OK, so I tried switching POV'S during the last chapter, and every person that reviewed said they liked it, so I am possibly going to do some more of that in this chapter. I really want some advice and feedback on these chapters, so you NEED TO REVIEW AND SEND ME MESSAGES! Also, I need to know some child names for boys and girls, because someone is having a baby, and I don't know if the baby is a boy or girl yet. But you need to tell me what you think so I keep writing, otherwise I'll stop this and…just write me a review or something. This chapter has a lot of romance and some possibly disturbing themes, so that's just a quick warning. Not that it matters. I'm sure you'll read it no matter what is going into it. Well, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it. It was like pulling teeth to make Alice and Luke have a romantic moment. And please, let me know who your favorite character was, and your least favorite. I would love to know.
Chapter 15- Breaking Away
Gilzira POV-
MaryAnn and Micheal sneak into the cave with me right behind them. Micheal holds a huge bucker of icy cold water that they will apparently pour all over the sleeping Liz and Luke. I can see what will happen next. Liz is going to kill them. We approach Luke's sleeping bag and I can see that Liz isn't wearing a shirt. Their clothes are lying next to the bag. Micheal picks the clothes up and hands them to me. "Go hide them somewhere. They'll be running around in their underwear looking." He whispers. I hate this plan.
He raises the bucket and dumps it all over them. Liz lets out the most girly scream I have ever heard from her. Luke screams and grabs the sleeping bag, pulling it up over them. "Oh my god!" Liz shrieks. Then Alice sits up across the cave. How the hell did she get here? I hear muffled laughing behind me, and realize that the other tributes are standing around watching the great Career leader and her boyfriend get exposed.
Liz POV-
The water splashes against my skin. Somehow I knew this would happen. I sit up and shriek like a girl in a horror movie. Luke wakes up too, and he throws the sleeping bag around us more, because we are still in our underwear. I look frantically around for my clothes, and they are nowhere to be found. "Good luck. You can sit there all day covered, or you can expose yourself and find your clothes." Maryann laughs wickedly. "I thought we were allies. Allies don't do this to each other." Luke replies. "Wake up and smell the blood, Lover Boy, there are only 9 of us left, and it's about time we separate. Bye bye!" Maryann trills.
They walk out of the cave and muddled yelling comes to my ears. Who else is out there? Before I have time to question anything, I hear the booming voice of Claudius Templesmith blaring into the Arena. "To the surviving tributes, in case you did not hear my previous announcement, today is a no kill day. There will be no killing. No injuring. Have fun!" He booms. I realize everyone is outside, waiting for something. Me. Or Luke. Or both of us. I stare over at him. "What do we do?" I ask him, shivering. "We find our clothes." He replies.
He looks around and his eyes grow wide when he sees out the cave entrance. "I can see them. They are laying on a rock right outside. But that's…in view of all of them. We can't do out there." He sighs. "I'll go and get them. I'll be out and back before anything can happen." I say. I stand up and step slowly toward the cave entrance. I hesitate. What have I gotten myself into? I step a little more and then I exit the cave.
The girls are laughing, pointing and staring at me as I walk, and the boys whistle like animals and stare at me. For the first time in my life, I feel…vulnerable. I walk faster to the clothes, yank them up and retreat back into the safety of the cave. Then I collapse on the floor and burst into tears. Luke kneels and somehow manages to pick me up, carrying me farther into the cave. He sets me down on the cave floor, and sits down next to me. "What was that for?"I ask. "They could see us, and I don't want them calling you weak." He replies. I continue to cry for a moment, and then I'm back to normal. I stand up and pick up my clothes, handing Luke his.
We pull on our pants and jackets and then we are back to the entrance, walking out and getting into Maryann and Micheal faces. "Enjoy the view?" I ask Micheal. He chuckles. "You know it." He says, going for my waist. I raise my hand and smack him so fast he doesn't have time to react. Blood flows down out of his nose and into his mouth. He's spitting it out on the ground, and the stream isn't stopping. I smirk. "Don't touch me." I growl. I whack Maryann upside the head and kick Micheal to the ground. The others melt away, and I wake up, still in Luke's embrace. It was all a dream. There is no such thing as a non kill day. I was seeing the twins pour the water through Gilzira eyes, not mine. And I am dry as a bone, not cold or wet in the slightest. I go back to sleep again with my head on Luke's chest.
Alice's POV-
I open my eyes, looking around for the trees and the forest I was laying in. Oh yeah, Luke rescued me. I'm in the Career cave, with Luke…and Elizabeth. I look over at Luke's sleeping bag, where I can clearly see him, with Elizabeth's arms wrapped securely around him. Their sleeping together! Oh, this means war. I think up a quick strategy. Luke was my personal doctor yesterday, and he will be today too if I can control it. I moan a little and wait for a stir. Nothing.
I scream out in fake pain, and I see a shuffle from Luke. I've woke him up. Oops. He moves Elizabeth's arms off him and comes over to my quietly, in his underwear. "What is it, Alice?" He asks. I think for a second, forgetting what I was going to say when I see him with barely any clothing on. "My leg, it's hurting so much." I pout. He kneels down and looks at me. "Then maybe I should change your bandages." He says. I nod and pout a little longer. Then I bite my tongue when his warm fingers touch my skin, trying not to kiss him again. It's harder than you might think. He's extremely alluring.
He unwraps the bandages gently and I look at the flesh under it. Again, Vale cut me good. The skin is bruised and purple, and I can tell I'm not going to be able to walk on it for a few hour hours at least. He takes them off completely and raises his hand to my forehead. "I think your developing a fever. You're warm." He says. Then he's fishing through Elizabeth's backpack and pulling out a first aid kit. He opens it, and peers inside, "Dang it! We have no fever reducing pills." Luke says.
"That's alright. It's not making me dizzy or anything." I reply. My stomach grumbles, and Luke looks at me. "When's the last time you ate?" Luke asks. I know I didn't eat dinner last night, and lunch and breakfast were probably uneaten, I was laying hurt in a forest. "Um….at least a day ago." I reply, blushing. He walks over to his sleeping bag again. "Liz? Liz, wake up!" He says, shaking Liz awake. She sits up and rubs her eyes. Then she glances at her watch. "May I help you? It's 5:30 in the morning." She yawns. "Well, yeah, Alice is hungry, so I need you to go get some food." He replies. Liz's eyes widen and she raises her eyebrows. She throws the sleeping bag off, pulls on her clothes, grabs her backpack, and then walks out of the cave. She walks back in again. "Micheal, Maryann, get your asses out of bed!" She yells. Micheal stands up and wakes up Maryann. They grab their things and walk out. Then Luke starts rewrapping new bandages over my wounds. I will never get over that wonderful feeling.
Elizabeth POV-
"How dare he! Make me go out at 5:30 in the morning to get food for that pathetic little….nothing!" I mutter. "Why do we have to come?" Micheal and Maryann whine. "Because if I'm not allowed to sleep, neither are you." I snap. I listen and immediately see 5 rabbits hopping around in the woods. There's our food. Micheal and Maryann start laughing. I turn around. "Shhhh. Do you want to scare away our food?" I hiss. They shake their heads. "Go to that clearing, I'll meet you there when I finish hunting." I instruct.
They walk away and I go in for the kill. I toss my first knife and it hits the rabbit in the throat. The second goes through right between the eyes, the third goes through the heart, the fourth goes through the throat, and the fifth goes through the heart. I never miss my target. I go and pull my knives out, cleaning them off on the grassy underbrush and picking up the rabbits. I sling them over my shoulder and head slowly toward the clearing, enjoying the walk. I hear a scream and take off running.
I get to the clearing and see Maryann sprawled out on the ground. Micheal is standing, wide eyed and holding a rock stained with her blood. His hands are shaking. "I…I didn't….I just…." He stammers, bursting into tears. I drop my things and go to Maryann and I can see the small dent the rock made against her skull. "Maryann, can you hear me? It's Elizabeth. Come on, Maryann, stay with me. You can do this." I say, willing her to live on. Her eyes flutter, and the cannon fires. She's dead. "I need you." I conclude.
This offers up a brand new wave of tears from Micheal. I go and comfort him, even though he's the killer. "What happened here?" I ask softly. "Maryann and I got in a fight. We were both throwing out the most horrible things we could think of, and she took it one comment too far. I lashed out, and the next thing I knew she was on the ground screaming and I was holding a rock stained with her blood. I didn't want to kill her. Really, I didn't. I just didn't….I don't even remember doing it." He cries.
I believe him. He wouldn't want to kill her. This was a work of a muscle spasm, or a blank mind and evil intentions that weren't his own. Just like when Gilzira killed Marcus. They didn't mean to kill. They just wanted the other person to feel scared. I'm sure I had done it too. "Come on, we'll go back to the cave." I say, sliding Micheal's arm around my shoulders. I support his weight, worried he'll topple over if I let go."She wasn't just my sister. She was my teddy bear, my shoulder to cry on, and she was my girlfriend too." He says. "I knew it." I say under my breath.
We get to the cave and I let Micheal go. He stays steady. "Liz? I'd like to go for a walk. Just to clear my head. I'll be back when I feel a little better." He says. I nod my head. He sprints off in the opposite direction. I walk in and find Luke tending to a fire. I look at my watch. It's noon. It's amazing how fast time goes in this Arena. "Where's Alice?" I ask. "She and Gilzira left to go to Vale. At least that's where Gilzira was going." Luke replies. "Where's Maryann?" He asks. He'll find out soon enough. "She and Micheal went for a walk." I say. "Oh." Luke says. "Yeah. It's just us for lunch." I say, holding out the rabbits for him to see. "I swear, you're a reincarnation of Diana the Huntress." He says.
I stare at him, confused out of my skull. "Never mind." He says. I go sit beside him and start skinning the rabbits. I get some sticks, sharpening the ends to a point and skewering the meat onto them. Then I start roasting them over the fire for 20 minutes. When it finally gets time to eat them, the meat is salty and delicious. I miss the Capitol food so much right now. I miss my family. I miss everyone in my district, even Marcus, who threatened to kill me every other hour. I realize I'll never see him again. Or Miklisho. Or any of the other tributes. They were all pretty innocent, if not a bit weird.
"You know, we're in the top 8 now. That's pretty special." Luke says. I look up and smile. "We must be getting good at this now. To be living when stronger people like Jarrica and Miklisho and Marcus are dead." I say. "Yeah, we'll be amazing parents. Able to handle every situation." He laughs.
I nod and look down at my hands, wringing my hands. I look back up at Luke. "Luke? Why do you love me?" I ask. "You're the most amazing girl I've ever met." He says. "I know that, I mean what about me makes me so amazing?" I laugh. "Well, you are so strong. So quick minded. So quick to think of a way to get out of a situation. And you have the most perfect eyes. Grey, and big and beautiful. I still get lost in them to this day. And you're so intelligent. You're the same age as me, and yet you have the brain of someone twice our age. You think of things, and say things I would never expect. Like when we first met. And don't even get me started on your kissing skills." He says, kissing me. I move myself into his lap and move my tongue into his mouth.
We keep kissing, there's nobody to interrupt us this time. Finally, we stop kissing and start sleeping, fully clothed. We're both exhausted. We lay together in his sleeping bag. "I wonder if this is how it will be when we're parents. Staying up to all hours to take care of our little baby girl or boy" He says. "I'm not sure I want children. They could get reaped into the Games, and we wouldn't be able to save them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had to let my child get flown away into a deathtrap like this." I reply.
"That's true. But don't you want the satisfaction of raising a child that you created? My parents always told me there is no greater joys than watching your child grow from an adorable little baby in your arms to a teenager. Into a young adult." He says. "My parents told me the same. And you know, I think we're too young to be talking about babies. And being parents. We're 14 for goodness sake!" I laugh.
"I'm actually 15 as of 2 weeks ago. It was the day of the Reaping." He says. "When will you be 15?" He asks. "August 13th. Only… that would be tomorrow." I say. He kisses me one more time, and then we snuggle close and fall asleep for a few blissful hours.
"Liz! Wake up!" Luke yells. I sit up and stand up with a knife in my hand. Since when do I sleep with a knife? Glad I didn't accidently stab Luke. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Micheal and Maryann aren't back yet. And it's almost 8." Luke says. I look at my watch. 7:56pm. "Maybe they are coming now." I say. "Or maybe there in the sky with the other dead people." Luke says. The anthem plays and I see that MaryAnn is dead, no surprise. I quickly realize I didn't tell Luke she was dead. Then we see Gilzira was killed by Vale and Drake. They both stabbed her in the back when she couldn't shoot a bow. And then…I see Micheal. He stands in a tree with a rope tied around a branch. He slips the loop of it around his neck and jumps the long distance down. He's suspended in mid air. He committed suicide. The anthem plays once again, and then everything goes back to normal. "I don't understand." Luke says. "Allow me to explain. Micheal committed suicide. We're alone. Just the two of us, Vale and Drake, and then Amber and Alice. There are only 6 of us left." I say. "So much for the top 8." Luke says."We are just so…clever." He says darkly. "Our poor families are going to be stalked because of our cleverness." I quip. And then we go back to sleep. This will probably be our last night of living. Might as well do something that is nice. I don't feel like killing anyone. I just want to sleep with Luke. And be alone with him.