THE HUNGER GAMES: the taste of Whiskey and Snow // CORIOLANUS SNOW

Twenty

Whiskey was sitting on the pavement by herself, on a random corner she'd never seen before. She'd grown tired of wandering and seeing the sun start to rise, she'd given up on escaping. The hunger games were scheduled to happen at 5pm that day and for her to have any hope of missing it, she'd have to hide in the busy city for too long, hiding from every single person and peacekeeper. Impossible.

Ratley had vanished after their argument, being the petty person he was, and being the stubborn person she was, Whiskey didn't follow him. She'd rather be alone because it was peaceful and easier to accept her final moments.

Her fingers fumbled with a small weed she'd picked from the grass next to her and her legs ached against the stabbing textured concrete she was sitting on. Above her, the sunset streaked beautiful orange and yellows, glowing against the huge city. For some reason, she had completely plain feelings about her final sunset, which disappointed her.

Suddenly, she heard yelling and running down the road. With absolutely zero hope, she didn't flinch, instead waiting for the peacekeepers to capture her. Her eyes lazily looked up at the oncoming noise when her heart stopped mid beat. The weed fell to the ground and she flew up and jumped out of view. Blood pumped in her ears with panic. Hope wasn't strong enough to keep her alive, but fear certainly was.

The man from district 7 ran past. Simply seeing him made her entire body lock up with disgust and uncomfortable exposer. Her breathing went straight to her head and she felt dizzy. Whiskey had to remove herself from anywhere near him.

She turned and ran back the way she came, taking random turns until it looked familiar. Then she spotted it, the railway with a functioning line, unattended. She creeped forward, seeing no kind of danger. Maybe she could get out of here after all.

-

"Snow," Dovecoat sighed, knocking on his room. "You're being summoned by Dr Gaul. I don't know why but just remember I am your partner. We do everything together."

Coriolanus sat on the bed in the dark with his arms resting on his knees. The chains he took off her wrists sat by his feet. Obviously he had trusted her more than he should've because now she was gone and he had an aching stab wound. After everything he sacrificed for her, in the end, she attacked him and left. He killed her auntie to protect her. He became a murder for her. She didn't realise how powerful he was.

His grandmother had been right. She was more like an animal than a human. She reeled him in with trust and empathy and right as he took that step, she stabbed him. He wasn't sure if he was going to see her again, but if he did, he was never trusting her again. In fact, he prayed he never saw her wild hair and beautiful smile ever again.

Finally Snow got up and exited the room, brushing past Dovecoat in the doorway. She scoffed, cut off mid sentence by him leaving, but he didn't look back or apologise. He didn't care anymore.

In Dr Gaul's laboratory, scientists and peacekeepers walked in and out, flooding the hallways with people and noise. He knew the caught tributes were being kept there for the day, before the hunger games started, so he knew what to expect inside. However, he had no knowing of why Dr Gaul had needed him. In his mind, he only hoped it wasn't to see Whiskey Everdeen.

He turned a corner and lined up on his left, each tribute kneeled. He wasn't sure how many there were left to find, but the idea of seeing her made him want to leave immediately. Even merely thinking of her, his forearm ached as a reminder of what she did.

He slipped his hands into his long coat and kept a stone face the whole way across, refusing to show any emotion. When he was almost at the end, without wanting to, his eyes flicked over to district 12 tributes. He clenched his jaw with anticipation, wishing he'd never looked, but let out a small breath when he spotted Ratley instead of her. Ratley was staring at him with such desperation and rage it made Coriolanus feel powerful. He ignored his glare and walked past the line up.

Although it concerned Snow slightly that Whiskey wasn't with Ratley, he brushed it off, knowing that Dr Gaul was handling her whereabouts.

His shoes clicked along the concrete floor, leaving being the noise and people, until he finally reached Dr Gaul. She stood back with two men in coats, he recognised as gravediggers from the districts, and a giant wooden box.

Coriolanus slowed down and kept a wary distance from it. "What is that?"

"The solution to your problem," Dr Gaul replied with a grin.

Suddenly the two men walked towards the box and unscrewed the corners. They ominously cranked open the lid, making Dr Gaul step back. As soon as they did, a wretched smell hit Coriolanus and he physically gagged, turning around to fight it. He covered his nose with his hand, eyes watering.

As the box lid slid to the floor, the solution was revealed. A bloody, dug up corpse, freshly killed, rested in the room with them. Snow immediately recognised it as Whiskey's auntie, the lady he told the soldiers to kill for her protection. The lady Whiskey didn't know was dead.

Horrified, he looked up at Dr Gaul, realising what she was going to do. She was solving his problems, like she'd promised to do.