The smoke, rushing towards them.
Percy, he tripped on his feet.
They had to leave their teammate Bianca behind,
But that's a mistake they won't repeat.

13 dead in 4 days,
11 more to go.
Welcome to the 67th Hunger games,
Where our friends become our foe.

Thalia from district 5,
Ran behind to help him up.
Before the smoke could choke them
They rushed back to the group.

This kind of friendship was unusual,
From Zoë's point of view.
She had barricaded too much emotion
To feel the bond that had grew.

These were the Hunger games after all,
They were gonna get betrayed in the end.
And what death is worse than
A stab in the back by a friend.

Grudgingly agreeing to be allies
With Thalia, Phoebe, Bianca and Grover
Percy replaced Phoebe when she died
Back to the present, they heard a whirr.

The four turned around
To meet a horrific sight.
A bloody 5 foot lion standing there
In all its might.

Off they ran again,
To the east this time.
Finally reached a safe spot
Sweaty and covered with grime.

Finally a rest,
After hours of running,
Too tired to hunt for food,
The game-makers were cunning.

At this rate,
Each of their deaths were certain
If there were going to be hunger and deaths
At every turn.

Pulling her out of her thoughts,
Percy spoke behind her,
"You should go to sleep.
You need it NightMaster."

Yes that was his nickname for her,
She never knew why.
Percy's humour went over her head,
No matter how hard she would try.

She smiled a little
When he called her that.
He was like a brother to her,
An annoying one at that.

"You need your best to guard,"
She tried to be bold.
Humour was never her best quality,
And she was tired, truth to be told.

"Just, don't think too much about Bianca,"
Grover added.
"There was no choice. She had to do it,"
Thalia too said.

"Of course.
We need to survive the games
Cuz that's what she would have wanted,
We need to honour the dead tributes' names.

One of us needs to win,
To remember the reason they are dead.
To be brave and fair,"
That's all Zoë could have said.

Then she laid back,
A wave of guilt overcoming her.
No matter what they said, she couldn't forgive herself,
Not until forever.

Like an arrow through the heart,
A burning tear escaping the eye.
Bianca's death affected her the most,
But she promised she wouldn't cry.

As others lay down to sleep,
For hours she just lay thinking.
A cold wind blowing her hair away,
Her soul slowly sinking.

She looked at the sky,
It was pitch black.
No stars in sight,
Nothing to track.

It was quite a long time later,
That she heard a familiar whirr
Too late to react,
There was a lion in here.

She didn't make a sound,
As her hand crept to Thalia to wake her,
No sudden movements,
She only felt fear.

But as an instinct,
Thalia immediately jumped up,
It was the worst mistake she could make
Zoe was on the ground with the lion on top.

Claws dug into her chest,
Dragged to her leg.
She let out a piercing scream,
It was a plea, a beg.

Blood, pain, flesh
Was all that existed.
Why was this happening,
The world was twisted.

Teeth dug into her neck,
Both paws crushing her chest.
But it didn't get a chance to tear her throat out,
A chance for her to rest.

For Percy had got up,
And threw his sword at it,
And Thalia too,
Took her weapons from the pit.

But Grover ran to her,
Fear evident in his eyes.
He shouted something to her,
Maybe consolating lies.

But Zoë couldn't hear anything,
Except a buzz. She needed aid.
Maybe dying wouldn't be so bad now.
Everything was starting to fade...

She caught a last glimpse,
Of Percy and Thalia winning.
Then she closed her eyes.
Inside her mind, she was grinning.

Her eyes started opening,
All she saw was bright light,
She tried to reach out to it,
But something held her tight.

Then like a hook on her ribs,
Something pulled her back.
Everything was moist and gritty,
Something like a sack.

But then it came,
The wave of pain.
She screamed out once
And then again.

It was like the pain wouldn't go,
It kept coming in waves.
Waiting for it to end,
Until she saw a familiar face.

She stopped screaming.
The stabbing of pain stopped.
"Thalia," she croaked.
Then her eyelids dropped.

Even in unconsciousness,
The pain followed her.
Rocks were smashing her,
The burning lasted longer.

Finally once again,
She opened her eyes.
Propped against a tree,
Maybe this was nice.

Sitting around her were her allies,
Maybe even her family, she could say.
Percy, Grover and Thalia.
She would die for them any day.

First there was silence,
Then Thalia burst out sobbing.
Tears running down her face,
Eyes red, hurt like stabbing.

Grover too was tear-streaked,
His lip quivering at her sight.
He was being brave, she could tell.
He was holding back anger too, a fire so bright.

Then there was Percy,
No tear in sight.
Covered in blood.
She knew he would put up a fight.

"We can do this, Zoë.
Just don't go,"
Whispered Thalia,
But she couldn't say no.

The pain was almost numb now,
So was mind.
Why were they being put through this,
The fates were not kind.

Nobody could speak anything,
They knew what would happen.
Sometimes just silence was enough,
And now something had to be done.

She looked at Percy,
"Do it," she whispered.
Hoping he understood.
Hoping he heard.

Thalia and Grover looked up,
Red eyed.
Zoë wanted them to agree,
Thalia just sighed.

Percy got up silently,
No words were spoken.
If someone said anything,
Everyone would be broken.

There was just grief all around,
Them taking in each others' sight.
Zoë, she knew she was being selfish,
But she just needed to go to the Light.

Finally she knew what a family was,
Something that couldn't be put in words.
It was peaceful and calm,
Like flowing water or the chirping of birds.

Percy raised his sword,
For the first time she saw tears in his eyes.
But there was also hesitation which she couldn't bear,
So she looked up at the skies.

She blinked once, twice,
But the tears wouldn't stop.
She saw the glimpse of Percy's sword,
And then he let it drop.

It was swift, as she hoped.
Barely felt any pain.
Then a last thought crossed her mind,
"I can see the stars again..."