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𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦

chapter six !

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After being hospitalised all the tributes had to sleep in the place that they where at the start, in the jail like area. They were kept away like prisoners and treated them like animals.

They were nobodies. It was horrible and all for nothing.

June struggled to fall asleep, every time she'd catch her self drifting off something inside of her would keep awake.

Seated on the uncomfortable concrete, she gazed up at the pitch-black sky. She would only be thinking about returning to the home.

But all she could think about was dying here.

She was never going to see anyone; she was never going to see her sister, Lucy, or anyone else again.

"Juniper. June."

When June heard someone murmur her name, she spun around her orange curls bouncing. She was surprised to see a tall figure standing beyond the fence.

She rose from the spot she was previously sitting in and moved cautiously towards the fence. It was Coriolanus, she saw.

Suddenly she laughed and felt relieved. She bolted up to the barrier. "Coriolanus, you're alive."

"Of course I am." He smiled softly, overjoyed to be reunited with Juniper once again.

He would never admit it but it seemed to have this strange feeling towards the girl.

"The bombs, they ruined everything. It blew the walls out. That means you can escape. That means you're able to escape, June." He tells her still smiling.

Juniper's eyes widen to his words, she couldn't believe it. There was a chance June was going to make it out alive of this hell hole.

" There's a hole down in the floor. It leads to some tunnels. That's where you can disappear. So when you hear that bell, you must ignore the weapons and run as fast as you can but you have to be alone."

Juniper listened carefully because if she wanted to see her sister or Lucy or even Coriolanus again, she has to follow his orders.

Til she remembered that there was still Jessup with her, he still had a family back home. She couldn't just leave him.

"Wait what about Jessup. I can't just leave without him." She pleaded, her eyes saying everything.

"Juniper you have to listen to me." Coriolanus held onto her hand through the gate. "You can't trust anyone here, not even Jessup. You must survive on your on."

As he puts their fingers together, Coriolanus's voice grows softer, "I can't let you die.."

"Thank you, Coriolanus," she acknowledges with a nod of her head. "For everything." June gives him a soft smile.

The silence fills the midnight air and the two sit next to each other not saying anything. "Coryo?" Juniper speaks up.

"Yeah?" He nods. At first she didn't want to talk out loud but then blurted everything out, "I'm scared. I'm really fucking scared. And I don't want to die." She didn't want to look at him.

She still had a drooping head as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, shimmering in her eyes. All of sudden she just broke down.

It was unusual for Juniper to be crying in front of someone, the only person she cried in front of was her sister. Even then she felt ashamed to be crying.

She felt weak when she cried, that's why she never did. June always put on an act to make her seem fearless but under all that pressure was a little kid who wasn't treated right.

Coriolanus didn't know how to act, he wasn't familiar with caring for someone that wasn't his own blood. "June." He held onto her cheeks and lifted her head gently.

"I promise you, you won't die." His words sounded so real, she really believed in him. "I won't let you down, Juniper. Trust me, you will make it out alive no matter what."

Juniper sensed himself drawing in, but Coriolanus looked below before their lips could meet. As she pulled away, she felt her heart ache.

June felt ashamed by what had happened. "Is this real?" Coriolanus asked, looking up at her. "Just tell me. If I'm gonna risk everything. The song-"

June wiped away what was left of her tears, "What? No, that song was nothing." Juniper lies shaking her head,"I swear."

With pursed lips, Coriolanus gently raised his head. He retrieved a compact by reaching into his pocket. "Take this." He tries to hand her the compact but she declines.

"What? No I can't." She refuses to take it. "It's not a gift." He cuts her off. "It's a loan. Do not touch what's inside. Don't even breathe it in because small amounts can be deadly."

"Look, there will come a time when you need this and you need to be ready. June we all do things we're not proud of to survive."

June observes the compact but doesn't open it, "What's inside?" She asks looking back up at him. "Rat poison." He tells her.

"But hey, we are gonna win this together, Juniper. You hear me." Coriolanus says without breaking any eye contact.

Juniper nods her heads as she listens. "We will win this." Coriolanus moves closer to her face, "I promise."

Without even thinking, Juniper pulls Coriolanus into a kiss. She didn't care if he would pull away she just wanted to kiss him.

And to her surprise, he didn't back away. Instead he melted into the kiss. This was her way of saying thank you.

— alisha has something to say !

for some reason i really enjoyed writing this chapter and i hope you all like this story so far !

i feel like the ending was a bit awkward and rushed so i might edit this later !