The 73rd annual Hunger Games

Chapter 23

Athena POV:

What wakes me tonight is an ear piercing scream. I sit bolt upright and look around frantically. Felix is up and running towards us carrying his machete. My first instinct is to grab my knives and fight back but he's not looking at me. That's when I see it. A dark figure on top of another. I can't depict who, but it was definitely a girl's scream. I climb out of my bed and grab my knives. Once my eyes adjust better in the dark, I can see it's Harrison and Oakley. I can hear them talking.

"Now, where to cut next?" Harrison's voice hums. He takes a moment then must have cut her because a slight cry escapes her lips. I shake Wade awake.

"Get your ass up!" I whisper to him, he mumbles then wakes up.

"What's going on?" He asks sitting up.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Oakley's voice sounds weak and in pain.

"That's what's going on," I whisper.

"Shit, are we killing her?" He asks.

"No, but Harrison will if we're not quick," I give him a look, he grabs his sword and climbs out of bed. We sprint towards them. Me screaming:

"Oakley!!!"

Felix is already there fighting Harrison. Wade runs over to help him. I rush over to Oakley.

"You're ok, you're ok. I promise you're ok. Oakley?" Tears threaten to spill. I never cry. Ever. Her wrists are cut badly and her eyebrow as well. When I help her to a sitting position, I see her ear is cut too. When you've been throwing knives since you were five, tending to knife wounds becomes pretty easy. I cut a chunk of someone's blanket and clean her eyebrow first. Then I use a healing cream and wrap bandage around her head. Then, I clean her wrists and put more cream and bandage on them. Finally, I clean her ear and wrap it. She's sobbing hysterically. I turn to see Wade and Felix have moved a couple feet towards the forest. Harrison is proving to be a better fighter than we thought. I make Oakley take a few sips of water before bringing her over to my sleeping bag. I sit her down and grab my knives to help Wade and Felix. All three are injured. Harrison the worst luckily. His left arm is hanging at an odd angle and he is covered in bloody gashes. I really don't need to do anything. I lurk back into the shadows and watch the boys in case I need to step in. I turn back to look at Oakley–who is sitting up shaking and sobbing–for just a second but when I turn back, Felix is laying on the ground, what looks to be unconscious. I can hear Oakley's sobbing turn into cries for Felix. Wade is pinned down under Harrison. I sprint towards them and grab one knife and let it fly into the back of Harrison's head. The next into his back. The cannon booms. He falls limp on top of Wade and I crouch next to them and push Harrison off Wade. Wade has a large cut across his stomach but looks to be fine otherwize. I get up and run towards Felix. He is still unconscious but he's still breathing. He has a cut on one of his arms and down his lower face across his lips and chin. I shake him aggressively until he finally wakes up. He gasps for air and I sit back on my heels feeling relieved. I help Felix up, then Wade, and help them walk back to camp. I sit them on the logs by the campfire. The moon tells me it's four in the morning. I light the fire and go back to the sleeping bags to check on Oakley and grab stuff to help Wade and Felix. Oakley is shaking and I feel a new feeling. Sympathy. I've never felt like that before. I shake my head to clear it and collect the stuff for the boys. Water, more clothes, first aid kits. I make both boys drink some water as I use another bottle to clean their wounds. I help Wade first because I want Felix to start feeling less like he's about to pass out again before I help him. Wade pulls his shirt over his head and I got the first good look at his cut. And body. It's long and bleeding like crazy. I use water to clean the blood away then put lots of disinfectant cream on it, then wrap it in gauze and bandage wrap. I pass him a new shirt and he puts it on. I grab some stuff to put into the garbage pile, but that's when I notice not one, but two sponsor parachutes. One lands by Wade's feet and the other infront of Oakley. I smile. Felix is feeling well enough to be treated. I treat his face first. Water clean, creams, gauze, band aids. Then his arm. Water clean, creams, gauze, wrap. The sun is just starting to rise over the mountains as I make my way over to the sleeping bags and to Oakley. She holds the unopened sponsor gift in her hand and is looking at it with a questionable expression.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I ask her.

"Umm," She stutters.

"That's ok. You don't need to talk," I smile and sit down next to her. "You going to open that?" I ask, jesturning to the small silver box in her hands. She shrugs.

"I don't know. I can't seem to bring myself to," She sighs.

"I can, if you'd like," I ask. She nods and I grab the box and open it. I pull out a small paper note and read it to her.

"You might need this -Jo."

"Johanna." She nods her head. I reach my hand into the box and pull out a small vial of green liquid. I hand it to Oakley who instantly reads the top.

"Blood poisoning? Why would I need that?" She asks me.

"I don't know. Just a precaution maybe?" I shrug. She nods her head again and places it down on the sleeping bag.

"Are the boys ok?" She asks me.

"Yes. They're fine. Just a little banged up." I smile.

"That's good." She looks down.

"Are you hungry or thirsty or anything?"

"No. Where's Lillian?" She asks.

"Little bitch is still asleep." I roll my eyes.

"Oh. Wow." Oakley says quietly.

"I'm gonna go wake her up." I stand up. "Are you ok if I leave you?"

"Ya. I'm fine." She smiles weakly. I turn on her heels and walk away. Lillian is sleeping soundly. I violently shake her awake.

"What?" She wines.

"Get up. A lot has happened. Come on, I'll tell you about it," I say emotionlessly. She gets up and follows me over to the fire. We sit on a log and start talking. Wade and Felix go to see Oakley. After I finish telling Lillian all that has happened, the sun is completely up and a new day has dawned. Harrison's body is gone but I don't remember a hovercraft coming to get it. Wade returns after dropping Felix over with Oakley. Lillian went to go get some dried fruit for breakfast.

"How are you holding up?" Asks Wade.

"Fine, fine. I just feel... rattled, that's all. You know? You were so close, so close to getting fatally injured and I... Well, it just puts it into real perspective and... I, I don't want you to die." I say the last line in a low whisper. He looks me in the eye and grabs my hand.

"I won't die. Not yet at least. I promise."

"Ok," I shyly smile.

"Ok."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahh lots happened LMAO