Chapter 22

Blake searched for Koland, no sight of her fellow district member, her only true ally right now. A clump of sand was tossed in her face, the wind was picking up. She noticed the olived skinned Vera almost taken off the platform by the sand storm.

"50, 49, 48, 47, 46.." a voice says out of nowhere. Every time they get closer to the last second, Blake's heart rate goes up. This isn't how she wants to die, she wants to leave. If she ran, she could try to find an exit, but they would figure out a way to exterminate her. She could be blown up with just a toe touching the ground.

"40, 39, 38, 37..." She told herself to keep breathing. Just run to the cornucopia, find allies and sprint over the vast desert hills surrounding them. No one knows what lies on the other side. She needed to find water, that's the key to survival.

"34, 33, 32, 31.." Her palms were becoming sweaty while her eyes were dry. She placed herself in a stance like the others. Blake glanced at each tribute in her peripheral vision. Her eyes widened when she spotted Koland to the left of the cornucopia. He kept looking to his side. She couldn't see who it was since the cornucopia was in the way.

"28, 27, 26, 25, 24..." Blake's eyes drifted to the kunai belt on a tote. It had all kinds of sizes and shapes. It was calling out to her, she could leave the spears for someone else.

"19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14..." Blake was shaking, Eloi kept on giving her the stink eye from two platforms away. There was no way Blake was going to team up with him.

"12, 11, 10-" a huge boom went off, it turned everyone's head. Blake turned left and right, Koland's platform was missing, so was he. She gaped, he blew himself up. Tears were falling down her face, she felt like screaming.

"Koland!" she yelled across to the other side, hoping for a response. Did he commit suicide, or did he forget the rules?

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." A huge siren was released, letting the tributes know that they could charge into the cornucopia. Blake sprinted against the sand, the others were behind her, gasping for breath. She couldn't stop, it would get her killed. Blake searches for the kunais, finally feeling their blades against her fingers. She wrapped the belt around her, she grabbed a backpack that was to her left. A body is thrown on top of her without warning, blood seeps onto her jacket. Blake recognized the face, she threw the body off of her. It was Neil's. The boy who was crying and scared the entire week. Her face went white as a ghost. He had a spear mark wound in his back, Blake needs to move on. She sees Greyson attacking a ginger haired girl, Una. Blake looks away as she hears Una scream and collapse to the ground. Blake knew that it could be her next if she didn't run. Blake looked around for allies and enemies that she could find. Three cannons had gone off, she only saw two deaths. Files was hiding behind a box, then shot a brunette boy in the abdomen with a bow and arrow, Phoenix. A hand grips her shoulder, Adele's hand.

"We need to get out of here, now." Blake follows Adele over to the hills where Serpen is waiting, but Blake is grabbed by the ankle. She falls to the ground, with a mouthful of sand. Blake turns over, face to face with the blonde district five tribute, Hendall. The girl grabs her knife and brings it to the air to stab Blake, but a body shoves Hendall off the unaware brunette. Adele pins her to the ground, shouting slurs and cusses.

"Serpen, bring me your knife! I'm going to teach this girl a lesson" Adele smirks at frightened Hendall. Serpen placed the knife in her hand.

"What should we cut first? The eyes? Or maybe your fingers?" Adele laughs hysterically, with Serpen joining in. Blake decided to stay out of it, she didn't want to antagonize anyone. Suddenly, an arrow was shot between Hendall and Adele, landing in the sand beside them. Wintell appears from behind the hill, aimed.

"I have a proposal, let Hendall go, then we form an alliance until the final five. Deal?" Wintell stares down Adele. She tilts her head to respond.

"What makes you think we want to team up with you and this blondie? We can handle ourselves." Adele, turns back to Hendall's terrified expression.

"I am resourceful, I can fight, I can cook. I know what plants to use. I can be a big help, Hendall is very witty as well. Please let us join." Wintell still was aimed, but sloppier.

"We can cook too," Serpen scoffs. Blake didn't want them to kill Hendall, but it was a part of the game.

"Let them join, it'll give us a bigger advantage over other alliances" Blake suggests. Adele slowly grows frustrated, then gets off of the innocent blonde. Adele hands the knife back to Serpen.

"Let's get going, we need to find a water source before the others." They all follow Adele east of the cornucopia. The wind is strong, almost blowing the group away. Thankfully, the clothes they're wearing keep them secure and warm. Blake covers her mouth with the cloth, to keep the dirt out of her mouth. They finally reach the edge of a dead forest. It was a massive graveyard.

"Let's get in there, it'll keep us safe for the night, the trees will protect us from the harsh winds" Serpen points. They all follow her into the middle of the forest. Blake could smell the freshness of something, water.

"Do you guys smell that?" Blake asks. Everyone starts to sniff, they all agree. They race through the woods. Finally, they encounter a pond.

"Don't! There could be someone else here" Wintell holds back Blake.

"I agree with the big guy, let's camp a bit farther from here, just in case someone else arrives, then we can kill them." Adele, moves away from the pond. They all follow her. The tributes set up camp, ready for nightfall. 

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have created my own map of the arena, if you want to follow the tributes journey through the arena! If you have any suggestions or theories, LMK

tschüss,

Grey