Ace Dawford's P.O.V. (D2)

It's a terrible feeling, being frozen in place and to have something taken away from you so easily, and being unable to do anything to prevent it. All I can do is watch intently, praying that Fynn and Scarlett won't do something stupid.

The vial is so close, hovering less than a foot away from my face in Geo's fist. I want to reach up and grab it so badly. How can something that seems so simple be so difficult for me to do?

There's nothing I can do but stand by and hope Fynn and Scarlett can get the vial and bring it back to Elsa, even if it means leaving me here.

If Scarlett is right about the red stones being the cause of this, that would mean that they just need to push me off it. I can't move, but that doesn't mean I can't be moved by someone else.

My feet become numb, and I can feel the numbness creeping up my legs, stiffening them. I can also feel faint pulses of electricity running through me. Then I realize how it works. They must've done the same thing to the red stones that they did to the ladders on the hovercrafts that carry the Victor out of the arena. I heard they were built with an electric pulse that freezes you to the ladder once you grab one of the rungs. That way, if you're too injured to climb, it'll just freeze you and carry you up to the hovercraft. They had to have used the same technology when they designed this island.

Clever.

At least I can still breathe, think, hear and see.

Fynn makes a move towards Geo, but Geo jerks the knife in the air and nods to me, " another step, and I'll slit his throat."

They stop short. Fynn appears to be calculating a plan in his head, while Scarlett is just staring with wide eyes as if she knows we've lost and just doesn't know what to think about it. I think Geo is hoping they'll run off and leave me here, but I don't believe they will. I certainly hope that if it comes down to choosing me or the cure, they choose the cure. I can't bear the thought of returning to Elsa without that vial and watching her die slowly.

Geo seems to be getting impatient. He asked a step closer to me and points the knife at my neck. I just stand there like a statue, but inside, a million things are running through my mind. My friends, my parents, Elsa, the vial. How can I go down so easily?

Scarlett's eyes grow even wider, if that's possible, but then Fynn starts talking, "What are you waiting for, Geo? Just take the vial and leave. It's what you came for."

"No, you two will leave first. You'll just try to get the vial back from me the moment I step away from your ally here."

"Hmm true," Fynn shrugs, "But you also have allies here. Both of them are going to die if you don't do something soon. The real question is, who are you going to save? Clark, or Jada?" he makes a click sound with his tongue and crosses his arms over his chest, "Ooh, tough decision for you. Better not take your time on this one."

Geo's anger piles up as Fynn speaks. He glances at Jada, who is still motionless and watching the scene with her shoulder still spilling blood out onto the ground, then at Clark, who is collapsed on the ground breathing in quick, raspy breaths.

"I'll save them both! I have the cure for Clark, and I will carry Jada out of here safely! You're the ones that have lost! Not me!" Geo insists.

"If you say so..." Fynn says with a roll of his eyes, "But how exactly do you expect to get away when we're here? We'll easily catch up with you if you're carrying Jada, if she hasn't died of blood loss by then. Just make this easy for all of us and hand the vial over now, and we'll let you go."

At the mention of Jada's blood loss, Geo tenses up. I can't even imagine what he's going to do next. For all I know, this is the last few seconds of my life.

To my surprise, he suddenly throws the dagger at Fynn and races over to Jada. The dagger barely misses Fynn, grazing a part of his forearm, but it doesn't faze him. He and Scarlett are already at Geo's heals. Geo is trying to get Jada off the red stone, but it's proving difficult. The longer I've stood here, the stronger the electric pulse has become. If they wait too long, they might never be able to get me off this stupid stone.

Finally, Jada falls backwards when Fynn shoves Geo harshly into her. She and Geo hit the ground in a heap. Geo quickly gets back on his feet, but Jada appears to still be immobile. Her arms and legs are twitching slightly, a if she's trying to move them. They must still be too numb.

"Jada, come on!" Geo pleads in a hasty, panicked voice as he attempts to hold Fynn an Scarlett back.

They easily tackle him to the floor and the vial is knocked out of Geo's hand. It soars through the air, catching the light from the sun as it makes contact with a stone just a meter in front of me. My heart skips a beat in relief when I realize it didn't break open.

Fynn and Scarlett struggle to keep Geo pinned to the ground as I lock my gaze on the vial. I need to get it.

With all my might and willpower, I try to fight the strong grip of the electric pulse. I strain to move my arms or legs, but it feels like I'm encased in cement. It takes everything I have just to move my thumb a few millimeters. After several more tries, I feel exhausted from the strain. I feel like a statue.

BOOM!

The canon was close, so I look around to see who it belongs to, since I can't seem to do anything else currently.

Fynn, Scarlett, and Geo are still moving, as well as Jada, but she is only barely moving. So I look to the only other person in the area, Clark. He lays motionless on the ground with his eyes wide open and glazed over, a trail of blood running from his mouth.

He's dead.

I get chills when the numbness starts spreading to my arms and chest. Beads of sweat start forming on my forehead and running down my temples. I can feel the numbness growing, creeping up to my neck, giving me the sensation of what it probably feels like to drown.

Suddenly, Geo breaks free from Fynn and Scarlett and immediately goes for Jada, who is nearly half-conscious from the loss of blood in her shoulder. He wraps his arms under his shoulder and pulls Jada to her feet, starting to drag her away.

"Just take the vial and leave us alone!" he spits to Scarlett and Fynn, "We don't need it anymore anyways..."

At this point, I've lost feeling in my ears and I can feel myself starting to pass out. Fynn and Scarlett forget about Geo and race back to me. They start pushing and pulling, but I'm stuck good. Fynn eventually starts ramming into me with his shoulder. He could be breaking my ribs, for all I know, but I can't feel it anyways.

"Come on, come on!" Scarlett says urgently. She looks sincerely worried and frightened. I wanna tell her it's fine, but I can't even speak.

Fynn takes several large steps back, motioning for Scarlett to move out of the way, which she does promptly. Then he starts running to me at an alarming speed. If I could move, I would certainly be running far out of his pathway, but I can't. I can't even do anything to talk him out of what he's doing. He doesn't even know if this will work. I guess it's worth a shot...or some broken bones...

I grimace in my head as he gets closer. I don't want to watch, but I have to, since I can't close my eyes. Then, even through the numbness that has taken over me, I feel an enormous amount of force collide with my chest and shoulders. I'm sent flying backwards as the electric current in cut off. I land on the ground, sliding several feet before finally coming to a halt with my arms and legs in weird angles. Not that I can do anything to fix that though.

The first thing I do is blink. Scarlett is kneeling beside me in seconds.

"Are you okay?!" she asks shakily.

I seem to have lost my voice momentarily, but I manage to whisper a tiny, "Yeah."

"Can you move?" Fynn asks as he rubs his shoulder.

I give him a look that says, "Really?" and he says, "Okay, just thought I'd ask."

I look around and find the vial just a few feet away. I wince as I attempt to reach out and grab it. Scarlett notices where I'm looking and picks it up, storing it safely in her pocket and zipping it shut. Then she reaches down and grabs me by the arm. Fynn gets my other arm and they haul me to my feet, but I still can't stand. I can only seem to move my head now. My neck and shoulders feel like they're  being pricked with millions of pins and needles as they begin to loose the numbness.

I hang limply between Scarlett and Fynn as they start dragging me back the way they came. Somehow, I feel like I've been running and fighting nonstop all day, even though I've barely done anything to exert myself too much.

I just want to get back to the cornucopia so we can cure Elsa. I hope she's alright. I don't know what is do if she died from this virus. I'm just glad we haven't heard a canon from one of them yet. Clark died so quickly from it. Maybe he just had a weaker immune system though.

A wave of relief washes over me as we approach the rough waters of the ocean after what felt like hours of being dragged about, but I also feel sorry for Fynn or Scarlett, whichever one is going to have to carry me. Surely they can't both do it.

"Umm...this might be a little difficult," Fynn comments as he realizes the same thing I was thinking. He looks at me, "Do you think you'll be able to swim?"

I give him another look, "What do you think? Do you think I'm having you guys drag me around just for the heck of it? No!"

"Geez, sorry," Fynn says, rolling his eyes and letting out a dramatic sigh, "Okay...I guess I'll have to carry you then, since I'm the better swimmer. Plus, I'm stronger than Scarlett."

"You sure?" Scarlett asks as we get closer to the waves.

"Yeah, you go on ahead."

"Scarlett," I say before she leaves, "Make sure you give that cure to Elsa the moment you get back. Nobody else."

Scarlett removes my arm from around her shoulders and I lean my full weight against Fynn now. He's much bigger than me, so I'm not too worried about him carrying me. What I am worried about is those waves. It looks like the Gamemakers decided to have a little fun by making them bigger and much harsher. They always enjoy messing around with us like this, it seems. Even the rest of the ocean contains some cresting waves here and there.

"Okay, let's go," Fynn says as he starts to drag me towards the enormous, monstrous waves.

We pass easily through the first few yards of water. But then we get hit by the first wave. Fynn angles us so the force of the wave hits his shoulder. We move on and encounter another, larger wave. Fynn angles himself again, but I am still hit with some of the force and feel myself getting dragged for a moment until the wave passes. One more wave, and we'll be swimming. Well, Fynn will be swimming.

The last wave approaches. It swells and swells as it gets closer, until it towers above us. The top of the wave crests with white as it prepares to tumble over.

"Hold your breath," Fynn quickly commands. I barely gasp in a quick gulp of air before Fynn dives full-throttle into the wave, just before it collapses. I feel myself being pulled away from Fynn while we're under the water. Suddenly, he loses his hold on me and I start sinking like a block of cement. I desperately want to just move my arms up and propel myself to the surface with ease, but I can still barely move my arms. I didn't get in much of a breath before Fynn took the dive, so I can already feel my lungs tightening. The pressure on my lungs becomes so great that I'm forced to let a bit of air out. I watch the bubbles of air float to the surface as I struggle to keep the rest of my air in. The water around me is becoming gradually darker and muckier, indicating that I'm probably about to reach the bottom.

This must be it...this is how I'm gonna die. Death by drowning. Just like my sister years ago...

I'm going to die...

The sentence echoes through every corner of my mind as I realize the inevitable truth. Nobody really wins the Games. They survive them. Except I won't be the one surviving it...

I release the last of my air into the water, giving up on all hopes of living. At least Elsa will be safe...

My lungs itch for more air, so I involuntarily suck in water, no matter how hard I try not to. The salty water stings as it goes down my throat and fills my lungs, jolting me to life. I choke and gag, attempting to be rid of the water in my lungs, but it just keeps coming.

Suddenly, a hand reaches down and grabs me by the jacket, hauling me towards the surface. If I reach the top or not, I don't know, because I black out before I can find out.

Janice Senn's P.O.V. (D3)

I pace back and forth on the white beach, frequently sending nervous glances to the rocky island which Steve still hasn't returned from. Questions start streaming through my mind like a river.

Did he find the cure? Is he still on the island? Was he killed? Did that canon belong to him? Did he not find the cure and is just too guilt-ridden to come back? Is he coming back? Will I lose both of my friends today?

I suddenly hear coughing from Harper. He woke up a little after Steve left, but he seemed to be in his right mind, so I let him be. But now I'm concerned as he starts up fits of coughing. I rush over to him and ask if he's alright. He says he's fine. Maybe he's choking on something.

Then he turns around and spits out a mouthful of blood on the sand. The announcer said that those infected will probably start coughing up blood and getting high fevers before eventually dying.

"Okay...you're fine," I say shakily, trying to sound reassuring, "Steve will be back soon. He must. You're fine..."

"You think?" he says sarcastically between coughs. I smile a little and lightly punch his shoulder. To my surprise, he actually falls backwards from it. He shakes his head and says he's fine as I help him up.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realize I hit you so hard!" I say, aiming for an apology. He just shrugs it off as he starts hacking up blood again.

I notice his face is covered in sweat and his eyes are droopy. I put a hand to his forehead and quickly pull it away in order to not burn myself. That's probably the highest fever I've ever seen in my lifetime, and my mom's a nurse.

"I-I think you should lie down," I suggest as I help him back down onto the warm sand, "You have a very bad fever."

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad," he insists, "I'm freezing! But I have a crusher headache..."

I tell him to go to sleep until Steve gets here. It doesn't take long for Harper to get to sleep, so I go back to my pacing. Please get here soon, Steve.

It isn't even ten minutes before I hear more coughing coming from Harper. It sounds worse this time though. He can't seem to stop it either. He can only pause for half a second to catch a quick breath. I'm afraid that he won't be able to breathe from it soon.

Come on, Steve!

Harper clutches his stomach as he sits up to spit up more blood. A few tears run down his cheeks as he struggles to breathe. I don't know what to do. He obviously hurts badly, and it's killing me that I can't think of anything to do to help. I start to feel panicked. My breathing and heart rate quickens.

No! I can't pass out again! Not right now! I won't!

I take a deep breath to calm myself. I need to focus on the problem at hand, not about how useless and helpless I am, even though it's very hard not to think that right now.

There's only one thing in the world that will help Harper, and that's the cure. It's not like I can get a cure from a sponsor or something. They've been pretty useless through this whole thing. I'm surprised someone wouldn't want to help Harper at least, since he's actually done what they like, he's actually killed someone, and had the intentions to kill more. That's not really fair for me to think, though. His intentions really came from the infection, not the real Harper.

I suddenly hear something that sounds like someone calling my name. I crane my neck and scan the beach. Then I see something washed up on the beach, a person.

Steve!

My heart skips a beat as I scramble over to the figure, praying it's Steve with the cure. Is he alright? Why is he just laying there?

By the time I reach him, I can identify him to be Steve, but he's in rough shape. Other than being drenched with water, I can see some blood coming through his one sleeve and he has strange rashes on his neck and the one side of his face.

"Steve..." I kneel down, ignoring the water splashing against me, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'll explain later..." he mutters, "I got the cure...that's what matters."

"What?! Oh my gosh, Steve! You're a life saver, seriously," I stammer out, too thankful and relieved to even think of anything else to say.

He reaches into his right pocket and pulls out a two-inch long, glass vial filled with a purple colored fluid. It almost resembles grape juice, but far thinnner. I take it and help Steve up.

"Come on, Harper needs this as soon as possible. He's really bad. I just hope it's not too late," I mumble as we start our way back to Harper.

I become alarmed when I realize the coughing has ceased. I run to Harper now to find him unconscious on the sand with blood trailing from his mouth.

I quickly roll him onto his back and put my ear up to his face to listen for breathing. I smile slightly as I learn that he is still alive, but barely breathing. He could die any second now if I don't give this to him.

I unscrew the lid and open Harper's mouth, pouring every drop of the liquid into him. I manage to get him to swallow it somehow, so now all we can do is wait now...

~~~~~

Okay so that chapter wasn't that crazy right? I honestly thought I would make more people die than that, but something keeps telling me to hold on to certain people. They got promise, and probably could become potential candidates for when I choose the Victor. That's always fun...

The worst thing about writing these hunger games books is that you get attached to your characters, some very badly so, and deep down, you know that only one of them can live. It's just really sad that you have to make that decision, then get it over with. But I find that if you don't get attached to your characters, you can't build their personality and character as well. Ya know?

Welp anyways, here you go with another crazy long unedited chapter. Hope you had fun with it! If you want, you can lemme know what you thought.

~MK