Timber

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bloodbath

⚠️Trigger warning: All things you might find in a Hunger Game including violence, death and blood⚠️

The reverberating toll of the starting bell resonated throughout the Dodecagon, the haunting sound embedding itself in Hazel's psyche. At that moment, her limbs seemed frozen in time while her heart thundered within her chest. She could not hear a single other sound. No birds chirping. No wind. Just the starting bell's unsettling chime. If she didn't know better, she would almost mistake this for one of her nightmares. But this was worse, so much worse.

Tributes catapulted off their discs, hurtling toward the Cornucopia. To her left, Lara limped forward, holding her bound hands awkwardly in front of her. On Hazel's right, Ian had sat down, focusing on the cuffs around his wrists. He grabbed his left thumb with the opposite hand and pulled it upward until there was a soft, sickening crack of tissue, the joint displacing itself. He grunted as his thumb contorted at an unnatural angle. Bracing himself, he pulled back on his left arm, and his injured hand slipped through the cuff, grotesque and deformed but free. Hazel shuddered at the sight. Maybe he will stay occupied trying to free himself, at least for a while.

Hazel's gaze shifted back to the center; several tributes were still making a determined beeline toward it, among them Silus. Her heart threatened to leap out of her throat as she witnessed him darting toward the hornet's nest. His arms pumped, and his knees nearly reached his chest as he ran.

She slid forward on her disc, but something unusual caught in her line of vision. She halted, staring at the peculiarity – a faint shimmer in the air, like a strand of sunlight catching on a spider's web or the subtle shine of a fishing line.

As her eyes adjusted, focusing on the anomaly, more became apparent. Had they been there before? They crisscrossed the ground around the Cornucopia, almost invisible against the backdrop of the arena. Hazel's mind struggled to comprehend what she was seeing, but before she could piece it together, a sudden scream to her left startled her.

Lara had made it several yards, but now she was bent over, reaching down. It all happened in mere seconds; Lara's feet were yanked from beneath her, and her body hoisted upwards. She dangled, suspended by one ankle, which was ensnared in what Hazel now realized was a trap. The wires were almost invisible, waiting for unsuspecting tributes to trigger them. Cold sweat trickled down Hazel's neck as Lara struggled like a trout caught on a line. Lara screamed and writhed, but her frantic movements only caused her to swing more wildly.

Hazel's heart leaped into her throat as Silus was still running. She tried to yell and warn him about the snares, but her voice was drowned out in the chaos. Then, it happened – Silus paused, looking down at his feet. No. His ankle was suddenly jerked upward, his torso landing on the grass below before he was hoisted into the air like he weighed nothing.

Hazel's feet couldn't move fast enough as she flew off her disc. Her heart was pounding as hard as her boots were hitting the grass. She urged her legs to go faster than she had ever gone in her life while her eyes frantically scanned the ground. Three more tributes were yanked into the air. Several others hesitated in their charge toward the Cornucopia.

Across the field, Zoe from District Five was lifted into the air, her body jerking upwards. A short grunt escaped her lips as she was hoisted off the ground. Her auburn hair fell over her face, swaying and tangling as she struggled.

A fleeting flicker of hope crossed Silus's wide eyes as Hazel reached him. Sweat was dripping off his brow as he grunted, pulling in vain at his tether.

"What were you thinking?" Hazel screamed at him as she reached her hands and desperately jumped, trying to grab him. He stretched his body out as far as he could downward. But it was futile – her fingers grasped at empty air, and Silus was hanging far too high for her touch.