Chapter 29
Annie
Everyone was quiet the whole next day as if one word would shatter us all. Finnick wasn't around all day so I assumed he was off doing what the capitol wished, something I tried not to think about too much. I was determined to be nice for the rest of the day and it actually worked except I stuck to Mags most of the time.
Two days after the meeting, Pippy came and woke me up early in the morning. She was curt and to the point so I figured she must be mad but I didn't think about it too long because what today was hit me with the force of a speeding train. The games started today which meant in two hours I could be fighting for my life or already dead. It was like the reaping all over again with my nerves because I shook all through the breakfast I was eating with Finnick. At his personal request he would be the one to take me to the launching room so we were eating together. Marcel was with Mags somewhere but his stylist was taking him not her because she had to go do whatever mentors did during the games. I got tired of trying to hold onto my fork and just let it drop, wincing at the clatter it made when it hit my glass bowl.
"Breathe." Finnick reminded me and I nodded chewing hard on my bottom lip. Two peace keepers walked in and nodded to us shortly before motioning for us to follow them which we did. My knees shook so badly I didn't think I'd make it to the hover plane but I did. Finnick had to go inside a different way than me and being left alone scared me more but I let him anyway not wanting to seem clingy if cameras were watching.
I grabbed onto the ladder and held, feeling my body freeze in place which just made my anxiety so much worse. A heavy-boned man came up and put a tracker inside my skin as I panicked wanting to run away. Of course I couldn't because of the ladder but to my relief when he finished putting the tracker in my flesh, the ladder released me and they showed me to a room where I would sit with Finnick while we flew to our destination.
"Remember find water and food. The cornucopia isn't really good if you aren't looking for a fight, they'll bash your head in without blinking there. But if you can get to some supplies, do it." Finnick was instructing me but I barely listened as I looked around at the blackened out windows feeling trapped. I wasn't strong enough for this. I could feel that in my very core, this wasn't me…I was going to die and there was nothing I could do about.
Strangely, I didn't feel upset or angry about that anymore. I was resigned and cold now, accepting my fate as if I were accepting that the sky was blue or the ocean was salty. It was another fact in my life that I just had to deal with whether I liked it or not.
We landed a few hours later, at least I think because I pretty much zoned out the whole flight. We were escorted to my launching chamber and as soon as they closed the door to us, Finnick came over and wrapped his arms around my waist, his chest heaving. I knew he'd never do anything if the cameras were watching so they probably weren't if he was embracing me like the couple we were. His warmth and body wrapped around mine made me calm and close my eyes because I actually felt normal this way. I had forgotten how much I missed being able to hold him.
"Annie, promise me you'll fight." He whispered in my ear making my skin tickle.
"I will Finnick. I'll try to get home to you." I murmured because it was the right thing to do, but really I wasn't so sure if I would ever see District Four again.
"I love you." He said pulling back and looking down at me before bending and kissing my lips so sweetly that I never wanted to let him go again, but our time was up and when he pulled away he gently led me to a glass cylinder for me to stand on. After, it rose around me and I put my hands on the glass staring at him until it rose me up into the bright sunlight.
Marcel
It's a weird sensation, knowing you're going somewhere to murder others to death. I felt off-balance as I rode up out of the ground. I waited for my eyes to adjust as the 23 other tributes rose up as well. I spotted Annie on the other side from where I was in the circle and close to her was the supply tent showing everything from food to weapons to shelter. We were all dressed in warm plaid black shirts and what looked like black jeans but were actually soft and warm as well. Now I knew why as I felt a chill ripple through the air. The scenery around me was grassy and I found that we were in a beautiful meadow filled with flowers of all sorts. Behind me I heard a stream of some sort and I turned carefully seeing that it was in fact a stream that ran all the way into the woods and up to the mountains behind us. In my front was more grassland but with flowers as tall as I was. I was taking it all in when Claudius Templesmith came onto some speaker in the mass arena.
"Let the games begin." He boomed and a bell rung, causing madness to break loose. I had determined that I would run into the grassland because the stream was too obvious a choice. I didn't really look for Annie because I wasn't even sure what alliance we still had since no one had told us the plan after her melt down. Still, I couldn't help looking for her as I swooped up a long blade before running into the grasses. They covered my completely and swayed in the wind while I caught my breath and looked at the scene before me in the meadow.
Chaos had ensued and I saw tributes every where battling each other for life. The careers obviously had an upperhand and many tributes ran, wounded into the forest. I could see three dead already and I kept searching for Annie's face hoping to God she wasn't one that was dead. Further inspection proved that she wasn't and I went to go turn around and find somewhere to sleep further away when I heard her scream. I ran before I knew what was happening, tripping over rocks and going around the tent to where the male from district one had Annie pinned down at the edge of the forest and was digging a blade up her arm. He was up to her shoulder and closing in on her neck when I stabbed him in the back with my blade and threw him off of her. I didn't have time to finish him off so I just grabbed Annie up and started to run. There was no way we were getting back into the fields I was in before so I ran into the woods as fast I could, leaving the madness behind me.
When I finally stopped for breath I sat Annie down by the stream and shivered when I touched the ice cold water. She was unconscious now, with crimson blood dripping in gushes down her arm. I shook as I tore a piece of a cloth I had grabbed when running that someone must have dropped and put pressure onto her wound gingerly.
"Come on Annie. Don't leave me, you have to wake up." I whispered to her, not knowing if she had lost too much blood. It seemed like that was the case because my whole shirt was soaked and spattered with her life's essence, coloring my shirt a malicious red. Soon though, I got the bleeding to slow and wrapped her arm up with the cloth before picking her up again and walking to find shelter.
I walked for hours not finding anything that suited me. Annie was hurt so she couldn't move much which meant I would have to take watch until she woke up so no place that we could be easily found would do. I did however come across a formation of rocks on a mountain I had been climbing on a small path and when looking into it saw that it formed a small formation that we could easily hide in. Really it was only meant for one person, but it fit both of us nicely since Annie was small.
She still hadn't woken so I lay her gently on the cold floor, brushing hair away from her face as I kept watching. It didn't seem like anyone was coming around but I stayed up anyway. I probably wouldn't be of any use to the both of us because I was so distracted with Annie's health. She wasn't moving so I did the only thing I could do; I started praying that she wouldn't die.
AN: It's four am here so you guys better be glad I got this up xD read and review, reviews are my fuel.
