THE 68TH HUNGER GAMES - Book 1: Tribute

Chapter 22 - Burn

“wake up!” I hear coming from a muffled voice in the distance.

I feel my body shaking violently from side to side and suddenly jolt up from my peaceful sleep.

“Hyora wake up!” I notice Ferdinand screaming at me.

I look into his brown eyes and notice the alarm in his facial expression. I smell the scent of burning wood and I look around and notice that nearly all the forest around us is up in flames, illuminating the night sky.

“Hyora! Grab the supplies and let’s go!” Ferdinand shouts.

I quickly get up and grab my backpack before swiftly climbing down the thick tree. Ferdinand and I finally make it down onto the ground and I now notice the ferocity of the fire. I quickly sprint in the direction of the mountains and Cliffside towards the west. Ferdinand follows along behind me, keeping me covered from the back.

“Why is this happening?” I shout.

“The gamemakers probably created this fire to draw us all closer together. The audience are probably bored!” Ferdinand replies.

We continue through the thick, burning forest, gradually getting closer to the mountains only a few hundred metres away. Thankfully, the fire creates a natural light so we can somewhat see our way through the forest during the night.

The fire continues to follow us, causing the air to become polluted in smoke. I hear Ferdinand choke and cough behind me so I quickly grab him by the hand and pull him towards the mountains.

As I’m running, I quickly see a person run straight in front of me and I bump into them with great force. We both fall to the ground and I peek up and notice its Adriano.

“Hyora!” He says with alarm, “Quick, run!”

“I’m going to the mountains to the east!” I shout, pointing towards the monolithic mountains and cliffs ahead.

“No! That’s where the gamemakers are trying to make us go to,” he yells back,

“Doesn’t matter Adriano!” I shout commandingly, “We can’t run and hide anymore! It’s time we fight!”

I look into Adriano’s eyes and I know he disagrees with me.

“This is exactly like our first encounter in the games isn’t it?” Adriano says, smiling.

“It is,” I shout back.

“I think it’s time we go our separate ways again,” Adriano yells over the roaring sound of the commotion all around us.

I notice the fire growing bigger and I know that I don’t have much time left.

“Fine! Good luck,” I smile at him, praying that he’ll be safe.

Adriano nods with a smile and moments later, he’s gone into the woods in the opposite direction as I’m going.

I quickly grab Ferdinand’s wrists and we continue towards the mountains. I finally reach the base of the huge natural mountain and we now climb as high as we can.

“Adriano will be fine right?” Ferdinand asks while trying to hold back a cough.

“Hopefully,” I say, holding back tears.

Ferdinand and I are halfway up the mountain and we both turn around and look down at the arena. All of the flat ground below is flickering wildly with fiery red and yellow fire and I notice that there’s no safe place below in which Adriano could have hidden or found refuge in.

“There’s no way Adriano can survive in that,” Ferdinand mumbles.

Before I can reply, I hear the loud sound of a cannon which vibrates through the entire arena. I know almost certainly that Adriano has died.