Annie's Story

Chapter twenty seven

I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes through my throat. Tears stream over my cheeks. Felix... His head is rolling over the floor, his eyes staring into mine. Blood is everywhere. Far away I hear a canon. Everything seems far away. I can see the happy looks on the careers faces. They're laughing and chatting, I can't hear them. I can't hear what they're talking about.

Scream.

My heart, my soul, everything tells me to scream. Slowly I try to repeat his last word in my head. What did he say?

"Run."

Run? What does that mean? I burry my head in the sand beneath me. I can taste the sand on my lips. Run means I need to get up and leave. But what if I don't want to? What if I want to die? Maybe I don't even mind if they kill me or not.

"You're not going to get killed. Not when I'm still alive." Finnick's voice bursts into my head. Did he say that? Finnick? Finnick. I need to run for Finnick.

I wait until the careers are gone, vanished into the dark paths of the maze. Then I crawl out of the bushes. Felix head is still lying next to his body. They didn't take him away yet. I put my hand on his cheek and my whole body starts to shake. "We would both survive, that was the plan! YOU DIDN'T STICK TO THE PLAN!" I scream while I fall down next to his body. I stroke his cheek with the palm of my hand while I cry hysterically. "Don't leave me..." I whisper. "I lo-." Do I love him? I don't even know. I don't know anything. I let go of his cheek and turn my head away from him. "I'm sorry."

I crawl a few meters away from Felix and curl up into a ball. Then I cry. I cry like I've never cried before. Felix, Finnick, Preona, my mother. Everything that happened to me flashes through my head. All the pain, all the years of being locked up in my room. The deaths of the ones that I loved. With my hands I grab my head and pull my hair. I let go of the hair and start to slam the ground with my fists. I let out a scream, the most frustrated scream I've ever had. Then I keep quiet. They will come back for me. They will come back for me and kill me. I get up. I can barely stand on my legs. My hands are trembling and I feel like my head's going to explode. Felix told me to run. I put one foot in front of the other and try to walk. Don't think about it Annie! Just... Run. I take a deep breath and start to run back this path, away from the death end. With all the power I have left in my body I try not to fall. I reach the end of the path and turn left, I know the careers turned right. My feet move for me, I have no idea where I'm going or what I'm doing.

I can't go on. I fall down onto the ground. I've been running for a long time now. It's over. Well played President Snow, well played. I played your little game, but I lost. I'm done with everything! I can't even cry anymore, maybe I've cried too much already. I curl up again. Just leave me here to die. I close my eyes, waiting for something to kill me. Something like an axe being slammed in my chest. Axe... I totally forgot to take my weapons. They're still in the bushes. I don't care, should I even care about something? Yes. About the guy. The fish guy. What's his name again?

"Urggh!" I scream frustrated. I can't remember. What's the guys name? Blonde hair... Did he even have blonde hair? I start to giggle. "Fishy!" I roll over until I lay on my back. I put my hands on my stomach and start to laugh. I can't help it but laugh. "The boy is a fish." I keep on giggling. Then I see something, floating through the sky. It's silver. A... Parachute? I crawl towards the parachute that lands. I grab it with both hands and clamb it against my chest. I bite my lip. What's this? I open the parachute, seeing it contains something beautiful. A bread. A whole big bread. I need food, I totally forgot about it. With the bread is a small text. I narrow my eyes to read it:

"It's Finnick. Annie, calm down. Calm down. I love you, you can survive. Don't kill yourself. Please."

Finnick? Oh! Finnick is the guys name. Wait... He loves me? Finnick loves me? My cheeks flush. I remember him. Blonde hair, sweet smile. My head resting against his chest... "I love you too." I whisper. I need to get out of this hell. I need to leave the Arena. I need to survive.