Who: Sola Herrington What: Traumatic Arrival Where: Town Hall When: Afternoon, Sunday Warnings | Status: Violence | Narrative | Complete
Sola was fighting exhaustion and the pain from her many injuries. The part of her brain that was currently still capable of rational thought was telling her that she was going into shock. Unfortunately, she couldn't pay attention to that right now because two more combatants were almost on her.
She hadn't been warned that sometimes more than one fight per day was scheduled if a Demonstrator was popular or in demand. Shepherd Fines hadn't told her that she had another fight right after the first one until she was already on her way to the next one. Not that it would have mattered if she had known. There were no lessons in conserving your energy back at the training camp. Resistance and Perseverance and Win At All Costs were the lessons she was learning.
The first man came at her while she was still down on the ground and that was his mistake. She rolled out of the way at the last minute and his spear point hit the ground. While he was trying to pull it free, Sola spun, kicking at his knee and grabbing at his spear. His partner rushed at her, but Sola danced out of his reach, bringing up the stolen spear and cutting up his leg.
These men had underestimated her. Broken and bleeding in her dirty and torn school girl outfit -- fuck you for that gimmick Shepherd Fines! -- they had thought she was done for the day. They hadn't thought about what it was that might keep her going and determined to survive.
The next few minutes were a blur of fighting, pain and blood until she killed the first man by spearing him in the throat. Somehow, when his partner came at her, stabbing her along one of her ribs, she still managed to have the energy to do her signature move and then land on his back. The sound of her snapping his neck seemed to reverberate in her skull as the sound of her own raspy breathing registered with her.
The cheering of the crowd let her know that she was still alive by some miracle. Again, she had won. She wanted to yell at the crowd and curse at them. Didn't they realize that this was so very wrong? Killing each other for the entertainment of crowd because countries owed a Debt to each other?
But she knew that it would do no good. If there were such things as fairness and reason she would never have been selected as a combatant in the first place. In that first gang fight, it had only been sheer luck that saved her and sent her to the intense training of Camp Zulu.
She was near to passing out and she knew it. The blood loss and shock was starting to catch up to her and she had to get out of the Stadium and to the Gate. She could not collapse here, not now. She couldn't show the crowd weakness or they might become shitty and demand another fight. She would not survive a third group fight today.
She reached the Gate and stepped through, hearing it rattle down to a shut behind her. Turning to the left, where she knew Herd Officers would be waiting to "escort" her to the helicopter, she found herself in a large room that was nothing like it was supposed to be. It was nothing like she had ever seen and she had the fleeting thought that she hadn't realized the Shepherds could set up indoor arenas.
A broken howl came from somewhere and she only realized it was coming from her about the same time she realized that she was screaming that no one had told her there was already another fight. Why would they want her to fight inside and with so many people who didn't look like most of them were fighters? They were too well-dressed and calm looking for Demonstrators, Criminals or Fodder, so what was the trick this time.
"Fuck! Where did she come from?"
"How is she still standing when she looks like a train hit her?"
Sola didn't have time to say anything smart as that survival instinct rose up in her and she jump at the nearest man, taking them both to the ground. She heard gun shots and then another, louder male voice yelling orders.
"No! Don't hurt her. She looks like she might be one of those Panem kids!"
Panem? That wasn't one of the Cities. That wasn't even a word she'd ever heard before.
She fought as people pulled at her, pulling her away from the man she attacked. She fought as she was held down and she didn't stop fighting even as she felt the needle entering her upper arm.
The last thing she was aware of as she lost consciousness was someone yelling for Medical.