𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟕𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 ✔️

𝕏𝕏𝕀𝕀

I wince as Aurora gently applies cream to my wound. My skull feels like it's about to explode from my intense headache. All I can do is lay here in agony as Aurora tries her best to heal me.

"Good news," she says as she leans over me, trying her best to treat my wounds in the darkness. "I think I recognize this brand of cream. It's pretty powerful. Or at least, I hope it is."

"Yeah, me too," I murmur back before closing my eyes. The smallest things make the slash on my face hurt. Even the passing breeze makes my body tense up as I hold my moans of pain inside. I don't want Aurora to worry about me.

Midway through the process, I adjust my position on the ground, bumping my wound into Aurora's fingertips in the process. The agony I feel at that moment is too much to explain with words. It's the pain that hurts so bad you can't let out a scream. I rock back and forth, holding my breath until I see stars.

As I writhe in pain, an image flashes into my mind. It's me, on the ground, with a knife in my throat. No pain, no suffering. It would all be over.

This is getting out of hand. I can't handle the pain anymore. There's no use in trying.

I open my mouth to say something, but I see Aurora looking down at me with tears in her eyes, and I shut it. How would Aurora feel if I asked her to kill me? I'll push through the pain. I have to try.

A little while after Aurora puts the cream in her bag, my face starts to tingle.

"I think it's working," I tell her, and she peers over me, squinting to see it in the dark.

"Yeah, it is..." she says slowly. "It looks better already!"

I'm afraid to touch the cut that extends down my face, but it feels slightly less painful. It's hard to tell, though, with my splitting headache.

It's not long before the Fallen Tributes are shown in the sky. I crack my eyes open to see if any tributes died today, but I didn't hear any cannon shots.

I'm correct - no tributes today. It's a chilling reminder of how few of us are left.

For a fleeting moment, I have an out-of-body experience. I almost died today. If Phoenix had dug his blade a little deeper, if he had acted a little faster, my picture would be shining up at the top of the dome tonight. But I'm still here. I feel almost like I've cheated my fate, like I've been allowed to live longer than I should have.

"That could have been me up there," I whisper to Aurora.

"Well, it isn't," she whispers back tensely. "Now shut up."

I can tell my injury is taking a toll on her. She looks exhausted from the long day. I would feel bad, but I can't feel much other than pain at the moment. I can feel bad about it later when my face is healed.

"We're lucky I grabbed the right backpack," Aurora says quietly. "Nereus probably spent a ton of money to get us that first aid kit, and we almost left it behind."

"We left your bag behind, though," I say, turning to her. "With all the flowers in it."

Aurora just looks into the distance. "It's okay. We can pick more together."

"Are you okay?" I ask her seriously.

Aurora doesn't respond for a moment. She just stares at the trees around us aimlessly.

"I don't know," she sighs. "I don't know anymore. I really thought I was going to lose you today. I just realized I wasn't ready for that to happen. I mean, every other kid in here has lost their District partner. We're the last pair left. But it's just too early. I can't lose you yet."

"Well, I'm still here, baby," I say. I try to crack a smile but my face throbs when I move it, and I just wince. Aurora chuckles a bit.

Aurora opens her mouth to say something, but she's cut off by a howling sound in the distance. Ignoring the pain in my face, I sit up abruptly.

"What was that?" I ask, my heart thumping.

"An animal," Aurora says, shaken as well. "It sounds like... a monkey?"

Another howl, this time even quieter, passes by us. It sounds like the screeching of a monkey.

"Great," I grumble, my head throbbing with every word I speak. "First birds. Then wolves, and now monkeys? Can we not get a break?"

A cacophony of distant screeches resounds around us. It sounds like the monkeys are multiplying. As the cries die down, a cannon shot booms, making both Aurora and I jump at the loud noise. I clutch my chest to calm my beating heart as Aurora packs her belongings back into my backpack.

"Be prepared for anything," she whispers.

I don't know if I can fight off a monkey mutt. My face is hurting less and less, but I'm still in agony. We're both exhausted after everything that happened today. I can't take it anymore. If the monkeys reach us, I may have to throw in the towel.

The monkeys never arrive, though. After the cannon shot, we don't hear a sound for the rest of the night. Just like the acid rain, the monkeys disappeared as abruptly as they arrived. Maybe they were only hungry for one of us. Better them than us.