Chapter 8 – Final Warning
When morning comes, I realize that I barely slept all night. Cato. Roof. Sex. Breathe. A knock at the door is accompanied by Zelena's voice "time to get up and eat before we have to leave". With a deep sigh I force myself out of bed and make my way out of my room towards the dining room. Once I make it into the dining room I sit in my appointed seat at the head of the table. The somber aura of the room and my fellow tributes is palpable. "We have thirty minutes to eat then we have to go and deliver you to your stylists who will help you get ready for the arena" announces Zelena, breaking the silence. Seeming to shake Bran out of his thoughts he turns to me and asks "do we need to go over any strategy before you enter the arena" shaking my head no I hear Garner choke of a brief laugh "Of course little miss perfect doesn't need anything. She is just so perfect I bet she isn't even worried about dying today" sneers Garner. Gripping the edge of the table I force myself to remain seated as I respond, "No I am not worried, but you should be." Smirking towards Garner, I hear Bran smack his hands down on the table in front of him "ENOUGH. Eat and then we leave". Nodding in Bran's direction I resume eating. I am going to gut Garner like a pig.
After breakfast Bran escorted me and Garner to our hovercraft with the fellow new tributes as Annora escorted Jasmine and Emmer to their hovercraft with fellow past victors. Separating from Bran I enter the craft and take a seat on one of the empty sterile silver seats. A woman dressed in white approaches me "arm please" Okay then. Handing her my arm She places a device over my forearm and a sharp pain occurs before she pulls away. "What was that" I ask her "your tracker" she states before heading to another tribute. Looking down at where the tracker was placed, I notice my hand starts to shake. Breathe. Clenching my fists tightly I take several deep breaths just hoping I can calm myself before I am unable to breath. Breathe, just breathe. My inner mantra is interrupted by the hovercraft taking off and heading towards the first step of the arena. You are okay. Just breathe.
Once the hovercraft landed, we were all escorted off by peacekeepers into a large dark grey building. Suddenly the two peacekeepers escorting me stop and open a door to the left and gesture for me to enter. Nodding at them I hesitantly walk into the room only to be met by the smiling face of Lysander. Taking a deep breath, I nod at him as the peacekeepers close the door behind me. "Let's get you ready to show the Capitol what a queen dressed for battle looks like" Smirking, I sit in the chair in front of Lysander as he gets to work on my hair. "The outfit they have for you is quite boring, but it is very light, makes me think the arena will be very warm. Alright, final touches, there we go" Looking into the small mirror in front of me Lysander has pulled my hair in a long ponytail with small braids on either side of my head twisted into the ponytail. Hair fit for a warrior. Smiling up at Lysander I thank him and stand ready to get into my arena clothing. After getting dressed Lysander leads me to a tube in the far corner of the room. "It is time Zea. Stay alive and stay safe" With a soft smile I respond, "thank you for everything Lysander, I will see you soon". Stepping into the tube and taking a breath a voice echoes through the tube in a countdown, 5-4-3-2-1. When the voice hits 1 I begin rising in the tube. Breathe, just breathe.
A bright light hits my face and almost immediately I break into a sweat from the heat. Once my eyes adjust, I look around. All around me are various shades of orange and yellow. Tall dry grass surrounds me. The rest of the tributes and I are in a large circle and in the middle is the cornucopia with a countdown hovering over it. 25-24-23…. Beside me in the circle is Prim and the boy from 4, Drift. Tensing, I turn my body fully towards the cornucopia and get into a running stance observing the weapons at the mouth. Stay away from the sais, Zea. 10-9-8….5-4 Let the games begin 1. BOOM. Taking off I run into the entrance of the cornucopia, reaching there first I have my pick of weapons. Grabbing a bow and a quiver of arrows I hear thunderous footsteps behind me. Notching my arrow, I turn and shoot the male from district 3, Xavier, in the middle of his forehead. Immediately he collapses and I see Royce, and Livia enter the cornucopia shortly followed by Blaze, Opal, and Crest. Knocking my arrow once more I shoot over the shoulder of Royce killing a female from district 5, Briar. Acting fast the rest of the careers grab their respective weapons and head into the blood bath. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a set of throwing knives and quickly grab them and fit them around my waist, just in case. Looking around I spot a sword and grab it before heading out of the cornucopia into the bloodbath myself. Entering the bloodbath the other careers are all engaged in a fight with other tributes and the rest of the tributes have fled. Hearing a brief scream Crest falls back onto the ground with Drift, district 4 male, standing over her. Rushing forward I grab Drift's shoulder with one hand and use the other to stab my sword through his back. Twisting the sword for the most damage I pull my sword out and push his body to the side before holding my hand out for Crest to take. Glaring at my hand, Crest sighs before taking it and using her other hand to hold her right side which has blood seeping out of it. From around me I hear footsteps, whirling around I see Blaze, Royce, and Livia heading towards me. Stepping forward, Crest asks "where is Opal". With those words I feel a knife at the front of my neck and a body behind me. "I think I found her," I announce. Turning towards me the group started forward "move and I kill her" announces Opal. Laughing I respond, "are you sure you want to do this Opal?". Pressing the knife tighter to my neck "I need to show them all that you are not as great as they think you are. YOU ARE NOTHING". Enough is enough, time to end this. "This is your last chance to step away Opal" I tell her. Laughing she starts to slowly press the knife into my neck drawing blood. Simultaneously raising my right arm to her wrist at my neck and driving my left elbow into her stomach while pulling her wrist forward, I manage to break her grip on the knife. Whirling around I grab her hair at the back of her head with my left hand and stab her up through the bottom of her jaw towards the top of her head with my right hand holding the disarmed knife. Planting a smirk on my face I turn towards the remaining careers "anyone else wants to be an idiot today?" Royce breaks the stunned silence and states "not today your majesty". "Great, let's grab what we need and clear out so they can pick up the bodies" I state. Nodding the group collects a few more weapons and grabs some survival packs with food, medical supplies, and water. As we make our way away from the cornucopia the cannons start going off. 1-2-3-4-5-6. "Six down six to go" announces Blaze. You are okay. It is okay. Breathe.
After getting a decent distance away from the cornucopia we find a little watering hole covered by a huge green tree. We decide to camp for a while and eat before it gets dark, and we go hunting. A few hours into our rest we are disturbed by the sounds of a cannon. "This is boring. It is starting to get dark, let's go hunt" states Livia, in agreement we pack our stuff up and head off. Looking around, in the distance I notice massive rock formations and a few small patches of shrubs big enough to hide in. "Where should we head, boss?" Blaze asks while looking me in the eye. "We should check out the small patches of bushes in the direction of those rocks in the distance, that is where I would go," I respond. Not too long after we start Livia spots someone hiding out in a tree and shoots them down. "Acadia, district 7" I announce as the body lands beneath the tree. "Why do you know that?" asks Crest. Seeing the rest of the group nod I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Are you telling me you did not study the people you were going into the arena with?" "Only the ones that matter" responds Livia. Squaring my shoulders I look into her eyes and state "they all matter" before turning and continuing the hunt forward. After a while we stumble across another small watering hole and decide to take a quick break to eat and refill our water bottles. "What was that?" asks Blaze. "Calm down, I didn't hear anything" shares Royce. "I am going to take a look" states Blaze. As he starts towards some rocks beside the watering hole I hear it, is someone crying? "Look what we have here, a lost little boy. Well lost boy it's time to say goodbye" I hear Blaze state before he swings his sword, and a cannon goes off. Wincing back, I have to remind myself, it is not Brice being tortured in his games. You are okay. Just breathe. As the other careers are laughing and mocking the young boy Capitol music begins to play and the faces of the fallen appear in the sky. 10 down 2 to go. Make sure it isn't you. "Let's camp here for the rest of the night and head out in a bit, I will take the first watch" announces Livia. Agreeing with her the rest of us find nearby spots and lay down to get some rest.
Slowly waking up I realize I have no idea where I am. I am surrounded by large trees and a small pond off to my right. He did it again, I think to myself. Taking a deep breath, I remind myself, this is good for you. Dad would not drag out to random places in your sleep and make you find your way home if it would not help you. BREATHE. Just breathe. Taking a breath, I stand up and search around me, as usual he left me with nothing to help. You are on your own Zea. From behind me I hear the crunch of leaves and the sound of branches breaking. Slowly turning I see a form behind me slightly hidden by bushes. Shit. It's a lynx. Gulping, I slowly back away and look around hoping to see something to defend myself with. The more I back away the more the lynx stalks forward and towards me. To my right I see a small palm sized sharp rock. It will have to do. Seeing the animal's weight shift back I realize it is about to pounce. The instant I see forward movement I dive to the rock. Success. Gripping the rock in my hand I face off with the lynx. Holding my arms out to my side, to appear bigger, I let out a loud cry. Seeing the lynx jump back I do it again. After what seems like forever the lynx turns and darts back the way it came. Collapsing to my knees my vision starts to darken and my chest gets tight. Breathe, just breathe. You still have to find your way home. You are okay, you can do this. Breathe
Skylar Grey – Final Warning
Good afternoon dear
How does the rope feel around your neck?
Just one more error
Could be a fatal step
You keep throwing punches but you won't win this fight
You're just fucking yourself when you don't read the signs
I'm going to the kitchen, coming back with a knife
'Cause I've had enough this time
This is your final warning
There's a dark cloud overhead
This is your final warning
Just remember what I said
Someone's gonna get hurt
Na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na-na
Someone's gonna get hurt, na-na-na-na
And it's not gonna be me