"You're gonna lose more blood if you don't keep still," Link says to Andrea. Like a good district partner, he offers his help with getting the bolt out of her arm.
"How can I be still?" she argues. "This is awful- AGH!"
Link has just removed the bolt without alerting her, quickly and cleanly. He gets to work bandaging the hole in Andrea's arm. The bolt missed her bone by inches- how unfortunate. Blood gushes out like a river, and all the gauze we have can't stop the flow.
"You idiot, you made it worse!" Andrea exclaims at Link, pulling her hair into a high bun with one hand. Her blood stains are everywhere.
"What? Did you have a better idea?"
"Uh, duh. You could've pulled it out more slowly."
"I don't think that would've made a difference," he says. "With your attitude, you should be dead. But I won't murder my district partner, 'cause it would really embarrassing for me. You know; if I win and have to deal with everybody hating on me."
"Aren't you the charmer."
"What's the deal with you, District One?" Lily asks.
"Yeah," I agree. "Do you hate the world or something?"
Andrea forces herself to meet my eyes. "Don't you? Look at us and where we are, for one thing. Newsflash: just because I'm from the luxury district doesn't mean my life is amazing, you know. I've been an orphan since I was five."
"I'm sorry," Lily replies. Hal fiddles with his spear, but I know what he's thinking. He's an orphan, too. Loss is everywhere in Panem. You can't get away from it.
"I still don't like any of you," Andrea replies.
"And I'm still gonna kill you," I tell Andrea. "Count on it."
Ding
Ding
Ding
A parachute is dropping beside us.
No, wait. Check that.
Three parachutes glide down. Each is labeled with our districts. Link and Andrea open theirs first. Inside, they find much-needed bandages, gauze and ointment. Hal and I are rewarded with tomato soup and a loaf of bread.
"Yum," Hal says. I'm salivating over the soup myself. Marius and Lily's parachute holds ropes, which will be perfect for making traps with. This is how we spend most of the evening; weaving some nets. Resting up. Eating and drinking. Washing blood from our clothes.
We've finished breakfast when I feel the icy tap of water on my shoulder. Just a tiny drop. It starts coming down, rapidly gathering speed, until it's pounding me relentlessly.
"The trees!" Marius shouts. "We need to hang onto a tree!"
Easier said than done, seeing as we're still in the hillside, and the forest seems to be just a speck in my line of vision. Moving becomes a difficult task. We all plop in the mud several times, stumbling towards safety. Lily and I grab each other's hands as our feet sink farther downward.
It only gets worse. Turns into the fastest, deadliest mudslide I've ever experienced. As hard as I try to keep standing, my feet fly out from under me. I instinctively let go of Lily's hand, wrap my arms around the back of my head while I plop into the mud… and my elbow twists. Hard. Beside me, Lily has fallen, too, but she seems okay. She protected her head like I did. Great thing, that our weapons are strapped tightly to our backpacks, so they won't get lost. Andrea, Hal and Marius are below us, sliding and slipping to who knows where. I don't see an end to the mudslide. As for Link, he's nowhere in my line of vision. I keep wishing that he sunk under the mud. He's my biggest competition, honestly.
But he barrels into me a few moments later. I think he wasted time looking for something that he dropped.
"I see a dry spot coming up!" Hal yells. "Jump to your left!"
I can't find the spot yet, but when he grabs onto something, I see it. A rather small patch of land that hasn't been touched by mud. It'll do, though. I think my allies and I can all fit on it. Maybe. Lily takes my hand again and pushes us both with her powerful swimmer's arms. We used to swim lap races a lot in District 4. She always beat me. Together, we keep pushing across the mudslide… but we miss the dry patch.
Can I panic yet?
No, I won't panic.
My faith proves useful, because soon, I see another safe haven. Trees.
We jump onto the closest branches available. Since I won't be too careful, I scale higher up the tree. And finally-finally-we're out of danger. I feel like I've dragged myself around with giant weights attached to my body.
Lily is crying and laughing hysterically. "We made it."
My other allies are spaced out here and there, but all are accounted for.
Ugh, hanging on this tree is killing my already-busted elbow. I think I dislocated it.
Now the mudslide has risen to meet me in height. That's my estimate, anyway. I'd be dead or still choking if it weren't for our escape. The District 9 boy slides by, reaching for branches, desperately fighting to keep his head from going under. A losing battle that ends with his cannon.
The mudslide rages on for a minute longer. Then, abruptly, it disappears, and the arena floor has returned to its normal state.
Ok, I have to admit, that was really cool.
Lily and I reunite with Link, Hal, Andrea and Marius underneath a brush, one that opens up to the Cornucopia. That's how far we came on our fun little ride. Thankfully, sponsors send me a sling for my elbow to heal in, but now I'm at a disadvantage. I dread what tomorrow brings.
"I totally wanna do that again!" Hal cheers.
YOU ARE READING
Beauty and a Beast
FanfictionA HUNGER GAMES FANFICTION! Cunning. Vicious. In the 58th annual Hunger Games, a legendary victor was crowned. These are Enobaria's Games. You know how she won. But you don't know the rest of her story. *Written in February 2014*
