Can You Be My Nightingale?

Chapter 8.

CAN YOU BE MY NIGHTINGALE?....

Shrieks came from the audience members nearest to the attack.

Arachne's face began draining of all color as she dropped the sandwich and clung to her neck. Blood oozed down her fingers as the girl from District 10 released her hold on her with a slight shove. Arachne stumbled back, turning and reaching out a blood soaked hand, begging the audience for some kind of help. But everyone was either too stunned or too scared to respond. Many drew away as she fell to her knees.

Coriolanus's initial reaction was to back away like the others, to grab hold of the monkey house bars for some kind of support, but Juniper screams, brought him out of his shock like trance, "Cori Go! Go Help her!"

He remembered the cameras streaming live to the Capitol audience. He hadn't the slightest clue on what to do for Arachne, but he did not want to be seen as a coward. His terror was a private thing, not meant for the public eye.

With a shove from Juniper he forced his legs into motion and was the first to reach Arachne. She clutched his shirt as the life seeped out of her.

"Medic!" he cried as he eased her to the ground. "Is there a doctor? Please, someone help!" He pressed his hand over the wound in attempt to stop the bleeding but removed it when she made a choking sound. "Come on!" he screamed at the crowd.

A couple of Peacekeepers were making their way toward him, but much too slowly for his liking. Coriolanus glanced over in time to see the District 10 girl retrieve the cheese sandwich and take a furious bite before the bullets pierced her body, slamming her into the bars. She slipped into a heap as her blood combined with Arachne's.

The crowd peeled back as panicked people tried to run out of the area. The fading light added a level of desperation. Coriolanus saw a small boy fall and watched his leg being trampled before a someone yanked him up from the ground. Others weren't so lucky.

Arachne's lips made soundless words that he could not make out. When her breathing came to a halt, he guessed it was pointless to try to bring her back. If he forced air into her mouth, wouldn't it only spill out the gaping hole in her throat? Festus was next to him now, and the two friends exchanged helpless looks.

Stumbling back from Arachne, Coriolanus flinched at the thick, red stuff coating his hands. He turned to find Juniper huddled against the bars of the cage, tears streaming down her cheeks, clutching her body he could tell she was shaking, and shortly after realized he was shaking as well.

That's how it was with him: The wash of blood, the whiz of bullets, the screams in the crowd all caused flashbacks to the worst moments of his childhood. Rebel boots pounding through the streets, he and the Grandmaam pinned down by gunfire, dying bodies twitching around them...his mother on the bloodstained bed...the stampedes during the food riots, the smashed faces, the moaning people...Juniper literally being ripped away from him...

He took immediate steps to mask his terror. Forcing his hands into fists at his sides. Trying to take slow, deep breaths. Juniper turned around and began to vomit, and he turned away to keep his own stomach at ease.

Medics appeared, placing Arachne onto a stretcher. Others tried to help those who had been wounded by stray bullets or tromped by the feet of the audience. A woman was in his face, asking if he was hurt, was this his blood? Once they'd confirmed it wasn't, they gave him a towel to wipe himself with and moved on.

As he scrubbed at the blood, he spotted Sejanus kneeling near the dead tribute. He had reached through the bars, and looked to be sprinkling a handful of something white over her body while mumbling some words. Coriolanus only caught a glimpse before a Peacekeeper came and pulled Sejanus away. The soldiers were swarming the place by now, clearing out the last remnants of the audience and lining up the tributes along the back of the cage with their hands on top of their heads. Calmer, Coriolanus tried to catch Juniper's attention, but her eyes were fixated on the ground.