RIBS, the hunger games

chapter ten, endgame

Felix stumbled back to where he dropped the dead rabbit, sweating profusely. It didn't help that tears still were rolling down his red cheeks but it seemed that the Gamemakers were making the arena warmer. When he tried returning to the sanctuary of the cave behind the waterfall, he was shocked to see that all the water had dried up, the cave in clear sight. He and Ethel had cleared it of anything important but he still felt drawn to the cave, even if he would just be there for a moment.

He looked around the cave, a wistful look on his face as he closed his eyes. He thought back to a couple of days ago — both Barty and Ethel were still alive, the three of them slept in this cave, they ate in this cave, they laughed in this cave, for Christ's sake. And now, two of the three of them were dead. Ethel due to a mistake Felix had made and Barty because Felix had let him stay behind.

Both deaths only happened because Felix messed up.

Trying not to cry again, Felix left the cave with a small, scratchy carving on the wall. It read, Ethel Lockwood, Barty Griffins, Felix Lockwood. Tributes of the 66th Hunger Games.

He returned to the jungle somberly.

Earlier in the game, setting up the fire was a death sentence but Felix didn't care anymore. With the deaths of the two people he was closest to in the games, Felix was going to be the victor or he would die. Simple as that. And he would be at peace with death if it weren't for the fact that he would be leaving Cordelia as the last Lockwood.

He cooked the rabbit he had been carrying after skinning it, eating that with some of the dried apples he had gotten at the beginning of the games. He took maybe three big gulps of water from his bottle before reapplying some ointment around his arm wound which had been aggressively flaring up.

It was him, the girl from District 8, and then the two careers, Jade and Triton left.

No one had come to attack him so Felix extinguished the fire and walked a good bit away from it just in case.

The trees in the jungle were much sturdier compared to those in the swamp. Felix climbed one of them and found a strong enough branch to hold his weight. He slipped into his sleeping bag, tying himself to the branch as he looked up at the sky to see Barty's face first. Tears silently fell as he watched Barty disappear and Ethel appeared in the sky. Felix couldn't bear to see her face. He had failed his plan, he had broken his promise, he had failed his sister. Because of some stupid berries. Because of his idiocy and his choice to split up.

Another one of those silver parachutes landed in front of him and Felix opened it to see two pieces of bread. The buttery roll from District 1 and then one of the biscuits from District 12. He let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes so as to not cry again.

"Thank you," he said up to the nowempty sky.

He didn't eat either piece of bread, instead, he stored them in Ethel's pack for later. Dozing off, Felix woke up hours later to the sound of the cannon firing. The Careers had most likely killed the girl from Eight, and now they would be hunting Felix.

Felix untied himself and descended from the tree, eating the rest of his food. While he unloaded everything from his bag, he found his token, the medal of honour. And at the sight of the piece of metal, Felix broke down. If he died today, Cordelia would be the last Lockwood. Oh, how cruel fate had been to their family. Their father was blown to bits, and their mother went insane without him, dying of a broken heart. And now the youngest was gone, sweet Ethel, how Felix's heart ached at the fact that he would never be able to talk to his sister again, how he would never be able to laugh with her again.

Perhaps he was really going insane as he started laughing at his situation. His mind and heart had been smashed repeatedly in just the past day.

His laughter eventually turned into tears. Ugly tears ran down his face as he tried hiding his face as he imagined the cameras eating all of his breakdown right up. He sobbed, gasping for air in between, snot running down from his nose as his body shook even though it was boiling hot.