Greater Games [A 72nd Hunger Games Fanfic]

Chapter 14

When I wake up, I'm glad to see Felix above me.

He breathes a sigh of relief. "You're alive!"

"Course I am." I sit up. Felix has a bunch of cuts on his face, but he looks okay other than that.

I sit up. "How long have I been out?"

"About twenty minutes," he says solemnly, handing me my bow and sword. I reach for my quiver. The whole bunch of arrows is still there. My spear is strapped to my back, too. I realize Felix probably retrieved the arrows and put them back.

I nod. "We should get going."

He stares at me. "Amber, you can't be serious. You just -"

"I know," I say firmly. "But we can't stay in one place for too long."

He mouths wordlessly at me. "You'd do the same thing, wouldn't you?" I say, a little annoyed.

"Sure," he says. "But -"

"No buts. Come on, Builder Boy."

"Hey!" he complains. "Just because I'm from District 2 -"

"Uh-uh, that's cool. Let's go."

I shoulder my bow and we trudge through the forest. I didn't notice everything getting darker, but after twenty minutes, I can barely see my feet. I'm about to ask for a flashlight, but then I remember that our backpacks were taken, so I keep my mouth shut.

"We haven't eaten in a while," Felix says. "We should hunt a little."

"Okay," I say. "But how? It's dark out. I won't be able to see what I'm shooting."

"Well, you can't shoot me -"

Suddenly, we hear a voice say, "Attention, tributes."

I freeze.

"Looking further, we Gamemakers have realized a, ah, mistake in the arena."

The spot in the force-field that I fell on, I think.

"Certain areas are not in the proper condition for the Hunger Games to continue," says the voice.

My hearts to start beat faster, faster, faster.

"Therefore, the Hunger Games cannot go on. The five of you will be taken from the arena and brought back to the capitol."

The arena goes silent.

"We're going home," I whisper.

"I don't understand," Felix says. "The Capitol would never, ever end the Games without a victor. They practically consider it the biggest scandal to happen."

"Who cares!" I say. "We're out of this damn arena. Let's just be happy!"

"No. Something is not right, Amber."

Almost on cue, something erupts behind us.

I turn in time to see a part of the arena explode - literally explode. All the gadgets in, out, and under the arena become blinding bright, then they go out, spewing sparks of electricity. Then they burst and erupt into flames.

"Run!" Felix yanks my arm, and we sprint away.

Sparks of electricity and arena debris rain from the sky. I jump out of the way as a tree, engulfed in flames and riddled with broken electricity wires, falls to the ground.

This is why the arena had to be evacuated.

Felix yanks me away as trees topple over, knocking into one another like dominoes. I duck as a piece of shrapnel - most likely from an exploded gadget - flies overhead, exploding in a burning tree behind us.

"Come on!" I cough, pulling Felix along with me towards a not-so-chaotic area. My lungs burn; I can hardly breathe. The smoke . . . its so hot and thick. I cough and gag, pushing through a cloud of haze, stumbling over burnt pieces of wood and dried up plants . . .

There's no where to run. The fire spreads like I've never seen; engulfing a single tree one moment, then immediately jumping to another tree, then two others - like a giant red, hot wall being built on maximum fast-forward.

Felix gives me a determined look, but I think he's worried. Worried that we might die, here in the arena, when we just needed such a small bit of time to get picked up and taken away. Imagine how horrible that would be - well, they don't say "life isn't fair" for no reason.

The wall of fire jumps in front of us. I slide to a halt and frantically look for an escape path - there are none. We're trapped - trapped in a wall of fire.

I gag and double over. So much smoke. I'm so hot . . . I feel like I'm burning up . . .

Fire licks my arm. I scream and fall to the ground, watching the walls of fire tower above me, Felix telling me to get up, to stay brave . . .

Then a drone. A loud, base, ground-shaking drone. A shadow fills the sky.

Something falls from the shadow, but the smoke makes my vision blurred and I can't tell what it is. The falling object is a rope, dangling in front of my face. I touch it with my finger. Why a rope? What am I supposed to do? I just want to go to sleep . . . maybe I can escape the hotness, the choking, the torment.

Felix grabs my hand and wraps my fingers around the rope, then holding my arm to my chest. The rope starts to lift . . . what? I cling to it as I'm lifted off the ground, clutching the rope for my life, tucking my legs in as I'm carried away from the chaos.

But something's wrong, I realize.

Felix is still on the ground. He's in the choas. And nobody is there to save him.

I try to call to him, but my voice is choked out and I cough. Too soon, I reach the hovercraft - of course it's a hovercraft - and a pair of hands grabs me and pulls me inside through the door.

"No, what about Felix?" I say quietly, pushing the hands away. "Go away - I need to save Felix -"

"Amber."

I turn around and see Acacius walking towards me. His expression shows how stressed he's been in the past couple of weeks. Like myself.

I throw my arms around him and sob. "Where's Felix?"

"Felix will be fine," he says. "He's in very bad condition, though. You probably won't see him for a while. Probably next morning."

"Next morning?" I croak. I can't wait that long.

I see doctors in white coats approaching us. "No, wait," I say as they try to lead me away.

"It's okay, Amber," Acacius says.

"No, stop - I need to see Felix now -" the doctors have to drag me away.

"Stop it!" I flail my skinny arms, squirming.

Acacius gives me a sad look. "Calm down, Amber."

"No, stop! Stop!"

I don't know what gets into me. Something about being trapped, having people trying to take me somewhere I'm not familiar with . . . that's what happens when you've been in the Games.

I feel somebody stick a needle into my arm. Almost immediately, I feel myself sinking to the ground. Hands hold me up, but my vision is already growing dim.

Acacius gives me a nod of encouragement. Then I black out.