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They were sitting in a cave for a while now, close to each other. The place, despite being an obvious choice for a hideout, hasn't been discovered yet, and that fact leaves Avery restless. So, as calm as the situation was, he still kept a close eye on the entrance. The only remedy for his tension was his accidental teammate, Derek, a shorter guy who was now dozing off on his shoulder, his quiet breathing breaking the silence.
In that moment of peace, Avery had some time to examine the features of his teammate. His long eyelashes, the few moles that adorned his face. His fluffy, curly hair, with the leftovers of red and orange dye he wore to the Tribute Parade that made it look like fire as it danced in the wind. The memory of that day was vivid. It was the first time he saw Derek.
“Attention, tributes, attention.” The announcer’s voice echoes throughout the arena as in the clear sky the sunset paints the forest in warm, golden tones. The sound wakes Derek up quickly from his light sleep, his eyes slightly fluttering as he furrows his brows, listening intently. “Commencing at sunrise, a feast will be held tomorrow at the Cornucopia.”
Avery perks up with unease written all over his freckled face. But before he even manages to open his mouth, his teammate raises a finger to his lips, shaking his head.
“This will be no ordinary occasion,” the announcer continues his speech. “Each of you needs something. Be sure to make a visit. And may the odds be ever in your favor.”
There’s a short quiet moment after that, both guys keeping a pause to make sure there isn’t more to the message. But when it’s clear there is not going to be anything else, no other details to miss out on, Derek breaks the silence. “This isn’t for us,” He turns to Avery. “I mean, we’re both fine, right?”
“I’m good,” Avery checks himself out for any wounds and nods to his teammate, “At least, it seems so. How’s your arm?” He nods at the shorter guy’s cut with a concerned look.
“It’s… okay.” Derek brushes it off immediately, casually hiding his arm behind his back, not wanting to draw any more attention to his predicament. “I wonder if the feast was organized because of others… Wonder what they’re going through now.” He hums, adjusting his scratched glasses. ”Though, it probably has nothing to do with them either. Capitol just wants to speed up the game.”
“You… sure?” Avery tilts his head, turning a deaf ear to the attempt to change the topic.
Seeing his teammate’s disbelief, Derek gives in with a sigh and shows his arm. “It stopped bleeding a while ago,” he tries to assure Avery, to reason with him. ”It isn’t something worth going into another bloodbath for. I’ll live.”
Avery can give him no more than a weary sigh, clearly not convinced. “If you say so…” He mutters, turning away with a perplexed look and running his hand through his hair, lips pursed. “You hungry yet? I still have some bread from the sponsors.”
“No need.” Derek shakes his head, but then, sensing Avery’s scepticism again, huffs, “I’m fine, really!” He rubs his temples and adds, ”The bread is nutritious, we better save it for the morning actually.”
The taller guy can’t help but chuckle at the way his teammate is getting all defensive and making excuses. Still, what he just said was reasonable, so Avery just nods. “Okay, okay,” he raises his arms in defeat jokingly, somehow feeling a bit more at ease now. “Can’t argue with the brains of our team. How ‘bout berries? We’ve got plenty of them.” He rummages through his backpack, and takes out a bag of blue ones, but then shoves it back immediately, shaking his head, “Okay, well not the nightlock, obviously…” He mutters and takes out the other bag with the ones that are safe to eat.
“I say we try to sit it out here. It really might be safer to ignore the feast, but that means we won’t be able to come out to forage any more stuff or safely retrieve gifts from sponsors.” Derek explains as he takes a handful of berries. “Worst case scenario gamemakers will release mutts or create some natural disaster, to speed all of us up, like in previous years…”
“Wow, you really did your research, huh… ” Avery blurts out as he chews and listens to his teammate ramble about the possibilities. He actually liked when Derek did that – it was, in a way, therapeutic. Calming.
“All I did was watch the Games.” Derek shrugs and turns away for a moment, hiding his gaze by adjusting his glasses. “When I was little I was really scared of being reaped and having to take part. Not that I wasn’t scared when it actually happened, but…” He sighs and scratches the back of his head. “I don’t know why, but I just started to analyze each game when it went live. I guess it calmed me, knowing that there’s at least some pattern to this thing… Kind of like tinkering with a small device. Taking it apart to figure out how it works, and then putting it back together using that knowledge.”
“I never thought about it that way, to be honest…” Avery is taken aback a bit, not knowing what to say. His perspective differed from Derek – his style consisted less of analysis and more of improv. He leans “I’ve watched the Games too, but only ‘cause it was mandatory. I never put that much thought into it. I often just wing it. Even now, actually.”
“They’re still mostly random and depend on what the tributes do themselves, so you didn’t miss out on that much information.” Derek shrugs, “But if you pay attention to some moments, you can really see a pattern when the Games are being tampered with. Though, these patterns can differ too, it really depends…”
Avery doesn’t interrupt him again, he just leans back on the rocky wall beside the shorter guy and listens to him go on and on about the intricacies of the Games. Every time his teammate pointed something out, Avery realized just how on the nose every interruption into the Games is if you’re already familiar with the hand of its particular gamemaker, their style, the specific details they knowingly or unknowingly add to the Games they oversee. Apparently, some preferred to implement changes using natural disasters, while others relied more on mutts, though even those could be categorized too.
“Oh, wait, lemme predict that one,” Avery interrupts. “Some of them use aggressive mutts to lure us out, and others use something like jabberjays to mess with our minds. Right?”
“Correct.” Derek nods, a slight smile tugging on his lips when he notices his teammate beam with pride. “See? It’s all in the details. And noticing those details may save your life.”
***
They are quiet for a moment, both pondering about something, but then Avery breaks the silence again. “Hey, uh…” He looks away, scratching the back of his neck lightly. “I’ve been meaning to ask for a while… What is your district like?”
“Huh?” His teammate is a bit taken aback for a second by the question. He had no idea Avery would be interested in that. After a moment of thinking, he replies, “Nothing special, really. We’re focused on technology, you already know that….” He shrugs and scratches his head, “I heard a few years ago, one of our tributes had won the Games and then got to help Capitol with redesigning the network system that transmits everything.”
“That’s literally so cool?” Avery looks at him with raised eyebrows, and then tilts his head to the side slightly, “Are all people in your district as smart as you two?”
Derek’s eyebrows shot up, he purses his lips and looks away quickly, a slight flush dusting his cheeks in a warmer tone. “Uhm…” He coughs and then answers, though slightly evasively, “I don’t think anyone is as smart as that guy. He’s won his Games by electrocuting a whole bunch of tributes at once. We all look up to his smarts.”
“Oh, well,” Avery pats his teammate on his shoulder, “I don’t know much about him but I think you’d be a cool successor to him. You’re so smart too! You got us away from that Careers pack so easily yesterday.”
Amused by Avery’s positivity, Derek can’t hold back a soft chuckle, realizing that it’s contagious. The tension of the moment slowly disappears, even if it’s just for a moment. He turns to look at him, a slight smile gracing his lips, “Well, what about you? I’ve never really heard of your district.”
“We’re just farmers,” Avery just shrugs, “We produce grain and stuff. Not as fancy or intellectual as you lot.”
“That’s actually wrong,” Derek interrupts him, shaking his head slightly. “Farming requires a lot of time management and self-discipline. Those are some of the important qualities of a smart person. Not to mention, you have to be ready to make up a plan on a whim in case of some emergency, like when a natural disaster strikes or something.”
“You really think so?” Avery’s eyes widened. “Wow… Never actually thought about it that way, to be honest. Guess I shouldn’t have focused only on the physical part of it.” He rubs his chin, and Derek could swear he saw cogs turning in his head. “So that’s why mom and dad keep nagging me about keeping track of time, huh…”
Derek hums thoughtfully when he hears about his teammate’s parents. The mention brings back some memories to him too, of his own family. He shakes his head, pushing the thoughts aside, and looks at Avery. “I don’t think that’s the main reason, but probably still one of them.” He comments with a warm smile, “Are they nice? Your parents.”
“Yeah!” Avery nods, “They are. I think mom would like you, she’s all the same about planning and stuff. She has the whole crop routine written down. I like helping her with the layout when she does that, so it isn’t just some plain text on paper. Dad usually handles the heavy stuff. I…” He goes quiet, and then sighs, looking a bit sad, regretful. “I had a fight with him right before I had to leave, because of me getting reaped… With both of them, actually. They’re probably still so angry at me.”
“How come?” The shorter guy turns to look at his teammate with a concerned look. “It’s not your fault you were reaped, you didn’t volunteer for it.”
“I…Well, I didn’t, but…” Avery turns his gaze away, his hands nervously fidgeting with the end of his shirt by themselves, ”When things got really bad, I’ve signed up for tessera in secret. And, you know, the whole deal, my name was added an extra time to the reaping pull because of it. And, well… It backfired. And when I told them about the tessera, they…” He shrugs with an awkward, crooked smile, “…weren’t thrilled, let’s say.”
Derek is quiet for a moment. “That’s still different. I think they’re angry at you because you put yourself at risk for their sake without weighing the options. Not to mention, that situation could’ve been solved in other ways.” He says slowly, patting Avery on the back. “And you didn’t even ask if they wanted that in the first place. So, yes, they’re angry. But it’s simply because they’re worried for you. Because they care.”
Avery doesn’t answer, and sighs again, he has nothing to say. He just leans onto his teammate, slightly, lowering his head with a hum.
“When life puts you at the crossroads, try to check the direction where every road leads, so you don’t have any regrets.” Derek breaks the silence after a few minutes, “But then, wherever you choose, just keep going forward.”
“You really like showing off how smart you are, don’t you.” Avery raises his head, slowly coming back to the energetic self he was a few minutes ago, a bit of blush gracing his cheeks.
“Maybe.” Derek responds to his teammate’s jab with a smirk. “All living beings are vain, it’s only natural for them to show off when they find something worth it. Take birds for example, like peacocks-”
“Stop, you’re starting to sound like someone who has all the knowledge in the world.” Avery laughs and punches him lightly in the shoulder, “We’re too young for that.”
As they talked and laughed, sharing more details about their districts and their lives, it was slowly getting darker outside. But the display of fallen tributes still hadn't started yet, and that confused Avery, even if just a tad bit. “Hold on…” He murmurs and gets up to peek out of the cave, casting his eyes about, confused. “No Death Toll tonight?”
“Get back in here, you’re going to get us noticed,” Derek scolds him, but his words hold no bite. Though, maybe there’s a bit of concern buried deep inside. “No one died today, obviously there won’t be a Death Toll, there’s no need for it.”
“Dang, you’re right…” He sneaks back into the cave, “Well, if there's nothing to look forward to right now, how about we take a nap then? Some energy won’t hurt before the ‘Grand Finale’,” Avery proposes to his teammate, “We can take turns to protect each other.”
“I just had a nap” Derek shrugs, scratching the back of his head, “So I don’t think I need that right now. You can go sleep if you want. I’ll keep watch.”
“Alright,” Avery sits down and leans against the wall with a huff. He looks intently at his teammate for a moment, and then says, “Wake me up if you need anything, okay?”
His teammate turns away, adjusting his glasses again. Avery couldn’t see his expression clearly in the dark. “Okay,” is all Derek says. “I will.”
Reassured, Avery hums and closes his eyes. It doesn’t take too long for him to slip into darkness, exhaustion finally getting the upper hand. Total silence falls again in the cave, only sometimes broken by the taller guy’s soft snores and the sounds of the river from outside.
***
At first, he thinks the sounds of the rumbling are but a figment of his fleeting dream. But it doesn’t stop, the shake feeling more real with each passing moment. Just then, though a bit hazy, he hears the boom of the cannon, and then another, and another.
“Avery.” He hears a concerned voice as he’s being hastily shaken out of his sleep. “Avery!” As he opens his eyes, he can see his teammate looking troubled. Those furrowed brows can mean only one thing: it’s not a dream.
“For…” Avery takes a deep breath, unable to suppress his yawn, and asks as he slowly comes back to his senses, “For how long was I out?”
“Four hours or so.” Derek answers his question quickly, ”I expected the sun to rise in at least two hours. They must’ve made the night shorter…” He rubs his chin, probably trying to determine what exactly happened. “And they also did something to the arena. Something shifted, either we or the center of it moved. Whatever the case, we’re closer to the Cornucopia now.” Derek concludes.
“I think I heard the cannons, was that real?” The taller guy asks as he gets up on his feet. “How many are down?”
“Two, but we don’t know who that is.” His teammate replies. “So that leaves us, and three more tributes. I’d wager most of them are Careers.”
“Or we’ve got some dark horses among the tributes.” Avery shrugs, but then lets out a heavy sigh, “Just two… Ugh, I knew that dream was too good to be true…”
After a moment of contemplating, Avery goes on to investigate something. He comes close to the opening of their momentary shelter, and peeks out, quickly looking left and right checking out the surroundings. “Well, the coast is clear… I think.” He concludes, but then adds, “Hold on, the rumbling might have broken our disguise. Lemme quickly check if the entrance is still properly covered.”
He quickly sneaks out, and circles the cave. Upon returning, he notices Derek inspecting the stony walls running his hand along the rough surface. “Now that I think of it, we’re really lucky the cave didn’t collapse on us. Could’ve been us in their place…” His teammate says as he turns to him. “So, how is it on the outside?”
“Call it a miracle, the cave itself is fine. But the Cornucopia really is much closer now, I could literally see it from here.” Avery shares his discoveries, and then asks, “So, what do we do? Do we still try to sit it out here, or change our plans? I think I saw another hiding place, and it’s actually further from the center of the arena. We could move there.”
“Those two deaths were probably caused by the rumbling from the arena shifting. If the cause was the feast, we’d be able to hear them.” Derek leans on the wall, crossing his arms, and after giving it a thought, he makes a decision. “Let’s not change our plan. Right now, getting to Cornucopia will most probably be of higher priority for other tributes. And if the fight breaks out there, we should still have enough time to sneak away.”
“Eh, alright, fair enough.” Avery shrugs and then puts his hands on his hips, a bright, cheeky grin gracing his lips. “With your brains and my brawn combined, we can easily get out if something happens anyway. Just like on the first night!”
Those corny words make Derek chuckle. “Yeah.” He smiles. “I guess you’re right.”
“Alright then,” The taller guy plops on the rocky floor, and pats the place near him. “Sitting this one out it is. Oh, by the way!” He reaches out into his pocket, and takes out a container with some soup, “I got us this! It was hanging on the tree near the cave.”
“Woah,” Derek raises his eyebrows. “That’s a nice find. And still warm too.”
“Let’s split it!” Avery shoves the container into the shorter guy’s hands. “We both gotta be in good shape before the finale, so eat as much as you need.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” His teammate turns away, hiding his gaze behind his fluffy hair, the ends of his ears slightly darkening with blush as he takes the soup, “Thanks.”
As they eat in silence, Avery takes out the bread they saved yesterday, and shares it with Derek. For a second, despite the tense situation, it almost feels domestic. Even though they have to listen to the surroundings attentively, trying not to miss any sign of commotion starting outside, they’re just… Sitting here, sharing food, and keeping watch together. That feeling reminds Derek of something he rarely has reminisced about lately…
He shakes his head, focusing on the situation at hand. They’re still not out of the Games, and even if they survive long enough, the question that will stand before them is painfully obvious. So now, however nice the moment they share may be, as Derek stares at his piece of bread, he realizes that he now found himself at the crossroads he was just describing earlier. And he can’t ask Avery for advice, because he can predict his answer already.
Derek is snapped out of his gloomy thoughts by the two distinct voices that become louder with each moment. Judging by their tones, it’s obvious that they’re the remaining careers, and they are not working together. The sound of metal clashing reaches the cave, then another, and another. Derek shoots a glance at his teammate, and the latter nods at him knowingly, visibly tensing. The feast has officially started. And at this very moment, Derek realizes he has no time for pondering.
And so, he makes his choice, and jumps to his feet. “Avery, I got it all wrong. It’d be better for us to move near Cornucopia.” He says firmly as he frantically gets his belongings.
“Huh? Why?” Avery, though slightly confused by his teammate’s abrupt change of heart, still complies and does the same. He gets his backpack, and then peeks out of the cave to check on the situation himself. “The Careers are still there.” He comments, “You sure?”
“Yes.” Derek nods and tries to make up an explanation as they quietly step out of their shelter, “That’s why we’re moving there. We have to keep an eye on them.”
As they go silently through the woods, making their way to the center of the arena, they hear a third voice at the Cornucopia and a scream, followed by the loud shot of the cannon. Only four of them remain in total, Derek realizes and clenches his teeth nervously.
The fight in the distance doesn’t stop. If anything, the clash gets more aggressive and loud with each passing second. The probability of him being able to finish the Games in the way he wants is getting smaller, and it’s all because he made a foolish mistake in his judgement. At that point, he doesn’t care about not being seen anymore. He starts to run. Avery is confused, but he follows him all the same, picking up the pace.
But they don’t make it in time. Derek hears both tributes fall, their weapons hit the ground and then two shots of the cannon explode back-to-back. He stops in his tracks. It’s only him and Avery now.
“Woah…” His teammate mutters with a disturbed huff as he steps out into the meadow and finds all the three tributes that were fighting just now lying in the grass, still as dolls. “They really got into it, huh…”
Derek doesn’t answer him, just looking at the bodies. His mind is reeling, trying to come up with another plan. If he doesn’t do anything himself…
“Oh, hey, look!” Avery calls out and runs away towards the Cornucopia. “Our feast gifts are still there. Wonder why these guys didn’t try to take them.”
Derek, still a bit lost in thought, follows him. “Judging by how it all played out, they simply got unlucky to meet each other. They didn’t even get to open their own gifts.” He comments.
“Maybe you’re right.” Avery shrugs as he picks up the container with the number of his district engraved on it and opens it. “Looks like… a smoke bomb. And what’s in yours?”
“I think it’s poison of some sort….” Derek mutters as he takes out a syringe filled with dark blue fluid out of the container that’s addressed to him. “I guess they noticed that we stuck around through the whole Games and decided to ‘lend us a hand’ or something.” He seems to throw it away with disgust before Avery could examine it himself. “Gross.”
They stand silently for a while, the air filling with tension around them.
“So…” Awkwardly, Avery breaks the silence, “What happens now?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Derek throws his stuff on the ground and steps away from it, towards Avery. “Go on.” He says as he raises his arms in surrender. ”They have to get their victor.”
“What do you…” His teammate is puzzled for a second, but then his eyes widen in horror. “No.” He says sharply. “No, no, no. I won’t do it.”
“Yes, you will.” Derek says in an unnervingly calm tone. “There is no other option.”
“No! There’s gotta be something else.” Avery’s voice cracks under desperation. He knows what he’s saying is delusional, yet he can’t help denying the situation at hand. “Come on, think! You managed to save both of us several times before!”
“Those were the Careers! Not the Capitol itself!” Derek tries to reason, even though it’s obvious to him that his teammate won’t go through with it. And he completely understands that, but still tries to convince him. “If you don’t kill me right now, the gamemakers will send something into the arena to make us fight.” With each word, he sounds more desperate. “The other option is both of us getting attacked by some mutts until one of us dies!”
“Still! I wouldn’t even make it past the first night if you weren’t there to help me against the Careers pack!” Avery drops all of his stuff and steps away from it too. “So I owe it all to you, and I’m not killing you!”
“That’s an insane thing to say!” Derek huffs in disbelief, but seeing just how serious his teammate is, he realizes he won’t win this one. He rubs his temples, and says in a quiet, cool tone. “We’re getting nowhere if we keep this up.” He mutters, and turns away from Avery, stepping back to the knife he discarded along with his other stuff.
He kneels to pick it up, giving his teammate an obvious opening, but as expected, Avery doesn’t make a move. ”Alright then,” Derek takes a deep breath as he stands up and raises his blade, trying his best to hide the shaking in his arms. “This is goodbye then.”
He could only feel the lightest sting of the cut on his neck before something, or someone, knocked him off his feet in a blink. Dumbfounded for a moment, he just clings to his knife, and then he sees his teammate on top of him, blocking the blade with his hand with a hiss.
“Hell no you won’t!” Avery screams at him, ignoring the burning pain across his whole palm, in the nasty wound that starts bleeding immediately. He wrestles the knife from Derek’s hands and throws it away.
But he doesn’t even get a moment to get himself back together properly. Immediately, he’s punched and is out for a second, losing control over the situation. That gives Derek a moment, enough to try and get on top.
That speed terrifies Avery for a moment. He hasn’t seen Derek lose his cool during the whole game. He never would have thought that such a short guy could be hiding so much force, that he could actually be that aggressive.
Derek tries to get a hold on his teammate’s arm, but Avery wiggles his way out when he realizes the intention. And then he throws himself onto Derek again. They flip over a few times, but eventually Avery gets the upper hand and still ends up the one straddling Derek. He keeps holding his teammate firmly to stop him from doing anything to himself.
For a good minute they stay like that, panting, staring each other down. Derek breaks the silence first, slowly coming back to his senses. “There’s no changing your mind, is there?” He asks in a tired tone, looking his teammate right in the eyes, as if begging him to reconsider.
“No.” Avery answers firmly, gasping heavily.
“You sure?” Derek asks him again.
Avery shakes his head, and instead gets the bag of nightlock berries out of his pocket, holding it out like a threat. When did he manage to get those, didn’t he throw away his stuff too? Derek shakes his head, there’s no time to dwell on the details.
“Give me those.” Derek says flatly.
“Only if we share them.” Avery furrows his brows.
“Fine.” He gives up. “Let’s do it your way.”
Avery is hesitant for a moment, but then he climbs off of his teammate, and hands him a handful of berries. Derek scoops up a fair bit without saying another word from Avery's bloody hand, slightly hesitant as he looks at them, but then raises his gaze back.
“Together?” Avery looks back at him, his voice slightly shaky.
“Together.” He nods, and brings the berries to his mouth, eating every single one. As they both swallow the poison, he says. “Well… That should do it, I guess…”
But then, he subtly tenses and points at his teammate’s jacket. “Wait, Avery… What’s that in your pocket?”
“Huh?” Confused by his teammate’s question, Avery looks down.
The next second, he finds himself knocked back down onto the ground and hears a vicious snap, and then another. And then he hears a scream. He doesn’t even realize at first that that's his own voice as the pain from both of his arms getting broken blinds him for a moment.
He doesn't even have time to regret that he lost his guard. He feels a sting of injection, and as he raises his eyes, he sees his teammate towering over him, with the syringe he got from the feast, finally able to read the marking on it. “Antidote.”
“I’m sorry, Avery…” Avery is snapped out of his shock when he hears his teammate's voice, gentle and apologetic. “I hope you'll be able to forgive me one day.”
And then Derek leaves.
***
When he is finally alone, he runs his hand through his hair and lets out a sigh he didn’t even realize he’d been holding in. He felt awful. The worst he’s ever felt. The worst he’ll ever feel, actually. And it wasn’t just because of the poison slowly destroying him from inside. It was because of what he just did to Avery.
He realizes he’s been humming something for a while. Some song he’s heard once his grandparents sing at a funeral. He never got the chance to ask them about it though…
“You're headed for heaven, the sweet old hereafter… And I've got one foot in the door… But before I can fly up, I've loose ends to tie up right here, in the old therebefore…”
He was told once that one of his far ancestors, from another district, sang this song when she was about to die in the Games. Some say that he won her Games because she tamed the snakes that attacked her arena with that song.
He chuckles bitterly. Singing it probably won’t save him from the poison running through him. But at the very least, it’s soothing. Because no matter how he tries, he’s still shaking. He doesn’t want to die.
“I'll be along when I've finished my song… When I've paid all my debts, when I have no regrets, right here, in the old therebefore… When nothing is left anymore…”
No regrets… Did he truly have none? He could’ve done something else, something that wouldn’t hurt his teammate that much. Could’ve said more before leaving. Could've told him it’s not his fault. Though, would that really convince Avery?
“I'll bring the news when I've danced off my shoes… When I've tallied the score and I'm flat on the floor right here, in the old therebefore… When nothing is left anymore…”
He falls to his knees, the pain in his chest becoming less bearable with each breath.
“When I'm pure like a dove, when I've learned how to love… Right here, in the old therebefore… When nothing is left anymore.”
As he closes his eyes, he realizes that even if for just a little, he got the chance to see the beauty of the world for the last time. He should’ve told Avery that, should’ve thanked him…
Maybe in some other world, he did. Or maybe he didn’t.
After all, he was never really good with goodbyes.
***
They were lying down on the fields for a while now, on the opposite sides of the arena. The place, despite being so open, has no effect on Avery – he knows no one is coming for him here now. So, as heated as the situation was just a moment ago, he drops his head, shaking quietly. The only remedy for his tension is the last shot of the cannon, which signals his teammate’s end, the loud bang sounding more grand than every previous one combined.
In that moment of gloom, Avery had but a second to simply take in his surroundings again, paralyzed by despair. A few rays of the light were peeking through the muddy clouds, landing on the grass, painting it in fiery colors. It reminded him once again of the first time he saw Derek. Now he was just as out of reach as he had been back then at the chariot rides.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” The announcer’s voice echoes throughout the arena as the sky starts to clear, the sunset making the meadow look like a twistedly beautiful painting. And that’s when Avery lets it go. He just screams, trying to drown out the announcement with his wails. “May I present to you the winner… of this year’s Hunger Games!”