The Seed is Strong (Hunger Games Fanfic)

The Great Escape

"She's so perfect" mumbled Ela as she held her newborn daughter in her arms for the first time.
"Try not to talk, we don't want you tiring yourself out" warned Tomas.
"I feel fine. Just a little sleepy" admitted Ela.
"Yeah, well you've lost a lot of blood, and the book says that we still need to wait for the rest of the placenta to come out before you do anything"
"Whatever you say".
The placenta fell out a few minutes later, completing the birth.
Tomas kept checking Ela's pulse though, with a worried look on his face, which confused Ela because she felt fine.

Suddenly Ela's arm flared up in pain, as if she'd been stabbed.
She looked to her side and saw that Tomas had sliced her knife into her forearm.
He had his finger to his lips, and Ela couldn't work out why.
She was now also losing a lot of blood, as it was pouring out of her arm.
The blood loss was making it hard for Ela to stay focused and conscious.
"When I say so, play dead" whispered Tomas.
"I don't-" started Ela.
"Just do it. Don't open your eyes again until you're told to. Do as I say if you want to live... Now, roll your eyes back in your head, and play dead" interrupted Tomas.

Ela did as she was told, which was easy as she already felt very woozy.
With her eyes closed, the outside world felt so far away.
She could hear Tomas shouting her name and shaking her, but per his earlier instructions she didn't open her eyes, and tried to keep her breathing as shallow as possible.
Ela had no idea what Tomas was planning, but he had said that playing along was the only way she was going to survive, so she did as whe was told.

She nearly opened her eyes when her baby was removed from her arms, especially as she could hear her daughter crying for her. But somehow she found the strength she needed, to stay still.
Ela could feel Tomas rummaging through her clothes, and was desperate to peak to see what he was up to.
Eventually her baby was placed back onto her chest, and Ela's jacket was zipped up around the infant.
Tomas then placed Ela's arms on top of her baby, so that she was holding her to her chest.
Ela suddenly felt his warm lips pressed against her forehead, and moments later she felt herself being lifted into the air.
She hated the feeling of being carried into the unknown, but she had no choice in the matter.

A few minutes later, Ela was placed onto the floor, and she could hear Tomas's footsteps disappearing into the distance, leaving her alone.
It wasn't long before Ela heard the familiar sound of a Capital hovercraft approaching.
She felt the cold metal arms, which were lowered from the plane to pick up the dead tributes, close around her body, lifting her up high into the air.
Ela was beginning to realise what Tomas's plan was, but she knew that as soon as she was taken aboard the Capital hovercraft, the doctor's would figure out that she was not really dead.

Now full of terror, after figuring out Tomas's plan, Ela lay frozen as her body was brought onto the hovercraft, and she was dreading what was about to happen.
Her child was instantly snatched from her arms, and she was lifted off the floor and plonked onto a nearby table.
One set of footsteps left the room, as another approached her quietly.
"Hello sweetheart".
Ela recognized the voice as it belonged to Haymitch, but she couldn't think why he was on the hovercraft.
She almost opened her eyes to greet him, but stopped when she remembered Tomas's warning.
"Good, there is hope for you yet" whispered Haymitch.

She heard Haymitch step closer to her, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath as he leaned in close.
"Your daughter is being cared for, and as soon as we land, she will be placed onto a train and sent back to District 12, just as I promised you. Your body will also be on the train. I'm sorry that I can't accompany you back home, but I have to stay in the Capital, to watch over Tomas. He is our only hope at having a victor now. Once the games are over, I will come home as soon as possible... I hope your parents will postpone your funeral and keep your body at home until I can be there" admitted Haymitch.

Although still very woozy, Ela did her best to read between the lines in Haymitch's words.
She was going home with her daughter. She was going to live.
Haymitch didn't want her to leave her parents house until he returned from the Capital, and Ela was more than happy to oblige.
Over the next hour or so she was moved about a lot.
She was taken from the hovercraft in a metal box, before being placed into a wooden one once inside the train.
Ela did her best to listen to those around her to hear what was going on.
Apparently Haymitch had given everyone strict instructions not to touch her.
Normally they cleaned the bodies of the dead, and patched them up. But Haymitch and warned and even paid some people, to stop this from happening.

Once the train started moving, Ela decided to risk it and open her arms.
She found herself in a wooden box with no air holes, but luckily the box wasn't so tightly sealed that she couldn't breathe. Or though, breathing properly was something she was finding difficult.
Ela looked at her arm, and saw that Tomas had tied a ripped piece of cloth around her arm, to stop her from bleeding out.
She had realised on route that he had cut the tracker from her arm, so that the Capital could do longer monitor her health. He had placed it in her clothes, so that it still looked like it was inside her.
Haymitch had removed the tracker from her pocket while they were on the hovercraft, so she was reassured that the Capital were no longer tracking her movements.

However, Ela wasn't sure if bandaging up her arm, was actually enough to keep her alive until she got back to District 12, as she was in desperate need of medical attention.
Ela knew that the journey from the Capital to her home was a long one, as it taken over a day to get there before the games.
And Ela wasn't sure that she could go that long again, especially as this time she would be without food and water, and wouldn't have access to a bathroom.