𝐒𝐔𝐍 | 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒

→ 𝐈𝐕.𝐋𝐕𝐈

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ACT IV
CHAPTER LVI

the jungle continuous

THE THICK JUNGLE seems infinite as Thana still tries to find her way to the beach. She stumbles through the jungle and hopes to pick up at least one sign of other living tributes. The loneliness that she feels now in the arena is one she recognizes out of all her nightmares. She knows she is living in one, but god did she hope to be never alone in the arena. Luckily for the girl all the hours she has spent alone so far have been during the day. Thana doesn't want to be alone in here in the darkness, she never wants to be alone in the darkness but if she doesn't even find the beach, she shall be alone in the horrifying jungle.

She knows she can't do this, in her heart she knows she wants nothing more than all of it to stop, it needs to stop. Thana never understood it as good as she does now. With Latif gone, what even is the point to try and keep going on? The trees are making a labyrinth with no way out, the branches restricting her view of before her and the leaves blocking her. It feels like a prison, it suffocates the girl with every step she takes. Sometimes the trees spin, sometimes it feels like she walks in circles. In her mind Thana knows there is no way out. The dreadful days just goes on and on, not even half a day has passed since she lost Peter and Latif, and how she misses the latter one. No matter how estranged their relationship might have been at times, Latif still is her little brother. Her playmate, her friend, her person with whom she could laugh about anything and nothing at all. The playful banter the two had, is one that was like a comfortable warm blanket around you on a cold and dark night.

Each step towards where the beach might be becomes harder. Sure, Thana has her pocket watch to tell her time, but what good does it if it only shows how long ago it has been since you last saw your brother? The last time you spoke to him? Nothing.

In her heart Thana knows that if she doesn't find anyone before night falls, that she shall be lost in the games. Then the chance of getting out of it is completely gone. Whether it be the careers or Johanna, seeing no living soul triggers insanity in the girl's mind.

"Left," Thana takes a step, "right," and then another, pushing her body to keep on moving. "Left," a little pause, "right." The girl had been doing so for a little while now, focusing on moving forward, focusing on her steps instead of where she is. Something which proves to be difficult as Thana almost falls for the second time. "Left," a soft breath as Thana berates herself in her head for not watching out more carefully, "right." But who could blame her limps? For her legs had been up and running or walking for hours. "Left, right."

As the girl looks up to the sky, pushing tears back, she misses another root and falls forwards. Her hands breaking her fall and she lets herself rest against a big tree. Her body tired of everything, but mostly the lack of water. It is just after 2 pm as she hears it. BOOM! She looks up in fright, hoping no one is close to her at all. BOOM! Another, and all Thana can think about is how she failed. BOOM! This can be no one else except the careers. The people she had to follow, the people she had to kill, and now they killed other people. They could've killed Johanna, or Finnick of Mags. Tears stream down her face, and it takes a while before her numb and tired body notices it. What a failure she is, firstly she loses Latif, the boy she promised to protect and then she fails in hunting down the careers. No, Thana was nothing short of a failure in her own mind. The tears leaving streaks on her dirty cheeks, marks of her failure.

Soon the tears turn into sobs, no elegance as the breaths shorten and all contact disappears with the world around her. The careers could stand before her, and Thana wouldn't know. Nor does she notice the way she subconsciously sways her body in comfort as her ghastly breaths hurt her lungs. The sobs just seem infinite as her mind runs around screaming and shouting at the failure and all the pain as her hands are pressed against her eyes. How the girl wishes the earth could swallow her, to be freed from this agonizing pain.

An agonizing scream is the first thing Thana notices, and it takes her a while to realize that she, herself made that sound as the tears still stream and her body still shakes as her sobs continue. All at once she feels a soft touch on her knee, and her eyes widen as she looks right into the kind dark brown eyes. More tears stream down her face as she recognizes the rest of him, how she wished she could hug the boy in front of her, the boy who hadn't aged a day. And it was her fault, she had to protect him, but no, the boy before her is still 17 while she has now reached the age of 20.

"Ja--- Jack," she manages to mutter out is name, still sobbing, but the comfort of seeing him made it all a little more bearable.

"Hey Thana," a sad smile graces the boy's untouched face, he pushes some hair behind Thana's ear. "I thought I might check in again." Check in, as if they met up every few days. In a way they did, Thana saw Jack almost every week. His voice soothing her to sleep most of the days they did, as a silent promise to keep the tired girl safe when her father or other loved ones weren't there to do so.

"I... I am so sorry," Thana tears intensify. "I ruined everything, again."

"No, darling," Jack presses his forehead against hers, "you never ruined anything."

But the girl shakes her head, not believing him. Not believing that what happened in their games wasn't her fault, that what happened to Latif and even Peter wasn't her fault. She was weak and a failure. She ruined everything, everything except maybe her friendship with Johanna, but then again. If both ruin things constantly, maybe two people who ruin everything can't break the bond of friendship between them.

"Thana, look at me," Jack orders the girl. "You are safe right now, and in order to stay safe I need you to get moving again."

"I can't." Thana mumbles, closing her eyes softly, "I don't want to."

"You need to get to Johanna," Jack pokes in her cheek, getting one eye to look at him, "Do as Latif asked, fulfill his last wish. Find Johanna."

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Nora speaking!!

I am back, sorry it took so long, i was unsure in what direction i wanted to go. but here is a new chapter.

next week i am starting my first year on uni, so maybe updates might be lacking, but i hope i can keep up with once a week, probably on Tuesdays<3