Hey everyone!

Are you ready to see the confrontation between Ryder, Gareth and Jasper?

I'm definitely looking forward to writing it! (I've got a general idea of how I want everything to go down so let's see how it goes, shall we?)

As always, thanks so much for reading, and if you enjoyed it please don't forget to leave a review letting me know what you thought!

Chapter Thirty-Six: No Turning Back Now

Ryder swung his sword experimentally a few times, pleased to find that he seemed to have fully regained his strength. "So how does this work?"

Gareth tossed him a pack. "We carry everything, just in case we get caught out in the arena and can't return here for some reason. We move quickly and quietly and once we locate a target we wait and watch. We'll approach when we have a good grasp of the situation and know the surroundings well."

Ryder nodded. "Sounds good, I'll let you lead the way then?"

"Right, cover our tracks as we go. If you need to communicate anything, tap on my shoulder and either mouth or signal what you're trying to say. We don't want to risk giving away our position by talking."

Shrugging the pack onto his shoulders, Ryder tightened his grip on his sword and nodded. "Let's go."

They set off into the jungle, picking their way back to where Gareth had first picked up Ryder so they could attempt to track where Jasper had run off to.

As they stood in the clearing, Ryder attempted to ignore everything around him, struggling to force back the memories that threatened to flood his mind.

Gareth looked at him sympathetically and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you remember which direction Jasper ran off in?"

Ryder thought for a moment, then pointed toward the opposite end of the clearing. "Uh, well he was over there and I think he ran off that way." He motioned in the direction he remembered Jasper running off to.

"Okay, we'll start there then. Come on, silence from here on out."

Dash and I take turns watching the screens for the next couple of hours, each of us taking hour long shifts so that the other can go rest, stretch their legs, get something to eat etc.

I am on shift when something finally happens, and I quickly out into the hall. "Could someone go get Dash?"

"On it!" I hear Eliza's reply and turn my attention back to the screens, my eyes darting from one to the next as I take in the situation.

They've finally managed to track Jasper down, he's camped just on the other side of a giant fallen tree. He's lying huddled close to the ancient bark, fast asleep with a knife held loosely in his hand.

Thanks to the night vision feature on the cameras I can see everything with perfect clarity now that it's in the middle of the night. I wonder how much Gareth and Ryder can see, judging from the way they both moved among the underbrush their vision isn't too hindered by the darkness.

I hear Dash enter the room. "What's up?"

"They found Jasper, he's asleep at the moment."

He sits down beside me and examines the screens for himself. "Looks like they're waiting for now."

I nod. "Not sure what for though."

Dash shrugs. "They might not want to wake him up, that could startle him into acting irrationally."

We both fall silent and watch the screens, on edge slightly in anticipation for the coming confrontation. I have faith that Gareth and Ryder will be more than capable of handling Jasper if it comes down to that, but anything can happen in the arena.

And so we wait.

At first I think that we're in for a long and tense night of sitting and waiting for Jasper to wake up before Gareth and Ryder make a move, but less than half an hour after they discovered him a sudden loud noise causes all three boys to jump in surprise.

Dash and I start as well, taken off guard after the sudden silence.

Jasper blinks rapidly and scrambles to his feet, gripping his knife tightly as he peers around him in the darkness, chest rising and falling rapidly in fright.

Gareth and Ryder exchange concerned glances before indicating that they should intercept Jasper while they have the chance. Gareth motions for Ryder to go first, miming that Jasper knows him so is less likely to bolt at the sight of him.

Ryder nods, shifting the pack on his shoulders, he steps out into the clearing. "Jasper."

Jasper yelps in surprise and stumbles back against the log, holding his knife out defensively. "R-Ryder? I...I thought...why aren't you dead?"

Ryder motions to Gareth as he emerged from the underbrush beside him. "My sponsors sent some medicine and Gareth saved my life."

Jasper frowns. "But...what about Trina and Queen?"

"They figured I was dead anyway. And I think at the moment they were too pissed off at you to worry about me, they left me to die. From what I heard they were going to go patch Trina up at their camp then come hunt you down."

Jasper swallowed nervously, eyes flicking over to Gareth for a moment before returning to Ryder. "S-so you're here to kill me?"

Ryder clenched his jaw tightly, grinding his teeth together before slowly shaking his head. "No, we're here to recruit you."

Jasper blinked. "Re- what? Why?"

"We need your help to take down the careers." Gareth said softly, his deep voice gentle and calm.

"I-I...but I…" Jasper stammered, looking between the two of them. "I don't-"

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by another sound, this one louder than the last.

"What the hell is that?" Dash murmurs beside me, brow furrowing in concern and confusion.

I wrack my brain for possibilities, it sounds almost like the snapping of a twig combined with the sound of metal clashing together.

Gareth and Ryder are glancing over their shoulders worriedly, eyes scanning the jungle for any sign of where the noise was coming from.

"Maybe we should…" Ryder started, trailing off and turning to face the other two boys when a cannon sounded.

"Jasper, will you help us or not?" Gareth asked, a sudden urgency in his voice. "You need to make a decision now because we need to get away from whatever is making that sound."

Jasper's eyes darted from Ryder to Gareth in a panic. "I-I...I don't…I don't know…"

Ryder suddenly cried out in surprise and crashed to the ground as something ran into him. He looked up into a pair of wide, confused eyes. "Mary?" He gasped in shock.

She scrambled off him, cursing as she did. Her mousy brown hair was tattered and full of leaves and twigs, her clothes weren't much better, sporting several rips as well. Whatever supplies or weapons she had were long gone now.

"Get outta my way!" She shrieked, shoving Jasper aside as she bolted off through the jungle.

Gareth, Ryder and Jasper exchanged a look before bolting after her, not too keen on meeting whatever had her running away terrified.

I stand up and lean closer to the screens, my eyes straining to spot whatever they're running from. I can see the underbrush moving violently, something is tearing through it in pursuit of them.

"Dash, do you have any idea what could be-"

He puts his hand on my arm and points to a screen.

I feel fear crawl up my spine at the sight of it. "Mutts." I gasp, as my hands tightened into fists against the table top.

They look half cat, half lemur, and are around the size of a fox. Their fur is a mottled reddish tan with darker patches of brown scattered across their hides. Their long tails whip behind them as they race along, providing stability and maneuverability for their sharp twists and turns.

One suddenly leaps into the air and lands against the trunk of a tree, using the trunk to propel itself forward. As it leaves the wood, a sharp splintering sound cuts the air as it's claws gouge deep wounds into the tree. As it flies through the air, it waves it's legs together, causing the savagely long claws to clash together, forming the screeching metal sound.

They're fast, really fast, and deadly too by the looks of it. After all, what isn't in the arena?

I spot several of the creatures mouths and claws covered in blood, and a quick glance at the screen confirms my suspicions. They already got Heath.

They boys have caught up with Mary and they all dash through the jungle, panting hard.

Mary snarls in disgust and shoots them murderous looks, but she has to run for her life just like the rest of them. And at the moment they're all forced to run in the same direction due to the way the creatures were hemming them in.

"Piss off!" She snarls, attempting to shove Ryder and send him off balance.

He hesitates for a brief moment, then lets out a roar and with one swift movement slices her legs just behind the knees.

She crashes to the ground with a scream of pain, struggling to get back up and keep running, but Ryder's sword cut through too many muscles and tendons.

He grinds his teeth together and flinches as she screams out as the mutts attack her, frenzied by the smell of blood.

Moments later her cannon goes off, and it seems the mutts are satisfied with the amount of bloodshed as they stop chasing the boys and retreat back to wherever they came from.

Gareth, Ryder and Jasper however didn't stop running until they'd made it a good three miles from where they last saw the creatures.

Finally they stumbled to a halt and caught their breath. Jasper collapsed onto his rear, holding himself up by propping his arms out behind him, head lolling back as he took deep heaving breaths.

Ryder rested his hands on his knees, breathing hard, still clutching his bloodied sword in his right hand.

Gareth eyed the sword, an unreadable expression on his face. "So I guess that takes care of all the competition, then."

Ryder glanced up, eyes flicking away from his gaze. "Better to get her out of the way now when we knew where she was."

Gareth shrugged. "I didn't ask your reasoning, we all know why we're in here, right?"

Ryder didn't reply, still not making eye contact.

"S-so...you want...me to help...take down the careers?" Jasper gasped out, still trying to get his breathing under control.

Gareth nodded. "The odds will be in our favor if you join us."

Jasper frowned, glancing at Ryder before saying. "So we take down the careers...then what? We separate and wait for the arena to pick us off? Or turn on each other?"

Ryder straightened up, slowly wiping the blood off his sword with a handful of grass. "We'll cross that bridge once we get to it, but for now we need to focus on taking down the careers. Those mutts mean that people are starting to get bored, and I don't know about you two, but I'm not interested in waiting around until they throw something else at us."

Gareth nodded. "We must act quickly, I know where their camp is located, it's fairly close actually. We should find somewhere to spend the rest of the night and make a plan of attack in the morning."

Jasper wiped sweat off his forehead. "Uh...okay. Do you happen to have any extra weapons? I sort of left my sword in Trina's shoulder…"

Gareth nodded. "I have an extra short sword you can use."

Ryder turned to him. "Gareth, do you know this area at all? Is there a good place to camp around here?"

Gareth looked around, thinking for a minute. "I didn't search this area all that well, we'll have to look around for a little while I'm afraid."

Ryder shrugged. "Fine, let's go."

A half hour later they had discovered a suitable campsite and had promptly settled in.

Ryder took the first watch, and soon the other two were fast asleep.

He carved patterns into the dirt with the tip of his sword, glancing up at the sky as the anthem began to play and the faces of the fallen tributes lit up the night.

"Sorry…" He murmured, letting out a quiet sigh as the sky went dark again. "But I've got a job to do...and no one can stop me from achieving my goal."

AN: Sorry it's kind of short! I have a really bad headache and writing at the moment is like pulling teeth . (also it's a bad attention span day for me as well) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I'll try to get another chapter out soon!