The 25th Hunger Games (fanfic)

Chapter 27: The Games

Author's Note: Hey! How do you like it so far? Please tell me! Remember to vote. If you want a chapter dedicated to you, leave a comment or fan me! This chapter is dedicated to OlympianISBR. Thanks for fanning me! 

My hand reaches for Veronica's crops and thorws them across the plantation. But it's already too late. Veronica has taken a large bite of her turnip, and now is looking at me with confusion in her eyes. 

"DON'T EAT IT!" I scream at her. Her eyes flicker up to my face, and she seems to realize why the Gamemakers would be so willing to leave so much food out in the open. She spits out the crops and wipes out her mouth with her shirt. I grab a water bottle and dump half of it in her mouth, wanting her to live. If I watch her die, I may as well die. She rinses out her mouth and stands up, gasping.

"Thanks," she gasps out.

"No problem," I say. "We should go now, before any other tribute comes. I mean, we're out here in the open, screaming. It won't be long before the Careers show up." Veronica nods in agreement, and we're off. 

We sprint for over an hour, running side by side, not saying anything. Once or twice, we stop to get some water, but just a few sips. We've only been in the arena for a day, and we're nearly out. In pur heads, Veronica and I both know that we need to find water, and fast. Finally, we can see the outline of town, and I feel relief. This makes us sprint even faster, hurrying to get to Crystal before anybody else does.

When we are finally back at the square, where the Cornucopia is, we stop to rest. We walk to the side of a shop, out of the open, to take a few sips of water. After this, my bottle is completely empty, since I used it to rinse out Veronica's mouth. Veronica's is still over a third full, and I make her save it. We put the bottles back in our packs and stand up. Instinctively, we head to the south end, since we checked the entire north side. We walk down the small alley and then come to where the alley splits into three different roads. They all lead to different places, but of course, I know where. Alligning the roads are large fences, towering up high. On the other side of the fences are large wheat fields, but peeking through the wooden fence, I see that the wheat has been burned down.

The left road leads to a large trading center known as the Shack, as large as a football field. Alligning the walls of the Shack are bakeries, clothing stores, wineries, but most of all, little shacks where people try to sell unwanted items for a profit. They either scavenge things from their house to sell, find things on the sides of the roads to sell, or buy cheap items and sell them for a profit. 

The right road goes down an elegant road, alligned with flowers and shrubs, and into the Victors' Village, where Carly lives alone. There are 12 houses in a large circle, 11 of which are vacant. Sometimes, I actually feel bad for Carly, since she has nobody to share the small village with. She just sits at home, alone.

Finally, the middle road leads to my mansion. This road is identical to the road leading to the Victors' Village, except a little bit longer. After telling Veronica where each path leads to, we don't have to think about where Crystal would go. We instinctively head down the middle path, towards home. The road is about half a mile long, with no vegetation around us. My stomach grumbles, and I realize we never ate. But I don't say anything, wanting to find Crystal more than anything. Finally, after five minutes of walking, we arrive at my home.

The path leads right up the ten steps and to the doorway. The front of it is modeled like what was once the Parthenon, but it got demolished hundreds of years ago. To even get to my door, you have to climb five small steps. But in front of my house, a large field stretches. Flowers align the field, looking beautiful. But suddenly, I stop in my path. Veronica senses something is wrong, looks around, and gasps. The beauty of my house is gone, leaving a Capitol version of it.

The shrubs aligning the field are burned and scorched, the black branches matching the burned grass. The black, dead flowers hang off the branches, depressed and gloomy. The entire field looks like a forest fire took over. Even the two trees, on either side of the path, are scorched down to sticks. The branches break off, looking like an evil movie. This looks nothing like home. All together, the Gamemakers have completely changed it, leaving not even flowers to eat. 

I take in a breath of air, climb the steps, and approach the door. I find that it is not locked up like the shops, and I reach out a sweaty hand to yank open the door. As the doors creak open, my heart pounds. I take a deep breath, control myself, and step inside.

The mansion is excactly how I left it, except for major thing: the hurniture is gone. The rooms look vacant and depressed, creating a gloomy scene. But still, the pictures hang on the wall. Pictures of Crystal and I, pictures of Mom and Dad, pictures of Arthur, pictures of our entire family. And this just proves how cruel the Gamemakers are. They want us to take one last glimpse of our parents before we die.

The lights have been shattered, and in replace, oil lamps hang from the wall, making this place look erie. But even if the house has been slightly changed, everything else remains the same. The floor is still the same black and white, checkered tile, shining it's so clean. Walking around, I see the walls, floors, roofs, and rooms are all the same. They're in the same spot, look the same (besides the furniture), and the living room even has the same coffee stain in the same exact place, looking ugly against the rich, red carpet. We walk around the main floor, looking for signs of Crystal, but we find none. I whisper to Veronica that her room is up on the second floor, and we decide to check there. We climb up the elegant stairs and come to the second floor, which I know all too well. There are only three doors on this floor. There used to be several, before Crystal tore down the walls and doors to have a larger room. The first door leads to Crystal's room. The next door, positioned far away from Crystal's door, leads to a bathroom. The third door leads to an indoor garden, just as large as Crystal's room.

Hearts pounding, Veronica and I approach Crystal's door. I get to the door and grab the knob, but my palms are sweating too much, and I have to wipe them off. As I turn the knob, all I can think of is how much I want Crystal to be behing this door. I pray and pray, saying it over and over in my hand. I push open the door, ever so slowly, and am greeted by a room of terror.

The pink walls have scratch marks in them, looking as if a beast was set loose inside. The pink and purple butterflies on the walls have been transformed into all sorts of ugly beasts. Tracker jackers, wolves, hideous beasts, snakes, and even large tarantulas crawls over the torn walls, looking like they'll pounce any second. The beautiful sky has been turned into a thunder storm, the dark clouds swarming over the ceiling. Lightning erupts from clouds, looking like you'll be struck if you enter the room. The floor has been painted over black, and everything in here is a nightmare. The furniture in here is also gone, and the room is empty. I walk in, stunned. Crystal is not here.

I sit down and put my head in my hands. I really thought Crystal would be here. Where are you Crystal? Are you even alive? I look up to see Veronica crouching next to me. My eyes tear up just from the thought that Crystal may already be dead. 

"Zac, it's alright," whispers Veronica. "I'm sure that Crystal's fine. She's out there somewhere, probably near water, thinking about you." I look up at her, this girl I've only known for a day. She's inspired me twice already, and I know now that I can fully trust her. I wipe my eyes of tears.

"You really think so?" I ask, sniveling up.

 "I know so," she says. I nod, wipe my face, and stand up.

"I guess we should go find her," I say, more confident that she's alive. And a second later, I know for a fact she's alive. At least, for now. Because I can hear her voice, screaming my name in terror.

"ZAC! HELP!"