☢︎ Day Three: Eight Tributes, Four Mutts, One Exit ☢︎
May 21, 2024 0:12:02 GMT -5
Post by d7f amber bosch 🌿 tris on May 21, 2024 0:12:02 GMT -5
Amber travels through the labyrinth using a dead boy's polearm as a walking stick.
No sense of clarity came to her when she listened to the sound of Napoleon's nose shattering beneath her knuckles — no pity followed the crack of Dagger's ribcage as she sent her fist flying into his vulnerable torso. Even now, all of her instincts are hardwired for survival, and only the smallest space inside her shrinking heart is reserved for the hope that she will find October and Fraser somewhere in the twisting dark.
It is true that she has made her peace with the fact that the other tributes must die. Her fingers uncurled around her innocence the minute the boy from Two let go of his lifeline. She pulled it out from his grip. strangled him to death with his own mortality. But as lethal as Amber will allow herself to become, the love that she feels does not become separate from her. When she finishes scavenging the corpse, robbing medical supplies and the impressive glaive, her attention does not turn to the retreating figure of Dagger.
Truly, she does not want to break her promise a second time — because she knows seeing him again will surely end in one of their deaths. They can only escape the impossible so many times before the hands of fate intervene. She focuses her attention on the direction she originally travelled from, hoping to reunite with her friend and find her district partner along the way. Faintly, she remembers the echo of cannons as she engaged in her own peril battle. It had been like a muffled lightning crack all around her.
And she hopes against hope that these losses do not belong to her.❈
The shelter where she left October is vacant of her bright light. The whole world has seemed to go dull from the absence of the girl, and Amber is quick to set up camp in the hopes that maybe waiting will solve the issue. Maybe October went looking for her, or maybe Fraser is walking down the hallway at this very moment — maybe. Just the slight possibility is enough to send Amber tumbling into her dreams, forehead pressed against her knees.
When she wakes, she is still alone, her body filthy and her joints aching. She spends the majority of the morning, or perhaps nighttime, moping as she rips what remains of the top of her boiler suit into frayed bandages. The tiniest strips are used to try and wipe the caked on blood from her bruised skin, and the stronger straps of fabric are applied around her stomach and fresher cuts. She's grateful for her mother's sewing lessons as she seals an open gash with a stitch. For the most part, Amber feels whole and comfortable despite the limb that had nearly been severed from her.
Her damaged arm is cradled against her, knife looped securely in her belt, and the glaive acts as her leverage as she makes her way through the tunnels. She keeps waiting for a sign of some sort — another dangerous stranger to confront, a lost ally to wrap her arms around. There is so much energy coursing through her veins, and she has no idea what to do with it. Is this what a star collapsing feels like? Or is this just how it feels to be a girl on her last legs?
The flashing of red lights and a droning message over the intercom are enough to capture her attention — the adrenaline inside her turns to pure panic, then desperate hope, as she tries to navigate the excitement of learning an exit has been opened and the horror of realizing that there are more than tributes to fear down here. She can feel the steady rumbling, the telltale signs of something large stirring and approaching fast. She instantly inhales a deep breath, lifting her newest weapon from off the ground and tilting it forward, body positioned to bolt.
If they're all running towards the same salvation, the odds have never been higher to find her missing companions.
And if all she has to face in this moment is herself and her own limits, then this will prove to be her toughest battle yet.
{ amber bosch runs for her life }
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distance traveled: 036/200
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distance traveled: 036/200