Caged | The Hunger Games AU ✓

xxvii. resolution

twenty-seven - resolution

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everyone has experienced the feeling of being trapped. whether you're physically confined somewhere, mentally cut off from everything and everyone, or not comfortable in your own skin, we've all felt it. and that particular moment for me is slowly creeping in. i feel caged.

every heavy step toward the beach is a trek closer to our deaths. a skull could be staring me in the face for all i know. every time my foot lands on the ground, i feel the air around me grow denser. the trees seem to squish like someone is pinching them. our destination feels light-years away, and it's only stretching on farther and farther as if it's a never-ending run.

i'm more exhausted than i've ever been in my life. dark circles of fatigue take up almost my entire face until the skin appears to sag off my skull. i've never felt so physically and mentally awful, not even when asher died and i couldn't bring myself to sleep for days. this is a different kind of exhaustion– one that is slowly consuming me until i can no longer bear it. i'm quickly nearing my breaking point.

even through my stuffy head, blocked nose, and stiff body, my mind is still clear on our mission: take down astrid.

matthias doesn't seem to be feeling much better than i do. his steps are wobbly and he occasionally stumbles, holding onto his head. a swelling, bruised lump is starting to appear from how hard he had been hit. i have a never-ceasing fear that he may have a concussion, and won't be able to defend himself too well.

it feels like we're moving in slow motion. time has stopped. we're trudging through an empty void of black plants and little to no moonlight, for the heavenly body is obscured behind a dark, threatening cloud. the weather has set the mood for the night– the last night of the seventy-fifth hunger games.

finally, after two eternities, we reach the sandy shore of the beach. i stop at the edge of the forest and observe. the waves crash and tumble onto the grains, snarling and rolling like a wet dog. choppy waters nearly make it impossible to see the strips of rock connecting to the cornucopia. how are we going to survive the swim there?

"we have to stay here," i shout over the roar of the wind and waters. the sharp breeze whips into my eyes, making them bone dry. i have to blink furiously in order to see.

"what?" matthias asks loudly, then shakes his head. "thalia, we can't. astrid can't swim anyways. we'd be safe up there–"

"no," i protest fiercely. my eyes lock on his. "there is little to no chance of us surviving those waves. i'd rather die fighting than from sinking to the bottom. i want to at least have a chance."

matthias holds my gaze for a second, then nods. the wind increases, blowing his hair around in a tangled mess of strands. he squints up at the treetops, their leaves waving around in time with the breeze. "we could climb up there and wait 'till she comes."

i nod, rushing to the trunk and gripping onto it as best as i can. the bark is rough on my hands as i struggle to climb. the howling of the wind causes me to occasionally pause, shielding my eyes from the sharpness of it. my hair blows into my face, my mouth, my nose. i can barely see as i hoist myself up higher and higher.

"go!" matthias shouts from somewhere below. "i'm right behind you."

eventually, i make it to a decent branch and grab onto it, pulling myself aside until i'm sitting. my breaths come out in ragged pants as i strive to see matthias. the leaves and entwined branches from the tree obscure him from my view. my heart starts to pound even harder.

"matthias?" i call, leaning down as much as i can in an attempt to see more clearly. it's no use– i still can't see for the life of me.

"i'm coming!" he replies faintly. the wind carries his voice away, making him sound a lot farther away than he actually – hopefully – is. "it's just – my head."