#zevery

When the cart came out unscathed at the other end Avery couldn’t help but sigh with relief; until she spotted some more tributes not too far away. She pointed them out to Zeke who suggested they get as far away as they could but the others had already spotted them and were making their way over.

The two carts sped forward, neither giving any sign of slowing as they careened towards each other. One cart emblazoned with the name Jeremiah and the other Avery, both of whom were driving their respective carts. They were still too far from each other to know who their opponent was, but with Adagio killed, there were only so many people who had won the prestigious prize of a golf cart in the arena.

When the enemy cart was finally close enough for the trio to see their opponents, Jeremiah suddenly felt a hand clasp tightly onto his shoulder. Joule turned to see a pointed frown on Kineos’ face.

“If it’s Zeke, we can’t attack them. He and I made a deal. You’ll have to turn us around.” Kineos said from his spot behind his allies.

Jeremiah scoffed, “You really think he’ll honor that? That was a deal struck in the safety of the Capitol. We’re in the arena, now, Kineos. All is fair in love and war and this is a fucking war.” Though he wished he could just turn around and leave them alone, he knew this was something that had to be done. They were two more people in the way of getting out of this hell hole.

Kineos’ brow furrowed and his grip tightened. “That wasn’t a suggestion, J.”

Joule suddenly reached out, her hands loosening his grip. “Look, this isn’t ideal, but Cap’s right. We have to do this, Kineos. You don’t have to fight him if you don’t want, though. Maybe you fight Avery and we take Zeke?” She suggested, not wanting to have to deal with a fight within a fight. “Divided, we’ll be slaughtered and you know it. You need to pick a side.”

Releasing Jeremiah, Kineos pulled his dagger out. “No, you’re right. I’m with you guys.” As much as it pained him, he knew there was nothing else they could do.

Jeremiah sped up, driving along side the other cart and pretty soon he could see who it was. It was indeed Zeke and Avery. He clutched his sickle even tighter in his hand as he readied himself. He looked to his right at Joule “Take the wheel!” He shouted at her before jumping from Sheila and into the parallel cart.

Avery turned around again and saw that it was three people she would have considered friends, if they weren’t trying to kill her of course, the first one she made eye contact with was Joule and her heart broke a little at the thought of Joules brothers sitting at home watching their sister. With a quick shake of her head Avery focused on her own family.

He lept from the vehicle and landed in the other cart, where Zeke stood ready and waiting for him. Jeremiah jumped with his legs out and upon landing he forced his bare foot into Zeke’s knee. Zeke cringed and swung the axe he had in his hands downward at J. He quickly recovered, standing up as straight as he could in the cart,  “Hey Zekey boy.” Jeremiah cooed with a smirk as Zeke’s axe came down towards him. “C’mon don’t be like that, Jeremiah.” Zeke spat back at J. Jeremiah quickly threw his body to the right to dodge his swing. Zeke’s blade almost missed, but it just caught Jeremiah’s arm, shaving off a piece of his sleeve and leaving him with a nice cut that thankfully wasn’t too deep.

Jeremiah looked around to see Joule driving behind and coming back around on the other side of the cart. Kineos leaned over and began to struggle with Avery. He didn’t pay an attention, he looked back at Zeke to see the axe swinging and coming towards Jeremiah’s face. He quickly ducked and took the opportunity to strike. “Nice try asshole!” He shouted as he sliced his sickle across Zeke’s thigh.

Joule slid over seamlessly taking his place, steering the cart around quickly and pulling it up slightly from behind Avery’s golf cart to slightly in front of it. Kineos reached out and grabbed her arm, causing the wheel to jerk and the carts to slam into each other and everyone to jerk at the contact. Avery’s eyes narrowed and her knuckles turned white as she held tight to the wheel.

Beside him, Joule shouted “Kineos, hold on.” Turning the wheel she tried to separate the carts, causing them to zig zag. Kineos held to the armrest of the cart, his other hand releasing Avery’s wrist only to find purchase on to the collar of her shirt. Leaning his full weight back causing her shirt cut into her throat, he tugged, trying to weaken her. Joule made a sudden sharp turn away from the cart and finally Avery dislodged from her seat. The momentum took Kineos down too, however, and they fell to the ground hard.

Avery slowly got up and Kineos noticed rather quickly that her knee was hurt and he just looked at her. They made eye contact and he quickly signed that he was sorry. Kineos charged Avery with his dagger and his dirk out, one in each hand. She swung at him with her hand axe. She was surprisingly fast and cut down Kineos’ arm but he managed to pull away just in time to turn what would have been a serious blow into a shallow cut. Kineos made a swipe at her with one dagger and missed but he followed up with the other, landing a hit on her upper thigh.

As soon as Kineos fell off the cart, Joule slammed her fists onto the steering wheel. She told him to hang on. How fucking hard was that? Cursing under her breath, she parked the cart near the tree line, pocketing the key and running to help Kineos, a fire in her veins and the desire to live flooding through her. With her dagger clenched tightly in her hand, she broke into a run as she rushed over to where her allies were fighting.

With Avery’s cart slowing down Zeke jumped from the cart and Jeremiah quickly rushed behind him. His lips curled up into a half smile, and then instantly dropped when he heard the footsteps of Jeremiah drawing closer with each coming second. His fingers wrapped around the handles of the axes he was holding, and he dug his feet into the ground. Jeremiah switched his sickle to his left hand as he drew his dagger with his right. Sprinting faster to catch up with Zeke was a challenge for Jeremiah, but he knew what was at stake. He caught up so that he was about 3 meters or so behind him and he threw his dagger out with a great force. He knew he’d be able to throw any sort of knife or needle with accuracy.

The dagger caught Zeke and dug into his back and lodged itself underneath his shoulderblade. The pumping of his arm as he ran became unbearable as every thrust pushed against the blade. He stumbled for a moment and Jeremiah was able to catch up. Zeke turned quickly on his heels and swung his axe out at Jeremiah. He blocked it with his forearm, earning him a nice wound that almost smacked his bone. “Fuck! You son of a bitch!” He shouted as the slice began to bleed.

Kineos and Avery moved looked up and saw Jeremiah struggling with Zeke. Jeremiah needed his help and Joule was just getting off the golf cart. “Joule, take Avery.” With this, Kineos charged Avery again and instead of swinging he ducked at Avery’s attempt and kicked her hard in the knee. She let out a loud yell that got Zeke’s attention and Kineos ran towards Zeke to help Jeremiah.

Kineos ran over with conflicting feelings. He had told Jeremiah and Joule he was on their side, but that didn’t make having to kill a friend any easier. Zeke quickly turned on his heels to see Kineos running at him. He didnt want to kill his friend either but it was his life of theirs. While Zeke was distracted by the arrival of his old friend, Jeremiah ripped the dagger from Zeke’s back. He let out a small grunt but forced his pain back. Zeke ,knowing that his position between the two boys was dangerous, took quick strides backwards away from the two other boys. Jeremiah and kineos were now facing the career from 2 in front of him, still stretched out however to maintain the advantage. Zeke quickly glanced the direction of his spear between the two.

Suddenly he sprang forward, in the direction of Jeremiah, with the point his his spear leading his body. Jeremiah quickly ducked down and rolled to the side where he recovered quickly. Zeke shot the spear at Jeremiah and he was forced to run backwards, away from the spear.

Zeke turned to face Kineos with a hand axe in each hand. “Im sorry Kineos, but its you or me.” He announced as he rushed forwards towards the boy from 5. Kineos, with his dagger in hand readied himself. Gripping his dagger with white knuckles Kineos charged forward too. The two boys collided with thrashing axes from Zeke. Kineos threw his body backwards and his face contorted at the feel of the ground smacking against the back of his head. Zeke’s momentum forced him forward as well, missing his target entirely. Kineos pushed himself back up with his hands, squinting one eye at the growing throbbing in the back of his head.

Zeke began to swing his axe again and Kineos prepared himself. He gripped his dagger and his dirk in each hand and waited. Zeke threw an arm forward and Kineos ducked under it, this time staying firmly on the ground. He slashed upwards with his dagger and sliced across zeke’s forearm deep, forcing him to drop one of his axes.

When Zeke dropped one of his axes, Kineos got up quickly but it started to go dark a little bit, I might have a slight concussion. He thought to himself. When everything comes back to normal, Kineos sees Zeke swinging down at him with his other hand ax. He tried to sidestep but it wasn’t enough as the ax came across Kineos’ chest and he winced. He looked down and saw the cut wasn’t deep but it was bleeding and it hurt like hell. Zeke was swinging again and he was ready this time. He looked up at the ax and ducked under it and stepped forward, bringing his fist up, where his dagger should be but he dropped it when his head hit the ground, Kineos connected hard against Zeke’s stomach. Zeke didn’t react that much to it since he had taken many blows like that before but it did stagger him a little bit.

Joule’s anger hadn’t abated at all in her short jog to her allies. In fact, it had increased ten fold. As she ran, all she could think about was District Five and her generators and her brothers, and the life she would probably never get to live. While she knew none of this was Avery’s fault, she also knew that the girl in front of her was an obstacle standing in her way.

Harnessing her anger and frustration the way Delilah had told her, in between mocking her, she charged the other girl, her dagger in her hand in front of her. Avery had no chance of outrunning her, not with a bum knee, anyway, so she did the only thing she could. She braced herself for the impact, raising her axe in preparation to fight. The opportunity to make it home had to be earned, and both had the intention of seeing the next sunrise.

The girls tumbled to the ground, both of their weapons falling on the turf, each fighting for the upper hand. Joule had the advantage of height, but it was clear the other girl wasn’t just going to give up without a fight. They struggled against each other, landing blow after blow on each other until she finally managed to pin Avery, letting her weight hold her down, Joule’s foot pressing on Avery’s injured knee, but she couldn’t stop the flailing of the other girl’s arms.

“Stop fucking struggling!” Joule yelled, after a fist collided with the side of her face once again.

The pain shot through her and her adrenaline kicked into high gear. Grabbing Avery’s wrists in her hands, she managed to hold her still long enough to slam her forehead into the other girl’s face. There was a sickening crunch, and Joule felt a sick sense of satisfaction when she pulled back to see a river of blood dripping from her shattered nose.

Avery coughed as the blood began dripping into her mouth, only to gather it and spit it back in Joule’s face. Her eyes slammed closed to block the spray, but the moment of distraction was enough for the other girl to wrestle her hands free. Resting all of her weight on the other girl, she brought her hands up to wipe at her face, grunting in pain at the barrage of hits she was forced to take.

After Zeke glanced at the boys and then back at Avery, Zeke took off running towards Joule and Avery, of course he would try and protect her. Zeke got there before Kineos and Jeremiah, already shoving Joule off of Avery and kneed her hard in the stomach. Jeremiah was the first one there, surprised at how fast Zeke actually was. Kineos was not far behind him and he tapped him on the shoulder “We gotta help out Joule.” Jeremiah just nodded as they ran towards Joule and Zeke.

This time when Joule saw red, it was all in her head. Sitting up, she clasped her hands together and swung her arms around, elbowing Avery in the temple and stunning her. Before she could take advantage of the her limp state, Joule felt herself lifted off of Avery, before she was dropped onto Zeke’s waiting knee, knocking the wind out of her and dropping her to the ground. He slammed his fists against her back and she coughed, trying desperately to ease the burning of her lungs as they begged for air.

Kineos was right behind Jeremiah when he felt himself falling down and hitting the ground hard. Avery had tripped Kineos and was about to be on top of Kineos when he kicked her hard in the chest, making her fall over. Kineos quickly got up to help Jeremiah get Zeke off of Joule. Kineos ran towards them and Jeremiah was struggling with Zeke. Kineos ran into the two boys, causing them both to fall over.

Suddenly the assault was gone and she rolled onto her back, taking a deep breath of air in time to see Jeremiah and Kineos distracting Zeke once more. She had little time to rest, however, as a glint of silver in the corner of her eye alerted her to Avery’s oncoming attack. Rolling out of the way just in time, her eyes searched frantically for her fallen dagger, only to find it in Avery’s hand, a smirk on her face as if to say ‘looking for this.’

Jeremiah sprinted back towards the two boys battling, feeling the dirt of the freshly mowed green kick up as he gripped the earth with his toes. The adrenaline pumping throughout Jeremiah’s veins forced and thought of fatigue out of his mind. He reached the two buys and shot into the air, leaping with both his feet towards Zeke. He collided with the other boy and the two came tumbling down on top of each other. Jeremiah could feel the blade of Zeke’s axe glide across his leg and the gritted his teeth.

The two rolled out on the ground. Jeremiah stumbled from the force of his momentum, He stood with stumbling feet and his hand reached his leg where he felt the blade cut him. He brough his hand up, now dirtied with blood. He wiped the crimson liquid on the side of his pants and retrieved his dagger after it fell from his hand in the impact.

Zeke was now back on his feet and jeremiah noticed a line of fresh blood that must’ve been drawn in the crash. Jeremiah smirked sinisterly before running towards Zeke once more. Zeke brought his axe up over his head in an attempt to force it down on top of Jeremiah, who quickly leaned left and brought the hilt of his dagger into the side of his head. Zeke clutched his ear with his free hand as he stumbled on his feet.

It was now that Kineos was back on Zeke. He threw his body into his while he was preoccupied by the blood that flowed from his head. Zeke hit the ground on his back and Kineos stomped down on his hand holding the axe. “Im sorry Zeke, I’m so sorry” Kineos forced out through the sorrow he felt inside him.

“Youre a liar Kineos, you’re a god damned liar, I was stupid to trust you!” Zeke spat out at his once friend. Kineos felt a knot in his throat that wouldn’t subside. He hated himself for doing this to his friend, but he wasnt ready to die to keep his promise.

Zeke quickly sprang back to his feet to run at Kineos again. “I’m gonna- “ Zeke’s words were cut off as Jeremiah quickly ran at him and drove his dagger into Zeke’s stomach. Jeremiah could feel the arm Zeke reached out to grab Kineos with fall limp on his back. Jeremiah held the weapon in Zeke until his body fell. He coughed, sending spurts of bright red into the air, and a pool of blood formed around his midsection. His choking coughs faded, and were soon followed by the sound of his cannon. Jeremiah knew the hovercraft would be here soon, so he quickly ripped the shoes and socks from Zeke’s feet before gathering his things to find Joule.

With no weapons, Joule had to think fast. It seemed Avery was high on adrenaline as she came charging at her with an axe in one hand and her own dagger in the other. Suddenly the thought hit her and she turned around, running north towards the sand pit. The quicksand pit. She had no clue if the other girl knew of the arena’s traps, but if not, she would be in luck.

Feigning exhaust, Joule forced herself to trip, falling to the ground only a few feet away from the sand pit. Only seconds later Avery was caught up, swinging the axe at her once more, forcing her to roll her whole body to avoid the axe that was trying to find purchase in her flesh, waiting for her to tire. What she hadn’t counted on was her own fatigue setting in, slowing her reaction time.

She screamed loudly as the axe embedded itself into her shin, tears coming to her eyes as the pain ripped through her body. She had no doubt the only reason it hadn’t chopped right through her leg was that Avery too felt the physical toll of their fight., Avery was seeing red because of the pain in her leg and when Joule was level with her she didn’t even think about what she was doing, gripping the hilt of Joule’s dagger shoved it as hard as she could towards the other girls’ eye. Joule reached up and caught the knife but not before it sliced her cornea. Joule screamed out, her eye was ruined and blood was seeping, Avery wanted to apologise but that would mean weakness and she was already crying. Using her superior upper arm strength and squeezing her wrists tightly, she pushed the knife out of Avery’s hands, taking advantage of the girl’s emotional moment.

Doing her best to ignore the pain, she bucked up her hips, dislodging Avery enough to slip her leg up. In a last burst of energy, the kind that only comes when one is on the very brink of death, she straightened her bent bent knee while pulling her hands forward with all of her might, launching the other girl into the sand pit. Avery was still too close to the edge, and she dug her fingers into the earth desperately as she began to sink, trying to pull herself out of the pit.