If you're reading this on the day it was posted (9th August) then its my 20th birthday yayay! I didn't think I would be able to get a chapter up today, but I only had a few tweaks to make to this, so here we are. I know I haven't updated in two weeks (shame on me) but I saw some of my family last week for the first time in months, which kind of took my focus away from writing. But I am back, and we are in the final stretch of this SYOT, and it is about to heat up (again..)! Not only that, but I have a full plan for a second SYOT to begin when this one is finished, an opening chapter for which will be up in the coming weeks. For now, enjoy this!
Day Eight Part Two
Florence and Alfred
The hours following their departure from the group had been surprisingly easy. Alfred knew that simply thinking this was jinxing everything completely, but he couldn't help the sneaking feeling that this would be over with quicker than any of them had thought. They were sticking close to the plan, leaving strips of clothes every few meters, turning corners with no real decision making, just choosing whatever of the options looked less murderous. He looked over at Florence, who was already beginning to slump. Alfred had thought her leg was more healed, but he could now clearly see the way she struggled along, trying not to wince in pain or put too much weight on Alfred.
"Come on." He walked her over to a rock, setting her down on it and tearing another strip off to leave behind. "It's time we had some food."
"Alfred, I'm fine." The girl tried to stand up, but she stumbled forwards, falling to the ground. Within seconds, he was by her side, helping Florence back on to her seat. She offered him a weak, defeated smile. "Okay, maybe I'm less fine."
Alfred had most definitely jinxed it earlier.
As the bird flew over their heads, Florence looked up in awe. "It's a Mockingjay!" She exclaimed, standing up, this time succeeding and not falling down once more. "We can use them to send messages to the others." She continued, wrapping her arms around Alfred's waist from behind.
The boy, on the other hand, was less happy about their new friend. As the bird landed on the walls of the maze, it was quickly joined by a few others. Now getting a closer look, Florence withdrew, more nervous than excited about the arrival. They had both watched the scenes from the 74th Hunger Games over and over again, both as part of their training and their own fascination. They had seen the Mockingjays and how Katniss had used them, they had also seen them slowly fade from the Games, until they were non-existent. They both knew that this was no normal Mockingjay. Its wings were sharper and angular than any the pain had even seen before, as if they were laced with a thousand tiny knives, ready to strike at any second. The bird was also darker in colour, and any endearing features they ever had were completely taken away.
"This is why they disappeared." Alfred breathed out, shaking his head as his hand found Florence's. "The Capitol was tailoring them. Changing them into… this." There had been talk of this at Alfred's school before he was snatched away. They often spoke of new Games technology, what the Capitol was making to implement in the future. This had all just been speculation, and strangely, Alfred felt a strange satisfaction that he had been right, and that he was getting to experience it first hand.
The question on both of their lips, however, was what else were the birds going to do?
"Why did you let me die?" The first bird spoke, and Alfred didn't have to look at Florence to know just how much it would affect her. He squeezed her hand tight as the bird continued. "You didn't even fight for me to stay, you just let me go." It spoke again in Lya's voice, and Alfred felt Florence's full body shudder.
"We're all dead." The second bird, with Flynt's voice this time, said accusingly. "We're all dead because you couldn't save us." The venom and aggression in the bird's voice was clear, Alfred's blood running cold at just how similar they sounded to their friends. This is what had changed them, making the Mockingjays sound like people, programming them to say things that they had never heard before. "Why did I have to hold the girl I loved as she died and you get happiness with him?"
Lilac's voice rang out this time. "Why do we die and you get to live?"
These were all questions Florence had asked herself over and over again, and ones she would never be able to answer. She felt like so much of a failure, that the universe was keeping her alive just to taunt her, to torture her and remind her of all she had lost to be here. "I don't know." She looked back and forth between the birds who had the voices of her friends. Florence would have given anything to see their faces again, even if they continued the questions. She just needed to see them and remind herself that she had something to fight for.
She nodded her head slowly. Yes. The Capitol was trying to break her down, make her give up but in fact, they were only serving to do the opposite. She had lost these people, no, the Games had forced her to lose these people. Florence hadn't killed them or hurt them in any way, and she knew her friends better than this, she knew that they would be happy for her, they would root for her to be the one that made it out. Hearing their voices made her remember what she had lost, reminded her that she couldn't be just another fallen tribute. She had to get out of this alive, she had to do it and fight for her friends.
She took a long breath, gripping onto Alfred's hand, as if he would give her the last bit of strength she needed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry all of you are gone. I loved you all. But I won't feel guilty for living." Florence saw Alfred smile in awe at her out of the corner of her eye. That was it, that was the strength she needed. "I will fight and I will survive, and I will do it all so I can tell your stories."
The birds began to retreat and Florence knew she had won. She turned and embraced Alfred, the man kissing her gently on the forehead. "I knew you could do it." He smiled down at her. "I'm so proud of you."
When the pair turned back to advance on, they found their path blocked. Alfred cursed. He should have known that he was much too unlucky to have escaped this without any torment of his own. The largest, most decorated beautiful bird sat in front of them, it's black beady eyes fixated solely on Alfred.
He knew who it was before the thing even spoke. "Diva." He breathed out her name, noticing how weird it felt. He had got so used to saying it over and over again in the days before the Games, but he hadn't been able to since her death.
"Oh, so you do remember me?" The creature spoke in the girl's voice, Alfred shuddering at just how exactly like her it sounded. "You didn't even mourn my death, and you had moved onto the next thing," The bird paused, looking at Florence briefly. "Within hours. Some friend you were."
Despite everything, and the shock of hearing his friend again, Alfred laughed. The accusation that he hadn't mourned her was too funny. Every waking moment Alfred thought about Diva. He thought about how she had died, so quickly and unexpectedly and how he hadn't been able to do anything at all about it. He thought about how he was so focused on holding Newton together that he had barely let himself cry or feel what he wanted to feel. But mostly, he thought about the way she had changed his life. Diva was one of the first people in his life that had ever shown him true, uncorrupted kindness, who had stuck by him despite his awkwardness or his weird quirks. She had completely transformed Alfred's life in the best way possible. Diva had proven that he was worthy of friendship, that people wanted to know him. She had been his best friend, she had forced him to talk to Newton, a boy that Alfred came to care about so deeply. She had given him the confidence to talk to Florence, and to build something with that he would never have thought he was capable of doing.
"You're not Diva." Alfred sprung forward, snatching Lya's bow and arrow from Florence. He held the string tight, firing the arrow straight into the bird. "You're just an insult to her memory." The boy watched as the bird seemed to disintegrated, the arrow striking directly underneath the animal's beak, its figure almost shattering in front of them. For a second, Alfred's mind flashed back to watching Diva collapse right next to him on the very first day, the emotion threatening to destroy him but Florence could see him spiralling, rubbing her hand across his slender shoulders.
"Let's keep moving." She brought his hand up, kissing the back of it gently. "I'm proud of us." Florence breathed out slowly, doing all she could to work out whether Alfred was okay, or if he was about to break.
Suddenly, the boy shook his head, almost as if he was forcing himself to wake up from a terrible dream. He flashed the girl a smile, that she could immediately tell was fake, and retrieved the arrow from where it had fallen to the ground.
Alfred pushed his hair out of his eyes in thought. He was no longer dwelling on Diva, he was more focused on why the Capitol had gone to the effort of tailoring Mockingjays in that way, and not just using Jabberjays. It was clear to see that this year the Capitol was manipulating the strong bond the tributes had to make them weak, but that still didn't explain why the arena designers would not just ever so slightly change the Jabberjays, instead of completely changing a whole species.
And then he remembered how excited Florence had been to see the birds, the joy she had when she had thought she was able to communicate with the others, and the withdrawn, defeated posture she had adopted now.
"Bastards." Alfred breathed out, causing Florence to place her attention back on him. He paused briefly before explaining. "It wasn't just about hearing their voices. It was about hope and trust. That's why they didn't use Jabberjays." The began walking on, knowing they only had a few more hours before nightfall. Florence nodded, catching on to Alfred's line of thought. "They wanted to believe that we had a way to communicate with the others." He fiddled with the corner of the blanket they had been using to leave a trail, shaking his head in disbelief. "They wanted us to believe that for just one moment, things were going our way, that we had a chance, and then they would just snatch it away, using the people we cared about most to do it." Florence reached across, wrapping her arms tightly around Alfred, for what felt like the hundredth time today, knowing that making sure he was okay was more important than the others, or even herself. "They don't want us all to get out of here. They're picking us off one by one."
"Then let's not let them." The girl spoke, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, as if two minutes ago she herself hadn't been ready to give it all up. "Let's fight harder and stronger than the Capitol ever thought we could, and show them just how wrong they were."
Jordan, Locke and Salome
Almost as soon as Alfred had destroyed the bird, the Capitol moved their attention to the torment of the other group. Although, had the Gamemakers looked hard enough, they would have seen that nothing else in the universe would have tortured the three more than being stuck with one another. Every little thing was an argument, mostly between Jordan and Locke, as they screamed at each other about how high or tight to tie the blanket strips, which way to turn, how much water they should be drinking. Salome was almost willing the Capitol to throw something their way so that the men would shut up, even for a moment.
Her wish was granted, as the first manipulated Mockingjay landed a few feet from where the group had stopped.
"Locke?" The voice of a girl. "Why did you do it?" The voice of Lana Spice was immediately recognisable. Everyone had known her and spoken to her, even if they hadn't been friends. She had been loud and confident, and Locke had ended the spark she had without even thinking about it. He hated to dwell on that day, the way he had so easily killed Lana, and them orchestrated for the death of Clem. And, if he really thought about it, Locke didn't have an answer for the girl's question. He had convinced himself that he had done everything to get Salome back, but all along, he had known that it would have only pushed her further away. So, if he was being honest, Locke knew he had done it all for himself, to prove that he was strong, that his training was going to be put to good use.
"Do you know why I wanted to win, why I fought so hard?" The Lana bird spoke again, something Locke was thankful for, at least now he wouldn't have to answer her previous question."I needed the money to help save my dying brother. So I hope you know that it's not just me you killed, it was my family as well."
Salome gasped in shock, stumbling away from her father, the already worrying divide between the pair only serving to deepen. The girl knew this torture was intended for her father, but it was affecting her more than she dared to think about. He was a murder, and not just out of necessity, that she could begin to forgive. He had killed Lana and Lilac and Clem because he had wanted to. Because it was the easy way out, that was something Salome knew she could never see past. And now that she knew just how much Lana needed to win, she felt guilty, so impossibly guilty. Maybe if she hadn't left Locke because of her own selfish pride she could have stopped him, prevented all this, and instead, Lana could have been standing there with them, not just a creature with her voice.
"Oh God." Salome shrunk to her knees, heartbroken knowing now the life Lana's brother was condemned to in whatever little time he had left. "You're a monster." She spat at her dad, glaring at him as he tried to move closer.
Jordan swiftly moved to her side, helping her to her feet once more, surprised at his sudden tenderness and compassion. "It's not really Lana. You know she's in a better place than this." The boy lied, he had no clue where Lana was, he never gave much thought to what happens after you die, but seeing Salome like this hurt him. "And Salome," He could tell just by the look in her eyes how guilty she felt. "None of this was your fault, okay? You didn't do this." He glared at Locke. "He did."
"I know." Locke nodded solemnly, and the bird began to falter and retreat.
Jordan noticed the movement as Locke began to express his guilt. "Say that again. Say that you're sorry." As Locke repeated his phrase, Jordan nodded. "That's it!" He exclaimed. "You have to admit your faults, admit that you were in the wrong, that's what you're scared of, right? You're scared that the things you do for your daughter may not be the right ones? You're scared that you sometimes do what you want and pretend that's what's best for her?" Jordan had been silently watching the tributes throughout the Games, he had deduced things about them they probably hadn't figured out about themselves, and now, that was coming in useful.
Salome looked up suddenly, her frown wavering to offer a look of sadness as Locke nodded. "I'm so so sorry." He offered to the Lana bird. Locke knew the entire point of these Games was to kill, that was what he trained people for. But to have killed Lana when he was posing no threat was beyond what even he saw as acceptable. "I'm sorry." He repeated again as the bird turned away.
"Come on." Jordan rolled his eyes and sighed, clearly annoyed at the hold up, snapping back to his usual moody, hard self. Things like this didn't affect him. He didn't care about who he had lost or killed, it was in the past, get over it already. Locke and Salome, on the other hand, still stood staring at the bird.
"You didn't save my sister." Jordan knew that voice, yet he couldn't picture the person it belonged to. "Why did you give me that food and save me and not my sister? You should have protected her. She trusted you." Jordan matched a face to the voice, swallowing hard as the image of Rowan, Lilac's younger brother appeared in his mind, a boy he had given food to in passing. The Capitol had already taunted him with the voice of his mother a few days prior, he knew this wasn't real, and he knew exactly how to snap out of it, but that didn't stop Jordan feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt and responsibility. After all, anyone that blamed him for Lilac's death would be right to. The pair were never close, but Jordan knew it was his duty to protect her, and help her if she needed it. He also knew that at the Bloodbath, the second he had the opportunity to run and leave her behind, he had taken it, trusting that she would be fine with someone else. He could feel his body begin to shake, as he realised just how many people he had failed, how many people had died in these Games that he could have helped, if only he had been more focused on them than on saving himself.
Jordan felt a hand clamped down on his shoulder, and turned, shocked to see that it was Locke instead of Salome that had approached him.
"Jordan." Locke reminded him, doing for Jordan what he had done for the others a few moments earlier. However much Locke detested the man in front of him, he had just witnessed him helping Salome at her lowest. If she wouldn't allow Locke to be there for her, he was endlessly thankful that someone like Jordan was. "You did a nice thing saving that boy, Lilac's death is on me, not you, okay?"
"I could have done more for her, though." Jordan knew that he's challenge here was accepting that he wasn't alone. The young man tried so hard to convince himself that as long as he was alive, that was okay, but that wasn't the case anymore. Jordan had been changed by these Games in ways he never could have imagined. He relied on people now, like Salome, and he knew that people had relied on him. And that wasn't a bad thing. It was only when he failed these people did it become a problem. "I should have done more."
The trio watched as the bird practically disappeared in front of them, Jordan and Locke having passed their challenges, a weird sort of acceptance of one another now passing through the group.
They pressed on, faster now, knowing they had so much ground to cover, but so short a time before night.
Nightfall
Florence and Alfred had been waiting for around an hour before the others arrived back. They had a fire set up, slowly grilling slithers of fish, laying them across the small portions of bread they still had remaining. Alfred shot up as the three turned the corner, anticipating more what they found on their journey, rather than their actual return.
"So?" Florence asked, raising her hands in question before bringing them down to rest on her thighs. Alfred settled down beside her, Salome, Locke and Jordan taking their seat on the other side of the fire.
Salome decided to be the one to break the bad news. "Nothing." She smiled sadly. "Just more of this, it seems to go on forever. Every time we thought we had a lead, it was just more turns, more nothing."
"God damn it." Florence exclaimed, setting her food down, having suddenly lost her appetite.
"Hey." Alfred placed a hand on her back, calming her. "Nothing goes on forever. They wouldn't risk not having a victor, there has to be a way out." Alfred, always the voice of reason, had a way of grounding the group and thinking logically, keeping calm. It was a role he never thought he would have- he was always the one to panic when things didn't make sense, to retreat into himself and give up. Now, though, he had someone he cared about, and the end was in sight, he couldn't falter or become hopeless now. "There's only one path we haven't taken." He raised his hand, motioning to the long empty stretch in front of them. "We go that way tomorrow. For now, we need to rest." He kissed Florence lightly on the head, standing up to prepare their sleeping bags for the night.
"He's right." Jordan hated to say those two words to anyone, especially Alfred. "And, compared to what I was expecting, this is nothing. Looks like the Capitol is slacking in their plans." He smirked, receiving a nod from Locke.
"Hold on." Salome looked up, a small parcel falling from the sky. "A sponsor?" She practically cried with excitement. They had almost given up hope now, that anything good would ever come to them, but now, the group was being given something. As they watched the small parachute fall from the sky, Salome was the first to notice that it was not alone. She reached up, pulling it from the vast expanse of black as it reached the end of its descent, realising that it was addressed to Jordan. She held the package out to him, before retrieving the others that had now landed across the floor. "There's one for each of us!" Salome explained, unable to keep the excitement from her voice, for just one minute, things seemed to be going their way.
Without waiting for the other's to agree, she ripped into her box. At first, she thought it was empty, so, expecting to find a nice treat from her mother, she stuck her hand in. "What the-" Salome pulled her hand out, throwing the box away, screaming as a thousand tiny spiders covered her hand, crawling up her arm and across her body. "Oh God, Oh God." She screamed, slapping her hand, trying to dispel the creatures as quickly as possible.
Locke was instantly by her side, patting the girl down, brushing her as she ran and screamed. "Salome." He spoke assertively, yet calmly. "Take a deep breath. They can't hurt you, you are stronger than them." This was all of Salome's fears wrapped into one- the bugs was only the start, it was the lack of control, the unpredictability of it all. Locke knew this, and soon he was beckoning all the tributes over to help calm the girl. "You're okay Salome." He spoke reassuringly, as the girl slowed, becoming more at ease.
"I'm okay." She nodded, knowing nothing could hurt her, as long as her father was near. No matter how much she hated his existence, she always knew that whatever happened, he would protect her, be there for her, put her first. "I'm not scared, I'm okay." She breathed slowly, and sure enough, the bugs began to retreat. As soon as Salome realised she didn't care, that she was the one in control, everything went back to normal, and the girl was left standing there, feeling freer than she ever had before.
"Well…" Jordan swallowed hard, for the first time in the Games he was terrified. The boxes clearly contained the things they hated and feared the most, he knew what his would contain. "Who's next?"
Locke didn't leave much time for debate, and soon, he was snatching away the top of his container, looking for what the Capitol thought his worst fear would be.
"Water?" Locke looked between the tributes, confused.
Salome knew immediately what his fear was. As a child, Locke had made sure she had swimming lessons with the best teachers there were, he stopped her from going to the sea alone, from going to the swimming pool with friends. He was constantly terrified of drowning, or losing someone he loved to the water. Salome's only question was how they were going to replicate it here.
She didn't have to wait long, and soon enough, the ground parted, almost as if to swallow Locke up.
"Quicksand." Alfred sprung forward, grabbing a spear and holding the blunt end out to the quickly sinking Locke. He grabbed on gratefully. Alfred knew about quicksand, the science behind the way the water was trapped beneath the soil. He also knew that it was completely impossible for a person to completely drown in it. Humans floated in the stuff, after all. "You have to not struggle, that pulls you under. You have to just breath, okay, you won't drown in this, we can get you out."
Locke was clearly not listening to, or understanding, a word Alfred was saying as he continued to thrash about, calling constantly for someone to save him. "Do something!" He shouted, clawing at the banks, shredding the tips of his fingers. "Oh God, I can't die like this, Jordan you have to pull me out."
Jordan couldn't help but laugh at that. Never did he think he would see the day that the almighty Locke begged him to save his life. The laughter didn't last long, Jordan knew that all too soon he would be relying on these very people to help him through his worst fear, he had to earn brownie points while he could.
He grabbed on to the spear, just in front of Alfred, and tugged, desperately trying to free the man, but to no success.
"Dad." Salome's voice broke through the shouting, loud and clear. Locke looked up almost instantly, stopping struggling completely. "You're not scared." She repeated his words from earlier. "You're stronger than this, you can beat this." She breathed in and out slowly, encouraging him to follow.
It was almost as if time stopped, as Salome called him her dad once more. Everything he had ever been afraid of seemed so stupid now. What he feared more than anything was losing his daughter, of her no longer wanting him in her life. And suddenly, that wasn't a possibility anymore. He smiled, feeling the clutch the sand had on him loosen, and slowly, with the help of Jordan and Alfred, he pulled himself back to safety, embracing his daughter immediately.
Encouraged by the way Locke and Salome had defeated their totrue, Florence was the next one to open her box, surprised to find that it was empty. At first she thought that she was the lucky one. Florence had spent her time in the Games trying to convince herself that she was afraid of nothing, maybe the whole charade had worked, and things would be okay. She smiled at herself, pride overwhelming her.
And them, a sound as loud as a stampede of elephants coursed through their small clearing. She quickly darted to Alfred, curlin up beside him, cursing herself for being so foolish to consider that she could have got out of this okay.
"Thunder?" Jordan remarked, having to shout over the continuous sound.
Florence knew how stupid it was. She loved the outdoors and the rain, but when it came to thunder, she broke down. It reminded her that the universe wasn't calm all the time, and that at any moment, something could sound and ruin the tranquillity.
Alfred stroked the top of her head gently, grounding her. He was beginning to catch on that the only way to stop whatever fears the Capitol produced was to convince them that you were no longer scared. From the way Florence was cowering, he supposed it would be harder for her than the other two.
"I'm not scared, I'm not scared, I'm not scared." The girl chanted over and over again, trying to convince herself that it was the case, but having seemingly little success.
"That's right." Alfred joined in, despite feeling useless. "It's not going to hurt you, it's just a noise. And whatever happens, I'm here to protect you."
Florence looked up and smiled, the clouds and the sound that had been covering them slowly starting to retreat.
Knowing it was his turn, as Jordan made no effort to pick up his box, Alfred swallowed hard, willing himself to keep his fear at bay. He felt Florence's hand rest on his bicep, giving him the strength he needed to open the package. "Okay." He breathed out slowly, seeing only a smaller empty box inside the original one. "What?" Alfred asked no one in particular. He didn't have to wait long for an answer, before the ground began to shake.
At first he thought it was an earthquake, which was stupid. He was by no means scared of them, they were a natural phenomenon caused by the plates of the earth, not that anyone would have wanted to hear his explanation of them. The point was, Alfred knew that they could be explained, so they were not scary in the slightest. He looked up once more, and this time he saw it: the walls of the Labyrinth slowly moving in, coming closer and closer to trapping him.
Claustrophobia, the fear of small spaces. This was something Alfred couldn't explain away, he couldn't even begin to work out why the thought of being entrapped made his heart race, or his vision blur, or his palms sweat uncontrollably. It made no sense why he was afraid of it.
"They're getting too close." He heard Florence mutter from the outside of his ever enclosing prison. "Alfred?" She called, but the boy was unable to answer. "Just breath. You're okay." The tactic that had been used on the other tributes showed no sign of working here, Florence becoming more and more concerned. She needed to take a different approach, one that would calm Alfred enough to stop him from being scared. "Hey, recite the periodic table." She screamed, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.
"Ha, easy." Alfred laughed, almost forgetting the conditions he was under as he began to shout out the elements. "Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium…." Alfred was so comfortable in his stride that he barely noticed the walls begin to move outwards once more, he didn't recognise the way his breathing slowed and how the fresh air wrapped around him like a long lost friend. But, once he saw Florence, he rushed over and hugged her, as if they had been separated for years, not only a few heartbreaking seconds. "Thank you." He whispered, his lips inches from hers, before leaning in to kiss.
Jordan shielded his eyes in mock embarrassment and annoyance. Secretly, however, he was thankful for the fact that some happiness had come from the Games, Alfred and Florence's little slice of happiness being enough for them all. "Alright, alright, enough of that." He complained, despite smirking. Slowly, Jordan opened his box, looking down to see a light bulb smashed into a thousand tiny pieces.
"Sorry about this one guys…" Jordan joked, but it was clear in his voice just how terrified he was. "My bad." He spoke, as the fire they had been sitting round suddenly dulled, as if a gallon of water had been poured over it. Their torches flickered out into darkness, the group left to survive the night in the never ending blackness.
Do you know the best part about being at this point in the SYOT? My laptop now recognises all the remaining tributes names as real ones, and doesn't try and autocorrect them every time I type them!
Hope you liked this update, and I think we are in the final quarter of the Games now, so the end is insight! thank you to anyone who is still reading and reviewing.
Until next time,
Alice xxx