All Time Hunger Games

Complete silence flooded over Alex and Zack. Both were speechless between Zack realizing his mistake and Alex wanting to kill him for being so stupid!

“Alex? Say something!” Zack finally said, with worry in his voice. “Alex?” he asked again, placing his hand on one of his best friends shoulder. Alex immediately shook it off with disgust.
“How could you be so stupid?” Alex snapped, turning his back to Zack. “DON’T YOU REALIZE WE MIGHT NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!?!?!” He yelled before quickly slapping his hand over his mouth.

“Shhh..” Zack said, holding his finger over his mouth to signal Alex to be quiet. He quickly pulled out his tablet and ran over to Alex.

“Look!” He said, shoving the tablet in Alex’s bright red face. Zack pulled up the constantly updated the list of fallen tributes. “Both Rian and Jack are both not on this list. That means they’re still alive! Hey, look at this. Audrey isn’t on here either! Now all we have to do is find them and don’t worry, we will!” Zack said grabbing Alex’ wrist for reassurance.

The anger weakened inside of Alex as he realized Zack was right. All three of them were still out there, alive! He glanced over at Zack who was giving him a gentle smile of hope. “You better hope your ass they’re ok” Alex said before snapping Zack’s hand off of his before traveling deeper into the woods with Zack not too far behind.
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Her warm bed, cozy home, loving mother and sweet siblings, were all the things that filled Audrey’s dreams. It was all behind her now and back in District 12, a place where Audrey may never return....

Dark, cold cave floor with fear around every corner was now the reality she was facing. Alex was nowhere to be found. At least she had Josh, her childhood best friend, but for how long? The Hunger Games arena was unpredictable. Anything could happen to anyone at anytime. Just the thought ran chills down Audrey’s spine.
Of course, sleeping on the cold cave floor didn't help. Actual chills made their way all the way through her body, grabbing Josh’s attention. Before she knew it, his long arms were wrapped around her and she was pulled into his large, muscular chest. Right now, he needed her as much as she needed him.

“Shhhh, go back to sleep,” he said in a soothing voice, while he stroked her hair. “I will protect you,” and Audrey nestled in closer. She had no choice but to believe him right now. She slowly she drifted back to sleep, while Josh was as wide awake as ever.
Josh had been imagining what it would be like to hold Audrey like this again. He had a different connection with her from the get-go. When they were younger, they would spend a lot of time together just watching the stars. When she got cold, he’d embrace her in a tight hug. It was a feeling he was missing greatly.

They used to talk. As kids, yeah, they’d talk about stupid things, but not always. Josh’s dad used to know a lot about the stars. Josh admired his dad, and took in everything that he said and stored it to memory. Him and his father weren't very close, you could say that most of the time Mr.Ramcee didn’t give a damn about his youngest son. But when they talked about stars, the two couldn’t be more closer. Maybe that’s why young Josh took such an interest in the silly things.

He told Audrey everything that he knew about them. All the names, how far away they were, even what the meant... she didn’t really care much, but she loved to hear him talk about the things. He talked as if they were more precious than gold.

When Josh’s brother died, his father told him something he’d never forget. That all the smaller stars shining in the night sky, is someone who’s died, someone who’s watching over you, someone who cares. When the stars are shining, you’ll never be alone. Josh pondered this thought a lot, after his father’s death.
This time, holding Audrey under the starlight, felt different. Maybe because he knew that in a few days she could possibly be dead. She could be one of the great lights in the sky. At this thought he pulled her closer, resting his head on her shoulder. He looked up at the sparkling white beams of light in the sky.

It was ironic how in such a dark place, there could be such wonderful light.

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“Jack! Stop singing!” Rian yelled behind him to Jack who was following close behind. He could tell because he could hear him screaming some Blink 182 song at the top of his lungs.
“Don’t act like you don’t love it!” Jack said raising his voice, trying to sound as off pitch as humanly possible, which wasn’t too hard for Jack honestly.

Rian rolled his eyes. “Trust me, it’s not acting,” he said covering his ears, trying to imagine himself anywhere but where he was now. Of all people, he had to be stuck with Jack. I mean, Rian loves Jack, but in this situation, Rian needed quiet and who was he kidding, Jack was never quiet! Rian and Jack continued on their hunt for Zack and Alex with Jack “entertaining” and Rian “ignoring.”

All of a sudden, Rian came to a halt. Of course, Jack wasn’t paying attention and ran straight into Rian, knocking him to the ground.

“Jack! Watch where you’re going!” Rian screamed once again before quickly slapping his hand over his mouth.

Rian had hear voices. Who those voices belonged to, he wasn’t sure of.

“I think they went this way!” a high, feminine voice said, shutting both Rian and Jack up. Both boys quickly ran into a thick bush to hide in.

Three girls came into view. One was a short , blonde haired girl . She was sweet and innocent looking. Another was a little taller, but not much with dark brown, curly hair. She didn’t seem vicious but definitely not a person you would want to mess with. The last was taller with longer dark brown, straight hair. She seemed like the Hunger Games were the last place she wanted to be.

The last girl was one of the prettiest girls Rian had ever seen. Her bright green eye complemented her ivory skin perfectly making the light just glisten off of her. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“Anna? Why are you going so fast? Slow down!” the short blond said to the curly haired brunette who Rian assumed name was Anna.

“We can’t ‘slow down’ Kelsey!” Anna snapped at the now named Kelsey. “Especially if we want to find a place to camp by sundown.”

“Calm down!” The last girl said to the rest. “We have hours before sundown. We’ll be fine Anna!” She said placing one of her small hands on Anna’s shoulder. “Now take a deep breath.” And Anna did. “Better?”

“Better.” Anna said. “Thanks, Alicia!”

While Rian was focused on Alicia, Jack had his attention on something else. Almost immediately Jack noticed the golden set of bow and arrows on Kelsey’s back. Were those the same arrows that Alex wanted? Alex. Jack’s best friend. The person he hasn’t even talked to for over 24 hours. Was he ok? Was he even alive? All this though of Alex made Jack more interested. What did those girls know?

“What are they saying?” Jack asked, dodging the leaves and branches of the bush, trying to get a better view.

“Get down!” Rian said, pushing Jack’s head down towards the ground, preventing him from being seen. This eventually annoyed Jack and made him walk away from the bush and lean up against a nearby tree.

“Fine then,” Jack said, “Let me know when you’re done checking out those girls,” he said sarcastically and annoyed.

Rian turned around to give Jack a dirty look when something caught his eye. A gigantic bees nest hung from the branch right above Jack. Rian stood there, speechless, afraid to even make a move.

“What are you staring at?” Jack asked. “Is there something on my face?” He began to fiercely rub his face.

Rian began to point upwards towards the nest. Before he could even say anything, the small tread the nest was hanging from snapped and landed right in front of Jack’s feet.

“HOLY! SHIT! FUCKING! GOD!” Jack yelled, Flailing his arms all over only making matters worse. “GET THEM OFF! NOW!” He continued to scream as the bees stung him all over his body.

Before Jack knew it, Rian had grabbed his wrist and and started running at full speed. Where were they going? He didn’t know. As far away from the bees he guessed.

Soon enough Rian and Jack found themselves at the edge of a beach. “I hope you can swim, Jack.” Rian said, before throwing Jack into the water, hoping none of the bees would follow.

Before Rian could even see Jack hit the water, his surroundings began to spin. He had gotten stung a few times himself. “Yes, mommy I would like butter on my muffin” was the last words out of Rian’s mouth before he hit the water himself.

“Bang! Bang!” two cannons were fired.
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“Alex, pick up the fucking pace. If we wanna find them before sundown, don’t we?” Zack said a good 10 feet ahead of Alex.

“Goddamnit, Zack! I’m sorry I don’t have your muscular legs.” Alex huffed, struggling to keep this close to him, “At least I wasn’t the one who forgot to-”

“Shut it! I thought we were over this.”

Boom! Boom! ,the canons blared. Not only rocking the arena , but their hearts.

“You don’t think...” Alex began, worry dripping through his words. He hadn’t felt this helpless in a long time. He was scared and worried, just like a kid who lost his mom in the grocery story on a Saturday afternoon. But this time there was no where he could go for help. He had Zack. And Zack was just as lost as him.

“Of course not. Rian is strong. As long as Jack stayed with him... he’ll be fine.” Zack replied confidently in hopes of convincing, not only Alex, but himself.

Crack! Thud! Crack! The sound of fast feet hitting the ground, frantically, not seeming to care where it stepped. Being this careless, in the end could be, deadly. Swoosh! “Help!” A familiar voice screamed.

A familiar GIRLS voice screamed.

“No.” Zack mumbled running sleekly towards the sound. A slightly confused Alex following closely behind this time. They bent down and made minimal noise as the approached the scene. Just to make sure it wasn’t a trap.

Indeed it was a trap. Just not for them.

A young dark-blonde haired girl’s feet were wrapped up tight in a rope, keeping her suspended in mid-air. She desperately tried to reach her feet and pull herself up, so she wasn’t so close to what was attempting to kill her. But she was far from succeeding.

Barking soon filled the silence. The angry dogs underneath her snapped and growled, while jumping attempting to reach the girl.

“HELP!!” Her screams sounded more like sobs, knowing her plea was most likely useless. The Hunger Games wasn’t known for people doing heroic actions, it was known for people keeping themselves alive.

“Alex.” Zack stated commandingly, “If you want to live, climb the tree.”

Alex looked at the tree they were standing next to. This is the worst situation for a person scared of heights to be placed in. “Uhh.” Alex hesitated, “Can you give me a small lift?”

It took Zack less than a second to throw the boy up on the tree and another second to climb up himself.

“You shoot arrows right?” Zack asked.
“Uh, yeah I guess but-”
“Shoot them.”
“What?”
“I need you to shoot the dogs with these arrows” Zack took off his backpack and pulled out two arrows and a bow, “They’re poison covered. Strong enough to take them out, all you have to do is hit them.”
“But... but...” Alex stuttered, “They’re just cute little dogs. It’s not there fault they were trained to kill.”
“Alex” Zack said sternly “either you kill those two dogs, or they kill me and Jenna.”
“Wait? Jenna...?” Alex asked, “Jenna....the one you’ve been talking to? That’s Jenna!”
“Yeah, her. I’m gonna try to save her, you get them dogs.”
With that Zack began jumping from branch to branch, tree to tree, to get closer to the beautiful girl. When he was on the tree she was dangling from, he became extra careful. Not wanting to shake the innocent girl, by moving around too much.
“Zack?” She said softly when she first saw him, “Zack!” A smile crept on both their faces.
It turn back into a serious faces as one of the dogs yelped.
Alex had finally shot one of the them.
It slowly moved a few feet away so it wouldn’t get pounded on by the other dog. Most dogs, when they’re hurt, try to hide from their pack. It was a safety mechanism. So the other dogs wouldn’t kill them first.
“I hope you’re happy Zack!” Alex yelled, after he saw the dog he hit hide away from the others, “I don’t think I can do that again!”
Zack reached into his bag once again and pulled out a rope. “Listen Jenny, I want you to grab this rope, and I’ll pull you up so you can grab the branch... okay?”
Jenna just nodded in response and got her hands in catching position. She surprisingly caught it on the first throw. When Jenna got her arms and legs wrapped around the branch, Zack moved to help her get to her feet.

‘Why hasn’t Alex shot the other dog yet?’ Zack thinks as he carefully walks over to the damsel in distress. He could see the other dog was now dead, hiding next to a bush, not too far away.
“Zack! Thank you so much!” Jenna says throwing herself against the older boy, wrapping her arms around his torso. This caught Zack by surprise. For the short while he knew her, he knew that the one thing she hated most was hugs.
“Oh, uh..” Zack began to stutter, “N-no problem”
‘Smooth Zack, smooth.’ He thought.
“I thought for sure I was a goner!” Her smile then dropped and her voice became serious, “Don’t call me Jenny... again. Okay?” She playfully hit him on the shoulder.
Zack laughed before messing up her hair. She joined his laugh and began batting his hand away.

Then something happened.

She kissed his cheek. “Really, thanks Zack for saving me. I owe you.”
Zack cheeks immediately turned the color of a tomato. He turned to start making his way back to Alex, hoping she didn’t notice how bad he was blushing. “I-I told y-you, It’s no b-big de-” Zack was so flustered, he missed the next branch he needed to jump to, tumbling down a few feet before grabbing a branch.
“Shit” he muttered. The dog below him began barking again. His teeth just barely grazing Zack’s shoes. “Fuuuuuck” Zack said trying as hard as he could to lift himself up. He could lift himself with ease normally, but on this branch it was different. Maybe it was just because he was under so much pressure, but it was harder than he ever expected.“Shoot the goddamn thing, Alex!” Zack said desperately, finally getting up on the branch.

He was stuck.

There was no way up from the spot Zack stood, only down. And Zack knew, he couldn’t go down. The branch he was currently on wasn’t strong enough to hold him for too long.
“Zack, what do you want me to do?” Jenna yelled down to Zack, “I don’t know if I can pull you up!” Worry flooding her words.

“Jen, I Don’t” He began, but didn’t finish because something caught his eye. A small arrow flying in the air, knocking the big dog out immediately. “THANKS ALEX” Zack grunted. A little angry he hadn’t done it sooner. “Jenna, just go back to the rope you were dangling from and slide down, I’ll catch you.” He said jumping down from the tree.

“Alex you douchebag!” He yelled “Get your ass over here and meet Jenna!”
“Why should I?” Alex groaned. “Since I already killed a dog, do you you want me to go kick some bunnies or how about while I’m at it, I can just....”
“ALEX! SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STOP COMPLAINING!!!” Zack said, before realizing yelling isn’t going to solve any of their problems. If anything, it would make matters worse.

Right at that very moment Zack heard foot steps.
“ZZZAAAAACCCKKKK!” a voice screamed behind him!
Before Zack even had a chance to react, he was tackled to the ground.
“Oh, hi Audrey!” Zack said, right after his heart finished skipping a few beats.
“Hi there, long time no see.” she said, very excited to see him. “Where’s Alex?” she asked.
Zack grew a cocky, wide grin. “Hold that thought... Oh Alex., your woman is here to see you...” he called.
“Ha ha, very funny.” Alex said, still sulking in the high branch of the gigantic tree. “I’m not going to fall for it!”
“Stop being a women and get down Alex! It wasn’t that bad.” Zack fought back, standing right by the branch Alex was perched upon..
“It was terrib- AUDREY!” Alex practically squealed at the sight of his friend. He jumped down from his branch and embraced her in a hug. “Zack wasn’t lying, you’re here.”
Jenna pretended to barf at Alex and Audrey’s romantic reunion, earning a laugh from Mr.Merrick.
“Who’s this?” Audrey snapped, not too fond of the girl hanging around her group. Or Alex.
“Jenna, right?” Alex extended his hand, to shake the blonde’s. The smile grew on his face, when he saw the way Zack was looking at her. He made a mental note to talk to Zack about it later.
“Zack,” Jenna began to fill Audrey in, “just saved my life! You missed it-”
Audrey cut her off, “ Yeah I know, I saw.”
“Speaking of which,” Zack began annoyed, “Thanks for taking a billion hours to kill that one dog. I almost died, you shit nugget.”
“I didn’t... I couldn’t! I can’t kill dogs they’re so... so...”
“I did it.” Audrey said bluntly. She coughed before changing the subject and turning her attention back to the other girl, “Umm if you don’t mind, Jenna, the three of us have to go. I need to find my friend Josh, I told him I wouldn’t wander far.” She gave Jenna a fake smile as she pulled Alex and Zack away from her.
“Oh.” Jenna said helplessly. She began rubbing her arm, a little thing she’s did when she was scared. She thought finding Zack, she wouldn’t have to be alone in the games anymore. At least, that’s what the two of them would talk about before the games started. Being alliances.
“Ya Know, Audrey,” Zack began, yanking his wrist so the girl stopped walking, “I was hoping Jenna could hang around us. Like she could join our alliance.” He turned around to smile at the blue eyed girl and then looked at Audrey to see her response.
Audrey was right to fight about this, “Absolutely n-”
“Yeah sure! Great idea!” Alex interjected enthusiastically.
Jenna nearly burst with joy as she ran to the three. “I would really love that!”
Zack wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in. “Then it’s settled! Welcome to the group.”
Audrey growled. “Come on, we gotta find Josh.”
“Who’s this Josh character?” Alex asked, not very happy in the fact that she was so determined on being with this kid.
“He’s a friend of mine. He can help us find the others.” She stated.

Boom! The sound shook the trees surrounding the group. Another person’s life, taken.