By the time night fell, half of the tributes had been killed. Most of the deaths were made at around two o' clock which seemed to be the general time where everyone stupid enough to head to the center went. A bloodbath had most likely taken place and many shots were fired by the canon to signal the others. Sam had nearly lost count but concluded, around the end, that there were about twenty-five people left. The thought of so many having died in such a horrible way, and within the first few hours no less, was sickening to Sam who had a difficulty digesting the truth.
He and Ruby continued to travel together around the perimeter of the arena, luckily crossing no one else along the way for a long while. They had also luckily found a duffle bag filled with snacks and so separated them between each other, careful to only eat the bare minimum as to save the rest for later. Night fell shortly after and the only thing Sam and Ruby were really missing was fresh water. They had arrived in a sector of the arena where the tall buildings became broken houses and hoped to find luck there. They had only scavenged a few houses before they were forced to stay put for the night and none of them had water hidden anywhere.
Thus their resignation for the day ended and they decided to camp into the less broken of all the houses in the immediate vicinity. They climbed to the second floor, feeling safer there than anywhere else and organised themselves in a room furnished with only one large closet.
"We'll pick up at first light." Sam said. "You should get some rest. I'll take care of the first watch."
"I'm not sure I trust you." Ruby stated, "What gives me the certainty you won't stab me to death in my sleep?"
Sam took a moment to decide how to answer the question, "I guess you don't." Sam said, "But I could have killed you when you were unarmed and I didn't. I also allowed you to take the knife we got from that tribute without much of a fight, knowing full well you could have me killed in seconds with it."
"I reckon you might have been a bit too shocked to register anything then." Ruby smirked.
"Maybe, but my point is I think I'm more trustworthy than you give me credit for." Sam stated, "If I wanted you dead, I would have done it long ago. As it is, I have no reason to want to kill you and, in the end, you're more useful to me alive than you are dead. Having an extra pair of eyes and hands is something you and I can't do without right now, so I know you won't kill me either."
"You're smarter than I thought you were." Ruby said with a smile, "You're also very trusting. That'll get you killed, you know?"
"Probably." Sam said with a bitter laugh, "But, for some reason, I don't really care right now."
"Why?" She asked.
"I don't know." Sam admitted, "I was scared out of my mind before, when I was wandering the arena alone. And then I found you and I felt a bit more reassured, safe. I felt less anxious about everything but things changed a lot when you killed that tribute. Everything sort of went numb."
"So I take it that was your first time seeing someone die?" Ruby concluded.
Sam nodded, "It was strange." He mumbled, "I thought I was scared but then I realised I just…I really didn't care."
"That's because a part of you knows it's necessary." Ruby informed. "You also didn't have any personal bond with the girl. Things might have been different if you had."
"You're probably right." Sam nodded and then paused. There was a long resting silence before Sam finally asked: "How did it feel? To kill, I mean."
Ruby didn't seem fazed by the question, in fact, she had been expecting it. "I'd freak you out if I told you the truth." She smirked, her eyes focusing on the ground in front of her feet.
"Try me." Sam said.
"Well," Ruby mused, "To put it bluntly, I liked it. It felt invigorating and empowering. There's something amazing in holding someone else's life in your hands and playing God for a brief moment as you contemplate whether to deal the final blow."
Though the declaration would have most likely frightened anyone else, Sam found himself understanding Ruby's declaration to some extent. Such a position was a big and difficult one and Sam would eventually have to make the same call. Perhaps it was a bit strange to find pleasure in ending the life of another but the sense of power did have the terrific ability to please the beholder regardless of the situation. Sam wondered if he too would experience the same delight.
"You should get some sleep." He finally said. "I'll wake you when I get too tired to continue or if anything comes up."
Ruby hesitated for a moment but eventually lied down. She had decided to use the bag they carried as a pillow and closed her eyes. Sam watched her carefully, surprised when she fell asleep seconds after getting comfortable. He understood that she was exhausted after the running and fighting they had done but the potential danger of tributes happening upon them was enough to keep Sam's senses peeled. Thus he spent most of the night staring out the window and gazing around for any signs of movement. A part of him hoped that Dean would wander about and that they would finally be reunited but he was fully aware how improbable it actually was. Nonetheless, he still hoped.
A couple of hours later, Sam began to feel sleep weighing on him. After spending a lot of time looking around and finding no reason to fear, well, anything, his agitation had dissipated. He soon found himself nodding off and, before falling asleep, managed to wake Ruby. The few hours she had slept seemed to have been enough to revitalise her and Sam felt lucky for, as soon as his head landed on the bag they used as a pillow, he was out like a light.
When Sam came to the sun was shining brightly, filling the room. He was still drowsy from the long hours he had spent sleeping and had barely noticed the unfamiliar voices elsewhere in the house. He jumped to his feet, startled and mildly panicking, his eyes darting around the room for his weapon. However, the rusty pipe he had been using was nowhere to be seen nor was Ruby and the items they had acquired. Sam's heart plummeted to his stomach in despair. He had been betrayed.
Things only worsened when he heard one of the two tributes present say: "Let's check upstairs. Maybe there are beds or something where we can sleep for a bit."
Sam's mind thus began racing. He didn't want to die and certainly not without having seen or spoken to Dean one last time. The thought of everything, his life, ending in such a place thus angered him. He couldn't believe this was happening to him.
I deserve something better…Sam thought to himself, his rage augmenting as the steps of the tributes drew closer, I deserve to be happy—
The tributes suddenly stumbled upon him, seemingly startled by his presence. Before he could think coherently, Sam blindly threw himself at the nearest one, slugging him in the face wildly, and drawing blood with the first few adrenaline fueled hits. He continued beating the tribute's face in, seeing only read and feeling nothing but anger until he began to feel exhausted. The rate of his punches slowed and he breathed heavily, staring at the other's broken face emptily. For a moment, Sam thought the tribute was dead; how could he be alive when he had managed to cave in his face? And yet, after a brief second, choked breaths escaped and blood spluttered from the center of his face like a fountain.
He could see the tribute's blue eyes staring at him in disbelief and horror, as though he had been ended by a monster. And though Sam should have been horrified by his actions, he felt nothing other than the slight buzz of power Ruby had described the night before. It then occurred to him that the tribute had been wandering around with another person. He looked to his left and found the body of the second one, his head having been sliced open by Ruby who loomed above it. Sam should have been dead if it hadn't been for Ruby.
"I thought you were gone." Sam mumbled in disbelief, "I thought you had left me to die."
"Honestly, I did consider it." Ruby said, "But I decided against it."
"Where did you go?" Sam asked, "Why did you leave me? Why did you—"
"When I heard the voices," Ruby interrupted, "I decided to hide and use you as a distraction. I thought it would be easier to kill them if they were focused on you, especially if they were armed. Honestly though, I didn't expect you to go berserker and mess that guy up."
Sam looked back at the tribute, somehow, he was still breathing. "The canons…" Sam mumbled, "They haven't gone off yet…"
"Nope." Ruby confirmed, "They're probably watching us right now and waiting for you to finish the job."
"I don't know if I can now…" Sam admitted, he stared at his trembling hand. It was so unsteady and numb, he knew he wouldn't be able to punch the guy again.
"They're waiting, Sam." Ruby said softly, "You don't have a choice. This guy's in pain, he's probably suffering horribly so you'd be doing him a favour by putting him out of his misery. Besides, he was standing in your way of getting home. You'd be doing the right thing."
The right thing… Sam thought, his eyes trained on the bleeding mess beneath him. Ruby nudged him with the machete, offering it to him and he reluctantly took it. Sam spent a brief moment carefully examining the tribute he was able to kill. His eye was shining and he seemed as though he was about to cry as Sam raised the blade high above his head to deliver the final blow. As he brought it down, he thought that, for a moment, the other had been begging him to spare him by lightly shaking his head. If what he had seen had been true, than Sam had ignored his plea and the thought of such a possibility strangely invigorated him.
Two shots were thus fired by the canons and Ruby then helped him to his feet. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"A bit better." Sam said.
"Just after killing a guy?" She smirked. "That's a bit strange."
"I suppose." Sam conceded. "Let's get moving."
The tributes hadn't been carrying anything of use. Sam was given back his weapon and led the way around the many abandoned houses while Ruby briefed him on what had taken place whilst he slept. Apparently, seconds after he fell asleep, the faces of all of the tributes who had died were displayed in the general area where the counter had been at the very beginning of the Games. She said that no one they knew had been displayed and that district 12 had been entirely eradicated.
"They were never particularly skilled." She reckoned as they arrived at the border of a forest.
They stopped just before entering it, assessing whether or not they should carry on through or go around. Sure the forest provided more cover for them but it did the same to any possible adversary. It also held the possibility of extra food rations seeing as there could be fruit plants somewhere within it but they weren't in any dire need of it. Sam and Ruby discussed their options and ultimately decided to go around the forest and wander a bit more towards the center so as to use the taller buildings as cover if need ever be. Thus they wandered through the abandoned city, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.
When the sun marked noon, Sam and Ruby decided to stop in a building and climbed to the roof. They had a light snack, frowning at their dwindling food supply and eventually got to discussing their next course of action. They looked at the terrain and quickly learned that the forest they had decided to go around was the only source of compact greenery to be seen for miles. They both assumed that it was also the only forest in the arena but couldn't be sure until they had explored everything.
"I think we should head to the center." Ruby said. "Everyone stupid enough to rush in is now dead and the others will most likely have left."
"If that's true then there wouldn't be any reason to head there." Sam reasoned, "All of the good supplies have most likely been taken. We should focus on finding our siblings and alternative courses of actions."
"What makes you think the others haven't thought of going to the center?" Ruby asked, and Sam thought she seemed a bit too irritated.
"I know a fact that my brother and friends haven't gone," Sam stated, "And that's because, before this whole thing started, we agreed that the center was bad news and decided to avoid it at all costs."
"Then let's at least move closer to it." Ruby said instead, "We don't know how close we are to the force field surrounding the arena anyway and the others might be wandering nearer the center."
"And if they're not?" Sam asked, unsure.
"We'll just have to take a chance." Ruby said, "In the end, we'll find them eventually."