CHAPTER 12

Dilemma

Looking around, Olive was bewildered at her surroundings. There was nothing around her except for a pure white door in front of her. Where was she? No idea. Although she had a hypothesis. It was probably just another of her weird dreams.

The last thing she remembered was being in her home, singing a lullaby to Theo, who couldn't sleep. He was afraid of his first reaping. A normal thing. Who wouldn't be scared of going somewhere that could be the start of the person's slow ride to death?

Thankfully, their mother's lullaby always worked on him. He fell asleep immediately whenever they sang it. Since the lyrics were catchy, they were easy to remember. Even as a kid, Olive had sung it multiple times, so Theodore would finally fall asleep. It was no simple thing to get him to do so. And just their mother's lullaby would achieve such a miracle.

He'll forget everything once dad does his after-reaping banquet for us. I'll give Theo my share of expensive bread if dad even manages to trick the baker again. She thought, chuckling slightly at the sole thought of her father's trading abilities.

The bright white door in front of her shined radiantly, surprising Olive, who began paying more attention to her surroundings, which became foggy. Her body suddenly became heavier, and the peaceful feeling she had completely disappeared.

Her eyes fluttered open, feeling strangely tired. How weirded out she was at seeing clothing in front of her eyes instead of the pillow she was expecting to see. Sitting up, she encountered an even more unsettling sight. A boy, perhaps younger than her, was laying motionless on the ground. Not only him, but there were another three immobile people a few metres away from them.

"What?" She breathed, slowly backing away from the person. Not only were the people unfamiliar to her, but she had absolutely no idea where she was. It looked like some sort of desert since it had sand instead of grass, and a cactus field instead of a Meadow. It wasn't anywhere near any place she knew in Four. A bow, an almost empty quiver, and a trident rested near the boy.

Uncertain, she crawled her way back to the boy. He seemed to be asleep, although his skin was slightly bluish. Perhaps he knows where we are. She thought.

"Hey, wake up. Boy, wake up. Where are we?" Olive asked, trying to shake him awake, to no avail. Looking at his clothing, she realised something. His clothing was the same as the other three people, and even her own. Why would they be wearing the same clothes? Why would she even be wearing anything but nightwear, to begin with?

As her eyes left the boy, the top of what looked like the outside of a cave shined. As if there was something metallic there, reflecting the sun's brightness. With her still exhausted body, Olive managed to pull herself up and climb until reaching the top, where she became even more confused.

Two sleep bags lay on top of the smoothest part of the ground. A basket was placed near them. And the metallic object, which had reflected the light earlier, was completely foreign to her. She had never seen something like that before. However, she had indeed seen those types of sleeping bags and baskets before. In the Hunger Games.

"No," Olive breathed. It couldn't be. If she was in the Games, why couldn't she remember anything? It didn't matter how much she tried, there were no memories whatsoever of the reaping, nor the supposed training she should have gone through to get there.

She looked around desperately, trying to find any sign of anything familiar to her. The Cornucopia, the place where the Hunger Games started, welcomed her to the pathetic reality.

"I'm in the Games." She whispered, a tone between realisation and desperation clear in her voice.

It was noon, letting the Cornucopia's bright golden structure shine as if it was trying to lure its prey to a trap. Doubtfully, Olive glanced around the place. Two brightly coloured bags, which she wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed sooner, were at the side. One of the sleeping bags had a few red stains. Probably dry blood. Meanwhile, the other was clean, only a bit of dust and sand could be seen on it.

She decided to investigate the bags first, finding a bottle filled with water. That's some piece of luck right there. She thought, leaving the bottle by her side as she continued taking the objects out of the bags. In the end, she took the few things she had found necessary in one of the bags and lifted it from the ground to walk toward the basket. Once the sleeping bag was already placed inside the bag, the next step was to get the food. There were two dishes in the basket, apart from a few packs of nuts. Like that, she could last at least three more days.

With the bag ready, she descended to where she had found the bow and quiver earlier. To her surprise, there was a minor detail she had overlooked before. Three of the four people there had an arrow encrusted in their hearts. The only person not to have one was the boy she had been sleeping next to.

Did he kill them? Or did they ambush us, so I killed them? I don't know. It makes no sense. The boy . . . he must be dead, too. Who wouldn't have woken up by now? But . . . wasn't the position we were in way too intimate? I was literally sleeping on top of him. And didn't his shirt have water stains? I doubt he spilt water on himself when we're in a desert . . . I must have cried then. But why? Olive couldn't take her mind off the boy. It just made no sense to feel like she had been way too intimate with a boy, who she didn't have any memories of.

She sat down next to his lifeless body, hugging her knees as she tried desperately to recall just one thing that could guide her. Anything that could answer at least one of her questions. There was nothing. Her mind was completely blank. Nothing popped up, not even the tiniest memory.

Time passed, which Olive used to drown in self-pity. Murderer, that's what I am. At least three people. I've killed at least three kids. She continued glancing at her surroundings to find anything that could spark the tiniest memory. Again, nothing happened. The boy, the other three dead bodies, the arrows, the strange entrance to a cave. Everything was just as foreign as the moment she had opened her eyes.

Noon soon became afternoon, forcing Olive to stop drowning in self-pity to acknowledge the only plan she could carry out at the moment. Getting all the arrows scattered around, the knife that one of the corpses had by its side, and going somewhere else, so the hovercraft could get the bodies.

Her body didn't answer her commands as she would like. She attributed it to the shock and exhaustion she had suffered in such a short time. There wasn't much she could do. It would be better to go slower than not do anything at all. The bodies had to return to their families, and she had to find a safer place.

With shaky hands, she took the arrow from the nearest corpse, leaving it in the quiver. The situation was just surrealistic. Taking the arrows was difficult since she had barely any strength, but it was way more morally exhausting than physically tiring. The kid was already dead. However, there she was, taking the object that had killed them, which would likely be later used to kill another one.

Twelve arrows would be enough for the time being. With a sigh, she looked down at the corpse before glancing at the sky. No hovercraft was visible. Of course, until she got out of the way, they couldn't take the body. Those were the rules.

"I guess this is goodbye," Olive muttered to the boy as if he could be able to hear her. I'm sorry. I don't know if I killed you or not. But I'm sorry for whatever happened that led to your death. Yours and the other three, too. If I killed you all, I'm truly sorry. She thought, turning around to wander through the cactus field.

Where do I go now? I don't even know how many others are left. Olive wondered, spending the rest of the day walking through caves and avoiding animals that were way larger and deadlier than they should. Mutts, probably. She deduced.

At night, while taking cover at the opening of a cave, Olive ate one of the dishes she'd got from the basket before. She looked at the sky, waiting for the Gamemakers to show the deaths. As midnight arrived, the first face to appear was her district partner, which relieved Olive for a split second. The girl wasn't Annie or Gianna. That meant they were alright back home. Safe and sound.

There were three deaths in total that day. Her district partner, the boy from before, who was shown to be from Seven, and the boy from Ten, who wasn't between the corpses before. That means the other two died before midnight, right? Why did the hovercraft not get their bodies sooner? Were we around all the time or something? She thought, her mind travelling through the many subjects that worried her at the moment. How many other tributes were there left? How long had she been in the arena? Was there any safe place she should know about?

With the harsh conditions that the arena provided and the mutts that seemed to lurk around the surroundings, there couldn't be many tributes left. Perhaps they were already on the eight left.

"There doesn't seem to be many fights going on, so maybe we're less than eight," Olive muttered to herself, wrapping herself with the sleeping bag to get ready to go to sleep. Minutes later, an object landed right next to the entrance of the cave where she was. It was a silver parachute, the same one that the mentors used to send gifts from sponsors to the tributes.

Just as she got out of her comfortable sleeping bag, Olive acknowledged the freezing icy breeze, which made her body shiver, although she still clasped her jacket closer to her body. With her trembling fingers, she got the parachute and brought it inside the cave, where she opened it to encounter the objects that the mentors, who she couldn't remember at all, had sent her.

The content surprised her, not because it was anything important or expensive. But because they had simply sent her three normal and simple metallic arrows. Nothing else. No food or other weapons for her to use.

Why would they send me this? Is there something I'm supposed to understand from this? Olive thought, leaving the objects right in front of her, though there wasn't enough light to see much. The moon only provided enough light to let her see right in front of her, nothing further. If I think really wildly, they might represent the tributes left alive . . . no, that's just another crazy level of assumption.

For hours, she tried to fight sleep, too afraid to fall asleep again, just to forget everything again. However, exhaustion won the battle, making her have a horrible nightmare the moment her eyes closed.

"Theodore Cresta," Piscia called through the microphone. Olive recognised that scenario. It was the reaping. But why was she in the reaping when seconds ago she was in the arena? Fear ran through her body, and, though she couldn't control it, she pushed all the people in her way, until she reached the main path to the stage.

Peacekeepers were escorting her little brother there. He was trembling slightly, tears probably threatening his eyes. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" She shouted, making everyone turn around to face her. However, just as Theo turned around, just as she was about to have him in her arms, a cannon woke her up.

There was no scream, yell, or any other sound whatsoever. Just a silent death. Not even the hovercraft could be seen. The sudden death didn't let Olive go back to sleep, nor she wanted to. Her mind wondered about the puzzle her mentors had sent. It was a way to distract herself from the nightmare. She was in no state of mind to even analyse what she had just dreamed.

Glancing up at the sky, Olive's worries subdued for a few minutes while appreciating the beautiful starry night. Were the stars the same as the ones they could see from Four? Perhaps, though, it wasn't likely. The truth was that the arena could easily be portraying a false reality. How else would they show the faces in the sky and change day to night and temperature at will?

She was far away from home. Away from her family. From everything she knew and remembered. Instead, she was in a foreign place, fighting people she didn't know, just to survive. The Hunger Games at its finest. She thought bitterly, not taking her eyes off the stars, as they provided her with the much-needed feeling of familiarity.

Her hand made it to her face, checking that she still had her mother's token before resting her head against the rocky wall. "Annie . . ." Olive muttered. She missed her family dearly. Her twin, who was always by her side, was no longer there. Before, if she ever got in trouble, at least Annie would always be by her side. But now, no one was there. She was alone with the other tributes who, just like her, would go to any means to go back home. Even if it meant killing, there was no doubt they would do it.

When dawn passed, and morning came, Olive found herself walking around the mountain, looking for anything or anyone. Her eyes landed on the Cornucopia at some point, where a few bags were scattered around the ground. The desert surrounding the Cornucopia was wide, but there was no one near. It took a while to get there. However, as she arrived at the place, she noticed the bags had a different district number on each of them.

One for each district with at least a tribute alive. She thought, taking the first bag she found from the ground to look at what it contained. If no one had claimed it yet, maybe it meant they were the ones from the cannon before dawn. Reading the number, her mind completely gave up on that idea. "Seven," she muttered under her breath.

The bag was small, and as she took a peek inside, there was only a simple container. Out of curiosity, she opened the container to check what the container was exactly. Medicine. He had a pretty nasty cut. Was this for him, or is his district partner still alive? Olive wondered, closing the lid to look for her district's bag.

It was easy to find it, since there were only two bags left there, apart from Seven's. Four's and Six's. Without worrying too much, she opened her bag, watching the only two objects it carried. A bottle of iodine and an empty water bottle. Why would I need this? Wasn't that water bottle mine? Or was Seven not my ally after all? She thought, taking the bottle in her hands.

A scream suddenly resonated around the arena, causing Olive to let go of the bottle. She looked around frantically, trying to find any signs of danger. Near the base of a mountain, someone was battling with a mutt. However, that mutt seemed not to be alone, as the mountains were instantly filled with all kinds of mutts.

A couple of screams resonated around the arena, but there was no cannon. It was clear that, since the mountains were filled with mutts; the Gamemakers wanted them out of there. In the Cornucopia, surely. After all, there was the usual place where most Games ended.

Her instincts told her to get out of there. As it soon would be surrounded by mutts and other tributes trying to save their own lives, even if it meant killing each other. But there was nowhere to run off to. The entire Arena was dangerous. Ironically, the Cornucopia was the safest area at the moment.

A mutt appeared right in front of her, blocking her path to the side of the Cornucopia, where she was planning to climb. "Move out of my way," Olive commanded, shooting an arrow into the mutt's eyes and making it step backwards. She used the opportunity to pass by. However, the mutt was quicker, taking her down and attacking her with its stinger.

With her arm bleeding and the poison in her system, Olive raised her bow again, hitting the mutt in the eye. This time it stayed back, letting her walk away. Her mind was getting foggy. Her jacket's sleeve was torn. The wound was clearly visible. She had to sit down as the dizziness got worse, which only left her in a worse position. It would be way too easy to attack her like that.

I just have to outlive the rest, and I'll go back home. Just a bit more. She tried to convince herself, getting up from the ground to continue walking. With a hand on the Cornucopia's wall and the other on her bow, Olive arrived at the side she had planned to climb.

By the other end of the Cornucopia, she could see a figure. They were running down the hill towards her. The person didn't stop at the mutt attacking the other tribute, they just continued running. And it was clear why. A group of mutts was behind them. Gigantic, threatening, and, most probably, poisonous mutts. Just the perfect type to end boring Games.

Olive found the last bit of strength she had left and climbed. It wasn't simple to escalate the Cornucopia with the poison affecting her body. Actually, it had been a miracle that she had even made it without falling down. Moreover, while trying not to listen to a tribute's cries for help. The mutts had their first victim.

Her hands were shaking. In fact, her entire body was shaking. Her mind played tricks on her, mistaking the dying tribute for someone from her family. The other one was nowhere to be seen, but surely wouldn't take long to get there. With her bow and arrow ready, she prepared herself to shoot whoever climbed up.

Minutes passed, and the cries incremented. Out of pity, Olive shot at the poor tribute's heart, who had been crying since earlier. She was experiencing first-hand the pain of the venom. It was a death she'd rather not let anyone experience. Not even those who wouldn't think much of letting her die the same way.

The cannon immediately resonated, making her dizziness way worse than it was, and forcing her to take a few seconds to stand still. A metallic object colliding against the Cornucopia's surface immediately drove her mind back to a slightly saner state. Behind her, a boy had just climbed up with a spear in hand. He was ready to attack, though his eyes showed how scared he was.

That look took Olive by surprise. That wasn't what she expected at all. Actually, the boy being afraid only made things worse. At least, if he hated her, if he was a cheeky brat, she could form some sort of stupid explanation to justify killing him. What kind of justification could she make for killing a scared boy who didn't look older than fifteen?

Her mind wasn't lucid enough to create any excuses. Kill or be killed. That was how the Games worked. The way she was supposed to play the game. How she would survive. But, it was endlessly easier to think that in front of a television than in reality. The boy in front of her would die the moment she let go of the arrow.

She had someone's life in her hands. Whether the boy lived or died, even in what way he did. She could decide all that, just by letting her arrow fly, like thousands of times she had done in the woods. It was the same move. Nothing too complicated.

If she didn't kill him, he would kill her. And, even if he didn't, the Gamemakers would make sure to kill the defective doll. No one wanted a player that didn't perform by the rules. Anyone who didn't obey could be easily disposed of. Just like that cannibal tribute years ago.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, letting her arrow fly. With the sound of the boy's cannon, Olive let her body fall, hitting the Cornucopia's metallic surface. Her mind wouldn't shut up, replaying the boy's scared eyes over and over again. A torture that didn't let her have a single moment of happiness for her own survival.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Sixty-ninth Hunger Games, Navin Olive Cresta! I give you ― the tribute of District Four!" With Claudius Templesmith's words, she could finally close her eyes.

I'm going home. She thought, letting reality escape progressively from her grasp. Her consciousness banishing into pure darkness.