Mentors

28

Raina

I've only ever heard it on television. It's like a repetitive door bell sound.
It's very recognizable.
A sponsor gift.
I violently shake both of Kolton's shoulders.

"Pity boy, wake up! I hear a sponsor gift!"

His eyes squint at me, and then rises to his feet.

"Raina, how are we going to get it? We are underground."

All of a sudden, I turn my head, and everyone else seems to be awake. They hear the parachute.

"Kolton and I will get it." I tell them.

"Are you sure? Do you need help?" asks Roman.

"Raina let us come with you." pleads Talisa.

"No. Roman, you stay here with our things. Watch our pregnant ally."
Kolton says, as he takes off sprinting the direction we came from while grabbing my wrist.

We come to a stop and discover once again the darkness.
Him and I take our glasses out of our belts.

We are back, looking up at the hole that we jumped into, dug by Roman.

"Do you think I could lift you to get it?" I ask him.

"You're much lighter than I am. I'll boost you up there."

But what am I going to do? Climb him?

He holds out his two hands in answer for me to step onto.

"What is this, a cheerleading routine?"

"Do you want the damn sponsor gift or not?"

"Alright, alright." I try to hide a laugh, but fail.
He chuckles, too.

We shift back to seriousness.
I take one foot and carefully step onto his hand, and I hoist my self quickly using my other foot.
Once I'm standing on his feet, he lifts me up higher, and I grab onto the dirt that surrounds the hole.

"Can you get up?" he asks me.

"I need to be higher."

"How can I-" he pauses and sighs.
"Just hold on tight. One second." he hesitates a moment before moving his hands from my feet, and wraps them around my waist. He pushes me up just enough.

"Go, hurry. I have a nice view of your ass from down here." he scolds.

"I'm up!" I holler, after digging my fingernails into the ground to pull myself all the way up.

"Do you see it?" he calls from down the hole.

I turn my head out from the dead end. It's dead quiet besides the parachute going off.
I don't see it. Turns out, I'm not the only one who wants it.

I'm violently pushed back near the dead end and into the rose thorn wall. I shriek in a discomforting, shooting pain.

"You want to do this the easy way, or the fun way?" The female career says to me.

She hovers over me, taking my arm and pressing it into more of the thorns. I let out a scream, mixed with pain and a cry for help. These can't be ordinary thorns, these are like razor blades. Possibly barbed wire? I wouldn't doubt it.

"Raina!" Kolton screams so loud his voice becomes raspy.
I look at the hole for a moment.
I can't let this fucking bitch know where my tributes are hiding. I'll die to make sure she doesn't know.
He calls my name again.
Kolton shut up.
I pray that she doesn't look toward the ground.
She has no glasses, but I do. I'm surprised she didn't rip them off my face yet. Maybe she can't see me at all.