The Very First Hunger Games

Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Night Three (Continued)/ Day Four in the Arena

The murky blackness fades to a dim light. Dim light that shows in patches, just managing to seep through the shadowy throng of the misty clouds. The moonlight. Light, optimism, life. It promises all three. The moonlight.

So I'm not dead. Why? Eric hates me, but has decided to keep me alive. For now. No doubt, for the purpose of his own gain.

Something's wrong. I can barely make out the trees five feet in front of me. They are surrounded in what looks like smoke. But if it was smoke I would be choking by now.

Fog.

 

Great like I wasn't already lost.

"Eric, I don't think Willow's dead" a voice calls.

I would know that voice anywhere. Chirpy, usually a slight edge. But not tonight. Oh Coral, what have you got yourself in to.

"Of course she's not dead. I'm not going to personally kill her. We need her. Remember our plan?"

Eric.  

"It doesn't feel right. Toying with people's emotions like that." Coral says, her voice filled with concern.

"It's our only choice." Eric counters, clearly agitated. "We're running out of supplies, they've got more than enough to keep them going for a couple of weeks"

They? I rack my brains but I can't figure out who Eric is talking about. Eric appears to know in and outs of the arena and the tributes within. Me? I was desperately trying to avoid interaction with any of the tributes and failing.  

"So, we're not killing anyone?" Coral asks, her voice raising an octave.

"Hopefully it won't come to that" Eric says, as if he was capable of optimism.

Coral is silent for a moment, and then she says:

"I don't want Willow to get hurt. She's a good person and she doesn't deserve this"

"And the rest of us do?" Eric snaps.

"That's not what I'm saying...I just-"

"You do realise in order for you to survive, Willow has to die" Eric interrupts. "I'm sorry, I know she's your friend, but it's the truth"

"I know but..." Coral says her voice thick.

"Please don't cry Coral. You're going to be okay. That's...that's all that matters" Eric says his voice quivering.

Eric is tiptoeing around the inevitable. Only one can live. Either you or your sibling. What an awful position to be in. Even worse for the parents. Who do you root for? How could you cope with possibility of losing two of your children in a matter of weeks?

I don't how long it is until I fall asleep, but I do eventually. When I wake, I find myself in the tent that I envied Eric for having. There is no doubt in my mind that it was Coral's suggestion to put me in the tent. If I had slept outside, the fire might have died out and I would've frozen to death. The tent doesn't offer much warmth but it's better than the alternative.

This morning is even cooler than last night. The heat wave is well and truly over. I think it's safe to say that the sudden temperature drop is the work of the Gamemakers. Oh, what fun they must be having.

I assume the Gamemakers have something else up their sleeves. Merciless tributes and bloody battles are surely more exciting than tributes that are too frozen to even hunt for food.

It's torture either way for the districts, but for the Capitol, it's just a television show. Something to be excited about. It's the Gamemakers job to make sure there is drama in the games.  Wouldn't want the Capitol to get bored. God forbid someone might displease the Capitol.   

Eric checks I'm still sleeping several times before Coral returns from wherever she was.

"What took you so long?" Eric snaps, impatiently.

"I got lost on the way back..."

"Did they believe you? Are they at the Cornucopia?"

"They were doubtful at first but it's not like Luca was going to take that chance"

Relief and dread seep through me. Luca is alive and he has allies. But at the same time he has to live in this nightmare.

"I knew I could count on you, sis."

"Don't celebrate yet. Alexis and Cooper have stayed behind to look after the stuff. Mason and Luca are on their way to the Cornucopia. They have weapons!"

"What? Why do they have weapons? What did you tell them?"

"I said that I saw Willow at the Cornucopia and I thought that she was being held against her own will. This is true. Technically I didn't have to lie once! Well except about spotting Willow at the Cornucopia, but-"

"YOU STUPID GIRL" Eric roars.

"What? Why?" Coral says sounding taken-aback

"April is at the Cornucopia. That's where she's been hiding all this time"

"So you were just going to send three people off to their deaths? You said we'd just steal their stuff" Coral cries horrified. 

"I told you we are running low on supplies. We need theirs to survive. Once we'd sent Willow, Luca and Mason on their way to the Cornucopia. We would just have to deal with Alexis and Cooper." Eric explains.

"That's sick! If I knew that was your plan I never would have helped you!"

"I'm not evil. I'm just doing all I can to survive. Why can't you see that? I really didn't want any of this."

"I don't care what you say. I'm taking no part in this." Coral says, crying by this point. "Your plan won't work anyway. You forgot the fact that there are more of them than there is of April"

"Well now it won't work. You just had to tell them that Willow was kidnapped. You just couldn't say that you spotted her there. Now they're armed and will probably kill April. And guess who they'll be after next?"

"Us?"

"Well done" Eric says, dryly.

This is more than enough for me. I dive out the tent and catch Eric off guard.  By wrapping my hands round his neck, I manage to pull him to the ground.  It dawns on me that I don't have a weapon. But Eric does. The knife he used to gut the fish.

Eric swings his arm round, knife in hand. I dodge the blow within a few inches. The knife barely scratches me, but I let out a little shriek. I roll over and reach out for the spear. Coral grabs it, looking dismayed.

"DO IT" Eric roars.

For a moment, everything seems to stand still. Coral eyes dart from me back to Eric as if contemplating who to throw the spear to.

"No one is killing each other tonight" she says slowly.

"What?" Eric asks looking baffled.

"Give me your knife" Coral says shakily.

"Coral are you crazy? Look we don't have time for this."

Coral lets out a little growl, swirls around and throws the spear in the other direction.

The look of absolute astonishment on Eric's face would've been comical if he weren't trying to kill me. The shock momentarily paralyses Eric. Using this to my advantage, I spring to my feet and leap into the bush where the spear landed.

Eric races after me, knife in hand, his face a mask of panic. As soon as I grab hold of the spear, Coral starts shrieking, which fills my ears with a ringing I can't block out. The world seems to slow down; Eric's voice seems muffled as if he were shouting underwater.

I sprint over to Coral, who has her hands out shouting something, which I can't make out. Eric dashes over to Coral almost at the same time I do. I spin round and drive the spear into Eric's chest. He drops to the ground, but not before he stares at me with a look of absurd betrayal. Then the life drains out of his eyes, and the canon booms.