Welcome back!
The winner of my little 100review Competition is... HISTORYREPEATS! They have chosen two tributes to die...
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NOTE: I AM GOING TO FRANCE ON MONDAY 1ST JUNE AND RETURNING THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY (5TH). THIS MEANS I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WRITE CHAPTERS. WHICH SUCKS FOR YOU GUYS (and me) :(
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*In the Blink of an Eye
Aden 'Red-Haired' Hanran, District Eight
The cannon removes me from sleep's comforting arms. I sit bolt upright and my back tingles from the hard ground and a long night. Who was that? Who's life just ended? I hope it wasn't the girl from my District. She seemed an alright girl.
I can see the whole of the arena from this cave, and what's more, it is really hard to find. I spent ten treacherous minutes navigating the cliff face that starts at the mountain peak last night. So I should be safe here.
Almost as soon as my eyes have cleared and I have told myself off for sleeping in, a parachute billows down into the mouth of my ledge cave. I leap onto the shiny item and undo the clasp. Really, seeing as I already have a pack with basic necessities in it, I don't really need another gift. But I won't say no.
The contents squeezes all air out of my lungs.
Two dummies wrapped in baby blue tissue paper. I laugh joyously, and then I start to cry. Lena gave birth to our twins, and I wasn't there to support her.
Before I had to come to this infernal arena, my mentor and I devised a code if Lena gave birth. A dummy for each boy, meaning safe and healthy births, but white tissue paper if one of them had passed away.
I hope Lena can see me now; hold our newborn sons up to the TV screen and say, 'this is your daddy, little ones. That's right – and he'll be home soon enough.'
My mind is a tangle of fanatical thoughts, blurred memories and fantasies of newborn life. There is one crystal thought which I could not mistake for anything else. I will come home.
Lena Hanran, District Eight
Colin begins to wail, but I rub his head gently before he can interrupt the footage. Adalin senses Colin's distress and opens his mouth to scream, but I speedily give him some milk. He is suddenly content.
In all the bother of shushing the twins for the moment when Aden gets his parachute, I miss the footage all together. The last thing I see before the footage switches to the Two girl, still beside the body, is Aden's hopeful and determined face. He is looking straight at the camera, the dummies and paper forgotten in his hands. I know what he is like when he looks like that. He will stop at nothing – nothing to get what he wants. And he wants to come home.
Jaysper Pavane Grey, District Eleven
Everything is tense since we saw the body. It's only brought issues rising to the surface. This alliance has to end soon. We can't keep pretending that it's alright. We could hold out a few more days, but I can almost taste the hostility rising from Natalie.
We've been walking all day, and the tepid day is stifling. Sweat pins my clothes to my skin and I stop every so often to take a sip of water. Even farming the crops wasn't as tiring as this. At least we got small breaks to eat lunch. Natalie powers onwards, and although she is adamant that nothing has been established, it is clear that she is leading our alliance.
Stag also looks tired, but he doesn't say a word. He is very polite – too polite I think to tell Natalie that we need to rest. Eventually, I sit down. Stag stops first and joins me on the rocks. It takes a good few minutes for Natalie to realise that her companions are not dutifully following her footsteps.
"What are you doing?" She says indifferently, "We need to get moving if we are going to reach the summit by dusk."
I see her logic – easy to defend and a good panorama view. But all the same, the effort required is draining and I know Stag feels the same.
"We need to rest." I reply flatly. Stag looks surprised to be included in this but I ignore him. "If you want us to reach the summit, let us do it without killing ourselves of exhaustion. Remember, you don't own us. We can take off whenever we want."
Natalie looks affronted. "Fine. But be quick about it. Last thing you want is to get ambushed." She looks around. Our resting spot isn't in a very good position and even I can see that. Even so, I take a few more gulps of water and shove a handful of nuts in my mouth.
Natalie unexpectedly stills and it almost seems as if she isn't breathing. Her eyes are squinted and I know not to make a sound.
"Run!" She hisses, not moving a muscles. Stag and I are shocked into action. I can still see nothing, but Natalie's sharp eyes spotted the bird last time, before it barely cleared the horizon.
We rush up the trail, and see Natalie pounding behind us. "No, you imbeciles! DOWN!"
Before I know it, I see what she is terrified of. A wall of rocks, dust and boulders, churning down the slope at full speed. The one thing that scares climbers out of their wits. An avalanche.