Day Five

Spectators V

Felicity watches with a thrill of excitement as the events unfold on the screen in front of her eyes, she leans forward, almost as though she wishes she could be part of the action on the screen. The image keeps flickering, alternating between three different scenes, and Felicity doesn't know which one she is most anxious to watch.

It suddenly settles on Lien who is scrambling to her feet, her eyes wide with horror as her head darts around wildly. Felicity watches as the creature begins to close in on her, dragging itself along the forest floor and closing the gap between them.

A look of utter terror crosses Lien's face and then she lets out a squeal and throws herself towards the nearest tree. The flats of her palms bang against the lowest branch, and she just about manages to hold on, her legs flailing wildly against the tree trunk as she tries to push herself up further.

She hangs there for a minute, panting wildly and watching the creature's approach with a nervous expression painted across her face while her boots scrape against the trunk.

Eventually the soles of her boots make contact with the tree and she pushes herself off against the trunk with a wild shriek, slapping her stomach against the branch. She lies there for a moment, her breath coming in harsh gasps and her eyes still trained on the creature. It has reached the bottom of the tree and tries to fling itself upright in an attempt to get to her.

It throws itself at the tree trunk and Felicity winces at the cracking noise that is suddenly emitted from her television screen. It lands on its back, its legs flailing in the air as it struggles to flip itself back over.

But Lien gathers herself together and begins climbing higher. It's clear to Felicity that she's safe, for now, and she heaves a sigh – she had been hoping to see something more interesting.

Luckily for Felicity the screen then flickers back to an image of Harrow and Aaron. Her jaw drops as she realises that Harrow has almost escaped from Aaron's grasp. Both of them are breathing heavily, their chests heaving as they struggle against each other.

Harrow keeps a hand wrapped tightly around Aaron's wrist, preventing him from bringing his knife any closer to his throat. But Aaron's other hand is still locked around Harrow's neck; his face is steadily beginning to turn purple.

Suddenly Harrow twists his hand around Aaron's wrist, who lets out a yell of pain and his hand slips from around Harrow's neck.

Felicity leans closer towards the screen as Harrow jumps up from the ground, knocking Aaron brutally to the floor as he does so. He lands face first in the dirt with a grunt and everything falls silent. This fight has been nail-bitingly close, but now it seems to Felicity that Harrow has the upper hand.

She watches in excitement as Harrow stares down at Aaron for a moment. She didn't see this coming – from the moment the fight had started she had believed that Aaron was going to win.

But Harrow doesn't move towards him, merely stands there, struggling to catch his breath. Aaron begins to stir and locks his arms underneath him in order to push himself back up. Felicity watches in confusion as Harrow takes one last look at Aaron and disappears into the trees.

She bangs the flat of her palm against the cushion. That wasn't action. Someone was supposed to die at the end of that fight. Harrow has gone right down in her estimation – she has no time for cowards. Don't they understand that the Hunger Games is about death, and excitement? There's no excitement about an unfinished fight.

Just as Felicity is fuming about Harrow's action, the screen flickers once more and a different scene appears in front of her. She had forgotten about this last set of tributes in her excitement over the fight between Harrow and Aaron.

But as she watches the muttation advance slowly towards them, she knows that they're in trouble. And by the looks on their faces, so do they.

Flint, District 7.

My mother used to say that she would get a feeling deep in her bones whenever something bad was about to happen, that she knew that it was coming.

I had always laughed at her for saying this – back then I had sometimes believed in magic, but normal people couldn't do things like that. I left magic well alone.

But now? Now I understand what she meant completely, because as I watch the wolf prowl towards us out of the trees, a shudder ripples throughout my body, and I know that this isn't going to end well.

I cast a glance towards my allies. Kelby gives me a weak smile and Sasha simply lowers her eyebrows in determination.

"We're not going to die here, alright?" she snaps, watching me with angry eyes until I finally nod.

I never really liked to think about death. It always brought memories of flames licking walls and screams along with it. The smell of smoke fills my nostrils from a long distant memory; I want to close my eyes, and clasp my hands against my ears, which is what I always do when the memories grow too strong and threaten to overwhelm me.

But, of course, I can't. I have to focus, something which has never come easily to me.

Even as my whole body stiffens in terror and my palms graze against the wall behind me, I'm thinking how soft the wolf's fur looks. It's like a coat I had when I was younger. My mother had used to wrap me up in it, and I would barely even feel the wind outside when I had it on.

I shake my head, clearing these thoughts from my mind. Suddenly it's running towards us, and all three of us shriek. I chuck myself off to the side, landing with a heavy thud against the ground that knocks all the air out of my lungs.

It doesn't help when Sasha lands straight on top of me. "Sorry," she squeals, darting to her feet and pulling me with her.

She tries to drag me around to the other side of the clearing, but I yell out Kelby's name and we both search around us, my eyes flicker around desperately. We need to find her and then get out of here.

I catch a glimpse of her orange hair near the base of the castle and I wrench my hand out of Sasha's and take off running towards her.

I'm moving so quickly that I don't notice the wolf until Kelby raises her head and shrieks loudly, point to something over my shoulder.

I yell as something heavy collides against my back, and I wince slightly, expecting to feel claws against my skin. Instead I hear Sasha's panicked voice in my ear. "Get up, get up," she yells and suddenly her weight is gone.

I scramble to my feet and grab at Kelby's hand. She grimaces as I pull her upright and I glance at her in worry. Is she hurt? I can't tell.

I hear a growl behind me and I pull my knife from my belt, turning to face its snapping jaws."Flint!" Kelby shrieks from beside me as the wolf lunges towards me and I drop straight to the ground under its weight. Its fur is strangely smooth against my bare arms, and for a moment I imagine that I'm back at home, lying on the rug beside the fireplace.

Then I let out a scream as I feel its teeth clamp down on my skin, and I'm returned to my senses. I thrash around wildly, throwing my arms in my desperation to get the thing off me.

There's a blur of red off to one side of me, and then the wolf stiffens slightly and slumps to the side with a low whimper. I draw a shaky breath, filling my lungs with air in an attempt to alleviate the dark spots that float before my eyes.

I hear a loud thud and a squeal – it's Sasha, I think. Strange, really, that I would grow so close to people in the arena that I would be able to recognise them simply from their screams.

The spots start to blur together – it's almost like cloud watching; I can make out patterns and shapes in front of my eyes. Two merge together, and for a brief moment they form something resembling a rabbit's hand.

Then I shake my head and my vision clears. I try to climb to my feet, but my legs don't seem to be working very well. And there's an annoying throb of pain emanating from my arm. I glance down at it, confused for a moment when I see the red that's beginning to stain through my sleeve.

I touch it and as I jerk my hand away I stare at the drop of red that clings to my fingertips. Back home if I had ever hurt myself, Opal would wrap an old piece of cloth around the wound and Garnet would snort at me – telling me off for constantly being so clumsy. I wonder if they're both watching me back in District 7?

I wouldn't watch, if I were them. I've never liked watching violence. Suddenly something brushes against my shoulder and I jump in terror and squeal.

"Flint, for Panem's sake, it's me," Sasha snaps in my ear and I whirl around to watch her. She cocks her head sideways at me, "what are you doing?"

Only then do I really remember where I am, and my ears are filled with the sound of growls. I glance behind Sasha and my eyes find Kelby, her sword out and the wolf snapping at her legs.

"I should help her," I hear myself mutter.

Sasha simply rolls her eyes at me and holds out her hand, "give me your knife, you're clearly in no position to fight." But Sasha's no good with a knife – she can't use it naturally; it flails about as though she has no control over it.

She might get Kelby injured if she goes into that fight with it. I take a deep breath and try to convince myself that this is no different to when I was fighting the other tributes before.

Except it has claws, and huge snapping teeth, and a tail and... Shut up Flint, I tell myself, don't try and convince yourself not to do this.

And before my brain thinks up any other arguments I grab my knife from the ground – strange, I hadn't even noticed that I'd dropped it – and sprint over to where Kelby is fighting the wolf.

I launch myself straight against its side, but I make absolutely no impact against it. I slash at its skin with my knife, but it doesn't cut deep enough – the flesh feels springy and rubbery. That's cheating, I think in annoyance.

"Flint, watch out!" Kelby yells at me and I lurch backwards as it snaps at me.

"You're not getting her again, doggie," Sasha suddenly snaps from behind me and she pushes past me. Somehow, she manages to get her arms locked around its neck, and it yaps wildly as she clings on, trying to force it to the ground.

I can see from the set of her jaw that's it's painful – I'd almost forgotten about her wrist.

I hack again at its side with my knife, but the blade simply bounces off its skin, barely even leaving a mark.

"Does your knife cut it?" Kelby yells at me in panic, her eyes shining in horror as I shake my head.

"What do you mean?" Sasha spits out as she hangs onto it desperately, "you can't cut it?"

"No, its skin is really thick – my blade just bounces off it," I tell her quickly, watching her flushed cheeks in alarm – she can't hold on much longer.

Sasha's eyes flicker between the two of us, and then her eyes widen in horror, "watch out-"

She's cut off as the wolf finally squirms free from her arms and throws itself through the air. Its dark eyes hold me in place for a moment and then pain blooms across my chest as it collides into me.

I shriek as the agony washes over me, and collapse under its weight, falling to the ground with a thud that knocks the air clean out of my lungs. I lay there gasping for a moment before I notice that the wolf has stiffened on top of me.

"Flint," I hear panicked yells that seem disconcertingly far away from me.

I blink rapidly, trying to hold myself together, because I feel like I'm floating.

"You killed it," Sasha suddenly announces, a laugh in her voice. "Did you have your knife out in front of you?"

Did I? I can't remember... I'm having difficulty concentrating on anything but the pain in my chest. It's making each breath difficult.

Though I guess the weight of the wolf isn't helping either.

I hear a muffled conversation and then the weight is suddenly lifted off of me. I watch as the two of the heave the wolf off to the side and then Sasha smirks down at it triumphantly for a moment. "You hero, Flint, we were doomed before you did-" then she spins back round to look at me and the words die in her throat, cut off with a single choking sound.

She stares at me in horror. I try to look down, to see if it's really that bad, but my head feels heavy and I can't quite manage to life it up enough. Sasha opens her mouth and looses a string of obscenities that would make Opal cringe; swearing is her pet peeve.

Kelby glances up, "Sasha, what-" and then her eyes land on me as well and she falls silent.

"You're not exactly reassuring me," I try to joke, but my voice comes out in a hoarse whisper that I can barely even hear myself.

Kelby crosses the clearing and crouches down beside me, her green eyes meeting my own and she smiles at me gently. "I'm in trouble, right?"

"I'm so sorry Flint," she whispers, and I can see the water shimmering in her eyes, "I don't think there's anything we can do."

I shut my eyes so I don't have to look at her anyway – every breath I take sends a brutal pain washing over my body. I didn't need her to tell her that I was doomed.

But even still, I don't want to watch her.

"There's always something we can do," Sasha's voice sounds furiously from the other side of me, and I jerk my eyelids back open to find her glaring down at me. "You don't just give up." Then she stands up and paces manically back and forth.

"Sasha," I try to say it loudly enough so she'll hear me, but the word doesn't quite make it past my lips.

Dying isn't quite as dramatic as I thought it was going to be; I just feel quite floaty.

"Sasha," Kelby says tightly from my side and Sasha looks over at us.

"What?" she snaps, not quite looking me in the eyes as she watches us.

"Stop it, just come and sit down," she says softly.

But Sasha shakes her head, "what? We just sit around her deathbed? I can't just watch her die," then she turns to me, narrowing her eyebrows at me, "you can't die Flint. Panem knows you're not a quitter, so please don't start now."

I watch her in confusion – this isn't the Sasha I know... I shake my head, trying to force myself to concentrate.

But that's easier said than done when I can barely even think through the pain.

Suddenly Sasha crosses back over and kneels down beside me, "you can't die, Flint, please."

"I don't think I have much of a choice," I whisper, my voice sounding scarily faint even to my own ears. I try to laugh but I just end up coughing instead.

Something wet lands on my forehead, and I glance up to see tears spilling over Kelby's cheeks. "Sorry," she whispers softly, wiping them away.

I'm scared. I reach out desperately with my hands and immediately feel a warm hand wrap around my strangely cold one. Kelby smiles down at me.

I keep my other one extended until finally Sasha grasps it tightly; she still won't meet my eyes.

"What do you think happens next?" I whisper. My mother had always used to tell me that you go to paradise when you die; somewhere beautiful and peaceful. But after the things I've seen in these Hunger Games I'm having trouble believing that paradise could possibly exist.

I wonder if that's where my mother is now; paradise. Or does everything just go blank, and that's the end?

I shake my head – I've spent my whole life believing in beauty and I don't plan on stopping now.

"I think you go somewhere happy," Kelby tells me gently, but I can tell from her tone that she doesn't believe it anymore than I do.

I don't want to spend my last few moments lying to myself. "You'll be safe," Sasha mutters from my other side, "you won't have to worry about the arena anymore."

I nod – strangely, her words help me more than Kelby's, because she's right. Even if there is nothing else, at least I won't have to spend a moment longer in this awful place, fighting other children for no reason other than we were told by the Capitol that we have to.

I'm starting to lose a hold on myself, and I tighten my grip on their hands. "Promise me that one of you will win?" I whisper.

I see Sasha nod determinedly, her eyes shining fiercely as she watches me. I turn towards Kelby; she nods her agreement as well, but she seems uncertain. I shut my eyes, both of them deserve to make it out of here.

They're the first people apart from Garnet and Opal who have really shown me any kindness. And I guess that dying isn't so hard when I at least know that one of them still has a chance to live.

Knowing this, I let myself go, hoping that my mother was right and that there is something more.

A cannon sounds.

I am so sorry that it's taken my so long to update, especially after the ending of the last chapter! You can blame the start of exam season... :( Updates aren't going to be very frequent again until the end of June really, but I'll do my best.

Answer: After The Storm, by Mumford and Sons.

Question: What song are these lyrics from?There's a dreamy world up there, dear friends in higher places, carry me away from here, travel light let the sun eclipse you, 'cause your flight is about to leave, and there's more to this brave adventure, than you'd ever believe.