After The Storm (A Hunger Games Fanfic)

Trust and Deceit - 17

Elektra is petrified.

She is trying very hard not to be. After all, what are the odds of the Careers coming after her? She wishes she hadn't thought that because her mind immediately starts going over them; seventeen left, which includes the Career pack, assuming that none of them died in the bloodbath, which leaves almost ten others...

It's horrible, not knowing who is dead. She was the first out of the bloodbath, running blindly for safety, and though she'd heard the screams and shouts she has no way of knowing who they were. For all she knows, Ez could be dead. Ever. The loudmouth from District Six, or her quiet and sensible district partner who always tried to keep her in line. The boy from Eleven with skin as black as the night, who did a robot dance in the interviews and made her laugh. Or the Careers; one or two of them could be gone too.

Something hisses behind her.

She whirls around, but there's nothing there. Just the endlessly waving grass. This is the sort of place she would like there to be in District Five, somewhere she could be with Gabe, just the two of them. It's agony to think that he might be watching her now but she can't see him. No, he probably isn't. She's just one tribute on her own, a little jumpy but currently with nothing remarkable happening to her. Right now the camera will be tracking the Careers on their hunt.

Back home in District Five, Gabe can see her, alright.

That shout sent chills down her spine, the voice of the boy from Two echoing across the arena. Her ears stand on edge, waiting for the cannon which means that, for now, she might be safe. It doesn't come. No screams, nothing. This place is too quiet. Five is peaceful, but rarely quiet. There's always the throb and hum of the turbines in the background, drifting at the back of her mind. But here...it's like there's nothing but her and the grass. She strides through it, shuddering as the stalks brush through her hair. There could be anything in here, any kind of mutts, perhaps also any kind of food. But she's too desperate to make ground up to tread carefully, and her own footsteps feel horribly loud.

Okay, something definitely rustles behind her.

She spins her head around, her ponytail whipping through the air, but again, all she can see are stalks, and now she really is uneasy. It's spooky. She pauses for a second, just looking. Perhaps it's her imagination; she's so nervous that she's hearing things. Nothing moves. Just grass, nothing but grass. Calm down, girl. You're going to have to get used to this.

Still, she breaks into a jog as she carries on pushing aimlessly through the grass, intent only on getting as far away from the Cornucopia as possible. She'd discussed tactics with her mentor but can't remember any of them except for avoiding the Careers, which is so stupidly obvious that it goes without saying.

There! She's sure she can hear footsteps!

She screeches to a halt, her breath catching in her throat, her muscles tense and screaming for her to sprint. This time, there isn't silence. There's a kind of thud, a loud footstep.

"Please don't run away!" pleads a little voice. Female. Apart from that, she can't tell who. Whoever it is sounds terrified and exhausted. Not like somebody who is about to attack, anyway.

Very steadily, still ready to bolt if she doesn't like what she sees, Elektra turns around.

The girl from Four is in front of her, leaning over with her hands on her knees and panting badly. Her hair is falling out of the neat bun, her pale face streaked with blood and her clothes ripped. Her huge, soulful eyes look up, pleading, at Elektra. Elektra looks down at her, gradually starting to relax. 

"I'm sorry..." Avery pants, "I'm just...it was...horrible back there." Her voice wobbles like she's on the verge of tears. Elektra feels a pang of pity. This was the girl who was reaped, wasn't it? She wasn't really paying attention on the train, she was thinking about Gabe getting further and further away...