nineteen - entombed
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the first thing i hear is what sounds like a shovel digging into the ground. there is a grunt and then i feel dirt pile on my legs. a few seconds later there is another dig, another grunt, and another pile that lands on my stomach. whatever i'm laying on is cool and somewhat soft, but not comfortable in the least.
i blink, and my vision sways. i shake my head and wait for it to clear, relying on my other senses until it does. the scent of damp earth invades my nose until it crinkles in distaste.
"she's not deep enough."
"shut up, astrid." a grunt. "you don't know everything."
"someone will find her." astrid's shrill voice rises a little, and she sounds angry. "don't you realize that?"
"well, hopefully when they do, she'll be dead."
more dirt falls on my arms.
"i thought she already is."
i hear a thud like the shovel has been thrown to the ground. "the hovercraft would already have come, and did you hear a cannon? you know what, astrid? you wanna do this? because i really don't want to."
"not really."
i keep my eyes barely open so they can't tell and see emrys' hulking form pick the shovel back up. he digs into the ground and applies another layer onto my feet. i look around, sweeping my eyes quickly. panic rises within me when i notice walls of dirt in a rectangle around me. roots of all sizes and lengths stick out from the soil. i am probably two or three feet into the ground, which isn't much, but it's something.
i'm being buried alive.
when neither of them are looking, i open my eyes fully. it seems to be just them and lycus, meaning their team has been drastically reduced since the deaths of bliss and titus. could i fight them both at the same time? probably not. definitely not. they have trained all their lives...and where are my knives?
i subtly pat around my belt, checking all of the holsters. every single one of them is empty. i can't check the compartment under my shoe; that'll be too obvious. what am i supposed to do?
a pounding in my head surfaces. have i been injured aside from being strangled to unconsciousness? did they throw something at me? i don't remember them doing so.
what am i supposed to do; just let them cover me up and hope they'll leave so i can get out? i don't know. i don't know.
panic rises in my chest, making it constrict almost painfully. my heart hammers so hard it makes my ribs ache. i clamp my eyes shut as emrys dumps another mound of dirt on me, this one dangerously close to my face. they'll have to cover it soon. why are they burying me anyways?
i can feel frightened tears flooding my eyes. my side stings where my wound is, meaning they must have not handled me with care when they dumped my body in this makeshift grave.
a tear slips out. i can't escape from this. i'm going to die here, two feet under.
"why are we even doing this?" emrys questions gruffly. "i should've just stabbed my knife into her when she wasn't paying attention."
"it's symbolic," astrid replies, a hint of manic in her voice. she sounds excited. my god, she's crazy. "even if she isn't dead, she will be once she starts to suffocate. now stop asking questions before i decide you aren't worth keeping around and kill you where you stand."
emrys covers my face. i can barely breathe without getting earth in my nose. more and more dirt blankets my entire body until i am encased in it. the oxygen is running low and the layer on my face gets heavier. i can't move. soon enough there is so much obscuring me that i am physically unable to do anything since the dirt is becoming so tightly-packed.
and so i open my mouth as much as i dare and scream.
very faintly, i hear a muffled curse and the layers get heavier much more quickly. they know i'm alive. and they aren't going to do a thing.
screaming was a bad idea, because now the oxygen levels are extremely low. i am sobbing so hysterically i don't notice the dirt has ceased to pile, and astrid, emrys, and lycus have fled. dirt gets in my mouth and i cough, but that does nothing to help remove it.
i scream again, ripping my throat raw. "help!" i choke on a sob. "somebody help me!"
i wait, tears still flooding out of my closed eyes. nothing happens.
for a few seconds, i accept my fate. no help is coming. i am in the hunger games. everyone but two wants me dead. i can't do anything. i'm stuck. i am going to die.
just as i begin to feel the familiar burning sensation in my chest, i think of roy, my mother, and my father. i think of carly, who, despite her venom, is actually a pretty nice ally. and matthias, who i have become attached to. i made a promise to asher to say something to his siblings. i cannot leave those people, and i cannot break that oath. i won't let astrid's twisted, outrageous form of symbolism kill me.
i wriggle around. at first i fail and am still pinned down, but eventually the dirt around me starts to loosen and fall into more cracks around my body. i push my lips together tightly and force air out of my nose, only breathing in when i know it's safe. eventually i can lift my hand and dig my elbow into the ground. i start flexing my fingers and move my arm up, pushing forcefully through the soil. every time i do so, dirt rains down and fills the empty spaces. i'll be trapped in an extremely uncomfortable position if i somehow fail.
when i get my arm up about halfway, i begin to free my other one. it's easier this time since the dirt is already so loose. my chest starts to burn even more, and tears are still falling. my heart thuds and ice-cold terror makes my whole body tremble like mini earthquakes are trapped beneath my skin.
i can almost push my back off the ground when suddenly my hand breaks through the dirt, and i feel the hot, humid air of the jungle. i almost sigh in relief but then catch myself so i don't waste any precious oxygen.
if my hand is that far, then i'm that much closer to getting out. the realization sends a rush of determination through me. if one part of my body can make it, then all of it can– if i don't run out of air first.
i'm still moving blindly, my eyes shut tightly because i know there's no way i can open them. i could permanently damage my eyes from how much dirt would get in them and nothing to flush them with.
with my mouth still closed, i scream, even though i'm positive nothing is working.
my elbow flexes wrongly and i almost collapse, but just as i start to fall back down, a hand grabs onto mine.
my heart stops for a second, then starts pounding twice as fast as i realize what's happening. someone is helping me out!
they pull on my hand and i preposition my arm on the ground, helping them by pushing myself up as much as i can. i'm still crying uncontrollably. a lump is lodged in my throat from not letting any sobs escape. i move upward. my lungs are on fire. i don't dare to breathe.
a few more pulls from the person and my entire arm is free. i push with all my might, thanking anything above for my upper body strength.
and my face breaks free. and my body. and eventually, the rest of me. i slump on my hands and knees on the ground, coughing out soil and sucking in deep, greedy breaths. my vision turns a bit as i finally open my eyes and see the worried face of nina from district six hovering over me.
"oh my god," she mumbles, her black hair hanging messily in her face and brown eyes wide as can be. her dark skin is sprinkled with dirt from pulling me out. "thalia–"
"don't kill me," i find myself begging through my coughs, sputters, and sobs. "please don't kill me."
"why would i kill you?" she asks, eyebrows pinched in confusion.
my hysteria refrains me from replying with, "because we're in the hunger games and we're not allies."
the lithe girl helps me up and flinches when i keep gagging, her nose crinkling. "you need to get that dirt out of your system."
i know what she means instantly. i break away from her and hunch over, putting two fingers down my throat and activating my gag reflex. the contents of my stomach – mostly squirrel, berries, and water – empty out on the forest floor. i feel woozy, but much better.
nina hands me a water bottle that i accept gratefully. wiping my mouth with my sleeve, i fountain the water, not putting the bottle to my lips because i just threw up and it'd be pretty rude to contaminate her water source, especially because she saved my life.
"i heard astrid and emrys arguing from a distance away and it intrigued me, so i came over here, but not quickly enough," nina explains as i drink and rinse my mouth. "they were already starting to leave when i got close enough. i threw a spear at lycus and got him down, but i haven't heard a cannon yet. i didn't realize you were alive in there until i noticed the dirt moving. i dug a little with my hands and found yours."
once i've drunk my fill, i cap the bottle and hand it back to her. "why did you help me?"
nina cringes weakly. "one of my biggest fears is being buried alive with no rescue. i didn't want it to happen to someone else."
-
nina has no idea when i was taken, but it's about early afternoon right now. it may have been only hours since my capture. i can't be sure.
i've been separated from my allies. i don't know if both of them are alive or not. i ask nina how many cannons have gone off. she tells me there's been nothing, and i am able to relax.
"you haven't happened to see matthias or carly anywhere, have you?" i ask with little hope. it's a gigantic arena; i doubt she has.
nina shakes her head somberly. "no, i haven't. sorry."
i breathe deeply. "it's fine."
while nina and i are on good terms, we are not allies. we're just people who have agreed not to kill each other on sight. aside from the water, she has given me nothing and i'm okay with that. i don't have anything to give her in return, anyways, and i don't like feeling like i owe people.
nina has no backpack with her. she keeps the bottle clipped to her belt, and the sound of the water swishing around in it every time she takes a step is getting on my nerves. yes, she saved me, but that doesn't mean i have to bow down to her.
"you don't happen to have any food, do you?" i question, my stomach grumbling lowly. nina shakes her head and i scowl at the ground, muttering, "of course not."
i remember the compartment in my shoe and stop, putting my hand against a tree for balance as i wiggle the small knife out. nina keeps on walking. i cut a piece of bark off the tree, then figure i should cut another one for her. she pulled me out of my own grave. it's the least i can do.
i jog to catch up with her, handing her a piece of bark. she takes it, then looks at me, puzzled. "thanks?"
i remember that not everyone is so poor that they have to resort to eating bark when they're hungry, and refrain from being annoyed. "you can eat this stuff."
she examines it from all angles. "how?"
i sigh and hold up my own piece. "watch." using my knife, i scrape off the soft inner bark from the hard, outer bark. i pop a small piece in my mouth and chew slowly.
nina is staring at me like i just consumed a rock. "is that safe?"
i swallow. "not sure, but i'd be dead right now if it wasn't."
that seems to be enough for nina. instead of asking to borrow my knife she uses her fingernails to detach the inner bark, and hesitantly puts it in her mouth. she doesn't look too fond of the taste, but it's something to eat, and that's what we need. and so she eats the whole thing as we walk along.
we pass no berries as we walk in silence, much to my dismay. i've been trying to brush the earth off my skin – i'm completely covered in it – but most of it is stuck to my skin and won't come off unless i get to that pond, or the beach.
"do you know where we are right now?" i ask.
nina nods. "we're about two miles from the beach, but the careers have been camping there for the past two nights, so i wouldn't head there. if you're thinking of going to find another source of water to bathe in, good luck. there isn't one."
i stare at her, confused. i point to the water bottle. "where did you get that from?"
she smirks and pulls something small out of a pocket in her belt. she holds it up and i realize it's a tap for collecting water from trees. even though i dislike feeling as if i owe people something, i figure i should be nice and tell nina about the pond.
"there's a pond around here somewhere," i inform.
"there is?" nina's eyes go wide again. "where?"
"well, it depends on which side of the forest we're on."
nina thinks for a moment. she seems to have a very good memory, which will come in handy, no doubt. "we're about half a mile from that giant, tall tree." she points to the sky at an overgrown tree that towers above all the rest. i groan. if we're so close to that, it means we have to walk all the way around the arena to get to the pond.
when i don't say anything, nina seems to get skeptical. "what?"
i look at her, emotionless. "i hope you don't mind spending the rest of the day with me."
gif is thalia talking to nina at the end
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i hope you didnt panic too much from this chapter. (and yes, matthias did give thalia hope to try and get out of the grave. you may now fangirl.)
thoughts on nina?
thalia's encounter with her also reminds you guys that just because thalia went through major character development with her people skills, that doesnt mean she gets along with everyone. especially tributes who are the exact opposite of her and are kinda prissy.
xoxo,
kristyn