Chapter Nine 

the god damn hunger games

3rd person pov 

she turned back to the screen as they heard the countdown and she watched it begin as everyone began to fight and it was a fight against them all 

"run" coriolanus whispered and they watched as they all began to fight and she watched wovey run and disappear as the other mentors got up and left due to their tributes begin killed and she sighed. lucy gray ran to jessup and she grabbed him as they ran and hid. 

"go,go,go" coriolanus whispered as she watched lucy gray get into a room with jessup. she let out a heavy sigh as she thought about where wovey was and they watched another tribute be killed. the other tributes walked off and away from the room 

"do you think they're done? looks like it. To the children watching, that was violent, horrific, and disgusting. ms.phipps,please if youre going to vomit, do it off camera. 13 tributes remain. Reaper still looming large on top of the charts coral and try to make a play. Six tributes gone in minutes. If they keep it at this pace, we're gonna be out of here in no time" he said and they all sighed. dorothea rested her head on her hand until coriolanus moved closer and let her rest her head on him. he knew about her and lucy gray so not only was he trying to keep her alive for her sake but also for his own. 

he didn't want dorothea to lose her girlfriend and he didn't want to lose the plinth prize in the grand scheme of things. he had a girlfriend once so he knew what it was like to love someone so much and then lose them and he couldn't have dorothea go through that. she was too much of a sunshine girl to lose someone she loved so deeply to something like the god damn hunger games. 

"now, these record High temperatures aren't doing that fire that continues to burn out here in district 9 any favors. I'll keep an eye on it. In district 10, this warfront is going to come down and collide here, squeezing out some drizzle. And finally in district 12, a..." he led off as they saw lamenia come out of hiding and go to cut down marcus's body. she couldn't help but be grateful that someone wanted to give him a sense of humanity and normality. 

"please" he told her and she nodded as she brushed her hand over his hand and she grabbed her hatchet as she cut off his restraints and he fell to the ground and they watched her gain more donations from that alone. 

"cold pressure systems gonna swoop in on it bringing cooler temperatures and some much-needed relief to our cold minors out there at least until early evening. That's the weather. Was it mercy? Was it murder? Either way that's what happens when you do stuff. You get attention. Citizens send you money. now, once they get your money, the mentor can choose to send in food or water using our newly developed drones from the war, reprogrammed with facial recognition. This ensures that your package goes directly to your tribute. isn't that right, pup Harrington? I've got a hunch pup is gonna seize the opportunity" he said and they watched as a drone come in and they all watched it closely. dorothea had a feeling it was going to go badly as the water bottle smashed

"what?" pup said and they all sighed. for the rest of the night they sat in that room together as they wiated and watched for something else. they saw wovey walking towards the room where lucy gray and jessup were but she kept walking. 

"you can't save her by watching. What do you want from that girl?" dean asked him and dorothea lifted her head to look at him

"nothing. I want her to live." coriolanus said not telling him the true reason being that he didn't want dorothea to experience that sort of loss and that he was doing it for the plinth prize. 

"mmm.and the plinth prize would be a happy coincidence I suppose." he said 

"I believe believe I'd be entitled to it" coriolanus stated 

"of course you do. Of course you do. The prize, the girl. How convenient. You don't have to choose between them. Who do you think makes the final decision for the prize you so covet,mr.snow. Wake up. If Lucy somehow wins it all, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you don't see a dime. so,ask yourself, how much do you care if she lives now?" he asked and coriolanus looked at dorothea as she looked at him and they shared eye contact. they watched lucy gray on the screen interact with jessup and dorothes couldn't help but fall more in love with the girl. they fell asleep next to each other as the screen turned to the name and they laid on each other. 

"mr.snow" dr gaul said and his head shot up 

"what happened? is it lucy gray? " he asked 

"unless you can put a leash on your deluded classmate, she might as well be dead as far as you're concerned" she told him and dorothea woke up 

"sejanus?" dorothea and coriolanus said as they looked at the screen together 

"bread crumbs, I believe. Sustenance for a fallen comrade on his final journey. a district 2 superstition. I'll work on finding the peacekeeper he bribed to get him in and cut out their tongue. The meantime I need someone to get him out of there." she said 

"I'll do it. I'll get him." dorothea stated 

"well, you can't do it alone Dorothea" he said 

"then I guess you're coming with me" she told him and with that, dr.gaul stared at the girl with a smirk on her face due to how the girl was strong enough to do this with him. she didn't hear the rest of the conversation between dr.gaul and coriolanus because she was leaving. 

if only she knew what she would see at the arena but she would learn soon enough. 

-ABBYS NOTES-

the only reason I'm making coriolanus out to be a good guy is to show his complexity and the way he can switch from being a supposed good guy to the one everyone hates and is scared of. he does care for dorothea on a surface level but deep down he resents her for being from district the same way he resents sejanus and i wanted to make that known.