May the Odds be Ever in Your Favour • changlix

Chapter 17

When Felix woke up, he knew he had to be dead.

The soft sound of rain fills his ear drums: the sounds of home. Crashing waves, shrieking seagulls. The gentle maw of wooden boats creaking in the bay. The bustle of life, of children laughing, sailors smoking. The reeling of fishing rods, the static sound of the fence surrounding him.

District 14.

-- "His heart isn't taking to the treatment." --

He opened his eyes. Felix's surroundings were bright at first, too bright to see, before they adjust.

Felix was definitely back home. He sat up in the bed he shared with his mother and cousin, gently touching the rough, overused sheets. They seemed brighter than normal, a crispier white colour. Sunlight filtered in from the windows, basking him in warmth, despite the sound of rain falling onto the tin roof.

-- "The patient isn't breathing." --

"Mom?" Felix says the words, but can't seem to hear them being spoken aloud. "Chris?"

He climbs out of the bed. The wooden floors melt under his bare feet, soft and squishy. He's dressed in what he wore during the Reaping: a button up shirt and pants. He pads across the room, and tries to open the door, only to find it locked.

He frowns, jiggling with the door knob, before giving up and turning back around. Felix startles as another person comes into view, and it takes him a moment to recognize them.

Lisa.

-- "Beginning defibrillation. Step back!" --

She's standing there, dressed in her own Reaping outfit: a periwinkle blue dress and black shoes. A ribbon held her hair back in a high ponytail. Lisa smiles shyly, her hands folded behind her back.

"Felix."

"Lisa!" A mixture of relief, confusion and sadness hits the blonde all at once. He moves to hug her, but she takes a step back. The room begins to fade away around them, into white.

She says something, but her words are drowned out by a loud whirring sound. Felix frowns, cocking his head.

"What?"

-- "Give him another shock, but stronger." --

Her eyes seem to suddenly drip like blood from her face, disturbingly realistic. Felix jumps back, afraid. His breathe catches in his throat as she holds her hands out.

Her skin is decaying, blackened and peeling. Lisa's bottom lip wobbles as Felix takes another step backwards, desperately turning and trying to open the door.

It unlocks this time, and he falls through, only to be greeted by more zombies from the arena. Jisoo. Jennie. Jeongin. Their eyes are blank. Felix falls to the ground, cowering away from them as they circle him.

-- "Boosting adrenaline now." --

He cries out for Changbin for what feels like hours, his skin itching like crazy. The blonde looks down, only to see insects crawling all over him.

And suddenly, he's falling. Falling through darkness. He tries to scream, but no sound comes out.

"Felix, wake up!"

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Beep. Beep. Beep. A machine's slow periodic sounds fills Felix's mind, rousing him.

The blonde's eyelids felt heavy, and his body fuzzy with pins and needles. Deeply inhaling, he first notes that his throat felt rough. Saliva scratched against it, bringing him pain as he rasped out a groan.