tw: slight violence
"Turn away," Coriolanus told her quickly.
Liville shut her eyes, and turned her head.
She didn't open them until she heard Coriolanus let out a breath of relief and a grateful, "She's okay. She's fine."
Liville's anxious eyes fell back to the screen.
The race to the weapons had been intense. Tributes grabbing whatever they could get their hands on, swinging them into whoever was closest.
Liville flinched as a tribute was struck in the head with an ax. Nausea hit her.
Another tribute was stabbed right through the abdomen seconds later.
Their mentor, who sat further down, threw up on the ground.
"Please, people, hold yourself together," Lucky Flickerman scolded, like their disgust was the true crime taking place.
Another girl ran at Lucy Gray, who refused to get out of the open. She needed to run, she had to. But she didn't. She was standing only a few feet from where she was when the starting alarm went off. She just kept screaming, "Jessup! Jessup!"
A spear whizzed by her. Lucy Gray fell to the ground.
"Turn," Coriolanus instructed Liville again. Liville shut her eyes and didn't look back until he said, "She's alright."
Liville's eyes then found Jessup. Nobody was even bothering him. He was just...standing there. Walking around, almost disoriented.
What was going on? He wasn't this bad when they parted only moments ago.
"She needs to run," Coriolanus mumbled, agitation in his voice due to her lack of cooperation. "I told her to hide and she's just running around in circles, right in the open."
Coriolanus would lose his mind if after all this, Lucy Gray died from being stupid and stubborn. He'd be extra irritated if she got herself killed while Liville was looking.
"She's getting Jessup," Liville said in her friend's defense.
She finally got to him. Lucy Gray ran up on the boy, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the tunnels. The tunnels, which were normally unreachable, were now open to the tributes, due to the bombings knocking all the entryways open.
They could hide out for a long time in there.
"Yes," Liville breathed. She clenched a fist in victory. "Good. Good." Her eyes switched to the feed telecasting the tunnels. They ran fast. It looked like they were in the clear.
But Liville's heart dropped as she realized other tributes were following them.
"Faster," Coriolanus whispered, eyes darting between each screen they popped into.
Liville frowned, watching Lucy Gray pull up her sleeve, constantly looking at her arm as she ran. "Is her arm hurt?"
Coriolanus shifted in his seat, realizing Lucy Gray was not subtle as she lifted her sleeve to read the map he'd drawn there. He only said, "Possibly."
"Here, Jessup," they heard Lucy Gray say.
She crouched down and showed him a vent on the bottom of a wall. They began squeezing through it. There was already a camera up and ready in the room on the other side.
"Come on," Liville breathed. She balled her fists. "Come on. Come on."
It was the ruthless group that followed them. Festus's tribute, Coral, was leading them. They were the group to take out most of the weaker tributes during the first few minutes. Coral held a sharp trident, and it sent chills down Liville's spine as she realized how close they were to catching up.
