Song- Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco and Guy Sebastian
-A/N-
I made up the arena for this book because there was no confirmation of what the arena was. Some searches showed volcanoes, while others showed spider forests.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 64th annual Hunger Games!" announced Claudius Templesmith. The countdown began, only giving us 60 seconds to look around.
There was a set of buildings lined in a queue off to my right. Grounds and grounds of sand and dirt paths. There was a mountain in the distance on my right. It was rocky and I saw a few pine trees on it that were discolored. I heard rushing water, and I figured there was a waterfall on the other side of the mountain. The mountain closed us in, as it circled us with shorter pieces of land and trees.
10
I looked around to find Dylan.
9
Alorah from 2 on my left,
8
And a guy from 12 on my right.
7
I look out to see Dylan just on the right of the Cornucopia.
6
I look up to the sky and see the blaring sun.
5
There are rocks scattered everywhere with no doubt lizards and rattlesnakes nesting inside.
4
My breath hitches as I realize what's about to happen.
3
It's not a dream anymore...
2
This is happening. Now.
1
...
People ran off of their pedestals immediately. I saw a backpack lying on the ground near me. I ran over, picked it up, and ran. I was running as fast as I could, but I still got knocked down on my stomach. I turned my back and saw it was a girl from 7.
"Only 13, huh?" she taunted me."Lowest score, you knew you would die first. She had her axe ready to throw, but then she stood there with blood shooting out of her mouth. She fell limp. The person who killed her shadowed over.
Hailey from 12. I think she was 15. I had joked with her a bit during training. I was told she had the second-lowest score. I smiled."Get up! We need to go c'mon!" I did as told and we both ran off the opposite way of the mountain. It was a small ravine that was dried up with sharp rocks.
Me and Hailey climbed down the rocks and inside was a small cave that provided shelter. Once we knew the bloodbath was over, we started to go through our things. Hailey and I both had a backpack, she had knives on her from the Cornucopia. I was unarmed.
My bag had rope, a canteen of water, a flashlight, a sleeping bag, and a half-loaf of bread. Hailey's bag contained a bottle of water, 2 knives, a sleeping bag, and a bag of dried fruit."Well, this is useful." I laughed quietly. She smiled at me.
The rest of the first day went by without any other canons. Me and Hailey took turns sleeping, both still in the little cavern.
An anthem played in the air as the faces of the fallen, flew in the sky. The boy from 3, the girl and boy from 7, the girl from 8, and both boys from 9 and 10. So all of the careers were going strong, Dylan was alive, and Hailey's other tribute was alive.
"Y'know, we should get to know each other." Hailey and I both couldn't sleep."Okay," she laughs quietly."What's your favorite color?" Hailey asked looking over to me."Um.." I thought out into the night sky. It was getting colder as night went on."White." I smiled softly back at Hailey."Like President Snow's roses?" I laughed at her interpretation.
"No, a softer white. Like clouds or seaspray from the waves." She smiled at me."What's yours?" I asked Hailey looking over to see her hazel eyes."Purple."
"Any reason why?" I asked.
"No, I just think it's a nice color."
We continued asking each other questions until Hailey said she would try and sleep.
The next day we decided to get some better weapons from the Cornucopia, seeing as we weren't too far from it. We walked over with our knives drawn ready to attack. Hailey told me to go to the right side, and she would go to the left. I walked over and saw longer knives hanging from a part of the wall.
I grabbed it quickly and saw a loaf of bread in a wooden box that was broken and covered in blood. I reached in and grabbed it.
I heard a blood-curdling scream from behind the Cornucopia."Tess! Tess help me!" It was Hailey. I ran around and saw Penny from 5 on top of Hailey, a hatchet on the ground beside her. Hailey had been beaten badly by Penny, who was now reaching for her weapon.
I ran over with the knife, but before I could get there, Penny had cut out both of Hailey's eyes. I tackled her to the ground, both of us wrestling for a minute, and finally, I pinned her to the ground. Hailey's canon hadn't gone off yet. I stuck my knife in her throat and the canon sounded instantly.
I returned over to Hailey who was breathing, barely. I crouched next to her, and moved some of the hair from her face."Hailey,-" I couldn't look at her face.
"Tess...tell George...I love him." I nodded, then remembered she couldn't see me. "I will, I promise," I told her.
"Tess...it hurts..." She whimpered. "I know, I know." I stroke her hair. I nodded to myself, knowing what she was asking me to do. I grabbed my knife, shaking, and lifted it above her chest.
"Hailey, I'm sorry." I grabbed the blade with my other hand and stabbed it into Hailey's chest. I closed my eyes as her canon sounded.
I stood up slowly, looking around for any tributes coming my way. No one. I walked back to Penny, and cut her eyes out too. I couldn't help myself. Anyone who desired to torture people before they killed them made me sick.
I looked over the two bodies both with no eyes, and I gasped. I looked at the knife I held with blood on my hands and I dropped it.
"Oh." I freaked out. What did I do? "Oh, my God!" I cried. "Oh, my God," I repeated as my breath got caught in my throat. I can't believe anything that happened.
I walked back to our cave and made sure there wasn't anything left in her bag. I ruffled around in it, but then I felt something. It was a bit thin and felt silky at the top. I lifted it out of the bag and saw it was a purple cosmos.
I let out a shaky breath as I set it on the ground gently, and put all of our stuff in the bag. We had finished off the bread, but the dried fruit had been untouched. There was no point in carrying Hailey's sleeping bag, so I left it on the ground and packed in everything else. I walked back over to Hailey, the cosmos still in my hand, and set it on her heart.
Another canon brought me out of my thoughts. I realized it could be Dylan, so I decided to start searching. I walked towards a smaller piece of the mountain. It had a few trees, cliffs, cacti, flowers, plants, etc.
I stopped walking for a bit and drank some water. I was running low, and needed to find more. But then, I heard something. Talking...in the distance. It was coming closer, and I had to hide. You couldn't climb up the trees as they were too skinny
"Danny! There she is!" Giselle from 1 shouted. Damn it. Careers. They were sprinting now. I knew I only had one option.
I ran and ran, and soon enough I was in a deep woodland area that was super thick with trees. I couldn't see through them. I turned my head and saw the careers weren't following me anymore, maybe they found someone more important.
I still had my backpack, so I decided to hike for a bit longer. I was passing a huge boulder when I felt a searing pain in my right calf. I looked down, it was a knife. I looked back to the rock and saw Dylan standing shocked.
"Ow!" I screamed and Dylan came running over."I'm sorry! I thought you were Jewel!" I looked at him in shock as he helped me onto my feet."Who the heck is Jewel!?" I whisper-yelled, not wanting to drag attention."Girl from 6. We kinda fought a bit during training. She's not pleasant." I scoffed.
"Allies?" Dylan asked unsure if we were."Yeah." We both had a secure spot behind the boulder. There were trees almost touching each other on the sides, so it was a pretty good hiding place. I set down my backpack and saw Dylan had one too.
"When those 2 canons went off this morning, I got a bit scared you died." Dylan slowly took out the knife, which hurt badly."Yeah, uh Penny from 5, killed Hailey from 12." I responded trying to take my mind off the pain.
"Figured you would ally with her. Did you kill Penny?" Dylan asked knowingly, wrapping my leg with his tie. "Yeah." I looked down and Dylan laughed."Knew you'd kill someone this early. I was surprised they scored you that low." I simply nodded.
We heard another canon go off."4." Dylan remarked."What?" I asked looking into his blue eyes."4 canons today, so that's 10 together. That leaves 14 tributes altogether." He smiled at his math explanation.
"The careers were chasing me, I think they just killed again," I stated, wincing at the pain in my calf. "Here, start talking about random things," Dylan said, noticing my pain.
"I looked around and saw a literal cowboy hat next to Dylan's stuff."You actually got that stupid hat." I chuckled."Yep." He laughed too, placing the hat on his head.
"What is your favorite color?"
"Oh, you ask Hailey that too?" He asked looking over at me."Yeah. Tell me." He looked out at the river flowing past us down the mountain."I'm not sure. Maybe yellow."
"Any reason?"
"It makes me happy when I see it. It's a happy color." He smiled.
~
I was slowly losing to not sleeping when the faces of the fallen appeared in the sky. The boy and Penny from 5, the girl from 9, and Hailey from 12."Go back to sleep, kid. I'll keep watch." I nodded and let sleep overtake me.
I was soon awoken by a terrifying scream. My eyes burst open to see that the girl from 3 had tried to get a kill in before getting killed. I saw her run off into the distance.
I looked over to Dylan who had a knife lodged in his chest."Hey kid..."I couldn't help but start to cry. "Win-no survive. Survive for me. Tell my parents I did all I could." He smiled, and I smiled too, only slightly. "There's that smile." He said. Dylan slowly stopped breathing, and his canon boomed. I let out a few sobs, just holding his huge body in my tiny hands.
"No," I said. I let out a group of silent tears before wiping them away and placed the cowboy hat to cover his face. "Please. Don't leave me." I sobbed. "Dylan, please!" I cried.
This wasn't over. Not yet.
I got up with my stuff and ran towards where the girl went. I was still limping because of the wound. I had my knife out in case I came across her or the careers. Suddenly I was knocked over onto my back with the District 3 girl on top of me.
"You were hiding behind the trees for me, and thought you could kill me without a fight right after you killed him?" I asked angrily as she whimpered around.
I used my knife to stab her in the forehead, killing her instantly and the canon going off. But I wasn't satisfied yet. I retrieved my knife from her face and moved to her eyes. I hesitated.
The Capitol wants a good show, right? And that would bring me sponsors, right? I mean, she's already dead. She can't feel any pain. Left eye first, then right. I checked her for anything useful. Nothing but a canteen of water.
I walked with my bag and the knife in my hand that was dripping with blood. I then stumbled limply until I remembered the waterfall near Dylan. I limped back there and ran down to the waterfall. No one was there, at least from what I saw. There was a smaller rocky elevation of rocks that was a tiny part of the big mountain.
I slowly walked over as the night was turning to day, and climbed up the jagged rocks. It was hard because if I held onto a rock that was loose and fell out, I would fall to my death. I had moved onto a ledge on my left side and put all my pressure on my right leg. That not only burned like fire, but the rock tumbled to the ground, and I held onto my life with my weak upper-body strength. I even saw Finnick, me, and Annie for a split second. I climbed up on the rock with my left leg and continued to ascend.
I finally reached a spot about 2/3 of the way up where there was a big enough edge for someone to lie in. It was covered up by a rock that was just barely able to cover myself.
Once I was secure, I thought about what just happened. Dylan, my only friend during this time, was dead. I was never going to see him again, and I had to tell his last words. It should've been me. I lost it. I was filled with guilt and grief that I broke down.
~
I wasn't anywhere near the water spewing everywhere, and I didn't know if the water wasn't poisonous to drink. I had enough water, for now. I drank a bit of it and had the rest of my fruit. I was out of food now, and it hurt to move my right leg. I hoped for a sponsor as I took off the tie to see if it was infected.
It didn't look infected yet, so that was good. I slowly tried to put my hand on it to wipe some of the blood up, but that only resulted in me gasping because of the pain. Back in 4, Finnick would take care of all my wounds. He was pretty good at it.
Dawn had arrived, and I could see the sunrise from my cliff. It was beautiful, it reminded me of when Finnick and I would sit in the shallow waves and watch the sun fall until it was hidden and replaced by the moon.
I smiled until I saw both of the 11 tributes walking to the stream. Sam was the boy, not sure of the girl's name though. They both sat and were talking about something. The girl smiled at Samille as they filled their canteens with the crystal water. He did the same.
They were talking and talking, and even brought out a loaf of bread, jerky of some sort, and what looked like some actual meat. Probably something they cooked up the night before. It wasn't long before they drank the suspicious water from their canteens.
The girl started breaking out in gasps and rolling around on the floor like it was choking her. Sam had reached for his sword and was toying with it before he stabbed the girl in her chest. Her canon sounded. After a few minutes, Sam decided to go for a swim. He'd gone in with one big splash before howling like a wolf as loud as a person could. I wondered what was happening, but then I saw his body disintegrate into the water. I gasped as his canon sounded.
So that was a no, for the water.
It was about noon when another canon went off. I assumed it was the careers who found another tribute. Day 3 and 15 tributes dead, only 9 left. I was just in my thoughts, looking around when I heard a beeping noise from up above.
I looked up and it was a sponsor gift! It landed right in my hands as the parachute part fell slowly on the rocks. I opened the capsule, and inside was a note from Sapphire.
Watch your back.
-S.R.
I grinned and saw the ointment for my wound. It was a smooth pink bottle with white medicine filling the tube. I opened the lid and put some of the medicine on my calf. A slight twinge, but it was okay to apply. I felt blessed at this moment.
The rest of the day went on without any more canons. I still had my sleeping bag, as the night was frigid. I could see my breath from my mouth. There were a lot more killings today. I sadly smiled as I saw Dylan's and the other tributes' faces in the sky.
The next thing I knew was a slight wetness on my finger, and a canon filled the silence as the sun rose slightly. My eyes opened and I saw water about to fill up my small ledge. "Flood," I muttered before grabbing my knives and bag and climbing up to the top. My leg was healed, thanks to the ointment. I finally reached the top of the plateau, but not before another canon rung. 7 left.
I saw the water get higher, but it stopped about a foot below where I was. I grabbed an empty water canteen and filled it with the poisoned water. Suddenly, I heard talking again. I looked up to see the careers walking past, their shoes squeaked with dampness. I ran over to one of the rocks nearby and hid behind it. They walked past without a thought.
It was then I realized I didn't have any water left. I drank it all yesterday and no food. What if they had food? I quickly got up and sneaked over to follow the careers. Danny and Giselle from 1, and Alorah and Tribe from 2. They didn't notice me as I hadn't made a sound or stepped on a twig.
They walked until they got to the thick forest. I climbed up a tree as we entered. The trees were very thick, and close together, so I could hop onto another one from here. They continued walking until they got about mid-way. They were not directly under me as I was to the left one.
Danny and Tribe needed to 'relieve' themselves, so they left the girls to fend for the camp. That was when Alorah needed to go too, so it was only Giselle sitting underneath the tree. I hopped over and dropped the canteen of waterfall water onto a piece of cloth so it wouldn't be heard.
But then I realized this was the perfect moment to kill off one of the careers. So, I hopped down and walked over to Giselle who was standing now. I reached her and stabbed her continuously in the head. She screamed before her canon sounded.
I immediately climbed back into the tree and hopped several ones down to avoid being caught. Alorah was closer than the boys, so she got there way before them. Tribe and Danny jogged back over and saw Alorah over Giselle.
Danny picked her up by her collar."Did you kill her?" He asked seriously as Tribe got behind her with his sword."No! No! Let me down!" Danny smirked."If you insist." Tribe then sliced right through her back, and Danny dropped her to the ground.
I slept in the tree that night, and Danny and Tribe kept turns taking watch. It was about halfway through the night when another canon went off. I almost fell off the tree. I looked over and saw Danny gathering up our stuff before running off. I looked to Tribe who had been sliced in the throat.
"The Capitol's gonna like that..." I muttered.
-A/N-
This chapter was really really long, and very time consuming. I will continue the rest of the games onto the next chapter.
edited 01/05/24
Word Count
{3453}