Blaze

Haymitch Pt. Two

When I'm finally shot up through the tube, the arena isn't quite what I expected. Everything is too.. Beautiful. The sky too perfectly blue, the flowers in full bloom, songbirds singing happily, even the air smells sweet. Some of the competitors look dazed. Good. I gear up to run.

One gong sound and several minutes of intense running later I've lost sight of all the tributes and the Cornucopia. I'm well stocked with weapons and food but the tantalizing fruit dangling from one of the trees nearby seems to be calling for me. I don't eat it because I'm not stupid. The Capitol wouldn't just hand us food. The canon beings to sound. 18 fires later, I continue walking, leaving that snow caped mountain and the Cornucopia behind. I'm heading for the woods.

--

Deadly fluffy squirrels. That's how I almost died. That's how everyone was going to remember me, as the idiot who almost got killed by squirrels. Luckily I escaped, but note to self don't cross paths with those birds. Thier beaks can slit throats.

--

Several cannons have gone off over the past three days and I'm assuming either the Careers are picking them off or they're dying from the poisonous fruit.

On the fourth day, I'm startled awake by a low rumbling. It sounds like, an earthquake. They're not uncommon and usually deadly in District 12 with the mines and all but this is different. Scrambling up, I'm able to stand just in time to see that pretty snow mountain erupt into flames. Volcano. Nice touch. I keep moving.

--

I'm trying to find the end, the end of the arena. It couldn't go on forever right? There had to be something at the end of this. Luckily, I haven't run into anyone yet through my trek in the woods but my luck ends when the Capitol put a thicket of bushes between me and what I assume is the end of the maze. I'm forced to go around and that's when I'm tracked by the Career's, three of them.

I've killed two before the third is smart enough to disarm me. "Any last words?" He asks, pressing my own knife to my throat.

"Bite me." I hiss. The blade presses against my skin harder, drawing blood. Suddenly, his grip loosens and I feel him begin to droop. I grab the knife and push him back ready for another attack but there's a dart sticking out of the back of his neck. Maysilee drops from the trees.

"It would be easier if we worked together." To anyone else this might seem random and confusing but we agreed on this before hand and I'm so glad that we did.

"Allies?" I ask. Maysilee nods, smiles even.

From then on we're a fighting pair. We scavenge from the dead tributes pack. We share food, water, obtain a sleeping schedule. The whole time we continue pushing forward. I still wanted to find the edge of the arena but Maysilee didn't trust me enough. She wanted to know I where we were going and why. My pathetic answers were insufficient.

"Why, Haymitch." She demands. I hate hearing her say my name like that. Sighing I walk back to where she stands stubbornly.

"There has to be an end. Something. Anything. Don't you want to at least find out?" Maysilee furrows her eyebrows.

"No." I grind my teeth. "But if it means that much to you, fine." She begins rummaging through her pack. "We have to go through these damn bushes though." She says gesturing at the hedges. She pulls out a long cylinder that I recognize. The blow torch we've used to make fires. I smile. Why hadn't we thought of that before? She lights them up and impossibly, the blaze doesn't spread.

There's nothing. There's a cliff. That's it. A damn cliff at the end of this arena. Maysilee can probably tell I'm disappointed which is why she's not saying anything. "There's nothing." She finally states.