Chapter 37: New Alliance.
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-How on Earth am I supposed to find him? – I mumble. It must be two or three in the morning; I have been talking to myself for four or five hours since Foxface fell asleep.
I have to find Peeta; if I don't do it, the audience won't believe in the Star-crossed lovers, they'll hate me and I won't have sponsors. Right now, I don't need them but they can be useful later. The problem is that I don't know where the hell he is; I haven't seen him since the spider attack, I just know that he isn't with the Careers anymore. If I manage to find him and he is injured, he'll make me vulnerable.
Then, there's the alliance I made with Foxface. I consider her a friend but she will have to die in order for me to get home alive. What I need is someone to kill her, and that will probably have to be a Career.
The careers are other problem; it isn't wise to attack them while they are still together, so the only option is to wait until they have turned on each other and then kill them one by one. But that would take at least another two days, and if there are no deaths soon the Gamemakers will make our life hell.
Gamemakers, another problem to add to the list. For what I know, Snow doesn't like me and, right now, I'm at his mercy. How can I know that they are not planning to kill me tonight?
-Hey. – I hear someone whispering. In seconds, I have my bow loaded and ready to shoot.
-Don't be so paranoid. I'm not going to kill you. – The person is standing in a branch at my left. Judging by the weight is has to be Rue; the other tributes are too heavy.
-Haven't you noticed that we are in the Hunger Games? – I ask sarcastically. – We are supposed to kill each other.
-I came to offer a deal… but if you don't want to listen… - she whispers offended.
I look around to see if Foxface has woken up. She hasn't. – You are Rue, right? – I want to be sure if I'm actually talking to her or to another tribute.
-Yes. Want to her the deal or not?
-Yes, but only if you came closer to the light. – I want to see her, just in case I have to shoot at her.
She walks in the edge of the branch, coming nearer to me until the moonlight makes me able to see her face.
-Here I am. – She says.
-Fine, now talk. – I say harshly. The less time I waste, the better.
-I know you want to find Peeta, your district partner. – She starts cautiously. I nod. – You don't know where he is. – I nod again. – But I do, and I will tell you.
-Fine, tell me. – I order.
-First, you have to break your alliance and then… - she stops, thinks for a while and then, continues. – make an alliance with…me.
-And alliance? Are you crazy? We are at the final eight.
-Maybe it's stupid, - she sighs. – but I'm sick of being alone. I'm scared of dying alone. And I trust in you.
-How can you trust in me? We have never talked. I can kill you in your sleep if I want. – No, I can't kill her. I'm not such a monster or am I? I don't know anymore.
-Do you have the courage to kill me in my sleep? –she asks.
-Yes. – I answer. I see in her eyes that she doesn't believe in me.
-Please? – She looks at me with her big amber eyes full of tears.
I can't for an alliance, not this late in the Games. Well, I have an ally, but I have her just for information. Rue has information; information about where Peeta is. I need that information, besides, how much damage can it cause to ally with Rue. She'll die anyway. – Fine. – I sigh. – Just wait until tomorrow. We'll meet here at midday.
-Great. I'll see you later. – She disappears between the branches and leaves.
I only hope this was the right thing to do.
-Good morning. – I say when I see that Foxface is no longer asleep.
-Morning. – She says tired. – Don't you think we should split our supplies and weapons in halves?
-Yes. – I say. – But let's have breakfast first.
-Do you have any food? – She asks.
-Not sure. Last night I set some snares but I don't know if they caught anything. – I say, walking towards the place where my snares are. One of them caught a rabbit, but the others are empty.
I return with Foxface and show her the rabbit.
-Are we going to eat it raw? – She asks with a grimace.
-No, unless you want to get rabbit fever. – I say while recollecting some dry wood.
She looks at me with surprise. – Are you lighting a fire? Are you insane? The Careers will see it.
-If they come, we just hide in the trees. None of them can climb trees, they are too heavy. – I say as I light the fire.
-Fine, but don't take too long. After breakfast we are moving from here.
I skin and gut the rabbit, and then I cut it in pieces and start cooking them over the fire.
We have breakfast and prepare our things, then we head to the Cornucopia; we want to see if there is something useful there.
We just find some knifes and a sleeping bag. I take a bottle of water, what is left from wire, the rope, half of the matches, one of the sleeping bags, the sunglasses, my bow and arrows, an axe, a sword, a flashlight, a first aid kit and some knifes.
It's around 11 AM when we are finally ready to part ways. – Goodbye, Foxface. – I say staring at her.
-You are never going to call me Finch. Are you?
-I will, when you earn my respect.
-Probably never. – She replies with a sigh.
-Yes, probably never. Goodbye. – I'm about to turn around and start walking, when she hugs me. I'm surprised and I return her the hug, fighting my tears. – Take care. – I whisper and I run to the place where I agreed to meet with Rue.
When I arrive to the place, I see no one. Maybe she set a trap for me. How couldn't I see it earlier? How could I have been such an idiot? If I continue like this, I'll end up shouting a boy from District 6 to return my knife. Well, if this was a trap, I have to move away from here.
I start walking slowly, cautiously when I see her standing on a branch above my head.
-You weren't planning on leaving, right? – She asks in a hurt voice. – We have an alliance.
-I couldn't see you. – I say defensively. – I forgot of looking at the trees.
-Do you want me to show you where he is? – She suggests.
Oh, yes. I forgot about Peeta. I'm not sure about it; if I ally with him I'll have to show romance to the audience and if I don't ally with him, they'll hate me.
The thought of romance is already making me sick, let's hope I don't throw up if I kiss him.
-What do you think if we eat something first? – I ask, trying to change of suspect.
-Sure. I have some roots and berries. - She looks suspiciously at me. –Do you have something else?
Maybe she saw the smoke of our campfire. I nod and take out the pieces of rabbit. We sit in the ground, leaning against a log, eating our food. It's great to have allies, but alliance can't last forever.
I can't imagine what made Rue to trust in me. No one in his right mind would trust in me without knowing me. I don't know why I trust in Rue. Everything seems so illogical, maybe that's what the Games do to your life, they make it illogical.
-Why do you trust in me? – I ask before realizing what I'm doing.
-I'm not sure. I have been watching you since I saw your Reaping, and I feel like I can really trust in you. - She says. – Why do you trust in me?
-I don't know, maybe I'm sick of being alone too.
-I have never been alone. I'm the oldest of six kids and I have lots of cousins. The worst thing that has happened to me is being alone. Don't you hate being alone? – She asks sadly.
-Most of the time I prefer being alone, that way I don't have to worry about anyone but myself. But too much time of being alone is painful to the point that you end up feeling nothing. – I say with a sigh; that's partially true, I prefer being alone and it's painful but you keep feeling and your worries get worse.
-I love singing. It's like a tradition for us to sing at home, at school and at work. Music brings happiness and hope to our lives. – She says with a smile.
I smile. – I love music too. There's a meadow in front of my house; sometimes mockingjays appear there. If I found them I sing for them and they reply.
-We have mockingjays in District 11 too. We sing together every day.
We continue talking about our lives back at home. When she mentions how much she misses her family, I wish I had never talked to her.
-Do you really know where Peeta is? – I ask.
-I think so. Last time I saw him, he was down the stream.
-When was that?
-Some hours before asking you to make an alliance.
-Do you know if he has moved from there?
-No, but I can show you now where he was.
I look at the sky, the sun is setting down and it will be dark in a few minutes. – No, it's too late. Tomorrow after breakfast, we start searching for him.
The sky goes dark and stars appear on it; the anthem starts playing and the Capitol seal appears. The anthem finishes and the seal disappears.
-No one died. – I whisper. That means that the Gamemakers are planning the next twist for the Games. I hope they had found something better than flesh-eating insects.
-What do you think they'll do next? – Rue asks.
-I don't know. Let's try to sleep while we can.
-Do you want to seep in the ground? – She asks.
-I think we will be better in a tree. – I answer. We heavily climb up the tree, I take out the sleeping bag and we get in. She immediately closes her eyes and her breathing becomes slower. I stay up for a while more, trying to guess what waits for us tomorrow.
Sorry if this was too long or boring. I know that the Gamemakers are being too slow, but the next chapter should be up Monday or Tuesday.
Thanks to reviewers, followers and favorites.
Any mistake, question, suggestion or opinion, just tell me in a review.
Taylor.