The Selection in the Hunger Games

Marlee - Chapter 19

In a blood stained outfit, sprawled out on the ground, was a motionless Marlee. I immediately fell to the floor, laying her flat on her back. Carter was still standing, his hand to his mouth to suffocate anymore noises erupting out of his mouth. I could still hear them.

I felt for her wrist. There was a heartbeat. "Carter, she's alive." I cradled her in my arms before fully picking her up. Carter detached her from my arms, hugging her body close to him.

"What's wrong with her?" he strangled out.

I avoided his gaze. "I think someone might have stabbed her. Passed out from too much blood loss."

"What do we do?"

"You have medical supplies. Lay her close to the lava and we'll fix her up. We'll use the lava as a guard. If anyone comes, we'll just push them in." He nodded, grimacing.

"Carter, look at me." He wouldn't. "Carter, look at me." He finally did. "She's going to survive, okay. She's going to survive. We need to help her as much as we can right now. Go."

He laid her around the lava. I tore open the supplies. We had antibiotic cream and salve. We applied both, folding up her left leg pants. He continued to put on the medication while I set up the tent. We were going to stay here tonight. Luckily, everyone was hiding in the caves, meaning the Cornucopia was barren.

I stood guard anyway, my fingers hovering over the blowtorch. Marlee and Carter were laying safe in the tent.

"America!"

It was Maxon. I instinctively pulled him into a hug, our bodies melting into one another.

"I'm so happy you're alive," he murmured into my ear. "Celeste scared me."

I didn't say anything, simply leaning into the comfort of his body. Something felt so right about him. I heard a shift in the tent and I pulled away from him. I zipped the tent open, peeking in.

"How is she?" I asked, the anxiety finally shooting through me. Marlee could really die.

"She moved a little. Which is great. You got this, Marlee." He squeezed her hand reassuringly before kissing her cheek. The old Carter was back.

"Maxon is here," I stated.

"Hi," Maxon said, waving awkwardly outside the tent. Carter briefly waved back before refocusing on Marlee. I zipped back up the tent, letting them to be alone.

No one had came out of the caves but I knew tomorrow would be bloodshed. If there was one thing I learned from forced years of watching, it is that the Games were never calm for long.

Maxon and I sat on the floor outside of the tent, his spear at the ready and my blow torch in hand.

"How did you know we were here?" I asked, fiddling with the torch. I still didn't know how to properly use it.

"I may or may not have searched every cave," he commented, a light smile on his face.

"Thank you," I started. "Thank you for doing that. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being Maxon Schreave." That was the only way I could describe his actions. Maxon Schreave. The embodiment of all things good.

"No, it's not like that," he said, turning to me slightly. "You...you embolden me. You make me want to take risks and run from everything I've been taught to think." His ambers flicked up to mine. "In fact, you make me wanna jump from them."

A silver parachute fell gently from the sky and I caught it in the palm of my hand. It was gauze. It was healing gauze from Marlee.

"Thank you," I said to no one in particular. I opened the tent, grinning.

"We got gauze somehow. Someone sent it," I stated.

Carter and I turned her over. She had gotten stabbed in the lower leg. We wrapped it completely, saving the rest with our other supplies. We settled her back down for sleep to which she groaned. I went back to sitting on the floor outside. I couldn't help the waves of guilt that hit me. Those knives might have been the ones intended for me. If I could have gotten them then she never would have gotten stabbed.

"America," Maxon said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "This isn't your fault."

I moved my body away from him so that he couldn't see the tears strumming down my cheeks. I've been crying too much lately, I thought, wiping them off with my sleeve. My eyes ached from being awake for so long. Maxon didn't say anything, instead moving behind me and wrapping his arms tightly around my torso. My tears eased yet he continued to hold me. That unnameable feeling brightened between us, me leaning into his touch.

11 cannons went off. Tallulah Bell, four of the add ins, Natalie Luca, Anna Farmer, a man named Avery, and three others who I could not remember the names of. Someone had just lost their brother, their sister, their partner.

Aspen was alive. I couldn't help but smile when I realized that. Maxon and I broke apart, alternating between sleep and guarding until morning broke.

"She's awake," I heard Carter cry happily. We opened the tent to see an open eyed Marlee.

"Hey," she said dryly and I laughed in relief. Marlee was alive. After 30 minutes or so, we heard another shout from across the field. I grabbed my blowtorch and Maxon grasped his spear.

"Clean up camp, we need to get out of here," Maxon whispered to Carter, his training taking over. I followed Maxon out of the tent to see something out of a nightmare.

Molten lava was pouring out of caves six and seven. Aspen, I thought. I rapidly packed up our supplies along with Carter. If we didn't move fast enough, the lava would envelop us all. It was famished, aching to destroy everything in its path.

"Carter, can you carry Marlee?" I asked. He nodded and with Marlee in his arms, we dashed into the first cave.

No one knew how vast these caves were or how wide. The pitch darkness helped in our case but I could hear two of the add ins sprinting ahead of us. With cave six and seven blocked, the Cornucopia would be melted, the entire terrain. Meaning there had to be something down these caves. Somewhere where we would all meet to destroy each other.

Someone was coming up behind us. I let Carter and Marlee past me. They couldn't defend themselves in their current position. I could. I prayed it wouldn't come to that. We all kept running. Sunlight was beginning to peer into the cave. We emerged into a vast green landscape. There was a pool of water in the center, rolling hills circling it. More groups appeared out of the caves, all heading towards the water. And they would do anything to get it.