Pure As Ivory, Driven As Snow - A Hunger Games Story

Part 3 - The Voice

3.1 – THE GAMES - DAY 4 – CONTINUED

The storm kept raging on for quite a while, and Vox thought the viewers would probably be bored by now. He now believed he had a fair chance of winning, but only if there were no more direct encounters with the other tributes. Even though he hadn't seen the pictures of today's fallen tributes yet, at this point in the games it was reasonable to hope they could finish each other off. The storm kept everybody in their positions waiting for a while, and when it finally stopped, he was sure the games were slowly coming to an end. But something spectacular obviously still had to happen. This couldn't be it. He waited for a while, but there was no one in sight. He wondered how many tributes were still left and where they were. It was freezing cold and he really didn't want to stay. Then, all of a sudden, he could see the District 2 boy approaching again. He must've been drawn out of the caves, where Vox thought he must've been after the storm was finally over, now in a blood lust. But then, he saw another disguised silhouette, white as the snow, a huge beast running behind the boy and overwhelming him within seconds and biting huge pieces out of his body, blood spilling everywhere. The Gamemakers had sent polar bear mutts into the arena, the bloody finale of the games, he was sure. These must be the most dangerous muttations the games have ever seen up until this point.

Vox ran down the hill and saw Deena not too far from him. She had heard the District 2 boy's screams and was highly alert, and in shock when she saw Vox come down the hill followed by giant polar bears. Vox was running for his life but she got her trident ready. Vox didn't understand why she wouldn't run, they had to outrun them.. but it seemed impossible. Deena screamed:

„Watch out!", and when he turned around, a bear flung himself right onto Vox, who stabbed it with his knife, but to no avail. He could barely breathe as the creature moved on top of him while Deena seemed to hold it off with the stem of her trident in its mouth, saliva coming down on Vox' face from the creature's mouth.. Then, she took the chance and let go, and the creature charged at her, leaving Vox out in the open. She hammered the trident into the bear's head, and then finished off two other beasts in a similar manner that were approaching.

„I can't hold them off anymore", she gasped at Vox, and he wondered why she cared. And he thought that Sadie was right. She seemed to be a beautiful person. Suddenly, the roars of the other approaching bears faded and they all jumped inside a big hole in the ground. Then, it was all silent. Vox tried his hardest to stand up, but he was kneeling on the ground. Deena wasn't panting anymore, she'd gotten silent. He looked up with tears in his eyes, and so did she. They both hesitated for a second, but they both knew he was almost starved to death and weak as can be while she was one of the strongest tributes in the arena, and she still was. She took a step forward, looked at him with a saddened look on her face, and after he nodded, simply said:

„I'm sorry", swung her trident and cut him deep in the guts. As he was lying there dying, he attempted to sing one last song while the blood left his body.

3.2 MAUDE – IN THE GAMES' FINAL MOMENTS

Maude Ivory looked away. She didn't want to see the rest of it. A polar bear had just attacked Vox, and she just didn't believe he could win anymore. She started crying, wiped the tears and said goodbye to him in her own, private way. She couldn't believe how far he'd come and the impossible situation they'd put him in now. The pain was so real, she had to distance herself from it. She turned around to the person sitting next to her. „I'm going to leave. Tell me if he makes it." She knew he wouldn't, but as long as he was alive, there was still a part of her that believed he could. She withdrew into her room, and no message came. She knew he was dead.