Yay! New chapter!

I do not own the Hunger games, nor do I own the song Gunnin'. It is by this AMAZING Canadian band called Hedley. Ever and I wish that Ever was genius enough to come up with it first.

Nor do I own Waterloo or Does Yoru Mother know by ABBA. Nope, I'm not pretending ever wrote those. You can't do that to an ABBA song, even in a fanfiction.


42


Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more

-Coldplay "42"


Ever...

I grab a sheet of paper and a pencil and head over to the parachute station. Brutus sees me and immediately begins to make snide comments. "Did your mother do morphling when she was pregnant with you, or are you really that stupid? You do realize that you can't just screw a Capitol guy once and have him give you sponsor money. You have to keep coming back for him to fork over the dough, kiddo."

I pretended not to hear him, but he only started up again. "Hm, not only are you mentally retarded, but you are deaf, too! I actually pity Haymitch. The lousy drunk- wha!" I have just punched him square in the nose, just like Raewyn did when he hit her. "Oh, I see. you don't like it when I talk shit about your father. I wonder how you'll feel about me making rude comments about your mother. She's dead, isn't she? not smart enough to survive the Games, huh? Doesn't surprise-"

"Brutus just shut up and let me send something to my tribute!"

Brutus just grins wickedly and says, "I wonder what would have happened if your mommy never slept with Haymitch...maybe she's have won her Games instead of spending her last night alive fu-"

"Dad." Aeneas says from behind.

"Son, go away." Brutus growls.

"Dad, leave her alone. Mess with her later...besides. Are you forgetting that my mom is also dead?" Aeneas glares- really glares- at Brutus. That gets him to shut up and he goes to send his tributes something.

"Thanks." I mumble.

"No problem. Anything for the hottest victor kid in existence."

"Stop flirting, I'll never date you."

He rolls his eyes, "I figured as much...will this change your mine?" He shows me a wad of cash to use as sponsor money.

"Well...well I- I uh..."

"Too late, kid. My girl's love can't be bought, ain't that right Ever dear?"

I have to force myself to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter. "That's right, Aeneas. I'm with Finnick." The person who came up behind me slips his arms around me and he kisses my forehead. This makes Aeneas walk away angrily.

Finnick pulls away from me and we share a glance for a few minutes before bursting into laughter. "Finnick that was amazing!"

He winks at me, "Anytime, Ev."

I grin and get back to sending Ivy's note. I check the sponsor prices:

4-word note...$600

Each extra word...$36

I count out Kenton's money. $762. Enough for most of the note, but I need more so I dig into the sponsor money from Vice President Cole and I write Ivy's note.

Ives,

District 1 is out to get you. Change your path. Cassi is not really dead. She is alive and knows where you and Eri Tudor went. Change courses now then change again. You have to keep her off your trail. Be careful, Ives.

-Evy

I count out the words: forty-one, not including the initial four. I do the math with a pencil and another piece of paper. I was never very good at multiplication, though, so I went to go find someone that was. I see Chaff over by where we all usually sit to observe. "Hey, Chaff!"

He looks around to see who called him and he sees it is me and he smiles. "What is it, kid?"

"Are you good at multiplication?"

"I was the best in high school...why?"

"Good. What is thirty-six times forty-one?"

"One thousand four hundred seventy-six." He says before stopping to think about it.

"Wow." I mouth, counting out the money I will need. "How did you do that so quickly?"

He looks very sad at this question. "Growing up in District 11, you work in the fields pretty much from the time you can walk. Harvesting has plenty to do with math so you have to learn to be perfect so your family can get the money they need to stay alive."

"Oh."


Ivy...

A parachute falls from the sky. "Finally!" I shout; I have forgotten about the Games, forgotten about the arena. All I wanted was to let everyone know how pleased I was about the sponsor gift. I open the parachute only to see a single slip of paper fly out of it and travel with the breeze. I jump up and catch the slip of paper and unfold it.

Ives,

District 1 is out to get you. Change your path. Cassi is not really dead. She is alive and knows where you and Eri Tudor went. Change courses now then change again. You have to keep her off your trail. Be careful, Ives.

-Evy

"Eri! Eri come here!" I shout. She hurries to me, thinking something was wrong. She sees the note, looks at me, and nods. Boom! Boom! Boom!

Eri looks around and shouts, "Run!" Boom!

"But they were far away!" Boom!

"You read ever's note. Go, now!" I nod and follow Eri deeper into the woods.


Haymitch...

I am sitting in front of the big screen with the usual people, watching these damned Games. Four children just died- Chaff's last tribute was ambushed by the Career pack and then a fight ensued amongst the careers the boy from 4 knocked off the girl from 2 and in turn the boy from two kills him. The girl form 4 and the boy from 2 begin to fight violently with each other and they are both wounded fatally after what seems like forever. The boy from 2 is the first to die. The girl from 4 holds on for about five seconds longer.

It's sad.

The whole idea of children killing each other. None of the five that just died were older than sixteen- the girl from 4 was thirteen. The same age as Ever.

Normally I would be having mental images of my daughter being tossed into the arena. This year, however, I don't need mental images. The only thing that runs through my mind as the girl from 4 dies is flashbacks of Ever's Games.

I was so sure Robbie Hester would kill her last year. When it came down to that final battle...that killer unicorn is really the only reason I have a daughter still today.

Ever is on my right, head down with a little black notebook on her lap and a pen in her left hand. I mentally shudder at the memories of trying to teach her how to write- I am right-handed and found teaching a left-handed child to write a difficult task.

Ever's head is still down a few minutes later, still working on something in her notebook. "You know you don't have to stay in here if you don't want too, sweetheart."

"I'm fine." A long silence follows before Ever lifts her head up and I can see that there are quite a few words written on the page she is on. "Working on something?"

She immediately covers it with her right arm. "No."

"Then how come you covered it?"

"Well because, uh because...because...because I'm working on something and I'm embarrassed."

"Why, sweetheart? Everything you write is amazing."

"Yeah but this one is kind of more personal than the others I've written. Plus, I still have to figure out the chords." I smile at her use of guitar language. She bites her lip and adds, "Most of what I've written before this one are kind of, well, kind of nice. This one isn't nice and happy."

I push a piece of her hair behind her ear and say, "Well alright. I'll leave you to it, then."


Ever...

The tribute count is now down to ten. Only two more need to be knocked off before we get to watch the final eight battle it out. It's depressing, really. I sigh and look down at the song I have just finished writing:

Tell me what I'll never be
Make me feel broken
Tell me what I should believe
I didn't know it was broken

And I'm gunnin' for you
I'm gunnin' for you
And I will wait, I'll write another letter to myself
And I will find out that morning comes faster alone

I hate the way you look at me
As if I was broken
And the perfection of my frailty
Has been questioned and broken

And I'm gunnin' for you
I'm gunnin' for you
And I will wait, I'll write another letter to myself
And I will find out that morning comes faster alone

And I feel like I'm fine today
I feel like I'm ready to take this on
And I'll fight you to the grave for it
I'll never let you take a part of me with you

And I will wait, I'll write another letter to myself
And I will find out that morning comes faster alone

And I will wait, I'll write another letter to myself
And I will find out that morning comes faster alone

The perfection of my frailty has been questioned and broken

I can't wait to go to bed tonight so I can grab my guitar and figure out the right chords. I have most of them down, but I'm not too sure.

An unusually cold draft flows through the room and everybody seems to tighten their jackets around them. I am not wearing one, however, so Finnick takes his off and drapes it around my shoulders. "Finnick, aren't you going to be cold?"

He shakes his head and insists.

"Well, okay." I shrug.

No other tributes die by seven o' clock that night. Ivy and Eri are far enough away from Cassi and District 1 to be safe for at least the night.

"Daddy?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"I'll be right back. I'm just going to put this-" I wave the notebook for a second or two, "-with the rest of my stuff." I turn around and walk off to my room in the training center.


Kenton...

I give the letter a disapproving look. I did the best I could- which isn't exactly excellent, but...it counts.

Dear Ever,

Asking an Avox if they want blueberry muffins...yeah, that sounds like something you would do.

And what the hell is this, "Oh you probably don't really care," BS? Ever, I care. You have been my friend since I can remember and I can't count all the times you've helped me out (often with monetary needs) so it wouldn't be fair for me not to listen to your problems.

Ever, those are serious problems. I understand what you mean by the Capitol making you feel lost- form what I see on the television it is a whole new world. But- hey!- look on the bright side...the Capitol is clean. Hm, you're right, that isn't much of a bright side. Tell me, have you seen any normal human beings there?

Back to a serious point; I understand that you cannot tell me exactly every little thing but please listen to me when I tell you not to worry about my safety. Quite frankly, I don't even care about my own. I care and worry about you more than I do anybody else (myself included.) I don't know exactly why you are that one person, but that's just how it is I suppose.

Now Ever, don't mourn Ivy's death before it has actually occurred. Believe me when I say that loosing a loved one is never easy and that no matter how sure you are that they will die soon, it is better to enjoy the fact that they are alive up until the moment they die. If I could have just one minute of knowing that Kaleb and Yeva were alive- you have no idea what I would give.

You want to know the best way to prepare your condolences to Ivy's family? Don't. The only way that it will mean anything to them is if it comes from the heart. Nothing from the heart can be rehearsed.

Another thing- you wrote how District 12 likes to think their victor is strong but she really isn't- that's the biggest lie I've ever heard...ever. If you think you are weak then I'd hate to see your idea of strong. A weak victor would have gone insane by now. You winning the Games at your age was both a miracle and a curse. I'll bet you feel like you are forever on that line between child and adult, right? Sure, maybe that can be passed off as a normal teenage mindset, but it's different for you, isn't it? Maybe you feel like an adult because of what you saw in the arena, right?

Hm, not too sure why I'm saying all of that in the form of questions. I know you too well to even think I'm not right.

Back to where I was- you're stronger than you want to believe. Now you can take that or leave that, but just know you will never pass yourself off as weak to me.

When you get home I promise I'll be here and ready to talk. You're too beautiful to be upset.

Love,

Kenton

There is so much I wanted to say to her, but nothing we say is safe with Cray around. The idiot, I just want to deck him.


Ever...

I walk back down to the control room and find that I am just in time for the final account of the dead tributes. Luckily, Ivy is still alive. There is, however, two more faces to the line-up than I expected.

Joining the face of the four fallen careers and the boy from 11, are the faces of the tributes form District 7. I look up at Finnick with a confused look. "Alligator mutts," he explains. His breaths smells of stale liquor. He must have had a few drinks earlier. Hm, drunk Finnick should be fun. "Totally gross, blood everywhere. So much is was almost fake. If it was a monster movie, it would have been pretty funny but since it was actual people...well, Raewyn pulled an Ever and threw up into the nearest trash can."

The male mentor from 7, Felling Caliper, also seems quite shaken from his tributes' gruesome deaths. "Oh, and Felling threw up too. Can't believe I forgot to mention him. I think it was a chain thing because it went Felling, Raewyn, Seeder, Truly, Jemima- oh! and Wiress. She threw up too. All of the puking was really gross."

"Good thing I wasn't in here." I joke.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a chain puker. If I hear it, smell it or see it, I do it too. I don't think I could have made it to a trash can."

Finnick laughs, "Psh, I doens't bother me...much. I mean, it's disgusting but that's life. Besides, can you imagine my soseductive mouth tasting of vomit?"

"Okay now that's just gross."

Finnick smirked, "At least neither of us did it in front of our boyfriend." He gives Raewyn a pointed look.

"Okay now I was feeling sick before the alligators. It's called morning sickness." Raewyn rolls her eyes at Finnick.

"It's not morning." He offers.

"So? It's not really time specific."

"But-"

"Finnick Odair I will castrate you then feed your balls to Enobaria."

This just makes everyone (including Seeder and Raewyn) burst into hysterical laughter. "And you let her sleep in your bed?" Finnick jokes to my father.


Haymitch...

After we all finish laughing about Raewyn threatening Finnick's manhood we all can't help but to notice our gazes drifting towards Felling Caliper. Felling is somewhere between Chaff's age and Seeder's, leaning a little more towards Chaff's than Seeder's. Finnick looks at me for a second or two before asking, "I know we aren't chicks but do you give Caliper a hug?"

"No, that's just stupid. Men don't hug each other."

"Right," Chaff agrees. "We just punch each other on the shoulder."

"That's stupid." Raewyn says.

"Very stupid." Seeder agrees.

"Very very stupid." Ever adds on.

"Not to us men! That's like, six months worth of therapy!" Finnick argues.

The girls look at each other and share identical glances. "Still. Stupid."

"Okay, then what do you suggest?" Chaff asks them raising his eyebrow.

"Talk to him?" Ever suggests.

Raewyn shakes her head. "No, the guys are right. That's the girly thing to do. They're not man enough to do the girly thing." She gives all three of us a challenging look but her wink in my direction isn't exactly...discreet.

"Not man enough?" Finnick asks. "Hm, I think Haymitch can protest that."

Her face goes red but she quickly recovers and snaps back at Finnick with, "Okay, so maybe Haymitch is an exception but what about you Finnick?"

"You are forgetting what...business I am in."

Her lips curl up in a devious smile. "Oh you mean the one where you sleep with other men? No, I didn't forget."

Finnick fails to come up with something to counter that one so he just mutters something unintelligible under his breath.


Ever...

I exhibit decent conversation skills when I change the subject. "Beetee gave me the newest version of the music player he invented. It now can hold over 1000 pictures and over 200 books as well as hundreds of hours of music. I already have most of the space on the music part of it filled."

"Das messed up. How do ya know so many musics?" Finnick asks, obviously drunk.

I roll my eyes and inquire, "Who gave Finnick alcohol?"

"The career mentors." Chaff says. I raise an eyebrow at Daddy and he nods in agreement.

"Oh. Well as long as it wasn't you guys..." I trail off.

The Career mentors seem to be having a little drinking party over in their corner. Brutus and Enobaria begin to sing loudly and obnoxiously. The worst part? It's one of my favorite songs; Waterloo by ABBA.

My, my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender
Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way
The history book on the shelf
Is always repeating itself

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo - Promise to love you for ever more
Waterloo - Couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo - Knowing my fate is to be with you
Waterloo - Finally facing my Waterloo

Finnick and I are both cringing and though he is drunk, he is still sober enough to understand what the devious look I am giving him means. Finnick and I begin to sing even more loudly and obnoxiously another ABBA classic; Does Your Mother Know.

You're so hot, teasing me
So you're blue but I can't take a chance on a chick like you
That's something I couldn't do
There's that look in your eyes
I can read in your face that your feelings are driving you wild
Ah, but girl you're only a child

Well I can dance with you honey
If you think it's funny
Does your mother know that you're out?
And I can chat with you baby
Flirt a little maybe
Does your mother know that you're out?

During the 'flirt a little maybe's I twirl my hair and give Finnick a flirty look to which Finnick responds with a stern face and a, 'Does your mother know you're out?'

Even after Brutus and Enobaria stopped singing because they've admitted defeat Finnick and I don't stop. We even start randomly dancing during some part.

Take it easy (take it easy)
Better slow down girl
That's no way to go
Does your mother know?
Take it easy (take it easy)
Try to cool it girl
Take it nice and slow
Does your mother know?

I can see what you want
But you seem pretty young to be searching for that kind of fun *Finnick waggles his eyes suggestively*
So maybe I'm not the one
Now you're so cute, I like your style
And I know what you mean when you give me a flash of that smile (smile) *We give each other a seductive grin*
But girl you're only a child

Well I can dance with you honey *We begin dancing here*
If you think it's funny
Does your mother know that you're out?
And I can chat with you baby
Flirt a little maybe
Does your mother know that you're out? *I realize that Finnick's shirt is missing*

Take it easy (take it easy)
Better slow down girl
That's no way to go
Does your mother know?
Take it easy (take it easy)
Try to cool it girl
Take it nice and slow
Does your mother know? *Oh, now where did his pants go?*

Well I can dance with you honey
If you think it's funny
Does your mother know that you're out?
And I can chat with you baby
Flirt a little maybe
Does your mother know that you're out? *At least he still has his boxers on.*

"Finnick! Finnick okay stop before I suffocate!" I manage between hysterical giggle fits.

"Ya nah, I think we shou' ge' you drunk sometime." Finnick laughs. Daddy shakes his head disapprovingly. I offer to put Finnick to bed.

"Come on Finnick."

"No."

"Finnick-"

"Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man, do you know the muffin man who lives on-"

"DREARY LANE! The muffin man lives in Dreary Lane! My gawd I hate that song." Raewyn shouts.

I push Finnick out and lead him to the District 4 floor.

Finnick curls up in bed with a pillow. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get drunk." He slurs.

I shake my head. "No Finnick, it's okay. I grew up with worse."

He shakes his head. "You shouldn't get it from me, though."

I roll my eyes. "Finnick, you're drunk. Go to sleep."

"Goodnight kiss?"

"Fin-"

"Cheek, kid. What'd ya think I meant?"

I smile and kiss his cheek. "Good night, Finnick."


Ivy...

"This is the final eight, Eri." I whisper to her as we huddle together in a tree.

Eri is silent.

"Eri?"

"I heard you. I just can't believe it is real."

"Neither can I." I whisper.

Eri turns to face me and props her head up with her arm. "You do realize that everything will be different, now that we are so far in, right?"

I am confused. "What do you mean?"

"We can't just keep playing it safe, Ivy. If...if we want it to come out where one of us wins without us having to knock of each other in the end we need to act like Careers. We need to hunt like them. Not necessarily to kill, but to find the others. If they want to fight we will fight."

"Why we just wait 'till they find us here?"

Eri shakes her head. "That's stupid. It's better to find each other and catch each other by surprise. One of us might survive that way."

It is all I can do to keep form crying when I tell she is right.

Because she is.

One of us will be dead soon.

Most likely tomorrow.

The other has to win.

For both of us.