May the Odds be Ever in Your Favour • changlix

Chapter 9

Save for the blood pumping in his ears, Felix heard nothing as he dove into the tall grass.

The ground is muddy. He sinks down with a squelch by half a foot, struggling to pull his boots back out from it. The grass seems taller now that he's on ground level. If he crouched, he'd easily be hidden.

Finally pulling his boots free, he lunges for the backpack to his left, but nearly crashes into Jeongin. The younger boy had the same idea. He looks suddenly scared when they grip the bag at the same time. The younger boy drops it and scrambles away from Felix, catching his eye. The blonde hesitates, before tossing him the backpack and disappearing through the grass again.

It was probably a bad move given he didn't know where the other supplies were, but he felt better knowing Jeongin had something at least.

He remembered Changbin's position, and desperately tries to run towards it. The black-haired boy had poised to jump at the last second, towards the cornucopia. Had he seen something in the grass?

His nose is running like crazy at this point. Standing on his tip toes to see better, with his sleeve pressed against his runny nose, he can see most of the tributes are scrambling in the grass like how he had. The bigger tributes are at the raised cornucopia already with two of the larger boys grappling for a sword. The brown-haired boy wins, gripping the sword and driving it into the other's chest. Felix feels a scream catch in his throat, suddenly nauseous. His eyes catch on another group of people as he doubles over.

An alliance seems to have formed. Jennie and the girl from 4 had climbed onto the cornucopia, knives in hand, and Lisa seems to be quickly handing them supplies. They had a very good view of the tributes from their position.

Swallowing hard, Felix stands up again and scans to the left. He sees Changbin's head and shoulders darting through as he beelines towards something.

There's a scream to his right, and one of the girls from the outer districts falls. Blood splashes in the wind. The grass is parting, indicating a tribute was moving through, right towards him.

Panicking, Felix runs towards Changbin on a diagonal. Jennie had seen the black-haired boy, as well as whatever he was chasing. She's throwing knives into the grass now, which Changbin is dodging.

Felix doubles his pace, fear for his friend replacing all else. The closer he drew to the cornucopia, the easier it would be for them to hit him.

His foot catches on something, and he trips, face planting into the mud. Gasping, Felix scrambles up, horrified when he sees a boy's body. His lifeless blue eyes stare into Felix's, his neck at a strange angle.

Who had done this? He couldn't even take a moment to think, sheer panic taking over. Hyperventilation takes over, and he sprints to Changbin at this point, wiping the dirt off his now filthy face.

He needed to save him.

Changbin suddenly ducks down, and he can see Jennie lining up the throwing knife to the patch of grass where Changbin is. She throws it, and it glints in the sun.

Felix keeps running, before throwing himself in front of a crouched Changbin. He's fiddling with something on the ground, and turns. He has a bow and arrow in hand, strung and armed, and rolls over before the knife would have hit him. A backpack he had collected on the way is slung across his shoulder, indicating he had a much better game plan than Felix had.

However, Felix can feel his darkened gaze bore into his back as the knife embeds in his upper thigh, at the same level where Changbin's neck and face was mere seconds ago.

The blonde yells out, suddenly dropping down into the mud from the pain, and Changbin turns and shoots Jennie through the forehead.

She staggers for a moment, before dropping off the cornucopia. Lisa screams, before her eyes suddenly roll back into her head and she falls to the floor. The girl from 4, Jisoo, snarls and aims the knives towards them again. It narrowly misses, slicing Felix's face just above his eyebrow. Blood pours down into his eyes, making him unable to see where Changbin had gone.