9
We pass one frozen animal after another as we make our way, quietly as possible, to a perch near the Cornucopia. Having planned this attack since the announcement last night, we are about to attempt to kill Avan and Inferno.
"After the feast starts, we attack." Kodiak starts. "They will be busy pursing the desperate tributes, so we have a better chance at getting at them."
"Don't forget the supplies; I haven't eaten food with a taste since those nuts." Saffra adds.
"Saffra, you can run into the Cornucopia and grab some food and weapons for us right before we attack." Kodiak says with an eye roll. "And Cambria, will you come and attack with me?"
"Yeah, sounds good." I say with a wink at Saffra. "Pick up some more salted nuts, k?"
She punches my shoulder and I stick my tongue out at her. We aren't the best of friends, but a simple alliance is enough for me. Yelling breaks out as the sky gets lighter. The feast has started, and that means so have we.
"Go now." Kodiak hisses as we slink down the rocky hill side in the bushes.
Of course, more thorn bushes for us to walk through, meaning more puffy scars from the stinging tips. The ground is really unstable, and my biggest fear now is losing my footing and falling down this hillside headfirst. Right then my foot falls loose and I fall forward, but my arm is jerked back and I am in Kodiak's arms before I can fall a foot.
"Ok, maybe this wasn't the best idea." he says as he sets me back down.
"Um, thanks for that." I smile weakly into his gray eyes.
A smile plays at the corner of his mouth as he nods his head. I have to keep telling myself this will never work out, but I can't help liking him a little.
"Snap out of it lovebirds, we have a mission to launch and it's not getting any earlier." Saffra snaps as she pushes angrily through a thorn bush with a cry of pain.
I can see the Cornucopia clearly now. Only the Careers have approached the restocked supply pile and are picking through it with hungry eyes. The shadows have still swallowed most of the arena, making it hard to see any approaching tributes.
"Saffra you run now to the Cornucopia and be careful, we'll follow you down." Kodiak says as he starts forward in a run.
She nods her approval and breaks into a sprint towards the Cornucopia. Out of the corner of my eye I spot Conan who is also sprinting to the Cornucopia. Kodiak takes the axe from my hands and approaches the Careers from behind, I follow close behind him. Inferno is unarmed, but Avan has a bow and arrow clenched in her hand.
Inferno whips around to face Kodiak, his eyes are burning with amber and red sparks.
Inferno.
"Kodiak, nice of you to return." he growls as he thrusts his hands onto Kodiak's neck, unaware of the axe at his side.
At that second a cannon blast shakes the arena. I turn to the sound of a yelp, just as Saffra falls to her knees with a knife in her hand. I watch in horror as Conan runs and pries the weapon from my ally's tight grip.
"Why?" I ask in disbelief.
He looks up at me, and I hold his stare for one second. I notice the gash in his neck and the pain in his gaze.
Apology, I saw apology behind those hardened eyes.
And with that, he takes off into the bushes with a handful of food that he snagged in the commotion. Kodiak is blue in the face from Inferno's grip, but in that second's hesitation from Inferno he cuts his side with the axe and Inferno too falls to his knees. Another canon blast to mark his death and we take off into the woods, Kodiak behind me with the stuff Saffra picked up before 'it' happened.
Conan's POV
My knife found its mark, the girl with the saffron hair. Cambria's eyes told me I did something wrong, but from the times that the three of them walked by my camp in the bush I could see Cambria didn't like that girl. I'll never forgive myself for killing someone, even if it's for TV, murder is wrong, no matter the context.
I did manage to get some food though; I wasn't going to stop at anything to get it because I am starved. A cooked chicken, some strange purple fruit that tasted too good to be true, some crackers, and a water bottle that I filled up along the way to clean the arrow wound. I got one parachute for surviving the injury; it was medicine to stop the pain and infection and it worked pretty well.
I actually have a shot at winning now with only one Career left besides the one with Cambria, the boy from four, both from seven, and both from twelve for all I know. That makes nine left. Another canon blast, it gets crazy at eight.
