The Incoming Storm: The Tale of the 325th Hunger Games

Chapter 21

 Spoola stirs us early in the morning, there is barely any light in the arena, except the ever so fair orange glow on the horizon we can catch between tree branches. We make our way back to the cornucopia, by then the deep navy sky is streaked with hues of purple. Sunrise is almost upon us. It is now or never.

"Once you see the orange in the sky," I say, and the two nod. I hand Ross a sleep bomb and he throws it at the already sleeping careers. It exploded in a purple cloud hopefully sedating them into a deeper sleep. With that, Ross and Spoola travel to their trees. I stare at the sky, torch ready to drop. Finally, an orange streak appears in the sky, and I let go of my torch. Simultaneously, our three trees are engulfed in flames, aided by the webs and fuel we added yesterday.

The detonation cords are triggered and three lines of fire erupt from the ground. There is a deafening boom and the ground shakes as the entire mouth of the cornucopia explodes. Plumes of black smoke billow from it, as red molten plastic is spewed from the horn. Despite the sedative, the careers are on their feet in moments, stumbling around and yelling at each other, clambering for their machetes.

I notice Reeler, who was closest to the horn, become engulfed in flames. She cries out but no one seems to hear her. She collapses to the ground. I think I hear a cannon fire but it is hard to tell since a series of explosions drown it out.

Fire erupts on the far side of the clearing near where Ross was, I can't tell if it was something he did or something the Gamemakers have. Smoldering webs and branches rain down, the careers are distracted by the sound. Another explosion occurs, this time from inside the cornucopia.

Adore is hit on the side of the head by a piece of debris and she falls to the ground screaming in pain. The two canopies collapse in the flames, releasing more potent black smoke. I grip my machete, now is the time to strike.

I charge into the clearing, I see Spoola explode from the trees on her side. The careers see us coming, I clash blades with Hero. Spoola attacks Clementine.

I look back to Hero and we trade swings of the machetes, but neither of our blows land. Another explosion shakes the ground, dirt, and rocks spray Hero and me as we are thrown to the ground. That was a landmine, the Gamemakers have become involved!

As I regain my balance, I see Spoola's dead body, her torso cut wide open and her blood pooling on the dusty fiery ground. Her eyes are frozen in space staring at me. I'm not sure how, but I sense Clementine swinging her blade at me. I block it and begin running.

As I run I am about twenty feet from the edge of the clearing, something slams into me and my face impacts with the ground. Blood gushes from my nose. I quickly roll over, Hero is on top of me. He tries to stab my face with the machete, but I jerk my head to the side just in time. My hair is pulled as I swing my hand as hard as I can. My machete finds its place in Hero's side. He hollers as I pull the blade out of the bloody wound.

Unfortunately, he doesn't let up, he gets ready to stab at my face again. At the same time, he tries to pin my arm back down, but his attention is too divided. I swing again, this time hacking several inches into his neck. Blood spews from the cut, spraying me and everything else.

I manage to hear a cannon fire over the sound of two or more explosions and Hero slides off of me landing in a slump. I spring upwards, my head spinning.

Clementine and the other careers are closing in. Adore, hair smoldering, is back on her feet as well. I reach down, pick up Hero's machete, and sprint towards the woods. A machete blade goes flying by my head embedding five inches into a tree to my right.

I leap into the flaming line of trees. The first several feet of the woods are engulfed in flames and I am blinded by thick white smoke. I keep running, the flames stop but the smoke continues deep into the woods. I zigzag through webbed trees and a stray fire or two.

For a while, I hear the careers following me, but soon their crashing and yelling grow quieter and quieter until going silent. I pause for a moment, the air is less smokey here. I pause to cough and vomit. Spoola's dead. Who knows if Ross is still alive? At least two careers are down, Reeler and Hero. Adore has a grievous head injury, but she was up and running by the time I left. Am I alive? Is this what it feels like to die? I am overcome with another coughing fit and throw up again.

I rest for a minute, and the next thing I know I wake from a nap. The smoke is considerably thinner now than before. I drink some water and have a handful of nuts. I rise and begin traveling back to the clearing. I want to maybe find Ross and see if I can assess the damage that we've done. I'm still not sure if Ross is alive, I guess if I can't find him I will know for sure tonight when they play the anthem. I evaluate the possibilities, I didn't hear Spoola's cannon, and I barely heard Reeler's. It's quite possible he died in that explosion after the attack, which was almost certainly caused by the Gamemakers.

About an hour later I find myself nearing the clearing. The smoke is far thicker here, I pull my shirt up over my nose and mouth which helps some. My eyes sting and I am forced to squint through watery eyes as I hike. I pass smoldering black trees, husks of spiders, and the occasional flame that still burns.

I hold both machete blades tightly in my hands, ready to attack anything or anyone that appears from the smoke. Eventually, I dare to poke my head into the clearing, the careers are gone, surely off hunting me. The fire still rages bright red in the cornucopia, and large flames still dance in the clearing. I can see the red stain in the dirt where Spoola was cut down, and the other stain much closer where Hero died. I don't dare venture out into the open, the odds are there is nothing salvageable in the horn and it's far too likely to be a trap.

I make my way around the clearing to begin looking for Ross. I find the site of his fire, four massive craters have torn the trees here to shreds. Ashes lay in piles all around. I search the area for any clues to his fate. I find a pair of smashed sunglasses and a burst can of bug spray, both items that were in his pack this morning.

A little ways away from the scraps I find a large row of patches in the dirt that looks to me like someone tumbled down the hill. I can't find any tracks going away from the spot, but the ground is awfully dry and covered in the charred bits of wood. There isn't enough evidence, either way, to determine if Ross is still alive.

I notice the sky above is beginning to grow dim. I should find somewhere safe for the night. No doubt the careers will be hunting me down, especially since I'm the only one they saw. They have no idea Ross had anything to do with this.

I find a cave just as the anthem begins to play and the faces appear in the sky...