Day three was mainly uneventful, at least in the Capitol's eyes it would have been, no deaths, no surprise volcanic eruptions, no packs turning on each other. I taught Elsie to fish with a trident while I was on strict bed rest.
Day four, was not eventful, for us at least, about halfway through the day a rumble came from the eastern side of the island. Later at night, four tributes hung in the sky, The boy from Eight, both from Ten and the boy from Eleven, all dead. Four families mourned, four more people not out to kill us, four more on the back of my conscious.
Now came day five, we all woke in high spirits only for it to pour rain. We could tell the game makers were moving up the tide to trap us further inland. I was re-braiding Elsie's hair earlier into the morning when Thorn applied the last of the ointment onto my back. The welts on my back had almost cleared up, leaving a small amount of peeling red skin, irritating me only slightly.
Beck returned from further in the jungle holding several plants that Elsie had taught him about, leaving us with a small but satisfying lunch to eat while we huddle under our tarp to keep out of the rain. "What does District Twelve look like?" Thorn asked Beck as we nibbled on the plants.
This was not a question that the Capitol would want us talking about, this was not what the Capitol wanted us to see. They wanted us to kill each other, they wanted us to turn on each other through the night. They didn't want us to have a happy little gathering and talk about our feelings. To them, beauty came in blood.
But I don't care, if I'm going to die in this arena then what does it matter if I talk about my home, about my friends. I spilled enough of it with my conversation with Thorn, the Capitol could bear some extra sappy storytelling. "Some parts of it are really pretty, other parts, not so much," Beck said, being careful with his words. He doesn't want to say anything that could get anyone into trouble.
"What about District Four? What's it like?" Elsie asked, snuggling into my side. The rain thundered down harder, pelting on our tarp so hard I feared it might rip holes in it.
"It's beautiful," I gushed, "The sand is nearly white and the waves are so clear and clean, I love the smell, the salty air. The fish swim right up the edge of the water and nip at your feet," I nudge Elsie's foot with my foot causing her to giggle.
"Don't forget about Pirates!" Thorn calls out.
"Pirates?" Elsie gasps excitedly.
"He's kidding, there's no such thing as pirates. Although you could count old Crusty as a pirate, the man who lives on the boat, he drinks so much rum he can barely stand most days," I joke, the rest of the group begins to laugh.
"Crusty's an interesting fellow that's for sure, we buy our fish from him some days," Thorn muses.
"You mean on the days that he doesn't catch himself in the net?" I ask him, the four of us laugh again. The old man probably wouldn't appreciate me talking about him, I didn't really care, I wasn't going to get home for him to get angry with me about it. Crusty was pretty easygoing, the most he would ever really do is throw a fish at you, or threaten to turn your hand into a hook.
The rain began to clear up halfway through the day, the sky cleared from grey to blue. Cool droplets of water trickled down the leaves as we began to move further into the island. My eyes still felt heavy from a lack of uninterrupted sleep, my hair was riddled with knots, sand sticking to my scalp like a second layer of skin. Even with a drinkable supply of water, my lips felt chapped and dry, the back of my throat itched with thirst. I felt like a rabid animal, I didn't feel like myself anymore.
If it weren't for the fact that I had someone to protect I would be long gone by now. My mind has been battling with the idea since the first canon went off, every time I heard that sound, I felt like someone has punched me in the stomach. One more child added to the Capitol's list of people they'll forget they ever murdered.
I can't blame them all, they were born into the right side of the rebellion, but that fact doesn't stop me from clenching my fists so tightly that I feel them pierce through my first layer of skin. Beck unclasps my hands by taking mine in his, "Take a breath," he says calmly, "We're gonna get through this,"
I don't know if he's trying to convince himself or me.
Our trek for food seemed pointless, all the animals had sheltered from the storm leaving small scraps of vegetation for us to steal. Hopefully taking the supplies from the Careers had left them as hungry as us. We snacked on the last of the dried meat as we navigated through the dense jungle.
Thorn stood out the front, hacking away at stray leaves in our path while Elsie hastily gathered any kind of plant that could prove useful medically or as sustenance. Somehow Elsie seemed to be the sanest of all of us at the moment, I felt awful for the child, if we wanted her to win, she'd have to watch the other three of us die, she might even have to kill us herself.
No. It wouldn't come down to it, I couldn't allow a twelve-year-old to do something so wicked in means of survival. She would have to live with the regret of killing another person for the rest of her life, I couldn't do it.
We heard a small crack from the jungle behind us, Beck snapped around hastily to see if anyone was following us. Another crack from the front, I felt like I was behind watched- unease in my stomach bubbling towards my throat. It seemed as though the sun darkened considerably, but what was it being hidden by?
I held my trident in an attacking position as we saw a small figure run into the clearing, we had passed a small way away. It was the girl from District Three, Toni, her eyes were wide and she was breathing heavily. "Run!" She squeaked desperately as a small rumble was heard from behind her, she took off straight past us as the four of us stood in confusion.
What we saw next have a small amount of understanding, the boy from District Five, covered in cuts and bruises, small, rodent sized bite marks covering his neck. His clothes were torn, he was barely alive. The boy hobbled towards us, saying nothing, instead beckoning us with his hand as we heard the rumble get closer. He wheezed out a single word, completely inaudible to the human ear, I narrowed my eyes in confusion, "Bats," he coughed out.
Beck's eyes widened in recognition of the word, he gently nudged Elsie forward with his hand, "Go, Now!" He exclaimed as we saw these 'bats' fly in from the horizon. They were small creatures with strong wings, black as night with beady eyes and white fangs, foaming at the mouths. They were definitely rabid, perhaps even a mutation. Thorn grabbed my hand and pulled me along with the rest of the group, all of us running as fast as we could in the opposite direction of the winged creatures.
They were catching up to us quickly as the trees began to clear, Beck called us over to a small cave on the other side of the thicket of trees. Taking Thorn's hand, the pair of us dive in through the door. Beck and the boy from Five closed the entrance with a large boulder as Elsie slumps to the ground and lets out a frightened cry. Thorn comforts the child as I close my eyes, choking back a terrified sob.
"Are we safe?" Beck whispered, hearing the beating of the bats landing on our roof.
"For now, we can stay in here until the rain returns," Thorn replies.
"Strange, I've never seen bats act like that before," Elsie whispers, I hadn't said anything all this time, I was sure I was going crazy.
"I've never seen bats before," Thorn mused, stroking the child's hair gently with his hand, "And I don't think I want to ever again," He shuddered. I crept over to him, gently laying my head on his shoulder. Beck followed suit, laying his head on Elsie's. What a strange chaotic family we were, only one of us would be alive by the end of the week.
We drained two more of our water canisters as we heard a small patter from the roof of our cave, the rain had returned. The boy from Five took a seat on the cave floor and put his head on the wall as he let out several jagged breaths. The thundering sound on the cave wall was calming, I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself somewhere different. I was in Four, sea spray wafting onto my face, sand in between my toes, the smell of the ocean, Finnick's hand in mine. I prayed with all my being that he was still alive, perhaps he was watching me now, knowing that my fate was sealed in.
My eyes wandered around the cave, Elsie had fallen into a gentle slumber, resting on Thorn's shoulder. Beck had taken to sharpening his knives on the side of the rock, but the boy from Five-
He was shaking, not from the cold but from something else. His eyes drifted in and out of focus, occasionally rolling them to the back of his head. I watched as his back hit the smooth floor, white bubbles dribbling out of his mouth. The red scratches and bite marks around his neck and arms had begun to fester. Beck looked like he knew it was coming.
"The bats were rabid, I knew this was coming, I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly," He says, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and shaking Elsie awake. "We have to get the hell out of here before we have to do something we'll regret,"
We all knew what he was talking about, I threw my pack over my shoulder, picked up my trident and took Elsie by the hand. I felt awful for leaving the boy here but his fate was seemingly written already. We were about to exit the cave when we heard the boy stutter out a few words, "K-k kill me," He choked out, white foamed spraying in all directions.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, pushing Elsie out of the cave in front of me.
"Please," He begged, his eyes shifting in focus as they locked onto mine, "I-its what I want," I could say anything, instead I shook my head, a tear gathering in the corner of my eye, "please," He begged.
"Rory, we have to go," Beck yelled, running back into the cave, "Quick, come on!"
"Rory," The boy from Five begged again, I noticed the tears streaming down his face, "Please,"
The world seemed to stop spinning as I picked up the trident, finally feeling its full weight, I whispered apologies to myself and the boy as I pushed Beck out of the cave. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, "I can't do this,"
"Y-you can," He coughed more foam from his mouth. Now or never. I felt sick, creeping towards the boy as the rain thundered like some kind of suspenseful drum. His eyes fluttered closed as I lifted the weapon above my head.
I plunged the trident into his chest.
...
welp this was fun