Chapter Thirty-Two

Thomas turned at the sound of Newt's gasp, and what he saw made his blood run cold. From between the two imposing stone walls came creature Thomas had never seen before. It was huge and bulbous, with slimy-looking rubbery skin and metal arms. They ended in a variety of lethal looking implements. Blades, a snapping-claw. A whirring disk of metal teeth. Several of them were thick dark syringes ending in short, fat needles that looked somehow familiar. He gaped at it as the creature dragged itself forward with a thick slapping sound.

What the shuck?

He stumbled backwards a step, bumping into Aris's small form. The kid looked as petrified as Thomas felt, and somehow seeing that broke him from his stupor. He nudged him, perhaps a little harshly, but he was shaking. The other tributes were all screaming now, a noise that put his already frayed nerves further over the edge. It was terrifying to hear.

"Run." he managed to splutter, his mouth unwilling to cooperate with what he had to say.

Newt seemed frozen in place, his face paler than moonlight and blank with fear. Thomas looked between the two boys, his mind racing to try and come up with an escape route.

"Shuck." was all Aris said in response, his round green eyes looking up at Thomas in fearful disbelief.

There was a cry of fear and Thomas turned back just in time to see the creature's metal arm strike out at Newt. His heart jumped to his throat as he saw the blonde go down. He dropped like a stone in the ocean and Thomas wasn't thinking straight, he was at his side before the creature had even drawn back fully.

"Newt! Oh shit, Newt!"

He reached for him, shaking his shoulder. Newt was moaning, one hand clutching at his side as he did so. His eyes were closed and his face was scrunched up in pain. When Thomas got a look at the side he was curling protectively against he felt more afraid. There was blood on Newt's hand, thick and dark and scary.

"Newt? Fuck, what-"

Thomas's heart was erratic, bouncing around in his chest like a pinball. He grabbed for the blonde's shoulders, hooking his hands under them and dragging him from the clutches of the terrifying blubbery creature. There was a flash beside him and then Aris was in front of him, grasping at Newt's ankles and trying to lift them, to help Thomas drag him out of the way. The massive creature let out a grinding shriek, whipping it's arms through the air towards them.

"Aris! Aris stay away from it, don't let it near you!"

The kid barely managed to dive in time and the creature missed him only just. Thomas's mind was racing. Newt was light, he knew that, but he was roughly the same height as Thomas himself and Aris was only a kid. Fuck.

The creature was coming closer and Thomas and Aris were back at Newt, lifting him and carrying him out of reach as fast as they could. Something sharp bit into Thomas's foot as he back-pedalled but he didn't have time to check. His shoulders were complaining from the dead weight by the time they laid Newt on the nearest white staging panel, and while Aris trembled and kept an eye on approaching figures and the creepy blubbery creature Thomas looked Newt over as quickly as he could.

"Newt? Can you hear me? Where does it hurt? Can you open your eyes? Newt, man look at me!"

He was groaning, crying gently in pain and when he opened his eyes at Thomas's command his brown eyes were glazed and hazy. Thomas worked frantically, listening to fear in Aris's voice climb as danger got ever closer. He pried Newt's hands away from his side and yanked the boy's shirt up. He didn't have time to think about how in different circumstances his face would be burning.

There was a fat purple bruise just below Newt's ribcage, a hole the size of the nail on his little finger perched right in the middle. The blood was dark against Newt's pale skin but he wasn't bleeding all that heavily. Thomas had worked out what it was though, why the syringe-like needles on the monster had looked so familiar.

"Tracker Jack venom." he spat, looking fearfully down at his best friend. "That's just fantastic."

"Shit."

Aris was close to tears, Thomas could see them glittering in his eyes when he shot the kid a glance.

"Shit indeed."

He looked back down at Newt as he got behind him, trying to lift the boy by his shoulders. Newt simply curled out of his arms with a pained cry, clutching at his side. Thomas was truly panicking. He could hear the screaming, the pounding of feet as people ran from the trees, ran towards them and to the side, where the buildings were, far off into the sandy area. They had to get out of there before they were cornered.

The blubbery monster seemed to have lost interest in them and was moving towards the grass gave way to gritty sand, sights set on other tributes who were fighting there. He couldn't get a good grip on Newt, and his fingers were thick with fear and uncooperative. He could feel desperation pushing through him and he wanted to cry. They needed to get out of there fast.

"We need-"

"MINHO!"

Thomas looked up at the kid's scream, his eyes picking out the racing form amongst the others. The boy had heard him it seemed and he had changed direction, turning towards them. Thomas knew it was premature to celebrate because for all they knew the asian boy saw them as easy targets but it was there anyway, a wary rush of relief. He slid Newt's knife from his belt just the same.

"You shanks just can't keep away, huh?" the boy called as he drew near.

Before Thomas even had the chance to supply a witty reply Minho had swooped in, taking hold of Newt and tossing his slim form over his shoulder like he weighed practically nothing. Thomas's heart skipped and he reached for the blonde but Minho just grabbed the arm instead, pulling him into a run as he turned.

"Come on kid. You shanks better get a move on."

He was off and running again, and Thomas followed, a confused and fearful lump in his throat. He couldn't take his eyes from the sight of Newt draped over the boy's broad shoulder, but he heard Aris running beside him. Minho was heading back in the direction they had come from and Thomas shouted after him but he wasn't listening. And if he was listening he wasn't answering. His head was fuzzy and jumbled and it was hard just making sure one leg went in front of the other. The screaming was getting worse, pained and terrified sounds painting the air like blood painted the ground.

Minho ran right at the water, not bothering to take his shoes off or roll his trousers. He simply ploughed right into the water, sending heavy ripples crashing to either side like startled waves. Thomas looked at Aris as he followed, plunging into the water after him. The soak of the water shocked him and set his brain right again, and he pushed through the pressure of the water as he followed Minho.

The water was at his waist by the time he caught up with him, and Minho was panting. When he approached the boy shot him a wide grin, looking for all the world like they hadn't just run away from crazy rubber-and-steel monsters to hide in the middle of an open body of water.