**Here's the next chapter! Thank you so much, sorry it took so long! It'll go faster now (I think). Really fast note: I know there was someone who was trying to take credit for my story, and I'm pretty sure they took it off, so thank you! There's only 4-6 chapters left till the end of the Games! Not giving anything away, but Review! Ideas, criticism, anything! Thank you so much! **
And Then There Were Seven
Jack Cohen sat with his elbows on his knees staring intently at the glowing screen, watching Celeste pick her way through the forest. He had barely slept since the Games had begun. All of them had barely slept. They dozed sometimes, but everyone would get woken up if something happened. To his right, Rose sat with her head on Richie's shoulder and his arm around her waist. They had gotten together, but no one felt like teasing them about it. In Jack's opinion, they helped each other through the rough time they were all facing. He was scared; they all were. She had told them she was going into the Games, but he hadn't believed her. He thought she was just being paranoid; he had been a fool. The second couch was pressed perpendicularly to the end of his, and that couch held a sprawled and sleeping Robin with her legs on Avon's lap. Serena sat curled up in a chair across from the second couch and Birch sat in the chair next to hers.
They had barely left this room since the Games had begun, and didn't intend to leave till the Games were over… till Celeste was crowned the Victor. The world on screen began to quake, and Avon nudged Robin awake. Jack's back straightened, and his eyes widened as Celeste was thrown off her feet. Serena had a hand over her mouth to keep screaming in fear as a tree started to fall. Celeste leapt out of the way of the falling tree just in time, and Jack let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Suddenly, Celeste turned and tugged on something under the tree. The camera zoomed in on the woven anklet, and his heart plummeted. It was the anklet he'd given her. He could feel the eyes of a few of the group glance at him before returning to the screen; his own eyes never left the screen.
Without warning the ground stopped moving. Celeste froze, looking around uncertainty and untrustingly; it couldn't be just that. A shadow slinked out of the forrest, and Jack's heart froze. The beast was huge and black, looking like a live hellhound from the stories that are told to scare children. A sob was torn from Serena, but Jack barely registered the noise. Despite everything, a small pang went through his heart when Celeste cut through the leather of his anklet. She slowly began backing up, taking small, measured steps and never taking her eyes off the monster that stalked her. The beast let out a roar that made them all jump, and the chase was on.
Her piercing scream tore at his heart, and he could feel the hot tears building behind his eyes. There was no way she could get out of that. The beast was sent to kill her and only her. No way around it. No way to avoid the death. She was knocked off her feet by one huge paw, but she rolled to her feet and continued determinedly. The animal gripped her bag in it's fanged teeth and swung her harshly from side to side. She managed to get herself out of the straps and went tumbling down the hill.
The screen changed suddenly to the Careers.
There were cries of fear and protest among his friends, but he felt to drained to utter a sound. He could only digest what the Capitol was feeding him through the screen. A scream tore through the silence, and all the Careers heads shot up. The camera took a close up on Cato's fearful face, and Jack's eyes darkened in rage. He was going to kill her. He was playing her, and he would kill her. Clove and Marvel (all of them had took pains to memorize the tributes names when the Games had started) looked to Cato, who had grabbed his sword. Clove blocked Cato's path and put a small hand on his chest.
"Do not tell me you're going to save her," She snapped harshly. "She's the en-e-my, Cato!" He glared harshly at Clove; a glare that would have frozen a pond in mere seconds.
"I'm going hunting" He began.
"Bullshit!" Clove snapped at him, glaring back at him.
"Get out of my way." He annunciated every word clearly, though his teeth were clenched. "Now, Clove!" He barked when she didn't move. He raised his sword threateningly, and she eyed it warily, stepping aside. "Stay here until I get back," Cato growled, glancing at an incredulous Marvel before sprinting off into the forest.
The image morphed back into Celeste's terrified face.
She was running toward a huge cliff. There was no way… but her intention was clear. She was going to jump. Jack's heart stopped, and both Birch and Robin stood up, unable to remain seating any longer. She jumped with a scream that seemed to tear itself from her very soul, raw emotion escaping her in the only was it could before she hit the water.
There were camera's under the water. She was dying.
The screen switched again to Cato running through the forest and emerging on the rocky bank a minute later. He could save her. Jack's heart beat faster and faster as Cato looked around wildly. He caught sight of the rippling water and there was an almost audible click as he put two and two together. Without hesitating, he dived in after Celeste, and Jack found himself hoping against hope that he would see Celeste's head break the surface.
The underwater camera was activated.
Cato swam down into the clear blue depths and grabbed Celeste's limp arm in a strong grip. He pulled her up to the surface so she came up before he did. Jack's heart stopped and his blood turned to ice; she wasn't breathing. She looked pale and lifeless as Cato swam her towards the bank. Her form looked small and frail in Cato's muscular arms as he carried her out of the water. He laid her on the rocks as gently as he could while still working quickly.
"Celeste?" He grabbed her face and tilted it upward, bending his neck and putting his ear in front of her bluish lips. His face told the whole story when he pulled back; she still wasn't breathing. "Come on, Celeste!" He hauled her onto his lap, and wrapped one arm around her stomach, just below her ribcage. Her lifeless head rested on his chest, and he jabbed his fingers into her mouth and muttered desperate pleas to her.
"She's dead." Robin had sunk to the ground and choked out a sob. No. No, she couldn't be. She just couldn't be.
There was a choked cough. Then another. Celeste turned and vomited up water onto the rocks. She coughed again, and, slowly, life returned to her pale features. Jack slumped back against the couch in relief. She was alive. For now.
-Hunger Games-
The sunlight was streaming through the trees when I blinked awake. I had had a fitful sleep last night; it had been a particularly chilly night not to have a sleeping bag. One thing had come of my restless night; I had decided to find Katniss and join her again. I was going to win this Games. No one could stop me. Not the Capitol. Not Katniss. And certainly not the blue-eyed boy from 2.
I untied myself from the tree and climbed down, clutching my knife in my right hand and feeling the comforting weight of the dagger under my sleeve. My first move was to retrace my steps to where Axel- I swallowed hard, blinking away the fear, confusion, and sadness. I found the place without much difficulty and started following his tracks back to where I hoped was Katniss and Rue's camp. I hadn't been walking long when I heard a rustle in the trees. There was no wind. I grabbed another knife from my belt with my left hand just in case. My eyes met scared dark one's, and my tense muscles relaxed. Rue.
"Rue? I'm not going to hurt you." I stowed both my knifes in my belt to reassure her. She cautiously descended the tree until she was on the ground, but she didn't walk towards me.
"Axel…" Her words got caught in her throat, and she looked at me with a mixture of hurt and fear. She hid herself a bit behind the tree, and balanced on the balls of her feet like she was a bird who would take flight at any moment.
"The girl from Three." I managed to tell her around the lump that had risen in my throat.
"Did you…" She trailed off, and I nodded, knowing she had already seen the faces in the sky yesterday.
"Do you have Katniss?" She nodded and gestured for me to follow her. I obliged, and she led to a sleeping figure covered in leaves and so well camouflaged that I would have had a hard time spotting her had Rue not pointed her out. Katniss was beginning to wake, and I turned to ask Rue if she had treated the stings only to find Rue had taken flight. I was suddenly unsure of myself. What if Katniss was angry that I had left her with Rue and Axel to take care of her? She was exposed and if Cato or the other Careers had come this way she would've surely been killed. Axel and Rue couldn't have stopped them even if they had tried, which I wasn't altogether sure they would have.
"Celeste?" Too late now. I walked over and offered Katniss a hand, which she ignored and pushed herself to her feet, quickly regaining her balance without my help. She reached for the bow that Rue had propped up against the rocks beside her. She fingered the quiver and I saw the beginnings of a genuine smile on her face. She's realizing she has a real chance of winning. I tried to mask that thought; I couldn't think of Katniss as an enemy. Yet. She was my ally. For now. I ignored my internal struggle and focused on Katniss, who had just slung on the quiver and grabbed the bow. She looked past me and then to me questioningly.
"Rue?" She guessed, and I nodded, turning to see Rue peeking out from behind the tree. "It's okay," Katniss told her with a smile.
"She's not going to hurt you," I reassured her with a small, sad smile of my own. Rue cautiously came over to us, looking at us with a mixture of trepidation and happiness. She was lonely. The thought sent a small pang through my heart. Lonely and afraid. She was only twelve. "We should hunt." Katniss' voice of reason broke through my thoughts, and I nodded in agreement.
Twenty minutes later we were cooking a skinned squirrel on the remains of a fire. I asked Rue some questions, but most of the time was spent in silence. We knew that, although temporary allies, we were not friends. Could not be friends. I understood that now, and Katniss' cold demeanor showed that she understood it as well. We sat down to eat the squirrel, and divided up the measly pieces of meat between us. I ate a leg and gave the rest to Rue as did Katniss. Rue ate it hungrily, and I smiled at her. She would've been a wonderful friend.
"How long was I asleep?" Katniss questioned, glancing over Rue to me.
"A couple of days," I shrugged. Time was meaningless in the Games. They could make it dark or light whenever they wanted, so it was difficult to tell time. There was a Game a while back that had taken place in a thick forest that where it was always nighttime. According to the Capitol, that gave the underdogs an advantage, which was much needed.
"I changed your leaves twice." Rue added in between chewing. Katniss watched her for a moment, trying to get a read on her.
"Thank you," She finally told Rue, and both Rue and I were surprised by the sincerity in her voice.
"So, what happened? While I was out." Rue and I exchanged a glance, and Rue lowered the leg she had been eating. "What?" Katniss asked, growing uneasy. She opened her mouth again, but I beat her to it, knowing what she would ask.
"It wasn't Peeta. It was Axel." I told her, looking down at the small, meatless bone in my hand. "The boy from my district," I added, realizing she had never really met him before. No one spoke for a moment before I continued quietly. "The girl from One and the girl from Three."
"So, Peeta's okay?" She questioned, glancing between us. I didn't say anything, letting Rue answer this one, not sure how to tell Katniss that Peeta was probably bleeding out somewhere because I rescued a killer instead of him.
"Yeah," Rue spoke, smiling down at the meat she was eating. "He's okay. I think he's down by the river." There was a moment of silence that was only broken by Katniss' slightly relieved sigh. "Is all of that true?" Rue asked with a girlish giggle in her words.
"What?" Katniss asked, and I couldn't help but grin at her playing dumb.
"You and him." Rue sing-songed making both me and Katniss laugh briefly.
"So where are Cato and the others?" Katniss avoided the question, looking at me. I forced myself to meet her gaze and not to let anything show. Instead of telling her anything, I found it safer to shrug and say, "I think they're somewhere by the Cornucopia."
"They got all their supplies down there. By the lake." Rue added, and I was surprised at her knowledge of the other tributes. She really was skilled.
"That sounds tempting." Katniss grinned at us, and my lips twitched up in a smirk.
"Why Katniss, I like your thinking." I grinned, and Rue let out an excited laugh, and we started making a plan.
That night, Rue slept with Katniss in her sleeping back while I kept watch. I wasn't that tired anyway, and it was a good opportunity to think. My plan had been so simple before the Games. I would come in, ally myself with the most powerful tributes, eliminate the threats first, and then pick off the other tributes one by one until I was the Victor. When did everything become so confusing? Could I kill Cato? No. I'd already proven I couldn't kill Cato. That put me at a severe disadvantage. What if we were the last two people left in the arena? What then? He would kill me. But if he could kill me, why didn't he? He kissed me. I hadn't allowed myself to think of that kiss until now. He had kissed me. So he obviously felt something. He must care on some level. God, he was so infuriatingly confusing.
I wasn't sure when I'd drifted off, but I must've because the next second I was getting shook awake by Katniss telling me it was time to set our plan into motion. We gathered brush and green leaves and branches for our fires until we had three separate piles.
"Now, when you light these they're going to smoke like crazy, so as soon as you light it move on to the next fire." Katniss was telling Rue as we carried the last of the brush to the last pile.
"Light this one last," I added, wanting to make sure nothing went wrong. "And Katniss and I will meet you back over there." Katniss added her branch, and then Rue, and then me.
"Right," Rue nodded, showing she understood.
"And then I'll destroy they're stuff while they're chasing us." Katniss finished. "Celeste is going to cover me while I'm exposed." I flipped my knife in my hand and grinned at Rue, who smiled in a nervous excitement.
"We need a signal in case one of us gets held up." Rue told us, and I nodded thoughtfully. It was a good idea. Even though, if one of us gets held up, I'm not sure how much time she would have. I shook off that dark thought and returned my attention to Rue.
"Like what?" I questioned, and Rue thought for a moment before her face lit up with an idea.
"Here, watch this." She tilted her chin up to the treetops and whistled four short notes. The mockingjays int the trees repeated the melody so that anyone around would hear it.
"Mockingjays." Katniss realized, tilting her own head up. "That's great," I whistled a tune, and the mockingjays flawlessly. I smiled up at the treetops as my tune died out.
"Back home we use them to signal all the time." Rue's face darkened with nostalgia for a moment before clearing and looking at Katniss expectantly. Katniss whistled a tune, and the mockingjays picked it up again, echoing it five or six times before it died out. "Okay, so if we hear that, it means we're okay, and we'll be back real soon." She looked at us, and the fear in her eyes struck me. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her, giving her a hug that she eagerly returned.
"We're going to be okay. Don't worry." I kissed the top of her head, and she nodded as she took a shaky breath and hugged Katniss, who offered her the same reassurance.
"Okay," Rue whispered, seeming smaller somehow. I gave her a halfhearted smile before turning and making my way towards the Cornucopia, hearing Katniss following me. We hovered at the edge of the clearing, waiting for Rue to start the fires that would get the Career's away from the camp. The dirt around the pile of supplies was shifted in certain places, like someone had been digging for something. But what? I turned my attention to the Careers who were pacing under the tent.
"Who's the new guy?" My whispered question was barely audible to my own ears, but Katniss heard it. Cato was pacing and Clove seemed to be snapping at him because he kept looking at her in annoyance and she kept making hand gestures with her knife. Marvel sat with his spear across his lap, and even from this distance I could tell he looked positively bored. I returned my attention to the new kid. He was the boy from 3. He had to be. There was no one else he could be. The people were thinning now. My eyes drifted around, and I found myself looking at Cato's muscular form stalking from one end of the tent to the other. He suddenly turned and snapped at Clove, eyes blazing. Instinctively, I shrank back even though he couldn't see me from behind the leaves. I looked at the mounds of dirt next to the pedestals and frowned as I felt something tugging at the back of my mind. She was blown to bits.
Everything clicked. The bombs.
"Katniss they dug up the bombs and reactivated them." She glanced at me sharply, and I met her eyes, trying to convey without words how sure I was.
"We'll blow up the supplies then," She spoke with such assurance that I was taken aback. I shook my head; a better plan forming.
"I'll go in first and take some supplies, and then you can shoot the supplies and blow them up. I think I can avoid the bombs if I jump onto the flatter patches of dirt."
"And if you're wrong?" Katniss questioned skeptically, glancing from me to the Careers and then to the buried mines.
"I'm not wrong." I prayed that I wasn't.
"Guys, guys, look!" I heard Marvel call, and watched as he beckoned them over. "Over here! Come on! Come on! Look!" Marvel pointed with the spear to the smoke that was rising. Rue. I swallowed my fear for the young girl and focused on the task at hand.
"You stay guard until we get back." Cato ordered, pointing to the kid from 3 before running off with the others in the direction of the flame. I smirked at the retreating forms of the Careers.
"I'm going." I told her, taking off my rope that I had wrapped around one shoulder. I started out only to have Katniss grab my shoulder and pull me back. I opened my mouth to snap at her when she pointed to the petite figure of a girl already jumping from patch to patch. I was hardly surprised to see it was the smart girl from 5; the one I'd seen dominating the logic station during training. She made it to the supplies, grabbed only what she could carry in one hand and then ran off. Smart. The boy from 3 ran after her, which left the supplies unattended.
Without waiting for Katniss' consent, I sprinted out of hiding and towards the supplies, skipping quickly from one patch of dirt to the next until I reached the massive pile. I grabbed two packs and a bag of apples and ran back to Katniss, not daring to spend any more time over there then I had to. I nodded to Katniss, and she drew back the bow. The arrow ripped through the mesh of another bag of apples, but the apples didn't spill. She needed to get closer. I put down the bags and drew my two knives.
"Get closer. I'll cover you." She nodded, leaving the safety of the trees and drawing back again on the bow. I crept a bit farther from the trees, so I could see anyone who was coming. Katniss' next arrow ripped through the bag and the apples spilled down the boxes and hit the dirt.
BOOM! The explosion deafened my ears and threw me back into the forest, my head striking the ground harshly. The world spun sickeningly as I tried to get to my feet. I find my hands and knees and look up. Katniss was lying a couple feet away, but I couldn't tell if she was alive or not. There was a high pitched ringing in my ears which deafened any other noise there might have been. Cato. Cato and the others would have heard that explosion. I needed to hide. I crawled towards the leaves of a nearby bush and tried not to sway. Katniss was alive. She was on her hands and knees now; her bow lay a few feet away. She looked as disoriented as I felt. I managed to pull myself to my feet and gripped a tree for support, blinking away the fuzziness. I yanked Katniss backward into the shelter of the bush so she wouldn't be seen.
The boy from Three came into my sight and looked at the wreckage, still clutching the spear in both hands. RUN! I wanted to scream the word at him, but I knew it wouldn't help. Cato and the others came into sight now. God, he was gorgeous. I swayed and willed myself to remain upright. Something nagged at the back of my brain; I couldn't fall. It would be bad. I blinked again, trying to shake off the disorientation. Marvel and Clove were gawking at the wreckage, but I couldn't take my eyes off of Cato. He was advancing on the boy now, and the boy was backing away in fear.
"What the hell happened?" His voice sounded muffled and far away like he was speaking through a pillow or underwater. I could still make out the words; he was angry. Actually, furious. His blue eyes blazed murderously.
"I don't know!" The kid yelled back, and his voice cracked with fear.
"Shit! Our stuff!" I think that was Marvel, but it might have been Clove. Cato's expression changed slightly to that of a beast stalking his prey. The huge, black beast regarded me with malice twirling in it's crimson eyes. My bleary mind briefly recalled the image of the monstrosity that almost took my life a couple days prior. He looked like that thing. His eyes held the same look. Cato reached up and twisted the kid's neck, and even though it was muffled, I could hear the sickening snap of the bone and the boom of the cannon.
Fear and horror counteracted the explosion and brought the world into sharp focus. I stumbled backward and soon I was running. I had only gone a couple of minutes when a hand grabbed my arm and stopped me. I turned to come face to face with a worried Katniss.
"She should be here." It took me a moment to register who she was talking about. Rue. Another spike of fear went up me. She was right. Rue should be here. I whistled my tune and got no response. Katniss waited a moment before whistling her tune. Still no response. She walked around a bit, and I looked around us, hoping Rue might emerge from the trees somewhere. I followed Katniss as she made her way to the last fire. It wasn't lit. I swallowed and looked around a little more desperately.
"Celeste! Katniss!" There was a desperate scream to my left, and I didn't hesitate before sprinting past Katniss in the direction of the cry. Axel with a knife jutting out of his chest. I ran faster. "Katniss! Celeste, help!" Dimly, I could hear Katniss running behind me. "Celeste! Please! Katniss! Help!" I came into a clearing and looked around wildly. Rue was in a netted trap to my right and I wasted no time in sprinting towards her. "Celeste!" I knelt beside her and began cutting the trap with my knife; Katniss joined me a moment later.
"It's okay," Katniss soothed as Rue hugged us, the fear obvious. "It's going to be okay,"
"We need to get out of here." I stated brusquely, untangling myself from the hug and beginning to stand.
"Watch out!" I looked up to see Marvel hurling a spear at us. He had an answering arrow in the chest and knife in the heart almost before the spear left his hand. A cannon. It didn't matter. I turned slowly, knowing what I would see. Rue pulled the spear out of her sternum while I just stared dumbly at her. Katniss was the one who caught her as she fell to the ground.
"It's okay. You're okay." Katniss sniffled as Rue began to cry silently.
"You're okay." I echoed numbly, taking one of her small, childish hands in mine.
"Did you blow up the food?" Rue asked quietly.
"Every bit of it." Katniss sniffled. I was too numb to feel pain; I could only stare at the dying child.
"Good." Rue looked at me and then to Katniss. "You have to win." She looked to me again, and I looked at her with a senseless confusion. Two people couldn't win. I brought her hand to my lips and kissed the back of it, pressing it against my forehead. "Can you sing?" She asked Katniss. Katniss began to sing. A slow, silent tear fell from the corner of my eye, and I sniffled. Rue's eyes glassed over, and Katniss closed them for the last time.
A cannon.
I gently lay down her hand to cover the bloodstain, so she could've been sleeping. I rested my hand on Katniss' shoulder while tried not to cry. I looked around, and my eyes caught the flower beds. I rose and picked a few flowers and laid them under her hands. Katniss looked up at me with a tear stained face, while I looked at the younger girl with what I hoped was a comforting look. She gathered more flowers and placed them around her while I braid them through her hair in a halo. She looked beautiful. She would have been beautiful. Another few tears escaped my eyes.
"We have to go." I whispered softly, looking down at Rue's body before glancing toward where Marvel had died. Where I had killed him. Another tear. He was no longer there. I looked up and pressed three fingers to forehead, then my heart, and then my lips before holding them out to Panem. "Come on," I gently grasped Katniss' elbow and dragged her away from Rue's beautified corpse, hearing the hovercraft appear behind me.
Katniss sat down hard by a log and cried, burying her head in her hands. I looked away, knowing I had to leave soon. There were too few tributes now. There was no room for an alliance. There was only Thresh, Peeta, Girl from 5, Cato, Clove, Katniss, and me. Seven tributes from the original twenty-four. Seven. Six left to die. I swallowed thickly, and she looked up at me, nodding.
"Good luck." For the second time today, I was taken aback by her sincerity. Another small tear trickled down my face as I watched her sob into her hands for the innocent soul that just died.
"Good luck," May the odds be ever in your favor. I whispered, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath before turning and leaving. I'd been walking for ten minutes before I realized I'd forgotten the bags that I'd stolen. I'd forgotten everything really. Except for the knives. I had nothing.
"Attention! Tributes, attention!" I frowned, looking upwards. It was very rare for the Gamekeeper to make an announcement. It only happens maybe one in seven or ten Games. "The regulations requiring a single victor have been suspended. From now on, two victors may be crowned provided they work together to win. This will be the only announcement."
Cato.