Against His Odds - A Hunger Games FanFiction

Chapter 13

Iris awoke to the stench of smoke and the rapid movement of Chad. He was shaking her and Heather awake, fear glimmering in his eyes. "What is it?" Iris asked urgently, rubbing her eyes. Then she saw it. Its bright orange light and sparks of ashes burned in the sun of dawn. "Fire!" Chad yelled.
     Iris quickly got up, gathered her things, and grabbed as much supplies as she could. She looked at Heather and Chad, and soon, they were also ready. They all got up and began to run in the opposite direction of the fire: to the Cornucopia.
     Iris looked behind her as she ran. Wherever the fire touched left behind a grey atmosphere of ashes, seeming to suck the color away from it. Fear rose in her throat, stifling her along with the smoke in the air.
     Birds crowed ahead, swooping past them in the sky faster than ever in an arrow position. Squirrels ran across their paths, some of them black with ashes. Fireballs exploded from behind them, singeing the hair on Iris's legs.
     They crossed paths with the blocked cavern. Jonathan's rose exploded with flames, smoke rising from its petals as it disinigrated into ashes. The poisonous stream was alive with swelling steam as it boiled. The snow was melting away quickly as the access water either rose into the air or drained off into the steaming stream.
     Iris tripped on a root of a tree and stumbled down the snowy hill into the clearing of the Cornucopia, followed closely by Chad and Heather. She watched in fear as their presence was acknowledged by the Careers, the head of them, Michel, running out and yelling to the others with a giant sword in hand. Francis followed closely with a bow, and Isabelle and Naimoe had belts of knives.
     Iris got up and held her spear in hand, ready to kill. The first tribute to meet her was Francis. He shot his arrows at her, but they all missed by a few inches except for one that hit her shoulder. She plucked it out and threw it back at him, hitting him in the leg. "Be more considerate of your weapon next time," Iris teased as she ran up and stabbed him straight through the chest. He let out a choking cry and projectile vomited blood that splattered onto Iris's coat.
     A cannon went off. Iris looked over and saw Naimoe running over to her, her longest knife in hand. Iris ignored it and thrust her spear at her, but was treated only with a miss and a wound to her arm. She let out a yell and thrust her spear again, finally hitting her throught the neck. A cannon went off, and Iris slid the body back onto the ground where it lay in the blood-stained snow.
     Pain shot up through her arm. Iris let out a painful scream. She looked around to see Michel with his sword covered in crimson blood, and his mouth in a menacing grin. She couldn't feel her arm and looked down to see it laying limp on the ground. Michel had cut it off. Iris fell to the ground, gasping for air as she almost fainted from the pain.
     She saw Michel lift up his sword, but then immediately fell to the ground as an arrow pierced straight through his heart. The sound of the cannon signaled his death. Behind him stood Heather with her bow ready to strike her next victim. She smiled at Iris as Iris choked up her thanks.
     Iris got up with her spear in her only arm left, her body weak from blood loss. "Lay back down. I can help," Heather said, whipping out her medicine from Iris's bag. She took a bandage and wrapped what was left of Iris's arm in it, the bandage immediately soaking with blood.
     Iris looked behind her to see Isabelle and Chad fighting. Isabelle knocked him to the ground, her menacing knife in hand that was ready to strike. Iris screamed. "Chad!" She yelled. Before she could even try to get up, Heather was off of her and running to the fight in an instant. "Heather, don't-!" She choked.
     It was too late to do anything. Heather had knocked Isabelle to the ground, ingaging in combat. They were a writhing heap of bodies, blood splattering on the snow like a paint brush. Isabelle pinned Heather to the ground, but Iris could not see what was happening at that angle. The sound of a cannon startled her. Iris watched Isabelle get up off of the ground with Heather's bloody body laying on the ground, a knife driven through her chest. Iris had no words to say, but could only let out a choking cry.
     She stood up and began to make her way to Isabelle. Isabelle noticed her and began to run to her, her knife in hand. Iris let out a vengeful cry and thrust the spear at Isabelle with all of her might. She closed her eyes with tears swelling up in the corners of her eyes, too scared to see what was to come.
     She opened her eyes at the sound of a cannon. Isabelle fell back with the spear driven straight through her chest, the snow around her painted a crimson red. Chad got up from where he lay injured and looked sorrowfully at her. Iris felt hot tears run down her face as she looked at the sky. She let out a small cry and said, "Heather... Is dead."
     Iris fell to the ground over Heather's body and pulled out the knife in it. She cried, her tears spattering in the puddle of blood that formed in her chest. President Snow's daughter was dead. So was Jonathan. And Chad... Iris felt him touch her shoulder. The sound of a copter above made a thought stir in Iris's mind.
     She took off her silver necklace that laced around her coat. The circle charm dangled from it, wet from tears, but untouched by blood. "If this charm, meaning friendship, got me this far," Iris started, "then may it get you farther in your journey to Heaven. Goodbye, Heather." She tied it around Heather's neck and stood up and backed away to let the arm from the copter grab Heather's body and lift it into the heavens.
     "What now?" Chad asked Iris. Iris flinched and dropped her spear, realizing the disgusted truth of what was to happen next. "Only one of us can win..." Iris said. Chad interrupted, "You can win." "What? Why me?" Iris suddenly asked. "The reason I volunteered was to fight with you and keep you alive. You are my only friend now. I want to fulfill my decision and plan and let you win," Chad responded. "But you're my only friend!" Iris shot back at him. "I know. But if I'm going to die, I want to die an honorable death in the Hunger Games," Chad said. "Kill me."
     "I can't kill you!" Iris cried. Chad ignored her words and placed her spear back in her hands. "Do it for me. For Jonathan. For Heather. Win for us," Chad said. "And I want you to know that... I fell in love with you the day we met. I lied in the interview." Iris was stunned. Chad really loved her, and now she was going to kill him. "Make it quick," Chad urged. Iris nodded, hot tears beginning to flow again.
     She pulled back her spear with her only arm left, and let out a wail as she thrust it straight through Chad's body. He smiled and fell down into the snow, dead. A cannon went off. Iris began to sob. All of her friends were dead. Heather. Jonathan. Chad. The noise of beautiful trumpets filled the quiet arena as Chad's body was lifted into the air from the metallic hand of the copter. Iris stretched her hand out to it, her tears pouring out more rapidly. A voice sounded in the arena. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the victor of the 53rd Hunger Games... Iris Strutter!" It said.
     A ladder fell down from a copter up above. Two peace-keepers climbed down from it and hauled Iris up it, where she was treated by a medical team. The bright lights of the copter hit Iris like an arrow as she was layed in a medical bed, and she blacked out.

Fallen Tributes:

Heather - District 2
Isabelle - District 3
Michel - District 3
Naiome - District 7
Francis - District 7
Chadwell - District 11