Liberosis - The Hunger Games

16

It was a mutt.

I had never seen a mutt before, I had heard the tales of some of the Capitols creations but never in my life did I expect to see one in person. It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen, much like a lion in size but instead of a fur coat, the crater was covered in an awful slimy flesh. Drool dribbled from its sharps fangs as it stared us down with soulless eyes.

I expected it to pounce on us straight away, instead, it let out a maniacal shrieking noise and moved over to the bodies of the children from six. It dug its nose into the wound of the girl getting a taste for its blood before it growled and jumped at us.

Clovis was the first to act, digging his sword straight into the stomach of the beast. It let out a paint whimper before falling limp, much like his previous human victims. "Is it dead?" I whisper, kicking it with my foot as it rolls over lifelessly.

"Of course, it's dead, Four," Clovis deadpanned, "Have a little faith in my ability to kill things,"

"I do, you just murdered two tributes right in fronts of me," I sassed, I said it jokingly but it was a terrifying truth. He was about to kill me if I didn't kill him first, my hand gripped the trident tighter. If he was going to kill me then I at least had to fight him off long enough for Elsie to become a safe distance away from him.

A rustle in the trees brought me out of my thoughts "There has to be more," the boy from One whisper, pulling his sword from the sea animal and wiping the weapon of blood, "I guess I'm going to have to lay off killing you for now if I want to survive,"

"You couldn't kill me if you tried," I respond coolly, flipping my trident around my hands. Another group of mutts appear from the foliage, snarling and gnashing their teeth. There had to be at least ten, it's not the best odds considering we're a team of two that desperately want to kill each other. But we're not stupid, sacrificing one will just make their thirst for blood higher, we wouldn't stand a chance alone.

Then they started to attack.

The first one lunges at me from the side. I tried not to remind myself of how remarkably similar their skin was to flesh as I brought my trident down in its stomach. Clovis slashed through two with his sword as I bat another one away with the three-pointed end, it hit a tree and fell dead to the ground.

Was their skin the skin of former contestants, was that why it looked so realistic? I got my answer as another mutt came running towards me, on its back leg was a brand exactly like the ones they give to thieves in District Ten, I had seen them before on some of the tributes. It's human flesh, it's their skin. Bile crept to my throat as I stabbed through another one, not human, not human, not human. I continued chanting a mantra through my head as more mutts appeared.

We were getting outnumber the more fatigued we got, Clovis' strikes began to weaken in power as I felt some of the weight return to my trident. I was not going to die like this, I wasn't going to let a Capitol mutt tear me to shreds like a rotting carcass. I unzipped my pack and pulled out the squirrel and rabbit, throwing them in different directions.

The mutts were distracted long enough that I was able to ball some of Clovis' wetsuit into my hand and drag him away from the rabid animals. They would find us soon enough, but until then I decided I want to distance myself from them as much as possible.

It was the furthest I had run into the island, I had only skirted the outsides I'd the jungle terrain, remaining on the beach for most of it. Running through this kind of land felt so unfamiliar to me, it was intimidating to feel so out of place in this element.

The shrubs that grazed the ground drug at my ankles as I continued to sprint. I had never run so hard in my life, my chest felt like it was collapsing, I could taste blood in my mouth. The vicious growling of the mutts grew nearer to us as I inwardly cursed President Snow and everything he stood for.

We reached the centre of the island soon after. A grand waterfall stood straight in the middle, creating a relaxing feeling to such an intense situation. Clovis dunked his head straight into the river taking a long gulp of water. I pulled out my flask in time to take a quick sip of water when the horrific shrieking of the mutts returned.

I begged to wake up from this horrible nightmare, but the shrieking moved closed towards the waterfall, the fear was prickling down my back as my hair stood on end. I would never be able to get the clown-like laughter of the mutts out of my head if I survived this encounter, not if, I couldn't think if. If I wanted Thorn to survive, I had to think when. When I survive this encounter, I will go back to the edge of the water, find Thorn and keep him away from Clovis and his psycho Career friends for as long as possible.

The sounds of the mutts got closer, "Are you just going to stand there and shake your ass at them, or are you going to climb up here so I can kill you later?" Clovis yelled at me as I noticed him scaling the side of the waterfall. He wasn't very efficient at it, I noticed as I moved over to the rocks, perhaps they didn't teach them that at murdering-children-101.

"They were jumping out of trees dumbass! They can climb!" I yelled back picking up my trident. I knew I was right when I heard him let out a childish groan, feeling his presence beside me. The mutts ran into the clearing from several directions, they had us completely surrounded.

I drove my trident through several of the mutts, an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness surging through me as I tried my best to fight them off. They kept coming, quicker and stronger than I could fight them off. I heard a sizzling sound from behind me followed by a pained cry from Clovis' direction. "Aurora! The waterfall's acidic!" He exclaims, I looked back quick enough to see the welts crawling up one side of his face.

My irrational thinking was going to kill me one day, I decided as I took a running start at the waterfall, sprinting as all the mutts chased me close behind. I was barely an inch from the acidic water as I dove to the side, allowing the charging mutts to run straight into the waterfall.

I dove into the non-acidic river, relieving the searing pain that the welts had created on my back from diving too close to the water. It was only a temporary solution back the feeling of water on my back was satisfying enough for me to float on my back just long enough to she Clovis charge behind me and tackle me, turning my head straight into the water.   

Mate- Wattpad is sketchy as shit.