Defying the Odds (The 4th Quarter Quell) [The Hunger Games Fanfiction]

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Asher

My heart is pounding in my ears. My heart is lodged in my throat. My heart—is gone with her. I suck in a breath the moment Layla sprints away from me and toward the opposite side of the clearing. I don’t even have time to think, time to wish her luck, time to say goodbye, because she’s already gone. I watch her from a distance, forcing myself to stay hidden in the bushes, forcing myself to prevent myself from following her.

Then, in a second, everything changes. The table is rising from the ground and I can just make out Layla’s figure running for it. All of the sudden I feel frantic and anxious and I don’t know what to do. My eyes dart to the forest surrounding the lake and then back to Layla. To the forest and then back again. To—

No.

“Layla! Layla, turn around!” I don’t recognize my own voice as I scream for her to hear me, but she doesn’t. God, she doesn’t hear me. It’s almost like I can feel every ounce of blood drain from my face. My vision blurs.

But then I snap out of it. And run. I run with everything I have toward Layla and the figure running straight for her.

The hot air is stuck in my throat, choking me. I’m dizzy and I can’t feel my legs.

“Layla!” My voice breaks on her name as I run, attempting to close the distance between us. In the back of my mind, I know that I won’t make it to her before the other tribute does. But I have to try. I have to save her.

Why doesn’t she hear me?

“Please, Layla! Turn around!” I beg her, my voice heavy with desperation. But Layla is focused entirely on running for the table. She doesn’t hear me. I don’t stop trying. “God, Layla! Please just turn around, please please please…”

Tears cloud my eyes and I blink them away quickly, frustrated by my inability to help her. I push myself to run faster.

And then she looks up, her eyes searching until they find mine. I scream for her to turn around, for her to realize that she’s in danger. It’s like I’ve been set to slow motion, only me, and I’m watching everything unfold in front of me in real time. I can’t do anything.

I can only watch in horror as a female tribute slams into my Layla and pins her to the ground.

“No!” I yell, my throat aching from the action. I push on, screaming my throat raw, as I try to close the distance between us. I can’t stop the stream of tears from flowing as I get closer and closer to her because the closer I get, the more I can see what’s happening, what that god-damn tribute is doing to her.

Layla’s screams pierce the air.

“Layla! I’m coming, Love!” Tears roll down my face as my ears go numb from the sound of her in pain. Every new scream strikes my chest in the place where my heart should be. Right now it only feels like a gaping hole. But I don’t block out the noise. God, I don’t block Layla out.

Through the tears, I can see her so clearly, writhing in agony on the ground.

I’m close now. Only a short—

A force from my left slams hard into my side, knocking me to the ground. My head throbs as I try to focus my eyes to make out the figure in front of me, but I can’t see through the tears still flowing from my eyes. I thrash underneath the tribute that has me pinned to the ground and try to buck him off of me.

“Ugh! Get off me!” I spit in his face. For a second, his hold on me loosens and I squirm from under him, looking all around me. Looking. Looking.