Forgive me for the things that are to come in the next few chapters.
If you could envision
The meaning of a tragedy
Ooooooh
You might be surprised to hear it's you and me
Tragedy, Christina Perri
Blight comes back from his break and lays a hand on my shoulder. "Go up to the rooms Johanna, and rest. There's nothing you can do right now. Everyone's settling in," he says calmly.
"Not yet," my eyes watch Eve and Caine move on. They're use to being on their feet, but they're exhausted. It pays off though, all the walking as they come on water fifteen minutes later. Eve puts her hand over the water to check for heat then takes a sniff before standing up.
"It seems fresh," they take out the two empty bottles and fill them, putting the iodine in to purify it. They sit there on their haunches eyes darting around as they empty another bottle then fill it to purify to.
Caine straightens up and looks around, "We should stay close to the water tonight."
"What about the others?" Eve stands up wiping one hand off while she switches the axe to the other hand.
"Let them come, we're strong enough. If they want the water they'll have to fight us for it. Except—"
"If it's the careers, we'll back away," she finishes. They move to a tree that's huge. She shimmies up first, her tired muscles barely slowing her. He's right behind her. She takes an upper branch that's about three feet higher and to the right than his. They munch on their bread and talk in low whispers.
Eve tears the hunk of bread in half and passes it down to him, "What's it like to be in love?"
Caine finishes his mouthful, "It's nice. It feels like you're happy even when everything is going wrong. A touch from them makes the worse day a lot better. I could—would go to the ends of the earth for her. Nothing is too great because I love her." He pauses for a minute. Somewhere out there, his girl is blushing. "What about you? Ever been in love? What's it like having family?"
Eve takes a sip of water, "Never been in love. Always figured there'd be time when I was older and…safe." She falls silent for a minute, "It's the same way that you described being in love, except nothing's romantic about it. I love Acanthus so much sometimes that I hate him."
"Because it doesn't feel right to love anything in the world that much?" Caine questions with a smile.
"Exactly," Eve sighs. "But I love him when he hates me, and I love him when I hate him. He can be the most annoying person in the world to me and still be worth dying for."
"You're right. It is the same really aside from the romantic feelings." He finishes off the last bit of his bread, "I'll take first watch Eve, I'll wake you half-way."
"Okay," they fall silent as she uses her jacket to tie herself on the tree and buries her axe into the wood of the branch she has her legs wrapped around just enough so that it won't fall.
The screen goes to Annie and Triton who are standing there watching while the others sleep. "Why?" Her voice is soft as she looks over at him.
"Why what?" Triton counters as he shifts his weight.
"Why'd you volunteer?" Her eyes dart from shadow to shadow watchfully.
Triton tilts his head towards the others, it's clear he's saying we can't talk about it here. I don't think he plans on answering—the audience will never know. "For fame and fortune Annie, so finally we can see which of us is the best." His eyes bore into hers.
She stares right back, her lips pursed in thought. "We already know the answer to that." She turns away a moment to look in another direction,
They're silent so I get up, and bid Blight goodnight determined to go try to catch a few hours sleep. He promises to call me if anything happens, but the truth is they should be safe at least for a few days. I move over to district four's station and find Finnick sitting there staring at Annie with his hand up to his mouth and the other hand hanging down while he flexes his fingers. Garrett is begging him to go rest, but Finnick is non-responsive.
"Do you remember," Triton begins. The pair of sea green eyes in the arena float over to him before looking back away. "It was cold out, and you went down to the water. I told you that you were crazy, but you said you felt like you were being called to it. Do you remember what happened?"
Annie's lips spread into a small smile as her cheeks flush, "Yes…" she lets out a breathy whisper.
"You reeled something in that day. A fine catch, one you'd never have gotten if you didn't listen to yourself," his muscles move and reflect in the firelight.
"I did," her eyes are distant. It's clear to me that she's not talking about fish at all. When I look down, I see that Finnick's hand is reaching toward the screen and that tells me everything I need to know. He said, she'd saved him once—and now I know what he meant. Her sea green eyes turn, and somehow—it can't be an accident—she's looking into the screen. Their clear, bright and beautiful, even I feel lost in their depths. Anyone watching this would think they were Finnick's eyes.
I place my hand on Finnick's shoulder and he jumps. "Come on Fin. Let's go." He starts to protest, but I pull him up. Somehow we both make it up to my floor and to the couch, waiting for a snack to be brought.
Finnick's face is buried in his hands. "It was about you Finnick," I say.
"Yes," he mutters.
"Tell me," I say gently.
"I wanted to die. She stopped me," he says as he looks up into my eyes.
"What did she say to change your mind?" I ask as my hands find his.
"Not a word," he smiles. "Not a single word. She was…just…there. She was just there for me." He squeezes my hand back, "Just like you."
"Don't worry," I push the hair back from his face. "She's coming home to you."
"How can you say that? You've got two amazing tributes."
"Listen to me," he looks directly into my eyes. "I'll kill Eve and Caine myself if I have to. Annie is coming home to you."
…
It's shortly before dawn when we both get up. Finnick is nestled against me. I can't explain it. I know that people—if they knew, would think there's some kind of romance going on even if we're both denying it. But…it's the same way as when I was young with Liam. When I had a nightmare, I'd go his bed and wake him up. He'd hold me tell I fell asleep. He helped chased the nightmares away. When he was gone, there was no one to chase the nightmares away for me—but I became the chaser to Sven and Greta's nightmares. They'd come to me in the night and I'd coo them to sleep. Somehow, I made them feel safe. I don't think I'll ever feel safe again, but when I'm with Finnick—that's as close as I'll ever get. He has my back.
He orders breakfast while I shower, then we both sit there and eat hurriedly. He showers while I change, and an Avox brings him a pair of clothes. We hurry back up stairs. I see Coral give a look of derision as we separate. I make it to my station, and Blight is finishing his cup of coffee. "I was just about to call you."
"Did something happen?" I can feel the knots in my stomach again.
"No, but they've woke up." And sure enough, there they are on the screen already awake and alert. But they're not alone. "They're going to make their first kills."
I watch as the district nine girl and district eight girl stumble to the water, they're cut up pretty bad. Not wary at all in their thirst. It's so easy when Eve and Caine sneak up behind them. Eve buries her axe into the side of the district nine girl as she begins to turn, caving in half her side. The girl from nine just begins to scream when Caine buries his dagger in her back. The boy's cannon booms, but Caine has to finish the girl off before her cannon goes off. Bloodied, he makes his way over to the water while Eve waits. They take turns washing off the blood and grime, then retreat back to their tree while the hover crafts take the bodies away.
They both are in good health and seem to be taking their first kill well. Good, I told them no matter how bad it was to act like it was nothing. They follow directions really well. Eve puts more of the antibiotic on her shoulder and then replaces the bandage. They finish off the other loaf of bread and saturate themselves with water before filling them up again. They're being very careful to hydrate. Then they're off through the jungle with Eve taking the back.
The careers are up now too. Annie is up swiftly, I think she was faking the last few minutes of sleep. Amber tells Triton to take the lead.
I watch as they move through the jungle swiftly. The hours fly by and there's not much interaction. The tributes from eleven run into a smaller muttation, but they're fast enough and smart enough to out maneuver it. Eve and Caine are trekking across the bridge a mile high. They cross quickly while they scan the area. They're using it to get their bearings. They find another source of water on the far side, drink all their water and replenish. We send them two more loafs of bread, which they store away to eat later.
Triton keeps leading and by the end of the day they've found the female from five before they make camp. Amber finishes her off after playing with her fear for a few minutes. That's one thing about her, she might be a career and bloodthirsty but she's cool-headed. She leads but with an iron firmness in her silence. She's not to be disobeyed, and no one has even tried to question her. Any little dispute is quickly silenced by her. That's why she's so dangerous.
The night falls and the tributes make camp. Eve and Caine are up in the mountains settling in high up in a tree. From where they're sitting, they can see the pinpoint of a fire who they know must be the careers—no one else would risk it. The district eleven tributes are huddled together near a fallen log, using it to blend in with the night—the girl's face mostly covered to blend in with the darkness.
The careers fire is roaring, "Eleven more to go." Amber's looks at Keegan pointedly. This alliance will last two days longer at the most. There are only eleven left and seven of those are the careers. One look at Amber's eyes shows that she's planning something.
