GAMES
"Do you know what the reason for these games even is?"
"Of course I do. To punish us for the Dark Days. The war."
"Exactly. And do you know what that means?"
"What?"
"No one wins when it comes to the Games. Twenty-three tributes lose their liv...
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The stampede thundered from beneath the two, panic striking them as they shot awake from their light sleep. Shay's brain rattled through her grogginess, hurriedly trying to figure out what spooked them. What she did not expect to be greeted with was a forest fire big enough to block her entire field of vision.
Fighting to remove themselves from the confines of their sleeping bags, they scrambled to get away. Katniss, in her frantic state, fell from her branch although Shay was relieved to see her free from harm at the base of the trunk, stuffing her backpack with her supplies.
Shay, for once, managed in a somewhat graceful manner to jump from her perch and land next to the dark-haired girl before they both took off in a full sprint away from the blazing inferno behind them.
Trees crackle in the flames around them, threatening to fall into their path—or worse onto them—in a moment's notice. The heat is boiling, worse than Shay's ever felt. Worse than the first sunburn she got out in the fields, which turned her skin red, almost purple, and blistered it, causing her to be laid up for days. The blonde tribute felt as if the fire was licking at her heels as she pushed herself further, faster.
She refused the let some damn tricks from the Gamemakers take her out. Because that was what this was—an attempt on their lives from the people responsible for putting us here. It is the only way a fire could burn so bright and so fast without the help of accelerants. The way the fire raged, it reminded her of when the old slaughterhouse back home was destroyed and the peacekeepers had declared it arson, although they never caught who was responsible.
The only thing worse than the heat though was the smoke. It clawed at her throat, threatening to tear her breath from her lungs, suffocating her slowly. There was little Shay could do about it. The best chance she had was to ignore the deep pain that started to fill her lungs and follow the path that Katniss was creating. It was not like she could stick low to the ground; it would slow her down too much allowing the inferno to consume her entirely.
The blonde did her best to focus on her feet, careful not to trip up on the underbrush. Her legs moved quickly and without hesitation, making her thankful for the muscles she had built after she started working with the Astorias. Suddenly, a fireball shot out of the flames, heading right toward the struggling tributes. "Look out!" Katniss yelled, throwing herself to the side to avoid the blaze.
Shay's eyes widened in fright, following Katniss's lead, dropping to the forest floor, and allowing the fireball to soar over her. She swears she could feel the hairs at the crown of her head singe from the extreme heat. In seconds, the two are back up and running once again. Another fireball barely missed Shay, crashing into a tree she just passed. The impact of the blast causes the blonde to falter in her steps, barely catching herself before she collapses to the ground.
