ooAbigail had been watching them for a few days now. There were 4 in total. All of them career tributes. Cato and Clove she knew, as they were both from her district, although she doubted they knew who she was.
Abigail's father liked to pretend that she didn't exist and her mother died when she was just 9 years old. Ten years on, Abigail had learned to take care of herself, to trust no one and to never let anyone get close enough to hurt her.
The people in the Capitol were getting bored, no one had died in a few days and the Hunger Games was losing its viewers, so they sent in Abigail to speed things along.
Abigail was a tracker and a born killer from District 2, another career tribute. Usually only 2 tributes from each district were allowed to enter the arena, but the Capitol was getting desperate.
~~~~
When she arrived, Abigail found several supplies leftover from what appeared to be a burnt out camp; a canteen filled with water, some dried fruit, a knife and a length of rope. She had been using the rope to keep herself steady whilst sleeping in the trees every night and the knife, well, you can guess what she used that for.
It took her eight hours to find Cato and the others. They didn't even notice her following them and she soon learned that they only had one objective: to kill the girl from District 12. Katniss Everdeen. They believed Peeta to be dead or dying so she was their main focus.
Before the tributes settled down to dinner, Clove and another boy named Marvel searched the entire area for other tributes. They didn't think to check the trees.
Abigail watched then as Clove lit a fire and sat down with Cato to discuss battle strategies. The two other tributes merely sat and listened in. She decided that tonight was the time to introduce herself.
"...the lake is the main source of water, we need to-"
"Hello."
Clove jumped up and threw her knife in the direction of the voice. It was two inches too low. Abigail was crouched on one of the lowest branches of the willow tree, just a few feet from the fire.
She tilted her head slightly to the right and stared at them all. All of them had their weapons drawn.
Cato was the first to speak, "Who the hell are you?" His voice was rough and demanding.
"Name's Abigail, I'm the new tribute." She smiled at them menacingly.
"Since when was there a new tribute? We haven't heard anything." Said the blonde haired girl. Abigail didn't know her name.
Abigail chuckled to herself, "That's because you haven't been listening. It was on the announcement three days ago."
"Why are we even talking to this girl? Just kill her already!" announced Clove. Abigail wasn't paying attention to her. She was staring at Cato and he was staring back. He had recognised her from somewhere. He just couldn't remember where. Slowly he withdrew his knife and edged towards her. Abigail jumped down from the branch, landing on her feet. She removed her own knife from her back pocket –apparently knives were the preferred form of weaponry- and glared at him.
What was he waiting for? An invitation? She took a step towards him but he took a step back. She smirked, "Well? Are you going to kill me or not Cato?" she asked.
His frown turned into a pleasantly surprised smirk, "You know my name?"
"Oh yes, I've been watching your little 'pack' for a few days now. Quite the alliance you've got here. I'm not one for team work but who am I to judge? I just got here."
Clove glared at her, "Enough already!" she charged at Abigail.
Abigail was ready for her. She grabbed her wrist and bent it back. The knife dropped to the floor as Clove gave out a yell. She kneed her in the stomach and Clove dropped to the ground. Abigail grabbed her by the hair and yanked her to her feet. She shoved Clove in front of her so the others could see and held a knife to her throat.
"Hey, take it easy now, we're all friends here..." began Marvel.
Abigail smirked, "There are no friends in hell...Only tributes from the same district can win this thing and I don't intend on dying here." The knife was now pressing against Clove's skin, drawing blood.
Abigail turned to Cato who was now scowling at her, "Face it, if you want to get out of here alive, you need me."
She released Clove who fell to the ground, clutching her throat and Abigail held up her knife in surrender. Cato looked at her and then back to Clove. They were all from the same district. The three toughest career tributes, and only two would get out alive.
