Outlaster- A Hunger Games Tale

Chapter 20- Silence

Alaya stared at Ryan's corpse, barely hearing the cannon shot. She tore her eyes away from the boy to glare at Jean, who was as close to tears as Alaya was.

"Why?" Alaya asked forlornly. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"Why else d'you think we're here?" Jean paused, "To live? You think that we're special? No, we're here to be brutally murdered - to lose everything we've ever loved!"

Max leaned down and grabbed the locket off the ground. "I'm sorry, man, you shouldn't have died that way," he whispered, placing the locket on Ryan's chest.

"Yeah, and Rian shouldn't have died like that either," Alaya said. "We're sorry."

"No, you're not sorry," Jean replied. She turned to hop off the cornucopia and ran into the woods. Ximena and Alaya walked over to Max, who was still leaning over Ryan's body.

"Rest in peace, bud."

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Maliery got to the bottom of the hill and glanced behind her. She searched through the smoke for Q'uira, but found nothing but lava. She yelled Q'uira's name several times. There was no response.

Tears rushed down her face. She had no one left - she was officially alone. Mal started running towards the woods. She never wanted to stop.

After about a mile of running, she was very clearly out of breath. However, she kept going. Eventually, she bumped into someone. She was hurled to the ground.

"Maliery?" Jean's voice came from the other person on the floor.

"Jean," Mal's own voice sounded drained. Her face was still covered in tears. Jean opened her arms and Mal hugged her tightly.

"What happened?" Jean asked, concerned.

"T-there was a volcano, and then a guy pushed Jay in and Q'uira was devoured by lava and I'm alone..." Maliery tried to catch her breath.

"...A volcano?" Jean got up from the ground and started running towards the direction Maliery had come from.

"Wh-what're you doing?" Mal yelled to Jean, following her. They both ran until they could see the lava again.

"That's it!" Jean exclaimed. "That's the trick in the arena."

"The what?" Mal questioned, tilting her head.

"Every year, there's some sort of catch. This year it's a volcano," Jean looked around, surveying the area. "We have to move!"

"Okay!" Maliery grabbed Jean's arm and sprinted with her in the opposite direction. The lava was following them, the volcano seeming angrier and angrier as they went on. The smoke filled their lungs as the two ran.

Both of them were coughing now, which kept slowing them down. The trees burned behind them. Jean kept jamming her leg on fallen branches, causing her to stumble. Both girls were becoming nauseated as the smoke consumed them, following their every move. Jean finally tripped after jamming her leg into a thin shard of wood.

"Ow!" she exclaimed as blood pooled around her leg.

"Come on!" Mal yelled, trying to pull Jean up. Jean moved to stand up, but the piece of wood had gone through her skin. She screamed as it dragged through her leg.

"Maliery, I'm not gonna make it," Jean cried, shoving Mal away.

"No! You've gotta make it!" Maliery's eyes were filled with tears.

"You need to go and win!" Jean felt the lava creeping up her leg. It hurt almost too much to bear

"I-i'm not leaving you here!" Maliery said, staring at the lava.

"You have to go now!" Jean's voice sounded strained.

The lava was now consuming her. Maliery shook her head and stayed in her place. She watched as the lava tore through Jean, knowing she was next. She let the lava burst through her, eating her skin. She didn't want to leave another person - she didn't want anyone else to die for her. The lava had filled the area, blazing hot fires leaving nothing but ruin and silence.