Chapter 74:

Clark Botwright, District 8, Age 13

Victor of the 149th Hunger Games

Things were calm right up until they weren't. When the ground starts rumbling and those…those things start crawling out of the ground, clawing at them with glowing blue ices, both Clark and Oakland scream. He can't help it, those things are fucking terrifying and came out of nowhere! And when one grabs Oakland's ankle, Clark doesn't think twice about cutting off the hand. He watches Oakland shake it off and the hand go flying through the air, thoroughly creeping him out by it still moving. But when more mutts start appearing, he grabs Oakland's hand to start dragging him away from there.

He doesn't even know where he's going, he's just trying to get them to safety – if such a thing even exists anymore at this point. He wants to stay in denial about what the mutts chasing them might mean, but he's not that dumb. Five tributes left, they're the two youngest… Not that he even fully remembers who exactly is still alive, he just knows they're all older and tougher.

"Come on, I see a gap ahead," Clark tells Oakland, getting a wee bit out of breath from the running. Once they get through the tree line, he quickly turns back around to face the mutts, holding his sword out defensively in front of him like he actually knows how to use it. "C'mon, try me!" Behind him, Oakland is hunched over to catch his breath, hand on his knees as he watches him and the mutts.

And yet…they don't attack them. They snarl and claw at the air in front of them, but they don't cross the tree line.

He doesn't really know what that means, but he's not going to complain about no more running. "I think we're safe," he tells Oakland as he starts to turn around to face him. But when he does, a chill of fear runs through him and his eyes widen as he shouts out to Oakland, even though he knows it's too late. "No!"

For in a brief moment, that stupid tall girl has stabbed her knife deep in Oakland's back, making him let out a sharp gasp. Clark flails his sword around in her direction wildly, just trying to do anything to save Oakland, but she just jumps back from him. They stare each other down for a few seconds, Clark through bleary eyes as he holds his sword up ready to fight her, even if he knows it's a fight he probably won't win. He's just too upset and angry to do anything other than fight back, yet she won't. Instead, she looks at the other two girls who have arrived at the little village – he has no fucking clue who they even are – and then just leaves him to go fight them instead.

He lets out an angry cry at that before Oakland collapses as blood is pouring out of his back, and Clark quickly drops down to his side. "No," he says, shaking his head with tearing eyes as he tries to put his hands over his wound to stop the bleeding, but he can feel the hot blood pouring over them. He's too fucking late and he knows it. "I can't lose another friend!"

"Cl-Clark," Oakland stutters around gasps for air and blood starts to leak out of the corners of his mouth, just reiterating to Clark just how hurt he is. And when he reaches out with a shaking hand to feebly grab his arm, he almost breaks completely. "I'm scared."

"So am I," Clark sobs out as he tries to wipe his tears away in vain. He glances over at the girls sizing each other up and ignoring them, knowing that this really is going to be the end now, yet he can't focus on them right now. So he turns back to Oakland, eyes so blurry from his tears. "You can't die! I don't want to lose my only friend."

"You'll find friends back home," Oakland tells him with a painful smile and Clark just sobs at that, not believing it one bit. "I know you will."

Clark shakes his head at him, but when he shuts his eyes and his breathing gets even more ragged, he grabs his shoulders to shake him as he gasps for air himself around painful sobs. "No! Don't leave me!"

But he knows it's happening and there's nothing he can do. And it's like watching Viradie and Cutter and Jarvis die all over again, all these people dying for him when he doesn't fucking deserve it. He can hear the commotion of the fight, but he can't bring himself to care to defend himself right now, all he can do is desperately grab onto Oakland as his shaky breaths get shallower and slower, knowing soon he's going to be gone too.

All of his fucking friends, gone. Taken by this damn arena and leaving him alone.

And when that cannon fires, he knows it's him with nothing he can do besides let out a painful shriek as he slams his fists on the ground. It's not fucking fair, none of this is fair at all. How come he is the one left behind by everyone, forced to face fucking careers?! Why him?! He doesn't deserve this, all of them deserved to live more than him.

Another cannon fires and he looks back up, finding one of the girls dead on the ground and the other two facing off against each other, battered and bleeding. And as he holds Oakland's body, a wave of rage washes over him, rage at them, the stupid Games, the damn system of training that did this to him.

They will not get away with killing Oakland, taking away all of his friends from him.

So with shaking legs, he climbs up to his feet silently, wiping away the tears from his cheeks. Then he picks up his sword and takes a deep breath. They will not get away with this. Too many of them have taken away his friends from him when they deserved better. But not anymore. He won't let them.

And so he runs towards them, ready to finish this. Ready to get justice for his friends.

Claaaarrrrk! Oh this was fun going back and revisiting Overlooked (or at least the finale for it). Makes me want to go back and reread the whole story now.

Only two updates left! Next up, our last victor and then our epilogue. Damn, already almost at the end of this!