Under the Moon

Chapter Twenty One

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

She knocked him to the ground and held the knife above his head. "You killed my brother!" she hissed, "I'm going to kill you too!"

"I did not kill your brother!" Copper yelled, "Ash did!"

"But you called his name! You made him turn around! You were working with Ash! And when he killed Reese, you finished him off, too. The only person you stayed loyal to is Zeze. And that's just because you like her so much!" she shouted.

"That's not true! It really isn't! I haven't ever even talked to Ash. I didn't try to help him!" Copper explained.

"I don't believe you, Copper!" Ray said, deliriously, "I really don't!" She plunged her knife down. Suddenly, I saw blood on Copper's chest. No! Copper was the President's son! They wouldn't let Ray just do that to him. To my relief, I realized the blood wasn't coming from Copper; it was pouring on him. As Ray leaned down to stab him, she had plunged her chest into the sword Copper was clutching to protect herself. Copper, too, was stabbed. Again, it was in the arm, but this time, it was on his other arm. Poor Ray. She had gone delirious and wanted to kill Copper, but I could understand why. I didn't have any siblings but if anyone killed Shayne, I would risk my life to kill them. A cannon sounded off and I knew that Ray had died. Since Copper was stuck, I slowly rolled Ray's body off of Copper. Then, I helped him drag her outside so the hovercraft could pick her up. I looked at Copper's arm. It wasn't nearly as bad as when Sapphire had stabbed him, so I washed it and bandaged it with the remaining bandage we had. I looked at him. "Copper," I said, "There are three tributes left. I'm going to have to die soon."

"What do you mean, die? You might be able to win soon!" he said.

"Who are you kidding?" I demanded, "You are the President's son. There is no way they are going to let you die!"

"Well, if I make myself die, then..." he said.

"Copper! You are not going to make yourself die. I don't know what is going to happen now, but you will not try to commit suicide!" I shouted.

"I know! I won't," he said. I looked at him, wondering what we should do now. As if he could read my mind, he responded, "We'll stay away from Shona. We'll try to live as long as we possibly can." I nodded. We sat side by side in the stillness for a while. Then I heard footsteps. Apparently, though we were trying to stay away from her, Shona wasn't trying to hide from us. "I found you!" she said. "I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill anybody ever again. I just want to leave here. And to leave means to win. To win means to be the last one alive, which means I have to kill you two. You don't understand. You don't know why I want to win so much. You have had great lives. I can tell, by looking at you. Looking at you speak. The way you look. You're rich. You're happy. You're talented. I'm not. I have never felt glory before. Never! If I win, it will be my first time winning anything. Then my family, my parents and six siblings will be proud. We'll have food to eat. All because of me. So I have to win!" I stared at her. I could understand what she meant. She wanted to get these horrible games over with, and she didn't care if that meant killing us. She wanted to shine. To receive attention. She looked at us, "I haven't killed anyone before. I saw my allies kill them, but I never have. How can I kill you two? It would be easier if you weren't so close to each other. But to kill two people like you, it pains me. You," she said, pointing to Copper, "Remind me of my baby brother, Finnick. What he'll look like when he grows up. And you don't remind me of anyone, but you are so tiny. So innocent looking," her lip trembled, "I'll do it if I have, too!" She was holding multiple spears. She threw one in my direction. At the same moment, Copper stabbed her with his sword. As she fell to the ground, I felt her spear stab me. Stab me in the stomach. The pain was a terrible, searing pain. I had never felt anything like it before. But I realized that it hadn't gone too deep. Shona's throw wasn't strong enough. With proper medical care, I would survive. But I wasn't receiving medical care. I was going to die in the arena, so Copper would be victor. Just as I had expected. Copper ran up to me. "Zeze! Zeze!" he gasped, "Zeze, please say something!" I tried my my mouth couldn't make any sounds. I couldn't even move. But I was alive. Suddenly I heard a cannon go off. It was for Shona, of course. But to my surprise, another cannon went off. Copper was standing above me, healthy as ever. It was for me. But I wasn't dead. I could feel my heart beating. I could feel the wrenching pain where the spear had stabbed me. What was going on? I saw Copper back away from me, throw his head in his arms and begin to cry. I saw a blue light on my cheek. Apparently, since I was lying on my side, touching the ground had already turned one of my earrings on, since I heard Shayne's voice sob, "Zeze! Zeze! No! You can't be dead. Zeze! Please Zeze, no! Zeze I wish I could tell you this. Zeze, I wanted to tell you that I..."

"I'm not dead," I mumbled softly.

"Zeze? Did you just say something? Or am I already going crazy?" he asked.

"I...I..." I gasped. I couldn't seem to be able to talk. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't talk. I was supposed to be dead, though I was clearly alive. I heard the victory music play for Copper, as a hovercraft came to take him out of the arena. Another one came for me. I heard people, most likely doctors, talking. "Why, this one isn't dead yet!" one exclaimed.

"I know! Apparently, it's the President's orders. He wanted his son to be a victor as soon as possible. This is the one his son likes. I guess he couldn't bear to see his son's reaction if she was killed, so we're curing her. Of course, no one can know. We pretend she is dead. But we will cure her," I heard another, a petite woman with blond hair, respond.

"Zeze!" I heard Shayne's frantic voice, "What's going on? Did I just hear all that? Are you alive? Say something!" I couldn't respond. I felt a needle pierce my arm and I fell into unconsciousness.

I awoke. I was laying down on a hospital bed and wearing a thin white gown. I was surrounded by machines and an IV was in my arm. I looked up and saw President Snow's piercing eyes staring at me.