I take off toward the scream. "HAYLYNN!!" she shrieks. "HAYLYNN!!"
"Jasmyne!!" I screech. I know the entire Career pack could be there. Gunner, Selena, and Silke. "Jasmyne! I'm coming!"
After running- no, faster than running- for a minute or so, I arrive to Jasmyne, tangled in a net hanging from a tree. I draw my knife, and saw through the rope holding the netting together. The rope breaks, fraying at the end. We rush to embrace each other, and Jasmyne is hyperventilating badly. "Its okay. You're fine."
I pull away, and Jasmyne steps forward, in front of me. I look up, and see a knife flying toward us. I try to push Jasmyne out of the way, but my reflexes aren't quick enough. I don't dare look at her injury, before taking care of who threw the knife.
Selena reaches for a knife from her belt, but my arrow to her throat prevents her from doing so. When I turn back to Jasmyne, my jaw drops. The thrown knife is lodged in her chest. Not near her heart, but in the center. She collapses onto my lap, and her hand slowly, unsteadily goes to the knife in her chest. "No, no. Leave it." I say, my words barely audible.
Her hand now reaches for mine, and I clutch it, almost too tightly, but Jasmyne doesn't seem to care. Neither do I.
"Why didn't you respond?" she asks, and her words are almost a breath.
"I was attacked by tracker jackers. I'm okay now." I reassure her.
"Win for me." her words fade.
I nod, and try to hide my tears. "I will."
"Promise?" she says, a whisper.
"Promise."
I look away for a second. "Don't leave me." she begs.
"I'm not. Staying here." I say, stroking her hair.
"I want you to braid my hair." What? I'm so melancholic, so stressed, that I barely hear her request. "Like yours."
I bite my lip, and nod. I remove the hairband holding in my braid, and begin to braid her long, curly hair. "Thank you."
I twist her hair, back and forth, and gently tie it up. "For what?"
"Everything." A cannon fires, and I assume Selena's died. "You've done so much to help. I couldn't wish for a better ally.
I smile, and her breathing slows. Her time is ticking. "How's the braid?" she gingerly feels the braid.
"I look like you now." Her words let the tear that I've been holding in my eye fall out, onto her cheek. "Tell me a story. A happy one."
I take a deep breath. A happy story? Its hard to be 100% joyful out here, and thinking of anything gleeful is hard. I begin telling her the best one I can think of. "My neighbor Bryan owns chickens. A few years ago, I was probably around your age, he bought his first chicken from the Hob. She's still around today. I was waiting at his house for him to return, and the chicken leaped onto my face. The bird wouldn't leave me alone for the rest of the day. We've been inseparable since." Its short, but it manages to bring a bit of happiness to my depressing mood. After blinking back into reality, I see Jasmyne smiling.
"I want to close my eyes Haylynn." she says. "I want to close my eyes, and I want to wake up back at home." She blinks out a tear, and it rolls down her cheek.
"I want to be in a better place than home."
"You will. You can eat a whole groosling! You don't need to share!" I say.
"As many as I want?"
"As many as you want." I respond.
"No whipping?"
"No whipping."
"No games?"
"No games."
"But I want to watch you!"
"You can watch me from up there."
"I will." her grip on my hand loosens. "I love you Haylynn. Thank you."
Her hand falls, and her cannon fires. I gently lift her head up, and lay it on the ground. I slowly, gingerly, pull the knife out of her chest, as if not to cause her pain. But she's beyond misery.
Her death begins to set in. She's gone, Haylynn. I tell myself. She's gone.
I can't help myself- I begin to sob over her body. I wrap my arms around her, weeping uncontrollably. They'll want me to leave to get her body. I know I shouldn't be this emotional. But I spill everything, the despair, the rage at the Capitol, the fury at the Careers. I gently lay her back down, and remove her pack, slinging it over top of my pack. Tears are still rivers, raging down my cheek as I sink down onto my knees, and lift the knife that ended Jasmyne's life. I throw it, not caring to aim, hoping someone will rise from the woods and get a knife to the throat.
But of course, no one arrives, and the knife sticks into a tree. I see a patch of flowers. Violets and some kind of wildflowers. I pluck a handful, and weave them in her hair, wrapping her braid around it. I zip her jacket up, hiding the hideous, bloody wound. I push my fingers to my lips, and plant them onto Jasmyne's forehead. Its an old salute from my district. "Bye Jasmyne." I walk toward Selena, and retrieve the arrow from her throat. I detach her pack, and sling it on my front. I yank the knife out of the tree, and fasten it into my belt.
I'm tempted to take my anger out on Selena. Mangle her body. Decapitate her. But I know its best to stay emotionless at her. If I do win, I'll get revenge on the Capitol. But for now, I'll make the Careers pay.
As I walk, I think about who's left. Silke, Gunner, Douglas, Mace, Van, and me. The final eight. Surely my parents and family are being interviewed. Its been a long time since District 12 made it this long. And now its not just one tribute alive, there's two.
I climb up a tree, and begin to scan the pack. Inside Jasmyne's, I find the sleeping bag, one carrot, the matches, the roll, the groosling, and the knife. I sink my teeth into the carrot, and wolf it down, before taking a bite out of the roll. My hunger gets the best out of me, and I rip apart the roll, scarfing it down. I eat a groosling wing, before starting a fire. I fashion a spit out of branches, and begin cooking the fish, before remembering I was going to save one for Jasmyne. I sigh, and take a bite of the trout. I lay the groosling in the spit, and chew through the fish, waiting for Gunner and Silke to burst out of the woods, so I can shoot them down and get pure revenge. But of course, they stay away. I open Selena's pack as the bird cooks, and search through it. Three full bottles of water. A small pack of apple slices. A first aid kit. A flashlight. Its rather empty, and I dump all of the supplies into mine, which used to be Jules's, and hide Selena's pack in a pile of leaves. I keep Jasmyne's pack- one for a souvenir of her, two for Van to use, if I ever find him.
The anthem plays, and I watch who died. Selena, and Jasmyne. Surely the audience will be sated. At least for a nights sleep. I climb up a tree, and tie up the sleeping bag. Its better than sleeping in a pile of leaves. I chew a mouthful of mint leaves, and doze off into a light sleep.
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