I do the forcefield becomes impossible to miss. We're right at the edge of the Arena, more or less.
The Gamemakers must be watching us very carefully now. Having people at the edge of the Arena is never something they exactly like, not since what Haymitch is said to have pulled off in the second Quell, but to have an alliance of seven hanging around here when only nine are left... that's gotta strike them as suspicious.
I don't doubt that they will be sending Mutts at us sooner than later, or perhaps setting off something to get Gleam and Binary to come this way to ensue a fight breaks out and maybe cause a death or two. All the more reason to work as quickly as possible.
"Ok," I say as Bovin slows the RAT to a halt. "You all know the plan. Get the landmines set up, blow the skyscraper up to it takes down the shield and then we drive away like mad. But, uh, there's one more thing... you might not like it."
"Oh boy, here we go," Julian groans. "What is it?"
"I'd do anything," Lacey says quickly.
"Me too," Smokey says, tired as can be.
"Ok, so... the trackers," I say, awkwardly. "They'd still be able to follow us with them, so we need to get rid of them."
"Cut them out?" Nemo asks, looking grossed out. "...Wait, they're in our chests this year. That'd kill us!"
"I suppose you have a plan for this, right Gadget?" Sash asks, looking surprisingly calm. Certainly a good sign.
"I do," I assure him.
He nods, satisfied. He slowly turns up the volume of the song just a little more, an added precaution against the Capitol overhearing us.
Skydive naked from an aeroplane
Or a lady with a body from outer space
My heart, my heart
Kick start my heart
Ummmmm... those lyrics are getting distracting. Ahem, anyway! They want an explanation, and they'll get one. I just ponder if they will like it as, well, this isn't exactly going to be painless at all.
"The Spark Shot 2.0 isn't just a tazer," I tell them, awkwardly. "It, uh, also has a specific setting that is designed for destroying trackers. They'd still be inside us but they'd be broken. The Capitol would never find us if we could lose them quickly after the forcefield is down. But, it's not painless. It won't cause more than a nasty jolt, but it's... not fun."
"Are you sure this will work?" Sash asks, seriously.
"I am certain of it," I promise him. This much, I know to be true.
"Then I'm fine with it," he assures me. "Between playing the Games normally until one is left or a few moments of pain before an escape, it's barely a choice."
"I'm fine with it," Lacey says, just as confident as her daddy. "I trust you."
One by one everybody agrees to undergo a zapping in exchange for their freedom. I guess Sash is right, it's really not a difficult choice to make.
"Who's going to zap you?" Lacey asks after a few moments.
"I'll do it to myself," I assure her. "It's easy enough to just hold the weapon in reverse and pull the trigger. Ok... I'll go to the skyscraper, set up the mines and then blow everything up. I'll be back soon so we can leave."
"You're not going alone," Sash says to me, firm. "I'm coming with you, just in case."
"Yeah, same," Julian says, already opening the door and getting out. "I'm not risking any muttshit going on here."
I don't argue this. If it makes this whole thing go quicker and safer, then so be it. Of course, as we're all getting out and getting ready to go, Lacey speaks to me.
"Be safe," she whispers. "All three of you. Just... be careful Gadget, ok? Come back soon."
"Of course I will," I say, giving her a hug. "You keep a watch over Nemo and Smokey, ok? They don't look too good."
"How observant of you," Nemo says, groaning. Smokey wearily groans too... poor kids.
Lacey gives them a sympathetic look and nods to me, saluting.
"You can count on me," she promises, serious as a soldier. I guess that's what we are right now, soldiers against the Capitol.
"Same as always then," I say approvingly. "Turn the engine off Bovin, we'll want to conserve as much fuel as we can."
He nods, turning it off quickly. With that, I take one last look at Lacey.
"Keep your ears open, big 'show' about to start," I say, standing tall and hopefully looking strong.
Grabbing the burlap sack of land mines I shut the door. At least I can be certain of the safety of four of my friends for now. Myself, Julian and Sash remain in danger so long as we're outside the RAT, but if danger is what we must face to make it out then I say bring it on.
The ground towards the skyscraper is pretty rocky and very uneven, jagged almost. It's hard to make my way along the terrain and I keep stumbling. Sash stumbles too, but perhaps it's because of his hip wound. It looks nasty... I can only wonder why he's not crying out in pain from it like I would if it were me. I guess he's tougher than I am.
Of course, Julian outshines us both. He marches along undeterred and unimpressed, nothing stopping him. He pauses for the briefest of moments to glance back.
"Keep up," he says. "Time is of the essence."
"Not all of us are incredibly adept fifteen year old Careers," I wheeze, scrambling along a bit faster.
"Neither am I. I turned sixteen yesterday," he says, casually. "Being free of mother was an... interesting gift to receive. I'm used to getting swords."
"Um... I'm sure Nemo would say you're welcome?" I say, quite unsure of what more I can say in response. That sure was one strange statement.
"We need to go back this way," Sash says. "Gadget, think you can run through this terrain at speed?"
"I'm sure I could once I'm not weighed down by the burlap sack," I assure him. I look again, up and up towards the top of the skyscraper. "Geez, that's tall..."
"Feeling short all of a sudden?" Sash asks, weakly smiling.
"I am. It's certainly not something I'm used to," I say, managing a tired chuckle. "Too bad we couldn't get the RAT any closer."
"Why couldn't we?" Julian asks. "It would make sense."
"Blast radius and the chance of debris falling upon it," I say. "On foot we can turn around in an instant and sprint out of range. We're also smaller targets."
Julian shrugs, accepting the reasoning. Sash voices no issue, continuing to travel alongside me. I see the spiked mace in his hand... yeah, I feel a lot better about him holding it than when Matilda did. It feels nice, having two guys who care about me and are ready to fight in my honour, kinda. Makes me feel a bit like a princess of olden days.
Stay on task self, stay on task or you'll die...
We reach the skyscraper soon enough. Nothing to stop us from entering it, actually. Could make a decent shelter, if we weren't just about ready to leave this terrible place. I quickly kneel down and empty out the sack. My hands are a blur as I get to work on rearming the landmines. It won't take long to get them all active and ready to use.
Naturally, the first one takes the longest as I have to think a bit, recalling exactly how this was done last year. But soon enough I work it out, and from there it's simply a matter of repeating the same actions with the other landmines. Julian and Sash stand a distance away as one by one the landmines become active and deadly if they were to be handled wrong.
"Keep an eye out," I tell them. "I'm putting them in place now. I can't have any distractions."
"You can count on us," Sash says as he begins to pace around, keeping an eye out for any trouble.
"What he said," Julian adds he holds his sword in both hands and moves around the area, slow and careful. "You do your job and we'll do ours."
That's exactly what I do. I'm fast, but meticulous and precise as I move around. Quick, but careful. Soon enough five landmines are in place, and then ten and pretty soon twenty. Not even five minutes have rolled by before they're all placed exactly as they should be. All active and sure to cause an absolutely devastating explosion.
Just as soon as the final landmine is tossed towards them. It'll only take a few moments to rearm it and then...
...Then, Snow will see that he should've cut his losses and left Lacey and I alone!
"How's it going?" Sash asks as he comes over. "Just about ready?"
"Yeah, almost," I nod to him, carefully working with the wires. "Just a few more wires to connect, nothing hard."
"Good job Gadget," he says, patting my head. "Lacey's lucky she has a girl like you on her side."
"Well, ummmmm..." I blush, flattered as I continue to work. "She's lucky she has you too, you know? You're the best parent I've ever seen. Better than my own..."
I pause, looking over the last two wires I need to connect.
"I'm just as lucky having you both on my side," I continue. "Maybe even luckier, to be perfectly honest."
Now it's Sash's turn to look flattered, even if just for a few moments.
"I'm just doing what any parent would do. Be nice to my family and friends of family," he says, modestly. "And Lacey, well, she's the best daughter I could have a-."
A gunshot rings throughout the night. I scream for a moment, think it was me that was shot and that I just don't know it yet. But no, a quick look shows that I am fine. No injuries that I didn't already have. I can see Julian is standing nearby next to a large amount of junk and rubble, looking around wildly. Like me, no injuries he didn't have before we left the junkyard.
Sash wheezes, shaking in agony. Blood is quickly soaking his shirt around his non-injured hip. He tries to speak, but only gasps.
No! No! NONONONONO!
Sash drops to his knees and collapses to the ground. I'm beside him in a moment, the landmine laying forgotten for now, pleading him to stay with us. Begging him to not go. Lacey needs him, Minda needs him... I need him!
"Gadget, what's going on?" Julian yells, steeling himself for battle.
"Sniper!" I wail, my tears burning my cheeks. "Sash needs help, now!"
Julian gets no chance to speak nor do I get a chance to plead Honorius or Sash's Mentor for help. A second gunshot rungs out through the night.
Neither myself nor Julian take any wounds from the shot or bleed in any way. Before I can ponder that the shot may have missed the junk near Julian becomes dislodged and before he can shout in alarm for a full second it has fallen upon him. His sword falls out of his arm range, and only his arms and head are visible. He's in pain and struggling to escape, but very much alive.
He grabs a fallen sheet of metal - steel, I think? - quickly, holding it in front of himself. The next shot fired deflects off it, leaving him unharmed.
"Julian!" I scream.
Sash is hurt badly and Julian is trapped, this is bad! Bad, bad, bad! VERY bad! I brace for a gunshot towards me, but it never comes.
The sniper has revealed themselves, and already I'm shaking horribly. It's hard to be calm, really, when my friends are hurt and Binary is approaching me. That in itself would be bad enough, but it seems in the time since I last saw him he's gotten some new, much better equipment.
He's wearing some form of body armour, a skin-tight mesh design to be exact. How much could that have costed?! Flux must have used the entirety of the sponsor account to pay for that. Mercifully, he lacks any sort of face-guard or helmet, but seeing his hateful eyes isn't an improvement. His halberd is across his back and, unless I am mistaken, it seems to be bigger and sharper than before... a new, better one perhaps?
The thing that makes my heart almost stop is what he is holding in his hands. The Hawkeye! The gun I created, he's claimed it for himself. He must have grabbed it from the haunted house and... and...
...I have armed him, and it's all because of me that Julian is pinned and Sash is dying.
I... I... I've doomed Lacey's daddy! It's all my fault...
Nemo was right. I should have gone back to grab the gun. Even if Binary had taken it by then, I'd have at least been able to prepare myself. Now he's got the upper hand, and I'm once again almost feeling the claws of death raking my skin.
As he walks closer I can see that he doesn't look so good. Granted, none of us are exactly in good health right now and in my own view he's never looked good... but, I think that the poison has gotten to him. He staggers just a bit, his face is pale and his hand is still quite bloody from the chainsaw battle the other day. Missing those three fingers can't make holding the gun a simple matter. Not that it stopped his gunshots so far...
"Hello Gadget," he says, gritting his teeth. "Still alive I see."
"Get out of here," I hiss at him, my hiss dying and becoming more of a whimper. "Just... j-just go!"
"Why should I? Seems to me you're right where I want you," he says, cold as ice. "Dying man there, trapped boy over there... then there's you, right there in front of me. You wounded my hand, but I won't miss a shot like that."
He leers at me, a leer full of the worst kind of smugness and hate.
"Thanks for making this gun for me," he says, staring at me. His gaze becomes colder and more bitter. "I'd say that makes up for the pain you've caused me."
"The pain I've caused you?!" I scream, my rage starting to bubble within me. "You put yourself in this Arena! You were the one who volunteered and got us dragged in here. You were the one got involved in a deadly conspiracy out of pure greed and put your life on the line! You are the one who abused me and blamed all your issue son me because you... y-y-y-you cannot take any damn responsi-AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
My rant started strong, but it ends with a scream as my shoulder erupts into agony, like it's been doused into an inferno. I can't stop screaming, having just been shot in the shoulder by my own gun.
AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!
"Be glad. I was aiming for your heart," he says, glancing at his mangled hand in disdain.
Owwww! Owwww! OWWWWW!
Agony and fear both have me rooted to the spot. He'll shoot me again if I give him the tiniest opportunity. It takes all of my willpower to take the risk of grabbing up the spiked mace Sash dropped. The poor man from Eight is alive, but he's dying and wheezing in agony. He's fighting for his life, fighting to just stay conscious. Same as me, except he got shot somewhere worse.
"That hurt?" he mocks me.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh... even if y-y-you do kill me, you're outnumbered!" I squeak, shaking. I think I'm gonna throw up. "Snow knows you were planning a coup that'd have him killed. He'll h-h-have your head...!"
He steps closer and, while he's still a good few paces away, I better think fast before he shoots me again or, worse, starts strangling me or cutting me up.
"This was supposed to be my Victory, you little glitch. My ticket to the good life," he says, seething. "You were supposed to die in the Bloodbath, just like that drunk friend of yours!"
As he rants, I suddenly realised something. Something obvious.
I may be terrified of him and in great pain... and he may he armed, dangerous and have a lot to say... but, I'm a young lady now, not a kid at his mercy. I don't have to listen to him if I don't want to.
And, guess what? I DON'T!
He barely realises what I'm doing until I have already done it. That being charging at him full speed and tackling him to the ground, wildly swinging the spiked mace around. It's hard to fight and ignore the horrible pain, but he shot my non-dominant shoulder and adrenaline overrides pain. He howls as the weapon smashes against his torso and upper arms, but the armour prevents anything worse than bruising and the pain of impact.
"Let's finish this one, you and I," he whispers, deadly in his tone. "I bought you into Panem, fitting I be the one to take you out of it as well."
If I can't kill him fast, or at least knock him out, then Sash will be dead. It's all up to me. For the sake of my friends and everybody I love, this monster is being exterminated!
I try to punch him in the face, but he quickly reaches up to grab my hands and block my punches. I can't fight back against his force, he's too strong!
"You may be tall, but that means nothing without muscle," he sneers, throwing back my hand and punching me in the gut before I can recover.
I scream from the pain, but before he can get up my hands are around his neck and gripping tight. He wheezes and chokes, thrashing around for a few moments. The fact he's already poisoned can't be making this easy for him.
My world turns blurry and my head is suddenly pounding horribly. He smacked me with the Hawkeye itself, I think. I'm kinda dazed so I don't know for sure. On my hands and knees I wearily crawl away as Binary takes a few deep breathes. Rising up he staggers and grimaces.
"Attacking me while I'm talking? Should've figured you'd do that. I should've done that," he mutters, shaking his head. "Come on Binary, head in the game."
He then shouts out, frustrated. Shaking his head again he tosses the Hawkeye to the ground.
"Jammed, perfect timing," he mutters, taking his halberd into his hands. Lacking three fingers as he does, his hold is certainly not perfect. His gaze comes to rest on me. "Ok, fine."
"Gadget, get me out of here!" Julian yells. "I'll cut his throat before he can even blink!"
"You can't do shit when you're trapped," Binary says, unphased.
Being next to Julian as I am, I try to hold his arm and pull him out to safety. I don't think I've even dragged him a full two inches before Binary has almost closed the gap. I can only scramble away, trying to grab out the Spark Shot 2.0. I'm ready to fry him, but he laughs.
"Don't even bother," he says as he taps his armour. "It's not a conductor. Your little device won't work."
I don't listen, instead ready to fire at his face. He knows this all too well, quickly charging me. I dodge the first swing of the halberd, but the second swing strikes my back as I try to scramble away. It's luck alone that makes the flat of the blade hit me rather than the sharp part, but I'm still sent sprawling to the ground with a rough thud. I spit out the dirt and try to keep moving, but Binary grabs me by my hair and yanks hard. My shriek echoes. It must echo even more when he punches the back of my neck. I'm desperately wheezing as I collapse to the ground.
"Time to end this," he mutters, gasping a little. For a few moments he coughs horribly. A perfect chance to strike him, but one I am too worn out and hurting to be able to tale.
From my spot on the ground, lifting my head up I can see Sash is very close and has taken out a bottle of some sort. He looks pale and weaker, but he's still in this. Carefully, he sips at the bottle. Is it medicine?
I scream from the stomp upon my back. I pray that the four in the RAT heard it, but that's a ways back. Who's to say that my scream travelled that far, or that something isn't causing them their own issues? Just please, somebody save us!
We were so close...
Tired out, Binary looms near with the halbard raised. It looks very awkward in his grasp, the mangled hand making it hard to hold properly, but a good swing to my neck is all it'll take.
"Get away from her, flea!"
A moment later the sheet of metal Julian blocked the shot with flies through the air, ever so slightly nicking the side of Binary's neck. It cuts into him, some blood spilling from the fresh wound. He stumbles near me and drops to his knees. I hear some sudden shuffling, but before I can focus on the sound Binary is upon me, his non-bloodied hand around my neck.
He doesn't say a word, he just focuses on cutting off my air supply. I try not to scream, as it'd just make me die faster. I kick my legs and try to punch at him, but he's gotten the upper hand. I can already feel my lungs screaming and my vision blurring. Bit by bit, he's suffocating me.
I grab some rubble and swing it at him. Two smacks to the side of his head clearly cause this horrid man pain, but not enough for him to stop. Every second that passes, I get weaker and less able to fight back. Julian calls out, screaming many horrific word at Binary an trying to throw junk at him. Meanwhile, the shuffling stops and I hear the sound of... I'm not sure. Fabric?
It's hard to think anymore. My face is turning blue most likely and I'm in a daze, everything getting faraway. It won't be long before my air is gone. Every second is agony. This is pain. Help!
I'm practically counting down the seconds to my death when Binary's hold suddenly loosens as he is dragged back. He yells in alarm, crashing down and groaning. He's in agony just like I am. His own lungs probably need air, and that's saying nothing of how the poison in his boy won't be going away anytime soon.
"What's going on!?" he yells. A moment later he yells louder. "What are you doing? Release me!"
"I think not," Sash says. His voice shows both his pain, yet also his determination. "That means you'd stay alive and continue to hurt that innocent girl."
I gasp and inhale deeply, trying to catch my breath back. Woozily, I sit up to see what's going on. How come I'm still alive.
What the hell?!
Binary is clawing at the ground, trying to gain some kind of a hold. But it's no use as he's being dragged along the ground bit by bit. A rope has been tied around his left leg. At the other end of the rope is Sash, the rope tied to his own left leg. He's crawling along, dragging Binary with him. Blood drops along the ground he makes his way past, a sign he's dying. That bottle must have had some potent stuff in it for him to be able to drag Binary along.
...
...Oh no...
WHAT'S HE DOING?!
Sash is dragging Binary along, but that's not what has me alarmed. He's dragging him right towards the landmines. One touch of them, even breathing on them too heavily... the explosion would surely be lethal to anybody. He must know this. He's heading for his doom and taking Binary with him.
No, no, no!
"Sash, stop!" I wail, trying to stand up. I collapse again, the pounding in my head too hard for my to focus. I can't get it to go away.
"Gadget," he calls to me, softly. I can just tell from the sound of it he's... on the way out. "He got me good. There's no way I will be able to survive the night... but that's ok. If I can make sure the rest of you are safe, then I have no regrets. I'm dead either way so I'll activate the mines, you and Julian run!"
"Mines?!" Binary's scream is shrill, his face becoming white as snow. He glances back, really getting a good look at the mines. His screaming becomes a lot louder. "No! No! let me go you maniac! Please!"
Binary fights back as hard as he can, pulling against Sash, but it appears to be useless. He's trapped and slowly dragged every closer to his demise. But how can Sash be dying? He's overpowering Binary and that man is still able to struggle!
"Sash, you're gonna be fine!" I plead, my voice slurring from pain. "Come on, let's forget about Binary. Knock him out a-a-and we'll set off the mines from a distance. We can make it through this, please!"
"The bottle had morphing in it," he says, ever more determined as he gets closer to the landmines. "Just enough to ignore the pain for a few minutes before I shut down. Go, now!"
"No, I'm not abandoning you!" I yell, staggering to my feet and barely balancing as I do so. "Not when there's a chance to save you!"
"There's no chance," he says, his voice already weakening and the landmines getting close. "I've not... got long."
Binary's pleading and begging has become so terrified and shrill I can't understand his words at all anymore. He doesn't hold my attention, only my dying, self-sacrificing ally.
"Tell Lacey I love her, and I am proud of her. I'm proud of the young woman she has become and that I am sure she will continue to grow to be," he says. He glances up, perhaps to a camera. "Minda dearest, I love you. I'm sorry I can't be there with you now or tomorrow or... I'm done for, and if this is what it takes to bring Lacey home, I have to."
"I'll give you anything! Money, fame, power! Just let me go, please!" Binary begs.
"Shut up! You disgust me, you're no father. You're just a greedy bastard," Sash says, angry. But he cools off fast, almost to the mines. "This is my choice Gadget, mine. Don't feel guilty and let Lacey know she doesn't need to either. It's nobody's fault, just my own decision. This way... this way she won't have to watch me die like she would if I came back. Now go, now! get Julian and both of you RUN!"
Binary has stopped trying to crawl away and now is grabbing at the rope, trying his best to unwind it His breathing is loud and fast, pure panic and fear so clear to see. I'd not give it thirty seconds before Sash reaches he mines.
"I'll never forger you," I sob, saluting. "You're a good man... you're loved, and you'll be remembered!"
"I agree with you, but Gadget get me out from under here!" Julian yells, still struggling.
My head feels so sore and the world spins, but I stumble my way over to Julian. With all the strength I have left I grab his arm and pull as hard as I possibly can. I feel aflame, but I find it in me to drag Julian out to safety. He's up to his feet in an instant, blazing over to grab the fallen Spark Shot 2.0 which he practically shoves into my hands.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" he yells, his tone urgent.
No need to tell me twice. With one last sad look at Sash, and the briefest of glances at Binary screaming, I turn away and run.
Julian is fast, even when in pain. It's hard to keep up with him, but I push myself to do it as best as I can. Time is running out, fast! Just as I thought, I'm handling the terrain a lot better without the sack of landmines to weigh me down.
We cover the ground very fast and before long the RAT is in sight again. Several dead Mutts lay around, and Bovin stands with a big, bloody sword in hand. Thank goodness we took a pit-stop at the Cornucopia.
Right as Lacey notices us from the car window and waves to us a massive explosion tears through the night. It's so loud, practically a gigantic roar. Glancing back I see the mushroom cloud of the landmines engulf the lower part of the skyscraper, flames rising up and debris showering around the area. The skyscraper begins to fall.
Two cannons fire out, one after the another. My enemy has fallen, and with him so has a great ally... no, a great friend. I know Sash said to not feel guilty, that it was his choice... but I can't hold back the sobs nor the vomit. Sash...
"Gadget, where's daddy!?" Lacey asks, her face losing colour. She heard the cannons, same as me. "No... no... Gadget, please tell me it wasn't..."
"...He said he loves you, and that he's proud of the young lady you've become," I say, barely able to get the words out. "Oh Lacey, I'm sorry!"
Lacey breaks down, screaming. She just lost her daddy dearest. Far dearer than my own. I don't doubt she'll be hurting from this for a long while. I failed to save him. This... this one is on me.
Besides Lacey's heartbroken wailing, nobody gets to say anything more before the gigantic skyscraper hits into the forcefield at a massive speed and physical force.
The whole forcefield glows a shade of whitish blue, flashing madly as it overloads. We all cover our eyes as it starts to go haywire.
"Hit the deck!" Nemo yells.
I quickly point the Spark Shot 2.0 at myself, set it to the special tracker destruction setting and fire. I collapse from the zap right as the world around me explodes.
I stand up once again after a few moments, the tracker in my broken. I'm one hundred percent sure it's busted. I'd be willing to bet my life upon it a thousand times over, I'm that confident.
Meanwhile, the Arena is collapsing. The sky has gone from starry and almost dreamy to a creepy grey, revealing it for the fake sky that it is. Pieces are collapsing already. Fires are starting off an explosion ring out, happening as far as the eye can see.
Part of the ceiling completely breaks open, letting in an orange glow. A sunny morning from the outside world of this terrible city. I've not seen daylight such as that in a week.
It's beautiful.
We gotta go! Now!
"Come on guys, we don't have much time!" I say, swallowing down my nerves, and vomit. "You all ready?"
Julian steps forth and gives me a quick nod. I don't hesitate to zap him. He doesn't even fall down, simply nodding again and jumping to the gun turret.
Working fast I quickly zap the rest of the group one by one. Bovin, Smokey and, once he's taken the metal, conductive armour off , Nemo. That just leaves Lacey and then we're outta here!
Seeing her sobbing and sniffling, weeping so brokenly... I feel my resolve crack. She's hurting enough, can I zap her while she's feeling like this? I know I have to for our escape, but she lost her daddy not even five minutes ago. I... I don't know! I must, but I can't...
"Oh, enough moral dilemmas," Julian says, rolling his eyes. "We need to go, give it here."
Quick as a flash Lacey howls from the zap and Julian passes the weapon back to me.
"Apologies, but better a zap than being dead," he says, returning to his spot by the cannon.
The Arena is continuing to fall apart around us. Any minute now we'll be flocked surely. Peacekeepers are below the surface and a hovercraft will be along too. As everybody gets back inside, Bovin standing guard as we do so, I can't help but ponder that we might be forgetting something...
Hearing Nemo scream we all turn to him in a frantic moment.
He's struggling, held in Gleam's strong grasp. She's got him locked into place, a knife to his throat. In his eyes is terror, and in her eyes is a horrible combination of misery, rage and pain.
Yeah, we really forgot something... or rather, someone.
While Julian stands tense and Smokey huddles with Lacey inside the car, both sobbing over the death of Sash, I freeze. What do I do?! If I move closer Nemo dies. If I try to use the Spark Shot 2.0 it'll take a moment to fire... a moment where Gleam would kill him. If Julian uses the turret then she could also kill Nemo... why not, if he aims such a gigantic weapon at her?
We're in a deadlock. Nobody wants to abandon Nemo, but saving him without killing him presents an issue. Gleam won't listen to me and certainly not to Julian or Nemo himself. Especially not Smokey and Lacey is far too full of despair to speak right now.
What do we do!? Time's running out!
"Nobody move," Gleam chokes out. "You... you all stay right there!"
I have no idea what to do. Everything around me is breaking apart, a city of fire and chaos, and the time to escape is quickly running out. Come on gadget, think! Nemo looks at me, pleading, only increasing my desperation.
Bovin moves forwards, dropping his sword. He raises up his hands as he stands across from Gleam. He gives me a sideways look as he does so.
"I'll handle it," he says quietly. "You get in the car, and get ready. Your friend needs you."
My heart pounds in terror, but I obey. Bovin's never let me down before now, and after how he's driven the RAT to this point and how he protected me from the Mutts days ago... I can trust him. I get into the RAT beside Lacey and gently take her into an embrace. She accepts it, wailing into my shoulder. I stroke her curls gently, holding her close. It's all I can do right now.
I stare out at Bovin as he faces off against Gleam standing firm and unarmed, looking the hurting woman in the eyes. Nemo struggles, but Gleam holds him so easily it's like he's hardly even there.
What is Bovin going to do?
"Gleam, I know what you're going through," he says, carefully. "It hurts, as though your world is crashing down like the Arena around us. You're right to be upset... losing your family, and friends, hurts."
"...Huh...?" Gleam seems confused that Bovin isn't fighting, but she doesn't remove her hold on Nemo nor does she take the knife away from his throat.
Bovin pauses, considering his words. Gleam eyes him and all of us. There's no chance of any sort of a surprise attack, not one that won't result in Nemo's death.
"Killing Nemo won't bring Matilda back. Killing Smokey, if she's next in your list, won't bring Wonder back," he says, carefully. He looks Gleam in the eyes. "Just like how killing the Capitol, or even just whoever added the poison gas, won't bring Valley back. My little girl's dead, it hurts badly. You think I don't know the pain of it? I know the feeling you're having Gleam."
"It hurts so much..." she sobs, letting the tears fall. "I couldn't save them, I couldn't do anything for either of them. I couldn't even die for them properly. I've lived my life for Wonder's sake, that's it... I don't have any purpose anymore."
She coughs rapidly, choking a little. The poison is setting in now. I hear Julian mutter something about waiting her out until the poison gets her, but we don't have that kind of time. Come on Bovin, what's the plan here?
"Is it so bad to not have one?" Bovin asks. "You could live, and find a purpose. There's decades left to live, that's plenty of time to find one. I still need to find my own now that Valley's gone... we could find our purposes together, if you'd want to take the chance?"
"What do you mean?" she asks, weeping. She seems more attentive suddenly...
"We're getting out of here," he says, firmly. "The forcefield is down. The car is ready to go. You can come with us Gleam, live a life away from the Games. The only catch is... you'd need to undergo a zap in order for your tracker to be broken. Can confirm though, it's not really that bad."
"No! You might kill me!" she squeals, paling. "I... I didn't care about dying before, so long as those I loved were happy... victorious, even. But now they're gone and I'm all alone... I don't want to die without avenging them. They'd be so very angry and... and..."
Gleam breaks down further, crying. With Lacey sobbing into my shoulder and Gleam wailing outside, it's hard to stop my own tears. This is so tragic... and I'm getting more and more afraid because time is running out! We need to move!
"Wonder was his own person. Matilda certainly was her own person as well," Bovin says, taking a slow step closer to Gleam. "They were individuals, and... you knew them better than I ever did, or ever could. Wouldn't they want you to be your own person too?"
Gleam hesitates, quickly wiping away some tears. Is it just me, or has her hold on Nemo ever so slightly loosened?
"They would," she stammers. "They would..."
"Then do so," Bovin says, gentle and patient. "Your life is your own. Back in Ten, every life is important. Help others, but help yourself. It's not too late to do that and flee with us."
Bovin flinches as the fire rages on and more explosions ring out. Debris fly everywhere, and before long they will certainly be falling around us.
"But we should decide quickly," he adds, his face grim. "This place ain't gonna last much longer."
Gleam breathes rapidly. I think she's entering a panic attack! Or, at the least she's choking badly from the poison.
"Two... two of you killed them..." she says. I think she's so stressed out she's barely aware of what's going on.
"Almost all of us have killed somebody," Bovin says, lowering his head. "We ain't proud of it. We can't make up for our kills in the moment... but if you grant us trust, and time, we can all come together."
Nemo struggles again, but this time he yanks off his own gas mask. Shaking his head for a moment, he offers it up Gleam.
"You sound pretty poisoned," he says, uneasy. "...Want mine? You'll be able to breath properly again."
Gleam is silent, unmoving. She's got no idea what to say as she looks at us, the RAT, Nemo, her knife, the exploding Arena and then right at me.
A few seconds pass, nobody knowing what might happen next.
"...What am I doing?!" she squeals, horrified.
She throws her knife away as though it were painful to hold, the blade landing a fair distance away. Quickly, she releases Nemo.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she stammers, her expression horrified.
"I am too," I say, quietly. "I'm not blameless with what happened to Wonder."
"Me neither..." Smokey mumbles from beside me, looking down in shame.
"Yeah... Matilda's death was my bad. That's on me," Nemo says, dusting himself off. "Um..."
Nemo quickly sprints around the RAT and climbs into the other side, slamming the door shut. He breathes deeply, looking faraway. That was close, he could have had his throat slit... just like Urchin did last year. A horrid way for a twelve year old, or anybody, to die.
Bovin reaches towards me, grabbing the Spark Shot 2.0.
"Better that I be the one to do this," he says. "Ok Gleam... are you ready?"
Gleam gives a quick nod, still sobbing. Flinching at the look on her face Bovin grimly nods in return and pulls the trigger.
We all shudder from her despairing squeal, but that's done it. Her tracker will be just as broken as the rest of them. Bovin catches her before she falls and moves swiftly to help her into the passenger seat. Shutting the door he blazes around to the driver's side and climbs in.
"We ready?" he asks.
"Come on, let's go already!" Julian yells, frustrated. "We're running out of time, the place is going to hell all around us!"
"What he said. We're ready," I say, holding Lacey closer. "We're leaving now Lacey, it's going to be..."
It won't be alright. Not for a long time. We have many scars in our minds, and Sash has died. My poor friend, going through this suffering...
"...It'll be better than it was in here," I say to her.
Bovin starts up the RAT and, with the engine roaring into life, he slams his foot onto the gas pedal. We go from a standstill to past eighty miles per hour in barely a few seconds, and the speed continues to increase.
"Hold on!" I yell, holding Lacey tighter.
Nemo holds Smokey close to himself, protective as can be. I see that Gleam, still in a state of tears and alarm, is gripping the sides of her seat in shock. Out back, Julian grips the gun turret, calm and collected.
As for Bovin, he's fully focused and driving us towards a fallen billboard. Beyond it is an inferno of fire and the ground collapses all over the place. I can barely hear myself think due to all the explosions.
OH SHIT!
One instant we're rocketing towards the billboard and the next instant we're shooting right up it into the air.
My stomach lurches as the RAT soars above the ground, far above the flames and hell going on beneath us. It is several long, heart pounding seconds before we hit the ground and continue along at turbo speed.
"ARRRRGGHH! Bovin, wall!" I yell.
He quickly turns and we drive past it. Metal rains down, as does fire and rocks. It's a wonder that we're evading all of it, but I guess Bovin is just that good of a driver.
We've certainly cleared the forcefield by now and we're coming very close to the absolute edge of the Arena. I can see a ways ahead of us is a solid wall. The dome that is the last barrier between us and the outside world. It looks battered, dented and all kinds of damaged, but it's still holding up. Could we survive a crash right against it?
Thankfully, we won't have to!
"Julian!" I yell. "Aim the turret at the wall ahead of us and fire!"
"On it!" he says.
Not even two seconds later the gun crackles and bangs as the rivets and bolts are fired out with such force. Far more than what the Hawkeye could have done.
I'm lucky it didn't use real bullets, or the pain in my shoulder would be far worse. I may have even lost my arm...
It doesn't take much sustained fire before a hole has been blasted open in the dome's wall, allowing daylight to pour in. It's the light at the end of the tunnel, we're gonna make it!
One moment we're blazing towards the hole and past the hell around us. The next moment we're outside and having to blink our eyes to adjust the daylight. It makes me eyes throb, but I've felt worse pain in life.
We're in some kind of a wide expanse, all full of green fields and so much life. As far as the eye can see, it's just grassy planes. There are some trees dotted around, though they're few in number... and also very, very large. They must have been growing out here for centuries, maybe longer.
It's like paradise, just... pure nature. Even as the massive dome of the Arena falls to pieces behind us, no doubt soon to become a mushroom cloud in mere minutes, the area all around us is at ease, without trouble.
I have no idea where we might be right now, no doubt beyond the borders of Panem, but it's better than where we just were. Better than the Capitol. Maybe... maybe better than the Districts? A lo more free, at least.
"What now?" Bovin asks me, breaking me from my thoughts.
"Oh! Uh, keep driving," I tell him. "Don't slow down, now until we're far away from the Arena and find some kind of shelter."
"Got it," he says, speeding us up even more.
For a few moments we're all silent, besides Lacey's sobs. Gleam is ever so slightly calming down, Bovin remains focused and I can see that Nemo and Smokey both sigh in relief. Smokey, despite her pain, even faintly laughs.
"We did it..." she whispers.
"Yeah," I say. I can't smile, not when Lacey is weeping and all the Districts and the Capitol must be in a frenzy from what just happened... but, I can't feel awful either. We escaped! "...We really did pull it off."
For a few moments nobody speaks. What can we say, really? We're free, but we're all hurting and this will surely change Panem forever. I guess we all want to say it and not be the first one to ask it.
What do we do now?
"Guys, we're not done yet," Julian says, opening the back window behind me. "Looks like the finale is here."
"Finale?" I squeak.
Peering past him I can only whimper, my eyes widening more than I thought possible. Oh dear. Oh dang. Oh no... nononononono! This... this is bad. Worse than Mutts or deadly Tributes!
A hovercraft has appeared and it's closing in on us already. It'll surely be in range to attack us accurately in half a minute, if that. Strangely, it doesn't seem to have any weapons visible. Maybe it doesn't have any on-board? I don't think the Hovercraft that takes Tributes to the Arena does, but this probably isn't the same one.
Perhaps the weapons will only appear once it gets close enough for a solid shot at us. If that's the case, we better come up with a plan fast!
"Bovin, faster!" I squeal. "Julian, use the turret and aim for the wings!"
"With pleasure," he says, nodding. "Too bad we left the Hawkeye behind. Extra firepower would help."
Bovin speeds us up and pushes the RAT to the limit. Julian is quick to fire upon the hovercraft as instructed, his accurately perfect. As for the rest of us, we just hold on tightly and pray we won't crash or be caught.
"Gadget, what are we going to do?" Lacey sobs, shaking violently.
"We're gonna hope," I tell her. "We'll make it through this. We will, I promise."
I'm not so sure I should have promised it, but Lacey shakes just a little less after I say it. But now I'm the one shaking. Gunfire, engine noises, screams, that's what my world is made up of right now.
I open the window, leering out to get a better look of what's going on. I pale as I get a good look of the hovercraft that is now almost above us. Shit.
But, why is it not firing upon us? It's just keeping pace, not making any attempt to attack. ...Is there a system failure going on? What luck!
If there wasn't before then there will be now. Julian fires heavily upon the left wing of the hovercraft and in moments it's starting to penetrate through the metal. Bits and pieces come lose and the hovercraft starts to rattle and become unstable in the air. Even now it doesn't fire at us, but we're not showing mercy. Where was the Capitol's mercy for the hundred and hundreds of dead children in their horrid Arenas?!
It seems that, for once, the Capitol is not wise and powerful like they claim. Indeed, they're pulling a hasty retreat and soaring away into the sky and up to the clouds. Looks like, for now, we've seen the last of them. Easier than I thought, but I'll take it.
I'd have to be crazy to complain.
"Way to go, Julian!" I say, fist pumping.
All of us cheer for him, even Lacey despite her misery. Julian just gives us a nod.
"Just doing the job I was assigned to do," he says. "Looks like we're almost out of the plains."
Indeed he's right. Looking forwards out the window I can see the grass quickly vanish from beneath us as the RAT blazes along onto a more barren and rocky surface. Like a desert, but one lacking sand.
The RAT goes over a slanted rock.
We're all shouting and screaming as we soar through the air. Again, we hit the ground and keep on moving. I take a few deep breathes, my heart pounding.
We're going so fats and with no signs of danger or stopping. Just so long as we avoid all the rocks and ancient, broken structures here and there we'll be home free. Well, wherever 'home' will be, or whatever it may be.
"Mercy me, this so fast," Gleam says, looking sick. "Oooooo..."
She yanks off her gas mask, lowers the window and pukes out of it. Well, better out there than in here. Puke is gross...
"How much longer are we going to be driving for?" Nemo asks, sitting up with Smokey still in his arms.
"Until the fuel runs out," I say.
"Exactly," Bovin adds.
"Yeah, but how long will that be?" he asks, curious. "A few hours or something?"
I'm about to confirm his guess but Julian curses loudly before I can. I instantly look out the window again to see what's going on and just how panicked I ought to be.
Seeing another Hovercraft descending from the clouds and closing in on us it seems I should be panicking a lot. No! No! No!
The worst part is that, unlike the first one, this hovercraft has weapons clearly visible and they're pointing at us.
"Bovin, get ready to drive evasively," I say, my blood running cold. "This could get ugly."
Bovin gives a grunt of acknowledgement, starting to zig-zag the RAT as he continues to drive. I get the sense the hovercraft is being pushed hard to keep up with us. Too much to hope that its engines blow out?
Julian fires at the wings as before, complete concentration in his form. Much like with the first hovercraft the firepower is enough to penetrate the armour. The wing is already taking some damage, but certainly not enough to bring it down from the sky.
"Julian, can you see any weak points?" I ask him. "Anything flammable or something that might cause an explosion?"
"I'm looking," he says, maintaining fire upon the wing as the hovercraft closes in. "Ah, there! See the blue hatch? I think that's right below the fuel tank, if I recall what they said in the academy correctly. If one were to shoot it off and shoot past it, and it should ignite."
"Go for it!" I say.
I scream as bullets rain down around the RAT. Some hit the roof, though the armour miraculously holds up for now. Some miss, and I can hear some hitting the rear of the RAT, near the turret.
Julian!
The moment the gunfire stops I open the back window fearing the worst, but Julian's still alive He must have ducked right behind the turret itself. Thank goodness...
"You ok?" I squeak out.
"Yeah," he says, hardly fazed. "The hatch is gone. Give me a few moments and the hovercraft will be gone too. Let's finish this."
He resumes firing, but the hovercraft isn't done for yet. From its underside a new weapon emerges... from here, it sort of looks like a harpoon.
Oh shit!
"Duck and cover!" I scream, crouching down low.
Not even a second after I've done so I hear a the most horrific of splats and a lifeless gasp. Rising up fast I find myself screaming. Moments later, everybody except Bovin is screaming too.
Julian stands in place, rooted to the spot in shock. He barely even emotes or makes a notable sound besides that gasp.
The harpoon is pierced right through his torso, blood leaking out fast.
A moment later the harpoon is yanked away by the hovercraft and quickly withdrawn so it can be fired again. The force of it seems to throw Julian's balance off, sending him into a stumble.
"No... no..." I stammer, my eyes wide in horror.
Julian doesn't speak. He tries to turn towards me, but he only manages to stumble around for a brief moment, and with a final groan he collapses, tumbling over the side of the RAT and onto the barren ground before I can lunge towards him. In seconds he's already far away and getting further out of sight as he lays crumbled.
It's all too easy for my mind to imagine a cannon has fired. I don't know for sure if he's dead yet, but it won't be long until he is either way.
They... they killed him, like he was nothing.
He was robbed of his childhood and all his interests.
They took away the happy ending and freedom I'd promised him. The thing he was so close to finally having after all this time.
THEY'LL PAY FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE!
I scream, full of rage and pain and scramble out the back window towards the turret. Julian's blood lays splashed around here and there. Sickening, but it won't distract me from my goal. Shooting down the hovercraft.
Julian, you didn't die for nothing...
I'm quickly at the control of the turret, firing back at the hovercraft in controlled bursts. I aim at the wing, putting it under plenty of pressure as I peer for the opening that Julian revealed. The wing groans and makes the hovercraft lose some altitude for a moment, but it stays standing. Or, perhaps the correct term is 'stays flying'? I don't care, I'm pissed off!
And heartbroken. I sob, my heart heavy as I think of my fallen Career friend.
There it is, the hole left by the hatch! A bit of gunfire in that, and it should make the hovercraft blow up, or at least fall to the ground and stop chasing us. So that's what I do, aiming carefully and firing in short bursts again.
"GADGET! LOOK OUT!"
I hit the ground, dazed. One thing I notice is that Lacey lays upon me, having tackled me down.
The other thing I notice is the harpoon shot where I had been standing and just smashed the back window of the RAT. It's a miracle the RAT was fast enough to get far enough away from the hovercraft. Any slower, and we'd be much easier targets.
"Thank you Lacey," I whisper, shaking. I'm alive, but Julian's blood is on my hands and clothes now.
"I'm not losing you too," she chokes out. "Not you..."
Lacey stands and helps me up. The harpoon is retracting. It won't be long before it fires off once again. We have only seconds.
"They killed my daddy, but they're not killing you too!" Lacey screams, all her rage and despair pouring out. I think my heart is breaking, seeing this.
With a shrill scream she grabs the turret and fires away.
"Lacey, the open hatch at the back, shoot it!" I exclaim.
A few seconds later she aims correctly and fires away. The gunfire meets its target, and I brace myself for what may happen.
It might not be the first explosion of the night, but it's certainly a big one all the same. The rear of the hovercraft erupts into flames, detonations crackling all along it. Soon enough part of the front section blows up and the already damaged wing finally breaks, unable to hold together any longer.
The hovercraft loses altitude fast, quickly careening down and crashing into the ground behind us. The RAT zooms along, leaving it behind swiftly as it finally comes to a stop on the barren ground. It starts to catch on fire, smoke rising from it. If the crew survived the crash, they better get out of there fast, lest they burn.
Nothing else seems to be coming. There's no gunfire, no explosions, no screaming... just the sound of the RAT driving along. It's a silence that's far from anything resembling tranquillity.
Lacey's legs tremble and she collapses. I'm quickly to her side, trying to help.
"Lacey...?" I say, softly.
She turns to me. her eyes red, raw and full of tears.
"Oh Gadget..." she sobs. "Julian... daddy... I... I..."
She breaks down, wailing loud and shrill. I take her into my arms. I've held her a lot today, and it looks like more holding is due. I'm not sure if it's helping really, but I can't do nothing. This is beyond me. She needs the best of help possible, and I'm certainly no therapist. I need one pretty badly myself.
Glancing through the broken window I can see Nemo and Smokey look at us silently, both shaken. They look just as lost. Past them, I can see Gleam sniffles in her seat, still coughing. She seems as though she has little idea what just happened. Understandable. Bovin remains driving, but I can see his reflection in the front window.
Those are the eyes of a man who has seen too much.
I think of Sash, Switch, Hovis, Hatchet, Valley... Julian... everybody who died needlessly in this terrible Quell. I can fee the tears coming.
I'm crying loudly as well, holding onto Lacey because if I don't I think I'm going to go insane.
As the RAT drives along, we continue to cry. We've escaped the Arena... we've survived, but at what cost? What happens now, to us and to Panem as a whole? Surely there will be consequences for this.
Eventually Smokey peers at us once again.
"Where are we going now?" she asks me, lost.
We can't go to our Districts or the Capitol. Saying in the wilderness isn't feasible and we can't simply travel to another nation overseas, if any even exist. So, what place is there to go? We need somewhere because we only have a limited amount of supplies, and we're all hurt. Not to mention Smokey is in really bad shape and Gleam is poisoned.
Thinking of home, my mind wanders to Diode and the rest of my friends. Did they heed my warning to flee the District? Where are they now if they did make a run for it? Are they alright!?
Thinking over them all as well as Honorius, Dayta and everybody else... suddenly, I remember something. Something that Magnette said.
Didn't she say something, quite a while back, about the bird in the news reports of Thirteen? The fact the footage never changes and how she thinks there might still be people there? It's not much to go on, really. Just a theory from a friend.
But, it's better than having no idea at all. If she is correct, then maybe we do have a home to go to after all, at least for a while.
"I know where we're going Smokey," I say to her. "We're going to District Thirteen."
END OF DAY 7...
END OF THE SEVENTY FIFTH HUNGER GAMES...
ESCAPED
Gleam (District 1 Female)
Gadget (District 3 Female)
Nemo (District 4 Male)
Lacey (District 8 Female)
Bovin (District 10 Male)
Smokey (District 12 Female)
THE FALLEN
7th- Julian (District 2 Male) - Shot with a retractable harpoon, by Capitol Hovercraft.
8th- Binary (District 3 Male) - Dragged to landlines and blown up, by Sash.
9th- Sash (District 8 Male) - Blown up by landmines.
10th- Matilda (District 2 Female) - Stabbed in the back with a knife, by Nemo.
11th- Switch (District 5 Female) - Arm chainsawed off by Binary, and bled out.
12th- Wolfgang (District 11 Male) - Torn apart by Mutts, commanded by Bovin.
13th- Wonder (District 1 Male) - Smashed into the back of a train carriage, and then stabbed repeatedly, by Smokey.
14th- Hatchet (District 7 Male) - Fell down a chasm.
15th- Edison (District 5 Male) – Head torn off, by Wolfgang.
16th- Valley (District 10 Female) – Poison gas.
17th- Shelly (District 4 Female) - Head smashed with a sledgehammer, by Matilda.
18th- Hovis (District 9 Male) – Arms torn off and torso stomped on, by Wolfgang.
19th- Pagani (District 6 Female) – Shot in the back with two crossbow bolts, by Hatchet.
20th- Beffany (District 7 Female) – Arm amputated and axe thrown into skull, by Matilda.
21st- Mack (District 12 Male) – Impaled with a spear, by Wonder.
22nd- Chive (District 11 Female) – Torso slashed with a great sword, by Hovis.
23rd- Gillet (District 6 Male) – Stabbed in the heart repeatedly with a knife, by Pagani.
24th- Karron (District 9 Female) – Fell off pedestal and blown up.
TRIBUTE NOTES
Sash: In a story where many District Partners had a broken or outright toxic kind of relationship, naturally there had to be one that was purely positive without major complications. While others were also mostly positive, I would say that overall Sash and Lacey had the strongest and most healthy bond. In a story of family and betrayal, he was more of an ideal parent, what one should be; caring for their offspring, protective of them when danger strikes, willing to give advice when it's asked for or needed and, as we saw with his growing bond with Gadget, extending that care to his offspring's friends. As a positive kind of force I feel that Sash delivered, in both protecting others through combat and being compassionate, up to his self-sacrifice that aided the escape and doomed Binary. Fun as he was to write and good as his reception appears to have been, I do feel though that I might have made him a bit too good as a parent, honestly? It feels that to some degree he may qualify as something of a 'Gary Stu', or at least might just be too positive for the given context. Regardless, that was his role in the series and it came to an explosive end. As a fun fact, he was originally set to rank eighth, with Binary as ninth, but more on that soon enough.
Binary: There were positive bonds between District Partners and then there were the negative bonds.. and those outright toxic all the way like Gadget and Binary. If Sash was the 'best' parental figure, than it's fair to say that Binary was his bad counterpart. Physically and emotionally abusive, lacking any kind of patience, incredibly greedy to where his desires for wealth and luxury overrode the slightest bit of love for family and being a danger to the friends of his offspring as well, it's only fitting a man like him take on the role of the Big Bad for the story. Besides being a presence who has caused Gadget years of pain prior to the official 'start' of her timeline in WW, he's the central cause of all the pain for her, and much of the pain for others, ever since midway through chapter 2-3. Incapable of accepting his faults and taking some form of responsibility, it was all too easy for him to be talked into playing a role in crushing out what Gadget and Lacey started, and taking a role in power hungry Nova's doomed coup attempt. Of course, being such an obvious threat and lacking finesse and subtlety certainly made it easier for our leading lady to turn the tables upon him at the interviews, leaving him from then on as a floundering, albeit still highly dangerous, presence up to this chapter. That all said, I feel his issue mirrors Sash's own: rather than being too good, he may have been too bad? Not in the sense that he was 'too evil' but rather he may have become a bit of a broken record at times and gradually as other threats and plans emerged he kind off felt like he was being ineffectual, perhaps a little disjointed from the central plot even? I guess it's all stuff to take note on for next time. Regardless, he's dragged to his doom screaming all the way and places eighth. He would have originally been ninth and died in a different way, but as with Sash more on that later.
Julian: This one certainly hurt to have happen, but this is the end of the line for the give-no-fucks Career boy who, ironically, hated the Games. With how Careers are trained from a young age to take part in the Hunger Games, it made me ponder exactly how young that would actually be. This thought ended up blending with the thought I had for Matilda of unchosen Careers being vengeful for missing their chance, and so gave rise to Julian as we know him, a boy robbed of his life and choices due to being forced into more or less endless training ever since he was three. Two may generally like the Games, but who says every single person who lives there does? Julian sure doesn't, as their very existence is the central focus to his suffering and lack of ability to be, well, anything except what he despises most. I found him a lot of fun to write for with how he was so 'meh, whatever' about everything, sometimes to a depressing or darkly humorous level. His lack of emoting much gave a fairly interesting dynamic with Gadget, who as we all know is very emotional and wholly anxious at the best of times. This, combined with her previous phobia and perhaps justified prejudice towards all Careers, made it a ton of fun to write them go from likely enemies to being friends. Overall though he's one poor, tragic character. He lives a life he hates that's hardly a life, gets a chance to do anything he wants after escape and then breaks out of the Arena with the others... only to die at almost the last moment. Certainly a poor boy who deserves sympathy. A personal favourite of mine who I shall miss. Much like Binary and Sash his ranking in the previous draft was also different and he'd have died in Wolfgang's place during the landmine digging, but again... more on that later!
So now we have our survivors: Gadget, Lacey, Nemo, Smokey, Bovin and Gleam.. or do we? After all, they're still a distance from D13 and therefore still a distance from safety. Not to mention they've got plenty of inner conflicts and turmoil to work through. Will all six of them be able to make it there safely, assuming any of them do? Stay tuned...