#aopdisaster

"We have to move," I heard from one of my allies, and we all started into the jungle. I ran to grab my clothes and spear, hurriedly tugging my still-damp pants up over my hips as I caught up with them. I lost my shirt as we charged through the jungle's dense foliage, but managed to salve my jacket. 

The training I'd done in the gauntlet was coming in handy yet again as we leapt over tree roots and fought our way through vines and plants. The roar of waves boomed behind us like thunder and echoed between the tall trees. 

"We aren't going to make it!" I shouted desperately, glancing back to see the white brim of water chasing behind us. It would disappear for a moment before slithering back at terrifying speeds, reaching farther than before. Verma, who was ahead of us all, slowed down a bit and we all ran together as we tried to come up with a plan to get to the cornucopia. water was already brushing at our feet. 

That's when the boat came up. 

Together, we worked out a plan and pieced together what to do, all of us splitting up momentarily to gather the needed supplies. For Melody and I, it was leaves. For Verma and Jasmine, branches. When that was done, we all high tailed it up into one of the high trees of the jungle and set to work. In minutes Verma and Jasmine had pieced together the outer structure. It was a simple little thing, a glorified raft with sides, but it would do. 

There was no way we could escape the water, so why not use it to our advantage?

I used vines from the trees and the remaining strips of fabric to secure the structure, then went to join the others in securing leaves and fabric to fill it in. We coated the entire inside in tree sap to stop any leaks, the four of us all covered in the stuff by the time we'd finished. And not a moment too soon. The crack of tree branches being snapped like twigs was beginning to join the roar of the water. We all climbed in and say in a line, holding on to branches with one hand and the boat sides with the other, leaving us dangling over the rushing water. 

"On three!" Verma shouted. "Wait!" I said suddenly, earning glares from the group as I reached for a remaining, long vine. I looped it around us, securing us together. It would held to keep us balanced. Help to keep us safe. 

"One!" I felt my heart pounding as I looked down at the water. I wondered what Arthur was thinking.  "Two!" I thought of my nieces at home, and of my parents and sister. I wanted to get home to them. I wanted it more than anything else. "Three!"

I couldn't help but scream as we dropped, and were soon pulled along with the water. It was fast, and the boat was shaky, but it worked. We bobbed above the water, all of us throwing our weight this way and that to avoid obstacles and keep us upright.

Melody and Jasmine kept their eyes open for mutts or other living threats, and I had my spear close just in case. I knew I could use it to beat attackers away, or stab them, but never throw it. My aim would have been terrible with so much movement.

The ride felt like it was taking forever. I didn't know how close we were to safe grounds, but every now and then I caught glimpses of the gleaming cornucopia. It got closer and closer every time. 

His body slightly shook forward the same time his eyes opened. As if someone pushed him awake, out of his dream. The last thing he remembered was Irma looking down at him, smiling with her red hair. Her voice was the sound that woke him up. Not terrified, not bleeding, not screaming. Happy. Logan didn't know why the expression on his face felt so indifferent.

He blinked his eyes a few times, before looking up at the sky and being greeted by the morning. What was it? Day 3? It didn't matter. As long as they were alive, they would be hunted. Another ray of sunlight meant another chance to be murdered. Another hard day trying to survive. Another day of heightened paranoia. His other hand felt his small knife and pack, on his side, that helped him survive the Games. He turned his head back to see Larka had awoken, when he was greeted by a voice beside him. "Morning," she muttered.

Logan turned back to see Rowan, leaning her face into his arm. His eyes watched her closely, as he began to smile. "Morning," he simply answered. He remembered her wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly, the night before. He wrapped his own arm around her waist, just to be there for her. Any excuse to hold her. When she started to speak again, Logan gently pulled her closer to him. He still wasn't fully awake, so he made some kind of verbal acknowledgment to what she was beginning to say. He smiled at the memory she was describing. We're in the arena and she's talking about the masquerade ball. Her head's in a much better place. He chuckled, remembering the last night they were all really allowed to be...alive.

Hearing her talk about the boy he guessed she danced with, and how she sounded talking about him, made him feel a sudden pang of jealously. But just because he held her now didn't mean someone else, couldn't. He remembered his own dance with a beautiful girl. " You weren't the only one-" he was interrupted by an explosion of noise and the ground beneath them, beginning to shake.

He impulsively grabbed his knife, quickly looking around, ready to attack like he was with the monkey mutts, before his eyes fell back on Rowan. He could easily see the fear in her eyes, while he tried to hide his own. It wouldn't help their situation if he was scared, too. He could hear the birds from up above, but what surprised him most were the exotic animals  of the forest, running away in fear. In all different directions. He gulped and his eyes widen at the sight of the ground breaking apart in the distance, watching as some of the animals were unlucky enough to fall through the larger cracks. He turned in another direction and saw one of the growing cracks lift the ground, causing one of the tall trees to fall.

Wake up Logan, he began to tell himself. It's time for you to run.

He quickly got to his feet and grabbed the rest of his Polypiferous brevisimus from his bag, before slipping the pack onto his shoulders. He bit down on the teal leaves, swallowing the water quickly, before throwing their stems away. He'd need water in his system, for this. He turned, almost covering his ears when he heard Rowan scream for Larka.  " Rowan!" he shouted back, trying to calm her screams, but she was one step ahead of him. The next of his alliance was what he was looking for now. Turning back, he couldn't find Larka. "Larka!" he shouted louder, trying to do the same as Rowan. Trying find and keep their alliance together while everything around them was falling apart. " Larka!" he screamed, looking for her. Trying not to lose another friend. Trying not to bring on a future nightmare. He turned back around to his dismay to see Rowan. Gone. Logan couldn't stand around on this shaky surface anymore. He had to move.

Logan gave one last look behind him, before he started to run in the direction he thought he saw Rowan go. He staggered with every few steps, the ground shaking roughly below his feet. He fell just before a crack violently ripped, horizontally, through the ground, opening up a hole quickly to Rowan's route. Detour. He had to take a detour now. He picked himself up off the ground and set up some distance from the crack before starting to stagger as he ran again, but he barely went anywhere before his body hit the ground again. He quickly realized that if he wanted to make it out, alive, he was going to have to use more than his feet. He looked up from the shaky ground to the trees. Some had fallen, others would follow, but he thought it was his best chance of survival. He just hoped the trees he'd climb,wouldn't fall.

 He crawled to the nearest tall tree, he could find. He held onto the tree for dear life as he slowly pulled himself up the trees branches. When he saw one of the branches of the next tree in the same general area as a branch from the tree he was climbing, he stopped climbing and stood on the wide branch. His arm curled around the body of the tree as he stood. The trees shook as well. Logan knew he couldn't stay on the branch for very long or he'd lose his balance and fall. He counted down, slowly: 3...2...1! He ran along the branch for a few seconds, then jumped. Flying in the air, stretching his arms out to the next tree's branch to catch it. His hands caught the next branch, swinging his body around it, twice, before landing his feet on the surface. He quickly clenched onto the body of the tree, as he watched another crack run through the ground, passed the tree he landed on.

He tried this method again on the next tree, but the next branch was smaller and couldn't hold his weight. The branch broke beneath his feet and he started falling, through the air. Logan quickly outstretched his arm and jabbed his knife into the bark of the tree, stopping his motion. Looking down the long, skinny branch hit the shaking ground. He held onto the tree as he took out his knife and slowly slid down it. Landing on the ground and picking up the branch, he knew the trees wouldn't work well alone, either. Using the branch as a way to keep his body steady by pushing it against the ground, he tried running again with more success. Off in the distance he could see hanging vines, and an idea popped in his head. If he was careful to only use stronger, bigger trees to jump from, the hanging vines, and the branch to help him run, maybe he could make it out alive. So for the next several minutes, he used a combination of all three: using the branch while running, if  it wasn't safe to climb the tall trees or hanging vines were around. Climbing and swinging from trees who were tall and had thick branches. Grabbing and holding multiple vines to swing his body to another vine, going farther than if he was on foot.

Coming back into the light with his knife and one hand and the branch in another, he could barely see the Cornucopia in the distance. His forearm was covered in small cuts from some of the smaller branches or bushes attached to the large branches he landed on. He was about ready to fly there, when his eyes caught another tribute. Rowan. He ran to her, wanting to hold onto so she could never leave his sight, again. He threw the branch down, not caring if his body, staggered. He temporarily stopped, but he wanted so badly not to. He could see the blood she split, the way she walked forward to him just to collapse to her feet, crying. Logan turned, wide eyed, at another sound of an upcoming crack of the ground coming there way. They didn't have time to sit still. He quickly reacts by placing his knife in his pocket and picking Rowan up in his arms and carrying her, as he tries his best to keep his balance and run.

When it seems like they've almost made it to the Cornucopia, Logan slows down to feel Rowan's hands, cupping his face. He's trying to catch his breath, but he doesn't want to upset her by rejecting her hands. When she pulled his face closer to hers, he could see it. He could see the eyes of the beautiful girl he danced with at the Ball. It was Rowan. It was Rowan all along. When their lips finally touch, he stopped his movement. He could tear her lips apart for what they'd both just gone through. A part of him did, returning his kiss somewhat roughly. Manic. He said nothing when she pulled away. He just stared into her eyes, finally showing the fear he'd been holding back. But at the same time, he had Rowan.

He lowered his arms so Rowan could walk on her feet again. Just a few steps and they were back at the Cornucopia. 

It was the sunshine streaming down in the morning that woke me from my sleep, otherwise I never would have wanted to open my eyes. My head rested against the sinewy muscle of his arm having must of slipped there during the night when my eyelids finally fell too heavy and Neverland came my way.