For the entire night, I doze in and out. My hand is still gripping Finnick's shirt when I wake up to the sun rising and the sky turning a rosy color. I let go out his shirt and stare at the wrinkle I made in it. I shrug and lean over and kiss him. He wakes up and runs his fingers through his hair.
"Finally awake?" I hear an angry voice say behind me. A voice that can only belong to Tex, of course. I turn my head to him. He's standing with his arms crossed and his knife in hand, like he's ready to slit our throats.
"Obviously," I retort. I get to my feet and face him. He's so much bigger than I am, and he's extremely intimidating. But I still hold my ground.
"Good," Tex huffs. Then he turns to the rest of the Careers, who are actually still sleeping. He walks over to them and kicks them lightly to wake them up. Nice. "Get up, all of you."
Cole sits up and shakes his head. Dutchess sleepily rubs her eyes. And Bree stretches her arms and picks up her knife. I look down at Finnick, who's getting to his feet. He embraces me tightly, and walks over to Tex. What's he going to start now? I wonder.
"Why are we up so early?" he asks, making a full circle around Tex. "Last time I was here, I didn't wake up until the afternoon. And I still made it out."
"We're up because I said so," Tex growls. "If you want to start anything, all you need to do is make the first move." I groan and push myself between them. I'm about to ask where we're supposed to be going, but since being nice to Tex was never something I was good at, I decide to keep up my current attitude toward him. Rebbelious.
"And who made you the leader?" I hiss, pushing my face into his. I'm surprised he actually backs off a little.
"I did," he says back. He doesn't give me the chance to say anything else. He just walks away, which is a signal for us to follow. We do. Even though he's not the nicest person, I still have to respect that he could kill me easily.
We walk wordlessly for about an hour. And once again, I have no idea what we're looking for. Maybe tributes to kill off. And we find them. There's the sound of leaves russtling, and the entire "pack" of Careers is turned around, looking for the person who made that sound.
I'm about to move closer, when Tex puts his arm in front of me and shakes his head no. I scoff at him and let him go instead. He'll find out soon enough what I'm actually capable of. Not five seconds pass before the girl from District 9 comes barreling through us, running for her life away from Tex, who is chasing after her. The rest of us start to take after him, and pretty soon, we've caught her. She's laying on the ground, cowering away from Tex, who has his sword raised, about to deal a death blow.
"Don't!" I whip around and see Finnick, pushing his way between Tex and Nine.
Tex's face flushes with rage. He glowers over Finnick. "Why not?" he demands.
"Because she's so..." He searches for the right word. "helpless." He's right. She is. Even if we hadn't caught her, she'd be dead in a matter of days.
Finnick helps the girl to her feet. She stands in front of us, shrinking behind him. She's small. Even smaller than me, which is saying something, since I'm pretty slim. She has almost black hair, gray eyes, and pale skin. Dutchess walks over to her.
"What's your name?" she asks.
"Fae," the girls answers. "District 9."
"No kidding," snorts Tex. "No one from any other district could cower like Ditrict 9."
Fae only nods, not daring to disagree with him. Finnick is still standing defensively in front of her, which makes me...uneasy. I glare at Fae with distrusting eyes. Maybe it's actually jealousy, though. Finnick turns to her and she jumps into his arms. This sets me off. I advance toward her, but Cole grabs my shoulders before I can. Good thing, too. Because I could easily kill her.
"What are we going to do with her?" Cole asks.
Tex doesn't hesitate, despite Finnick's objections. "Kill her," he says simply.
"Why?" asks Finnick. I stare at him, burning my gaze into his.
"Why are you fighting so hard to keep her alive?" I ask icily, tightening my grip on my spear.
"She's right, Odair," Tex growls. "Why are you doing it? Do you have something...special with her? Or do you just think she's pretty?"
"Probably all of them," I say. I can't believe I'm ganging up on Finnick like this with Tex. But jealousy has gotten the better of me. I'm enraged.
Without even giving it a second thought, Tex runs his sword straight through Fae's stomach. She lets out an awful choking sound, but she doesn't let go of Finnick. Instead, she grabs his face and kisses him. This throws me over the edge. I toss my spear at her, and it hits her with a loud crack. Because I've just punctured her spine. She dies immediately, and crumples to the ground. The cannon fires, and suddenly, I feel a twinge of remorse. Why did I kill her? Why did I have to do that? But in reality, she wouldn't have been the one to go home anyway.
The other Careers' eyes stare at me in disbelief. Then, they're congratulating me and patting me on the back. I just killed a girl. It's not something to be too proud about. I look over at Finnick. He's standing over Fae's body, unmoving.
"Why did you kill her?" he asks. I'm asking myself the same thing.
I don't respond. I just stare at him, and Cole stands beside me. "I think you know why," he says, in the most unfriendly voice I've ever heard from him. "Some girls don't like it when their boyfriends kiss other girls." He glares at Finnick for another moment, then walks away, with his hands balled into fists. What's gotten into him?
I give Finnick one more look that says, "Exactly.", and turn my back on him to the other Careers. I'm not particularly happy about Fae kissing Finnick, but I can't say I'm as enraged as I was. It wasn't his fault. She was the one that kissed him. But I can't relent too quickly.