Chapter VI- Blood Bath
I actually make it to the pack. I am just snatching it up when I see Katniss and the boy from 9 struggling to tear a pack from each other. A knife from Clove strikes him in the back and I freeze, momentarily stunned by the sudden death. That turns out to be a mistake, what could possibly be my last one. Marvel has finished with the girl from 6 and yanks me up. I let out a screech of panic and I taste copper in my mouth as I bite down on my tongue to keep from whimpering and begging. That's when Ian comes out of almost nowhere and slams full force into Marvel. The Career stumbles as Ian's full weight hits his side and I manage to squirm free. Ian isn't as lucky as I. Before I can stop him Marvel has snatched up the spear someone had given him to kill the girl from 6. He throws Ian off and stabs my district partner in the throat.
A cry of horror and pain escapes me and I scramble back, almost relieved when the boy from 8 distracts Marvel. I can see Clove finishing off the boy from 7 and the flash of gold hair tells me Glimmer is still alive somewhere. The girl from 4, I think her name is Lyric, is after the girl from 7 and Peeta from District 12 seems to be helping the Careers but I don't see Cato anywhere. I back up a couple steps and he snatches me up from behind. I let out a whimper as he presses the blade of his sword against my throat. "Well which is it District 3?" he croons mockingly in my ear. "Are you useful or are you dead like your worthless district partner?"
The other Careers gather around and I have to resist the twin urges to squirm and shrink back. Clove is still glaring at me, Lyric looks uninterested, Peeta almost sympathetic, Marvel is smirking, and Glimmer seems curious. My mind raced, flying through possibilities before it landed on the one thing that could save me. "The mines," I blurt out.
"What?" Glimmer asks, sounding confused and slightly hopeful.
"I can reactivate them," I stammer.
Glimmer's face lights up with delight. "We could mine the area around our camp and only leave one person to guard our supplies."
"Prove you can do it," Cato snaps, shoving me away from him.
"I need one of the mines," I force out from a suddenly heavy tongue.
"Then get one," Marvel sneers. I send a terrified glance around the group before realizing there was no help coming. I scramble over to one of the platforms we came up on and begin digging. Moments later Peeta joins me and surprisingly Glimmer follows right behind him. A moment later Lyric joins us. We unearth a mine while Clove, Marvel, and Cato count cannon blasts. When we unearth one the others back off, making me feel as if my safety net had suddenly abandoned me.
It took almost an hour messing with unfamiliar colored wires to activate the mine. "It's done," I said finally, standing up and backing nervous away from the mine. "It's armed."
"Let's test it," Marvel called, still smirking as he snatched up a rock. I let out a squeak and scrambled away from the mine. The others take one look at my terrified face and follow. Even Marvel suddenly seems nervous. He backs away until he is standing right in front of them. Then he tosses the rock. I cover my ears and the instant the rock strikes the mine there is a massive explosion. In the silence that follows all I can hear are Glimmer's delighted giggles. Clove actually looks as if she might be impressed if she didn't hate me so much. Cato is grinning like crazy and I shudder because it's the same grin he always has in my dreams when he's killing me.
"Let's move the supplies and mines down to the lake," Lyric suggests.
"Or at least somewhere away from here," Peeta adds. "We don't want to be predictable to our competition. Cato agrees and before I fully comprehend what is going on the monstrous boy out of my nightmares is dragging me off to lay mines around the site of what will be our new camp. I finish just before nightfall and am unsurprised when they leave me alone to guard the camp while they hunt. The night has just arrived in full force when the anthem plays and I look up to see who has died.
Ian is shown first and a choked sob escapes me before I cover my mouth with both hands. The boy from 4 follows Ian and I realize why it seemed odd that Lyric wasn't with her district partner. He was dead already. The boy from 5 follows and then both from 6 and 7. The boy from 8 that Marvel killed. Both from 9. Then the girl from 10. Eleven dead. Eleven out of twenty-four that entered the arena. I suddenly consider myself very lucky to even be alive.
