𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ✔️

Chapter 28 - Dalia

^Lena

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Chapter 28

POV: Dalia (District 11)

Time: Night 6

Tributes Remaining: 18

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It's been 24 hours since we barely escaped from the Careers with our lives.

I should be thankful that we're all alive, except that's not true. Nia's gone. I've felt her absence all day. Every few hours, I notice that she's missing, and I glance around for her until I remember what happened.

I try not to think about it. Our group has other problems to deal with right now. While we ultimately escaped, the vines did take hold of Soren for a moment, which left him with some lasting injuries.

Robin and Lacie stand behind me as I examine Soren's injuries. His shirt was ripped off at the bottom where the Hydra Vines removed it, and a red rash covers the skin beneath it. Soren is in some sort of pain in the area but I can't figure it out, even with my medicinal knowledge.

"Lacie, did you read anything about Hydra Vines releasing a poison?" I ask her. Maybe the vines poisoned Soren through touch?

"Uh... it did say that the vines envelope nearby objects and inject poison into them," she says. "Maybe it's transmitted through touching the vines as well."

Soren groans in dismay.

"Did it say what type of poison?" I ask nervously. I can't bear to think about losing Soren so soon after Nia's death.

"No, but it did say the vines are partly based on prowler cacti in the way the poison is transmitted... maybe the poison's the same?" Lacie suggests.

I flip through my plant handbook, landing on the prowler cacti. It's a cactus with what seems to be legs. There is also a diagram of what looks like an arm cannon with spikes inside. I scan the paragraph of information.

"Okay, it says the poison is impossible to cure-"

Soren interrupts me with another groan, but I continue.

"But only until its final stage. Once it spreads deep enough into your system, it will turn black and begin shutting off your vital organs. We just have to wait until then to feed you the antidote, which should deactivate the poison."

The others sigh in relief. There is some hope. He can't be cured now, but he can be cured eventually. If we can find the antidote, it's the least I can do to pay him back for saving us from the Careers.

"Do we have the antidote?" Soren asks hopefully.

"No, but I'm sure it's around somewhere," I reassure him. "It's found in the petals of the lion lily, a large yellow flower. They wouldn't put Hydra Vines in the Arena without hiding some lion lillies somewhere."

I hope I'm right. I don't know if I can bear to watch Soren slowly die after what happened with Nia.

"Okay, we'll look for those. I'll be okay for now," Soren says. Lacie nods. I can tell she's trying to stay calm. She's usually pretty good at hiding her emotions, but I know she's pretty close with Soren.

We pause as the sky lights up with the words "THE FALLEN", accompanied by the Panem anthem. I wince at the sound - every day the anthem plays, more children appear in the sky, staring down at me with their cold eyes. I can't bear to see Nia up there, but I force myself to watch. This is the Hunger Games; we all have to do these things.

Felix from District 1 appears first. He looks tamer than he did when he chased us yesterday. I can still see him as he ran behind us with his flashlight, cheering at the sight of new bait. Well, he's gone now. Good riddance.

Felix fades away, and then there she is. Nia. It seems like Nia's death was a decade ago. I can't believe it's only been 24 hours.

This time, I don't have anything else to distract myself with. The weight of Nia's death hits me like a train, and I have to sit down. I can't do this. Tears pool in my eyes and I feel my throat constrict, making it hard to breathe. I let out a sob, wiping my eyes. Now is not the time for me to cry. I have to stay strong.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. It's Soren. He's laying next to me, since he hasn't moved from when I was treating his wounds.

Soren doesn't say anything as the Panem anthem ends. He sits up, hugging me from behind as I wipe my eyes.

"It's okay to cry," he says quietly to me. "We all lost a friend, but you lost a companion. You really cared about Nia, didn't you?"

I just nod. I never thought I would get so close with Nia, but I think we just clung to one another. We both just understood one another without having to explain anything, you know?

Now she's gone, and so is Angelica. Angelica wasn't so bad, we just weren't on the same wavelength. She's dead, too. It's just me in here. The only District 11 girl left.

At least I have Soren, Lacie, and Robin. Nia would have wanted me to fight till the bitter end, and that's what I'm going to do.

I'm started by a girl's voice in the distance. "Help! Please, help..."

I look up to see the two District 10 tributes stumbling toward our camp. The girl, Lena, is supporting the boy, Rex, as they walk. Rex looks horrible, and he's limping badly.

Spotting Rex, I stand and allow Lena to pass him to me. Distracted, I push thoughts of Nia to the back of my mind, and I turn my focus to Rex's injuries. His shirt is already in tatters in the back, and I rip it open to reveal his back.

Rex's back is completely singed and is one open wound covered in blood and pus. I wince at the sight.

"How'd this happen?"I ask Lena.

"There was a forest fire," she tells us. "The flames were green and spread extremely quickly. Rex was hit in the back with a fireball."

"Glutton Flames," Lacie says with a nod. "They spread three times faster than normal fire and can light anything on fire, even water."

"I didn't see any fire," Robin says quietly from the back of the group.

"It was that way," Lena says, pointing into the woods. "It chased us for about a mile. Luckily, we reached some sort of invisible barrier, and the flames stopped. We didn't realize fireballs could pass through, though."

"Maybe it's connected to the Hydra Vines from earlier," Lacie muses quietly. "There must be a pattern."

"If there's a pattern, we need to figure it out if we want to stay alive," Soren says, his voice shaking a bit. "That burn looks bad."

I shudder, turning back to Rex's injuries. "I don't know how much we can do here," I say quietly to Lacie.

"You're right, he looks pretty far gone," she says with a sigh.

I can tell Lacie is hesitant to help Rex, being a tribute outside our alliance, but I know how much he has to offer us if I can get him healed. Both Lena and Rex were nice to me in Training. I always felt bad for them, having Tanner as a District partner and all that. I think Rex deserves for us to at least try to save him.

"I'll try dressing it with some bandages," I tell Lacie. "What are we going to do about the girl?"

We both look back to see Lena, who is now sitting down at the other end of the clearing next to Soren. She looks exhausted and depressed, her eyes flicking back and forth from our campfire to Rex's body.

"She can stay with us for now," Lacie says. "Maybe she has some supplies or information useful to us."

Lacie turns to face Lena. "Hey, have you guys come across any bushes of large yellow flowers?" She asks. "They're called lion lilies."

Lena shakes her head, confused at the random question, and our group sighs. It's going to be a long couple of days.