A/N- Sorry that I haven't updated my story in so long. I hope I haven't lost any readers, but if I have, it's my own fault. Thank you for reviewing. Happy holidays and happy New Year.
Review: At the Cornucopia, Ceth, Helena, and Anthony dominated, killing several people. There are now 14 tributes alive. Ceth and Helena (District 12) teamed up with Anthony and Penelope (District 7) because Ceth needed protection for when he got to the Cornucopia so he wouldn't be killed. The alliance slept in a cave for the night. Ceth and Helena know the layout of the arena because they figured out it would be the same arena as it was in the first Hunger Games. Helena and Ceth tried to play the "cold-blooded" angle, but after the first day, Ceth had an emotional break down in front of Helena.
Anthony awakes me the following morning for a breakfast of beef jerky. We have only a bottle of water left, and we are all thirsty. "We'll get some water from our sponsors," Anthony says, but Helena scowls at this idea.
"We're not relying on sponsors for something as simple as water," she says. "No. We will go find a river." With that, we all pick up our bags and follow Helena out of the cave. I look at my compass and notice that we are headed east.
Catching up to Helena, I whisper, "Where are you going? The river is further north."
"Don't be stupid," she says. "We don't want Anthony and Penelope to know about our advantage." I slump back to my spot behind her.
Helena stops walking, and I almost walk into her. She puts a finger to her lips as she turns around. I look in front of her to see Gordon, the deaf boy from District 5, picking berries. His partner, Parker, from District 4, is nowhere to be seen.
"Helena," I say quietly, though not at a whisper, "He's deaf. We don't have to be quiet."
"Don't be retarded; this is a trap. District 4 wouldn't leave him on his own. This deaf kid is bait." Helena's whisper pierces my ears.
A thud coming from behind causes us all to turn around. I hear Helena let out a yelp. Facing forward again, I see Helena with a knife in her arm and Parker ready to throw another. Behind him, Gordon is still picking berries. Helena pulls the knife out of her arm without making a sound of pain. The rip in her outfit is patched with blood, the knife in her hand is shielded with blood, and Helena just ignores her pain and hurls the bloody knife with her bloody arm at Parker. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Penelope running south, away from the river.
I ready my bow and fire at Parker, who dodges my attack. By now, Gordon has noticed our presence and has a dagger in his hand. From behind me, Anthony says, "Run. They have us outnumbered."
"We'll go north. You follow Penelope," Helena says. As she bolts away, I fire one last shot at Gordon before following Helena. Gordon's soft moan assures me that my arrow made contact with him. I hear no footsteps chasing us, so when I gain a safe distance, I turn to look. I see Parker attending to Gordon and two figures behind him, a boy and a girl. Could it be District 11? The only other male still alive is District 6, but him partner, his cousin, is dead.
Helena and I jog the mile or so to the river. We know there is no decent structure nearby to be a shelter, so we just settle down by the riverside.
"Damn," Helena says. Penelope was carrying the full water bottle with her, and Anthony has the iodine."
I smile and say, "It doesn't matter. We got a gift last night." I pull out the Gatorade and hand it to Helena. She drinks some without saying anything.
"Helena, I think Katniss was rewarding me for my emotional outburst last night. She doesn't want us to be cold-blooded killers; she wants us to be human." Right on cue, a bottle of iodine falls and lands at our feet.
"I doubt it," Helena says. I stare at her, mouth open. Did she not see the gift? Obviously that's a sign that I'm right.
"But Helena!" I say, but she cuts me off.
"Let's set up traps around this tree and sleep in the branches," she says. I give up trying to explain myself and take the rope out of my bag. We set up three human traps. We find two large branches next to each other to sleep on. It's uncomfortable, but there's no chance we will fall out. As the anthem plays, I only see one face in the sky. The District 10 girl is dead. Thirteen still remain.
The next morning, the sound of a girl's yelp wakes us up. I see Penelope hanging by her foot in one of our traps. "Don't worry Penelope. This must be Helena and Ceth's trap. I recognize the rope." The voice belongs to Anthony; his accent is unmistakable. Helena and I get out of our sleeping bag. I climb down the tree to meet them.
"Hey, Anthony! Hey, Penelope! We'll get you out in a second."
An arrow flies above me and hits Anthony in the forehead. Anthony falls over, Penelope shrieks, and I can't move at all. A tendril loop of blood glides down Anthony's ghostly face. Helena drops down from the tree next to me. I realize what happened, so I rush to Anthony and grab the first aid kit. By the time I get to him, a cannon fires. Penelope screams again and another cannon fires. I cry and throw myself onto Anthony's dead body. Why did I leave Helena alone with Penelope? I don't understand what happened; Helena betrayed our alliance with District 7.
"Helena!" My voice surprises me. I didn't realize how angry I could sound. "How could you do this? They were our friends!" I turn around to see Helena calmly searching Penelope's upside-down corpse. I try to yell more, but tears control my voice. Helena finishes searching Penelope and moves to Anthony. I untie her from the trap and lay her down on the ground next to Anthony with her arms crossed. I close both their eyes as Helena continues to search Anthony for valuables.
"Did you get the rope?" Helena says. I look at her with red eyes and nod. "Good," she says, and she walks away without taking a second glance and our friends. We pack up all our supplies and head to an area with more trees to hide us while we eat breakfast. I notice that Anthony and Penelope received some bread, most likely from District 7. I feel guilty eating it, but I'm too hungry to pass up decent food.
"We were done with them," Helena says. Her voice surprises me. "We aligned with them so Anthony could protect you at the Cornucopia. It's good we killed them now before they killed us." I don't respond. After a few more moments of silence, we finish our food, and Helena says, "We should go hunting."
"Hunting?" I say. "We don't know how to hunt." She looks at me for a second, and I realize what she means. I want to protest. I don't want to kill any more people. However, I know I have to kill or be killed, and I still value my life higher than anyone else's in this arena. My life is still my number one priority.
