Finally, I get to write some action. Anyway, the 38th Hunger Games are reaching their climax, who will win? Who will die? Who isn't coming home?
Oh, and I realised the Careers have been a little too stupid so far so they're about to get a little smarter. Also, this chapter's a bit short so I'll submit the next one soon.
If your looking for the pun in the chapter title, I replaced coin with 'quarter' for this chapter.
I could only watch as Ross slowly drowned. It had only been seconds since he'd hit the roof but it felt like forever.
I thought he was finally gone when a spray of bubbles covered the camera as someone dived into the water. I expected it to be Locke, from the fishing district, but when the bubbles cleared; it revealed Storm, trying to push his way towards Ross.
He tried pulling, but Ross was a dead weight in the water. After a few seconds he finally swam around and pushed Ross towards Locke's waiting arms in the grated hatch.
Locke grabs on tight and tries to haul Ross up as Storm begins to follow.
The camera zooms in on the expression on Locke's face as he sees the change in current.
He calls Storm's name and tries to reach for him with his free hand, but he knows it's too late.
The current immobilises Storm, pulling him towards the ground before the mother of all waves hits. He's pulled down the corridor, then slammed into the roof and held below the water, the camera shows him choke as the water recedes, but it's too late and he's pulled under as the cannon fires.
There's a quick change to the camera on the second floor, showing the group pulling Ross up and slamming the grate shut to silence the rushing water instantly, giving the new room an eerie feel.
Eventually, the silence is broken by spluttering as Ross coughs up water and starts breathing again, bringing a sigh of relief from most of the group.
"He'd be happy, you know," a voice comes out from behind a huge rock; the second floor looks like some type of quarry, covered in huge chunks of stone, providing hiding places as well as weapons and death traps.
Everyone's head instantly swivels towards the girl and Locke's spear seems to appear at the ready as if by magic.
The girl is the twelve-year old other prisoner tribute from District 11, Rain. "He was my brother and a really nice guy. I don't think he really wanted to win; he wanted to save someone else and repent for his sins, but he didn't think he deserved to live."
"Sins?" Raven asks incredulously, standing up to meet her in a proper conversation instead of being talked down to. The others all stand up as well, with Ross propping himself against the wall, his role as leader temporarily taken over by Raven. It would seem intimidating if they didn't all seem so downtrodden and tired.
"Back in our district, discipline isn't like it is for you guys. We don't just get arrested or anything like that, even being an Avox isn't that bad. One of Storm's friends ate a handful of strawberries he picked because he'd missed his lunch to do extra work for the Peacekeepers. It was hardly any food but a Peacekeeper saw strawberry juice on his teeth and arrested him.
"He was taken into town and whipped by our Head Peacekeeper on the whipping post in front of the citizens. He was dying; the Peacekeeper was going too far but wouldn't stop. Storm grabbed the whip and hit the Peacekeeper with it.
"It turns out the Peacekeeper had a weak vertebra in his neck, Storm broke his neck and killed him.
"They arrested me and Storm and were going to kill us, in front of the villagers. Instead, they rigged the Games so we both got chosen so the country would learn the lesson and he had to watch me die and then die himself, or even survive knowing it was his fault so many people died for him.
"Knowing he gave his life to save another's, it was what he wanted," Rain finished.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Raven said, holding out his hand which Rain shook, "Would you like to join us?"
She considered this for a moment, clearly she had only meant to appease their guilt, but eventually came to a decision. "Yeah, I guess. Give me Storm's weapons, I don't need anything special."
They were planning on resting in the short entry corridor knowing no one else would come to the entryways when there was a loud rumbling.
They all jumped away from the edge as a metre's worth of rocks tumbled through the floor for as far as they could see. It left a gaping fissure which would prevent the tributes from reaching the exits on the other side if they stayed on the wrong side.
"We have to go across," Ross said, finally starting to regain his strength, "If this level's anything like the last, we're going to have to be on the other side before the arena's destroyed. We have to jump now or we'll all be trapped over here and die."
The others all grudgingly murmured agreement as they jumped across the metre gap before quickly sprinting for around a minute until they found a cave formed by the boulders.
Apparently the pack was getting too uninteresting; they were only running for their lives after all, so the camera flicked back to the Careers.
"We need a plan," Cerron stated.
"You guessed that, Sherlock?" Avanna asked as Vanity leaned against Cerron and Toro dropped the mound of supplies he'd carried from the Cornucopia.
"Here's my idea," Cerron said, totally ignoring Avanna, "I crawled on top of the rocks a while ago and you can see the entries and the exits on either side. About a minute ago, the first metre of the arena caved in, obviously this arena's going to destroy itself as well so we need a trap," Toro grinned evilly as he realised what Cerron was suggesting, "We set up a guard at every exit and slowly scour the arena from the exits forward. Even if we miss a few, any smart person would be in line of the exit."
The next few hours weren't particularly interesting.
The Careers picked off the two District 5 kids who'd built a fire to cook some preserved meat which gave off a sickly stench when the preservative burned. Ross' group had settled in and his right eye was slowly opening as the swelling went down.
Finally, it hit midnight and around half the arena had caved in. Apparently it was bed time for the Capitol viewers because the arena stopped destroying itself so the tributes could get some sleep.
Toro was desperate to go hunting but the Careers went back to their posts manning the exits and used their supplies of heat-reflecting blankets and food to settle down comfortably with each donning a set of body armour with weapons at hand to make sure a surprise attack would end badly if they all fell asleep.
The Capitol seal flashed and showed the faces of the District 2 girl, the two District 5 kids, Storm and both District 12 kids. Only one quarter dead on the second day; the Capitol must be getting pretty bored because as far as I knew there hadn't been any sponsor gifts.
Once the main interest groups, Ross' pack and the Careers, had gone to bed, whether or not they were still awake, the camera showed the positions of the others.
The District 3 girl was with the two older kids from District 10 who seemed to be looking after her as she was in a blanket and they took watch at the door. The District 6 boy was alone, his eyes glowing in the twilight of the arena at night time, spear at the ready as he watched the arena from a high vantage point in the corner of the arena under a dark blanket which camouflaged the rest of his body as well as keeping him warm. The two District 7 kids had had a massive row earlier in the day relating to how they should do things leading to them splitting, they replayed the fight just to spite them, and now were both sheltering dangerously close to the current borderline of the arena, either because they didn't realise or were being stupidly courageous. The District 9 girl was crammed into the smallest space between rocks she could find near the Careers' camp and had fallen asleep early so she could slip past the Careers early in the morning. The boy was sitting in the open across from Cerron with his bow in hand, clearly waiting for him to wake up. This seemed odd until the cameras showed him shadowing the Careers earlier when they planned to recruit him meaning he was simply waiting for a chance without being killed.
Despite the boredom of the night-time arena, I was keeping vigil as though watching through the night would keep Ross and Victoria alive.
An hour after the seal had vanished; the cameras showed Ross quietly singing a lullaby as more and more of his little group actually fell asleep. I even felt tired myself as my eyelids drooped… no… I had to stay… awake…
What could have happened while Coin is asleep?
I know this chapter's a bit shorter than the others but I felt like having Coin fall asleep was too good of an opportunity to resolve in this chapter.
Next Chapter: Ding, ding, Level 3! Haberdashery, Menswear and Inevitable Doom.