The Rapid Sparks of the Cord; A Hunger Games Novel

CHAPTER 6

The icy wind hit Brianna in the face like a quick slap. She promised herself that she would get through the games alone, to prove to her mother, her father, and her three brothers that she had what it took. The odds were in her favor, as she scored a 9 in training. Still, when she heard her name called for the Reaping, she half expected her younger brother to jump in and take her place. Instead, she could hear muffled chuckles coming from his direction. She decided that if she won, her home in Victor's Village was only big enough for one.

She believed that it was approaching midnight, and looked for a spot to rest for the night. She found a nice spot right underneath a cliff's overhang to tie her sleeping bag to. It was a dangerous game, trying to maneuver her way into the sleeping bag, which was suspended 500 feet about any ground. She carefully, yet elegantly tumbled on top of the sleeping bag, shifting her weight around to assure that there weren't any weak spots. Being of District 5, she didn't hold an advantage in the games like some other tributes did, as electricity was not a thing out in the arena. Regardless, she held a certain power advantage over a majority of tributes, being 18. She had been watching the games since before she can remember, and knew to take notes of what the tributes had been doing by the age of 11.

Brianna slept well enough that night. By daybreak, she felt well-rested and energized enough to attempt to pull her weight over the cliff. She grabbed the cliff's edge with her hand, and forced herself to stand up. The sleeping bag started rapidly shaking, and she nearly lost her grip. She took a few deep breaths, before placing her other hand on the edge, and pulling herself up onto the top of the cliff. She laid there for a few seconds, breathing heavily. She couldn't help but to think about her brothers watching the games from home. More specifically, the treacherous task she just performed.

She smiled, impressed with herself. As always, though, her time to rest was limited, so she got to work untying the sleeping bag. To her dismay, she untied the wrong rope, and she watched as the sleeping bag dropped 500 feet down the mountain. She groaned, knowing her next few naps, because no one was getting a full nights rest in the arena, were going to be frigid.

Hours later, she came across a small shelter made out of fallen tree logs. She didn't hear noise coming from inside, but hid behind a tree to make sure it was safe. After a few minutes of waiting, and hearing noises she weren't quite sure were real, she grew tired of waiting. She knelt down, picking up a small rock, and throwing it directly into the entrance of the shelter.

Our ran the boy from District 7. Brianna didn't try to learn any names; humanizes them too much, and she wouldn't want the guilt of not just having to kill them, but knowing who they were. Despite this, she recognized his name as Tou. She couldn't remember what he scored in the training. She did know that it was something that wasn't too bad, but not too great.

She couldn't tell what he had in his hands, but it was some form of small blade. A kunai was likely, but she couldn't make out any red accents from the distance, nor the obscuring leaves of the bush. It didn't matter too much, though, as Tou didn't have a clue which direction the rock came from. He looked around for a few seconds, but ran back inside the shelter shortly after. She couldn't blame him; even she wasn't safe behind a tree. Anyone coming up behind her could see her in plain sight.

She had a great plan in mind. She didn't need to get Tou to leave the shelter. She needed to keep him in. She crept through the snow, which masked her footsteps effortlessly. Picking two sticks up off the ground, laying in the snow by a tree near the shelter, she crouched down, making sure that he wasn't on the lookout for anything. He was for sure on guard; who wouldn't be after a rock was thrown at them? She took slow, small steps, as to not make an accidental loud noise. Once she reached the shelter itself after about 45 seconds, she began rubbing the sticking together right on the shelter. She knew how loud it was, and by this point, she could hear Tou rustling inside. But by now, it was too late to give in, and finally, the first ember appeared. She threw the sticks on top of the flat wooden roof, and almost instantly, the base went up in flames.

Inside, she could hear the screams of pain he was unleashing. She felt remorseful, of course, but she had to do what she had to do. She was killing two birds with one stone; killing a tribute and removing any possible shelter for other tributes who stumble upon it. Brianna watched as Tou ran out of the shelter, not a single inch on him untouched by the flames. His screams were loud, and she knew she had to get out of there as soon as possible. Once she saw him collapse next to a pine tree, she took this as her opportunity to get out of there.

She ran for a few minutes, but stopped in her tracks when she smelled smoke. Hearing the cannon fire, she turned around, to find the forest behind her was catching fire at an alarming rate. If she wasn't running fast before, she sure was now. The smoke was faster, though, and it engulfed her in a black cloud. The coughs she was taking sounded deadly, and she had to take a minute to regain her breath. She couldn't take too long though, otherwise, all that would be sent home to her District would be a pile of black ash.

Eventually, she reached a point on the mountain without any forest to catch fire. She finally took the chance to truly breathe, but was yet again interrupted, but by a tribute charging at her. A District 9 girl, with ginger hair. She had an axe in her hand, and she looked like she was dead set on decapitating her. Brianna had dropped her weapon back by Tou's shelter, so she had nothing to defend herself with. As the District 9 girl swung her axe, Brianna barely ducked down in time, with it soaring over her head. The girl, who was probably around 14, clearly wasn't expecting her to dodge the attack, and didn't know what to do next. Brianna, trying both to survive and impress her family, grabbed the axe by the wooden handle and ripped it out of her hands. "Roni!" A voice cried out from behind a rock. The girl, named Roni, she guessed, dashed to get back behind the rock. But it was too late.

Brianna plunged the axe into the back of the girl's skull, splattering her with cold, dark blood. The girl collapsed, as if she was in a hurry to get on the ground. Her skin was already appearing lifeless and dull. She could hear a scream from behind the rock, but she couldn't tell who it was coming from. All she knew was that it belonged to a male.

The boy ran farther away, and Brianna was able to identify dark brown curls sitting on top of his head, surprisingly well kept, considering the conditions. She recognized him as the District 1 boy, who was maybe 15 or 16. She agreed that running may be the best course of action, as there was no telling who was hiding around the same area.

In the span of just 40 minutes, Brianna had accumulated 2 kills. She tried to keep herself modest as she walked through the snowy plains, but even she got a little cocky. She believed that she could take anyone on, even if they had more training than her.

She looked up in the sky, to see that the gray smoke was still building up. She was surprised the game makers hadn't stepped in. The Hunger Games often featured natural disasters, but they weren't really all that natural. One year, a "surprise" avalanche in a desert scape killed a group of careers. She figured that the game makers may have wanted to take that route anyway, and allowed it to continue.

After 20 minutes, the fire started dying out. She got the idea to head back that way, as important food or tools may have revealed themselves from under the melted snow. Did she really need any new weapon? Not really, the axe did her mighty fine. But food was the real issue. She had a granola bar and berries which she had hoped were just gooseberries at the bottom of the sleeping bag for safekeeping. Of course, those weren't an option to her anymore, so she'd either have to find food from natural bushes, or hunt. Brianna didn't think that she would be that bad at hunting, but if it was between plucking a fruit off of a branch and stalking an animal for way too long, the choice was obvious to her.

As she neared the charred forest, she spotted something gleaming in the light. A color that was almost unnaturally bright. Hanging off of the holo inside of a thin tree. She got closer, but not too close, for fear of it being a venomous snake.

However, as she neared it just a little more, she realized it wasn't a snake whatsoever, as small, orange embers were on the thin layer of snow beneath it.

Suddenly, the games seemed to be going exactly her way. The advantage that she had lacked in the beginning had shown itself, and she suddenly knew just how to win the games.

She took a step closer to confirm her suspicions.

A stray wire, as she had hoped, had been poking out of the tree's insides.