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

Twenty Four

Coriolanus coughed, inhaling the dirt and dust from the fallen pieces of the arena. He stumbled through the clouds, trying to find an exit. Someone screamed from a distance, being slaughtered by one of the others in here with him. Disoriented, ringing ears, with an aching arm, he tried to regain composure.

Suddenly, his feet stumbled over a warm lump. He collapsed, hand landing in a pool of blood, knee crushing on top someone's leg. In an instant, he realised it was a boy from his class, crushed by the chunk of the ceiling. His name was Androcles Anderson. He gasped and quickly pulled himself up, stumbling away.

By the time the clouds had settled, he saw Arachne Crane surrounded by a group of tributes getting ready to attack her. She was screaming for help, back pressed against the wall of the arena, but with nowhere to go, the tributes starting closing in the gap.

Realising the danger he was in, Snow glanced around the arena, looking for any place to hide. If he stayed, he'd end up like Arachne Crane. His bright mind took ahold of the situation, planning his next moves. Get safe, wait for the violence to end, then attack when least expected.

In that moment, he spotted Whisky vanish into a hole in the ground across the arena, followed by Ratley. He started to follow when someone grabbed him.

"Coriolanus!" Clemensia Dovecote screamed, squeezing his arm with panic. "What do we do? We're trapped in here with these animals!"

Just then, a blood curdling shriek shook them to their core. They looked over and saw the remains of Arachne Crane being beaten with a metal wire by a boy from district 4. Two other tributes cheered him on.

"Crane!" Dovecoat cried out, horrified. "Coriolanus I can't!! Get me out!" She screamed.

With all the noise, the three tributes spotted them. The boy with the metal wire wiped blood splatter off his face and turned to attack them next.

Coriolanus grabbed her face, trying to calm her down. "Listen, we'll be fine. They will get us out of here. But for now, we have to get out of here. If we stay in the open we won't make it."

Suddenly, the boy lunched at them. Coriolanus pushed Dovecoat behind him and ducked at his swing. Snow grabbed her arm and bolted for the small hole in the ground that Whiskey and Ratley had done down. Being underground would be safer than staying here.

The boy chased them, yelling in anger. Coriolanus dived through the hole, stumbling with Dovecoat being dragged behind him. "Where are we going?!" She cried out. "We need to stay where the can rescue us!"

"Trust me!" Coriolanus replied, "They can't rescue us if we are dead."

This reality dawned on Dovecote, who was still in disbelief. She burst into tears, sprinting down the hallways of the stony underground after Snow. Noises followed them, echoing across the walls, haunting them with the yelling.

Finally, Coriolanus pushed open a door and pulled them inside, jamming the lock with a rusty chair.

From the outside, Lucky Flickerman narrated the whole thing. Gasping and covering his eyes at extremely violent moments. "Ladies and Gentlemen, As far as we can tell, Androcles Anderson, Arachne Crane and ooh! Apollo Ring, three mentors dead. What a Shame. I always liked Apollo. Well too bad. For the Tributes, only one dead, Sheaf. Hit from falling rubble. At this rate, all the mentors will be dead before the tributes even have a chance to kill each other. However, from the looks of things, the tributes are teaming up, hunting the remaining mentors, which is very bad news for those stuck in there. A few tributes and mentors have vanished underground and we are just getting access to the underground cameras at this moment. For now, suspense."

He turned around, taking a breath, when suddenly, two mentors ran across the screens, jumping on top of a young tribute. "Ladies and Gentlemen, wait a second. It looks as though Sol from District 6 is being attacked by Palmyra Monty and Florus Friend. And Ohh! They've snapped her neck. Second tribute dead, Sol from district 5. I've never thought I'd see Mentor's from the Academy killing tributes but here we are. Survival does incredible things. And to those kids watching, do not try this at home. This is a tragedy. This is extremely violent. This is Lucky Flickerman. We'll be back in a second for updates."

-

Dr Gaul stormed towards the gate of the arena, followed by an army of peacekeepers. She was a walking fire of destruction and nothing was going to get in her way.

"Get my mentors out of there right now!" She ordered, knowing these wild tributes had already killed too many. With Flickerman streaming, this was making a mockery of her hunger games.

Dean Highbottom stood by the gate, waiting for her. "Tell me you can get my students out," he frowned.

"You may not have a top academic student to give the plinth prize to this year," she seethed, knowing it was definitely a possibility.

"This is why my students should never have been selected as mentors! They are too young. These games are inhumane. Now look what's happened," he crossed his arms.

"Thanks to these rebels, the hunger games may never continue. Looks like you may just get what you want, Highbottom. Only took an arena of your students slaughtered to do so," Dr Gaul replied, the anger making her delirious. "Thinking about it. Explain something to me, You were meant to be in there with them, surveying over the execution. Yet, you're standing outside, and everyone else in trapped in there. Why weren't you at the execution? Did you plan little rebel bombing? To get back at me? Finally free yourself of guilt?"

"And kill all my students? That wouldn't make me any less guilt free. I wasn't at the execution for the same reasons as you. The rebelling on the streets made if dangerous for the creator of the hunger games to leave the academy," he snapped back. He dipped into his pocket and pulled out a small vail. With all this stress, he emptied it down his throat.

"These rebels have made a mockery of me. I will find who they are and I will have their entire family slaughtered. And I will enjoy watching it. They have ruined the hunger games. With capital students being murdered, there is no way the president will ever allow it to continue," Dr Gaul steamed with anger.

"Somehow," Highbottom pointed out. "I have a feeling, that was the point."