The Scent of Roses || Coriolanus Snow

Chapter V

The games were not anticipated to last another day.

Tributes had fallen left and right throughout the evening, and many of the mentors, even if their tributes were alive, had gone home to sleep. You couldn't. You stayed locked on the screens, waiting for another tribute to fall and for Garnett to make it out alive. You had managed to send him food and water, except it took a few tries for the drones to reach him.

As of now, four tributes remained. Cedar had gone home not long ago as his tribute succumbed to her wounds endured in the battle when the games first began. The only thing he seemed upset about was that she didn't win, not that she died.

You were disgusted with him for that. Before, you would've found comfort in the fact he didn't care for any other woman. But now, you had seen how easy it was for him to lie and manipulate someone to get what he wanted. He didn't care about her family or her home, just that she could benefit him in some way. You wondered if that's all he had kept you around for.

Another mentor had stayed behind, a mentor to a boy in District 7. You were shocked the boy had even made it this far along. He was young, far too young to be fighting for his life against tributes twice his size. He had followed a similar strategy as Garnett: hiding in a hole and waiting until everyone else died.

However, the boy had made the mistake of leaving his sanctuary a few hours ago and was shot in the side by another tribute with throwing knives. His mentor had sent bandages to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't working well. Both you and his mentor knew the boy would be dead soon, but just like how you were with Garnett, the mentor couldn't leave him.

The other two tributes were both from District 3, but one of them already had a death sentence. Her leg was broken from jumping off of a large ledge to escape another tribute. She couldn't run, and if anyone or anything were to come after them, her partner would either have to abandon her or he would die trying to save her.

If anything was going to happen to wipe out the last remaining tributes, it would happen in the morning when people would be watching. Doctor Gaul would not risk the opportunity for a grand finale.

You tried your best to stay awake, to keep watching the screen, but even Garnett had managed to fall asleep. You didn't know how. He must've been so scared inside that arena, especially when he couldn't see where he was.

You could hardly sleep in another person's house, let alone an open area where corpses rotted around you, and bloodthirsty killers waited in the shadows. The thought was keeping you up, but that wouldn't work for long. Your eyes slowly began to get heavy, and you felt yourself drift away.

A calm breeze whistled around you, blowing your hair like it was playing with you. The sun was beating down on your face, so warm and inviting, and the grass felt softer than any bed you had ever laid on.

You heard a voice call out to you, a man's. It was too far for you to see him, but you ran toward his voice. Your dress clashed against your legs as you ran full speed, bare feet digging into the soft earth beneath you. His voice began to get closer and closer until he was in your grasp, pulled into a warm embrace. He held you tighter than a knot, his body more generous than the sun above. You pulled away to look at him, a smile covering your face.

"I promise I'd see you once before I die," Garnett said, kissing gently against your cheek.

You smiled even wider, blushing at the sight of him. "I love it here," you told him unapologetically. "I never want to leave this place. It's perfect."

Children ran in the streets with their parents outside cottage homes. Horses and cattle roamed free in the open fields. Even a cat was seen brushing against the base of an old oak tree, her kittens following behind her. You looked back to Garnett, a sullen look now taking over his once happen expression. "What's wrong?" You asked as he lowered you to the ground, releasing his tight grasp against you.

"I wish this could've been it for us," Garnett said somberly. "But he wouldn't let it."

A loud crash woke you from your sleep. Cedar pounded against your desk, a grin across his face. "Garnetts in the final two!" He roared with excitement, not for you as much as it was for the games to finally be over.

You wiped your eyes as you rose to look at the screen. There Garnett was, a long-tipped spear in hand, while the boy across from him held a rock in one hand and a bloody bandage pressed against his side in the other.

Fuck. You looked to your side to see the mentor for that boy in District 7 covering her mouth. Out of anyone left, it had to be him.

"What happened to the other tributes?" You asked Cedar, tugging on the side of his shirt to get his attention. "The ones from 3, they were alive last night."

Cedar shook his head in disappointment, like he didn't enjoy how they had died. "Doctor Gaul flooded the tunnels with flesh-eating fish. Garnett and the boy from 7 made it out in time, but that girl with the broken leg couldn't get up. The boy from her District wouldn't leave her. They died together. It was pathetic."

You backed away from him as his eyes turned to the scene in excitement, cheering as both Garnett and the boy from 7 stood pacing around each other at the center of the arena. This was so barbaric, cheering for two people, two children, to kill each other for sport, for entertainment. You shook your head, thinking of how you had prepared Garnett for this. One person, that's all he had to kill—just one.

"Please."

Silence rang over the cheers when the boy from District 7 spoke, tears flooding down his face. "Please just kill me," he said, his voice trembling with every word. "I won't live even if I go home. We don't have doctors or medicine. I'll die anyway. Just kill me."

Garnett's face froze, his body tensing at the pleading begs for death from the boy in front of him. He couldn't have been older than 13 years old. Garnett knew that. He probably saw someone in him, maybe Orion's little brother. How could he bring himself to kill a little boy begging to die?

This isn't what you had planned for. You intended for the person he went up against in the last moments to be a monster, someone who took fun in killing others, and Garnett would have to fight for his life to make it out alive. Garnett wasn't ready to kill someone sweet, innocent, someone who deserved to live.

The boy collapsed onto his knees, tossing aside the rock in his hands. He kept his bandage wrapped tightly on the wound, still trying to live even though he never would. "Please," he begged again, looking up at Garnett for help. "You'll make it quick. You were one of the nice ones."

Garnett turned away, tears falling down his face. You look towards the boy's mentor from 7. She was in tears as well. Almost everyone in the room was.

"How do you want me to do it," Garnett asked, turning back to the boy as he wiped the tears off his face. "You pick. I'll do whatever you want."

The boy looked down at his bandages pressed firmly into his side. He looked back up at Garnett, and both knew what needed to happen. The clang of metal sounded as Garnett threw his spear down. Then, he leaned beside the boy, wrapping his hands around him as if he was holding a child. He put his hand on the boys, and together they removed the bandage. The boy cried out in pain as the blood began to pool around him. Garnett shushed him softly as he began to rock him back and forth in his arms. For a brief moment, you thought he might be humming to the boy as he passed in his arms.

After only a minute, the boy was gone. His vitals had stopped, and Garnett had won. Your tribute had won the 15th annual Hunger Games. But this was no victory to be celebrated. No, this was no victory at all.