Chapter Ten: The Betrayed
Kieran
It's about afternoon now, and Finnegan and I have been watching the island go up in flames. We considered going to the Cornucopia island, but there's no trees for shelter and we can easily be snuck up on. We know the same will happen to us if we go to the other islands, so we only have one other alternative: the forest.
Something churns in my stomach whenever I think of the forest. I know for a fact that the Careers are in the forest, and I really don't want to deal with them. Finnegan and I may be able to take on one or two; but we'd literally be dead against the whole pack of five. I honestly don't want to kill anyone yet, either. If it's in self defense, I guess I'll have to do some killing, but it's all just so wrong to me.
I've done a lot of thinking ever since I've been stuck in this mess. Usually, I wouldn't have thought so much about these Games, but the fact that my own District betrays me hurts. I have just began to feel it. I'm not sure if I even want to go home. I don't think I'll be able to face the District who betrayed Finnegan and I and that sent us into the arena to our deaths. I have a feeling Finnegan feels the same way. I can see it in his eyes.
Another thing I've discovered about myself during my stay at the Capitol is that I have a talent of reading one's eyes. I've been practicing a lot with Finnegan. I can tell about a person by just their eyes. Like, I can tell Finnegan's a fun joker on the outside by his happy expression, but in his eyes, I can tell he's someone with a lot of secrets. I can tell this by the swirling colors of one's eyes, where they're placed, how big they are. I wonder what my eyes reveal about me.
We're almost near the forest now. I take some time to examine it. The trees are mostly pine, but I can see some oak. There's hills and valleys, and I can also spot a large hill that looks like a small mountain. Finnegan and I will be highly exposed here. I hope there's a river somewhere, because without our river, we have a slim chance of survival. We'll really need our wits on this island.
Finally, our log bumps the island, and Finnegan and I gather our weapons, and I pick up the pack. It takes a bit, but Finnegan manages to safely get off the log and walk onto the shore. We both look into the depths of the forest, knowing exactly what lies there. The other tributes. Maybe our death is in there somewhere. Definitely one of our killers.
"Ready?" He asks. Not looking at him, I nod. Our one advantage has been taken away; the water. The shore's much to shallow to catch a proper fish, and if we waded out, we could always be ambushed on the shore or the Cornucopia. Our only choice is the forest, and to hope there's a river in there somewhere.
"I think we should go up in the trees," I say. "Knowing the Careers, they're somewhere near the shore, waiting for us. We don't know the forest well enough to go on foot."
Finnegan looks nervous at this suggestion. I know he's scared because he doesn't know if he'll be able to make it up the trees in this state, and he's also worried because he knows we'll be attacked if we go on foot. "Okay," he says after awhile. "But you're going to have to take the pack and the weapons, and help me. Are you up for it?"
"Yeah," I answer. "Let's go,"
We find a suitable tree on the outskirts of the forest that has thick, low branches. Finnegan easily gets up with my help, and we begin to travel by tree. There's a line of thick oaks that we follow, making our way through the forest. We smell and look for fire, and finally, we come across a scent of smoke. Following it, we hear murmurs from afar. It must be the Careers.
"Stay here," I tell Finnegan. "I'm going to go spy on them. We can't risk you going when you're like this, and I can escape really fast if they see me. I'll lead them away from you if they do."
"How am I going to know if you're safe?" Finnegan whispers. "What if you're caught? I'm not losing you this early."
"Finne, they're too fat to climb trees," I snort. "You'll hear me if they catch me, promise," My face turns serious. A thought comes to my mind, and I decide to say it. "Finnegan, listen to me. If I do get caught, which I won't, don't come after me, alright? Promise? I don't want to lose you and me if I get caught. You have to stay alive if I don't. One person has to come back."
Finnegan looks more intense than I've ever seen him. His eyes are unfocused, but he's going to say something important. Finnegan hasn't always been good with words, though... "Don't die on me," he pleads.
"I won't," I promise. I start to carefully go from tree to tree, swinging on branches like the monkeys I read about in books. I hear a shout, and my name. I turn around to see Finnegan saying something, but from this far away, I can't see. It looks as if he's mouthing, "Live you," or something like that. I shake my head showing that I can't see, and press a finger to my lips. He shuts up.
A few trees later, I can finally see the Career camp. It's in the middle of a large clearing, with shelters on the outside, and weapons and supplies on the inside. The goods aren't really protected, and they would be really easy to get if the shelters weren't so close to each other. I can see the Careers walking around and talking to each other. Augustus and Katarana are talking, and Odysseus and Helena are conversing with Velvet. Also, I can hear exactly what they're saying. I tune in on Odysseus, Helena, and Velvet.
"Velvet, the smoke looked too thick for a small fire like ours. It was like a forest fire, but not here," Odysseus insists. "It was in the direction of the island those District Four tributes are. Finnegan, and I forget the girl's name."
Velvet curls his lip. "I'm surprised you two actually saw something in the forest, instead of being to consumed with each other. I don't know about you, but I'm here to win these Games. Your whole couple thing won't last for another four days. By then, one of you will be dead, and where will you be?"
"It's not about that," Helena growls. "It's about eliminating tributes, first. And we have a great chance. I didn't hear any cannon, so if there is a fire on that island, those two are still alive over there, probably weak. It'd be so easy to wipe them out, and they're our best competition."
"What about Tanner?" asks Velvet. "Did you two deal with him? Or were you too busy - "
"- Shut up, Velvet. You're just jealous," Odysseus says loftily, messing up his dark brown hair. His green eyes flash at Velvet. "And no, we didn't deal with him. The little rat escaped to the mountain when we killed off his little friend and their allie, that District 6 boy, Daniel. He's wounded, though, probably won't last another day."
"Who else is left?" asks Velvet. "There's two besides those District 4 brats and rat-boy."
"Oh," Helena's smile reminds me of a cat's. A cat who was about to kill a particularly juicy mouse. Her wide, green eyes also give off the catlike appearance. "The District 3 boy and the District 9 boy. Protonus and Wes. Wes is off on an island somewhere. Protonus is dying, Tanner wounded him, but I have no idea where. He'll be dead soon. I saw a trail of blood."
"And you didn't follow it?" snarls Velvet. "How stupid are you? Why didn't you kill him off?"
Odysseus shrugs. "We want our enemies to have the most painful deaths possible, my friend. Speaking of, I suggest all five of us at least go to the beach and check out what's going on at that island. It may be Wes's, but I'm hoping it's those District 4 kids. It's about time they died a nice, watery death."
Helena and Velvet laugh. "Hey, love-birds," Helena calls out jeeringly to Augustus and Katarana. "Let's go. We're wiping out those District 4 kids."
"You're calling us love-birds? How old are you, five?" growls Augustus, combing his blonde hair with his fingers.
Katarana looks more excited, though. Her brown eyes are lit up, and she redoing her ponytail. Wants the audience to get her looking pretty, I guessed. "How do you know where they are?" She asks, shaking with apprehension. As she's waiting for an answer, she goes to the weapon pile and grabs a large mace. Something inside of me churns. I wouldn't want to get hit with that.
"The island's burning, we saw it. I think I saw them at the Cornucopia," Helena says happily. Her eyes are alight, too.
"Perfect!" Augustus says, punching the air. "I can't wait, two more kills, two more steps to home!"
"To the Cornucopia!" yells Velvet, and they all run towards the shore.
Once they're out of earshot, I hop gracefully onto the ground. I have a plan, and it's to get rid of all of the supplies. Actually, that would be much too risky. Just the weapons, I decide. So they're vulnerable. I know they have other weapons that they're carrying with them, but getting rid of the majority of their weapons would really help.
I locate a large duffel bag and stuff all of the weapons I possibly can into it. When I try to pick the bag up, it's unbelievably heavy. But I know I can't give up now. I've wasted about fifteen minutes, and by then, the Careers must just be getting to the Cornucopia. They'll know we're in the forest. So I have about ten to fifteen minutes to get rid of these items and get Finnegan and I safely away.
I lug the duffel bag up the first branch, and I'm already out of breath. Do it for Finnegan, My mind wills me. Not for your District or for fame, for Finnegan. One of us must win. With this mindset, I find myself going up two, four, ten, twelve branches until I'm finally at the top with the duffel. Carefully, I attach a cord of rope I stole from the Careers and pull it from tree to tree. By now, I can hear the yells of the Careers. Looking around wildly, I see a crook in two thick branches above me. I hurl the duffel bag up there with all of my might, and wait.
I hear outraged yells as the Careers reach their camp. I know they'll be hunting the forest, so I press myself against a tree. How should I warn Finne? If he hears the angry yells... no, the Careers would be happy if they saw me. Ecstatic that I was presented to them, right in their camp. Finnegan's smarter than that. But he'll know I've done something to get them angry.
I see a shape dart below me. The brown ponytail blends in with the forest, but the figure is too occupied with slashing her weapon against trees that she doesn't notice me. Even if she did look up here, I'm much too concealed for her to see me. But she's in close range, just chopping away at everything. Should I kill her...?
She turns around, and her green eyes flash. Helena. She's alone, and madly chopping at everything with her axe. I know this is the best chance I might ever have at killing a tribute. Can I do it? Slowly, I pull out a spear from the duffel bag. It's not any different than a trident, right? Just a smaller range. I wait until she starts hacking at my tree before I take aim and throw.
Do it for Finnegan. One of you has to win, right?
I immediately regret what I've just done. The spear flies straight into her head, and her mouth forms a little, "o", as she crumples to the ground. There's a whimper, and I can hear a soft moan. She's not dead yet. However, she's facing upwards, and I know if I hit her one more time, she'll die. Even though Helena had hinted she wanted me to have a painful death, I didn't wish that upon her.
As I grab another spear, her eyes slowly open. They focus on me. I'm only about six branches up now, but I can see everything in them. The hurt. Pain. Sadness. And also, pleading. She wants me to end her pain. Winding up, I begin to throw the spear.
The spear hits a little below her heart, but it kills her. Right as the spear hits her, I see the life go out of her eyes. It's like her soul was just drained out of her eyes and... it's gone. The beautiful green eyes that she had, the green eyes that matched the leaves of the trees in summertime, are lifeless and empty. Soulless. Dead.
I hear shouts, and climb swiftly up the tree. I conceal myself in a small hollow and watch the scene. Odysseus and Augustus see her first, yelling. Odysseus dives on the ground and shakes her, but Helena is lifeless. He screams and pounds his fists on the forest floor, yelling curses and profanities at everyone. Augustus shakes his head, and Katarana looks indifferent. It's just another death to her.
Strangely, Velvet is nowhere to be seen. I guess he's looking for the robber of the weapons somewhere else. About fifteen minutes later, Odysseus and Augustus walk slowly away from the body. Katarana stays for a moment, observing her former ally. Then with a wicked smile, she turns and skips away.
Yes, skips away. In happiness and glee.
Finnegan
A cannon rouses me from my sleep. Kieran. I think immediately. I start to get up, but my head is throbbing so much that I can't. I know if I try to get out of the nook in the tree Kieran left me in, I'll fall to my death. I'm too disoriented.
Her words come to me. "I don't want to lose you and me if I get caught. You have to stay alive if I don't. One person has to come back." She promised me she wouldn't get caught, and now she's dead...
Calm down, Finnegan... it's probably another tribute. Don't get so worked up.
But I can't stop the tears from sliding down my face. I wonder if she saw me mouth her those words before she went off.
I mouthed "I love you."
Quick Index -
** Warning! Contains spoilers! **
Living:
Velvet - District 1
Augustus - District 2
Katarana - District 2
Protonus - District 3
Kieran - District 4
Finnegan - District 4
Odysseus - District 7
Tanner - District 8
Wes - District 9
Deaths:
(note: not doing these in District order anymore because it requires a lot
of extra formatting.. so the most recent deaths are now at the bottom)
Cabla - District 3
Lenno - District 5
Jasmyn - District 5
Daniel - District 6
Ame - District 6
Felicity - District 8
Linda - District 9
Donald - District 10
Wendy - District 10
Harvey - District 11
Whitney - District 11
Cole - District 12
Silvia - District 12
Pillow - District 1
Known Alliances:
Velvet, Augustus, Katarana, Odysseus - "Career Pack"
Kieran, Finnegan - "The Best Friends"