Neverending Game

I was utterly disgusted with myself. Well, this was what the Hunger Games was about, wasn’t it? Killing others for the benefit of no-one? “We need to find Jenna, she’s probably hurt.” Vic said, breaking my train of thought. I nodded, and we started off in the direction that she had run. Vic had brought the healing cream. There was about two-thirds of a jar left, and we planned to help Jenna by using it, no matter what Brendon had said.

It didn’t take us long until we saw her lying in the dying leaves. We rushed to her side and knelt down beside her. She was sweating feverishly, and her neck was bleeding badly. Her breath was hard and labored. “Jenna? Jenna, can you hear me?” Vic asked. Jenna didn’t even seem to notice him. She was writhing around helplessly. It seemed like the wound on her neck wasn’t what was causing this…

“Jenna, are you sick? Are you okay?” I asked, panicked. Her eyes opened a sliver, as they had been squeezed shut before. “M-Michael?” she asked vaguely. I cocked my head. Michael? “No, it’s Kellin, Jenna.” I said, confused. “Michael.” She said, reaching her hand up and absentmindedly touching my face. I looked at Vic. “Maybe she’s just hallucinating?” he asked. “Why would she do that?” I asked. Then, a terrible thought came to mind. “What if… Tracker Jacker sting?” I asked. Vic’s eyes widened. I pulled up her sleeve, and sure enough, a big, green, thumping sting was there. “Oh God,” I said, thinking of what had happened. “But this doesn’t make any sense!” I said. “Why? It makes perfect sense to me,” Vic said.

“The youngest boy in the Hunger Games died from a Jacker sting, but he didn’t hallucinate like this.” I said. Vic shrugged. “Maybe he was already wounded, or just weary and weak. Or, the Jackers didn’t want to torture him.” Vic suggested. “I don’t think they can control…” I was stopped by Jenna. “No, your name is only in once, Michael. They’ll never pick you.” She said, caressing my cheek. She was probably hallucinating that I was this Michael guy. Her eyes widened. “No, no, NO!” she screamed, grabbing hold of my shoulders. “Don’t go! You can’t! NO!” she screamed, even louder. I was appalled by all this.

She started crying helplessly. “I VOLUNTEER!” she screamed. Vic looked at me. Then, it all made sense. I remember this from watching the recording. Jenna’s younger brother, Michael, had been picked at the reaping, and she volunteered. She was the first volunteer in years. “I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!” she cried. “Jenna…” I said, but to no avail. She couldn’t hear me. She dropped her hands off of me. Her eyes closed, and she was gasping for air. Her expression had calmed, but tears still fell down her face. She writhed around some more. “What are we waiting for? Get some healing cream on her neck and shoulders!” I said. Vic nodded and popped the lid off of the container. I held onto Jenna’s shoulders, trying to calm her down. Vic smeared the white solid on her neck gently. She whimpered quietly. “Lee!” she said. Lee was the other tribute from her district, one of the first to die at the Cornucopia. “Why did you do this, Oli?” she said. Oli was one of the careers from district 1. “Oli, he was 13 years old, Oli! How would you feel if I killed Tom?” she said angrily.

She screamed, and her pupils dilated. Vic was rubbing the stuff onto the Jacker sting now. Jenna squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. “K-Kellin?” she said weakly. “Jenna! Jenna, can you hear me?” I asked. “Mmhmm.” She said. She winced. “It hurts, Kellin.” She said. I looked in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us about the Jacker sting? We could’ve helped you.” I asked. Jenna gritted her teeth. “I…I…” she yowled in pain. “Oh, God, it hurts so much. Everything.” She said. “I know, I know.” I said, supporting her head with my hand. I turned to look at Vic. “We need to get her back to the cave, I’ll carry her.” I said. Vic nodded.

I scooped up a once brave, now crying Jenna. She cuddled close to my chest. “Daddy, don’t go.” She said, hallucinating again. I guess she thought I was her dad. I started walking back to the cave. “Daddy, I’ll miss you.” She said quietly. I looked down at her. She looked so helpless. It would probably take a while for that Jacker sting to heal. She gripped the fabric of my shirt. Then, she started to scream again. I stopped walking and looked down at her. “Jenna? Jenna!” I said. Again, she still was completely unaware of my existence.

“I don’t want to go! They’ll kill me, Spencer! I’m going to die!” she screamed, gripping my shirt even tighter. I guessed that Spencer was her designer, and that this was right before the Games started. “I don’t want to go!” she said, her voice fading. It was terrible to see her like this, even though I barely knew her. “I hear another one!” I heard the Careers in the distance. Oh crap.

“Jenna! Jenna, shh!” I said, brushing the hair away from her face. Coming back to reality again, she turned and looked at me. “Hmm?” she said groggily. “The Careers are coming, they heard you!” I said. Her eyes widened. I ran into the cave. I laid her down across the rocks where Vic had slept last night. “Jenna, you have to keep quiet. Try as hard as you can to keep controlling your mind, okay?” I instructed. Jenna nodded, and then winced. “Why won’t the pain go away?” she whispered. I shrugged. The Careers were getting closer.

“I see a cave, they’re in there!” I heard one of them say. I held both Vic and Jenna close to my side. “Quiet,” I whispered, silently as possible. Keeping quiet wouldn’t do us any good. The four Careers stomped into the cave jeering and sneering as they saw Jenna lying helplessly and Vic and I trying to care for her. “Well, well, well, what have we here?” Oli said condescendingly. Jenna looked at him, and her eyes widened. “The little girl and the peasants.” He said. I thought that was terrible. District 12 wasn’t classifiably peasantry, but that was a debate for later. Oli stepped forward and knelt by Jenna. Her breath became short, and she sounded terrified. He ripped my arm off of her and he grabbed ahold of her throat.

“Get off her!” Vic screamed trying to pull Oli away. Oli punched him away, as if he was an annoying fly. Vic hit the side of the cave hard, and slumped down into a sitting position. “Vic!” I screamed. Jenna was gagging, and she grabbed Oli’s wrist to try to pull it away. Oli smirked. “Get her, Oli! Kill her!” the other three cheered. I started to beat on Oli’s back relentlessly. I kicked and punched, but it seemed like nothing would stop him. He pushed down harder on Jenna’s neck. There was nothing I could do. “Stop, please!” I screamed, tears coming to my eyes. He loosened his grip on her. “And why should I?” he said. “Because… because her life matters as much as mine or yours.” I said. “I haven’t killed you yet because your life matters. Life matters, Oli.” He laughed. “That isn’t why I haven’t killed you yet. I like watching you suffer.” He said, pushing his hand farther down.

I was crying now. All hope seemed lost. Suddenly, I heard two boys yelling weird battle cries. I looked up to see none other than Jack and Alex running in with their weapons. “Get away from them, you bastards!” Jack screamed, swinging at Oli with his axe. There was now a long cut in his back. Oli snarled, and got up. His hand left Jenna’s throat. She gasped for air, choking. Alex aimed his bow-and-arrows at the other 3 Careers. “Get out of here. Don’t come back again.” He said. Jack held up his axe menacingly. Oli looked at the other 3 Careers, and then pointed out of the cave. “Move,” he said. “But Oli…” one of them started. “I said MOVE!” Oli yelled. They left, just like that.

The district 8 boys dropped their weapons. Alex knelt over by Vic, and Jack came over to help with me and Jenna. Jack felt her forehead. “Calm down, you’re safe now,” he said quietly. Jenna was still gasping. “Shh, it’s okay now.” Jack said. Jenna started to calm down. I looked at Jack. “How did you know where to find us?” I asked. “We were looking for food, then we saw you carrying her into the cave. Then the Careers came in, and we waited for the right time to come in and save you.” He explained. I was glad that people like Jack and Alex were here to help us in times of need. Frankly, this was the most we needed it.