Fiery Payback

Chapter 47

Camille's P.O.V

"Alyssa?" I say, shocked.

"Camille." She says. Then, she hugs me. Tight. I hug her back immediately. She reminds me if a little sister I never had.

"What happened? Where is your mom? Where is everyone?" I ask, questions pouring out from my mouth.

She tells me everything. From the time she woke up from the weird twelve BONG noises, to just now. And I told her everything that has happened to me. From me poisoning Sparkle and Justin to the blood rain. When she found out that the "rain" was actually blood, she turned pale. She thought it was actual water. I wouldn't blame her.

"We'll find your mom. Don't worry. Do you have any water?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I am so thirsty."

"Me too." I say. You would think the blood is hydrating, but it is not. It made my mouth feel even drier, if that is possible. "Let's get moving."

She nods her head, and we walk. I feel so sorry for her. She really is too young to be here. No one should suffer from this place. Especially her.

I hear it before Alyssa does. Crying. A girl crying. Or a very feminine boy.

After a few seconds, Alyssa hears it too. "Should we see who it is?" She whispers.

"Yeah. Stay close to me." I command. She nods her head and obeys. We walk quietly and slowly towards the source of the noise.

Then, I see a person on the ground. It is a girl. An older girl. Older than me. Her hands are covering her face. The girl looks like she got caught in the blood rain storm.

"Hello?" I say tentatively. "Are you okay?"

The girl looks up and my hearts does a flip. It's my mom.

"Camille!" She exclaims. She gets up and gives me a big hug. "I've missed you so much."

She lets me go and faces Alyssa. "How are you doing, sweetie?" She asks. She gives Alyssa a hug and pulls away.

"Good. We heard you crying, so we came to see who it was." Alyssa says.

"Mom, why were you crying?" I ask.

Mom looks down. "It's this arena. It's tearing me apart. I want out. One way or another."

"You got caught in the blood rain, didn't you?" I ask.

She nods her head. "And you did too."

I nod my head. "Serena was killed during it. She was one Career I could stand."

"It will be okay. What about those other Careers. Weren't there suppose to be three others?"

"Yeah. It was just Sparkle, Justin, Serena, and me. We couldn't find Jem. We thought he decided to stay with the other Careers." I explain.

"Do you have any water?" Alyssa asks.

"Sadly, I don't. I wish I did though." Mom says.

"Where's Dad?" I ask.

"I don't know. Was he with your mom, Alyssa?" My mom asks.

Alyssa shakes head. "He and my dad are missing. We were trying to find them, but we couldn't."

"Come with us, Mom. We are going to find the group." I say.

"Okay. I wasn't going to stay here, anyway." She says. Then, we all start to walk.

We keep an eye out for any sources of water. No luck.

Finally, we reach the Cornucopia. Looks like no one is here. The Cornucopia is completely empty.

"Let's stay in the Cornucopia." I suggest.

"Okay. Let's go." My mom says. We all walk to the Cornucopia, using one of the land strips to get to it. I don't want to get in the water right now. It is cold enough.

Once we are inside, we stay close together. Alyssa snuggles up next to me, her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and she puts both of hers around me, hugging me.

Then, she falls asleep on me. I smile when I hear her deep breathing. I look at Mom and she is smiling at me. This probably reminds her of me. Me holding onto her while she has her arm around me.

I feel my eyes start to close. I force them to stay open. But my eyes win.

I can't stay up forever.