Stay with me, always.

Chapter 20. Parachutes & Hugs

There's not a dry eye in the room, probably in all of Panem after we just watched Soarynn sing Arabella to sleep. I look around to see my Mother blowing her nose, while Eudora sits next to her, wiping away her tears. To say Soarynn's Prep Team handled that scene well would be generous, they were wailing. "What if she's next?" Olympia asked, snot dripping down her nose. "Who will sing to her?" Imogen asked, using the fiftieth tissue of the day to wipe her tear-ridden face. Who would sing to her? Soarynn was always the kid in our class that could carry the best tune, always singing songs she learned in Twelve. None of them ever made sense, they were about gray birds who were ghosts, and valleys, and who knows what else. At least her meadow song made sense.

I dabbed my own eyes, as much as we loved the Hunger Games, they didn't come without moments of grief. The screen was now showing Lucky Flickerman who was somberly telling the audience that if they wanted to help Soarynn keep her promise to Arabella, they could send gifts to Leo at any time. How on Earth was she going to win the Games now that she had to take care of Leo?

The Careers were not affected by the cannon going off whatsoever, in fact, they cheered when it went off. "One more down!" Cleo said, dancing in the rain as they made their way back to the Cornucopia. To say their setup was decent would be an understatement. They had positioned the tent to be right next to the Cornucopia and had lined the perimeter with snares, any unsuspecting Tribute would be caught up in a trap in seconds. Their celebration didn't last long though, as they neared the edge of the woods to go back to their little military base, Finn caught sight of the stag Florian had encountered earlier in the Games. Wanting to be a hero, he sauntered over towards it, calling over his shoulder, "Guys, I think I just found our next kill," he said with an evil grin.

Realizing what he had found, they all followed close behind him, trying to be as slow as possible, so as to not spook the stag. "Get it, Finn," Cleo whispered encouragingly, passing him a long hunting knife, he took it from her hand and slowly walked up to it. The stag didn't seem to care about any of them, standing still as the trees around it, that is until Finn raised his knife going in for the kill. If you've never seen someone get skewered by a wild stag, I envy you. The stag's eyes widened, realizing what Finn was about to do, and reared up before charging towards him and running its antlers through Finn's body. The Careers were a mess, screaming, falling over, and running away from this suddenly murderous creature the Game Makers had created. Finn was screaming for help, but it was no use, as the stag kept ramming his body into a tree, pushing him further onto its antlers with every blow.

Tired of Finn's dangling body weighing it down, the stag whipped its head to the side, sending Finn flying off and landing on the ground with a thud. The stag then let out a terrifying screech, as if telling Finn: 'Fuck around and find out you little shit,' and then walked away as if nothing had happened. I guess the Career pack wasn't as tight-knit as they made themselves out to be, because no one came back to check on Finn, who was currently bleeding out of his now mangled body, on the wet muddy ground. The sky thundered as Finn began to cough up blood, before taking his last breath. The cannon went off.

Back at their base camp, the Careers had just made it back into the tent, zipping it up for good measure, checking to see if the stag was pursuing them next. "Okay, what the FUCK was that?!" Beckett yelled, putting his hands on his head while he tried to catch his breath. "It killed Finn," Cleo said, crying on the floor, rocking back and forth, "I can't believe it just killed him like that." Briella looked at Beckett, trying to figure out their next move. "Okay, now we know that the only food we can depend on, is the food in the Cornucopia," Callix said, shaking the rain off his jacket, the others nodded, "And we're the only ones with most of the food," Ember chimed in, scraping some mud off her face, I'm pretty sure she face planted trying to run away. "This is just the beginning," Briella murmured, she looked around at them, "I mean, it's what? Day Two? And they're already sending crazy mutts after us!" No one knew what to say to that, she wasn't wrong.