Rue's scream directly from behind startled me and I turned toward it, sword held at a horizontal swing. Unnerved by the driving sheets of blood that were coming down, filling my mouth and nostrils, all I could see was the outline of a large bulk in front of me. Instinctively, I blindly stabbed forward, and felt my sword meet another metallic object with a clank before I was harshly shoved into the ground.
"Watch where you point that thing, boy," Brutus grunted at me.
"Stay where you are," he addressed to the rest of the group. "We can't go blindly stumbling around the jungle. Find some leaves and just stay under them. Whatever this is has to pass in a bit."
Not able to directly look up, I fumbled around above my head and found some of the broad leaves Finnick used for bedding earlier. Grabbing my chain, I found Katniss' hand and, pulling her against my chest, backed into a tree. Sliding down, the leaves held above our heads, I was finally able to breathe properly and looked around.
The entire jungle appeared to be bathed in blood; the patches of jungle where the moonlight shown through the canopy of trees were bathed in red. Sighing, I reclined my head against the bark of the tree, closing my eyes against the headache quickly forming.
"Are you ok?" Katniss asked quietly.
"Do you still have the first aid kit?" I asked her.
"Yes," she replied, reaching into the pocket of her jumpsuit and passing it back to me.
Opening the small box, I pulled out a bottle of painkillers, dry swallowing four blood covered tablets. Any water I got from the tree behind me right now would be tainted; there was no telling if the rain was poisoned or not.
"Is it bad?" she continued.
"I'm not familiar with being weak," I confessed. "I'm not quite sure how to handle it."
"Well that's what the alliance is for, right?" she said.
"No, Katniss," I corrected. "The alliance is simply a show of force. If this was a proper alliance, the other members would be trying to find an opening to kill us while I'm not at my peak."
Sighing, she asked, "Do you trust anyone ever?"
I tried to think back on the last person I trusted completely.
"My sister," was the only honest reply I could come up with. "Trust is not something that I can afford; that either of us can afford. Right now, even Peeta is not to be trusted. I know you think he'll give up his life for you, and maybe he would, but he has an obligation to Finnick. If he honors the agreement, he might even be a partner in our demise. I have trust in your desire to see your sister again alive. Until you can prove to me that you really will do anything to escape the arena, I cannot consider you completely in my trust."
"I know you're right," she suddenly stated, hugging her knees in to her chest. "But after all I've been through with Peeta, I can't just abandon him. Rory is my best friend's little brother, and it's entirely my fault that he's here now. Rue, even, reminds me of my little sister. If anyone in this group dies, I die with them. You didn't feel anything when you found out that Clove died?"
"She was my district partner. She was from home. That's it," I stoically replied.
"You grieved her," she accused.
"I was embarrassed for her," I confessed. "She spent so long training herself and her mind for these Games, only to have whatever chances she had of winning stolen from her by chance. Her family will now be looked down on by the district for her lack of action. For people like Clove and me, who are for one reason or another cast out of our families, it's the only way we can make a life for ourselves. People hero-worship Victors at home and your life is all but taken care of by the Capitol. It is the highest possible achievement for anyone."
"So you're doing this to earn back your family's respect?" she questioned hesitantly.
"No," I admitted. "If I had to say I was doing it for someone, it would be for me. Maybe my sister," I added. "Maybe she'll come live with me and leave that bastard of a husband of hers if I had the money and power to protect her."
She let out another sigh, and leaned her head against my shoulder.
"For our sisters," she whispered after a bit. I grunted my accordance.
As Brutus predicted, the rain shut off suddenly after a short while. Dropping the leaves finally, my arms began tingling from being held up so long. As I was stretching them, I felt an elbow dig into my back and I was pushed roughly against the tree.
"Try that shit again, boy," Brutus spat at me, "and you'll be-"
I felt myself be suddenly released, and spun around. Katniss had strung an arrow, its metal tip currently pressed insistently against Brutus' temple.
"Now's not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves," Peeta soothed, his body tense and eyes flickering between Katniss and Brutus.
"No," Brutus agreed angrily. "I'll enjoy killing you personally, kid," he tossed back at me as he stomped away, dragging Rue behind him. There was the instructor I knew.
Placing a hand on Katniss' shoulder when I noticed she was still tensely grasping her bow, I felt her relax and gave her a small smile of thanks.
"It's too risky to go to the beach right now to clean off," Finnick stated. "Let's see if we can find an area that the rain didn't touch, and settle down there. We'll try for the beach in the morning."
While I was not keen on spending the night covered in slowly drying blood, I agreed with him. We headed back in the direction of the tail of the Cornucopia and quickly reached a portion of jungle that was not touched by blood. In fact, it appeared that the rain had abruptly stopped in a perfectly straight line that ran from the jungle's edge back toward the force field. The realization hit me hard: certain sections of the jungle were booby-trapped. I tensed, wondering if our presence was enough to trigger them. This was the section with the lighting and thunder, something we would not be able to avoid or even run from.
Katniss, not noticing that I had stopped near the edge of the blood line, triggered a beep from the cuffs and turned back to me with a questioning gaze.
Explaining my thoughts on the arena being divided into segments of traps, but unsure what set them off, Brutus nodded and suggested that we should stay near the border of the blood rain. If the lighting started up, we could easily escape back into it and try to spend the night there.
After several tense minutes waiting for a jolt to strike, nothing happened. We slowly set up camp again, laying down the broad leaves and rotating watches. I caught Peeta offering his hand to Katniss, but she shook her head, lying down next to me instead. I caught the look of surprised hurt he sent her, as well as Finnick's analyzing glance before he fell heavily onto the ground with an exaggerated sigh. I was glad that she was accepting what had to happen and was beginning to emotionally separate herself from the rest of the group. I offhandedly wondered before I fell asleep which possibility the Capitol citizens were most distraught by: the thought of sweet, innocent Prim being alone for the rest of her life or the disintegration of the most beloved love story in the history of the Games.
I was awoken several hours later by Finnick's voice, sounding distressed. Immediately snatching up my sword, I pulled Katniss up with me. He and Peeta were facing two former Victors, one of which was grasping a pair of hand axes, the other a small coil of metal wire, and seeming close friends of his. I heard Katniss' bow strain and was prepared to charge the pair, when Finnick's words stopped me short.
"Let them go," he ordered us, eyes hard in the predawn light. "I saved your life, Cato; you owe me one. Just let them go this time."
He turned back to the pair, addressing them. "Johanna, Beetee, get out of here. I can't guarantee you that the next time I see you I can be so generous. Consider this to be a parting gift."
The partners backed away, the girl's eyes shifting from Katniss' still armed bow to my sword, held at the ready.
"Say hi to Annie for me," she said with a tight grin. "See you around, Finnick."
"I hope not, Johanna," he softly replied, as they disappeared into the jungle. The entire exchange had gone unnoticed by the rest of the group, exhausted from the first day of Games.
I decided to let it go. This was only the first day of the Games, and I was satisfied with the number of dead tributes, as well as my participation. He was right too, I owed him; we were on even ground again.
"Get some rest," I instructed them. "I'll take over watch for the rest of the night."
I relaxed my grip on the hilt of the sword and sank back down onto the ground, Katniss following.
"You too," I murmured to her. "I can keep guard alone."
Peace settled in the jungle again, the only sounds were the rustling wind through the leaves and the occasional call of a frog. As the light of the artificial sun hit the tops of the trees, a tree rat scurried across my boots, which I reflexively stabbed with my sword. Seems like we might have a breakfast. As the sky brightened, the rest of the group began to stir. Gazing between the rat at the end of my sword and the slowly waking Katniss, a devious thought entered my head. Weighing the dangers of a high pitched scream to my amusement, amusement won out. I dangled the tree rat above her head, its blood slowly dripping on her already caked face. When she finally registered that blood was raining on her face again, she panicked and sat up quickly, nose hitting the exposed incisors of the rat. Letting out a high pitched yelp, she quickly scurried backward away from it, the rest of the group quickly sprinting over to see the source of the disturbance.
They discovered Katniss sitting on top of my stomach, punching me wherever she could reach, while I laughed myself silly, defending half heartedly against her blows. I had not laughed like that since my first year at the academy. When Rue asked Finnick if we had snapped, Katniss told them what I had done, inserting a few curse words in her explanation. Rolling his eyes, Brutus removed the rat and began to skin it.
"Do we still have the fire starting kit?" he asked Finnick.
"Whoops," was the reply. Finnick tilted his face and hands toward the sky mournfully, falling to his knees. "Oh whatever shall we do without a way to make a fire?"
A silver parachute quickly followed with another kit. Chortling, he and Peeta left to gather some dry wood. Rory and Thresh went to collect berries and nuts, leaving Katniss still sitting on top of me. She gave me one last punch before scrambling off of me, a light blush scattering across her cheeks. Muttering to herself, she opened the kit and readied the materials. At least we gave the Capitol something to wake up to.
After breakfast, we decided that the safest place for us to set up a camp was inside the Cornucopia. Our numbers would help us should anyone else taken shelter there to help drive them out. Making sure that we had gathered all our supplies and weapons, we stepped out into the open area of the beach. It was abandoned as was the Cornucopia when we reached it. The weapons had been picked through, but a few knives and heavy maces littered its floor. I hoped that there were no other alliances left in the arena other than ours. The pair we encountered last night was alone; there were only 8 pairs left, 4 of them were in our group. These Games might be over within a few days at this rate. I can't remember a past Game where so many had died the first day.
We each took a turn cleaning ourselves in the water. Our sponsors sent us some soaps and shampoos, probably not being able to stand the sight of Finnick being less pretty than his standard. We washed out our jumpsuits but had to wear them wet since they couldn't come off all the way.
Around 10 o'clock by the sun, the ground started vibrating, not strong enough to be an earthquake. A loud crashing sound quickly followed, coming from a section of the arena near the tail end of the Cornucopia. We all gathered at the edge of the Cornucopia's mouth to watch a giant wave, extending above the treetops, wash through a part of the jungle and drain onto the beach. Two cannon booms sounded, and a pair of tributes, one female and one male, washed out of the jungle onto the shore. I recognized the female to be the sister Victor from District 1. 7 pairs of tributes left.
When the sun was directly overhead, the lightning started up again. When that stopped, we heard rain pattering down in the section next to it. We spent the rest of the day categorizing the different sections of the arena, noting the particularly nasty sections. It seemed to be based on a rotational schedule rather than motion triggered, and on an hourly cycle. We would be able to use that information to hunt and collect water.
Rory, not wanting to be left behind again, begged Katniss to teach him how to shoot. It took the better part of the day for the boy to get the hang of stringing the arrows, but he was the one who made our kill for dinner that day.
Night fell on a relatively uneventful day, and the 4 faces of the dead tributes from the previous day and this morning floated into the sky. Watches were set, and we settled into the relative safety of the Cornucopia. Besides being awoken by the thunder at midnight, the night passed peacefully and I woke early the next morning, ready for the tribute hunt.
Brutus and Rue would stay behind to defend the camp, and the rest of us would comb through the sections of the jungle, one at a time after the traps had finished. We would start with the wave section after it had washed up onto the beach and go in a counter-clockwise circle until noon, when we would return for lunch, and resume our hunt.
When the rumblings of the wave terminated, we gathered our supplies and reentered the jungle. The ground was still slick with water and several times I had to steady Katniss when she slipped. We progressed through the arena in a circle, finding traces of campsites and trails, most of them ending nowhere. By noon, we had made no progress, and were becoming frustrated. I've seen Gamemakers become antsy much more quickly than this, and it was only a matter of time before they decided to put an extra twist in. We made our way back to the beach, and I could tell that while Katniss, Finnick, and I were frustrated at the lack of kills, the rest of the hunting party was relieved. Their steps were light and they led the rest of us back. When we broke through the tree line onto the beach, the lighting struck a particularly tall tree and the thunder started rumbling throughout the arena. Unmistakable, however, was the water lighting up unnaturally, followed by a high pitched scream and a man's yell.
Breaking into a sprint, we rounded the Cornucopia to find Rue and Brutus' bodies floating in the water facedown and motionless. Katniss let out a wail and sat down heavily onto the sand. Peeta moved to immediately jump into the water, but Finnick held him back, tackling him to the ground when he fought.
"Don't," he hissed, standing. "The water could still be charged. You'll be electrocuted as well."
He crouched low to the ground, circling the beach and scratching at the sand, looking for something. He suddenly pounded his fists against the beach, cursing.
"I should have killed them when I had the chance," he yelled angrily.
"What happened to them, Finnick?" Katniss cried, tears flowing freely down her face.
"Beetee," he spat out. "He must have found some wire in the Cornucopia and rigged it so that the lightning would electrify the water. He's from the technology district and this is very similar to how he killed his competitors before. We should assume that the water is no longer safe to touch while the lightning storm is still going on."
We waited for the hovercraft to come collect the bodies, but none appeared. It wasn't until the lightning ceased and the blood rain had been pouring for a while that one appeared in the sky. Sending down a claw, it dipped down twice. I couldn't help comparing how tiny Rue looked in the teeth of that contraption. Their cuff, coming off in a similar way to Katniss and mine when we were electrocuted, was probably lost at the bottom of that trench of salt water. Apparently the Gamemakers did not consider it a priority because the hovercraft disappeared immediately after Brutus was lifted up, limbs dripping and dangling. There went another mentor.
Peeta tried to console Katniss, but she pushed him away, shrieking that he was just going to leave her too. She threw herself at me, and I, remember how she had confided that Rue reminded her of her sister, wrapped my arms around her. When her tears slowed and she sagged against me, strength spent, I picked her up and carried her into the Cornucopia. Laying her against the side, I motioned for Peeta to get her some water. Although seeming reluctant to leave her side, he obeyed. Rory came up to Katniss next, and took her hand. She looked at him with vacant eyes, muttering something about being sorry she hadn't taught him how to hunt earlier; how she wished that Gale wouldn't have been as selfish with his time in District 12, spending it all with her.
When Peeta and Finnick came back with a bowl of water, she took a few sips and bowed her head.
"We should split up now," she whispered. "Split the supplies and the weapons, and we'll go our separate ways. No more alliance, no more pity."
She turned to Peeta and said, "No more love."
Author's Note: Thank you everyone who's reviewed and story alerted/favorited! They're all very encouraging to me! It was pointed out to me that my math was very off as far as tribute count goes, so the last chapter reflects that.