Clement Janwerd Jr:
The day started off calm. Last night, I slept with the giant lion outside, using just a sleeping bag and a furry leg as my pillow. It was a little smelly, but hey, life's tough. Get over it. Because the lion, who we dubbed Susan, don't ask why, had a terrific sense of smell, we decided to use him as guard. Susan seemed to be fine surviving without any rest, which is a sure sign of him being a Capitol-made mutt. But to be honest, I'm fine with him hanging around us. The more protection, the better.
It turned out Winter only had a minor concussion, but we were afraid to let her sleep in case she drifted away in the middle of the night. Aero stayed up to keep an eye on her, and they were both exhausted. They dragged behind us, using each other for support as they trudged along.
By midday, we had gathered up our supplies to begin hiking to a new camp. Too many tributes had "dropped by" our camp already, stealing some very valuable supplies. As we hike through the abandoned buildings, Clara suddenly turns back in surprise. I gasps a little, bumping into her. She steadies her hand on my chest, finger to her lips. "Everyone shut up," She snaps at our chattery group, hands on her ears. We fall silent, wondering. "Do you guys hear that?" She asks, pointing down the walk of the alleyway we just came. "The ocean sound is getting louder," she whispers. Suddenly Susan whimpers, grabbing the back of my uniform in his golden jaws and sprinting away. I squeal girlishly before clamping my hands over my mouth, eyes wide. Behind my allies is a giant tidal wave, nearly thirty feet high. And it's headed right towards us.
"Run!" Caella screams, dashing up to Susan and me. The lion stop momentarily so my other allies can scramble on its back, before taking off at lighting speed. I scream in protest as I'm jumbled and bumped around on his chest, the wind whipping at my face painfully. As we approach a space of buildings surrounding the factory, I watch as Stone is swallowed by the tidal wave, his cannon exploding far off in the distance almost immediately. The doors to the factory beckon to us, and Susan dashes in without a thought, the doors slamming shut behind him as he dives to the slick floor. When the doors close, we are locked in impenetrable darkness.
The tiles under my palms are cold, slick with something wet. I fumble in the blankness for Susan, finally gripping my hand around something furry. "Hey," Clara calls from a foot away. "Hey, guys?" Worry laces her voice.
"I'm over here," Caella calls, coughing.
"Winter and I are by a wall. Follow my voice," Aero calls from far away. I heed him, groping slowly along a wall to where his voice was. I bump into another person along the way, apologizing quickly.
"No need. It didn't hurt. But this will," a masculine voice sneers, jamming something into my ear. The lights flicker on with an electric groan of protest as I hold my bleeding head, blinking the stars out of my eyes. Alex growls menacingly at me, eyes furious. I pull out my sword, charging him. In the corner of my eyes, I spot Aspen attacking Caella, Clara by her side. The two girls together struggled to hold their ground, fighting Aspen with the rest of their energy combined.
With my sword against the small knife Alex held in his clutches, I easily overpowered him. He obviously wasn't expecting us to be so heavily armed, but now he's probably regretting it. Aero runs up next to me, pulling his sword out of his sheath as well. Aspen, noticing his ally's dilemma, tosses a wickedly long and sharp spear to Alex. He catches it with a smirk, brandishing it against us. Aero charges him, screaming in fury as his slashes as the boy. Alex parries every strike, lunging forward until Aero is cornered by a large, dark machine. I was about to run in, but Clara gave out a scream of agony. Aero can hold his own ground, right?
Clara is on the ground, clutching her thigh in pain. Aspen's spear protrudes from it, blood dripping down the staff. I dash to her side, defending Caella and Clara from Aspen as he pulls out throwing knives, grinning evilly. "You careers are all the same. First you stick together, all buddy-buddy, but at first chance, you kill each other without thought." He spits blood on the ground, pulling out a tooth. A knife flickers in his hand, and Caella goes down with a scream, knife protruding from her shoulder. Before he can move again, I charge at him, yelling in anger; my sword goes straight through his ribcage, piercing a lung and possibly his heart. With a groan of disgust, I slide his dying body off the blade, flicking the blood back onto him. It takes a moment before he dies, but when he does, I let loose a breathe I didn't know I had been holding in.
Kneeling next to Clara, I slowly help her pull out the spear in her leg, wincing at the large pool of blood seeping out of the deep wound. "You'll be fine, you will be fine…" I whisper, not even believing myself. I take off my shirt, using it to create a tourniquet to hopefully stop the bleeding. Clara's face is pale, he eyes slowly losing light. "No, no, no, no... Clara, please stay. Please stay with me," I whisper, caressing her cheek with my palm.
"I'm not going anywhere, idiot," She chuckles before passing out. Caella, holding her shoulder, catches Clara's head before she hits the floor. She looks up at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Go help your allies, idiot," Caella smirks, pointing at a bloody mess by the far wall where Aero, Winter, and Alex are still fighting. Winter, frail and pale, holds a bow and quiver of arrows, trying to shoot at Alex shakily. She keeps missing, crying in pain as Alex strikes down Aero. But before Alex can raise the killing blow, the machines surrounding us suddenly burst into life, whirring and clanging ominously. Behind my allies, a device with several long, sharp arms waves around, swooping Aero and Alex up into the sky. Winter drops to the floor before a talon can grip her.
In the machines grasp, Alex struggles, stabbing the mechanical arm with his sword. It does no damage, but the machine extracts another arm, this one tipped with a sharp barb at the end. The barb splits into two claws, and they each reach for Alex's face. Each barb impales and tugs out an eye, blood splattering the floor in huge globs as Alex's screams of agony pierce the veil of horror and doubt clouding my thoughts. This isn't a factory; it's a torture dungeon.
As Alex's eyes dangle in their sockets, bloody and useless, the machine begins to work on the other aspects of his body. Miraculously, the boy is still alive as a sharp blade cuts across his abdomen, roughly pulling out his intestines and tying them around his neck in a noose. I gag at the sight, backing away. Caella sobs in horror behind me, trying to shield the awakened Clara with her arm. Winter screams in horror as Aero is slowly ripped to pieces, the machine slowly pulling all his limbs in different directions. Before he's ripped apart, Aero screams something down to her, eyes red, covered in blood. "Winter Harley, I-" He starts, but is interrupted by an explosion of blood, as his body explodes from the tension, sending gore everywhere and soaking everything in sight scarlet. Winter shrieks in horror as she falls to her knees, Aero and Alex's cannons sounding in the distance together. The last thing I see is Alex's mangled and bloody body drop to the floor before passing out.
Alexander Lacey:
It’s always a good day when you awake to a giant wave ready to get you drenched. To think that this was some little ocean waves would be a big understatement. This thing was at least a thirty foot tall monster who screamed death. What a pleasant wake up call, don’t ya think?
Aspen latterly pushed me out of the fluffy bush I was laying on. Or maybe it was a rock. I wasn’t sure. My brain was filled with fog and it seemed like I would just float into the clouds at any minute.
“Alex! Hurry it up! Unless you want to swim with the fish. Then be my guest!” He took off running toward the factory and Stone ran past in a blur. I grabbed what looked as if to be my back pack and started running. My vision was slowly getting better and my brain was becoming more useful. I dodged an out-of-place tree. Of Corse, I then tripped over a crack in the path/road. When I stood up, I heard a quacking noise. I turned to see a duck ridding the huge wave. (GEORGE! :) ) I ran for my life.
I slammed the doors of the factory open as if I was that Ice Queen in the one capital movie they show everyone in a while. As graceful as that sounds, I then stumbled onto the ground like a blind seal. Man, what happened to me these last two days?
I looked around. It was the place I had been earlier in the games. It was a lobby of some sorts; Chairs, a front desk, and even a little bell made up the room. Two doors stood on the side of the front desk. There was also a bathroom. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure it wasn’t a Capital bathroom.
Aspen helped me up. “You okay? You look like you live in a dumpster.”
“That’s because I basically did before I got here. Thanks.” I turned to Stone. “Who died yesterday? Wait,” I said, decided that this was more important, “What happened yesterday? I remember ‘making a pact’ with you two, but that’s’ it.”
“You got over… Fear of ducks? If that’s not crazy enough, Flora, that district one girl is dead. It’s the three of us, Aero, Winter, Clara, Caella, and Clement. So, basically, the three c’s, the season, and the miss spelling of an arrow, like in bow and arrow. Doesn’t sound like too much to handle.” Stone chuckled as he took out his sword. “This shouldn’t take long.”
“Wait, how do we know they’re coming here?” I asked. I sat up grabbed my sword. I loved daggers, but swords were better in these games.
“The power of course. Look around, don’t you see us? Also, the waves led us this way. To tie it all up, there was smoke pilling out from the factory. We were going to come by once we woke you up, sleeping beauty.” Aspen and Stone both started laughing. The two had become friends, or just had similar humor. I wasn’t sure which.
Before I could question, two figures ran through the door. Winter and Clement looked shocked and confused as they came through the door. They also looked a little worn. Clements hair looked dirty and im sure I spotted a leaf stuck in his hair. Winter didn’t look much better.
“Look, The sassy season from seven and the Jr from one decided to join our party. Care for tea?” Stone joked.
“No thanks.” Winter said, gasping for her breath.
“Oh.” I said speaking up. I got what Stone was trying to do. Not sure how, but the fog had cleared and I was seeing clearly. “You’re staying for the party. After all, you wouldn’t want to prove that Clement is cooler than you, right?”
“How would that prove that he is cooler than me?” She asked.
“See, in district five and eleven, your only cool if you attend parties. Maybe they don’t do it on district seven. Do they Aspen?” I asked, turning to him.
“She wouldn’t know. She isn’t even cool enough to know they exist. I bet she still could beat Clement in some other way though.” Aspen smirked. “She probably will survive before he does, but she still won’t be cool.”
“I think Winter is cooler but Clement will win before she will. What about you Alex?” Stone said. He winked at me and mouthed ‘Here comes everyone else. Be prepared.’
“I don’t know. They will probably both die and have no swag what-so-ever.”
“No way,” Winter said. “I will win and I have way more cool-ness than Clement will ever have.” She turned to him. “Look at him. I could kill him easy.”
“No you couldn’t. I could crush you.” He balled up his fists and picked Winter up. “You’re as light as a feather.”
“Just means that I’m faster.” She said taunting as she escaped from his grasps. She ran to a door. That lead out of the factory lobby into to the factory. “Come and get me if you think your better!”
Just then, Aero, Clara, and Caella all strolled in. They were drenched, probably coming from the beach. Winter didn’t seem to notice. Before she could say anything else to Clement, a big fake white glove grabbed her and pulled her into the room. The door slammed shut. We heard a loud scream and then the sound of pigs, horses, dogs, and cows. Im going to call that room the Farm-Hand.
BOOM.
“Told you he would win before she would,” Stone said. He then turned to the new arrivals. “This isn’t fair now is it? Anyone over there want to make it fair?” He gestured to where Winter just disappeared.
“Wait… Who was…” Aero looked horrified as he understood who just died.
“Oh dear, she wasn’t your girlfriend was she? What a tragic situation. You wouldn’t know what real tragedy is though, would you. Being rich and all. Im sure you have plenty of girls waiting for you back home. She was probably nothing more than and a better place in the games, right?” I had to say, Stone was on his A-game today.
“Aero, that’s not true right?” Clara said. The three C’s all looked over to the poor Arrow, who was speechless.
Unfortunately, we would never know the answer. Aspen had snuck around. While everyone was distracted, he took the opportunity to sneak close. He pushed his sword through Caella’s stomach and the poor girl sunk to the floor.
BOOM.
Clement broke into fight with Aspen. Aero ran towards Stone who took off to the other door. I followed him and im sure Clara followed me. We ran into a room that was instantly twenty degrees hotter than the lobby. Big machines gathered around the four of us, towering us all. Various colors, shapes, and noises filled the air. Each machine was running, ready for us. Some had trip wire, some had dangling deserts, one even had a little boy crying. He held a sign saying ‘Im dying! Help me, Clara’. One released clones of anyone left in the game. Several Alex’s charged at me with weapons held high. It was then I realized that Averlyn was gone. For some reason, I wasn’t mad, sad, or happy. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her anymore.
Anyways, Stone ran into another door and we all followed. It was then I realized we ran into a machine. I thought we were all going to die when the machine generated thousands of doors. Stone took off, running down the aisles of doors. I opened the first door I saw, careful not to get to close. A big dog jumped out, jumping onto me. The door slammed shut, and I knew I was toast. The claws dug into my arms as I tried to stab the dog. MY grip on the sword was slipping. With the last I might have had, I swung it as much as I could with mu wrist. The dog yelped and took off running.
Stone appeared out of nowhere and helped me up. I heard a door slam and I knew it must have been a door. “Sleeping Beauty, if you want to live, you can’t sleep on the job. Now hurry before the arrow catches up.”
We took off. There were so many doors my head started to hurt. Eventually, we reached a golden door. “Welp, let’s hope this is a good door. It’s gold, so that’s good right?” I said. “I don’t know though. You probably know your elements better though, Stone.”
He gave me a death stare. He cracked the door open. He opened it up. Before I could process what it was, Stone was pushed into it. I turned raising my sword. There was a big ‘Clank!’ and my sword met Clara’s sword. We broke out into a sword fight. She had me beaten, but when she took her step to end me, her grip loosened and I slipped through and took my blow. It happened so fast, she probably didn’t see it coming.
BOOM
BOOM
I turned around to see her body had disappeared. I wasn’t sure who had just died, but I hoped it was Aero. I didn’t like him. I assumed it wasn’t Stone. That would have been a really late cannon if it were to kill you. I re-opened the door to see the familiar sight of the factory lobby. I saw Aspen, Stone, and Clement standing, ready for battle. I raised my weapon and ran through, ready for the end.
Aero Luzi:
Waking up to the sound of a low grumble, I can’t help but think about how Flora is now gone too. Flora and Nettie have passed; Winter, Caella, Clement, Clara and I are left. Our alliance makes up for over half of the remaining tributes. That’s a crazy thought; only three people left are those that we consider enemies: Stone, Alex and Aspen.
Suddenly, this ear grating scream pierces the air; I shiver and look over at the alliance. They all seem to be waking up from the loud shrill yells coming from the left. As I look over at Clement and Clara, I know that it’s coming to a close – we’re going to lose people today and we3 all have to be prepared. I don’t want to lose anyone, but if I want to get home, I have to learn to push my feelings aside and deal with the heartache.
Tearing my eyes away from the pained eyes of Clement, I see a large clear thing in front of us. It looks like glass of some sort, but it isn’t: it is water. It looks like it’s staying still from the angle that I’m at, but it isn’t. This is what can only be described as a tidal wave, and it’s about to wash over us all. There isn’t anything we can do to prevent it.
Winter just yells at us all to run; we sprint as the water towers over us. Splashes are felt on our heads as we work our stiff limbs as hard as we can. Being jolted awake so abruptly isn’t exactly how a tribute wants to wake up before what I’m guessing is the penultimate fight. Hopefully, this is the final fight and it all ends so soon. Then again, I don’t want to see all of my friends succumb to the arena...
You’d think that this would take us to the best fighting spot – where this all began: the overgrown town known as the Cornucopia. But no, we head away from the vine-covered horn and into one of the tallest buildings in the entire arena. Of course they’d force us together somewhere large, but I didn’t expect it to be one of the buildings – one of the only intact buildings in this arena too.
As the five of us run inside, we see the other three tributes awaiting us. They look just as perplexed as I feel; no one can explain what just happened and what’s going to happen next. Around us are a bunch of machines, varying in use. Of course the gamemakers would choose heavy, lethal machinery – but none of the machines relate to each other.
There’s no time to waste; I see that every machine is raring and ready to digest whatever we throw at them. Pushing Alex, I can imagine that his sister’s death took its toll; I push him into this open elevator space. What he doesn’t know is that the elevator is high up in the air, flying up and down on its own accord. It flies down, trapping the boy from Five.
His blood soaks the floor of the factory; Winter squeals slightly at the sight of the blood. Looking down at the boy, I see parts of his head that I never wanted to see. Clement just stares at the sight, knowing that this is only the beginning of the death that is yet to come. How many more deaths follow, I am unsure – I just know that it won’t remain at one death though – there are seven of us; two of them aren’t with us. At least two more will die here.
The simplest of sewing machines sit in the corner of the factory; by the looks of it, Clara has dragged Stone over to the machine and managed to sew his hand to the machine itself. However the hell she managed to do that, I’ll never know – Six is the not district that has knowledge on how to sew. Saying that, neither does District Four. Blake and Rain both perished very early on; they’d have the best knowledge of sewing, being from Eight.
Then, Clara uses the end of her fishing spear to pierce a large hole in Stone’s neck; he cries out in pain as blood trickles from the wound. It didn’t start off deep, but now Clara has her spear straight through Stone’s neck, leaving him from dead. As she yanks it out and laughs, I see Clement walk over to Aspen and ask him to surrender.
Of course, like any normal person in this arena, Aspen just laughs and tells Clement not to be stupid. With that, Clement punches the boy, sending him flying towards one of the meat grinding machines. However, along the way, he grabs Caella in a chokehold and forces her to stumble backwards with him. “You attack me, she comes with me.”
Part of me wants to send the boy flying into the machine and ignore his threatening warning, but the look on Caella’s face restrains me from doing so. I don’t have to do anything though; Winter steps forward and throws a rock at the boy. It does a lot of damage, surprisingly; blood trickles down the boy’s head. “You asked for it.”
With that, Caella screams as Aspen drags her backwards; they look weightless as they fall backwards, their shoulders and faces covered in the blood from Aspen’s wound. Winter just killed her own District partner and acted as if nothing had happened? That takes a lot of self control. Control that I don’t have. As the silence falls over us, I finally hear a cannon – most likely the last cannon of either Aspen or Caella.
“Let’s leave.” It’s just us four now, and Clement is on edge. The boy who can be so brutal is finally showing a side other than anger. As I stride in front of him and reach for the door handle, I know that something is wrong. It doesn’t matter how hard I yank, nothing budges. We are trapped in here.
And we’re going to be forced to kill each other.
Aspen Barker:
I'm alive. I actually made it to the final eight. I never thought that I'd make it this far. I look at stone and Alex. I'm so glad that I have and alliance I don't think that I would of made it this far without them. Stone and Alex may not be the most agreeable guys but I'm alive. I can't argue with that. The sound of waves crashing brings me to attention. I stand up, sword ready and look around to no success. That's when I see it. The big, scary tsunami wave heading straight for us. This is obviously just something to bring us all to the centre of the arena and fight again. I scramble around, waking my allies up. " Stone! Alex wake up there's a massive tidal wave and it's coming for us we have to run! Quick hurry up!!!" They wake up, rubbing their eyes. Obviously oblivious to what's going on around them. " guys hurry up your gonna die if you stay here any longer! Look!" I point to the ginormous tidal wave coming closer to us every second. Stone's eyes widen in fear and he scrambles to his feet, pulling Alex up with him. As we run the wave continues to tower over us, threatening to engulf us in its water depths, never to be seen again. As we run closer to the centre I see where it's headed for. The factory. Alex seems to realise too. " it's going for the factory! Quick we need to get inside!" I look around, trying to find another escape but all I see is a blue wall of water pinning me in. We have no choice. I run as if my life depends on it. Well, it does I'm in the Hunger Games. I jump through the door and pull Stone and Alex in just as the waves come crashing down on the roof. We're safe. But then I see five other figures standing in front of us looking just as shocked. They want us to fight. They want us to kill each other, they did this in purpose. Of course they did. All of a sudden the door and windows slam shut with a click. There's no escape. This is a lockdown. Suddenly all the machines in the factory come to life with a roar. This is going to be fun. I smirk at Alex and he laughs. I point to Caella who's looking around like a lost puppy and we charge at her, swords ready. Caella looks at us and screams in fear. She runs off into the maze of machines and we follow her, thirsty for blood. I'm not one to go around, killing everyone happily but I need to get home. I'm surprised Caella made it this far anyways. I see her hiding behind so sort of machine making stuffed toys. What the hell? We corner her in the machines and Alex is about to slit her throat when she jumps up and trips him over, sending him skidding across the floor. I quickly skewer her in the torso and she squirms for a few seconds and then goes still. Her cannon sounds, signalling her death. One down, six more to go. "Hey! She was mine! You never let me kill anyone!" Alex pouts. I just laugh. "“If you make every thing a life-and-death thing, you’re going to have problems. You’ll be dead a lot.” I smirk and walk past him. "Come on let's go get some some of the careers." I see Stone fighting with Aero and he looks like he's getting tired. Better help him. I sneak up behind Aero and Put a finger over my mouth, signalling him to be quiet. Aero turns around but he's too late.my sword has already pierced through his back and he crumples to the floor, dead. Two down.i high five Stone and pull my bloody sword out of Aero's back. Different people's blood are stained on my sword. Making it look like a bloody rainbow. I like rainbows. XD. We find Alex pinning Clara against the toy machine. Then I get an idea. " hey I have an idea! Tie her up and put her on the toy machine. Let's see what happens!" We find some rope and tie her arms and legs together. We put her on the machine and watch and she moves from one station to the next. First, feathers shoot into her mouth and you can see her choking. I hope that their chicken feathers. Next I see a big piece of metal pounding down on her, making a shattering crunch that makes me shiver. Feathers puff out everywhere and a cannon sounds. That's three now. There's only five people left. Winter screams as she sees Aero on the ground, dead. Death shines in her eyes as she sees us. She knows we did this. Now all Aero was was the sky around the sun. Alive, but not really there. I think Winter had a thing for him. Winter comes charging at us at full speed. This isn't good. I raise my bloody rainbow of a sword and charge at her as well, along with Stone and Alex. Winter is no match for us three. But she keeps running, never slowing down. But soon she'll wish that she did. Winter runs into Stone, knocking him over. Alex jumps on top of her, pinning Winter down as she screams in surprise. I walk over to them both a smile. "So.. How's your boyfriend doing?" I laugh. She screams and tries to escape with no such luck, tears forming in her eyes. I almost feel sorry for her but then I think of how many people she murdered, torturing them until they die. I bring my sword down on her head. Not because I need to get home, not because I have to. I bring it down because I think how she enjoyed killing those poor, innocent kids. It makes me sick. How can someone enjoy killing your own kind? Stone puts his hand on my shoulder as I'm brought back to reality. I see Winter's mangled body below myself and I realise I must of stabbed her more that once. " dude, it's ok she's dead. You can stop now." I get up, shaking. What have I done. I'm no good as the careers. I don't want to play this game anymore. "I'm sorry, I- I don't know what got into me. I'm sorry I really am." I walk off and try to once again open the doors with no success. I guess we're going to have to spent the night in this death house. " hey guys I guess we're gonna have to sleep in here tonight. I'll take first watch." We find a place that seems like no ones has been here before so we set up camp. Even after my watch is over I can't get to sleep. I killed four people today. I'm a murderer. The last thing I think of before I drift asleep is how happy my family will be if I win. Our district would never be hungry again as long as I'm alive. I have to win. No matter what it takes. I shall not allow myself to be engulfed by death, only by happiness. I will live my life to the fullest, laugh at the odds, which should be in my favour. And live my life so well, that deaths shall tremble to take me.
Stone Everglade:
We had been in the arena 6 days, 144 hours, 518,400 seconds and the one night I decide to camp on the warm sand by the ocean a giant title wave just happens to decide to pummel on the arena. That didn’t sound like a coincidence.
Not that I was really in the state of mind to care. My eyes were bloodshot, my body was bruised, all I wanted to do was sleep. Sadly for whatever reason my body refused to comply, so I had spent night sitting on the beach thinking about how much I wanted to be sleeping right now. I loved sleep, it was like death without the commitment. The wave was actually the first interesting thing that happened all night, I stared at the oncoming death numbly. I debated whether or not to wake up my allies, I could just sit here and wait until the wave hit us….
Stone, you lazy ass, wake them up. Your time is coming, it’s not now though. There is still something you need to do.
I let out a long exasperated sigh. “I had almost managed to forget about you, creepy voice in my head. Thanks for the reminder that I’m insane.” I muttered, watching as the wave approached even quicker. Maybe I should wake them up, but I was just so tired. My will to live was dead, just like I would be in 30 seconds or so.
Images from my younger days flashed through my mind, me smiling, laughing and helping people. I was merely an empty shell of what I had been, a worthless shell being tossed back and forth by the winds of the world, a shell that somehow managed to get swept past the jaws of death every time I attempted to enter them.
Why were the people who didn’t want to die so easy to kill, while the ones who wanted to die so hard?
Stone this isn’t all about you! Alex and Aspen want to live!
I closed my eyes feeling the familiar tornado of feelings swirl around my heart. I was so gullible. With another sigh I pushed myself to my feet and kicked Aspen in the ribs with all my might. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t enjoy kicking the annoyingly happy boy.
“Wake up. Theres a title wave barreling toward us.” I said without much conviction. I walked over and kicked Alex next, as Apen moaned a little and screamed upon seeing the wave. I grabbed Alex’s backpack and slung it over my shoulders kicking Alex again for good measure.
Aspen swooped over to Alex dragging the unstable kid to his feet. “Come on!” Alex groggily threw a glance over his shoulder a gesture that seemed to snap him completely out of his morning fog as he started sprinting.
I ran along side the two boys who were scared out their minds and fueled by adrenaline, I didn’t share their apparent fear. Stopping my feudal sprint and turning to face death with open arms danced tantalizingly at the back of my mind, daunting to me to give in.
I tried to shake it free of my conscious but my resistance only seemed to make the desire grow stronger…. I pushed my legs faster on the pavement, trying desperately to get lost in the rhythm of my feet. I heard the wave rushing behind us, ravaging over the dead city, destroying all in its wake. My eyes locked on the huge grey factory. The wave was almost on us, we were going to have to take our chances if we wanted to live. No. If they want to live. You don’t want to live, you’re absolutely worthless, you're the lowest of the low. You killed your sister so you could live. You are so weak, pathetic and worthless and everyone knows it. Logic and memories slammed into my sanity, desperately trying to destroy it. I tried to push it out of my mind but I couldn’t.
“The factory! It’s our only hope!” I yelled as Aspen doubled his pace and reached the door to the factory first and throwing himself inside. Alex rushed through and I was hot on his heels, resisting the urge to stop and let the waves crash into me. The door slammed shut behind me as the entire building shook from the force of the waves.
I fell to my knees surrounded by darkness, the depression beginning to smother me. What hope? Since when was there any hope?
That was when the lights flickered on slowly one by one, illuminating the darkness. Five silhouettes were illuminated. The remaining careers. Behind them machinery began to whir as the rest of the factory, crammed with machinery began to work. I swallowed getting to my feet feeling my heart flutter in my chest, anxiety rippling down my spine.
This was going to be a bloodbath. A bloodbath between The Capital’s lapdogs and the turned outer district’s versus the trio of… well whatever we were. It was pretty obvious which side would win.
I yanked Alex’s backpack off of my shoulders and unzipped it hastily reaching my hand in feeling around for a weapon. The bag was empty with the exception of a duck. Yes, you heard me correctly a living, breathing duck. My head snapped around to glower at Alex. “What the hell!” I yelled as Alex rushed forward and enveloped the bird in his arms. “Seriously, where the hell are the weapons?” My eyes blazed as I stared at him, mildly aware that we were being charged by a herd of careers.
His eyes flicked with surprise before turning to stone again. “I needed a place for George to sleep.” He said as a sledgehammer raced toward my head. I growled in frustration, ducking as the career from 6, Arrow or something, tried to smash my skull in.
Arrow swung the sledgehammer at me again, I caught it mid air, the force sending a shock through my body. I kneed his stomach and sent him tumbling backward. “It has a name?” I demanded looking at him as he fought with Caella, her face was cascading with perspiration as the two struggled through their death match. I drove my elbow into Caella’s head, knocking her to the ground as the girl with the blue hair attacked me. Her spear drove its way into my shoulder, searing the flesh, I jumped back, right into Aspen. This bloodbath was too congested, I ducked under Clara’s next swing. A ninja star whizzed over my head as I broke into a sprint deeper into the factory.
I glanced over my shoulder to see if Aspen and Alex were following me. They weren’t, but two careers were; Arrow and the blonde girl. I started running, pushing my legs against the concrete, ducking and dodging whirring machinery.
My breath caught in my throat as I felt the back of my shirt catch on a jagged edge of machinery it jerked me upward. Desperately I wiggled myself free from the shirt, I felt it give as I fell downward my body cracking against the hard concrete. I let out a small moan, forcing myself to stand up off of the grimy floor. I crained my neck upwards to see what I had gotten caught on.
I watched, chills riveting up my spine as the fabric of my shirt was tossed into a paper grinder. This was not a place that I’d like to die. I heard a shout from somewhere behind me as the two careers whipped around the corner and saw me. I started sprinting again I saw the wall of the factory. I glanced over my shoulder, I couldn’t go back. My eyes spotted a ladder and I ran for it as a ninja star soared past my ear. My clammy fingers grasped the cool metal of ladder and began tugging myself upwards. My breath was ragged in my chest, why was I even doing this? Why was I running? Why was I even breathing?
I pulled myself up into the walkway that ran over the entire factory. I jumped to my feet and began sprinting down the walkway.
The answer hit a dead end, the machinery grinding beneath me. I turned around to see Arrow and the blonde girl closing in on me…. I was mad- no furious. I was sick of being pushed around by everyone. So what if I killed my sister? So. What. A little giggle escaped my lips. I was going to make someone pay very dearly.
I felt all the fury boil over, mixing with my fear and anxiety morphing into something terrifying.
Both careers were taking their time, they knew they had me cornered- or was it I who had them cornered? I let out a warcry and charged them, red hazing the edges of my vision. I barreled into Arrow, knocking him to the ground. His sledgehammer skidded from his hands and fell over the edge into the metal monsters that waited below. I started punching him relentlessly, feeling a sense of intoxicating power hit me. I saw a katana come soaring towards my face I blocked it with my arm, loving the riveting pain that shot up my arm as the blade dug into my forearm.
Some small part of me, trapped in the deepest corners of my mind screamed at me that I had completely lost it, that this wasn’t me. I barely processed it though my hand shooting forward and clasping the sharp blade in my palm. The girl tried to rip her blade free but I held tight as the blade tore through my skin. I kicked her stomach and sent her tumbling backward against the flimsy safety rail. Arrow jumped me from behind, his big hands clasping my neck, about to clack it. I ebowed his stomach and he let go with a pained ‘umph’. I spun around and sent my fist into his face, relishing the image of his body collapsing.
I felt an explosion of pain in the bony part of my right shoulder. I reached toward the pain, pulling free a ninja star. I hooked my middle finger through it stared at the reflection in the hard black metal. I smirked as I watched the blonde girl try to sneak up on me, drawing her katana back. I ducked, spinning around at the last second, thrusting the ninja star across her stomach, I watched as the blood explode, pouring into the ground in bucketloads. An entrail had gotten itself stuck in a rivet of the star, pulling itself from her stomach. The entrail burst as I yanked the star free, a smelly brown liquid leaking from it. Winter screamed dropping her sword as she stared at her entrails in horror. On an impulse I reached forward and yanked them with all my might, a large brainlike entanglement fell out.
I leaped forward as she fell to her knees and began slashing her body repetitively, mindlessly. Blood flew in every direction with each new cut I made. The most terrifying thing of it all was that I didn’t care.
Suddenly I felt my body tossed to one side, I tumbled over, my foot hanging dangerously over the edge of the walkway. I quickly pulled it back in, turning to look at the girl, Arrow sat over her body, hunched over grasping her hand. I watched transfixed as he begged her to stay with him, tears running from his eyes. A gurgle of blood coughed itself from the girl’s throat and she stopped moving.
And it is only then that my sanity caught up with me. I gazed onward in sudden horror at what I had done, feeling bile raise itself in my throat. How could I have done that? How could I have enjoyed it. How had I gone from saving people to torturing them? I felt my hands begin to shake as Arrow turned to face me, his eyes cold. “Y-you killed her.” He choked tears clogging his throat.
I shook my head guilt bombarding me, strangling me, drowning me. “I’m sorry. I-I don’t know-”
“Shut up!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, storming towards me I backed up hitting the rail. I glanced behind me and I knew I was dead. There was no way I was getting out of this alive. “Shut up!” He screamed again, throwing himself at me, his hands grasping my neck as I felt myself tumble backwards over the rail and into the churning machinery below.
We landed in a huge funnel, my fingers curling around the rim as my body slid towards the center of the funnel, where whirring blades spun rapidly, ready to grind anything- or anyone -that got caught in its blades.
My heart thrummed in my chest like a bird desperately trying to break free of it’s cage. I had to pull myself out of here. My eyes settled on Arrow who was a beside me, his palms face down on the metal trying to keep himself from slipping. He hadn't been able to grab the lip of the funnel like I had.
We made eye-contact, his were wide with fear. I hesitated, then reached forward and offered him my hand. “Here.” I said, aware that once we got out of the funnel he’d probably kill me.
He looked at the hand as if it was infected. “You think helping me will bring her back? Do you?” He spat, his eyes blazing as tears rolled from them. “I don’t need your help.” He hissed, beginning to inch his way upwards, one palm at a time- I watched, heart in my throat.
Then he slipped the sweat from his palm sliding downward. I watched in horror as he cried out, his foot being devoured by the blade. Blood flew in all directions along, fainting the funnel a deep shade of scarlet. a small piece of ground skin hit my cheek as arrow was pulled deeper and deeper into the grinder. When it reached his thighs he reached his arm out toward me, as if somewhere in that inhuman wail that left his lips was a plea for help, rethinking his prior statement.
I couldn’t reach him though.
And so I watched the demise of the district six career. The grinder sent his internal organs flying along with the blood, drenching me. A huge bubble of red coughed itself from Arrow’s lips as he finally died, either from the pain or the bloodlust, I had no idea. I stared, still unable to move as I stared at the remains of his corpse get eaten by the shredder, the last thing I saw of him was his one pale bloody hand reaching upward toward the sky as it was too grinded into oblivion.
I stayed like that for a minute before finding the strength in me to pull myself upwards out of the funnel, I perched on the lip a second staring at the conveyer belt below me. I nearly vomited as I was a small styrofoam plate full of uncooked meat that was covered with clear plastic wrap roll out. It was labeled; Aero.
I looked away. The gamemakers were sick, God they were sick, I thought in disgust as I let myself fall to the ground feeling tears of frustration, shock, and sadness well in my eyes. I was so weak, images of Aero (I guess he spelled it weird) and the blond girl who I still had no idea what her name was flashed through my mind, taunting me. I didn’t feel angry, or suicidal this time. I just felt this deep seated sadness washing about within me. I wanted to hide away in a corner and never be found.
I sigh and began walking through the machinery back toward the entrance. I stepped over the dead body of the district four girl, I stared at her body that was once full of life and vigor lie empty with a knife wound in her back. I stepped over her and continued walking forward numbly, dodging the mechanical arms of the machines.
Suddenly Alex swung around the corner of a toy making machine and nearly ploughed into me. His eyes widened a little from surprise then fell back into their residual glare. “Did Clement come by here? We got Caella, we just need Clement!” He asked, looking over my shoulder.
Aspen appeared behind Alex, a look of distrust splayed across his face. I looked down, feeling my brain jump itself, this was it. We were in the final four? I started to shake my head. This wasn’t supposed to happen, I had been supposed to die. Twenty others had died while trying to survive, and I, trying to die, had managed to survive. I looked up, my heart twisted by greif.
This was it. This was really it. I stared at my two allies, I was going to sacrifice myself for one within the next hour most likely- the question became; who should I save?
And more importantly, was I brave enough to do it?