Chelen: Action is going to be picking up from here on out... kinda you'll see.
Kryo: CR13 does not own THG.
I jolt awake with a gasp. What's going on? Where am I? Who am I? My eyes scan the area. There are two boys that are about my age and another boy and girl who look close in age to each other. Who are– Oh shut up Chelen. It's not working and it's not going to work. You know everything, you remember everything and it's not going away anytime soon. You can't convince yourself that you don't remember a thing. After much internal struggle, and some physical struggle, I sit up. Don't look at their eyes. Don't look at their eyes. Don't say anything to them. Just get up and leave. It's not that hard. And it really isn't for about ten feat, maybe twelve.
After that I collapse on my hands and knees. I hear Tresa and Yansen call out my name and Kyro tries to help me up. We get about halfway be I push him off.
"I can take care of myself." I snap. Leave me alone. I just want to be alone. I continue walking and a part of me wants to yell at the rest of them to stop following me but I don't. My voice seems to have fled and… do I really want to be alone? I've always been alone, I know how to deal with things when I'm alone. But… they want to be around me... Why? No one ever wants to be around me.
"What do you want?" I finally choke out to them.
"To make sure you don't commit suicide," is Kyro's answer.
"So you're not alone. You shouldn't be alone right now," is Jacob's.
"We're concerned," is Tresa's.
"Because you pushed me away when Terra died. Now that the truth's out, you're not pushing me away again." I stop. Breath Chelen, breath. My hand finds it's when to me chest as I turn and lock eyes with Yansen. Don't break. You've never broken before, don't do it now. Not here, not ever. They want to see that, don't they? They love seeing the tributes go crazy on live TV.
"It feels like just yesterday we were just children. What was our favorite game? Playing soldiers, right? Back when we still had dreams with happy endings. We were in our backyards winning battles with wooden swords. But now… Now this is all real. This cruel world that we've stepped into is real." I take in a shaky breath. He remembers all of it. His eyes…. He remembers. "Remember what I said to you that summer before mom died? I was being real quiet so no one heard me. I said that I hated the world we lived in and that as long as I continued to live there I'd never be free. I said that one day I'd be as strong as my mother and I'd even the score. Do you remember?" Yansen nods his head. I smile and straighten out and I start to laugh. "I don't remember who "they" were exactly but I know just who I need to get even with."
I can't stop laughing. It's just so funny. I don't know what's funny but it is. I cover my mouth with my hand. After a minute I'm able to take in a deep breath and recollect myself.
"Hey! Look!" I look up to see a group of seven running toward us. Oh no. No no no. Not now. "Is that that Heavensway girl? I call her! I call her head!" One of the girls yells. I forgot. This is the Capitol Games.
"Umm. Maybe we should skedaddle like NOW!" I say and turn to run only to stop myself when I see that Kyro and Tresa want to fight. "Are you kidding me! Now's not the time to fight. We're kinda outnumbERED!" A spear lands a few inches from me and I jump back. Yansen runs forward and grabs it.
"What are you waiting for? Lets go Leader," he says with a smile before spinning around and throwing the spear back. A girl is not quick enough to get out of the way and the spear pierces her skull.
BOOM!
I don't wait for Kyro or Tresa. I just bolt the hell out of there. Jacob's not moving, just staring at our attackers, so as I run past him I grab the collar of his jacket and force him to follow. After a moment he starts running as well. Damn. Damn. Damn. Where to go? Woods? No. Could trip over something too easily and the rustling of the bushes would give us away. I scan the area. In the distance I see a beach but that's no good. Heart, knock it off! I can't think when you're pounding so loud.
"OW! Let go!" Jacob calls. "I'd like to keep my hand you know." I look over to him. At some point I must have reach out and grabbed it. I let go and look back. My whole group is here. Good, didn't really want to go save them. I mean I would if I had to but that situation is best to be avoided. I can still hear the attackers approaching.
"Come on this way," Yansen says. "There's a mineshaft nearby. We can lose them in there."
I nod and let him take the lead. Running, running, and more running. That's all these Games consist of. It takes about five minutes but Yansen leads us right to the mineshaft he said was here. It's dark and cold and dusty. Not every ten feat in and the mine forks off.
"Which one do you know better?" I ask, he points to the right. I step up and shove him in that direction but Tresa stops.
"Shouldn't we split up?" She asks.
"No. If we go now then they won't know which we went and they'll have to split. And trust me, three or four is better than all seven. Let's go now!" She doesn't argue this time. Breath Chelen breath. Let me restate that: Breath calmly Chelen, calmly. Yansen grabs my arm and yanks me to the right and turns us down another passage but I stop and yank myself back. He gives me a look as I press back against the wall. My hands reach down for a knife and I nod at Kyro. A smile comes to his face and creeps up next to me, hold up his flail.
"Tresa, ready an arrow just in–" I stop when I notice some things on the wall behind her. I push myself off the walls. I grab the pickaxe and shove it to Jacob while taking his spear and throwing it to Yansen. I know this other weapon. What is it called? Damn it, what is it called. Whatever. It looks like a miniaturized scythe on a long metal chain.
Footsteps echo in the shaft. Ku. Ku. Kus. Kus something. I raise the… whatever it is. My hands are gripping the thing so hard I'm sure my knuckles are turning white. It's shaking, I just know it is. Where are they?
"Which way did they go?" A girl asks.
"I don't know. Should we split up?" This time it's a boy's voice.
"No way. We've already done that once. Let's just keep going." A different girl's voice demands. Good, that's right. Come down a little farther. We're right here waiting. "I don't hear anything. F**K! They couldn't have gotten too far. I want that girl's head!"
The footsteps are closer now. "Ech, this place is sooo filthy. Don't people is 12 know how keep anything clean. I mean serious–"
BOOM!
It's so dark that I almost didn't see Kyro smash her face in. Scream erupts from two of the other three.
BOOM!
I don't know how one of them died, they're out of eyesight. All I know is that I'm on one of them. My left hand is in their hair and their hand is trying to remove the mini-scythe from my right. We whip each other around in circles until I have them pinned against a wall. I take in a few breathes and look at them…
"You're a boy." He's… he's a boy. "You're not… You're not who I'm…" I back up and elbow him. He grunts and slides down the wall and doesn't pick himself up. No cannon goes off though.
"You!" I hear and turn. The girl that had said she wanted my head (hey that rhymed!) is being held back by Yansen. He's look at me, what's he waiting for? My eyes wander from her and toward the way we came. I start walking, Kyro protest but I don't listen. Celi… I promised her I would come back home… Dad… I promised I'd be a role model for Celi… Panem… I promised I'm willing die proving the Games are wrong… Dad and Panem, there's go together kind of but…
"There is no winner to these Games." I whisper. I'm now outside the mine. I look up at the sky… It's still grey.
"You?" A voice questions. Behind me stands a girl and two boys. They don't look mad, more of surprised. "But… that means. Oh my god… Aelius. He's… he's…" Maybe he's not. She falls to the ground and start to sobs. She looks around the same age Tresa. Young.
"Calm down Fabia." One of the boys bends down and places a hand her back. "There were only three cannons that went off. He… he may still be alive."
Three? Did I miss one?
"Why? Why did this happen? Why is this happening to us?" She cries. "We didn't do anything!"
I take a step back and look over them to find me own team. Kyro has his flail drawn but lowers it when he sees the scene. His face softens, his eyes jumping around but resting on me. He and I just stare at each other for a moment before I shake my head.
"There's… There's one left. A boy. Just follow the path on the right." Kyro tells them. The girl, Fabia, jumps to her feat and takes off running. I hope it's the one she's looking for.
We walk until sunset. By then we've reached an orchard, a dead one but an orchard none the less.
Chelen: I hate this Arena.
Peeta: Better than the 75th one.
Chelen: That's true.
Haymitch: Review!