HER EYES peeled open to an unfamiliar pain that she couldn't quite describe. Everything felt like a dream, and Francesca had to think hard to recall the events that had happened. She looked up, trying to sit up though a shooting pain shot through her body and stopped her from doing so. Instead, she just lifted her head to look at her surroundings: trees, grass, metal capsules, bags, water, and a pile of poultice paste on the log beside her.

Francesca's eyes then met with her own body, noticing her bandaged leg... half of her leg. From just above where her kneecap should've been, her left leg had been removed. It was bandaged in a black t-shirt; Francesca wondered why she was still alive, it must've been a mistake. Francesca recalled the events that happened at the swamp, though seeing half of her leg removed sent a panic through her body. And somehow, seeing the wound made it hurt more.

"Hey," A familiar voice spoke, as Cherry strolled out from within the trees. She gave a gentle smile, kneeling beside Frankie and checking her temperature by placing a hand on her forehead, "How are you feeling?"

"How'd you get back here?" Was the first thing that Frankie asked.

Cherry's facial expression faulted slightly, and she quickly changed the topic; she gestured to the device in her hands, "You got another gift from the sponsors." She opened the capsule, pulling out a roll of white bandages. She moved towards Francesca's injury, before gently removing the black t-shirt and watching as Frankie winced. Cherry added, "Sorry— these bandages will be much better than a t-shirt."

Francesca let out a groan of pain, letting her head swing back as she questioned, "Who's t-shirt is it?"

Cherry didn't reply, instead she advised, "You might not wanna look."

And, as always, Francesca went against direct orders— even in pain, she hated being told what to do. She looked up, feeling a cold breeze on her wound that filled with relief. That relief ended, of course, when she saw her leg sliced in half, bloody, mangled and burnt. Tears instantly filled her eyes,

"My leg." She cried out weakly, before swallowing the burning lump in her throat. She wiped away her tears, aware of the Game-makers who were streaming her live reaction to the Capitol— she would not let her tears be used for their entertainment. She gritted her teeth, "Fuck."

"I put my axe against the fire I made, then placed it against your leg to stop the bleeding." Cherry explained clearly, "And we're gonna find a stick for you to support your walking."

Francesca was grateful, though her mind picked up on a word that Cherry had used. She repeated in confusion, "We?" And, as she spoke, another body came out from within the trees. Another girl, with red hair, and that same malicious smile was plastered on her face which reminded Frankie of the first time she had seen her in the Training Centre. She held a stick in her hand— a weapon. Frankie tried to sit up, though the pain made her wince weakly, "Cherry— behind you!"

The girl looked behind her though, to Frankie's surprise, didn't do anything. She stayed still, and looked back at Frankie, comforting, "It's okay, Fran. This is Alice—"

"I know who she is!" The pain and somewhat betrayal made Frankie spit out her words harshly, "She was there when Kipper died."

And, shockingly, Alice knelt down beside Cherry and spoke; her voice was so rich and well-spoken, "I'm sorry about your partner."

"He wasn't my partner. He was my best friend!" And Frankie's eyes were filling with tears once more, "You wouldn't understand that. You're a Career."

"No, I do understand." Alice's voice was annoyingly calm, "Aston and I grew up together in the academy." She passed the thick wooden stick to Cherry, "Here. Is this okay—"

"Don't talk to her." Frankie snapped protectively, despite the weak state she was in. She looked at Cherry in frustration, "What is she doing here?"

Cherry took a breath, her eyes filled with reassurance, "After the attack, Alice swam back out to the Cornucopia to help me carry you back."

Oh. Frankie felt bad, but she didn't care; half her leg was gone, so she was pretty angry inside. Frankie queried, "She didn't hurt you?"

"No," Cherry gave a small smile, as she continued to wrap her injury in bandages, "She wanted to help."

Frankie glared at Alice, still feeling as though she was untrustworthy, "Help. Why?"

Alice glanced at Cherry before she replied, "Uh, I just wanted to."

Frankie scoffed, "No Career wants to help another Tribute. Ever."

"And why is that?" Alice taunted.

"Because your head is too far up your own ass— ow!" Frankie winced, before shooting a glare at Alice once more. She looked at Cherry, and the girl gave Frankie a look of 'be nice'. Francesca's glare softened, and she looked at Alice, "Sorry."

She glimpsed at her wound and realised that Cherry was using a type of flower to try and help her. The plant was white and... it was Meadowsweet. Cherry's favourite.

Cherry nodded, "There's only four of us left now. Alice and I have been takin' turns keeping watch at nights and—"

"How long was I out?" Frankie frowned in confusion.

"Two days." Cherry replied, "You should attempt to walk with this stick, Fran, in case anything happens."

Frankie hesitated, glancing at Alice skeptically, before nodding, "Okay, help me up." She wrapped her arms around Cherry and Alice's shoulders, as they lifted her up to her foot. Frankie's eyes were already filled with tears, though she was ashamed to cry in front of Alice. She winced, letting out a quiet cry; she didn't want Alice to know she was weak, though it was pretty obvious.

"Shit— wait, wait!" Francesca stressed, groaning in pain as she gripped onto their shoulders tightly for balance. And, in this moment, Frankie knew that she was already dead; there would be no chance of her walking, running, or hopping away from enemies. She turned to Alice, who wasn't even concentrating on the situation; Frankie scoffed in disbelief, and pain, "The stick would be nice anytime now, Alice."

"Sorry." Alice said quickly, though she seemed to be distracted and kept looking into the tree line. She passed Frankie the wooden stick, stepping away from the girl to help position the wooden stick underneath her arm. The stick was shaped like the letter 'Y' allowing Frankie's arm to rest comfortably. Alice added, walking into the distance, "I'm gonna check this sound out."

"What sound?" Francesca stressed, as Cherry continued to help her balance.

"Just breathe, Fran." Cherry reassured, slowly stepping away from the girl though keeping her hands out in front of her in case she fell. She added, taking a small step back, "I'm right here. Try and walk towards me."

Francesca was unfocused herself, struggling to hold herself up, "Where did Alice go? Don't you think it's weird how— Shit!" She stumbled forward, though Cherry caught her quickly, helping her maintain balance once more.

"You have to focus," Cherry replied softly.

Francesca retorted, breathing heavily, "It's hard to focus with a Career at—"

"Fran." Cherry repeated, giving her another look, "Come on, try and walk towards me."

"Okay, okay." The girl sighed, struggling to move her stick forward. She reached her right arm across her body to hold the stick with both hands, leaning all of her weight onto it for support. Cautiously, she stepped forward on her right leg; she was sweating out of exhaustion already. The pain was bearable, but Frankie still wanted to cry; Cherry noticed her change in emotion in an instant. 

Cherry encouraged, "You're doing great. Just one more step—"

"I can't! I can't do it." Francesca was crying now, becoming more unstable on her stick and almost collapsing to the ground.

And, thankfully, Cherry caught her body weight, standing beside Frankie so that she could hold her up by her arm around her shoulders. She comforted, watching the girl cry beside her, "I'm sorry, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

Francesca sobbed quietly, "I'm gonna die in here."

"No. No, you're not." Cherry reassured sternly, "I won't let that happen."

Francesca sniffed her tears away, her voice wobbly, "I don't want to cry."

"It's okay to cry." Cherry replied, "You lost your leg and you've made it this far— you're the strongest person in here. I mean, strong doesn't always mean physically, it can mean mentally, too."

"A strong heart." Francesca agreed, "My brother always said that."

"Well, you're brother is right." Cherry nodded, "You're a lot like your brother, you know? I don't know him personally, but I remember watching his Games. He's strong— you both are."

Francesca gave a small smile, "You're a good person, Cherry. You're kind, even to Alice. I hope you win this."

"That would mean letting you die," Cherry smiled, "And I'm not letting that happen, remember?"

Frankie smiled back gratefully, because she didn't have the guts to tell Cherry that Frankie wasn't going to win. Cherry helped the girl to sit back down against a wooden log, her right leg aching from taking all of her weight. Frankie asked, "Do you have any siblings?"

"Two sisters, Penny and Rosie." Cherry explained, handing over an apple for Frankie to eat, "But, I live with my cousins too. Tawny and Ash."

Frankie nodded, "You're all named after colours."

"Some of us," Cherry explained, "My Pa wanted to keep the Covey descent tradition. Usually, the colours are our middle names. The Covey were musicians by trade, they travelled around a lot, and some of their last names were colours. My Ma's distant cousin was named Lenore Dove— I think that's a beautiful name, don't you?"

"Yeah," Frankie smiled, looking into Cherry's eyes, "Beautiful."

Cherry chuckled shyly, "Are you feeling okay? You look a little..." she trailed off, staring into Frankie's blue eyes.

Francesca didn't know if the pain from her leg and the traumatising experiences from the arena had clouded her thoughts, but she started to notice how beautiful Cherry was. Well, Frankie had always thought she was beautiful, though the way the sunrise was shining upon Cherry's face made her glow golden. The sun made her curly brown hair shine with tints of red and her freckles were illuminated and placed with delicacy over her nose.

Cherry took a breath, her dark eyes flickering between Frankie's eyes and lips. She spoke quietly, "I wish things were different."

"Two winners from two different Districts." Frankie nodded, "I wish I knew you sooner, before all this."

Cherry was leaning forward now, and Frankie copied her movements because it felt so natural. "Me too," Cherry agreed, before their lips collided softly.

In that moment, Francesca had forgotten she was in the arena or even been picked for the Hunger Games at all. Her mind took her to a better place, where she was sat on an endless field with Cherry under a willow tree, having an opportunity to live in freedom.

But when they pulled away from each other and Frankie opened her eyes, she was in fact still stuck in the arena. However, being with Cherry made it a little more bearable.

Frankie's face flushed a light pink, and the two girls giggled because neither of them knew what to say. Though, the moment was quickly ended by...

"Hey!" Alice was back, running towards them with her machete in her hands. The two girls panicked; Cherry stood up instantly and Frankie went to join her, though she had already forgotten about her removed left leg.

"Cherry!" Frankie panicked, feeling helpless as she tried to reach for her trident, "The axe!"

And, as Cherry grabbed the axe, Alice had stopped running suddenly. She panted heavily, and that's when Frankie noticed that there were tears running from her eyes. Frankie was repeatedly attempting to stand up, putting so much pressure on her stick that she kept stumbling back to the floor; she just wanted to keep Cherry safe.

"You hear them too, right?" Alice said, her voice shaking. She was waving her machete in the air as she spoke wildly, "What he's saying to me?!"

Cherry, as usual, tried to understand; she stepped closer, "What?"

"Cherry." Frankie warned.

"He's shouting at me." Alice was crying now, shaking her head frantically, "I can't make it stop— please, make it stop!"

Francesca's eyes flickered between the Career and the girl. Her main concern was Alice's machete, "Cherry."

"Who?" Cherry questioned softly, "Who's shouting at you?"

"Aston!" Alice sobbed, "You can't hear it?" She turned to an empty space in the distance, "Shut up!"

Cherry placed an arm out in front of her, shaking her head slowly, "It's not real, Alice. It's the statues, have you seen them?"

"A few days ago," Alice nodded, "It was Edwin." She turned to look at Frankie, filled with anger, "After you killed him!"

Cherry glanced at Frankie protectively, stepping forward once more, "Calm down, Alice. The voices aren't real. And, I know, it must be scary but—"

"Shut up!" Alice shouted again through sobs, "I have to make it stop! I have to."

Cherry paused, "What do you mean?"

And, as Frankie successfully managed to climb to her foot, Alice had suddenly impaled her machete straight into her stomach. She gasped in shock, blood immediately pouring from her mouth before she collapsed onto the floor. Alice was rasping for oxygen, her breath shaky, and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Alice!" Cherry exclaimed in horror, immediately kneeling down beside the girl. She moved the red hair from covering her face, before placing a gentle hand on the girl's arm, "Oh, Alice, I'm so sorry."

Although Frankie didn't like Alice, it was still a hard scene to watch unfold in front of her eyes. She slowly limped towards Cherry, using her stick to support all of her strength. Cherry looked up at Frankie with tears in her eyes, before quickly supporting the girl as she sat down beside her.

"Look at the sky, Alice." Francesca spoke softly, "Can you see it?"

Cherry smiled at Francesca's kindness.

BOOM!

"We should go," Frankie nodded, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah— just thinking." Cherry nodded before standing to her feet, she offered Francesca support. She added, "Where do you think we should—"

And, in seconds, a dagger had been thrown straight into Cherry's stomach.

"No!" Francesca shouted, her head darting in the direction of where the knife had been thrown from, and the Tribute was sprinting towards them.

The boy from 10. Another knife in his hand, as he ran towards Francesca.

Cherry let out a gasp, looking down at her stomach; blood staining her clothes as she stumbled back. The girl refused to fall— she had promised to keep Francesca alive.

The boy, Kaidan, was swinging his knife at Frankie, as the girl hobbled back on her stick in panic. It was a clear unfair fight, though the boy didn't care about that; it was clear that he wanted to go home, and Frankie was close to letting him win.

Francesca stumbled onto the floor, tripping on uprooted tree roots on the ground and falling back helplessly. Kaidan straddled her, though Frankie was using her stick to push him away. It would only work for a while, before Kaidan grew too angry and managed just kill Frankie, though her stick gave her enough time to reach for the axe beside her with her right hand.

And, as expected, Kaidan grew frustrated, becoming more erratic. He grabbed Francesca's stick, chucking it into the distance before raising his dagger above his head. Quickly, Frankie managed to grab the axe from beside her before swinging it into the side of Kaidan's face; unfortunately, the blade wasn't facing him to cut into his skin, so the side of the axe only knocked him off of Frankie temporarily.

Francesca began using her elbows and leg to crawl backwards, watching as Kaidan shouted in agony but also regained his balance. She let out cries of exhaustion; her injury was aching with every push to get away from the scene. Though, it wasn't soon until Kaidan was standing in front of her once more.

"You think you got away?" Was all the boy said before he kicked Frankie's chomped-off leg. The girl let out a scream of wailing agony; a shooting pain shot through her body and Francesca could no longer drag herself away. Tears streamed down her cheeks, as she sobbed in pain and helplessness.

Kaidan let out a laugh, before kneeling on top of Francesca. He held his dagger to her throat as she sobbed; he spoke, and Francesca would've preferred if he would've just killed her to get it over with. The boy taunted, "I'm going to kill the brave girl from 4. Sister of a Victor." He laughed, "This has been so easy. Are you adopted, by any chance?"

Francesca gritted her teeth, "Just get it over with."

"Oh, I plan to." Kaidan smirked, "Slowly. You see, I need the audience's in the Capitol to see how great I am. And, trust me, they'll see."

Francesca spat, "You're sick."

Kaidan moved the dagger closer to her throat, tutting, "I wouldn't say that if I were you." He smirked sinisterly, "Let's start with your pretty face." He moved the dagger and placed it against the side of Frankie's cheekbone; he pressed down, Francesca squirming in pain, as he sliced a cut into her skin. He pulled away, chuckling at his actions, "See? That wasn't too bad. Since it's just us, I can do whatever I want. I have all the time in the wor—"

Abruptly, Kaidan had rolled off Francesca's body in an instant; the girl met eyes with Cherry, who was holding Frankie's walking thick stick in her hand; Cherry's breaths were staggered through pain. Francesca smiled in relief, before sitting up and crawling towards her trident. She groaned in agony, her eyes flickering between Kaidan and her weapon in front of her.

"You bitch!" The boy rubbed the back of head with a chuckle, as he stood to his feet once more.

Francesca felt safe when she felt the cold pole against her skin. She gripped onto her trident, before rolling onto her back and throwing it directly at Kaidan: one spike in the chest, one in the throat, one in his nose.

BOOM! 

Francesca let out a breath of relief, before her expression faulted and she glanced at Cherry. The girl was gasping for breaths, pushing herself up against the bark of a tree as she rested up against it. Francesca began crawling over to the girl, not caring about the pain she felt because she cared about Cherry more.

"Cherry, Cherry," Francesca repeated through heavy breaths, dragging herself to sit beside the girl. She placed a hand on Cherry's stomach, her eyes filling with tears, "No, no, no. Hey, look at me— you're gonna be okay!"

"You w-won." Cherry spluttered weakly, though she still smiled at the girl, "Hey." Cherry placed her hand on Frankie's, "You won."

"Don't say that," Francesca cried, "It was supposed to be us, together. I can't leave here without you, Cherry. Don't make me do that— please."

"You're never without m-me." Cherry reassured weakly, "A better place, remember?"

Francesca shook her head quietly, "There's no better place without you."

"I'll be everywhere, Fran." Cherry nodded, swallowing her choked breaths, "I'll make su-sure you'll never miss me." She paused, blinking heavily as she became more relaxed against the tree bark, "B-Be kind, Fran. Everything's better when you're kind."

Francesca let out a sob, cupping the side of Cherry's face with her hand. She cried weakly, as her words became inaudible. She watched as death glassed over Cherry's brown eyes, leaving only Frankie's cries to be heard in the silence of the empty arena.

"Cherry." Francesca cried, and the sunrise shined through the gaps in the trees, brightening Cherry's face with a golden warmth once more. Frankie glanced at the orange sky, and she immediately thought of Cherry words: I'll be everywhere.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the winners of the 72nd Annual Hunger Games." A voice echoed around the arena, "Francesca Lou Odair!"

Cherry was born to love; she wasn't born a killer. She was destined to die as soon as her delicate name was reaped. Out of all people, Cherry should've lived.

a/n:
just know that cherry's gonna haunt the narrative LIKE CRAZYYY

thank you all for reading so far!! i can't believe the 72nd games are over already... now for the quell!!! i can't wait to publish/write act 2