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Clove

There was no time to explain. My adrenalin only permitted me enough breath to stay moving. I cycled through my options. We could scale a tree... But there was always the chance that whatever was pursuing us could climb, and if it could, it was probably a much better climber than I. If we went towards the edge, we would be met with the Capitol's hazards, and we would be cornered between a painful death and an excruciating one. Our only option was to go to the centre. It was the obvious choice. I would expect to see the other tributes there, if they were any of them still alive.

I could hear Fox's footfall behind me and, even fainter, the heavy pace of the creature. And then the louder footfall disappeared, replaced by a hefty crush of leaves and sticks, and the force of a body colliding with the dirt. Oh no.

Against all instinct to keep running, I turned. Fox was on the ground, her leg twisted in a root and her face and arms scattered with the silty dirt. She lifted her head, and looked at me with those amber eyes. Those stoic, burning eyes. Those eyes that said what they said to me the first time I saw them.

Those eyes that were so terrified that they had near submitted to fear.

And yet they burned. They seared, and I fell helpless to them again.

I ran back to Fox, dropping to my knees and seizing the root. The rapid rhythm of the creature's approach grew louder and faster. My hands were shaking as I attempted to loosen the root from Fox's ankle. Her hands fell on top of mine, and she gasped.

"My ankle's twisted."

I met her eyes again. To my horror, I saw the sinking edges of her eyes, and the amber flame dying. This was it; she was resigning to death. A painful death.

"Leave me. I'm useless to you now. Go!"

"No!" Just because she had given up, that didn't mean I had to. I couldn't leave her now. We'd already survived so much.

"I'll slow it down, whatever it is. It'll give you a chance to get away."

"I'm not leaving you." The words were there, and they were final. I threw the root away and made to grab her hand. Fox pulled away.

"If you take me, we'll both die." Her tone was calm, unsettlingly so. Her eyes fluttered shut and she settled herself against the dead leaves and dry dirt.

It was a wonder that we hadn't been found yet; and, subsequently, torn to shreds. Even without whatever beast thirsted for our blood, I was, in that moment, being torn in half. It was no more than a month ago that we first saw each other, and no more than a week ago that we first spoke, and it wasn't in polite terms, either. Yet now I felt as if life... This life, what has become of it, in its twisted and manipulative turns, where death is adored, but dying is repulsive... It would not be complete without the fox-faced girl in it. Whether it was because, if she died, it would be me that would be automatically responsible, or it was something more... I couldn't leave her. Guilt would consume me before any creature could touch me. It's ironic, almost, to think that I would have smiled at her suffering in times before. Now, in my wholeness, my humanity... To leave her is near unthinkable.

So I didn't. I slid my arms underneath her and, with what remained of my strength, threw her over my shoulder. I held her, and I ran. To my surprise, Fox didn't resist. I ran for the centre. The sun was going down, despite that it was far too early. The area surrounding the Cornucopia was devoid of bodies. Seeing no other option, I ran for it. I moved quickly, surged by adrenalin and emotion that would have meant my end minutes ago, had I lacked.

I fell gasping against the smooth metal wall of the Cornucopia, letting Fox fall from my shoulder. She looked up, analysing the sheer surface.

"We're cornered." She said.

"You'll have to climb."

"I can't!"

"Yes, you can, I'll help you."

Fox looked back at me, again with that look. I wouldn't let her resign to this. I couldn't. I turned her around and pushed her up the wall.

"Hey!" She turned around, her eyes shooting daggers into mine.

"I'm doing this for you. Climb."

Her eyes widened, but she wasn't looking at me. Her terrified gaze was directed over my shoulder. I turned. Whatever had been looking for us had found us.

And it looked none too friendly.

"CLIMB. NOW!"