The 130th Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty-Two

I wake up to a single, eerie scream.

My eyes pop open. I stand up and look around.

And then I see it.

There’s some kind of fog, and it seems to be charging at us . . . as if it has a mind of its own and it’s trying to attack.

Oh no. The Gamemakers have pulled something again.

I see where the scream has come from. It’s Jane. She must’ve been the first one awake, because it looks like everyone else has just gotten up.

“Oh, no. It hasn’t gotten on you, Jane, has it?” Damian asks nervously, seeing the fog.

Jane shakes her head and stares, terrified, at the fog.

“I have a solution,” I tell everyone. “Follow me.” I start to head in the opposite direction of where the fog is coming, but Dusty screams, “No!”

And then I see the fog is coming in on that area too. And to the right of me. And to the left of me.

It’s closing in on us.

“We need cover,” Sabrina says. “And don’t breathe in the fog, either.”

"That’s not possible!” objects Jane. “I can’t even hold my breath for thirty seconds, and I don’t think the fog is going to last such a short time!”

I glance around at the fog, which is getting even closer to us. “We have to find cover!” I yell. “Everybody, follow me!”

Without looking behind me, I turn to a large log I had been eyeing. When I come to it, I see there are no entrances into it. I force a hole in the back of the log, creating some sort of flap. I lift the flap and crawl in. “Come in here, guys!” I call. “I don’t think the fog will be able to affect us now!”

But for some reason, I don’t hear the sounds of my friends scrambling into the log with me. I turn toward the entrance of the log, and I see that the flap had swung back closed. I put my hand on it, about to push it open and tell Jane, Damian, Sabrina, and Dusty to come in. But when I nudge the flap, it won’t budge.

It must be caught on something, I think. I push harder, but the flap continues to act stubborn.

Suddenly, I hear screams. Four different screams. I think they’re calling my name.

My friends.

Becoming frantic, I try to force a door somewhere else on the log, but no place is as loose at that one area. Tears running down my cheeks, I can only sit and listen to my friends’ terror.

The screaming goes on for another few minutes. I pull my knees up to my chest and bury my face into them, sobbing, wishing I could be there to protect them.

And suddenly, there is silence.

~ ~ ~

JANE’S POINT OF VIEW

“Follow me!” I hear Sandi yell.

Damian, Sabrina, Dusty, and I run after her.

We stand behind her as she kneels by a log and starts to push at it. I think she’s trying to make an entrance.

Suddenly, Damian pulls me out of the way, and Sabrina and Dusty dive in the same direction. I see the fog breezes through where we were just standing, which means . . .

It’s going to hit Sandi.

“SANDI!” Dusty shouts. He runs over to where she was standing; the fog hasn’t reached there just yet.