thearena | You were always great at keeping my head above water.

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You were always great at keeping my head above water.

Who: Sandy, Notpruna and Max
What: A mercy maiming
When: Week 4
Where: The edge of the carnival
Warnings: Blood, violence towards children

"OK, so just hold the Axe like that...good...good now just lift it over-"

There was a clatter as the wood chopping axe, heavily stained with blood fell to the ground from the zombie like girls fingers.

Sandy cursed out loud and with her good arm scooped up the axe, holding it by the flat of it's blade and trying to find some way to aim it at her shoulder.

"I don't have much time Pruna I need you to hack this thing off or I'm gonna die!"

The creature that was not pruna just gazed vacantly. Sandy groaned and shuddered dropping the axe and clutching at her arm. She knew the virus was already spreading in her arm. she couldn't move her fingertips anymore and who knew how much longer she had?

But maybe...just maybe if she could chop off this arm...

...a sudden burst of movement and Pruna was ontop of her, scratching wildly at Sandy's eyes. Sandy barely had time to scream as she crashed to the ground and brought her fist into the creatures nose.

There was a sickening crunch of bone and only a faint trickle of blood came oozing out. It was black and congealed.

"GET OFF!" Sandy howled twisting and rolling till the beast that was not her best friend was flat on it's back. With tears streaming down her eyes Sandy seized the axe.

"I knew this was too good to be true! I KNEW IT!" She shrieked driven mad by pain and panic and fear. With one hand she swung the axe down at the creature before it could rise. A spurt of blood shot up and pained the front of Sandy's torn up hoodie as well as splattering onto her face.

This blood too was black as ink.

Letting out an anguished cry Sandy hauled the axe out of the creatures chest and swung it down again catching her shoulder. Still the creature squirmed. The blade was stuck!

Planting a foot on the creatures chest she grunted with effort to pull the axe out and struck with it one last time slicing the head clean from it's body.

...well, not clean. There was black blood splattered all up her front and pooling under the body as Sandy heaved heavily.

Pitching forward she crawled along the ground to the closest bush and threw up, but with no food in her stomach all that came was like sticky drool that burned her throat and nose.

"S-still...got a chance." She heaved as she remained half buried in the bush on the chance she might throw up some more.

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Max was in a bad place since she watched Courfeyrac die for her. There was a deep pain in her chest that didn't go away no matter how many horrible things she killed in this Arena. Yes, she knew that they were all destined to die in this place, but not like that, not for her. She tried hard not to think about going back to the shop without Courfeyrac.

Wandering towards the carnival, Max stopped short at the sound of a familiar voice. She took off, dust kicking up behind her, and rounded a corner just in time to see Sandy vomit in a bush.

"Sandy? Sandy, you're hurt." There was enough blood that without her abilities, Max couldn't tell how much was Sandy's and how much was whatever creature she killed.

"M-max?" She gasped falling backwards onto her rump and gazing up at the girl. A hand came up to use her sleeve and wipe away some of the gross liquid running from her lip.

"Max I...you need to help me." She begged pointing at her bloodied axe. "I've been bitten, dying." She held up her left arm which had a deep chunk taken out of it. The wound was obviously infected with something and festered with disease. Her eyes were wild and desperate.

It was obvious what Sandy was asking. To die slowly was horrible, but for Max to put her friend out of her misery...

Max took up the axe only to put it back down again. "No. There might...I can help." She took out her small knife and cut into her arm. "I'm a universal donor. My blood is stronger than anything they have. It can heal you." The Capitol could make her weak, but nothing could change her blood. It didn't matter that Sandy had too much of the poison running through her body, Max was certain she could save her friend.

There was nothing around to help with even a simply transfusion, but maybe her own blood would attack the poisoned blood before it fully infected Sandy. Max squeezed her arm and let the blood pour into Sandy's wound.

Sandy's eyes went wide as Max went about her work to try and save the girl. She almost yanked her arm back but the blood was already spattering onto the bites and oozing into the mess that had formed there.

"Have you uh...have you done this before?" Sandy murmured, her eyes darting back and forth between the wound and Max.

"They showed us once." Once was all it took for an X5 to learn a new skill. Max kept her blood flowing into Sandy's wound. She knew her blood could save a fellow X5 and was fairly certain it would help a normal human, but what about a sometimes stone human who had been bitten by a zombie? If they had the right equipment for a proper transfusion Max would be more confident in her ability to save her friend. "Do you feel any different?"

She took a moment to consider it and groaned closing her eyes.

"Hot. Too hot. I don't think it's working." Sweat was beading on her forehead now and her skin was starting to look waxy and pale.

"I-I..." Her throat seemed to close when she tried to make the suggestion but she forced her way through it. "I think you've gotta cut it off. Maybe we can keep it from spreading any further..." She felt her heart speeding up and hitting her chest harder.

Max can only shake her head as it takes her a moment to find her voice. "You'll bleed out. There's nothing to cauterize the wound and even if there was the possibility for infection is too high."

She cuts deeper into her own arm, forcing more blood to flow over Sandy's grotesque wound. "This will work."

If she wasn't currently becoming infected Sandy would probably be blushing from missing such an obvious flaw in her plan.

Falling silent she watches the blood run from Max's wound to the open bite.

Time seemed to stretch on and Sandy gave a shudder, her eyes glazing over and breathing shallower. It wasn't looking good.

Max didn't let go and Sandy shook. She kept her own blood flowing into her friend's wound heedless of the fact that Sandy was so very still.

Her stomach hurt. Max finally put her arm down even as she kept an eye on Sandy's wound. Nothing had changed and now... No, Max wasn't going to think about it. She wrapped her arms around Sandy and sat there waiting, thinking that maybe, maybe all they needed was a little more time.

As the world began to fade for Sandy her lips were moving slowly. Was she saying something? If Max cared to move closer she might hear a rasp and a sigh.

"I'm sorry Ashley."

What had once felt so warm was rapidly turning cold. She felt like her stone form was starting from the inside and spreading through her limbs. She had never died in such a peaceful yet unpleasant way.

At least technically she hadn't been eaten this time. Not completely.

The cannon sounded once more as the young girl died for the sixth time.

Max let Sandy's body fall from her arms. It was no use, this place made them too weak; made her too weak. She knows she could have saved Sandy. In any other world the strength of her blood would have been enough to overcome whatever this was. In any other world they wouldn't have been here killing for amusement.

Standing up, Max stepped back and waited for the machines to take Sandy away where she would wake up new again. Logically Max knew the pain in her stomach shouldn't be there. Sandy was going to wake up and have a real meal and probably jump into that huge tub every suite had. It didn't make the feeling go away.

She should leave. Even as she hurt inside, Max was telling herself to leave Sandy to the machines, but she didn't want to think about her friend lying there alone, so she stood far enough back that Sandy's body could be taken away. She owed it to her friend.

But strangely enough...the robots never came.

After a period of about five minutes which must have felt longer then it was...Sandy's body twitched.

Her eyes snapped open and her body lay still for a moment longer.

A perceptive person might notice she did not take in a breath of air.

Twitching again she jerked onto her side, and then onto her belly where another seize of her muscles and black thick slime came out of her lips to dribble onto the ground. Was it blood? Was it infected? It smelled foul if you were close enough to it.

She was moving like a puppet who's master hadn't yet figured out how to pull the strings. Each motion was jerky and sharp. Fingers dug against the hard ground as her head rose slowly and her empty eyes starred at Max. The blackness dripped from her chin and stained her teeth.

Max started to move forward from where she stood waiting for Sandy's body to be taken, but instinct held her back. When Sandy stood up, Max realized that instinct may have saved her from whatever Sandy had become.

No. Wait. Max knew this look. Her mind flashed through the recordings of past Arena's and she mentally kicked herself. Of course. Of course! She should have recognized the bite, the thick, black mucus of one that was no longer alive. She should have listened to her friend and simply cut off the arm, or better yet, kill the girl before she could turn into this thing before her. It was far too late now.

Slowly Max moved forward, her hand already reaching for the wire that she kept in her back pocket. "Sandy?" Max held up a hand, a warning to the girl to stop. She had to see if there was anything of her friend left inside.

The head snapped sharply, tilted at an odd angle as glassy empty eyes stared in Max's direction. She was not looking directly at Max but rather through her...perhaps she was blind in death?

It didn't matter though because now she was lurching and jerking her body towards Max with her mouth open. More of the disgusting fluid leaked from her teeth and over her lips staining them. Groping hands reached for Max as a low moan reverberated through the corpse. She did not need to breath but the sound of air leaking out of her body became a deadly sounding hiss.

This was not Sandy. This creature before her wasn't even a shadow of her friend. Max still hesitated to attack right away, the memory of Sandy dying so slowly and so painfully still so clear in Max's head.

The groping hands that reached for her removed Max's hesitation. In an instant she whipped the wire out at not-Sandy's vulnerable neck and spun so that she was facing this creature's back; those blank eyes too much to look at as she tried to kill what was left of her friend.

The wire cut into her dead flesh with some difficulty. The muscles had not yet atrophied but the skin was tough and cold.

She did not need to breath but the flesh could be stripped away. The muscles were being cut away slowly and surely.

The clumsy mindless beast clawed at the air uselessly trying to reach her and completely unable to twist around to do so. The scent of life was all around her making her hunger burn like a flame.

But she would never find the satisfaction.

This fight was over already even as the wires found it's way to the bones in her neck. Disgusting gurgling sounds filled the air as the tainted blood bubbled and slopped out of the cut staining the front of her clothes.

She keeps pulling. Even with the gurgling stops and black spray of blood slows, Max pulls. Anger and fear of what this Arena has done to her friend drives Max to make sure this thing is actually dead.

Her muscles aren't as strong, but she knows just how to pull the wire so that it cuts through muscle. Whatever this imitation of Sandy was, it's now nothing more than a headless corpse. Max's arms fall to the side and Sandy's blank eyes stare up at her from where the head had fallen to the dirt. This time Max wasn't going to wait for the machines to take the body away. She was tired and suddenly the anger she had felt was gone, leaving her nothing to feel the void in her gut.

Pocketing the wire, Max left the corpse where it fell and headed back towards the building that held what was left of her friends.

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You were always great at keeping my head above water.

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