Ten

"How many people still alive?" she inquires. I shake my head. I don't remember at this point, last time I remember was thirty. I've killed at least five and then there are others that the careers invariably have killed. I'm guessing that there about half, give or take a few more lives. Its almost evening on the third day. I am betting that the most eventful thing that the viewers have seen is the first ten minutes of this year's Games.

"We'll find out soon? I've killed at least five."

"I haven't killed any," she says slowly. Wistfully? Gratefully? Who cares. "What do you think we'll find?"

"Don't know."

"I doubt the tunnels end," she says. Of course. What kind of idiot did she think I was? I play stupid. The sponsors can go to hell. "They probably make a circle. We could get into the main system from anywhere."

"Deadly killers," I murmur. She giggles. She seemed genuinely happy. Carefree even. What a thought. A happy person in the arena. Must have a death wish. I might as well kill her now.

"Lets go back into the main system," she suggests. I consider it for a moment. We'll have to go back there eventually. Should it come down to us, I don't think I could off her in the final moment; and I'd hate to have to do another double suicide. Don't need any more Everdeens looming around. After all, look at what happened to the first.

"Sure," I tell her. She looks surprised; she probably thinks that I think my opinion superior or something. We decide to keep moving till we find another opening between the tunnels. We found it by I judged to be dusk. Can't really tell time when there's no natural sunlight...

Morning and I'm anxiously waiting to get back into the Games. Demarex looks unsettled, but I can't really blame her. We move quickly. Demarex is not very good at moving without a raucous. We'll have to work on it.

"When do you think we'll find someone?" she asks, on the louder side.

"We'll find someone faster if you're quieter," I snap. I am loosing patience at this point. By myself, I could have covered so much more ground but I felt pretty crappy about Marec that I was allowing myself to be generous with this girl.

In all honestly, I'll probably kill her myself if I am in a better mood. I don't know when I will off her but it'll definitely be soon because she is beginning to get on my nerves.

After what seemed like a few hours of trekking, we finally reach another spot to pass to the main corridor system. Wordlessly, I slide the key in and we slip out of shaft.

"What next?" she asks.

"I don't know," I snap back. I know I am being loud but this girl is so idiotic she'd bring the masses running to us anyways. "The other tributes will be here in a few moments. Get ready, and try not to die."

"Why?" she demands. I hear footsteps, not just one set, but multiple.

"Just get ready, damnit!" I nearly shout, patience of the brink of collapsing. I pull an arrow from the quiver and quickly knock an arrow and draw the bow. My muscles remember all those years of shooting. Luckily now is no different.

The first tribute enters from the furthest left of my peripheral vision. My muscles don't quite remember and the sight is off a bit, the arrow hits around his collar bone, which isn't too far from the throat. He clutches the arrow and does manage to pull it out. How convenient, saves me from having to do it later.

"Can you do that again?" Demarex gasps.

"Yes. Shut up and protect youself," I murmur. The cold anger doesn't suit me well but it works on her. The next tribute, a woman in her fifties, appears. I hesitate, stupid, but release the arrow a few seconds later which luckily does hit her neck. She dies in a few seconds. If I would have had to hear her whimper from the pain I don't think I would have been able to hold Demarex back. The girl was too sympathetic.

"How many more do you think there are?" Demarex asks curiously.

"I'm betting three," I say as I let another arrow pierce the air. Another shot on target. The next two were hits and the footsteps stopped. Or at least, they were fainter. Demarex stood there the entire time. Didn't raise anything to protect herself from any possible incoming attacks.

"You're really good," Demarex tells me breathelessly. I glare at her and pull the arrows out of corpses.

"Lets clear out. If you see anything you want, grab it," I tell her coldly. She nods but doesn't take anything.

"Respect for the dead..." she trailed off. I didn't blame her. Being in the arena and watching people die was a much different experience than watching it on a screen a million miles away. It has been an interesting day and I am learning lots about my new best friend Demarex.

"We should keep moving," I tell her after we settle down in a nearby room.

"Why?" she asks.

Because I need to find Marec and Daeme, I think, but I'm not going to tell her that. I don't respond. Someone else responds for me.

"Because she wants to find me," Marec says from behind us. It was a classic coming-out-of-the-shadows moment. I smiled, got up and ran to him. He seemed shocked for a second, then embraced me. The ever-lurking cameras were surely on us now but I don't really give a damn at this point.

"You came back," I whispered into his ear. He pats me on the back and I sigh in confusion, or content perhaps. "Why?"

"I wish I knew," he responds. I can hear Demarex go 'aww' behind us and I'm just twitching to kill her but somehow conjure up the energy to restrain myself.

"Did you find Daeme?" I ask.

Dead, he replies.

Silence

"I must have missed the cannon shot then," I say slowly.

So yeah. I hope you like the chapter. When I started writing again, it kinda forgot my mastermind plan, but hey it'll still be good. So watch out for the next chapter!

Thanks for reading! (review if you've got time. They're soooooooooo helpful)
Marionettes