Chapter 12: Capital Offense
A small wince leaves my mouth as I inspect the cut on my leg, courtesy of Zeppina's knife. If I make it back to the Capitol, I really hope they heal these injuries, otherwise I'll be in trouble in the next arena. There's dried blood around the long red gash, but thankfully it's not deep. It's easy to fix with a little of the Capitol gel and a small bandage, but that doesn't stop the critical voice in my head telling me how much of an idiot I was. It was an incredibly stupid decision to jump out like that. If Zeppina was a better shot, I would be dead for sure. And it's a good thing Karn was caught unaware or I would probably have two knives in me right now.
"You're looking a little worse for wear. How'd you get those?" comes Karn's deep voice.
He's leaning against a tree, casually fiddling with his knife, but his eyes are on me. I fidget under his gaze, but then I realize it's not me he's looking at. Rather, he's staring at my healing wounds with a sort of fascination that makes my skin crawl. His eyes trail over the tears in my jacket sleeve and up to my face, lingering on the place the girl from Five had punched me.
"Same place everyone else in the arena gets them," I say.
I really don't want to talk about this, but the look on his face tells me he isn't going to let it go so easily. He smirks and raises an eyebrow, indicating for me to elaborate.
I huff out a breath and roll my eyes, a frown tugging at my lips. "Careers, other tributes, mutts. The usual," I say dryly.
His look of fascination continues, the smirk growing wider on his face. "Did you kill them?" he asks.
I shiver at the tone in his voice. It sounds…excited, almost. The scrutinizing look Zeppina has on her face tells me that I'm not imagining it either. It makes me wonder how many people he's killed in the arena, how many different people contributed to the blood on his jacket and pants.
"Does it matter?" I ask, hoping that my tone indicates that this conversation is over.
His chuckle unsettles me, but his face pulls into a look of innocence as he says, "Just trying to get to know my new allies, is all. I need to know if you're capable or if you're going to get me killed."
"Well we're still alive," I bite out. "I think that speaks for itself. Don't you?"
"Hmm. I suppose," he says after a moment. His eyes drift away from me and towards Zeppina. "And what about you? Can you hold your own?"
She narrows her eyes at him. I'm impressed with her ability to hold his judging gaze. He's practically leering at her, but it's not the same type of look I received from Mace. His look is predatory. Like he's determining whether or not she'll be an easy kill.
"I've made it just as far as you have," is the only thing she says.
Karn sends her one more look, before turning to me, sending me what I'm sure he thinks is a charming smile. It makes my stomach churn.
"Need any help with that?" he asks, nodding to the rodent on the ground next to me.
"No."
It comes out a little more forcefully than I intended. Karn's smile shrinks a few teeth.
The way he's looking at the animal reminds me of all the stories I had heard about him back in District Twelve. Most of them were just about his superior attitude and proclivity for punching things, but there's one story that sticks in my head now. There's an old man in the merchant village, Mr. Clive, who keeps some livestock⎯-a cow, some pigs, and a goat. It's not much, but it's more than most people in Twelve have. One of the pigs had gone missing. Most people said that he must have left the pen open, but Mr. Clive had been sure that someone took it. More specifically, that Karn had taken it. A couple days later, some kids stumbled upon it on the outskirts of town. It was dead, apparently all cut up and mutilated. Mr. Clive kept saying it was Karn, and even though everyone—even Mr. Fairbain—says that Karn is trouble, no one could ever prove anything.
I never thought about the story much, but having Karn so near, it's hard to ignore it. Especially with the way he's been eyeing my injuries and the dead rodent. I'll have to keep a closer eye on him.
We fall back into silence after that. I butcher the rodent while they both sit somewhere off to the side, no doubt eyeing each other wearily. Or maybe Karn is smirking. I don't look up from the meat to check, but I decide that it's most likely the case.
"We need to light the fire soon," Zeppina says, breaking the silence.
I pause what I'm doing and look up at the fake sky. Darkness is creeping up quickly, and unless we want to lead the Careers straight to us, we need to do as Zeppina suggests. Even with the addition of Karn and my growing hostility towards the Career tributes, I don't want to draw them in so that we can be tested on just how good or bad my idea was.
"I'm almost done. You can start it now," I say, going back to cutting up the fat rodent. I wish we had these things in District Twelve. They have a lot of meat on them for being so small.
"You still have the flint?" I ask Zeppina, who sends me a droll look as if to show how ridiculous of a question that is.
"Karn, can you get some wood for the fire?" I ask without bothering to look over at him.
He grunts, but instead of the snide comment I'm expecting, I hear the sound of snow crunching. He walks in front of me and through the trees to collect some branches as Zeppina rummages through her backpack.
"There's something off about him," Zeppina says as soon as Karn is out of earshot.
"He's…" I pause, struggling to find a way to put this because the truth is, I completely agree with her. "He's just a little… enthusiastic."
"That's not it, and you know it. I can tell that he makes you uncomfortable too."
Had I really been that obvious? No, she's just better at reading people than most. Still, the comment makes my stomach drop. If I can't bring myself to be passably comfortable around him, then how can I expect her to?
I sigh and look over to the girl, who's staring back at me with a serious expression. "I know that he's not… particularly likeable, but I meant what I said earlier about the Careers. Let's face it, they'll probably be looking for us because we stole from their supplies, and without Barden…" Zeppina's face drops slightly at that. She may be willing to do whatever it takes to survive, but I know that she misses Barden at least a little. "Even if we can take care of ourselves, it's better to have someone like Karn in case the Careers do come looking."
For me, that is. They don't know I'm in an alliance with Zeppina, and she ran from the Cornucopia before any of them could get a good look at her. There's no question in my mind that she's just as aware of this as I am.
"Yeah, but⎯-" Zeppina pauses, her head snapping to the side. "Did you hear that?"
"No. Hear what?"
Almost as if on cue, I hear a scream. Zeppina and I look at each other with panic. There's another scream, but it's cut short, and the sound of a cannon fills the air. My heart beats rapidly as I scan the trees, but I can't make anything out within them. The image of a muttation fills my mind, and a pit of worry forms in my stomach. The scream sounded close, and there's no telling who it was or why they were screaming. Are the Careers near? Was it Karn? I think it came from the direction he went in, but I can't be sure.
The hovercraft confirms my suspicions. The buzzing noises and the glowing lights make it easy to spot in the darkening sky. It's near us, and right along the path that Karn had disappeared down. It flies away after a few seconds, and we are plunged into silence once again.
"Who do you think it was?" Zeppina asks.
"I don't know, but maybe we should…" I trail off when a figure emerges from between the trees. I can see the dark soak of blood from head to toe. It stands in stark contrast to the beige pants and the whites of Karn's teeth as he saunters back towards us with a large smirk on his face.
I swallow thickly as I scan him. There is no doubt that he killed that tribute. And there's no doubt that he is happy about it. The dangerous glint has returned full force. I almost want to run away from him as he struts forward. Zeppina visibly flinches when she spots all of the blood on his clothes. There was only one cannon, so I know that he only killed one tribute, but his jacket and pants are covered. It's a lot of blood for one person. How violent had the fight been for him to make the tribute lose that much blood? The question makes bile rise in my throat.
Karn looks at the two of us, seeming to just realize our presence.
"Are you…" I pause, trying to find my voice as I look over the bloody boy. "What happened?"
"Someone got in my way," he says. "Don't worry, he's dead."
His eyes shine with something I can't quite name, but it makes my stomach churn nonetheless.
"I've got the firewood," he says after a moment of tense silence.
He drops it onto the ground with a loud thunk. I stare at the pile for a second, before pulling my gaze towards Zeppina. The look she sends me is easy to read, but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she walks towards the pile with the flint and starts the fire.
We cook the meat quickly, and we eat it even more quickly. The rumbling in my stomach reminds me that I haven't eaten since dawn. Karn doesn't bother trying the savor the food; he shovels it into his mouth at an alarming rate. I'm mildly concerned that he's not chewing and will end up choking on it. But only mildly. I mostly try not to look at him. He still has blood on his face, which he hasn't attempted to wipe off. He doesn't seem to mind it at all.
We get moving after that, looking for a place to stay that's not near the fire or the area where Karn killed the tribute. We walk in a single file line, following the stream until one of us picks a spot that seems suitable. None of us dare to speak. We're already making enough noise as it is. The direction we are heading in moves further and further away from the Cornucopia, but I remain on high alert. There are too many tributes unaccounted for, and it's possible that someone heard the boy scream.
The anthem blares above as we walk. My feet maintain their movement, but I keep my eyes on the screen as the faces of tributes begin to appear. The first is a boy from Six, followed by a girl from Eight. One of the twelve year olds, I realize after a moment. I had forgotten she was still in it. My chest tightens when I think about how unfair it is that she was here to begin with.
I suddenly realize that the boy was from Six, from Zeppina's district. I drop back slightly, letting Karn take the lead.
"Did you know him well?" I ask, falling into step with her.
Her eyes flit to me quickly before she returns her gaze forward. "No, not at all," comes her brief reply.
I hadn't expected her to say yes. She doesn't strike me as the type of person who gets close to many, let alone someone she knows she's going to have to kill. The conversation reminds me of the one we had on the first night when it had been Collis and Thalia's faces in the sky. I hadn't known them either, but I was still affected by their deaths. There's a certain sense of camaraderie between people from the same district. It may be weak, but it's there nonetheless. Zeppina's face tells me that she's feeling the effects of that. I'm sure she hates Karn even more now than ever.
We wander in silence for half an hour, stopping somewhere farther back in the small woodland outlet.
"This should be good for tonight," I say surveying the area. It looks the same as everywhere else in the forest. The only difference is that it looks like the stream runs across the base of the mountain from here on out.
Both Karn and Zeppina nod at me.
Zeppina's eyes move to me for a second before she looks away and she says, "Let me set up the snares first. We'll have a better chance of catching something by morning."
My lips tug down slightly as I eye the fidgeting girl. She looks uncomfortable, but I can't put a reason to it. I know that she doesn't trust Karn⎯-or me for that matter-⎯but she isn't looking at either of us. Her eyes are flickering over the surrounding area, like she's scanning them for something.
I pull out the wire from my backpack and hand it to her. She takes it and mumbles a quiet thank you before she starts walking off into the woods. Before she gets too far away, she stops and throws a look over her shoulder, and we lock eyes. Something flashes over her face, but it's gone before I can decipher it. She faces forward again and walks deeper into the trees.
My brows furrow as I watch her retreating form, but I'm forced to look away when I hear something impact harshly with the ground. I whip my head to side and stare for a moment before rolling my eyes at Karn who is now sprawled over across the snow.
I really, really don't like him.
I unroll my sleeping bag against the trunk of a tree and lean back against it, clutching my knife in my hand and trying to ignore the biting wind. I close my eyes as I try not to think about going back to the Capitol. I can't get too ahead of myself, no matter how badly I want to leave this place. But it's difficult not to when there isn't anything to distract me. The only other sounds that can be heard are Karn's shuffling against the snow and the low whistling of the wind. It's easy to lose myself in my own thoughts.
"Where's your friend?" Karn calls over to me, breaking my trance.
I open my eyes and look around, my gaze finding nothing but the trees. I purse my lips, my eyebrows pulling together. Where is she? I haven't exactly been keeping time, but I know that she's been gone for a while. Longer than she should be. Is she in danger? I doubt she's gotten lost; she's too smart for that. I think back to the look she sent me right before she left, and I realize what it meant.
"She's not coming back," I tell him.
Morning does not come quickly for me, and when it finally does, I'm exhausted. The nightmares and the fear are reaching an all time high, and it's getting harder and harder to act like it isn't getting to me. Sleeping with Karn so near proved itself to be a nearly impossible task, especially with Zeppina's absence.
I'm positive that she won't be returning, that this is the end of our alliance. My chest tightens with feelings of betrayal, but I push them down. I have no right to feel betrayed. She has every right to do whatever she needs to do to survive. If the situations were reversed, I would have done the same thing. Karn has been nothing but unsettling, and for someone who has never really seen him before, it's only natural that she felt so uneasy around him. Even with growing up in the same district as him, seeing him almost every day, and spending a week with him in the Capitol, he still makes my skin crawl. And after last night… I can't blame her for wanting to get away as soon as possible.
I stand and let my gaze drift over to the boy in question. He's wide-awake, fiddling with his knife just as he was doing last night. His face is turned down, so I can't see the expression on it, but I'm partially relieved by this. I don't want to see the look in his eyes. I can see all the blood clearly in the sunlight. It sticks to his clothes, making them look as if his jacket is almost black and his pants red rather than the blue and beige they actually are. Some of it has leaked onto the snow surrounding him, but none of it has been wiped from his face. I don't really know what to make of him right now, but he didn't try to kill me in the middle of the night, so I guess that's a good sign.
It's still early morning, the sky painted with the colors of sunrise. The early hour doesn't bother me. It's another clear day, and it gives me more time to figure everything out now that Zeppina's gone. I'm glad that we saved some of the food from last night, because it's going to be impossible to make a snare without the wire. I curse myself for not seeing Zeppina's plan earlier and keeping some of it for myself. Food might become a problem, and I doubt that Karn's got any ideas on how to fix this, so I'll have to think of something. I hope Karn likes greens, because it seems like we'll be eating plants from here on out. I don't want to share my dried fruit with him.
Sighing, I pull the canister from my backpack and pop it open, removing a few pieces of meat before calling over to Karn. "You should take some food now, and we can eat as we move. It's safer that way."
Karn stares blankly at me for second, and I wonder if he's heard a single word I said, but then he puts his knife away and stands.
"Move where?" he asks. "Is that what you and your little friend have been doing this whole time? Wandering around aimlessly?"
I scowl at his derisive tone. The nine days in the arena that I spent away from him let me forget how rude he is.
"Yes, that's what we did," I say. "It's never a good idea to stay in one spot too long. You might as well just hand yourself over to another tribute."
The corner of his mouth tugs up into a smirk and a single brow moves up his forehead as he says, "Sounds like a waste of energy to me."
I scoff slightly. If the blood on his clothes weren't an indicator of his ability to kill, I'd seriously wonder how he managed to survive this long with how stupid he is.
"Well it's worked for me so far, considering I'm still alive and all," I say, tossing him the small pot of meat.
He catches it easily. "Shouldn't we be looking for other tributes?" he asks, a small sneer filling his features.
I balk at the question. Unfortunately, when I scan his face I see no sign to indicate that he's joking. His face is neutral, his eyes continue to shine with that same disconcerting look.
I'm sputtering as I stare at the boy, and I can't keep the look of disbelief from my face. "Why…" I shake my head. What is wrong with him? "Why would we do that?"
"You're the one who wanted me to help against the Careers," he replies. He says it like he's talking to a child, and I scowl at him.
"Yeah, but I meant in case we run into them. I didn't mean that we go hunt them down ourselves. I'm trying to be prepared not…not stupid. Why would we put ourselves in that situation?"
He narrows his eyes, and I instinctively take a step back. He doesn't respond though. Probably because he knows that I'm right. Sure, just yesterday I was hoping for a chance to kill the Careers, but that didn't involve walking up to them and handing myself over. How has Karn managed to survive this long with ideas like that?
It makes me curious as to what he's been doing this whole time, but I don't ask. I'm a little afraid to hear the answer.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Karn asks after a moment, his face once again impassive.
I relax, but only marginally. He makes me more nervous by the second. Of course, he seems completely unaware of the effect he's having. He takes a bite out of the leftover rodent meat. At least he seems to be chewing today.
I contemplate his question for a moment, trying to shut down the fear gnawing at my stomach. "Away from here," I say, gesturing vaguely to the forest around me. "The Careers travel in groups and I have no doubt that one of them is going to come looking over here today. They'll know there are people here thanks to the hovercraft from last night. Considering no one has found us yet, they're likely to keep looking until they find someone. Plus, there's already twenty-two dead. I'm sure they're eager to get out of here and onto the next round. They'll probably hunt like crazy today."
He makes a sound deep in his throat, and I catch a glimpse of something in his eye. In the daylight, I can finally place why it seems so familiar. It's the same sort of crazed look the girl from Five had in her eye. Not quite the same as when she attacked me, but the look I remember from reaping day⎯-the look of someone who will no doubt crack under the pressure. It's a good thing the arena is almost over with. If we both live, I make a mental note to steer clear of him in the second arena.
We get moving a few minutes later, after I've finished packing everything up. For the most part, we walk in tense silence. I eye Karn every few seconds even though I want nothing more than to look away from him. He's definitely acting strange, and it's not the same type of strange Zeppina was acting yesterday, or even the way he was acting back in the Capitol. He's more difficult to read this time. It's not just arrogance on his face anymore, though there's still plenty of that. I keep coming back to the girl from Five, and how similar their looks are. It makes me regret this alliance more and more every second. But I couldn't just let Zeppina kill him. As much as I try to justify all the killing I'm going to have to do myself, I don't know how I could return back to District Twelve after I had let one of my allies kill one of my district partners, no matter how much I don't like him.
We decide⎯-and by we I mean I did while Karn grunted something unintelligible⎯-to climb back up the mountain and go around the back part of the forest. It's near the area of the avalanche though, so I decide that it's probably best to not travel farther than halfway up. The last thing I want is to die by getting buried in the snow because the Gamemakers thought I wasn't close enough to the fun.
Even though the sun shines brightly in the sky, the temperature is colder than it has been most days. Even with the numbness that has set in over the past few days, I feel the frigid air as it bites at my skin. It makes me think that the Gamemakers want to end this arena too. They're trying to motivate us to get a move on by making the conditions unbearable. I guess that's why there's no snow.
We're close to the halfway mark of the slope when we encounter our first predicament. Despite all the snow on the ground, the terrain is extremely rocky and it's taken us a few hours to make such little progress. Bits and pieces of the ground come loose with every step I take, and it's even worse for Karn. He's a lot larger than I am, and the strain he puts on the ground is too much for it to hold him. This makes me more anxious than I already was. Every step I take is with extreme caution, my muscles tense with every movement.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Karn calls out from behind me.
I toss him a look over my shoulder and shake my head. "Nope, but what in the arena is?" I ask as I stumble slightly, the earth giving out and causing my foot to slide.
"This looks like a landslide waiting to happen," he says.
As annoying as Karn is, I have to agree with his point. If the surface can barely hold me, it's definitely not going to be able to hold him for much longer. And if he causes a landslide, he's going to take me down with him. I peer down the slope as my mind conjures up images of what would happen. I swallow heavily as I look at the distance it would throw me. I'd most likely die, and on the off chance that I somehow managed to survive, I'd definitely be too injured to do anything. I'd be a sitting duck for anyone to kill. Or the Gamemakers would find a way to put me out of my misery. Either way, I wouldn't make it out of this arena alive.
I bite my lip and turn back to face the boy. "We could go back down a couple feet, just about a hundred feet from the ground. It should be enough to slow anyone down."
Karn doesn't respond, instead opting to start making his way down the slope. I stand there, staring after him for a moment, before rolling my eyes and following him. Karn grunts as he stomps down the mountain, the sound of rocks sliding accompanying every step.
"Is this seriously what you've been doing this whole time? Climbing these mountains?"
I take a deep breath, glaring at the back of his head. Are we really having this conversation again? "Yes, Karn, this is what I've been doing this whole time," I say as I catch up with him. "What difference does it make?"
He grunts again and doesn't reply. Okay. Guess that conversation is over.
An hour later, we're back down to the bottom of the mountain, only about a hundred feet over the forest. I can see the stream clearly from here. The land is a lot steadier, so I figure that traveling here will be safe for the time being, at least until we reach the other side of the forest. I make sure to keep a little distance away from Karn. I can feel his eyes burning into the back of my head a lot more frequently than I would like. It makes the hair on my neck stand on end and my stomach clench uncomfortably.
We both pause when the sound of yelling reaches our ears. I clench my knife tightly while I listen. I can't distinguish anything that's being said, only the faint sound of whooping and hollering. The noise is muted by the wind, and I can't see anyone in the surrounding area, so I know that they are not close. Maybe the Careers have finally decided to start killing each other. A small smirk finds it way onto my face at the thought. Maybe they could sacrifice two of them and then we could all get out of here. I throw a glance at Karn who simply shrugs.
We continue walking, the sound of the yelling fading in and out every so often. It goes on like that for a few minutes, and I seriously start to wonder what's going on down there. That is, until a cannon goes off.
I look around the area, but still there is nothing. I wait for another cannon, hope swelling up in my chest, but again, nothing. I let out a sigh. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"It's a shame," I call over to my ally. "If they had managed to kill whoever they were fighting, then we'd…" I pause, a chill running up my spine when I turn to look at Karn.
My heart thuds painfully inside my chest when I meet his eyes. He's already looking at me, or rather, staring at me with that crazed look in his eye.
"Karn?" I swallow heavily, my pulse beating faster with every second. "Karn, is everything okay?" I ask. My voice sounds shaky to my own ears.
Karn gives a strange sort of half smirk at the question, his eyes never stopping their scan of my body. "That was cannon twenty-three," he says, taking a large step forward. I swallow and take a step back. "That means only one other person has to die and then I get to leave. I could win this."
I can't bring me feet to move. "Yeah, yeah, you could," I choke out. "We just have to hold out a little longer."
"I don't think you understand," he says lowly, taking another step towards me.
"I do⎯-"
"I could win this whole thing. Go home. There's only one person standing between me and the Capitol."
I don't even have time to breathe before he's running at me. He rams into me, and I crash onto the ground, my knife flying from my hand. My head slams back and everything goes black for a few seconds. All the air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. I feel as if someone has dropped a boulder on my chest, and it's crushing me, making it impossible to breathe. The pain in my head and my chest is enough to make me disoriented.
I let out a strangled cry when something sharp pierces my shoulder. The excruciating pain surges through my whole body, pulling me out of my confusion. My vision is splotchy, but I can make out the figure on top of me. I can hear the softly spoken whisper of, "Just one more," over my gasping breaths.
I let out another scream when Karn yanks the knife from my flesh, warm blood spilling out and soaking my shoulder. He's trying to kill me.
"Karn! Stop! Please!" I beg.
It's no use.
"Shut up!" he yells with a rough jerk of my body.
His fist collides with my face, and my head snaps to the side with the impact. Warm iron fills my mouth. He's going to kill me.
I choke on the pool of blood in my mouth, a gurgling cough leaving my lips. I spit the warm liquid at my attacker. He growls and raises his fist up again. My hand shoots up before his comes down, and I claw at his face, trying to get him off me. His knife slashes across my arm as we grapple. I gasp, my hand slipping from his face.
It's no use. He's got me pinned beneath him, one leg on either side. He's too strong for me to push off. But I have to survive. My body thrums with adrenaline, my mind screaming at me to get him off! Get him off!
I grip his shoulders and whip my head up, colliding with his face. I yank to the side as soon as we make contact. The earth beneath us gives at the pressure. He falls to the side, and I scramble away. I hack out another cough as I try to pull myself to my feet. I'm too slow.
Karn lunges for me. We collide again, but we don't stop moving when my back hits the ground. We fly down the slope, my body smacking against the hard surface with every tumble. The air is knocked from my lungs repeatedly. I'm dizzy, pain blossoming in every limb.
I skid across the ground, my momentum carrying me into the stream. I gasp when the cold water hits me. My body stills when I roll onto my back. Something digs painfully into my spine, but I don't stop to consider it. I sit up.
I'm immediately thrown back down. Karn hovers over me, a deranged smirk aimed in my direction. There's still blood all over his face. I have no time to move before he straddles me, and I know that my blood will soon join it.
"Please," I choke out. "Don't do this."
"I told you to shut up!" he screams.
My heart rate spikes as his hands close around my throat and force me down into the shallow stream. The water rushes over my head and into my mouth. My throat burns and I hack beneath the water. Bubbles float to the surface as I search desperately for oxygen. I kick and thrash beneath him, but he doesn't move.
My vision begins to go black around the edges. I'm out of air. I continue to struggle, but his grip around my neck only grows tighter. The fight is draining from my body. I'm going to die.
My limbs are overcome with a heaviness that leaves me barely twitching beneath the boy. I watch hazily as another bubble leaves my lips and floats to the surface. I can feel my consciousness slipping. The pressure is crushing, my chest caving in on itself. But it's a dull pain.
It's like the pain digging into my back, I think lazily. Why did I put my knife there? It's uncomfortable.
Through my haze, I'm struck with a realization. The other knife! It's still stuck in the waistband of my pants. I use what little energy I have left to slide my hand underneath me. I grasp frantically for the knife. My fingers close around the hilt, and I no longer have to command my body to move.
My hand swings up towards Karn. The knife meets something hard, but I don't stop pushing. I drive the blade forward and twist.
I hear something from above, but it is thick and muted in my ears. The grip on my throat loosens when I yank the knife back. I stab again, and the hands disappear completely. There is a splash beside me and freedom above me.
I shoot up from the stream, gasping for air. I crawl frantically away, violently hacking up water with every movement. I don't dare stop. Survive, my mind screams. Survive. Survive. Survive.
I don't move very far. My limbs refuse to cooperate. They're made of lead, and my lungs are on fire. I'm so tired. I hear muffled gasping, but I can't tell if it belongs to Karn or me. He's going to catch me. I'm going to die.
I prepare myself for the blow, but there's nothing. Slowly, I crane my head over my shoulder to look behind me. I can just make him out through my blurred vision. He lies in the stream, motionless.
I stagger to my feet and walk towards him. I sway with every step, unconsciousness threatening to take over. I realize that the wheezing is coming from him. I blink rapidly, trying the clear the blur of red from my vision as I get closer. It won't go away.
I collapse on the ground a few feet away and look him over. My eyes land on his right arm. The blur of red remains, but I know that no amount of blinking will make it disappear. Dark liquid seeps from beneath his arm as he lies gasping in pain.
I tighten my grip on the knife. I hadn't realized I was still holding it. Slowly, I crawl closer to his body.
Too much red, too much blood. I've hit an artery. He won't live. I'm not afraid of him now.
Carefully, I look over the boy one last time. His eyes are no longer filled with madness. Now they are only clouded in pain. He looks right through me. I raise the knife up and plunge it into his chest.
He gasps and twitches, and then nothing. His eyes are not filled with madness or pain. They're empty.
Shakily, I release my grip on the knife and start to crawl away. I'm still heaving, every action drowning me in pain. I can't move anymore.
I lay down. I just need to rest for a little. I see yellows and blues above me that grow fainter with every second. I'm so tired. There is a loud boom, and everything is plunged into darkness as unconsciousness pulls me under.
I distantly hear the steady sound of beeping. Everything remains black. I don't want to open my eyes. I like how blank my mind is, filled with nothing but a rhythmic beep. Beep. Beep.
If only things were always like this-⎯so quiet. It's nice to not be afraid for a little while. Why can't the Games always be like this?
The Games!
My eyes snap open and I bolt up, but I meet resistance. The first thing I see is a blinding light. It forces me to squint as I inspect where I am, the beeping from earlier having increased to a much quicker rhythm.
My stomach clenches at the unfamiliar surroundings. I try to get up from where I lay, but it's impossible to move, seeing as I'm strapped down, forced to stay in my reclined position. Anxiety claws at my insides, and it's only made worse by my confusion. The room I'm in is white⎯-completely, glaringly white. It looks sterile, and reeks of chemicals, the scent making me gag. Everything about it feels entirely unnatural. There is nothing except for the bed I'm in, a cabinet in the corner, a door on the far end of the room, and the source of the beeping. I furrow my brows, scanning the area to find the origin of the noise.
I don't have to look far. My eyes fall on a large white machine sitting next to me. My heart pounds and the beeping increases when I realize that I'm hooked up to it. It's an IV, or at least I think it is. I've never seen one before. I twist my body to get a better look at the machine, but pause when the action causes me no discomfort.
I frown, my eyebrows pulling together when I test my movement again. No pain. My eyes trail over my arm, the source of most of my trouble in the arena. And once again, there's nothing. There's barely a light scarring.
I look over the arm not attached to the IV to find it blank as well. Even the place where Karn had stabbed… I swallow thickly, everything coming back to me in a rush.
Karn. The stream. Drowning. Stabbing him. Killing him.
I did kill him, right? Or is he still alive?
My breath comes in quick bursts, and my pulse thrums in my ears, mixing with the loud and ever increasing beeping.
Something slams, and my head whips around. Standing in the doorway is a man dressed in a white lab coat. He smiles brightly at me from his place.
"Welcome back to the Capitol, tribute Kinross."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
AHHHHHHHHHHHH THE FIRST ARENA IS OVER AND KARN IS DEAD AND BRIAR KILLED HIM! NOW WE'RE APPROACHING THE SECOND ARENA AND DRAMA AND CATO AND AHHHHHHHHH!
Was that too excessive?
Reviews:
GreenOnBlack: Its a shame, isn't? People often fail to learn from other's mistakes
lovewords: Zeppina has been planning her escape lol. She's a planner, that Zeppina. Briar's decision to let Karn in felt a bit like a microcosm of every decision in the Games when you're trying to survive. It all seems to walk the line of crazy and necessary. Cato's coming, keep an eye out!
WhiteEevee: Briar isn't thinking straight at the moment lol. Or at least, what we, as people not in imminent danger, view as straight thinking. Creepy is definitely the right word to describe Karn.
FriendlyNeighborHoodHufflepuff: It did, in fact, bite Briar in the butt. I wonder what she'll do now. Ah, curse fanfiction's limited character. Still a great username even if its not exactly what you want.
SlyviaHungerOfArtemis: Growling at Karn is seems the best reaction. But you know, now that he's dead, you don't have to growl. Or maybe you'll have someone else to growl at...
AH, hope you guys liked it!