The 150th Annual Hunger Games

Death Toll (Day Four)

Elsa Stane's P.O.V. (D2)

I lay on the stone cold floor of the cornucopia with a raging fever burning through my skull. My throat is sore from all the coughing I've been doing. I even coughed up blood several times. My stomach feels like it's being twisted and churned with sharp knives and I'm sweating by the bucket-load. Even my breathing has become raspy from the sore throat, and every once in awhile my body convulses.

What is happening to me?! First I can't control my emotions, then I can't even control my own limbs, and now, this?! Why is this happening?

Kara looks like she's in the same shape, but she's still asleep. They gave us more of that sleeping syrup to ensure we wouldn't go anywhere while they went out, but trust me, I'm not going anywhere in this condition. I don't even know if I could sit up.

Gradually, I start to realize that this could be it. I'm going to die here, alone with Kara. It's too bad Ace can't be here... I hear the voices of people from my past echoing through my mind. I hear my friends Ace, Doyle, and Harris. I hear my mom and dad and sister. I hear our Escort, our mentor, our mayor. And last but not least, President Snow. His voice is the worst one, hitting every spot of my head, speaking over all the other voices. He says things like, "You've lost...such a disappointment for a volunteer from District Two...such high expectations. If you knew you wouldn't win, why would you volunteer, silly girl? It's a shame, everyone is rooting for you...you've let them down...you've let everyone down. Your parents, your allies, your sponsors, Ace... How do you think you've made them all feel?" the horrible hallucination ends with Snow smiling evilly and laughing in the most deranged way.

My hand flies up and strikes me across the cheek. Hard. I scream as loud as my sore throat will allow, "No! I won't die here!"

Just then, Scarlett appears at the mouth of the horn, hastily unzipping her pocket and reaching in to retrieve something. I impatiently wait to see Ace come into the horn as well, but he never comes, neither does Fynn.

"Wait...where's Ace? What happened?" I ask, still searching for him.

Scarlett kneels down and screws the lid off a strange vial filled with purplish liquid. She says nothing other than, "Drink this, all of it, quickly."

I do as she commands. Almost instantaneously, I feel the fever cool down, and the pain in my stomach goes away. She must've given me some sort of cure.

I stand up when I feel okay enough to do so. My throat is still sore, but I'm not coughing anymore. I look at Kara and ask Scarlett if they got another one of those vials. She just frowns and shakes her head before walking out of the cornucopia.

Part of me doesn't care about Kara, but another part of me is telling me to help her. She's going through exactly what I was, and I know it's not fun. Maybe she's already too far along the infection anyways. She can't even breathe right.

I try to forget about it and follow Scarlett outside. I find her at the edge if the island, scanning the waters carefully.

"What are you looking for?" I ask quietly.

Suddenly, Fynn's head pops above the surface of the water, about a hundred yards away. My heart starts beating faster than I could ever believe when he calls for Scarlett to help before he gets dragged below the surface again by some unknown source. Without hesitation, Scarlett dives into the waves and swims to Fynn's aid.

I strain my eyes to see what's happening. I gasp when I see Fynn and Scarlett pull someone above the water. The person is slumped forwards, but everything in me knows that it's Ace.

"I'm coming!" I scream as I too jump into the water.

I reach them just in time to help pull Ace higher above the water. His wet clothes and the rough water is making this much harder than it should be. It takes all three of us working together to finally reach the cornucopia island.

Scarlett and I climb onto the island first and help pull Ace up. Panic sets in as I think that he could be dead, or on the verge of it. We set him down on the edge of the island on his back. Scarlett and I are too shocked to know what to do.

Fynn shoves us out of the way and presses his ear to Ace's chest. Then he mumbles, "Oh, please don't make me do this..."

Fynn runs a hand through his hair and lifts Ace's chin. He takes a deep breath before leaning over to blow air into Ace's mouth. He does this a few times before proceeding to push down on his chest repeatedly. Ace's whole body jolts with every push from Fynn. I can't even breathe as I watch, and my ears are ringing so loud I can't hear anything, not even my own quiet pleads for him to be okay. Over the ringing, I can hear my heart beating in my head, adding intensity to the scene laid out before me.

Come on, Ace, just breathe! Why is it taking so long?

Fynn gets impatient and slams his fist down hard on Ace. I shove him away and scream at him to stop. Fynn just grits his teeth and stares at Ace hopelessly. He's giving up.

My eyes go wide in denial. He's not dead yet, the canon didn't go off. Fynn refuses to keep trying. He says it's no use. I fall forward onto Ace, my shoulders shaking as I try to hold back crying. I can't hear any heartbeat...nothing at all.

For a moment, everything is silent. But then, as if by some miracle, I hear the faint thumping of Ace's heart and his chest rises. I quickly sit up as his eyes fly open and he coughs out water. He continues coughing to get the rest of the water out. I've never felt more thankful in my life that I didn't lose a friend today.

Once he's recovered his breathing, I hug him tighter than I've ever hugged someone before.

"I thought you were dead!" I utter into his shoulder.

"Me too..." he says as I pull away. Surprisingly, when I let go of him, he flops limply back on the ground. He laughs a little, "Yeah so, I kinda got momentarily paralyzed, but I'll be fine. I'm already getting the feeling back in my arms...I think."

Fynn wipes his mouth and suggests that we move back inside the horn. Then he grabs Ace by the shoulders and drags him into the cornucopia, where he just drops him carelessly.

"Thanks, buddy," Ace chuckles, "That's how I feel about you too."

Fynn doesn't say anything else as he walks to where Kara lays. I'm surprised she's still alive. She even looks peaceful as she sleeps. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that we didn't get a cure for her too. I wonder who got the other one...

"Hey, guys, the Death Toll's starting," Scarlett calls in to us.

Fynn and I run out to see. Ace just lays there like a log.

"That's alright, I already know who died anyways. Don't mind me."

I peek outside just long enough to watch Clark Larson's face be projected on the arena dome. Under his name is the word 'infection'. How unfortunate.

I head back into the horn as the Panem anthem continues playing.

What a stressful day...

"I'm gonna hit the stack," I declare as I head to the back of the horn, where the sleeping bags are set up. I also help Ace get to a sleeping bag before I tuck in, falling asleep the second my head hits the floor.