Arena Two

.

I stirred awake and immediately felt pain rushing through me. My head was spinning and I felt so sick to my stomach it was a struggle not to vomit. God I could barely move and every time I did brought a new stab of pain. I could hear water around me but couldn't manage to open my eyes to see where I was. I prayed that I'd pass out again soon, if for nothing else than to keep the pain at bay for a little while longer.  

Oh, fuck. They had thrown Chad directly into the open. Fucking Nicholai. I looked at Feather and Trinity "Stay here. Don't move, don't do anything. Understand?" I asked and they both nodded, scared out of their minds. Seeing Feather here was a surprise, I thought he'd replaced her with Chad just to fuck with me but now here Chad was too. I started moving towards him but was staying hidden the best I could. Someone started approaching Chad from the other side with a spear in his hand. I didn't have time to be tactical, I emerged from the bushes and ran at the guy tackling him to the ground and realized he was a District One. We exchanged punches until I pulled my knife hidden in my boot and stabbed it through his throat. I ripped it back out while he was still gargling and gasping for air. Chad was hurt and I wanted to be easy with him but there wasn't time, I picked him up and put him over my shoulder as I ran back for cover.

I groaned as my stomach rolled horribly and my head spun more. I felt something warm and wet sliding down my back. What the fuck was going on, where was I? "Gon... be... sick... fuck," I groaned.

"Go ahead and hurl it out." I helped him set on his hands and knees until he was finished, being careful of his back.

I finally stopped throwing up and dry heaving and collapsed on my side, hissing out as pain shot through me again. "Where am I?" I whispered. I opened my eyes but immediately closed them again when everything spun.

"The games, my friend." I told him "Feather and Trinity are here too. Look, I know it hurts but we gotta get moving. Can't stay in one place took long so I'll have to carry you."

"Just... gimme... a minute," I whispered and covered my face for a minute, trying to stop the damn spinning. I knew I'd lost a lot of blood, and was still losing it, and God knew when the last time we'd eaten was, that's why I felt so much like shit. "Help... help me... up," I whispered.

We helped him up to his feet, he couldn't walk so I picked him back up and put him over my shoulder more gently this time "Let's roll. I'll find us some food when we get settled."

"Don't know... if... I can... eat anything... right now," I groaned out.

"Sorry to hear that, but if you don't eat you're going to die. I'm not letting that happen." I said as we silently walked "Food will give you strength after I fix your back up." If we were lucky enough to get anything from a sponsor that is...

We found a cave and the girls crawled in first before he carried me in, setting me down gently. "What're you... gonna fix it... with?" I whispered, laying down on my stomach and trying to take deep breaths.

"I'm gonna shred up shirts and wrap them around you to stop the bleeding until we can get some ointment or something. What the fuck happened?" I asked him at the same time I was taking off my shirt and started tearing it up to make bandages.

I told him what had happened in the square, how Nicholai had put dad and Uncle Brady in nooses and started to hang dad first. "I just... I snapped... couldn't... do nothing... went after... after the guards... Nicholai whipped me... I passed out... woke up here... I don't... I don't know what... what happened, he... he's probably d-dead," I whispered and shut my eyes tight when I felt tears, refusing to shed them.

I sighed and shook my head "I'm sorry, Chad. I wish I knew how it ended so I could give you answers but I don't know either. I did promise that nothing would happen to you and I'm keeping it. Brace yourself, this is going to hurt."

"Just do... what you... gotta do. I gotta... stop bleeding," I said quietly, my breathing heavy.

"Alright." I looked to Trinity and Feather "Help him stay up while I do this." they moved to his sides and held him as I started wrapping the homemade bandaged around him tightly so the pressure would stop the bleeding.

The pain was intense and I grit my teeth against it. Trinity ran her fingers through my hair, telling me to relax, the tension was making me bleed more. I took deep breaths, trying not to move as he bandaged me up.

We finished him up as night fell "Alright. You guys get some rest."

I looked at him as I laid back down on my stomach. "They need to eat," I said quietly. "Any luck on food before you found me?"

"I'm going out right now to see what I can find, you guys can rest until I get back but stay alert." I said "The darkness will make it harder but I'll be able to hid easier too."

"Don't need to... go out there alone man."

"None of you need to be out there either right now, I'll be fine." I told them and left the cave, looking around so I could be more aware of my surroundings. It took awhile but I rounded up some edible plants. They were scarce, I guess if Nicholai didn't kill us himself he wanted us to starve. I got back to the cave "This isn't the best but it'll work. I made sure they weren't poisonous."

I opened my mouth to speak but Feather cut me off.



"Don't even think about it, you're about to pass out again. You need to get something in your system or you're not gonna make it."

- Feather

"Not taking all the food," I whispered. "You guys need to eat too."

"We will but you have to eat first. Don't make me shove it down your throat, you should know by now that I will."