How odd this girl is.
Isn't she from 8?
She is? Then why is she like this?
Like how? Don't you see it? The monster hidden in the deep?
Well this might be fun.
(I know, not the type of title you expect for a Hunger Games fic, but I couldn't hold myse...
Sleep was eluding her most of the night, and her side had painful bruises from the fall.
They were moving through the town as a group, which Bera found stupid.
Thoughts of everything plagued her as she trudged through the water with them instead of moving up on the sidewalk.
There is no chance that it rained last night.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
At the start, all was so dry, then she walked in mud, and now the streets were becoming rivers. Something is seriously wrong with this arena. The gamemakers tend to influence the arena when only a few tributes remain. Maybe this is it?
"Why do we need to walk in water?" 11 complained.
"To mask our prints, the mud keeps its shape, and we could be followed." 4 explained.
Bera was already annoyed with his voice.
"Let's just move, alright?"
"Don't worry, 8, the cornucopia is near with are almost there."
"Whatever."
A swarm of birds flew over the horizon, and Bera knew she was correct in using the word swarm instead of flock. They moved so oddly.
"Guys." She said, watching it. "Isn't that weird?"
"What?" James asked. She lifted her hand, pointing.
"That."
A bird screech came their way, the mass of birds moving as one.
"Oh, you unlucky bastard!" 4 yelled, shoving her backward as he ran past her.
She fell with a splash into the water.
"Hey!" She yelled after him.
"You can fight later! Let's go!" James helped her up, holding her hand as he ran and holding 11's in his other.
She pulled it out. She really hates running.
She split from him, just like 4 had, running another way, running to save her life. Not knowing what these birds could do, but 4 ran, so she would too.
Through the entrance of a nearby building, just fighting through the knee-high water in this building and to what looked like a backroom, pushing the door closed and leaning against it.
With a shaky breath and her back against the door, she sank down into the water, sitting there and grabbing her head.
What's going on with this arena?! She is going mad. She can feel it. She is going completely insane.
A scream pierced through the door before her mind could crush itself under its own weight.
And so she sat in this completely pitch-black room, listening to water dripping from the ceiling and the screams bleeding through the walls and worming their way into her ears.
And soon her scream came, something slithering against her legs, and she kicked it.
The thing lashed out like a snake, tightening around her leg.
She kicked and latched her hands on the slimy body, trying to pry it off her body, just in pure panic.
She wedged her hand under a part of its body as she felt behind her back, into her bag, and finally grabbed a handle, pulling the knife out fast, stabbing it through the body.
The thing writhed in pain and shot away from her; she quickly stood and forced the door open with all her strength, stumbling out into the light.
She panted, looking into the now murky waters, trying to see whatever attacked her, but she couldn't.
She gulped, looking at herself, a darker spot on her already dark pants.
Her hands shook. For the first time in a long while, she was on the edge of crying, hurrying outside.
She rubbed her eyes because of the sun, blinking as her head swayed. Did that thing bite her? She can't feel anything...
She grabbed the door frame, but it was suddenly gone; it was further, far away things looking right in her face, and her hands felt so far from her like she was looking at them through binoculars.
Her heart was beating frantically, like a drum; she wanted to deafen herself to stop hearing their drum-like beat.
The water filled with blood around her. Maybe she'll bleed to death. No, no, no, please, no! Not now.
She felt sick, so sick, everything just overwhelming, vision closing in as she gasped for breath, making herself even sicker with her thought.
But she didn't feel any better when she threw up the meager breakfast she had had.
A shriek came out of her, seeing whatever she threw up slither out into the blood, being a writhing mass.
She couldn't take it.
Welcoming darkness.
----------------------------------
She snapped open.
Jerking up with a gaspy scream, grabbing at her stomach, chest and then neck, squeezing on it.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down!"
She jerked, backhanding whoever across the face.
She pushed herself backwards and rapidly hit a wall.
She blinked when she realized.
"James?"
"Good to see you are yourself once more." He said, rubbing his jaw. "You have one mean smack."
"What's going on?" She asked, gagging as all came back to her, one hand covering her mouth.
"You tell me." He shrugged. "When I found you again you were completely delirious and I had to wrestle the knife out of your hands before you gutted yourself because you had something growing inside of you."
She lifted her hand off her mouth and to her face, rubbing it across it.
"So none of that was real." She said in relief but feeling so stupid.
"I suppose?"
"It's nothing, while you deal with birds I got the right to another type of mutt, something in the water. I think I got dosed with something because I saw some wild things." She said, remembering going in and out of darkness.
She looked around.
"How long was I out?" The sun is rising.
"A whole day."
"The others?"
"4 is back but in another room." James pointed over his shoulder.
"11?" She asked since he quieted down after mentioning 4.
He sadly shook his head.
"Those bird... These ripped him to shreds... It was truly horrible." His eyes were hollow as he looked at her, reliving such pain.
Being a victor truly looks like a pain in the ass when she thinks about it.
"Come on, let's tell 4 your are up." James helped her stand.
"Sure."
4 seemed deep in thought when James spoke to him.
Bera didn't like the look in his eyes as he looked at them but her district partner didn't seem to realize.
