¹ FIRST VENTURE ─ the hunger games

fifteen - promise

— LAINE —

BOOM!

WE WAKE to the sound of a cannon. Startled, I grab my long knife and glance around, seeing Leo leaning over Henery's dead body, a long streak of red over his throat.

Fung Fung and I shout out, running to Leo with our weapons. 

Leo intercepts us with his sword, and we engage in a fight with him. The sounds of our weapons clanging against each other resonate in the arena, and we stab Leo in his leg and shoulder. We drop to the ground panting as Leo starts bleeding profusely. 

Leo musters all his remaining strength, picking up his sword. 

"DODGE!" I cry out, to try to warn Fung Fung, but it's too late. Leo's knife finds a target in his stomach.

BOOM!

I look over at Leo, his eyes glazed over, his heart no longer beating, and turn my attention back to Fung Fung, trying to help him tend to his wounds. He says something to me, but I miss it. Looking at the blood, I don't think I can really do anything to help. I feel myself shaking, trembling in fear. My breakfast threatens to come back up where it came from.

Suddenly, I come to the realization that there are only 7 tributes left. I wouldn't want to kill him in the final fight. "Sorry," I mouth, before grabbing all the supplies and fleeing into the woods, leaving him alone and helpless on the beach with a knife in his stomach.

BOOM!

A sole tear runs down my cheek, but I wipe it away and continue further into the woods. I can't look back. I have to keep going. It's too dangerous. The remaining tributes could be hiding anywhere. I walk along the dirt path, deeper into the woods.

— ZOEY —

As Gwyneth and I collect berries for breakfast, a scream is heard from inside our camp, and Gwyneth drops the berries and rush inside, only to see Atlas holding a knife to Kunboss' throat. He turns toward me slowly, like he's weighing his odds against the three of us. 

"I have your supplies," he says, holding Kunboss' backpack in his left hand.

As I enter, Atlas runs his knife across his throat. "NO!" I scream. and pick up one of Gwyneth's knives, hurling it into Atlas' leg. As he howls in pain, I drop to the floor next to Kunboss and silently start sobbing.

I want to tell him. I want to tell him now. I want to tell him I love him. The words don't leave my mouth, and end up stuck there forever. I'm unable to stop crying.

— GWYNETH —

I look at Kunboss, and he nods. 

I take some knives from my pockets, and chase Atlas out of our camp. 

I growl in fury, and hurl knife after knife at Atlas, channelling all my fury towards him and Charlotte into my throws. He lays on the ground, hopeless, and bleeding out, his face twisted into a disgusting last position. I lean down and say, "I'm sorry."

BOOM!

Atlas is dead. No longer breathing. I take one last glance at his body, and hurry back into the camp. 

I just killed another innocent person. For the third time. 

I take Kunboss' hand in mine. Although a shimmer of a smile plays on his lips, his throat is already severely bleeding, and I know he's too far gone. Tears well in my eyes as I squeeze my best friend's hand.

— KUNBOSS —

Gwyneth runs into the camp just as the cannon for Atlas sounds, and worriedly takes my hand.

I muster a faint smile and squeeze Zoey's hand. Turning to Gwyn, I say, "I- I trust you, Gwyn. P-pl-ease help t-take care of Zoey f-for m-me," stuttering. "D-don't l-let her su-suffer," Gwyneth looks at me with a warm gaze in her eyes and I can see tears forming. She stays strong for me, though, and smiles and gives me a nod, while tears start to drop out of her eyes.

I take one last look at Zoey. "I- I'll be w-waiting for y-you in p-paradise," I say, painfully drawing my last breaths. Gwyneth gives my hand a last faint squeeze of encouragement, and I sigh happily. If only Zoey knew... She was so much more than a friend to me. I'm sorry, Zoey. If we didn't have to enter these brutal games, I'm sure our lives would be so much different. Pictures of the memories of us together flash through my mind... but now, it's gone forever.

= FLASHBACK =

That night we were camping on the beach. 

"You guys look so cute together!" squeals Gwyneth, her shoulder-length hair in a blue headband. 

"Shhh, she's trying to get some sleep!" I say, motioning to Zoey, who's passed out on the floor of our tent.

We were merely seven. The age when everything was carefree. The age before everything changed forever.

= END OF FLASHBACK =

I feel a tear on my cheek...

= FLASHBACK =

"I love you, Zoey," I say, sitting in the school playground. "I love you too," she replies and gives me a big hug. Gwyneth claps her hands and laughs in delight as the scene fades away and everything goes black. The peace.. Our peace. Has been shattered forever.

BOOM!

— GWYNETH —

Tear after tear run down my cheeks as Kunboss' cannon sounds. Remembering my last promise to my best friend, I vow to stay strong for him. Zoey and I bury him in the grass, closing his eyes and kissing his cheeks. It's just the two of us now, our trio reduced to a duo. 

He's gone. He's dead. All that is left of him are the memories we shared, and the love we had for each other as best friends. I loved him so much. He wasn't only my friend - at some point he was the only person that understood me, even more than I knew myself. I will never forget how much Kunboss Bailey meant to me - as a best friend or maybe a brother, or a twin.

Kunboss' death makes me further enraged at how we tributes are merely helpless pawns in the Games. How could the Byrok government do this? Sadly, there's nothing we can do. If I want to get out of here alive, I must kill. First Eunice, and now Kunboss? It seems that all my friends are going to die in this arena. Why. JUST WHY? 

How can I stand here and watch others die so casually like this? How much longer can I pretend to be strong for the sake of those I love?

A wave of grief overcomes me as I mourn the loss of one of my only true friends in this world.

Looking straight into the camera, I kiss my fingers and place them onto Kunboss' lifeless forehead. A sign of goodbye. Zoey and I leave without looking back, vowing to win for Kunboss.