A Whole New Game: A Hunger Games Story

Chapter 32: Screaming

Athena

 "Go! Go!" I shout. "Once these doors close there's no getting through!" 

 The large steel doors that mark the way to freedom are already coming to a close. A sudden panic fills me. I know not everyone can make it. A dozen Peacekeepers are on our trail and it won't be easy to fight back with the families caught in the crossfire. 

 Gale gets there first, and tries to hold the sliding doors open for the rest of us, but I can tell he won’t last. Everyone tries to squeeze in single file through the narrow hallway.

After the sixth person manages through, the doors began putting up a fight. Gale’s face contorts with the pressure, but then I get there.

"Gale go! I got it! Make sure there isn't anyone on the other end! I can get it,” I say gesturing to my metal arm. He nods, and I brace myself for the switch.

He slides out from between the frame and I take the full force. Even with the advantage of my metal prothetic, the weight is strenuous, my back pushing against one side while my palm resides pressed against the other.

More people file though quickly, including Sammy. Thee only people left are Cato's sister and parents, running towards us in a frenzy. But that's when time runs out.

"I see them!" a peacekeeper shouts.

The full pressure of the door is upon me. I groan as my back takes on the intense pain. I have military grade strength in my prostetic, sure, but that won’t help the human end. A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and my back feels like it’s going to crumple like a can. Not to mention the fact that my arm is already low on power. I have no choice but to reposition myself and use my elbow as the brace.

This leaves an even smaller opening for escape, and by the time Cato's sister, Bonnie, has squeezed through, the peacekeepers are on us. Her parents are too far back.

There was no way Cato's parents can make it through in time, and I was on the wrong side of the door to help them. 

"I can't let the peacekeepers through!” I try to explain to Cato's parents. Once the doors close, even the Peacekeepers can’t get through, at least for a while. The lockdown would hold them out long enough for the rest of our group to escape. But if the Rofters take the time to climb through, plus me, it will be far too late.

“Go!" I hear Mrs. Rofter say. "Bonnie is safe and that’s what matters!“ 

I nod, yank my arm out, and the door slams shut, locking me on the side with the Rofter’s and the peacekeepers, cutting off our only chance of escape.

The peacekeeper's are well within range. Their guns train on our vitals. 

"Don't shoot!" I yell. A desperate idea comes to mind. ”I-I wouldn't want to shoot us If I were you! You can still use us as hostages! Come on, do you really think President Snow would want to hear that you killed me when could have captured a tribute, one of the leading faces of the rebellion? Or hear that you killed the family hostages?”

For a moment, no one says a word. 

And in the next moment, two shots are fired, and the Rofter’s fall, one by one.

The moment after that is a blur. I hear a voice screaming. “No! No! NO!” I think it may be my voice. I feel the sensation of my body moving, yet I am not aware of it happening. I only know I am surging forward, and then everything goes black.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

My eyes fling open and immediately shoot down to the handcuffs. They cut in to my wrists and I can feel blood trickling down. The chain is looped around a pipe above me, which keeps me almost to the point of suspension, on my tippy toes, making every breath a near gasp. My vision is fuzzy and I feel a throbbing at the back of my head.