Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Thirty-Five

Can't believe I'm posting this. It is awful! Will be under major revision when I have time! This is for you reesiepc11!

 A hole in my soul made the days in the arena ever longer. After I left him, I wondered aimlessly for hours, not even bothering to hunt. I had no motivation. There was no point in it all without him.

 Eventually, I returned to the water. I had decided it was time to return to the Cornocopia. I thought it unlikely that anyone would be there. After all, the only thing there was ice. It was a stupid, reckless decision, but at the time, I didn’t care. I foraged in the nearby bushes for some supplies and began the swim. I took particular caution whilst swimming to look out for the creatures from the previous visit to the water, but there was no sign of them. I even managed the swim in one go, knowing the reward of reaching land would be greater.

 I knew immediately when I reached the tunnel that it wasn’t the same one I had used previously. The ceiling was fortunately higher, and crawling was only necessary for a short part of the journey through it. When I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I could tell the ground was no longer a white sheet of ice. The ground had thawed, and the rain had created a slushy mud flooring. With a sigh, I shifted the small backpack on my shoulder, which contained a small amount of supplies, and waded through the mud. My feet felt as heavy as my heart, but I forced myself towards to Cornocopia. I hoped to seek some sanctuary there. But when I reached there, I realised I wasn’t alone. A girl, I estimated she was around fifteen, lay, her hands curved around her stomach in a foetal position, a low moan coming from her mouth. Cautiously, I approached her, and knelt beside her in the mud. She whimpered, and I saw tears had stained her face for a long time, possibly days.

 “Please…end it…I…it hurts,” the girl whispered, her hand reaching towards me, covered in her own blood. I took her hand, but ignored her request.

 “I can’t,” I told her, “I can’t. Not anymore.”

 “How touching,” a voice from behind me said. Within a second, I’d yanked my hand from the girl’s bloody grasp, and turned to face it. A blonde stood before me, smirking. She wasn’t a career, but she had the attitude of one. I remembered her from training, the girl from District 3.

 “Moonstone,” I said, cringing at her awful name.

 “Raven! How nice of you to remember my name,” she cackled, mockingly bowing. I forced a smile, and gave her a regal wave. I thought it might amuse the Capitol viewers. And give me a little time to figure out a plan. Moonstone was toying with me, which came to my advantage.

 “I see you’ve met Ceres. The poor lamb. I don’t think she’ll last much longer.”

 “You’re sick. Sick in the head,” I hissed.

 “Aren’t we all a little? That’s what the Games do to you,” she said, cocking her head slowly to the side. I noticed she was drooling a little, and a small trickle of blood had escaped from her nose. Her blonde matted hair and wide, bloodshot eyes made me think of a rabid animal, or a mutt from previous Games. That was when I spotted the bite marks in her neck. She’d been poisoned by something. Her head lolled backwards and her eyes rolled back in to her head. I was terrified, and began to shift away from Ceres. I didn’t want her getting attacked again.

  Moonstone’s head went back into place with a sickening click. My fingers trembled as I slowly removed a knife from my belt, trying to keep my face neutral. Moonstone’s body was thrown into spasm, the muscles in her arms and legs rippling horrifically. Then, with an inhuman growl, she threw herself at me with surprising speed. I hardly had time to bat her away, and then she was tackling my legs straight away. I cried out. As I tumbled to the ground, my leg landed at an odd angle, and the crunch of several of my toes breaking almost made me sick. Through the pain, I made a wild stab at Moonstone. The knife connected with her hand and pierced the skin, but did no real damage. Moonstone’s nails clawed at my face eagerly, as though she thirsted for the blood beneath my skin. To her delight, red liquid oozed from some scratch marks as I made a second stab. This time, the knife sunk into her flesh and she wailed, grabbing my neck and trying to twist. However, even with a little added adrenaline, she couldn’t snap it. I managed to throw her off and we wrestled in the mud. In the background Ceres wailed mournfully. In the struggle, I dropped my knife, and it was quickly reclaimed by Moonstone. She threw her head back in joy, straddling me as I struggled to get another knife from my belt. But it was no use. Her knees were firmly pinning my hands to the ground. She tossed her head back to face me, a spray of saliva hitting my face. Ceres was quiet now, and seconds later, a cannon sounded.

 “Mine, mine, mine!” Moonstone giggled, raising the knife and plunging it into the wrist on my left hand. I had never felt such excruciating pain. I screamed until I thought my lungs would burst, and thrust my good arm’s elbow into Moonstone’s abdomen. Her body convulsed slightly, and with her eyes rolling back again, she fell to the ground. Had she not been in the state she was, it would have been a useless attack, but I took the opportunity. I grabbed my sword, which had been placed next to Ceres when I arrived, and swung. It sliced through Moonstone’s neck, almost all the way through, and the cannon sounded a few moments later.

 The silence was unbearable. Not a sound could be heard. Just to hear something, I screamed again, a sort of battle cry. The battle was won, but the war wasn’t over.

 I almost didn’t dare look at my wound, but when I did, I couldn’t bring myself to look away again. Blood pooled out from the gash, which went a few centimetres deep.

 Logan…

 In horror, I threw up the contents of my stomach. I couldn’t go on.

 Logan…

My head was swimming.

 Logan…

 My eyes drooped.

 Logan…

 I fell on a heap in the floor and waited to die.

 Logan…