( ð’‰ð’–ð’Žð’‚ð’ð’Šð’•ð’š'ð’” ð’‡ð’‚ð’–ð’ð’•ð’” ).
ten.『 cost of the game ã€
ð‡ð„ð‘ ð…ð„ð„ð“ ð‚ð€ð‘ð‘ðˆð„ðƒ ð‡ð„ð‘ ðð”ðˆð‚ðŠð‹ð˜, ð€ððƒ ð’ð‡ð„ ð–ð€ð’ ð’ð‡ðŽð‚ðŠð„ðƒ ðð˜ ð‡ðŽð– ð…ð€ð’ð“ ð’ð‡ð„ ð–ð€ð’ ð€ðð‹ð„ ð“ðŽ ðŒðŽð•ð„. Of course, she slipped every now and then, but to her surprise she was able to carry on, as she darted between trees, zig zagging to make sure none of them would be able to throw anything at her. She could hear the grunting and calls to her, the four, (or was it five?) tribute racing after her. There was no doubt in her mind that these were the careers. But she was bound to get tired at some point, especially when she wasn't used to running.
Her chest heaved as she ran, carrying her knife tightly in her hand although it wouldn't be much use against the five of them. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she could hear the blood pumping in her ears which for the most part drowned out the sound of her pursuers. Her mouth was dry but she had no time to stop and swallow, unless she was able to find a good hiding place. But there were none here. Not in this area at least.
She just had to outrun them, perhaps tire them out, but the chase would never really be over. It was a horrible thought, but once all this was done and if she was alive, wouldn't she just have to fight again for her life against other tributes hiding in the swampy arena? She wouldn't ever escape this without killing someone, would she?
Was that the cost of this game? Loss of innocence? If so, she didn't want to do this. So why did she keep running and not just end it? Stop before things got worse?
The horrible thoughts clouded her mind, and no matter what, she kept on running.
And she was fast.
The only problem.
They were fast too.
And she was getting tired.
She couldn't tell if they were as well, but that's the only thought that registered in her mind. Her legs, begging her to stop as she pushed forward, calves burning with the effort to keep up with her mind. Her lungs squeezing in her chest, telling her to stop and breath. Her heart pounding as she played the game of cat and mouse. Or a lamb running from a pack of hunger wolves.
There was no way she could outrun them. But this couldn't be it, could it? Her sister had said that this wouldn't be it. That she would come back and thats all Indie wanted. To go back home and get out of this hellish nightmare.
Just keep going.
She had no idea where she was actually going. She just wanted to escape the calling and whooping coming from behind her, seeing as the careers were most certain they'd get to put on a show for the Capitol, keep things interesting. And they were probably right.
There was no way she was getting out of this alive. Maybe if there was only one, she might stand a chance. But take on five? She knew that district two had had much more training than she ever had in preparation for the games (which was not fair but what part of this was fair). So she focused on getting as far away from them as possible.
That's when she saw something glinting in the sunlight, up ahead as she slipped slightly. The cornucopia. And a few feet away, was the dark murky water surrounding it causing her to want to back away. It surrounded the thing like a moat, and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Unlike before there was no way for her to cross, and after never having really been able to swim before, Indie found it safe to say she'd probably drown. And in her mind that was better than getting stabbed.
She pushed towards the water, knowing that if she were to turn they'd probably catch quicker. Maybe she was wrong in believing she could possibly have a chance at surviving this, she thought as she neared the water quicker, feeling her dry throat before for the water that looking dirty and disgusting. It didn't matter. What did was that she kept moving.
But then, as she was only two meters from running straight into the muddy bank she slipped, falling face forward and collapsing.
Oh how stupid she must look.
If she could she would face palm herself, but the ground had already done an excellent job of that for her.
The careers voices swam in her ears as pain passed through her body, more specifically her nose as she felt the cold mud cover her face, contrasting disgustingly with warm and sticky blood.
"Look, we didn't even need to take her down," a female voice said humorously, as Indie groaned and rolled into her side, trying to claw at the muddy banks to pull herself away. "She did it all. Her. Self." She seemed to pause in between each word, and Indie couldn't get a good enough look to tell who it was, as a foot came down on her back, rolling her over so she was facing the trees that covered her view of the sky.
Laughs echoed around her, and in the back of her mind, Indie felt around for her knife that was trapped under her body, not wanting too much attention drawn to her hand.
Because the careers had yet to kill her, she could only assume that they meant to toy with her until she was dead. Put on a show for the capitol. In front of her sister.
The thought made bile rise in her throat and she urged herself to keep the food down, and she jumped when she felt someone grab onto her hand, another person grabbing her other pulling it away from its search.
Two people were pulling her somewhere. Oh, how she hoped they weren't trying to cook her.
No. They were dragging her towards the water, and with everything in her as she realized what they were going to try to do, she fought back, kicking at the three girls who were watching her be dragged, following close behind.
Her boot managed to hit one girl, the one she recognized from District Two and the shortest of the three, in the stomach. Hard. Her other foot connected with the girl four Four's right leg, making it fly out in the mud from under her, so like Indie herself falling forward.
Suddenly, one of the hands holding her pulled her up by her arm, quickly grasping her neck and squeezing it tightly, and Indie gasped as she chocked, reaching for the wrist that could easily snap her neck without a second thought. She fought, trying to pry the fingers of of her neck, unsurprisingly to no avail, when she felt something like her stomach.
She dropped one hand as he held her close, breathing harshly in her face causing her to recoil after the disgusting smell. "Have something you want to say, Five?" He hissed at her as she continued to choke, feeling the stares of his peers, and well... the rest of Panem.
Her fingers curled around the handle of his sword, and she felt a sudden burst of confidence as she glared back at him, and said, "Yeah. Fuck you."
In a swift motion she puked his sword out, and without thinking, stabbed him in the gut with the sword, feeling his fingers release her throat in shock and surprise and she pulled the sword out, bringing her leg up to kick him back into the water they were about to drown her in, gasping as she felt herself able to breath better again.
She looked toward the rest of the Career pack, who for a moment stood stunned looking at their comrade's fallen body as a canon echoed, and Indie jumped looking around as if searching for it which seemed to be a wrong move as the District One boy made a move, knocking her backwards and she stumbled before righting herself again, bringing up the sword in front of her to continue to fend off the attackers, starting to feel unsure of this.
There was no going back if she wanted to survive though.
The boy lunges at her, looking as though he'd try to knock her back into the water again, raising his own machete in the air and Indie brought her sword up to deflect it in return, but the boy had used all his strength, and once again, Indie felt her legs give out from under her, slipping out as she fell onto her back, her eyes growing tho the size of saucers as he pretty much jumped , attempting to land on her.
Before he fell though, she brought her legs up, and instead of landing on her, he fell onto her legs. If she hadn't had adrenaline pumping through her, her legs would've probably given out but in that moment, as her feet connected with his stomach she was able to launch him over her, legs surprisingly flexible as they went over her head, him going along with it.
Indie prepared to hear a splash.
But instead of just a splash the water behind her erupted, instead a long scaly creature emerging, opening its jaws of sets of teeth, biting down on the boy, and Indie could hear the distinct crunch of his bones as the creature sank its teeth into the boy, who screamed bloody murder as he was eaten alive.
Indie felt blood spray on her skin she she rolled feathered away from the bank as the creature finally fell back into the water, another canon
Indie felt herself wanting to get up, but the urge to was gone as she felt sick to her stomach, remembering the screams of the boy. The three other career tributes had run away, and Indie felt herself pull herself up to follow and get the hell away from that damned water, now with bubbles around a spot and blood coming to the surface.
Finally she stumbled to her feet, walking away from the scene, or limping away from the scene as what had just happened finally started to hit her, both physically and mentally. She rubbed a hand to her neck to soothe the sting, her soft skin and small hand feeling much different than the boy that she now assumed was from District Two.
She stumbled to a tree, leaning her back against it as she coughed, feeling hot tears well up in her eyes that she brushed away quickly, but it didn't work as sobs choked in her throat. Indie dubbed a hand to her face as she fell to the ground, feeling the blood from her nose coat it and when she brushed her hand against her nose let out a sharp yell, as it felt as though it wasn't in position any more.
It was broken, and she had nothing here to fix it. She suddenly felt the desire to fight leave her completely, as she gave into the tears and rested her arms across her legs, and started to sob.
The cost of the game, was your life.
ð”žð”²ð”±ð”¥ð”¬ð”¯'ð”° ð”Ÿð”²ð”©ð”©ð”°ð”¥ð”¦ð”±
yet another short chapter (1895 words). sorry it's been so long since my last update but I will probably be updating more with lockdown so...
votes comments appreciated and have a good day / night!
. . . ð’‚ ð’“ð’†ð’—ð’ð’ð’–ð’•ð’Šð’ð’ ð’Šð’” ð’“ð’Šð’”ð’Šð’ð’ˆ . . .