“Anyway,
no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If
we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test
people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed
and love of power.” - P.J. O'Rourke
“Alcohol
is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.” -
George Bernard Shaw
The
blizzard's end was more than welcome to Jocelin, but such a horrible
cold had set in that she still struggled to warm herself. Even as the
arena warmed and melted the snow, she was forced to drudge through
the cold slush that soaked her shoes and socks with ice cold water.
Jocelin was forced to stop several times and remove her shoes
completely. She could only hope that rubbing them would warm them
enough to ward off frostbite. After a long internal debate about
whether wet, cold socks were better or worse than no socks at all,
Jocelin finally found the stream, which was now overflowing with the
melted snow.
XX
It
hadn't been hard to find her. With her footprints laid out for the
world to see, Coale had tracked Jocelin until he had her cornered at
the stream. The rushing water would prevent her from crossing, and he
knew she wouldn't stand a chance of running in this snow anyway. She
cried when she saw him in anticipation for her coming death.
“Please
end it,” she whispered as he stood over her.
The
blood-soaked snow was left as evidence of what had taken place, even
after the body was removed, and Coale knew he needed to get away from
this spot. He needed to end it. Now.
XX
Tiara
smiled widely as she heard the cannon blast. One other tribute was
now all that stood between her and victory. She wondered briefly who
had made it through. She knew that Jocelin and Coale had been the
only two left standing because Tiara herself had made all of the
other kills since last night's projection of the dead. She expected
to find Coale, but if a weakling such as Jocelin had gotten through,
then she wasn't going to complain about the easy win. She just needed
to find the other tribute and end this for good.
XX
Neither
of the remaining tributes paid any thoughts to those watching around
Panem. Citizens across the country watched in anticipation. Some were
horrified as they inched closer to the screens in their rundown
houses. Some conversed joyfully with the crowd around them as they
partied drunkenly in celebration of the coming conclusion to this
year's games. Everyone in Panem would be affected by the coming
events, but no one would be as wrecked as the two tributes about to
fight to the death.
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