I woke up when I felt Kali move beside me. In the night, we had moved together, and she was holding me tight. But now, she was moving away. I tried to pretend that I was still asleep, but I heard her chuckle. "I know you're awake Qwerty." She said and I finally opened my eyes. I was awake, but I didn't want to. More of us would have to die today. "How do you feel?"
"Sore." I said honestly, as I sat up, and re-strapped the sling around my arm. She watched as I eased into my boots, and my jacket. She was the one who zippered my jacket, though, and she grinned. "Let's go see if they left us anything for breakfast." Kali said as we stepped out of the tent.
"Nice of you to join us," said Jacque, as he tended to the fire. He was sitting at the fire with Charm.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked, sitting down next to him.
"Hunting." Charm said, before handing me a cup with a warm broth in it. I took it in my hand, and started sipping slowly. It helped fight off some of the cold in the air. "We found gloves in the supplies." She said, and handed me over a pair. "These are weird ones, so Bangle thought you would know what to do with them."
After examining the gloves, I grinned some, and started slipping them on my hands. Not only were they warm, but they would make it so I wouldn't get cut with the wire. Oh, someone was looking out for me out there, and I was grateful.
"They're tech gloves," I said, lying to them. "My father wears them on cold days at the plant." I added, looking over to them to see if they were buying it. "They're warm, but they also keep it so you don't ruin circuitry with the oils from your hands." That last part was true, but they wore rubber gloves in the plants, not these. They seem to accept this, though, and nothing else is said of it. Another thing that I'm grateful for. I guess they don't think that I would lie to them.
The sound of the cannon startles me, but not as much as it did last night.
"Looks like we're one more down…" Eleven. Eleven of us have died. We'll find out who it is tonight, unless the others come back soon to brag. I just hope it's not Buffer. He's smarter than that, though. He'll be ok. He has to be.
"That means there are only four more of them to go." I whispered then, sighing a little. Jacque grins then, and nudges me.
"You mean before we all turn on each other?" I nod then, and he sighs. "We've been thinking about that too. Charm and myself, I mean. Kali, I know he's from your legion, but would you be willing to align with us if he gets too unstable?" I think that's a dumb move. It means that we're giving Kali the win. She's nice, but I don't want to give District two another Victor. I won't say that out loud though. That'll just end up with me on the wrong side of the careers. I need to ride this out as long as I can.
"I don't know." She said then, and she started sipping at her own broth. "He's a bit rough, but he's got a good head on his shoulders." She said, giving a small shrug. I saw it then, though. She liked Thor. Maybe that's why she told me to stay away from him? I wouldn't want to step between them. I didn't find Thor attractive at all, though I knew there were people at home who would. Solaris would. She was every bit the typical girl. Always gushing over the cute boys in class. Wifi and I are usually focused on school work, and building things.
We don't have much time more to talk, before we hear footsteps. I have a knife in my good hand, and I'm spinning around to see what's happening. Thor grins at me, and drops a backpack down at my feet. Something he took from the dead tribute. He then walks right up to me, and grabs at my wrist, trying to twist the knife out of it. No matter how hard I try and hold onto it, it is wrenched from my hand.
"Drop it." He says then, his eyes peering down into me. It's like he's looking into my soul, and I don't like that. "We don't have to worry about Ten." He said, still holding my wrist, and pulling me to his spot at the fire. Once he sits, he pulls me down to sit at his side. He grabbed my jaw, and turned my head back and forth, sizing me up nice and close. "Were you really going to try and cut me?"
"I didn't know it was you, Thor." I said in a breathy tone, trying my best to keep my head. I didn't want to be this close to him, though. This was almost as bad as the way Snow looked at me.
He liked my answer, though. It made him break out into a roar of laughter. The other's joined in nervously. They were all afraid of him, not that I blamed them. Right now, with my wrist and head held in his hands, I'd never been this afraid in my entire life. He finally let my wrist go, to draw me in and press his lips to mine. I'm frozen, with his lips on mine, and his tongue pushed into my mouth. I knew I couldn't fight him off, but I wasn't about to like it. Though, I know now, above everything else, that this kiss is being televised all over Panem. They'll show the death of the poor boy from Ten, and then they'll show this kiss. I wonder what kind of spin they're playing on us.
When he finally pulls back, his eyes are bearing down into mine. "You're sleeping in my tent tonight." He whispers, before he's on his feet again. "The day is still young! And there are still more of them to go, let's hunt." He said then, pulling me back up to my feet. "All of us!" He added, looking around.
"I… I should lay some traps." I said to Thor. "For the others." I added, looking up at him. "In case they get too close to our camp."
Thor thought about this for a moment, before he nodded. "Do it." He said, while he started gathering weapons. "Charm, you stay behind with her. The rest of us will run south. If we're not back tonight, we will be in the morning." He added, nodding for the others to follow him.
Good news, if they didn't come back tonight, I could avoid what he wanted in the tent. I can honestly day, I wanted to avoid that at all costs. While they were still packing, I took a backpack, and added a few coils of wire to it. Along with some wire cutters that I found amongst the spoils in the cornucopia. I had my gear together when the rest of them were ready to go. Thor gave me a hard look, before he took off into the woods, leaving just me and Charm behind at the camp.
"Don't go too far, Qwerty." She said in a firm tone, locking her eyes on me. I simply nodded as I set off into the woods. It wouldn't take much time to have another briar patch like the one I made for my training. Only this was a sharp wire. And when it was strung up correctly, it was invisible. This was good, because if things went the way I thought they were going to go, I assumed I would have to lead one of my current allies through this. And, at the rate things were going, that wouldn't be too far off.
Along my way, I found a fallen log, and a small smile fell to my lips as I rigged that into a form of a booby trap, rigging the log to a tree with more of the wires, and setting a trip along the forest floor. Through all of these things I was setting, I had to make markers for myself on nearby trees. I wouldn't want to fall victim to my own traps after all. That wouldn't work out to well. And from here on out, after surviving a day in the games, I had every intention of making it home. My parents didn't deserve to see me die like this.
About two hours later, I'm returning to the camp, almost all of my wires gone. But that was the point. I needed to return before anyone missed me too much, though. So, when I come to the camp side, I drop the bag and then myself by the fire. I'm tired, sweaty. But the work was worth it. I know we'll be safe, and more importantly, I know I'll be safe. And, they couldn't kill me while the traps were laid, without accidently tripping them their selves.
I'm shocked out of thinking about that by the sound of the cannon again. "Twelve." I said softly. Out of the Twenty-Four tributes that came into the arena yesterday, half are gone. Half. This is hard to think about. There wouldn't be too much more time before we would have to turn on one another. There were only three of the others left.
The sky was getting dark when the others returned. By that time, Charm and I had a fire roaring, and dinner was just about ready. They had another pack and a jacket with them. Thor wouldn't let me out of arms reach, and before I could worry about what he was going to do, the anthem played, and the faces of the boy from Ten and the girl from Nine were flashed up in the sky. The numbers were slowly lowering.
Thor looked down at me, and smirked some. "Go to the tent." He said this in a blunt tone, and gave me a push. It was good though. It was starting to snow. I wouldn't want to be out there if this turned into a full blown blizzard. So, I pull myself to my feet, and move into the tent Thor had occupied the night before. I didn't have my sleeping bag, but that, I think, isn't going to matter too much longer.
I pulled my coat, gloves, and boots off, and went to curl up on the bed roll he had there. I had to will myself not to cry, though. I didn't know what would happen if I did. I'd lose sponsors, though. I know I would.
"Mom… Don't let the boys watch this…" I whispered as I looked over to the far wall of the tent. They had to have a camera in there, right?
Thor came into the tent about ten minutes later, and grinned down to me. He peeled off his boots, and his jackets, and moved to lay down himself. Both of his arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me close to his strong form.
"You're hunting with us tomorrow. Get some sleep." He said in a firm tone, his chin resting atop of my head. Sleep claimed him first, but once I was sure he wouldn't try anything tonight, sleep clamed me as well.