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Post by Ashton McCall on Aug 19, 2014 17:36:03 GMT -6
Ashton labored for breaths inside the cave where the shark swam around and around the pond. IT had been a few minutes since Al had dragged his miserable body out and now he was beginning to feel less and less below his waist. His chest continued to tighten and it became harder and harder to breathe; it looked like the end of the line for District 10. He couldn't go on after this and he was beginning to realize that. Beginning to realize that this cave--this day was when he was going to die.
"I don't wanna die." he said again, quieter than the other two previous times before he began coughing, more blood escaping his wounds. He knew he only had a little while before he bled out on the ground but he wanted to make sure someone knew his finals words--or at least some of his final words before they dashed off to the hovercraft and Ashton would be left to die on his own. He removed his belt, struggling with shaking hands before the leather case of the knife detached from his belt, the once brown leather dyed a deep red from his blood. He placed it next to him, hoping to hand it off to Olive before he died, he wanted her to have as much of a chance in the next level of the South Tower without him.
"I need---I need....I need one of you to win." he wheezed, coughing up some blood, "And when you win--you'll go to my District." he thought of home, smelling of animal and grass, with the bright sun and blue skies stretched over pastures. He thought of the Peacekeeper's horses who milled about, sometimes allowing the District 10 children on their backs for a quick ride. Of his mother, taking care of their shack of a house as if it was a palace. The way she'd smile when he'd come home with little money or little food as if he was a returning knight from a noble war. Ashton coughed again, hoping she wasn't watching this: wasn't seeing her only child dying on live TV.
"When you go to my District...I need you to find my mother...make sure she's OK. And tell her...I'm sorry. I tried to make it home to her--I tried." he half spoke, half sobbed. His side began to ache again so he tried to stop moving as much as possible.
He gasped for air before reaching out for any of the tributes on the level with him, tears stinging his eyes.
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Post by Alistair Kingsley on Aug 19, 2014 21:11:01 GMT -6
Al knelt down by his friend while his wounds were gushing. This was truly an awful way to go and this was Al's first time seeing death in the arena and shit it freaked him out. But he remained calm as Ashton spoke, if he needed to say something now was the time to do it. "No worries, man. I'll tell her all about how clever you were in here and how proud she should be." He knew it was pointless--Al expected himself to die in the arena-- but he figured any sort of comfort he could give Ashton would be helpful.
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Post by Olivier L'angel on Aug 19, 2014 21:12:53 GMT -6
'Ahston no!!! Don't you dare die on me! I trusted you finally, I freaking trusted you! You said until the end!!' Olive was furious and tears were flowing down her eyes, she hadn't planned on making friends or let anybody in but somehow this boy snuck his way behind her high-walls anyway, she was both angry and scared but she would never admit the latter.
'Don't you have any sponsors or something that can help you? we just need to get you through to the next level!!' she screamed towards the sky hoping someone would react...
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Post by Ashton McCall on Aug 19, 2014 21:14:14 GMT -6
Ashton reached out for Al, tapping his face. "Get out of here, nerd.And remember to fix the damn notch on your crossbow. You won't hit shit if you don't." he felt tears spring to his eyes as he gripped his hand. These were the last people he was going to see alive, might as well be his friends. He coughed again, turning his head to spit blood from his mouth.
"It hurts Al. It hurts." he confided.
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Post by Alistair Kingsley on Aug 19, 2014 21:16:49 GMT -6
"JESUS even like this you're a know it all." Al joked but his voice shook as he was speaking. He never really understood the horrors that a Hunger Games entailed for those who were in the arena..until now. He was watching a fellow tribute--a friend-- die unnecessarily because of this...thing the Capitol watched for amusement. All at once, the games were more real to him than ever.
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Post by Ashton McCall on Aug 19, 2014 21:17:02 GMT -6
"Hey hey...." he raised his hand to touch Olive's arm. "It's okay...it'll be okay. Remember the cliff? You said you'd find a better way than me, and you did. You'll find a better way to get out of these Games. Right? Olive, look at me." He handed over his Knife to her, "guess my brawn couldn't hold out, eh? It's gonna be okay Olive. It's all gonna be OK. You're gonna get out of here. Now you have to get to a hovercraft, love. You can't die here."
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Post by Olivier L'angel on Aug 19, 2014 21:21:41 GMT -6
'Is there really no way?' she begged more to the sky than to Ashton, why was she feeling all this stuff now, her entire freaking life she'd been completely uninterested in everybody else and now this guy, maybe it was the situation they were in and the saftey he symbolized, maybe it was actual feelings, she bent over him huging him lightly not wanting to push anything when he was so weak...
'If... if you want...' she started but stoped again, she didn't know if she could do it... she remembered her kick-ass attitude when they called her name at the reaping and her toughness her entire life spent alone...' If you want me to... I, I can' she studdered..'I can make it quicker if you want...' she finally got the words out and tears began to stream again
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Post by Ashton McCall on Aug 19, 2014 21:38:55 GMT -6
"Hey love, save your energy. It won't really be that long now." He couldn't--and wouldn't--ask Olive to kill him. That would have not been ideal. "Although, if I had it my way, I'd pick you to win it all Olive. Just keep going for me, yeah? Promise me, love?" He hugged her back as well as he could, his breaths getting shorter and shorter. He was feeling dizzy and weak. He reached and unzipped his jacket, unpinning his mother's pin before holding it in his hand.
"I'm glad that you're the last face I'm gonna see. You and nerd boy."
He unhooked his knife from his belt and slid it over to Olive,
"You take this. Okay? You'll have a lot more use for it than I will."
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Post by Jaffe Maddox on Aug 19, 2014 21:54:28 GMT -6
Jaffe watched from a distance. She didn't personally know the boy from district ten, but all the same she felt a deep seeding fear. Ashton wasn't just a dying tribute, he symbolized what lie ahead for the remaining tributes.
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Post by Olivier L'angel on Aug 19, 2014 21:58:50 GMT -6
"I'll keep going I promise, I'll keep going for both our families and I'll tell your mother you're the one who made me feel safe and that you tried! I'm so sorry, I wish I could help you but I don't know what to do, there's nothing I can do..."
That made her smile a little bit,
She seemed to be out of tears, she knew she'd blown her image out of the water with the sponsors but she was hoping deep inside that maybe, just maybe they would have heart enough to save him anyway somehow, when she finally let him in, when she finally let anyone in... She gave him the best smile she could
"Thank you for the knife, I'll take care of it, how did you know knives are my best weapon by the way?" (She picked it up and pocketed it) She tried to laugh but it only sounded like a slight cough, she knew time was running out and decided that it didn't matter if it was the games or real, this man made her feel like she was worth something and not just an out-cast, he'd been calling her love ever since he got out of that pond, hopefully she wasn't making things up in her head...
She bent down and held his bloody face in her hands and gave him a soft deep kiss trying to show him that he'd really meant something to her, he meant a lot and she would not forget...
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Post by Ashton McCall on Aug 19, 2014 22:00:02 GMT -6
Ashton reached up one last time after Olive kissed him, stroking her face. "Keep going, love. Okay? Promise me." he grunted when his leg began to ache again but he got himself under control, "You have to keep going. Get out of these Games. I believe in you. Okay? Promise me now, Olive."
Ashton sighed, letting his grip on Olive and Al go as he leaned back in the rocks, letting his eyes close. He felt too weak, too dizzy too TIRED to go on. This was it. This was the moment he'd been anticipating since the moment his name was called at the Reaping. How ironic. the boy from District 10 dies from animal attacks. Odds were not in his favor. Maybe that symbolized Ashton's life, one giant ironic moment. He sighed, clearing his mind before focusing on what was coming, a world and existence with no pain, no Capitol, nothing but clear blue skies, wild horses and endless tress to climb. Peanut butter to eat and knives to throw. He'd definitely be better at that in the afterlife.
eventually he could feel his lungs quit working and with one last sigh, Ashton let himself fade away in the cave as the other tributes made their way to the hovercrafts.
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