A Dangerous Game
Chapter Twenty: Hovercraft
They would be returning Rachel's body to District Eight that evening. Finn smuggled Jesse and April, who had insisted on coming with them, through the hole in the fence. No one really gave them a second glance; there were at least enough people in District Eight for two strangers not to stand out. They had a hood over Jesse's face, just in case they encountered anyone who might possibly remember him. They made their way to the city square, which was the only place large enough for the hovercraft to land. Hidden under their overcoats, each had one of those odd, old-fashioned shotguns.
As the fiancé of the deceased, Finn was allowed to go all the way up to the ship to receive her body. Rachel was brought out on a floating platform, flowers arranged in her hair and dressed in a silk dress. Finn leaned down and kissed her forehead. He straightened slowly, a foot taller than the two Peacekeepers surrounding him. They never even knew it was coming.
Within seconds each had a bullet hole in their heart. There were only three other Peacekeepers present, it was only a funerary service after all, and they were quickly dispatched by Jesse and April.
The two ran over to Finn, pushing their way through the stunned crowd. They backed their way into the ship and Jesse hit a button that closed the doors. "Do you even know how to fly this thing?" Finn said sitting down in a chair that was bolted to the floor to stop it from falling when the hovercraft took off.
Jesse sat in the pilot's seat, "I haven't exactly flown one before. When would I have an opportunity to do so? But I've read everything about them. In the library you refused to go inside…"
"I got it." Finn snapped remembering exactly why he didn't like this guy. "Just make it move."
They were lying next to each other on the sand, under the shade of a leafy tree. Kurt was sleeping peacefully, snoring quietly. His breath was gently tickling over Blaine's bare chest. A cannon went off and Blaine resisted the urge to flinch, not wanting to wake Kurt, who simply rolled over at the noise.
Four. Four were left. And as the Games were drawing to an end, would the Gamemakers allow them to stay in their beach paradise? Maybe for a while, they were popular apparently. After all they had received a gift, which at this point must have taken many sponsors to buy. It had contained an odd desert of sorts; something more crystallized than ice cream and sweet like fruit. Kurt had called it… sortay? No, sorbet. Not particularly useful, but it was absolutely delicious. Enclosed was a note from Kurt's mentor, Sue, which read "Just remember that there are cameras everywhere!"
This had made Kurt blush bright red and quickly retrieve his pants.
Blaine had suggested that they might be able to get steaks if they tried again; this earned him twenty minutes sitting alone to "think about what you just said, Anderson!"
Kurt had eventually let him return to the shade under the tree and had even left him half of the dessert, which oddly hadn't melted.
Seneca Crane was a very busy man. Not only was he Head Gamemaker, he also had to make sure not to displease President Snow. And honestly he wasn't sure which one was more work.
Crane stood on the platform above his workers, overseeing everything they were doing. There had been a major oversight earlier, when one of the Gamemakers had left cameras focused on the boys from Two and Eight. It had started quite the frenzy among the public. Of course the Gamemaker responsible had been executed. This was the Hunger Games, there were children watching! Crane had to make sure it remained appropriate for them. So he had ordered his workers to keep the cameras on Sebastian Smythe. Now that boy was doing well! The way he took out the boy from District Six, Mike Chang…. absolutely outstanding! Blood everywhere. Crane was glad that he had gotten that on camera for the audience. And then there was the girl from District Eleven, Lauren. She was very interesting. She wasn't even carrying a weapon and her head count was almost as high as Sebastian's.
Sebastian and Lauren in the finale would be very interesting indeed. Crane had been about to order a tidal wave to get rid of the bothersome lover boys when he had received a message from Snow. Not to kill the two boys, but instead to make sure that Lauren was the next to go. Maybe Snow really was going senile.
Crane had been trying to contact him for almost ten minutes for an explanation when...
"Sir, call from the President."
Crane snatched the phone from the man, waving for him to return to his work. "President Sno…"
"You didn't kill them, did you? You can be replaced, Seneca."
Crane gulped, "No... No sir. Both are very much intact."
"Good," Snow grunted, "We need them."
"Might I ask why, sir?" Crane said tiredly.
"Because… they're bait." Then the President hung up.
Honestly the man was going senile.