Volunteers: A Hunger Games Story

Chapter 12: When It's Over

"Ben! Felix! Where are you?!" It's not like I thought that they would actually have the time to answer me. They were in trouble. I had to follow the sounds of their yelling until I found them. With Leo. Leo had a knee on either side of Felix and had a blade to his throat. "Felix!" I screamed, running in his direction.

"Stop! Stop right there or I slit his throat right now." Leo snapped. I immediately stopped and put both of my hands in the air to show him that I was not ready to attack. Ben was laying on the ground nearby with his eyes closed.

"Ben!" I called. He couldn't be dead. When I squinted, I was able to see him breathing. He wasn't dead, just knocked out.

"Shut the hell up! I should cut your heart out." Leo spat, turning back to address Felix. "Have you killed a single person during this entire game? Are you even one of us? You've just been with this idiot the whole time? What are you in love with her?"

"Of course I have. But I'm still not one of you. Is killing people fun for you? If that's what's fun for you then you're the idiot."

"It's the only thing that makes me feel anything." Leo answered, digging the blade harder against Felix's neck until he just barely broke through the surface. "I just want to feel something." Felix gasped when the blade broke through his skin. This wasn't the first time he almost had his throat cut during the game. This was a popular tactic among tributes.

"Buddy! Buddy, there's a better way to feel something. This is so far from the best thing you'll ever feel."

"How would you know?!"

"Because. Because I've been where you are. And I have felt so many things that are better than that since then."

"Yeah, well it's too late now. There's only one winner. one of us has to die anyway. And it's going to be me. You've lived. I haven't had my chance yet."

"What- what are you talking about?" Felix asked, stretching his neck to try and het the blade away from him but there was nowhere for him to go.

"Hey, Leo!" I called. "Trust me when I say that you do not want to do that." I called. Finally, he looked up. The second that Leo had his eyes off of Felix, Felix yanked his trident out from behind his back and plunged it through Leo's chest. Leo immediately fell dead on top of Felix. My eyes widened. Felix pushed him off and started hyperventilating. He slapped his hand to his neck and wiped the blood off of it.

"I can't believe I did that." Felix said which both hands pressed firmly into the snow. He was still panting.

"Felix, it's ok." I said, now running to him.

"I can't believe I had to do that. I- I feel like a monster. God, I hate myself. I hate myself."

"Felix, it's ok. It's ok. You were just defending yourself. If you didn't, he was going to kill you. You know that. This isn't your fault. This is what they make us do." I said. He now held his hands out in front of him. They were covered with blood. Some of it was his own. Some of it wasn't.

"I'm sorry." he leaned forwards and wrapped his arms around me.

"What are you sorry for, Felix?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair to calm him down.

"For that."

"Please don't be sorry for that. You saved yourself." I said. He took in a breath, pressed his forehead against my shoulder and let out a loud sigh. "I couldn't live with myself if you died."

"Please don't say that. I need to know that you're going to be ok."

"What do you mean you need to know that I'm going to be ok?"