The Chamber [Sequel to Silence]

32

 They came in the night. Hundreds of soldiers, marching in unison, hovercrafts filled with armed men and women, against the bunch of unprepared citizens of District 13. I was on watch, and sounded a whistle, alerting everyone. All the children had left the night before with a handful of people, including Eddie, who stayed with Karissa and Elliot. Raven, however, was the face of the rebellion. She wasn’t going anywhere. She was the first to emerge from the building, followed by Pandora and Antonia. Pandora took my hand. Antonia glared at me.

  Raven stood beside me, her face hardened as she watched them approach. In her hand, she held a knife, complete with a button which she’d told me set off an explosion when pressed. She had others attached to her belt, along with an array of guns. She also held a grenade gun. She turned to look at me, nodding once as the troops began to file outside.

 “Good luck,” I said to her. She nodded again. Then she raised her grenade gun to the sky and fired.

 The first ship exploded in the sky, catching fire and crashing to the ground, crushing several hundred of the Capitol soldiers. It was a good start. But it wasn’t long before the Capitol began their retaliation. Bullets began to fly and several of our own were shot down. Silently, Raven raised her arm, the signal to charge. Though it was a poor tactic, we didn’t have a choice. They were better equipped, better prepared….better everything. I kissed Pandora one last time and began to run. It surprised the soldiers, at least. We had some element of surprise.

  But as I ran, gun in hand and searching for a target, I began to panic. I couldn’t see the faces of the soldiers; they all wore white helmets with black visors. They looked strangely robotic, especially marching together in a line. But I knew, if you took away their helmets, their hardened shell exterior, inside was a human. A human that might have children, or a family. A kid like Riley, or a lover like Pandora. A friend like Antonia. A personal hero like Raven. A new hope like Karissa and Elliott. Ones already lost like my mother and father, and the woman who died in the fire before the Games. That seems a lifetime ago now. But I found myself stopping in the middle of the field. And I saw one of those robotic people lift their gun and aim for my chest. Did they know I was a Victor of their precious Games? Did they want to be the one to claim they’d killed Arrian Rider? I don’t know. All I know is that I stood there foolishly as the bullet left the gun. I awaited the blow, awaited my death. It didn’t come. A body slammed into me from the side and knocked me over. When I opened my eyes, my saviour stared down on me with teary eyes. Antonia. I felt tears sting my own eyes, and I caressed her cheek.

 “I’m sorry,” I told her.

 “Me too. We shouldn’t ever have ended like that,” Antonia said “So if we live long enough to see one another again, we’ll work this out. But you’ve got to shoot now, Ari. I can’t save you every time.”

 I nodded. I had woken up to reality. I knew what I had to do. Antonia rolled off me and helped me to my feet. Then, closing my eyes for a moment, I let my first bullet fly. I didn’t stick around to see where it hit. Launching myself back into action, I stumbled forwards, gun at the ready. I couldn’t see anyone I knew. Antonia was already gone. Someone near to me let out a choked cry and fell to the ground. I kept moving. There was nothing I could do for them.

 We reached the front line of the Capitol soldiers, marching over a pile of their own dead. I shot bullet after bullet, screaming wildly, unable to hold my tongue. I wished for Pandora and Raven’s silence, the inability to scream and show weakness, but I was weak. I’ve always been weak. I tried to convince myself otherwise as I removed a knife from my belt and plunged it into the soft exposed neck of a Capitol soldier, ripping it away as quickly as possible and watching their body crumple like a paper doll. Savagely, I slashed at the next soldier whilst shooting another wildly. I became an animal, driven by instinct, ruthlessly destroying those in my path. My face was speckled with blood and gore. The ground around my feet was black with blood. Others joined me at my side and we created a pathway through the soldiers. More hovercrafts fell to grenades and crushed many soldiers from both sides, but slowly, we were somehow managing to push the Capitol soldiers back. We were winning.