Safe and Sound || Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty Five - Safe and Sound

❝It still seemed to be going in slow motion as Angora screamed in pain and fell to her knees, clutching her bleeding abdomen. It would have all been good if Grayson had not fallen down with her.❞

Chapter Twenty Five - Safe and Sound

"Grayson!" I screamed as he fell onto his back. I crawled towards him frantically, staggering about on all fours. My head was spinning and I felt like I was going to throw up at any moment, but I didn't care. I had to get to him, I had to see what was wrong. Had Angora got him? Had Angora got him? Had Angora killed him? Had she killed him? "Grayson? Grayson?" I managed to reach his limp body. He had several scratches abut his face, but those weren't major. I scrambled about, reaching for what I hoped were his shoulders. I shook him slightly. "Grayson...G-Grayson?" I fell onto his body, weak and now crying. The cannon hadn't blown, but that only blew when they were truly brain dead. Even if their heart had stopped beating, it didn't mean that they were dead. Only when their brain died were they truly classed as dead. But that didn't stop me from being almost completely paralysed by the sight of Grayson lying there, very still and not breathing from what I could see or hear.

So instead, I lay there on his chest, sobbing into his black t-shirt. I could hear Angora choking on her own breath, now struggling to stay alive. I ignored her, I just wanted Grayson to come back. I dug my fingers into his t-shirt, gripping it as tightly as my spinning brain would allow me to. I continued to cry quietly. I had become attached and now I was going to pay for it. This was a sick form of payment, a punishment beyond no other. This was the downside to having an ally, to having a friend, to having a Grayson Stengard.

I felt a stirring underneath me. I sat bolt upright, which didn't do good things to my head, and saw that Grayson was heaving himself up slowly and steadily onto his elbows, until he reached a more or less seated position. He looked groggy and bloody, but besides that, he looked more or less okay.

"Grayson?" I asked, in complete shock. I sat there, stunned. Was this my head doing things to me?

"Yes?" He asked, his voice cracking and sounding exhausted. I sighed with relief, quite exasperated at this boy, but thankful at the same time. He saw this and smiled slightly, reaching out towards me and taking my forearm in his hand, gripping it tightly. "I'm okay, honest. I'm just a bit sore here and there. It's you who looks like you've seen better days." I would have slapped him, because he was being concerned about me when it was clear he was hurt, but I restrained myself. It was quite hard, though. The urge was strong, despite my sore head.

"Grayson Stengard, are you seriously-" I started, but Grayson wasn't looking at me. He was looking over my shoulder at Angora. I slowly manoeuvred myself around to see that Angora was writhing around slightly, obviously in a lot of pain. Grayson suddenly forgot his soreness and scurried forward towards the girl from 8. I gaped at him. What was he doing?

"Pull the blade out, it will help get it over with quickly. It may also be less painful because it won't be moving around inside you." Grayson whispered, his voice soft and calm. It was soothing just listening to him. Angora looked at him, the sheen of sweat on her forehead visible.

"Why are you trying to stop my suffering? I deserve it, do I not?" She asked. I would have asked the same thing, but Grayson gave her a stern look, telling her not to argue with him.

"No one deserves pain and suffering. Not even you. You have to face the fact that you're going to die, though. There, I said it. There's no point in saying otherwise. But I don't want it to be a struggle until the end. If you keep writhing about with the blade inside of you, it's going to hurt because it's also moving inside of you. Do you need a little help with taking it out?" Grayson asked. The girl nodded and gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. "It will hurt a little bit, but it will all be fine after that. Okay?" Angora nodded and Grayson unzipped her jacket more than it was already. The blood was seeping through the fleece part of the jacket. Grayson carefully peeled that part from her body and unzipped it. He gave Angora a quick look and she nodded. As Grayson reached towards the wound, he held his spare hand out to her. She grabbed it as Grayson carefully reached into the wound with the other - Angora screamed - and, bit by bit, he managed to get the blade out. It was one of the ones from the strapping in his boot, a stealthy weapon designed for a brutal murder.