Emmett Lightway, 16, District Three Male
He looks at the white tuxedo he's left on the bed that he had taken over, carelessly discarded on the floor in favour of the comfortable clothes he had found in the walk-in closets scattering the rooms. It had taken a few rooms to find clothes that actually fit him, but he eventually walked out to reveal to Hallie his comfortable clothing. She had nodded briskly and sent him to work on barricading their door, having him stack any loose furniture he could find in front of it as she worked on little gadgets that she had made from wiring in the ceilings and lights and pieces that she had requested from sponsors. She had promised that they'd go to use well when the time came, putting them in her pockets and ordering him around once more.
And that was perfectly fine. Hallie was some sort of genius; the Capitol knew it, he knew it, and she knew it. She'd put it all to good use. Emmett just has to make sure that it isn't used on him.
He walks out of his room and towards Hallie, who is currently watching the plains from the huge window at the end of the hallway. She turns around and nods briskly as he approaches her, a smile never cracking her small lips. "The two girls down there are moving towards the hotel. I think they might be trying to get in here with us. It's game time."
A shiver runs down Emmett's spine as he watches the moonlight shine over the arena, a whisper of cloud hovering in front of it and promising the dry savanna rain. But his focus is on the two shadows making their way to the bright lights of the hotel, one unmistakably holding a large ax and the other carrying what seems to be a broadsword. "Do you think they'll find where we are?"
Hallie shakes her head worriedly, her short hair flying around her face before settling back into place. "They won't. At least, they shouldn't. I think that they'll be searching the second and fifth floors like I told you yesterday. That's why we're here. They're not going to find us here; it's one of the last floors they would search, at least mathematically. Unless they hear us, we'll be safe."
But that doesn't stop her face from contorting into a worried glance as she looks at the plains.
The Capitol anthem blares through the loudspeakers in the hotel once more, and the two watch the District Four Female - "Grace Oceanus," says Hallie - and the District Ten Male - "Joel Fletcher," adds Emmett, he had paid attention to Ten in the score reveals - appear in the sky for a bit, smiling once more before the sky turns back to dark, leaving only the moon. And just like that, they hear the pounding of feet on the stairs below the third floor. The attack is coming.
Emmett first ducks behind the curtain, then comes back out when he sees that Hallie is making no attempt to hide. He shakes his head and mouths why to her, only to have her answer with a confident whisper. "They're not going to come into here. We're perfectly safe, Emmett."
And that's when they hear the first thud against the door to the stairwell.
The furniture against the door shudders but holds firm, leaving time for Emmett to open the door to the third-last door to the left and duck inside. But Hallie waits outside, reaching inside her pocket for something…
Her gadgets!
Emmett opens the door and watches the door continue to quiver, a lampshade tumbling down from the pile. But Hallie walks to the door, moving the gadget to her right hand as she watches the trembling door. Emmett shudders as he watches the two girls continue to push against the door, their hidden figures coming closer to being revealed as the door quivers again. And as they slam it again, a splinter of wood comes loose from the side.
"Hey!" Hallie steps closer to the door, looking through the crack that the girls had made from the hallway. "One more push, and I'm blowing you up."
She displays the gadget, now making an ominous ticking noise. The girls obviously are intimidated by the device, as the door finally stops shaking and Emmett can hear a hurried conversation in the stairwell from his position in the hallway. After a minute, one of the girls appears in the crack in the door, her ginger-red hair bringing colour to the drab, grey shirt she's wearing. "We're not stopping. You didn't make an explosive out of wiring, no matter how smart a Three might be."
Hallie laughs coldly, the sound echoing through the hall and sending a chill down Emmett's spine. "You'd be surprised about what a Three could do, Two. Want to experience it in person?"
The girl backs away from the door, conferring once more with her ally before stepping back towards it. "We've decided."
Hallie breathes a sigh of relief and drops her defensive position, Emmett moving closer to her with the knife that they had taken from the kitchen. He sighs in relief as he watches the two walking down the stairs, the first girl's hair leaving a flash of red in the stairwell before leaving it altogether. Emmett smiles slightly as Hallie turns towards him. The two move towards the door to inspect the crack, Hallie putting a critical finger through the hole. "They didn't do that much damage, but it's pretty critical. We might have to find something to patch it up so no other tributes get any ideas about breaking in. It's only night two, after all. We can't afford to have anyone get in here until the top six at least. Do you want to -"
And that's when a yell of fury emerges from the stairwell, combined with the thud of an ax against the wooden door. Emmett yelps in fright as they hear the sound of splintering wood from outside and the girl wrenches her ax out before hitting the door again. It cracks in half this time, and the girl from Seven pushes it over before gazing in cold satisfaction at Hallie. "You're dying first."
"Stay away from her!" yells Emmett before he realizes what he's doing, brandishing his knife and moving closer to the girl. It makes her back away for an instant, and that's all the time that Hallie takes to throw her explosive at her. The girl yells in surprise and vanishes up the stairwell with her partner as the explosive detonates, sending shattered pieces of the door and couches ricocheting towards Hallie and Emmett. They hit the floor and hold their hands over their heads as the explosion ends, leaving the rancid smell of a plastic chair starting to burn.
The two gasp in relief as the smoke in the air rapidly clears, leaving the sight of a blackened stairwell beyond the burning barricade. Hallie turns towards Emmett, a genuine smile on her face. "Thanks for the help. I can't believe it worked!"
Emmett chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck and looking back to the barricade. "I guess… I guess I did what had to be done. And your explosive worked! How did you get gunpowder and the like to make that? Did a sponsor send it when I was asleep?"
Hallie giggles, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper as she leans in towards Emmett. "The explosives that I "made" were from the bloodbath. I picked them up when no one was looking and ran like mad towards the hotel. I pretended to make the explosives to confuse you and make the audience think I'm better than I am. I can't make explosives out of thin air! After all, the only time I'm able to use tech is when I'm working. The Capitol still limits us in the camps. They don't trust us yet."
Emmett remembers with chagrin the dozens of work camps lining the outskirts of cities in Three, filled with people wasting away as they waited to go back to work in the long trucks that the companies all used to pick up their workers. Only the upper classes in Three had homes that they could be secure in. His mother told him that there were murders every night in the camps. They had nothing. The bombs from the Dark Days had destroyed everything, and the Capitol hadn't made a move to repair it. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Hallie nods resignedly, turning back to the barricade and feeling for the other explosives in her pocket. "It's life. Now, are we going to stay on this floor or move?"
Emmett looks at their barricade, a piece of one of the couches they had shoved in front of the door falling to the floor as they watch. "We should probably move. Which floor should we go to?"
Hallie ponders over the question, looking out the window to the plains below them. "Maybe the first floor would be beneficial. You don't expect anyone to be on that floor when the beds are all up here, do you? We can hide in the kitchen, if anything at all. And there'll be food!"
Emmett nods, remembering his encounter with the girl from Twelve. "And if anyone finds us, we can fight them off with your explosives."
"Homemade is always the way to go," laughs Hallie, her eyes twinkling. She looks different. She looks younger. "We should get moving. Now, to get over these couches."
Emmett grabs the fire extinguisher and sprays it over the melting pile, putting it out with a burst of smoke and steam before jumping over it all. "Coming?"
Hallie nods, stepping over the side of the pile and walking through the broken, jagged remainders of their wooden door. "Let's move. I don't trust those girls anymore than I trust those lions in the arena. We better get to the kitchen quickly."
Emmett starts to jog down the stairs, taking two at a time as they make their way past the silent second floor. Hallie stops for a moment when she imagines seeing a boy running by the window glass in the door to the second floor, but the two ignore it after looking inside and threatening whatever's in there with their explosive. Nothing emerges and they continue to the kitchen, grabbing the steaming plates of spaghetti and meatballs before going through a swinging door at the back of the kitchen and discovering a small backroom.
"It's perfect!" says Hallie as they start to slurp their plates of spaghetti, the two having already locked the door tightly and pushed a long bench in front of it in an attempt at security. "They'll never find us here. Why, we could make it to the final four in here!"
Emmett laughs, his blonde hair shaking as he sits down. "I'm surprised that we made it this far. I thought I was doomed as soon as the Games started! I never imagined myself holding a weapon or using it. I can't kill anyone here. The only way I'm winning is by stealth."
Hallie nods sympathetically, her brown locks tumbling over her narrow face. "I think I can kill in this game. I mean, it's us or them, you know?"
Emmett nods, but he doesn't know. He can't kill them. He can't.
Hallie stands up and puts her plate on the bench, yawning as she does so. "I guess I'll get to sleep soon. You okay with the lights off?"
Emmett nods as Hallie flicks off the lights, burying his head in his arms and starting to drift off. He's tired! Not even death could stop him from falling asleep. He feels safe in the darkness. He can't see a thing, and no one can see him. It's perfect.
But not even the darkness can protect him from the next cannon that rings out into the night.
Another chapter finished! I'm glad with this chapter, and we've got another death! You'll find out who it is in the next chapter, and what a chapter it's going to be ;)))
By the way, that means we're at the top ten! I won't reveal the death b/c of how the next chapter is taking place at the same time as this one, so you guys are left in the dark until hopefully tomorrow!
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Hoping that I can continue this streak! That'd be really awesome :))) Until then, read, review, and possibly follow and fave if you want to XD Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ
