Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Day 7 Part 2

Jemima cracked her knuckles, leaning back in her chair. She smiled serenely to herself, flicking a hand in the direction of a dark-haired woman who was excitedly typing something. "Now this feels like a killer. Good work, Chelsea."

The woman saluted. "Oh, I'm always happy to help, Boss! Yes ma'am, this event is going to claim quite a few lives!"

"My mutts could have claimed way more lives if it weren't for those d*mn tunnels," No Ha muttered crossly.

"Die mad," Rolf shot out. No Ha glared at him.

Jemima tuned them out. They had been helping Chelsea Pratt with this earthquake for months, fine-tuning the code needed to make it as far-reaching and dangerous as possible. It was perfect. If this didn't thin the numbers of tributes, Jemima honestly wasn't sure what would.

She looked forward to watching the show.

~*~

The tunnels were a very bad idea.

As the world shook around them, Kikue, Touma, and Hinata raced for the nearest exit, dodging falling rocks as the tunnels began to cave in on themselves.

"Cerys and the others got out, we can too!" Hinata insisted, carting Touma on his back. Touma clung to him for dear life, terrified. "Kikue, you holding up?!"

Kikue leapt around a chunk of earth as it crashed to her side, stumbling over her unstable footing. Was this where her alliance would finally fall?

No. It couldn't end like this. They had to escape, they had to be okay...

"HiHi, ladder!" Touma cried, pointing ahead. Sure enough, a rickety wooden ladder, already snapped near the bottom by a growing pile of dirt that led up to the sun, was situated against a far wall. Hinata beelined to it, Kikue not far behind.

"You two go up first, I'll be right behind you!" she ordered.

Hinata didn't hesitate. He patted Touma's arms around his neck, scrambling up the pile of debris and jumping to reach the snapped ladder. It wavered ominously in the earthquake, creaking with each new rung Hinata ascended, but managed to stay together enough for Hinata to make it to the surface with Touma still in tow. At least this earthquake had made their escape hatches larger.

"Keek, hurry!" Touma begged.

"Get somewhere safe!" Kikue yelled, slipping as she climbed the pile of rocks. Another rumble and the left side of the top of the ladder was jostled loose; it hung there uselessly a moment longer before finally falling to the ground. Kikue gasped, getting on her hands and knees on top of the pile to try and stabilize herself on the highest point possible.

A tree swayed above her, a mighty groan sounding as it hurtled down towards the collapsed tunnel entrance. Kikue made herself as small as possible, still feeling the tree's branches crash against her back as she hugged the rocks for dear life.

"Keek!" Touma screamed.

"I'm alive!" Kikue shouted back. "Just get somewhere safe!"

"We're safe as we're gonna get right here, Keek!" Hinata called back worriedly. "It's way too dangerous to run around in this--sh*t!"

Kikue heard more trees going down everywhere. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying her best not to move as everything shifted around her. The tree she was underneath shook and buckled, branches pressing down on her upper back, as the rocks beneath her crumbled apart. How long was this going to last? Were Hinata and Touma really okay on the surface? Was...