Ashes in the Snow

Nineteen

"Ashe." I hear a whisper, waking me up from my sleep.

I roll over on my side and see it was Bianca, who is on her side awake.

"Yeah?" I whisper back.

"Do you miss him?" She asks, whispering.

"Eric?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"In some ways, yeah. But not as much as other people."

"Like who?"

"My mother for example. There's also someone else."

"Do you love him?"

"How do you know?" I ask.

"I can tell you're not in love with Eric. There's someone else who has your heart. Do you love this person?"

I pause for a moment, thinking. "Yeah. Yeah I think I love him. But I'm so angry with him right now."

"Forgive him."

"But what he did is unforgivable."

"Anything is forgivable. We only live once. We need as much love in our lives as we can get. There's too much hate in this world."

"Maybe I will if I survive this. But that's not important right now."

"Ashe?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, of course. What do you need?"

"If I don't survive, please tell my Liam how much I love him."

"Bianca, I don't want to think like this."

"Just please promise me? Find my Liam and tell him he means the world to me. Tell him if love were enough I would be with him now." I see a tear fall down her cheek.

"I promise."

I look up and I don't see Tate at her post, the rock she was sitting on. I shoot up immediately looking around. I don't see her anywhere.

"Where's Tate?" I ask.

Bianca shoots up as well, scanning the area.

"I don't see her either."

We both stand up, searching the small area. We scan the lake and look around the area in the trees. I feel the panic in my chest. Did something happen to her? Did she get distracted by something and walked away? Or worse. Has she been playing us this whole time? That's worse case scenario. I hope we weren't dumb enough to fall for her trick.

"Her backpack is gone, Ashe."

We both look at each other. She had played us. I don't know what her plan is, but she used us. Maybe she used us for protection for the start with the cornucopia. It was a blood bath after all. Or maybe since there's so few of us left, she got scared and ran away, fearing we would turn on her. I can't entirely blame her if that were the case.

I hear multiple footsteps running in our direction. I also hear people laughing, taunting us.

"Over here!" I hear someone say.

Bianca looks at me, with worry in her eyes. "Run."

We both grab our weapons and run in the opposite direction of the pack. We stay along the river bend. I follow Bianca who is ahead of me. I feel the adrenaline surging through my body, which allows me to run faster. I keep on going until my foot snags on a rock, causing me to trip. I fall hard on the grass and shoot up immediately. I look ahead and don't see Bianca anymore. Concern washes over my face. I don't know where my friend went.

I hear the pack behind me, getting closer. The only place I can go is deep into the woods. I run to my left, trying to hide myself amongst the trees. I keep running. I am running for my life. I can feel my body starting to become tired though, but I have to keep going.

I look around to see if there's anywhere I can hide, but there isn't. I'm surrounded my trees and bushes, so I continue running. All I can feel so fear right now. I am the hunted, the prey. My chest is tight, I feel like I can't breathe, except I am. I'm panting hard from running. I don't know where I am, but all I know is that I've been running far for so long. I feel the rocks underneath my feet, I hear the pebbles scattering with each step.

I try running faster, but I can't. I feel out of breath, I'm very tired and weak. My foot hits a root and I trip, falling on my face. My hands hurt from the impact, with there being blood and little pebbles. I hear another set of footsteps, running behind me. The footsteps are getting closer. I turn around and I see a person there with a blade. He's running towards me and lifts his blade up to swing at me. I'm still on my back and I go to grab my axe, I dropped. Then I see Bianca jump down from a tree with her machete. She instantly kills him with one blow to the back. I see him drop to the floor, dead. It was a boy from district 7.

I hear her panting. She walks towards me, giving me her hand to pull me up. "We should get going. Who knows-" I hear the stab of a blade in flesh. Bianca is looking at me with fear in her eyes, confused. Then I see blood come out of her mouth.

"Noooo!" I let out a big yell.

Bianca falls on her knees and I see a girl from district 3 behind her. She looks a little shocked, her first kill. I can see the panic in her eyes, the human side of her. I can see the regret. She looks up at me, scared. I slowly get up and surprisingly I don't feel scared. I feel angry. I think the girl can sense the anger because she takes a few steps back with her machete.

"What did you do?" I let out. Piercing her with my angry eyes.

"I-I. They told me I had to. I didn't mean to." She cries out.

I walk up to her, filled with rage. She continues to back up from me. I swing my axe back and I hear her let out a big scream. Then I swing my axe forward, slicing her neck. She falls on to her knees, then hits the ground. Dead.

My first kill.

I immediately think of Bianca and toss my axe to the side. I get on my knees and hold her in my arms.

"You weren't suppose to die," I cry.

I hear a crowd of people coming my way. I know it's time for me to go. I gently set Bianca on the ground. Looking at her cold, lifeless body one last time.

"Until we meet again," I whisper.

I get up and grab my axe. I run away in search of something. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'll keep going until I find it. Possibly somewhere for me to hide. I leave the bloody scene for the pack to find. A memory that will haunt me for the rest of my life.