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Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides, just like hopes springing high, still I'll rise.
Cassia lurched into a sprint, dragging her injured leg through the underbrush of the woods as she raced for the Cornucopia. The ground shook and birds flew overhead, seeking shelter. In the distance, she could hear screams of the remaining tributes, and that made her run faster, forcing the agony in her to go away. She had to keep moving, to reach a high spot as to not be pulled under the waves.
She wouldn't make it to the Cornucopia in time she realized as she started to hear the deafening crack of trees behind her. If it could break those massive trees in half, what would it do to her?
A canon boomed in the distance.
Sweat dripped down Cassia's face and into her eyes. At the rate she was going, with her wounds slowing her down, she wouldn't make it to the Cornucopia in time. She frantically looked for another option. All around her were massive trees, high above her like buildings. She ran to the nearest one, gripping at the bark so hard she felt her fingernails break. Her palms dug painfully into the tree, heaving herself upward. She wasn't the best climber, not like how she was with swimming, but she was decent enough to know where to place her feet and hands.
In a moment of weakness, Cassia looked to her left. Through the gaps of the trees she could see it—it was so dark it looked like night was falling at an unnatural pace. She was twenty feet in the air when she could smell it, the cool damp permeating the air.
She scrambled then, yanking up onto a branch in a burst of panic. Her injured leg slammed into another sharp branch while she lifted herself and she screamed out at the pain that overcame her, feeling woozy at the loss of blood and the exertion. Looking down at the forest floor, she gripped her stomach with one hand and heaved up her breakfast. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Standing on the branch, she gritted her teeth, carelessly wiping the hot tears that slipped down her cheeks. Focusing on her breathing was useless when she felt like her leg was being torn off her body. All she could do was put all of her energy into surviving. Into winning. Because, really, she didn't want to die. She wanted to see Evelin one more time. If she saw her family one last time and Snow shot her dead on the spot, she would be happy.
She heard another canon go off. How many more? How many others would they kill? Cassia leaned her pounding side against the tree as she stood, preparing to climb to the next branch. Surely, there were not many tributes left now. No, she thought as she felt, more than saw the body of water half a mile away—there were only two of them left. She had made it to the finale.
Surely everyone in the Capitol was placing their final bets now, getting the champagne ready. Watching her on the large screens, wondering if she would live or die.
