In This Together (The Hunger Games Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Earthquake

This chapter is dedicated to Heartrain31259, aka my twin ;) she's honestly the best! Go check out her story 'The Rulebook', and leave her a vote and a follow if you like it!

I was startled awake by a loud sound, but I was unsure about what it was. Pushing my blanket off of me, I was shocked to discover it was cold enough that I was able to see my breath. The Gamemakers were obviously having fun with the temperature of the arena. Without my blanket and sleeping bag, I would have suffered from frostbite or pneumonia and died last night.

Suddenly, I realized what the noise that woke me up was. A cannon! What other noise would be that loud in the arena? Anxiously, I looked around at our alliance sleeping around me. I could see Emilia and Declan leaning against one of the boulders up ahead keeping watch, and Tale, Riyla and Tristan were all still breathing deeply in their sleep.

I folded my sleeping bag up and stuffed it back into Tristan's backpack. Dusting some dirt and pebbles off of my sweater, I walked over to Emilia and Declan.

"Morning Celia," Emilia blinked tiredly.

"Morning," I replied. "Did you hear that cannon go off?" Declan nodded.

"Everyone in our alliance is safe, though. So don't worry," I reassured them.

"Good, we were pretty sure they were all still breathing, but it's hard to see from here. I wonder who it was," Declan mused.

"We'll have to wait until tonight to find out. Come on, let's wake everyone up and decide what we want to do today," Emilia led the way to the sleeping members of the alliance.

"Tristan," I called softly, not wanting to startle him. "Tristan!"

When he didn't stir, I gently shook his shoulder.

"Argh!" Tristan hollered in surprise, yielding his knife.

"Hey!" I quickly dodged his weapon before it sliced my cheek, his sudden motion forcing my instincts to take over.

He gasped when he realized what he almost did. "Celia! I'm so sorry. You scared me! I was just defending myself."

"I know," I laughed nervously. "I'll be more careful the next time I wake you up." Tristan gave me an I'm-so-sorry-I-almost-killed-you hug, and we moved to join the rest of our alliance in a pack huddle.

"So, plan of action. What is it?" Emilia questioned. I shrugged my shoulders along with the rest of the pack. "Okay... Well... What do we need?" she tried a new tactic.

"Food!" Tale answered immediately, and the rest of us nodded in agreement. We had received some rations in the backpacks we had managed to snatch from the Cornucopia, but it wouldn't be enough to feed us all for long.

"And a safer, more permanent shelter," Declan added. "Other tributes are sure to hear the waterfall, and then we'll be trapped at this dead end."

Although we weren't keen on leaving our abundance of water, we realized it was for the best. "Alright. Celia, can you and Tale start packing up the rest of our blankets?" I nodded to Emilia and walked to the other side of the boulder. Tristan, Emilia, Declan and Riyla started to walk a little ways down the tunnel to try and catch a glimpse of how far we would have to travel.

Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet began to vibrate. I looked at Tale in alarm, but he didn't seem to notice it. I shrugged it off, figuring I was overreacting and was paying too much attention to little details. Then, the vibrating turned to rumbling, and Tale looked concerned. Now I knew something was off. Before either of us could react, the great boulder in front of me split in half with a roar, leaving a giant gap filled with lava that was progressively growing larger.

"Tristan!" I screamed in panic. But there was nothing he or the others could do. We were separated by the growing gap, Tale and I on one side, and the rest of the group on the other. Tale yanked me up and without a pause threw me in the air, where I flew for a panic filled second before landing with a thud on the other side at Tristan's feet.

Tale was not so lucky. With the way the gap was growing, if he stayed on the side he was on he would be smashed against the cave wall with in minutes. But the gap was much too big to jump now. There was no choice, it seemed like he had no options. He decided to test his luck. Taking a running start, he leaped with all his might...

But it was not enough. "Tale!" Riyla screamed as she tried to grab his hand. I buried my face into Tristan's jacket as Tale fell out of view into the lava.

A cannon blasted.

.........................

Riyla hadn't spoken for hours.

After Tale's tragic death, the ground kept moving until the waterfall was completely blocked from sight; the lava pit kept growing until it was similar in size to Lake Erie. Although none of us wanted to leave Tale so suddenly, we couldn't remain in the tunnel any longer.

Even though I hadn't known Tale long, I still noticed his absence. He had sacrificed himself for me; that much I knew. I never could have jumped over the gap, even when it was at its smallest. Tale could have made it if he had acted quickly enough; but he used his precious time to throw me to safety.

And then he was gone.

Our safe haven was no longer safe. This morning we planned on leaving by choice, but now it's clear that we must leave. The earthquake caused too much damage.

Emilia walked shoulder to shoulder with Riyla, their arms wrapped around one another. Emilia always knew the right thing to say. I don't know how she did it, I would just mumble my words and make the situation worse.

Tristan, Declan and I walked together. I tried to ignore my grumbling stomach; I hadn't had anything to eat besides crackers since I entered the arena.

No words were exchanged; there was nothing to be said.

We had been walking at our slow pace for about an hour before we saw another tribute.

"I'm guessing we are only about ten minutes from the Cornucopia," said Declan, "Stay alert."

Despite his warning, I felt my mind drifting. I was beginning to feel comfortable in the arena. I knew I had a strong alliance. Most of my allies had come from outlying districts, and I'm sure they hadn't had much weapon training before the Games. Considering that, they had all learned so much during training and I knew that every single one of us could hold our own in a fight.

Out of nowhere, a body flew at Tristan, who was at the head of our pack. The force of the strange tribute knocked Tristan to the rock floor with a thud.

My heart jumped, I was so scared.

Riyla reacted first, and snatched an arrow from her quiver. The males were struggling, though, and she couldn't get a clean shot where there wasn't a chance she might hit Tristan.

Tristan attempted to shove the mystery tribute off of himself, but the tribute had a knife. "Tristan!" Emilia screamed. I couldn't speak; I was in shock. "Grab your knife!"

Tristan tried to reach the knife in his pocket, but before his fingers could close around the hilt, the mystery tribute kicked it away. Tristan was heavily out-armed.

With a battle cry, Emilia joined the fight. She struggled to rip the tribute off of Tristan, but when that didn't bring results she turned violent. This mystery tribute was now out-numbered 4-1, well 5-1 if you count me. However, I was just standing in the corner gaping at the scene in front of me. Either way, the tribute didn't stand a chance when Emilia drew out her dagger and stabbed him in the heart.

The third cannon of the day blasted.

.......................

So, pretty long chapter. Sad chapter, but long! Please comment your thoughts!