Going, Going, Gone
When Cooper had split from Ember to search for a source of food and water, it was an almost beautiful day. The sun was out, there wasn’t a cloud in sight, and Cooper actually thought about taking the heavy jacket off, but decided against it not wanting to have to carry another thing around with him. He had been walking for what felt like hours. Hoping he was headed in the right direction since he had only seen the large river once - when he glanced around while standing on top of the pedestal before the start of the game. So he continued walking, hoping to make it there by night and back by the next morning.
He had gone a decent distance when the clouds rolled in, bringing the freezing temperatures and snow along with them. At first, it wasn’t bad. Sure, it was freezing, but the snow was barely falling and he figured it would just blow over soon. But as he continued making his way south, the snow began to pick up, followed by the cool winds, and ever dropping temperature. As he continued walking, the snow began coming down even harder until it was impossible to see more than a foot or so in front of him. As he attempted to push on, he neared the edge of the canyon that dropped down into the river. On a clear day, he wouldn’t have even thought about getting close to the cliff, but his vision was limited and unfortunately he wasn’t aware of the drop that was awaiting him as soon as he stepped too close.
By now the snow was up to his ankles, making it harder for him to walk. He had thought about turning around and trying to get back to Ember, but he figured that there would be better shelter for him the closer he got to the river. Ember probably found a place to stay until the snow cleared anyway, she was smart and he knew that. Dragging his feet through the snow, he held the jacket tighter around him, shivering from the cold weather. What he would have given to be back home at that moment, or even back in the Capitol. He just wanted to feel the warmth of something against him. He wanted to not have to worry about freezing to death.
Cooper became distracted with his own thoughts and before he knew it, he could feel the ground shifting beneath him. Though he couldn’t see much, Cooper could see the drop that was in front of him. He wanted to do something, to grab onto the land to keep himself from falling, but it was too late. The ground had given out and he began slipping off the edge of the canyon. He grasped for anything that might keep him up, but the only thing he was able to get were handfuls of snow.
Within seconds, he was pummeling 30 feet down into the undoubtedly freezing water. He wouldn’t survive. He knew that. A fall from that high in this kind of weather, the only result would be death. In the few seconds it took for him to hit the water, Cooper could only think about Ember. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was thinking about her, but she was in his mind. Maybe it was because she would be the last tribute from their district in the arena and he so badly wanted for her to be the only tribute to make it out. Or maybe it was the fact that she was the closest thing he had to family in the arena and the thought of leaving her killed him. Whatever the reason, Cooper knew one thing, he wanted her to win.
His body hit the water with a loud splashing sound and all he could feel was the sting of the freezing water against his skin. He was submerged underwater and despite his weak efforts to resurface, he wasn’t going anywhere. The current was too strong and kept him stuck below the surface. He was fighting to attempt to get to the surface, using his arms and legs to try and push himself to the top. But it was no use and his body quickly grew numb. He tried to hold his breath, hoping to wait it out. Maybe he would make it to the end of the river and be able to pull himself out. He knew the chances of that were low, the gamemakers would never allow that to happen. Though he could hold his breath for longer than he though, every now and then he gave in and ended up with a mouthful of water.
It only took a few minutes for him to begin to loose consciousness. He felt it coming, but no matter how hard he tried to fight it, eventually everything went black. Minutes later, a loud cannon boomed to signal that another tribute had fallen. Cooper was not the victor of the 99th Hunger Games.
