Amelia Mines

                                    

                                          
A tornado?? This is how they want to torture us??
                          
"Run," Kevin keeps yelling. "Run! Run! Run!"
                          
Jess moves forward to gather our things but Kevin pushes her aside. 
                          
"No time!" he screeches. 
                          
We leave all our stuff and start running down hill.
                          
The salty scent of the sea wafts in the air. The tornado is swirling above the sea, the water being propelled up. A water tornado.
                          
The tornado keeps growing by the minute and moves towards us at an alarming rate. The only thing we can see is the gigantic, whirling storm, with trees, boulders, water and earth swirling in it. The branches from the trees around us break off, and before the can fall down, they get sucked into the tornado. The storm has sucked up all the water of the sea.
                          
I try following the others, but I'm still slower than them. Trent had told me yesterday that my limbs and senses are still not completely healed and are still addled by the venom.
                          
The breaking branches catch me and hit me in the face and eyes, cutting my face and opening new wounds. The tornado sometimes throws some salt water on us as well, as a result of centrifugal force. Whenever I'm drenched with salt water, the wounds on my face and arms sting worse than ever.
                          
My boots keep catching on roots and fallen tree limbs. The first time I fall, the tornado sprays me with water. I dare to look back and the tornado is quite close on our tails. Trent stops and helps me up after which we both start following the other two.
                          
Suddenly, I hear a whooshing sound. I don't look back, I just slam into Trent and scream, "Duck!"
                          
After getting up, I find that a large piece of earth had attacked us. I glance back.
                          
The tornado has completely ripped off the cliff side, and is swirling with it now. The cliff side, where we were sitting minutes ago, is not visible.
                          
That's because it is gone. There is no cliff side.
                          
Whatever tactic they are using, it is quite original. There have been no deaths, no fights. The audience must be bored. The Gamemakers aren't using this tornado to flush us together. There aren't a lot of tributes to do that. They plan to kill us. A horrible idea comes in my mind that they want to kill me.
                          
I don't want to die. I don't.
                          
Kevin starts climbing a tree, followed by Jess, then Trent and then me. I had learnt that, during tornados, we should go down to something like cellars, basements, anything down. Just lay down.
                          
But the Gamemakers aren't going to give us any time, are they?
                          
As soon as I climbed a tree, I see Jess jumping from this tree to the one in front. Kevin is already perched on the other tree. Making sure that Jess had landed safely, Trent, too, jumps.
                          
After he lands perfectly, I too get ready to jump. The adrenaline in me helps me forget that I am scared of heights. My main aim now is to stay alive. 
                          
I jump.
                          
The wind, stray branches and loose rocks hit me in the face. I don't fall, but I don't grasp the tree. I barely manage getting my fingers on it. The others roughly pull me up, and, as soon as I'm up, they start jumping off to the next tree.
                          
I glance back. The tornado is bigger, much bigger. It sucks up the tree we were all just in. It is now close enough for me to see everything swirling in it. The water, the trees, rocks, earth and some animals. The intensity of the storm is strong enough to rip eucalyptus trees and spit them out as easily as spitting gum.