All Time Hunger Games

PART 8

As soon as the words left the screeching speaker in the arena, great chaos broke out. All the tributes sprinted off their platform to either fight for the things they need or find shelter... everyone but Alex.
At first, Alex was ready. He knew he was prepared for anything the gamemasters decided to throw at him. But now, he was second guessing what he thought he knew.
The words Audrey had said before the whistle blew were running through the brunette’s head. “Don’t do it!” The words repeated in his mind on a loop, until a different one graced his mind, “What was she even talking about?’
But just as the thought graced his mind, he saw it.
In the center of the cornucopia was a beautiful, golden bow and arrows. The way the sun hit made it look as though it was glowing. “That must have been what Audrey was talking about.” Alex thought to himself. “She must not want me to go after them.” The thought of how dangerous it was to go after them didn’t cross his mind, only the thought of Audrey’s face when he gave it to her.
Alex began to move his right foot off the platform; he felt a firm tug on his jacket sleeve, interrupting his train of thought. The tug grew stronger causing Alex to fall off his platform and start running along with the tug. He looked over at the hand attached to his sleeve. His eyes followed up the arm that was attached to the hand. The face belonged to none other than his skunk haired best friend. Seeing his best friend made a huge smile appear on his face. Jack had never left his side since they first met, and he wasn’t going to start now.
“Come on, Alex! Pick up your damn feet!” Jack said, basically dragging the older boy. “I can’t carry you the whole way.” He continued, letting go of Alex’s jacket, hoping he would run on his own now.

Alex began to sprint a little faster. But before the two made it to the cover of the trees, Alex skidded to a halt. Barely thinking about it, he made a quick U-turn and began sprinting back the other way.

“ALEX!” Jack shouted, starting to run after him. “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?! ALEX?!” He continued to scream, desperately trying to get his best friends attention.

Alex didn’t reply, he just continued at a non-stop pace towards the Cornucopia, Jack just a few yards behind. Soon enough, Rian and Zack were approaching them from the side, confused about what was now going on.
“GUYS! Look what I got!” Zack exclaimed, proudly holding up two backpacks he had retrieved, both of which were stuffed full of supplies.

Alex paid no attention to Zack or his newly acquired belongings, he kept his eyes on his target, sprinting past Rian and Zack, without even acknowledging their presence.

“ALEX?!” Rian called after him as he got further away.

Jack soon approached Rian and Zack, stopping to catch his breath, no air seemed to be going to his lungs anymore. He wasn’t in the best shape, and this amount of physical exertion was taking its toll on his skinny body.
“Jack! Is Alex crazy?!” Zack asked, “Where the hell is he going?! What’s he after?”

Jack was hunched over, still trying to slow his rapid pulse down. Taking great gasps of air between words, Jack replied, “I... think... he’s... after... something... in... the... Cornucopia...”

Rian looked over at the Cornucopia, where Alex was heading. Almost immediately, he caught sight of the very thing Alex was after. RIan nudged Zack with his elbow, “Zack, he’s after those arrows!” Zack’s eyes grew wide, “EVERYONE is going for those! He’s going to get himself killed!”

Just then, Jack suddenly collapsed onto the ground. The lack of oxygen had finally got to him.

“Oh shit! Jack!” Zack exclaimed, dropping to his knees next to his friend, “Are you hit?”

Jack managed to sum up the energy to shake his head and he struggled to get into a sitting position, barely managing to gasp out, “Leave... me... go get... Alex...” And then Jack slumped back to the ground, completely unconscious.

Zack smiled warmly at the unconscious boy, quietly saying, “Okay,” though Jack couldn’t hear him. Then Zack turned to RIan, “Take Jack into the woods and get as far away as possible...” Rian started to shake his head, “But we’ll be separated, we won’t be able to find you guys...”

Rian didn’t even finish his protest because Zack had already stood and sprinted away, hurtling dead bodies and various objects lying on the ground as he began chasing down Alex. “I WON’T LET YOU DOWN ZACK!” Rian shouted at Zack’s retreating back before he grabbed Jack and slung him over his shoulder, taking off in the opposite direction, into the woods.

----

Alex heard Jack chasing after him. “ALEX! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?! ALEX?!” He yelled, over and over. Still Alex ignored him. He knew the bow and arrows were what he needed, what both him and Audrey needed, in order to have a chance in this game.

After running for a few more moments, Alex noticed something different.

“ALEX! STOP!” A familiar voice shouted, but it wasn’t Jack.

Alex quickly glanced over his shoulder to see what the commotion was, and more importantly, to see where Jack had gone.

Before Alex could see Jack’s unconscious body on the ground, or Zack hurtling towards him, Alex was suddenly shoved violently, flying sideways, slamming into the ground.

Alex rolled onto his back, hissing in pain as he clutched his side where he was hit. He moved his legs, as if to stand, but before he could gain any purchase on the ground, something pounded into his stomach hard, making him grunt in pain.

“I don’t think so Twelve.” A higher pitched voice said from above him.

Alex finally opened his eyes, not really realizing he closed them in the first place, and was face-to-face with a short brown-haired girl whose pretty face was twisted into a menacing snarl. She clearly only had one thing in mind for Alex. He was a goner.

Then the girl started laughing maniacally, her curls bouncing as she did so. “HA! Going after those arrows were you pretty boy? Well sorry to tell you but you’re a little too late hun!”

Alex managed to turn his head to look where the bow and arrow were lying. A fierce looking blonde girl was in the process of grabbing them, then running straight towards Alex and the girl that was sitting on him.

“KELSEY! Over here!” The curly-haired girl called, still pinning Alex to the ground. “I have our first victim!”

Alex’s eyes went wide at first, then he screwed them shut thinking, “This is the end.” He remained quiet, eyes shut, waiting for the seemingly inevitable end, hoping his death would be quick and painless, hoping this girls wouldn’t torture him to death.

A loud noise caused Alex’s eyes to pop open in surprise.

“ALEX! OH MY GOD! ALEX!”

Alex looked over at the familiar face running towards him.

“STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” Zack shouted menacingly at the top of his lungs as he charged straight towards them. He roared as he tackled the girl off of Alex and onto the ground. Eventually, after a few moments of a full out brawl, Zack had pinned the surprisingly strong girl to the ground. “ALEX! RUN!” Zack shouted, but Alex didn’t move. He couldn’t. He was frozen, still in shock. Barely breathing, the only thing he seemed to be able to do was stare between the brawl and the girl with the arrows.

The blonde girl who was holding the golden bow, which was now strung with an arrow and poised to shoot, soon reached Zack, Alex, and the other girl.

“Anna, which do you want me to finish off first?” She asked, the tip of the arrow going back and forth, from pointing at Alex’s head, to Zack’s.

Anna managed to free an arm from Zack’s grip and pointed towards Alex. “That one!” She grunted, still trying to wriggle free. Kelsey’s arrow was immediately pointed at Alex’s face.

Alex looked at the girl with his very best puppy dog eyes, hoping that this wouldn’t be the end.

Almost as if Kelsey understood him, she lowered the bow. A kind of creepy love-sick smile grew on her face, “Anna, I can’t do it.You know I can’t kill attractive boys.” She said, emphasizing her words by giving him a soft wink.

Anna angrily thrashed and fought her way out from under Zack. “FINE!” She screamed. “Then I’LL kill him!” She stomped over to Kelsey, snatching the bow and arrows from her hands. She aimed straight towards Alex’s forehead, but just as she was about to let her first arrow fly Kelsey purposely fell, throwing her aim off.

Alex shut his eyes and waited for a piece of metal to pierce his flesh, that never seemed to come. Instead he felt two big hands on him and he was airborne, slung across Zack’s shoulders as Zack ran away from the girls as quickly as he could. Alex lifted his head to look behind them and saw Anna throwing a fit. She threw the bow to the ground and flicked Kelsey in the forehead, screaming profanity at the top of her voice. Alex couldn’t keep himself from laughing at the young girls as Kelsey pouted and rubbed her forehead while Anna continued to scream.

Soon enough, the open field was long behind them and Zack was running in the middle of the forest.

“Ummm Zack,” Alex said, tapping his friends shoulder. “You can put me down now. My legs work just fine.”

“Oh, sorry.” Zack said, stopping and setting Alex on his feet.

“The two were silent for a while, not knowing what to say, or what to do next.

Finally, Alex gave Zack a gentle smile and looked down at his shoes. “Um, thanks for saving me Zack. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there to help.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

A smirk spread across Zack’s face. “You would have died Mr. Gaskarth.” He told Alex, raising one of his eyebrows. “That’s what would have happened.”

Alex playfully punched Zack in his meaty, well built arm. “Yeah, okay Superman, I get it.” Alex said with a chuckle.

Zack put his fists on his hips, puffing out his chest, trying to look like a superhero. “I always thought i was more like Captain AMERRICKA!”
“Really Zack? Again with the Amerrickan jokes?” Alex rolled his eyes with a smile, “Even in the Hunger Games, you’re advertising your clothing line.” Zack just smiled.
“Anywho, we should probably go find the others. Where did you tell Rian and Jack to meet us?” Alex asked. Zack’s eyes grew wide and his smile faded away into a frown.

Alex’s own joking demeanor melted away. “Zack?! Where did you tell them to meet us?!” He repeatedly frantically. Zack took a deep breath and released a single nervous laugh, “Funny story... I didn’t.”

----

Jack opened his eyes, blinking a few times, and he waited for his vision to clear. When it finally did, all he could see was a face. Rian’s face to be exact. He let his eyes close again.

“Wakey wakey Sleeping Beauty.” RIan said, shaking Jack from side to side. “Come on. I saw you open your eyes idiot. Wake. UP!”

Jack rolled over onto his side and randomly flailed his arm around, trying to smack the other boy. “Ri, do you have a snooze button?” He asked, his voice groggy. Rian chuckled, “Sadly no, now get up!” Rian grabbed Jack under his armpits and pulled him to his feet.

“You couldn’t wait five more minutes?” Jack asked, rubbing his aching neck, quite annoyed with Rian.
“Of course not!” Rian replied with a scoff. “You know I’m really impatient! We have to get going anyway.” J
ack raised one of his bushy eyebrows and looked at Rian in puzzlement. “And this magical place we’re going issssss....?” he prompted.

Rian threw a backpack at Jack, who barely caught it in his surprise. “Notice anyone missing?”

Jack scanned the empty meadow the two were standing in with his eyes. After thinking for a moment, it finally hit him. “Oh fuck. Where are Alex and Zack? Are they... they aren’t...” Jack gulped, unable to finish his thought.
“Dead?” Rian bluntly finished, gathering his own things and strapping his own backpack on. “No, they’re not dead. At least, I don’t think so. But we’ll never know just sitting around here. Come on. We’ve got some rock stars to find.”

----

It was the first nightfall of the Hunger Games. Audrey had found a nice little spot for herself in a willow tree, as far away from the Cornucopia as humanly possible.

As soon as the signal was given to start the games, Audrey had turned tail and got her butt outta there as fast as she could, not turning back even once, not even for Alex.

Before the games even started, she knew what he was thinking. He was going to go after the bow and arrows in the center of the Cornucopia. He was going to dive right into the middle of the bloodbath, where the most deaths occurred during the games. Audrey didn’t want Alex or any of the other boys to be a part of that, but she didn’t stick around to find out what happened. For all she knew, they could all be dead right now, leaving her all alone.

At that very moment, Audrey heard voices that she didn’t recognize. Whoever the voice belonged to was approaching quickly.

“Wait. Shut up!” A light voice whispered.

Audrey hid deeper in the thick branches of the willow, trying to remain unseen.

Soon enough, the person the voice belonged to appeared to be right below Audrey’s high perch. Three young girls, whom’s faces Audrey recognized from opening ceremonies. The shortest of the group was a blonde girl, she was from District 4. On her right there was a girl with short curly brown hair, from District 8. The last person in their group was a girl with black hair and crystal blue eyes from District 7

The voice belonged to her, “Now, Anna, why are you mad at Kelsey again?”

“She,” The girl from District 8 said harshly, pointing at the blonde, “She made me miss my shot. I almost killed one of the District 12 boys at the Cornucopia. Kelsey bumped me on purpose.”

At the mention of her District, Audrey grew more attentive.

“Okay, yeah but...” Kelsey took a short pause, causing the group to stop in it’s tracks, “He was really cute, okay! He was wearing a bandana and you know those things are my weakness!” The shorter girl began to describe the boy, proving to Audrey that these girls almost killed Alex.

Not only that, one of them likes Alex. Audrey wasn’t one to get jealous, but she didn’t like the way Kelsey’s eyes lite up while she was describing the young boy. Her and Alex weren’t dating, but she couldn’t have a tribute from District 4 stealing him away from her.

“Kelsey. Do you only think about boys?” She said glaring at Kelsey, “Do you want to set up camp here, so you can go on about this stupid boy, that you’re going to have to kill anyways?” She didn’t give Kelsey anytime to answer before she began walking again.

“I don’t always think about boys, Alicia.” Kelsey’s feet stayed glued to the ground. Her voice got lower and she began to slowly rub her arm.

“We’re not staying here.” Anna said grabbing Kelsey by the wrist and pulling her forward, “Lets keep moving.

As soon as they were out of sight, Audrey climbed down from her tree. There was no way she was staying up a tree knowing the boys were all, but most importantly, knowing that ALEX was alive.

__
Audrey seemed to be walking aimlessly around the forest. Her feet began to feel like they weighed pounds each. ‘Finding the boys tonight might be impossible.’

Zip! Bleng! An arrow darted right past her face and right into the nearest tree. Audrey quickly reached for the bow and arrows she thought was on her back, only to realise there was no such thing. She spun around to find the boy from District 1 looking ready to pounce on anything that moved.

Audrey looked like a deer in the headlights. She didn’t have anything to protect her, she was a goner.
It felt like hours before someone finally moved.It was Audrey who moved first. She did the only thing she could do, run.

“Wait!” Josh’s voice echoed through the forest, running after the burnett. He mentally scolded himself for making so much noise. Josh was 6’3 and his long legs made him appear as though he was gliding through the air as he ran. It didn’t take him long to reach the girl and tackle her to the ground.

Audrey’s hands pinned above her head,and Josh’’s weight sitting on her stomach almost impossible to squirm free. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t try.

“Stop. Fighting.” Josh grunted, “ Audkitten!”

Audrey froze at the use of her old nickname given to her by the one and only... “Josh? Is that ...you?” She choked, barely whispering.

“Hey long time no see!’ Josh said, still on top of her. Audrey laid silently on her back, still in awe that her childhood friend was in the arena with her.

“Josh, I found a perfect little spot for us to camp out for the...” Sabrina trailed off with the sight of Josh with Audrey. “So, you remember each other I'm assuming.” she asked as her face fell.

Josh stood up, giving Audrey his hand assisting her to her feet as well. “Sabrina, you remember Audrey, right?” he asked giving her a suttle ‘be nice’ look.

“How could I forget the one and only Audrey.” She replied with a half smile. “You’ve only talked about her everyday since you moved out of District 12.”

A smile grew across Audrey’s face. Almost immediately, she pulled Josh into a tight hug. “I’ve really missed you Josharoo.” she told him, happy to be holding him again.

“I’ve really missed you too!” Josh said, pulling her closer.

Sabrina tapped her foot impatiently. “If you two are finished with this reunion, it’s late and i don't know about you but I don’t want to be out in the open all night.”

“Right,” Josh said, relicing Audrey from his grasp. “So, you said you found a place to camp?” he said, turning to Sabrina.

“Yeah, it’s over here, I’m assuming you’ll be joining us.” Sabrina asked Audrey, kind of annoyed with the whole situation.

“Yeah, that would be great!” Audrey said. “As long as you don’t try to kill me in my sleep.” She joked.

“No promises,” Sabrina said, looking at Josh with a shrug, with him returning another ‘don’t even think about it glance.’

“Just kidding” Sabrina said, letting the mood grow a little lighter, not that Audrey even noticed. The whole situation went completely over her head. She gave Sabrina a gentle smile. “So which way to the camp?” she asked.

“Oh, right, follow me” Sabrina said taking the lead.

Finding the boy’s will have to wait
----------

Josh sat on the floor of the cave Sabrina had found for them to set up camp in. He was the only one awake. Sabrina and Audrey were fast asleep. He watched them sleep soundly and smiled at the sight of how calm they seemed resing.
He pulled out the tablet he had received just before the game. It was small enough to fit in his pocket and had a slide out keyboard. The device didn’t seem to do much,but there were quite a few useful things on there. One being it gave the number of how many people were still in the game. 17 to be exact. Over 10 innocents lives lost from this morning to now. That didn’t matter much, because he knew that not one of those 10 boys were the four boys he wanted dead.
He loaded the journal app, knowing he wouldn’t sleep much tonight, with all the thoughts roaming his mind.

‘Once upon a time, I used to romanticize... 10 years to be exact. 10 years. That how long it has been since I’ve last had Audrey in my life. Back why I was living in District 12, Audrey had been my best friend. She understood me like no one else could. We would go out hunting together every morning. She with her bow, me with my knives. together we were unstoppable. Even though I was little, I felt the attraction we had. I knew, I’d never love another girl as much as I love her.

The day came where my family moved to District 1, probably the second saddest day of my life. That day, I lost my best friend. Yeah, I made new friends, but they were never like Audrey. When I heard a girl from district 12 named Audrey made it in the game, I was ecstatic to say the least. But it was soon replaced with sorrow. I’d get Audrey back, but for how long? One of us has to die, we’d be forever separated.

I can’t fall in love. Not in the Hunger Games. No. That leads to one thing. Death. I won’t make the same mistake my brother did. I won’t kill Audrey until she gets in the way. I’ve missed her too much.

That band she hangs around with, Sabrina doesn’t find them a threat. I saw the projections in the sky, none of them were listed. None of them are dead. They managed to survive the BLOODBATH! They’re all stronger than I thought. No threat? They’re my BIGGEST threat! In more ways than one.’

Josh glanced at the sleeping beauty, her brown locks scattered on the dirty forest ground. She shivered slightly from the sudden gusts of wind. Not planning on a wasting such a good moment to cuddle up to his old best friend. He slid the device back in his pocket and . Then he lied behind Audrey, wrapping his arm around her to keep her warm.
“Alex” she hummed in her sleep state.