I lied- there are deaths in this chapter! Reviews are always loved. Thanks for reading! Let's wake Sol up now :).
I wake up with sore legs and a guilty, guilty conscience. Realizing I'm utterly unprotected, I struggle to my feet and continue plodding up the stairs. Now that it's light outside again, I can see signs on the walls that tell what floor I have reached as I climb. I awoke, panicking, on Floor 27. I begin to relax when I reach Floor 42 with aching legs and no sign of enemies. My legs have gone numb by Floor 53. Finally, the stairs end in a doorway next to the brass sign with an embellished '60' on it. I twist the shiny doorknob and the steel door slides open silently. I emerge onto a rooftop that looks out over the city, which even from this vantage point seems to go on forever. Then I look at the rooftop itself and I see that it's littered with weapons and small packages of food, including a silver parachute attached to a picnic basket I could fit in easily. Two girls are crouching on the edge of the building, busily keeping watch over the city. One, however, hears the door shut with a gentle thud and breaks her vigil to confront me. She brandishes a whip and stalks forward, her face obscured by long dirty-blonde hair.
"You're one of the Careers! How did you get in without us seeing you? Where are the rest of your allies?" she demands to know. It's Leris, which is the best luck I could have right now. Out of all the tributes, she's probably the least likely to kill me.
"Mostly dead. All except for me and Blossom, but we split up. I got here in the night." I reply vaguely. I don't want potential allies to think I murder everyone. Leris's eyes light up at the news of the broken Career pack and she seems to relax. "Where did you get all of this stuff?" I marvel.
"Yesterday we were trying to find a place to stay and we found a few knives in one building, a package of beef jerky in another, stuff like that. This was our camp the first night, so we came back last night. But the real survival stuff came from Azalea's sponsors." Azalea, who has been watching our exchange cautiously, stands and walks over at the mention of her name. She holds a knife tightly in one delicate hand. Of course this pretty girl is already getting gifts. I notice Leris holds a bow, but it's strung all wrong.
"Well, it looks like you could use a fighter," I offer. Neither of the two twelve-year-olds had training scores over five. I hold out my hand and Leris, after a small hesitation, shakes it. Alliance Number Two. The rest of the day passes slowly, and no more blood is spilled as the sun sets over the arena. I try to get to know my new allies.
"So, what part of Eleven were you from, Azalea?" I'm so bad at starting conversations.
"I lived in the area where we grew raspberries and potatoes," she replies wistfully, "My mom, dad, and I worked during planting and harvest, and my dad and mom were on teams that protected and cared for the crops. When I wasn't working, I took care of my little brothers. I had four of them, too- Idan, Jem, Arely, and Cuhn. They were all in school, though, so I was able to attend classes most of the year. I…I don't know how my family will be able to stay together if I die!" She starts shaking with her sobs, and I regret asking about her home.
"Well, at least you have siblings," I try to comfort her, "my brother Orion died in the Quarter Quell last year." My eyes tear up too, and suddenly we're both crying. Great, that makes us look like victors. Leris watches us both until our eyes have run dry, drawing on the cement rooftop with a charred stick. I'm blinking away my last tears and swiping at my red eyes when I catch sight of her sketch. It's a huge dog, maybe even a wolf, nudging a girl's cheek as she strokes its alert ears. Leris catches me watching her draw and smiles sadly.
"In the forests outside Twelve, there are wolves that romp through the forests. When my mom was killed by Peacekeepers, I ran to the forest, and one of the wolves found me and lay down at my feet like it was protecting me. That's who I want to get home to," she explains. The drawing is amazing; I can almost feel the affection between the two sketched beings. Then the Capitol seal is projected in the sky and we all forget the sob stories for a moment.
The Career boys are the only faces in the sky that night, and seeing them ratchets my guilt back up to last night's level. Soon the Gamemakers will pull the other tributes back into the spotlight.
Since we're so hard to reach, reasons Azalea, we don't need to keep night watches going. Because of this, we don't awake until the dogs are growling horribly loud at the bottom of our building. By the time we overcome the initial bleary moment of panic and make it to the roof's edge, the snarls and howls are diminishing. However, as the Capitol says, the action is just beginning. Two tributes have been driven together at the bottom of our skyscraper. Taylor and Scythe. Both are injured with multiple dog bites, and Scythe has a harpoon wound from Zell in his left leg. They see each other simultaneously and Scythe draws his ironic scythe. Taylor has no weapon. Beside me peering over the side of the building, Azalea winces. She realizes about how long this fight will last. I brace myself for Taylor's cannon.
But Taylor surprises us, most of all Scythe. Spinning his weapon, he jauntily approaches the wiry District Three girl. She ducks his first swing and his sneer is visible from our perch. It's wiped right off his ugly face when Taylor pops him in the jaw. He swings again, a little harder. She dodges again. Scythe is used to easy kills and Taylor is already aggravating him. Azalea has told us that Scythe told her on the train that he would kill her in the arena. We see Taylor punch him again; this time the blow hits Scythe in the ribs. Swing, dodge. Swing, dodge, punch. When the girl I previously thought too nerdy to do much physical harm kicks the District 11 boy in the gut hard, his pain becomes evident. Taylor takes full advantage of Scythe's disability. She charges to his side, rips the scythe from his hand, and jerks his head to the side. BOOM. The audience will go insane, knowing that Leris, Azalea, and I saw the full skirmish. Taylor walks off a little way while his body is collected, then picks up the now-ownerless scythe. We wait with bated breath to see what the girl will do next.
The barking returns. A girl appears a little ways down the street, running toward Taylor. She's got a pack of feral dogs hot on her heels, and I think she's dead meat. But then she whistles a sharp note and her pack surges forward. Taylor raises her newly gained scythe and attempts to stand her ground, but she has no chance against twelve powerful hounds. They overwhelm her, and she screams in agony. BOOM. The girl calls her dogs away from the body, and that's when I realize who she is. District Ten's Gentia, who promised to kill me while we were in training. Of course! District Ten is livestock, where they use dogs to herd and hunt various other animals. Gentia sneers at Taylor's broken body and turns to leave with her pack.
Two faces appear that night. While I pity their families, I do not have to relive their deaths in my guilty dreams.
Welcome to the New Alliance, Sol! Have fun with Leris and Azalea while you can. :)
Taylor! :'( She was awesome. Scythe was a jerk, I'm glad he's gone. Next chapter, - ah, well, if you care you'll come back. (It's a good one, though!) Please review! :D
