Author's Note:

Two new reviews! I'm so happy! Thanks a lot, guys! It means a lot, my chums. Sorry for the late update. It's because I was adding some lovely romance scenes to it. I hope I did it correctly. Onwards!

"No!" I scream. Tears streak down my face. I can't believe it. Horus just killed himself.

"Not Horus," Zee says, her voice choked. "Peacekeepers." I struggle to find the meaning of her chokes when I look back at Horus, who is still trying to free himself.

So he's not dead. My head swoons with relief.

But a single Peacekeeper enters the room. He's still in the back of the hallway but he has his gun drawn. It's a big one. It's as long as his arm and he squeezed the trigger. The bang comes back and hits Horus. I scream again, but the huge bullet, the size of a fat pencil, just bounces off Horus, leaving a scorched mark on his torso.

Of course! The bulletproof vests!

Mercury ran just as Horus rolls over the best he can to shoot the Peacekeeper. The gate's already at waist-length.

"Come on! You'll make it!" Marlin yells.

A few foot from the gate, when it's already at knee length, Mercury drops. I thought that he had tripped but he turns his fall into a roll. He made it to the other side just as the gate closed with a permanent sounding crack. Zee and I pull Mercury to his feet. He shakes us off and grabs the bars, the barrier from Horus and us.

"Horus! I'll come back! I'll- I'll get the entire New Brooklyn to get you guys! All of you!" Mercury is stuttering. Nothing shakes that boy. Now, he's shaking like a leaf.

"You do that!" Marlin says, grinning down at us. Again, I see nothing funny. He's got a freaking hole in his vest!

We run, and when I glance back, Horus is being hoisted up and cuffed by the Peacekeeper, whom he failed to shoot. More are filling the room. Tears well again in my eyes butt we keep running.

We ran to who-knows-where. We pass through a cafeteria, with unsuspecting Peacekeepers. Luckily, they don't have any weapons on them. After the cafeteria is a door that said, WARNING: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

We push through it and find labcoat types hunched over laptops and pressing important-looking glowing buttons. They squint at us with their thick glasses as they calculated us like algebraic equations. We pay them no extra attention as Mercury runs over to a door that says, "To Hovercraft Launching Pads." He fires a roundhouse kick to the door, which swings open. Mercury takes a step forward and almost falls into the floor, ten meters away.

I feel the breath taken out of me as I look at sixteen, neatly arranged in four by four grids. It's a huge warehouse, with a glass skylight that looks like it's supposed to open up when those labcoats press one of their many buttons. There's a ladder below us, which we slid down. My hands are burning from the friction. We rush to one of the hovercrafts, all of us with the same plan on our mind.

Let's take a hovercraft on a joyride.

We leaped on the closest one. It was a beautiful black hovercraft. It had guns, which we will definitely use, and a thick, sleek design meant for speed.

We twisted the latch open and climbed inside. The interior of the hovercraft is grey and riddled with wires and lightbulbs, as well as two seats up the front. It's actually a big area, even with a wall with several weapons. You'd think they'd build more chairs. Since none of us probably knew how to fly a plane and none of us argued, so Mercury hops to the driving seat and buckles down. There is a pipe running across the top of the hovercraft, which Zee and I grab, having no seat. I push Marlin to the other available seat because he can't reach the pipe. My clammy hands grab for the icy pole just as Mercury starts the hovercraft. He makes the poor thing's tyres sqeal as he peeled it around the warehouse and into the light outside. The rain has stopped. There's even a rainbow. For some reason, I have the crazy urge to yell at it to stop shining.

Nervous energy, I guess.

Ahead of us is a long asphalt road. Mercury picks up the speed. The hovercraft goes faster and faster, until I can practically feel my skin peeling off my skeleton. Then, he lifts the thrusters and we are thrust into the atmosphere. I feel my stomach drop as the horizon disappears. As this happens, we are all screaming out lungs out- even Mercury.

Let me tell you, never trust a teenaged pilot. He then starts chuckling like this is funny.

It's terrifying. Lights suddenly starts beeping and through the window in the back of us, we can see that there's several hovercrafts taking off from the ramps. We're being followed.

"We are dead! We are so dead! Do you even know how to fly this thing? We'll die! We will die!" Marlin babbles, his hands gripping the armrests so hard, his thing fingers looks right about to break.

"Be quiet!" Mercury commands. Marlin shuts up.

I feel sick. My stomach is churing, though there's nothing to vomit out, since I haven't eaten anything than those delicious lycanthropes this morning. I can't even remember the taste now. Mercury raises the thrusters some more and we get enveloped into a flock of clouds. I can't see anything now. This looks like a bog, without the water or bugs. It's dark but at least we can't see the enemy. Then, we burst out of the clouds. I feel my breath taken out of me and I suddenly forget about my hunger.

The view is fantastic.

We are on top of the clouds, the bare sky sprawling on top of us, stars beggining to creep into the darkening sky. I can't see the sun but I know that it's setting because the clouds are a light pink. Our little hovercraft just hovers above the entire thing, the only sound I can hear is the hum of the engine.

"Wow," someone gasps.

Suddenly, this dream is jolted back into reality as I hear a loud boom. Then, the hovercraft shakes. And plunges into earth.

I shriek. I shriek for all I'm worth. This is it. We're going to die. That nice view is probably, like, a death wish granted by the universe. If I had the intelligence and reflex, I'd probably have thought of a better last word than, "AAAAHHHHHH!"

Mercury is out of his seat, pulling against the thrusters as best as he can. "Come on! Come on!"

I catch my first glimpse of the trees when the hovercraft suddenly slows down, but our momentum crashed us against the trees. I loose grip on the pipe and hit the floor with my jaw. I taste blood but I can't do anything as the hovercraft is torn up mercilessly by the branches. With a final-sounding thud, it reaches the forest floor. I don't want to wake up. I just want to lie here and sleep. Possibly die, and I wouldn't even care.

That's not going to happen. I feel a hand on my shoulder. Then I feel a slap in my cheek. My eyelids opens and I'm staring at Zee at the face. "Dude! Nap later, run now!"

She practically rips my arm out if its socket pulling me to my feet. I'm dizzy but I have enough common sense to grab several knives of the rack on the other side of the hovercraft and some sort of round machine of destruction. I'll ask Mercury about it later.

Then, I run out and the ground disappears under my legs. I fall to the forest ground, stumbling as I go. I manage to stay on my feet and fly to the forest, following the sound of my friends' footsteps. I blink my daze away. We're in the middle of the forest with no where to go. We burst into another clearing and spot a cave. Overhead, hovercrafts are beggining to fill the skies. We better head for cover.

I slip into the cave and see that it's a wide space, cleverly concealed with other boulders and a pine tree. It's probably safe from lycanthropes. We sit in a huddled row in the back of the cave, trying to calm down our nerves. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, listening for danger, but sometime, I eventually dozed off to sleep.

I wake up craving for meat. Lycanthrope meat, to be exact. And water. My throat's burning. I'm still propped up on the wall, hugging my knees to my chest, still wearing my backpack. I unzip it and rummage for that waterbottle. I gulp it down. The water sloshes down my empty stomach. I seriously need to get it filled. Or I may just eat Mercury.

I grab one of my knives and stand up, obvserving my companions. They don't look in the mood for hunting, not even when the sky is bright and cheerful. Marlin's holding a stick so tightly, his knuckles are white. Zee's throwing rocks to the other end of the cave, watching them fly and bounce from the rocky wall to her again. Mercury's the worst. He has bags under his eyes and is pacing the cave. I watch as he grabs his spear and heads outside muttering, "Screw this. I'm going out to hunt. Don't follow me."

Zee stares at me and we exchange glances. "I think I should talk to him?" she asks me, rather than say. I nod. She leaves, disobeying Mercury.

At first, I don't understand why Mercury's so upset, when I glance around the cave again. I remember. Horus is gone. A chilling lonliness creeps out to me. Sure, he's only been a friend for a week or less, but he's part of our troop, and it's hard believing that he's gone. What would the Flying Colors people do to him?

Operation: Flying Colors... that was what those Peacekeeper's uniforms said. What is it? Is it a name of an army? Is it a name of some kind of Capitol project?

I look at Marlin, still holding that stick. I have the knife in my hand. I wonder what Mercury and Zee is talking about. Suddenly, I get filled with a burning curiosity.

I walk over to the entrance, passing Marlin and giving his hair a tousle as I say, "Take a nap, buddy. I'll see if I can sort anything out."

Marlin just stares at me. "Kay."

I shrug and squeeze myself out of the cave. I look at the skies. Clear. No hovercrafts in sight. I sigh in relief.

"Hey." That's Zee's voice. It's coming from behind the cave. I climb over the boulder and the entrance.

"You're not supposed to be here." Mercury. A growth of brambles is in my way. I stand up and step over them, getting my jacket snagged on it.

"I thought I might just visit you and check up on you." I can imagine Zee shrugging her shoulders. I tug the jacket free and hunt for the voices among the tall grass.

"You did. Now go back, duckie." Wow, did Mercury sound depressed. I locate them. They're in a shallow, sandy valley. There are trees all around it, providing me the excellent spying point.

Ahem. Vantage point. I'm like, a sentry or something.

I settle myself between two pine trees which gives me enough of a space for me to look at them, my red hair in the shadows. It's not comfotable, with the pine needles and stuff, but I am determined and focused.

Zee's leaning against the edge of the sandy wall, wringing her hands nervously like towels. Mercury is sitting on a rock, holding his head between his legs like he's about to vomit. The valley opens up to a nice mountainside view but Mercury's not looking at it. He's facing away from Zee and his spear is between them, still in rod form.

"No," Zee says. "That would be counter-produtive. I didn't get a scratch on those brambles for nothing."

Mercury sighs and they don't say anything for a while. Then, he says, "Horus is practically dead."

"What makes you say that? Those bullets didn't puncture him. He may be alive," she says, but she doesn't sound like she even believed what she was saying.

"Ha. Even you don't believe that," Mercury says, echoing my thoughts. "I killed him. I left him for dead."

"No. No you didn't. You promised you'll get help in New Brooklyn," Zee counters. "That has to count for something."

Mercury stands up to his feet and stalks to Zee. "Do you even know how far away New Brooklyn is? It'll take weeks by foot! By then he'll be dead! By then, everyone in those prison will be dead! Horus would be dead! Nimbus, Tobias and all those people! Do you even know what you're talking about? We are caught us in a war. A war that's not even ours. It's between the rebels and the Capitol and for some reason, they're turning their attention to us. This isn't a game, Zee Kavendish."

Zee's turning red, but I doubt she's thinking about her crush. She's angry. "Don't you think I know? I've been targeted by lycanthropes and mutts, I've been shot at, and I've ridden a one-winged hovercraft." She gestured to herself. "Don't you think I should be dead by now?" She pushes past Mercury. "The most important thing is to get us out of here fast, into New Brooklyn and rescue Horus."

" I know but," Mercury breaks off in a frustrated yell. "It's just that I feel like a failure. Getting a person abducted in the second day." He sits down again, staring hopelessly at Zee. Then, he miraculously chuckles. But this chuckle is forced and dry. "You know what my dad said the day before I was headed off to District 13? 'Either come back with those duckies or don't come back at all, boy!' Funny man, he is."

Zee plops down next to Mercury. She opens her mouth to say something something wise but instead says, "Well, did you try smacking his head?"

Mercury looks at Zee with his eyebrows raised. "Um... no. Anyway, that doesn't matter. You're right. Our priority right now is to get to New Brooklyn. I'm just afraid that we'll never make it, now that we know that those Peacekeepers are patrolling even over the borders of Panem."

"Well, you're the leader. You make the decisions, but I know you'll make the right ones." Wrong words. I see Mercury visually stiffen. Zee backtracks. "Even if you don't, we're behind you. And we'll fight. Even little Marlin."

"Someone call my name?"

I jump in surprise and raise my knife to my attacker to my right. It's Marlin.

"Hey, hey!" he whispers. "Human. No lycanthrope." Despite the shadows, I can see him grin.

"What are you doing here?" I hiss through my teeth, keeping one eye on Zee and Mercury.

"I got bored."

"Fine reason. Go back," I say.

"Nein." He pronounces it like 'nine.'

"Nine what?"

"Silly sister. It means 'no' in Ancient German. Duh."

I growl threateningly. "If you don't go back now, so help me, I will fill your bag with rocks and sew your lips together."

"No. Besides, this looks interesting."

I let him stay because this may distract him from the Horus Incident.

Yes, now I'm reffering to it as the Horus incident because I don't know what else to call it. The Sorta-Death of Horus Incident is a bit of a mouthful.

"Thanks, but if we die anyway..." He lets the sentence die and kissed Zee on her cheek.

It's short. A peck. It could mean anything from love to friendship to just an act of teasing. But it triggered a whole range of reactions.

"That's gross," Marlin says, holding his throat, pantomiming vomiting

Zee's head, cheeks blushing, turns sharply to Mercury, who's grinning. "What...?"

"The heck?" Mercury completes. "Nope you didn't mind. I just never really kissed a girl before. I just wanted to try it before I die."

"Get out."

"No, it's true. There isn't a lot of pretty girls in New Brooklyn, actually." This causes Zee to blush even harder.

Was Mercury flirting? I quote Marlin when I say, "Gross."

"Me neither, but it was nice. Thanks."

That's when Marlin and I decide to go back to the cave to not arouse any suspicion. I've got to hand it to Marlin, he's a great actor. When we stepped foot into the cave, he finds his stick and bends it ever so slightly as he did ten minutes ago. I took out my knives and start cleaning them, but I'm nervous.

Two inutes alter that, Mercury and Zee returns. "Hey," I say, somewhat casually. "Catch anything?" I'm reffering to hunting.

"Oh yeah. No, sorry. But I'm going to go hunting later again in the afternoon."

I nod my consent. Zee on the other hand looks apprehensive. What a kiss can do to you.

Author's Note:

Yeah, kind of sucky kiss but it'll get better. Think of it as planting the seed. Please review, buddies!