Hunger Games (DNF)

Part 1, Chapter 20: the moss covered creature

Tomorrow is the end of part one of the story.

Just wanted to tell you.
_________________________________________
George POV.

People must have thought I’d have a redemption, that after a tragic realisation that Clay had killed Darryl I would get a weapon and become lethal. It was obvious they did, why else would Beetee suddenly have the money to send me food, and medicine in the past few hours.

But I hadn’t moved since I sat here a couple of hours ago, just admiring the things I had. I examined them all excessively, admiring the knife, bow, arrows, flasks and containers of fresh food, and the bottles of medicine. I couldn’t deny that the weapons were especially enticing, and I really wanted to be able to put the knife through Clay’s skull for killing Darryl.

It was getting late, and I spent the hours eating to get my strength back up and to attempt to fill the pit in my stomach which had become my only companion since I ran off from Clay. Still, even after eating the nice bread and fresh fruit from the Capitol I couldn’t help but crave the fish he caught and cooked so easily.

Beetee’s most recent gift had been a blanket, a good quality comfortable one which was warming me as the temperatures dropped around me. Even though the blanket was warm though, I wanted to be held by Clay, he was just as warm.

Wait. Why the fuck do I keep thinking of Clay? He killed my only friend here and then had the decency to fuck me right after. Why the hell do I keep thinking about him? And his annoyingly sweet voice, and that amazing wheeze of his.

No. I am not fantasising about Darryl’s killer. My District would hate me if I did, if they didn’t hate me already hate me for sleeping with him. God why did he have to make this so fucking confusing, why the hell couldn’t I just hate him?

There was the sound of leaves rustling coming from through the bushes to my left, and I stood up, getting ready to fire the bow. “Clay… is that you?” I asked whoever was there, trying not to get my hopes up. “Are you here?”

Clay and I had been quite close to the force field at the edge of the arena, and that is the direction I had headed in when I ran off. There were no other tributes in the area, nobody had crossed the river. That means it had to be the blond… right? It couldn’t be anyone else.

When I got no verbal reply I began taking some steps back. Maybe it was another tribute, or an animal that was just grazing on some food. I crouched down slightly so that I was closer to the knife if I needed to grab that instead of the bow.

There were a few more moments of silence except the sounds of something in the bush moving around. Suddenly the thing moved out of the bush. My eyes widened as the creature moved out from between the leaves.

It was tall and had thin, mossy green skin which sagged in some places. Bones like its skull, ribs, and its limbs jutted out, rubbing against the skin. It’s eyes were completely black as was it’s giant gaping mouth which was twisted into an unnatural frown.

This was definitely not a normal animal. It was a mutt, designed by the Capitol as a weapon, probably to help lower the number of tributes. I backed up slowly as I examined it, taking in it’s unnatural form.

It seemed like it was mainly man, like a centaur the top half of its body had a human-like torso and skull, only lacking arms. The skin seemed almost human, but it was rotten and covered in what looked like mould. The rest of the creature was harder to pinpoint. The front legs curled as though they were tentacles, while the back legs were sharper and could probably pierce flesh.

The creature let out an unnatural hiss, which made my eyes widen as I quickly grabbed the bow and arrow, knife, and food, before running. It followed me, it’s head and torso almost flailing around with each step it made in my direction. The creature was quite fast despite it’s lurching look. It would probably be quite funny to watch if I wasn’t fearing for my life.

I listened intently as the force field buzzed quietly in my ear, most tributes wouldn't be able to notice something like this but back in District 3 I helped Beetee make some of these so I knew all about them. The quiet hum of electricity, the occasional shimmer of the reflective panels which lined the dome arena, keeping the illusion of whatever environment the game was in alive.

Behind me the creature hissed as it walked effortlessly over the tree roots and through the undergrowth, and clearly had more stamina than me. Eventually I gave up on trying to outrun it and took a run at a tree instead, using my speed to grab a high branch and pull myself up.

I was so thankful that Darryl and I spent so much time learning to climb trees during training. In a few minutes I had made my way up pretty high and locked my legs around a branch while holding my weapons in my hand and preparing to fire an arrow at the green creature.

It looked up at me menacingly as it attempted to climb the tree but failed. The creature let out a low hiss afterwards and I saw its body expanding, it's bones glowing from underneath the mouldy skin. In an instant the creature was gone and replaced with a crater.

Half of the tree trunk had disappeared in the blast, and the tree began to topple. I couldn’t get off of it in time and ended up falling until I crashed into the branch of a neighbouring tree and managed to grab onto it.

I let out a relieved sigh and climbed onto the branch, noting how tightly I was grabbing the branch. My knuckles were white and I noted my scraped skin. Then I allowed myself to look down at where the creature had been, feeling worried.

No doubt about it, it was a mutt. But the Games never released just one, there were always about a dozen released, so there might be some more nearby. A confirmation for that was when 2 cannons went off right after each other. I turned my attention to the sky where both tributes from one appeared after each other.

My mood lifted slightly when I looked back down at the ground where the crater was. Beside it was a hexagonal sheet of metal which I immediately smiled at the sight of. As a sign of confirmation I looked over to the force field and saw that a hexagonal shape was missing, breaking the illusion.

Maybe this creature wasn’t so bad after all...
_________________________________________
1178 words.

I'm wondering when I should let you guys vote on the next story I work on, because I am currently working on vampire hunters as well as this one.

Just remember for when I have you guys vote the 2 options are:

Blackout: Skephalo story.
BBH is a demon who lived the past 10 years in solitude in the darkness. He can only escape the darkness if someone allows him to, but everyone is warned against it. Until one day a boy called Zak allows him into his house and makes himself a new best friend.

Or

Gods: DNF story.
Clay drunkly makes a bet saying that he can prove that God's aren't real and kill one if they are. He goes on a trip up to the mountains planning on proving the legends false only to find that the God of Beauty lives there. And now that he has met a god he isn't allowed to return to his home.