“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”
― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
As the sun starts setting, Kiersten, Angel, Dravius, and Marella trudge through the forest in search of shelter. Marella is heavily leaning on Dravius, exhaustion riddled on her body. Kiersten turns, looking at the other district head to toe then looks back to Angel. "Angel..." He glances over, shaking his head. They link eyes for awhile before she nods and they both look ahead and keep walking. Dravius looks up at the other 2 and sighs, "Can we stop? I think we're far enough to rest a bit."
D3 looks at each other and nods. "I'm going to look for a dead log," she pulls out her knife and adjusts her bag, "be careful." She looks at Angel, glancing at the other two, then turns to walk into the foliage. Angel turns back to D8 and goes over to them. "You should probably let her sleep. She might have hit the waterbed and got the wind knocked out of her or something." He murmurs, looking at them both before standing and takes a few steps away to look in his bag.
Dravius looks at Marella before they hear a piercing scream erupt through the area. Angel snaps around, "Shit!" He pulls out the hunting knife he has and runs into the foliage where Marella went. Dravius pulls out his sickle, then his other arm holds onto Marella as she slowly gains consciousness. They make their way after them, hearing their screams along with a one Dravius doesn't know. They enter a clearing to find Kiersten and Red from D12 in a tangled battle where Red has his knife close to her throat. Angel tackles Red off of him and the boys roll away. Kiersten scrambles to her feet, picking up her knife but stopping as something catches her eye.
Angel and Red keep rolling in a scrabble, using their knives to try and kill each other. Angel gets a headbutt and pushes him over, Angel raises his knife-
"ANGEL!" Angel turns to see Kiersten pointing behind him. He turns, to see a sudden thick, gray fog roll into the clearing. Angel looks down at Red who is trying to skirm out of his grasp. Angel uses his knife and slits the back of Red's thigh, who in return screams and uses his sudden strength to push Angel off of him and towards the fog as it inches closer. Dravius watches as Kiersten sprints over to Angel, helping him up as the fog lightly dances at them.
Suddenly the D3 tributes scream at the top of their lungs as scurry away from the fog, their skin turned a blotchy pink and purple along with some bubbles. "POISON FOG, AGH RUN!" Angel yells, pulling Kiersten away and out of the side of the clearing. Dravius' eyes go wide as he realizes it is a Gamemaker trap. He quickly picks up Marella so he carries her and runs out of the clearing as Red screams in pain as the fog surrounds him.
~
Coming to a stop after hearing some screams, Amy, Tristan, Hoop, and Melissa come to a stop on the trail. They look around as the screams get a bit louder and they can hear footsteps. "What the fuck.." Hoop whispers. "There, look!" Tristan says, pointing at the trail that starts going up a hill. At the top, Melody and the D7 tributes are seen running on the trail. Hoop and Tristan holds up their weapons but Amy backs them down. "Stop, they are aligned with us." She looks at them, turning back to the trail and seeing the trio stop, looking around and exhausted. She frowns, going to call out to them but a fireball erupts out of of the treeline and explodes in front of the trio.
They fall back, rolling down the hill as fireballs start exploding into trees around them. The quad at the bottom starts backing up, "Oh, shieeet..." Melissa murmurs, turning around only to be met by a fireball exploding a few feet behind them. The group is thrown to the ground, the cracking sounds of the explosion echoing through the forest. "Up to your feet, run off the trail!" Amy orders, getting to her feet and helping Tristan up. Hoop helps Melissa up and they run into the foliage. Tristan goes to run but Amy doesn't follow. She looks back, "I'm going to help them. Just hurry forward and make a path for us!" Amy shouts, nodding to her and running towards the trio who are now getting back up.
Tristan nods, cutting the foliage a bit with her spear as Amy runs over to Melody, Alex, and Madison. Madison looks up to see Amy, "Amy!" Amy helps her up, "Go, now! We have to run!" She shouts, pulling her down to dodge a fireball and pushing her along. Alex helps Melody up as Tristan is yelling for them to follow her, disappearing into the foliage path.
Melody, Madison, and Alex, with the ushering of Amy, run into the foliage and dodge another fireball that collides with a tree next to them.
~
Untying herself from the tree, Alicia looks around before attempting to get out of the tree. However, she is stopped as she hears a crackling sound and distant screams. "Oh jesus, what are these fucks getting themselves into..." She scolds, shaking her head as she starts climbing higher and looks out of the tree.
On one side of the arena, Alicia sees the forest encased in fire.
Alicia frowns, turning and seeing it spreading and leading towards a large mountain closer to Alicia. "They're moving us towards the mountain... trying to speed these games up, huh?" She says, sighing and getting down from the tree. She goes over and loots from May, taking some throwing knives and her backpack filled with supplies. "Great, glad she had everything on her." Alicia laughs before turning and facing Raymos. She grips her knife, walking over to him. She has it towards his neck, about to slice but she stops herself. She stands there for a second before sighing. She puts it away and starts shaking the boy awake. He stirs awake, looking at Alicia in sorrow. "I'll forget you almost getting me killed for now.. come on the Gamemakers are making us gather at the mountain north of here.. let's go."
Alicia helps him to his feet and offers a shoulder to lean on. He nods, taking it and the duo start slowly making their way to the mountain.
~
Approaching a cliff, Hoop and Melissa look up at the top. "Do we have to climb?!" She says, looking around and seeing no other way to get to the top. Out of the foliage behind them, Tristan, Melody, Madison, Alex, and Amy make their way over. "Well, what now?" Melissa inquires, exchanging glances from everyone.
"You die!" shouts a voice, and out of no where an arrow flies through the air, piercing through Melissa's eye and out the back of her head. "NO!" Hoop yells, catching Melissa as she falls to the ground, gathering her last few breaths. Out of the foliage comes the careers, Luke, Mac, Archer, and Andrea, who wields the bow and smiles. They hold their weapons with pride as they stalk towards the group. Tristan holds her spear defensively in front of Hoop and Melissa, and Amy wields her axe and stands in front of Melody, Alex, and Madison, who hold their weapons that do not have as much gusto as what the careers wield.
"Oh look, the siblings from 7 and the girl from 5. How does it feel now knowing that your little friend was the first to go at the bloodbath?" Andrea inquires, smiling and grabs another arrow from her quiver. Melody frowns, and Mac laughs. "Oh yes, that boy from 8 tries to hit me but hit him instead. Boohoo, well at least you can go meet him soon!" Mac smiles, stepping forward with his sword as Luke, with his mace, and Archer, with his spear, close in as well as Andrea stands in the back aiming an arrow towards Amy and her group. Seemingly overpowered, Amy and her group backs up as Tristan is forced to hold her ground as Hoop won't move.
Archer and Luke advance on Tristan, Luke missing a swing from his mace and Tristan and Archer's spears collide. "Hoop! Help!" She bellows, taking a leap back as Archer lunges with his spear and misses she girl's abdomen by a few inches. Hoop looks up as Luke starts stalking towards him with his mace. He grabs his knife, backing up and hitting the cliff wall as Luke closes in. Luke arches back, swinging his Mace towards Hoop's head. In that slight wind of time, Hoop ducks and moves away as Luke's mace embeds itself into the cliff wall. Luke goes to pull it out but it is stuck in the wall. His eyes widen as he goes to turn around but is in return tackled by Hoop who starts stabbing him with the knife.
On the other side, Amy is sparring with Mac as they trade swings respectively. Melody, Madison, and Alex, want to help but Andrea threatens them by shooting an arrow that sticks to the wall, creating a "wall" separating them and Amy/Mac. However, seemingly distracted by Luke's screams, Andrea turns to see Hoop slipping his knife into Luke's side. She swiftly turns, aiming an arrow at Hoop. Seeing this as her time, Melody grabs her throwing knives and starts pelting them at Andrea. The first one snags Andrea in the side. Gasping, Andrea turns and lets an arrow fly as Melody throws another, hitting her in the shoulder. The arrow flies, narrowly missing Melody and hits the wall above Madison.
Andrea falls onto her butt in shocker as Tristan and Archer start scrapping each other with their spears, getting some slices here and there on each other. Mac turns, seeing his careers getting picked off. In this split second, Amy charges, but Mac counters by kicking her to the ground. "Careers, back off! We're outnumbered!" He yells, and runs over and helps Andrea. Archer turns, but to his mistake Tristan jabs him in the thigh. He whips around, screaming and slicing his spear at random, cutting into Tristan's forearm. She squeals, dropping the spear and holding her gash. Archer takes this and starts running away with Mac and Andrea and they disappear.
Hoop stands, blood clinging to his clothes as Luke's stabbed body goes limp. Melody goes over and helps Amy up, who in return thanks her and looks around. "We traded, 1 for 1. It is worth it..." She says, shaking her head and looking at the cliff. "Worth it, worth it?!" Hoop bellows, marching up to Amy. "What do you mean, worth it?! Melissa died because of them! And you act like she was a pawn in a game!" Hoop holds up his knife defensively but before anything else can happen, a spear pierces through Hoop's back and his eyes widen. Some blood flies and his Amy, who backs up a bit as Hoop falls to the ground, dead. Behind him, Tristan stands a few feet away, getting out of a throwing stance.\
Tristan quietly walks over as everyone looks at each other and she takes the spear out of Hoop. "He was going to start swinging... we don't need anything like that." She murmurs, shaking her head and holding her arm. Alex looks over, grabbing some medical supplies from his bag and goes over to Tristan and helps bandage her up. "So, do we start climbing? I don't think that fire has stopped" Madison says, pointing into the forest, which the tributes can see a faint bright color and smoke rising from the trees. "Okay, will most likely just have to climb... let's go. It's just like a climbing wall." Amy tries, looking at the group before walking over to the wall and starts climbing.
~
On the other side of the mountain, Kiersten, Angel, Dravius, and Marella make their way towards the mountain. They arrive at a cliff, taking a breather and resting. "Jesus, that fuckin' burned like hell!" Angel whisper-shouts, slamming a fist against the cliffside. Kiersten goes to comfort him as Marella starts waking up. "W-Wha?" She says, looking around as Dravius sets her down. "Hey, wake up we have to start climbing..." Dravius says, nodding to her and walks to the wall. "This is going to be a climb, are you guys prepared for this?" Dravius says, turning and looking at the D3 tributes. They look at each other and shake their heads. "...okay, well it's just like a climbing wall, if you've ever seen one. One hand and one foot at a time." Marella walks up as Dravius starts climbing.
Marella turns, only to see the fog slipping out of the foliage. "H-hey Dravius, what's that?" She points to the fog, and Kiersten and Angel gasp and start panicking. "Go, go! Start climbing now!" Dravius yells, now climbing faster to get away from the fog. Marella, frightened, turns around and starts climbing quickly. The fog slowly comes towards the wall where they were. Dravius starts to reach the top, and when he is a few feet away, a body comes over, scaring the shit out of Marella who almost loses her footing.
Leaning over is Brenda, who is offering a hand towards Dravius. "Grab my hand, we need to help the others!" She exclaims, reaching down. Dravius looks up, then nods, grabbing the hand and is helped up by Brenda. Reaching the top, Dravius reaches down and goes to help Marella. Brenda hurries over to where Kiersten and Angel are, who are definitely struggling to even climb the wall. Brenda shakes her head, turning to Dravius and Marella, who is now over the cliff. "They aren't going to make it! The fog is going to get them!" She yells, looking down to see a now frightened and scared Kiersten and Angel, who are now trying to go faster up the cliff.
Marella opens her bag and pulls out some rope. "We'll have to pull them up, come on!" Marella hurries over, unspooling the rope and looks over the edge. Brenda and Dravius grab their end as Marella tosses the rope down. "We're going to have to pull you guys up one at a time, the other will just have to climb after really fast!" Marella yells as Angel grabs the rope. Kiersten, right beside up, looks down to see the fog build up at the bottom and starts making its way up the cliffside. She then turns back up and pleads with him to let her go first, as they both know Angel is faster climbing. He sighs, tying the rope around her. "She's ready, pull NOW!" He yells, leaving Kiersten in her spot and starts climbing again. Dravius and Brenda start pulling, in time Kiersten passes Angel and they exchange nervous glances as she and the fog get higher and Angel is still has a bit to climb. The fog floats delicately, inching itself towards Angel.
Marella reaches down as Kiersten gets higher, in which then Kiersten grabs her hand and is pulled to the top. "Hurry, get him!!" She screams, untying herself and throwing the rope over. The group hears a scream, and they look down to see the fog wrapping itself around Angel's legs. "ANGEL GRAB THE ROPE!!" Kiersten screams rather loudly, tears starting to form in her eyes. Angel looks up as the fog starts encasing his waist. He grabs onto the rope, and the tributes at the top start pulling wildly. After a few seconds, Angel's head pops up at the top. Kiersten and Marella grab onto him, pulling him up and out of the fog. The fog gets to the top, then recedes back down menacingly.
Looking at Angel, his legs are purple and his clothes have gaping holes in them. He has passed out from the excruciating pain. Kiersten starts freaking out, screaming at Angel to wake up. He keeps breathing, letting Kiersten and the group know he is alive for now. Brenda stands, looking away. Dravius looks at her. "What now?" She looks back at him and shrugs. "We should probably keep going to avoid them" She points, and the group looks over to see Andrea, Archer, and Mac walking at the top of the cliff, looking around.
“You here to finish me off, Sweetheart?”
― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Thanks for everyone who read through! If you have a favorite moment, favorite tribute, or any other comments, please post! If you are a reader, please PYN and I'll keep tagging you in the future! Thank you all!
Comments
We love a group of queens who greatly injure the careers. Snatch those wigs.
Note after reading Chapter 2:I like the group that fought off the careers so far, Hoop's death was unexpected but ig someone from that group had to die
Archer and Marella! Dang, Marella's scaring me. I hope she can make it with Dravius, but who knows. :) Hopefully they'll make it far, but I was genuinely scared for Archer when he was fighting the other person. Marella (no bias, jk) and Dravius are probs my favorites, and I like Kierstan too. Favorite scene was either the fog scene or the fighting of the Careers one, idk. Anyways, awesome work :)
