Gravel [Zack]

When the sun reached the end of its path at the horizon, Zack was more than grateful. His skin had been pounded on by its rays and there was nothing to quench the thirst forming in the back of his throat. Having slept for most of the day, (despite the dangers of other tributes, mutts and gamemakers) Zack was revitalized by the time dusk rolled around.

Wiping the newly formed layer of sweet off his brow, Zack looked up as the anthem began to ring out in the Arena. That little edge of doubt poked him in the side again but Zack dismissed it. Enigma was a smart, strong girl. She certainly wouldn't die in the Bloodbath. He'd wait for her, he'd fight with her and, maybe, he'd tell her one day how much she was beginning to mean to him. A grin spread out across his face at the thought of the two kissing, he'd have to go up on his toes, of course. Lounging back on a rock, he watched as the first face popped up. The boy from District Two. Zack had had a hand in his death, something he wasn't sure he was proud of. Girl from five, nothing to Zack. The little man-a-phobe from six. Zack was actually a tad depressed to see her in the sky, he thought she'd had enough spunk for the Games- certainly enough drive.

The next face that went up, well Zack wasn't prepared for it. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him- it couldn't be. Every muscle in his body went ridged as he gazed up at her picture and then she was gone. Just like that. Probably the last time he'd ever see Enigma Lane. Another kid's picture filled the sky, bu Zack wasn't watching anymore he was on his feet, his breath ragged and his mind torn apart by the storm caused her her picture.

Without much warning a scream tore itself from his throat, a noise that began as a wail of despair, but quickly morphed into an angry battle cry. When he stopped the sky had gone dark and the night animals chirped and clicked.

She was gone. She was dead. It was all his fault. Zack had left her at the Bloodbath all alone! He killed her! No, no no no no, he can't think like that- he has to remember who the real culprit is. They're out there now, living another day without this pain that stabbed at Zack's body the full force of the sun. It hurt like nothing else, it squeezed tears from his eyes and another yell from his mouth.

"Enigma," he said, a mere whisper torn apart by sobs. "Enigma..."

Standing up straight, trying to control his emotions, Zack set his sights on a new goal. Without as much as a pause, he grabbed his bag, slung it over his shoulder, pulled his machete from his belt and started moving towards the looming mountain that looked even more ominous under the cruel blanket of night.

I'll make them pay, Enigma. I'll murder them.

As his feet made their way across the gravel, Zack couldn't run from the scene that kept playing over and over in his head, his fabled kiss with Enigma- the one he could never have.

Continued in The Earth Drinks Blood