Having come from the same district, they were expected to be a team. Jeff wasn't too keen on teaming up with the girl who was known for going on and on about dismantling "this barbaric system". She would be targeted as soon as the games started. And Britta was unwilling to stick with someone whose own father didn't bat an eyelid when he got called up. He must be awful. But here they are.
"I'm a vegetarian," she says, as he offers her some of the cooked fish. He looks at her in disbelief.
"And you're going to keep that up for the whole game?"
"I'll try to. I have berries," she says, as way of explanation, holding out her hands full of small, shiny red baubles staining them.
"Good luck with that. And I'm guessing you're not going to help me kill anyone."
"Not unless it's in self-defence. Look if we lay low, we can survive without hurting anyone."
"So you're still hoping everyone gets murdered, you just don't want to have to do it? You're not noble, you know, just apathetic."
"Right now, apathy seems like our noblest option," she says, eyes fiery.
"Give me your gun then, you have no use for it." Being small and agile, Britta had managed to pocket some of the best items from the Cornucopia.
She laughs. "That would be genius of me. Give the gun to you so you can kill me."
"Why would I kill you? You pose no threat. You're an easy target so everyone's going to focus on killing you before they even look at me. I wouldn't kill my distraction."
Then, realising his chances of getting the gun are steadily decreasing (and feeling the tiniest bit guilty about the fear dawning on her face) he adds, "Besides, if I die, I'd want you to survive. The pacifist winning would be a pretty big fuck-you to the Capitol."
She smiles but says, "I don't think so."
"Then I guess you want to be the one who shoots whoever's rustling around in the bushes outside our camp."
Someone immediately launches themselves at Jeff and Britta, but Britta shoots him though the head immediately, a reflex action. She swallows and looks away afterwards but otherwise holds herself together.
"Self-defence," she says, in response to Jeff's surprised face.
"It looks like they came from South-West. When I went looking for food, I saw that's where Heinemann's camp is situated. That means they might storm our camp whenever they realise their "messenger" is gone, so we should be prepared," she says
"Who knew? You're kind of smart and not actually the worst," Jeff says.
"You should write greeting cards," she says and he smirks.
"We should attack them before they attack us. Pre-emptive self-defence."
"That's not a thing. We can hide in the bushes and shoot them if they try to attack our camp. Avoid needless bloodshed."
"We shouldn't be hiding in our own camp," he attempts, but she's made up her own mind.
He tries a different tack.
"I meant it you know, you're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for. And your "do no harm" thing, at first I thought it was naive but in the midst of all of this… it's refreshing." He leans forward, having backed her against a tree. "I know this is more than a little sudden, but seeing as we might be dead in five to ten minutes—"
She leans into the kiss as he slips the gun from her holster. He realises that he's prolonging the kiss a little longer than was strictly necessary and quickly pulls back, half-heartedly pointing the gun at her.
"So shoot me," she says.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Just promise you'll let me storm the camp unimpeded."
"I'd rather you don't die a horrible death, but if you insist I won't stand in your way."
"Relax, I know my way around a gun."
She laughs, "Maybe an empty one. But you clearly don't know how much bullets weigh."
Realisation dawns and he opens the barrel as she holds up a handful of bullets.
"I had a feeling you might try and pull some femme-fatale shit as soon as you started flirting with me, so I took out the bullets while you were distracted. You're not exactly observant, especially when a button or two is undone."
"Well…You're not the naive flowerchild I thought you were".
"And you're not the dumb, ruthless jock I thought you were."
"Wait…why let me kiss you in the first place?"
"I wanted to see if you would try to shoot me. "
"That's one hell of a trust exercise. Are you sure it wasn't because you secretly have a massive crush on me?"
"I don't think we should be talking about this while attackers could arrive any second."
"That's not a no. In fact, it's practically a yes—"
He pauses when they hear steps coming from the nearby woodland.
"Toss me the gun," she says quietly.
He hesistates.
"Jeff. You wouldn't shoot me – I'm not going to shoot you."
"But I betrayed you."
"Yet didn't try to kill me. I still trust you more than everyone else in this game."
Hearing the steps getting closer, he tosses her the gun and reaches for his own bow and arrow.
She shoots the first attacker as he comes in with guns ablazing. The second attacker is a girl younger than 15, she guesses, and she hesitates for a second. The girl uses the time to shoot an arrow at Jeff as he pulls his bow backwards and Britta takes a sharp breath in to steady herself, shooting her through the chest. She scans the trees for any other attackers before looking to Jeff. She rips off the bottom of Jeff's shirt to use as a bandage on his leg wound.
"Let's take this slow," he says, trying to annoy her, to distract her from her sickened looks towards the bodies.
She tries the same, to distract him from the pain that must be shooting up his leg.
"You have a crop top now, so relax, there's no chance of sex."
From then on, there's an unspoken understanding that they make a good team, and they'll stick together until death inevitably comes to one or both of them. Neither of them are fans of marriage, but till death do us part is looking more and more achievable.