** A/N: Hello beautiful readers! Thank you all so much for keeping up with my story, I really appreciate it. So, Annie's life gets a little more interesting in this chapter. I do need to warn you, I just started a new job, so the next chapter may take a while. But, bear with me. Also, I am working on a cover for this story, slowly but surely. So, stay tuned for all the fun and excitment and may the odds be ever in your favour!**
Chapter 10: Hunting the Weak
While Shimmer and Hammer splashed water at one another, Fluff sat on the beach and laughed at them. Catia and I floated side by side on our backs near the shore. I never imagined being this at peace in the Hunger Games. When I pictured the games, I pictured running for life and killing and fighting for survival. But floating peacefully as the waves rocked me was much better. But, soon, the time came for the killing to begin again. The others would feel safe by now, which made hunting better. We all got dressed again and made our way into the trees. I twisted the hair that hung in my face into a braid along my hairline as we walked. Shimmer's hair was naturally straight and was drying into silky waves. Catia had curly hair, but it wasn't frizzy like mine. I tried to tame my hair as we marched through the humid jungle. While he sat, Fluff had fashioned me a strap to tie on my trident. That way I could sling it over my shoulder and carry it at my side of slide it on my back like Catia did with her bow.
We had been walking for a long time when we came across a fire, still burning.
"Where do you think the ones who made this are?" Hammer asked, staring at it.
"Probably getting water or food or something. I bet if we wait a little while, we will catch a tribute or two." I answered him. This was the most career like thing I had said since I got reaped. Shimmer smiled and agreed that my idea was a good one. We hid in the thick trees around the fire, waiting for someone to return to camp. Surely enough they returned not long after. Two girls, one from District 9 and one from District 5 were carrying big buckets of water. I remembered seeing buckets at the cornucopia. Shimmer tapped Catia on the shoulder, signaling her to fire an arrow at one of them. Catia crouched, her bow held out in front of her and her bow pulled back in her hand. Her breathing pattern changed, and she lined up her deadly shot. Without mercy, she fired the arrow right into the girl from 5's chest. The girl from 9 screamed and dropped her bucket of water. The water splashed onto the fire, putting it out completely and sending a wave of ashes out. With panic in her eyes, the girl from 8 searched for a weapon, but couldn't find one. She also couldn't find who had shot it. Hammer stood from the bushes, a tall, dark, massive man. The girl screamed and went to run away, but Hammer's massive dark hand darted out and caught her white blonde hair. He tugged at it, bringing her flying back.
"Please, don't!" She begged for mercy she wouldn't receive. Hammer bent down and whispered something in her ear before he pulled a vicious knife out of his waist band. Hammer dangled the knife in front of the girl; showing her what was going to be her demise. She screamed louder than she had before and begged harder. But, Hammer reached down and slit her throat with one long, swift, clean motion. The screams became gurgles and blood shot out and splattered all over the campsite. It was the first time I had seen someone get their throat slit, and it was something I never wanted to see before.
The rest of us stepped out of the trees and bushes and walked towards the two dead girls. Fluff kicked over the one bucket the girl from 5 had managed to put down. The water from it mixed with the blood and ashes on the ground, then the dirt soaked it all up. The canon sounded twice, signaling that two tributes were now dead.
"Maybe we should slow down. We are going to run out of kills." Catia sat twisting her hair into different braids.
"I think Catia is right." I piped up. We had killed 6 Tributes already, leaving only 18 Tributes and a long time.
"Maybe you guys are right." Shimmer mocked. "Or, maybe you're just to emotionally attached."
"How are we emotionally attached?" Catia asked skeptically.
"Emotionally attached, whatever you want to call it." Shimmer grabbed Catia by her braid and hauled her off the log she was sitting on. Catia screamed and Hammer jumped off instinctively. Fluff gently laid a hand on Hammer's chest, signaling him to stand back and let Shimmer do her thing. But when she pulled a knife from her waistband, Fluff could hardly hold Hammer back. "Calm down, cave man. I won't kill her." Shimmer rolled her eyes at the mass ready to charge at her. I could imagine the people at home watching this display of brotherly love. I imagined them seeing me, sitting on the log wide eyed and scared. They would watch as Shimmer ripped apart Catia's braid and began to slice and hack away at Catia's long, thick, black hair. I almost screamed for mercy, watching Catia writhe around on the ground.
"Why are you doing this?" Asked Fluff, astounded at what his District partner was doing.
"I am showing her that it's easy to become un-attached to something. Her hair, like most girls' hair, is very important to her. What she needs to do now," she paused, holding the knife to another thick clump of hair. "Is let go." Then she sliced the knife through it.
Catia sat and softly cried in the corner of the campsite. She kept running her hands through her hair and crying about how it was never coming back. I had overheard an argument between Fluff and Shimmer about how what she did was pointless and not worth the trouble.
"She needs to learn your heart has no place in the Games." Shimmer argued.
"Yeah, but did you really need to do what you did?"
"Yes, I got a point across." Shimmer sounded confident. I could picture her crossing her arms and smiling.
"You also gave her a reason to kill us in our sleep." Fluff emerged from behind the tree they were standing behind. He was running his hands through his thick brown hair and sighing. When he saw me, he looked at me as if to say 'what do you want?'.
After that, camp life was tense. No one wanted to provoke Shimmer, but that meant no one did anything. We all just sat and stared at one another. Fluff must have sharpened every stick within a one mile radius to a deadly looking point. Hammer would pile up rocks and lift them like weights, just to keep his muscular arms strong. I must have tried a million different ways to fix Catia's hair. One day, when we were both fed up with its inability to style, I grabbed a knife and gently hacked through the thick black silk until I was satisfied with the extremely short results.
"I wonder what everyone watching thought when she did it." Catia whispered to me softly after almost all of her hair was gone.
"When Shimmer cut it off?" I asked. She nodded, small and sad. "They probably thought it was just a show. After all, what does cutting your hair have to do with anything?"
"She was proving a point. I was emotionally attached to my hair. Now, I am not physically or mentally attached to it. "She shrugged, and I suspected she was finally coming to grips with the whole ordeal. And by the next day, she seemed to be a little stronger. She seemed to stand a little taller after everything. And it was that day when Shimmer broke the tension. She gathered us all in a little group.
"You guys," She began. "I am sorry. I have been really cruel and horrible to all of you." She looked from Fluff to me, then Hammer, then Catia. None of us were having it. "Especially you, Catia. You got the worst of it. I don't know what I was thinking." After that, it seemed like she had used up all her kindness. She sighed as if physically exhausted and flopped down on a log.
"When are we going out again?" Hammer asked. I could tell he was antsy.
"Tomorrow?" Fluff piped up, finally hearing something he liked.
"We have been counting the recaps at night and keeping score." Catia gestured to herself and I. "It seems like we are the only people on this island capable of killing." Catia piped up. I chimed in.
"As of now, there are 10 tributes dead." As I spoke the number, I silently prayed Malick wasn't one of those 10.
"That would leave 14."Shimmer looked down at the ground. "Well, why not head out tomorrow and make it at least 10?"
The next morning we headed out in the humid, sticky morning air. At this point, I had completely forgotten the Game Makers existed. They hadn't done anything but monitor us; probably because the careers were enough entertainment for the whole Games.
We didn't bother to be silent as we trudged, heavy footed, though the dense jungle. No one really slept last night, we were all too excited about today's hunt. Once the jungle got to dense for our liking, we went more silently. We never knew who was on the other side of the foliage. It seemed like forever before we came across a small camp site. It looked like it was one tribute on their own. There was a small cooking fire and a bed made high in the trees. The sight of such safety inspired an idea. But now was no time for inspiration. Hammer was creeping forward. He motioned for Catia to come with her bow. He pointed up at the tree where the unsuspecting tribute still slept. I couldn't see who it was, but it was someone small. Catia aimed high up, took a few breaths to steady her, and mercilessly shot the arrow at the sleeping bag. It hit with a slippery sounding whizz; the sound of a speeding arrow penetrating a person. Fluff then scaled the tree to make sure the tribute was dead, because we hadn't heard the canon yet. HE checked the pulse and nodded to us. Shimmer nodded and smiled her wicked smile. Fluff gave a wicked smile in return, and without a second thought, shoved the sleeping bag out of the tree. When it landed, there was a sickening snap. The tribute's leg or spine or arm was broken; some bone was broken. Hammer shuffled over and swiftly slid his knife over her throat, making a straight, even, scarlet line. Then, the canon sounded. The canon was a great way not only for us to know that the tribute we were working on is dead, it was a great way to signal to the others they were as good as dead as well. We continued on through the jungle in search of a kill. As we walked, an idea came to me that hadn't really appeared to me before; how much longer was I going to stay with the careers? My answer was just across the river.
*Chapter 11: Unforeseen Events**