*Lillibet's POV*
When we all scattered, I went with Spade into the trees, in the direction of the ghostly District 11. We ran and ran and ran until Spade's bandages were coming off, and he could go no further. I was pulling out the medic kit when the first cannon went off.
Spade and I both jumped and stared at each other. Who had died? Just as I broke the stare, another one went off. I started, looking up at the sky. What was going on?
Only a few moments had passed when next cannon went off. Then another.
Then silence.
Birds remained silent, as did crickets. It was unnatural. Shaking slightly, I began to replace Spade's bandages. The wound itself was fire-red and looked like it was throbbing, but at least it had stopped bleeding. When the patching was done, we stared into the trees the way we'd come. There was still silence.
"F-f-four d-d-d-dead," I stuttered, staring at him.
"Four," he said, treating the word like it was a particularly awful word.
I shuddered. "What do we do? Stay here?"
Spade looked at me a moment. "Go help."
I gulped, and nodded. "Go help."
And, with that, I helped him up. He winced as though it hurt a lot, but said nothing. I patted his unhurt shoulder, and we began back into the trees on the way back. It took a while – much longer than it had to go there in the first place. It was like torture – not knowing what was going on; who was dead and who lived.
And then the sounds of clanging metal, and grunting reached my ears. Spade and I exchanged a glance, and began to move quicker towards the sounds.
Then the cannon went off.
Spade and I both stopped short.
Another one dead.
Five dead in total.
We both gulped, and continued, a bit more reluctantly, towards the sounds of battle.
Ahead, a great wail came out. A wail of sadness and anger. I actually stopped in surprise when I recognized the voice.
Lystra.
"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" Lystra yelled. I blinked at Spade, raising an eyEbrow. His eyes widened slightly and he looked mournful. "YOU ARE GOING TO PAY, YOU SCUM! YOU'RE A SICK BULLY; A STUPID, UGLY PIECE OF SCUM!" Well then.
Spade and I came in sight of the clearing. On the ground, blood spilling from their empty bodies, was Carter James and Tanner. It seemed that Lystra had patched Tanner up a bit before he died.
Besides that, the scene before us was almost comical.
Baffled and surprised, Rayne and Nich were standing back, open-mouthed as Lystra advanced on a shocked-looking Elvatorix. Elvatorix raised her sword, trying to defend herself, as Lystra launched a volley of blows so fast, I could hardly see it. Completely shocked, Spade and I stayed in the trees.
Then Carrie and Armondo Rippet came into the clearing. After standing, open-mouthed for a moment, they began to counter-attack Lystra. Whirling and twirling, she avoided getting cut, but fell to the ground, where Carrie put her sword above her.
"What is this madness?" a breathless Carrie demanded.
"Madness!" Armondo sounded thrilled. Elvatorix gave him a sharp look, and he shut up.
"I'M AVENGING THE DEATH OF MY LOVE!" Lystra yelled at her, along with a couple of choice words.
"SHUT UP!" Carrie yelled with such ferocity, I would have shut up. But Lystra kept at it. "SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL YOU!" Carrie amended.
"Fine then!" Lystra burst into tears "Kill me! Let me rejoin my love!" She began to cry heavily, shaking under the blade. All of us were completely taken aback by Lystra's many transformations. But, as Carrie raised the sword to kill Lystra, Spade and I both stepped out of the shadows, weapons at the ready.
"I don't think so," I said coldly, and Spade, Nich, Rayne, and I all attacked at once, defending Lystra. It was a quick battle, and I was vaguely aware of two figures joining us, and, later, three cannons. But all I knew was that we soon had Elvatorix, Armondo, and Carrie in the edge of the clearing. They glanced at us, and our sharp objects, and wisely decided to run off.
We didn't have the stamina to run after them. It was all that I could do not to collapse. My need for water was greater than before. "Who's . . . . dead?" I croaked.
Nich gestered to those lying on the ground. There was Carter and Tanner, along with Illanna Rainflower and Percy Stein, the tributes from 5, who had been loaners. "When'd they join the fight?" I croaked.
Rayne shrugged. "Don't know."
Then I turned to the last body. Spade.
With his death, I felt as though part of me was dying – he was the last piece of home I had left. I took a deep breath, looking at his dead body. Then I clenched my fist.
"Clear out," Nich ordered "they have to collect the bodies."
We grabbed what we needed from the dead bodies and headed out, a bit numbly, unable to believe the loss of lives.
"Wait," I said, looking at the other three – Rayne, Nich, Lystra, and I were the only surviving members of the alliance. "Are Totsie and Echo alive?" I knew the answer – deep down.
"No," Rayne answered "they couldn't be. There was a cannon for each of them."
Feeling much worse, I continued to walk.
And that's when we found the stream.
It was a quietly trickling – a sound that made us all run for it. When we reached it, we threw off our bags and threw ourselves into the water, washing off the dirt and dust and blood. Making ourselves new again.
It seemed like a good omen – after all the bad things that had happened, something good happened. Maybe things were finally going our way.
We cried then – for all of the dead people.
For our lost lives.
For all that had gone wrong.
Lystra cried most of all. We tried to comfort her, but she was inconsolable.
"Lystra," I said slowly "do you remember what we said on the rooftop?"
She met my eyes. Of course she did. She nodded slightly.
"You'll see him soon," I comforted her. There were words underneath that I knew the Capitol wouldn't catch, but she would : We shall all be back in 50 years.
We stayed by that stream all day; just relaxing and crying. At sunset, the parachute came down from the sky. It carried a basket filled with bread. I glanced at Nich quizzically, and then I understood.
Mazie was about to kill the president.