Chapter 16

I hold back a gasp of fear as I stare out at the Careers. They are closest to my side of the camp and I desperately want to back away from them as they advance towards us. I force my feet to stay in place as we get our first good look at them.

The Careers have dwindled down to only three tributes. The group is now Opaline and Gusto from District 1 along with Hali, the girl from District 4. They look as if they have been roughed up badly, whether from fighting or the avalanche, I am not sure. They are covered in dirt and scratches and Hali's eye is bandaged, with spots of red seeping through the gauze. Despite all of this, the three are still extremely intimidating.

All of them are spectacularly muscular and I had forgotten how massive Gusto and Hali are. But there is something haggard about them. They appear tired and even weaker than I remember. I wonder if they have had difficulty finding food. If they are hungry and weakened then we might stand a chance against them.

The odds are five against three which is good even if the three of them are so strong. Plus, Foster is almost as strong as them and Heather has proven herself quite ruthless. Sprig's leg is still injured but it seems like a pain that comes from overusing it rather than him being incapacitated by it. I might be useless in a fight by myself but I can help give a numbers advantage or be a distraction...

I am almost vibrating with nervous energy. The Careers would have caught us completely off guard if Rory had not spotted them, which is a miracle since the grime camouflages them so well. Our only hope for us to catch them off guard.

I need to signal to the others what I am thinking. I inhale deeply before stepping forward, creating a space for the others to see my back. Naturally, this draws the Careers's attention to me too.

"Well, if it isn't the little lady," Hali sneers at me. "The little princess of the coal mines."

"Aww, don't be so harsh, four," Gusto tells her as he smirks deviously at me.

They keep talking but I don't pay attention to anything they say. I reach behind me and I tap my hand against my back to catch the rest of our group's attention. I raise my hands behind my back. I cross my fingers and swipe them upwards-the sign for "Ready" from Sprig's most recent sign language lesson.

The Careers have pulled out their weapons. They must have left the rest of their supplies behind because all they have on them are knives. Opaline has a sharp, pointed blade and Gusto has a large hunting knife almost as long as his forearm. In each hand, Hali has two compact, switchblade-style knives with a curved edge and a wooden handle.

We have four knives in our group. Foster and Rory each have one and the other two are in the center of our campsite, in easy reach for Sprig and Heather which, of course, means I'm the one left without a weapon.

But I don't have time to worry about that. Time is of the essence here.

I put my hand up beside my head-the sign for "Set".

Opaline snorts in derision as she watches me. "What, are you, a tomahawk?"

Opaline keeps taunting me but again I pay her no mind. Instead I study her intently as I weigh my options. Opaline is the only one I might stand a chance against. She is no doubt a better fighter than me, but she's smaller than me and almost shorter than Rory.

That's when I notice how she is angled with her body directed at Rory. She is aiming for Rory because she thinks he's the easy target. This more than anything makes me seethe and I know what I am going to do.

Once you've made the decision, don't hesitate. Do it.

I swing my hand and shout the sign aloud, "Go!"

I charge at Opaline, catching her off guard and knocking her away from Rory.

I am trying to recall anything I learned in the Training Center as Opaline and I wrestle each other. Thankfully, Opaline was so startled she dropped her knife. She quickly flips us and has me on my back. She begins feeling around for her blade.

With a shout, Rory is beside us and he clumsily swings his knife at Opaline. She leans back to avoid him and he slices the air again. With Opaline's weight off me I sit up and push her back on the ground. Her attention back on me she grabs my arm. She yanks it back as she thrusts her palm against my back and slams me into the rocks. I hear more than feel when my shoulder hits the rocks with a loud crunching sound.

Rory is swinging at Opaline but now she holds her ground, keeping me in place while dodging his jabs. I kick and struggle but my upper half is immobilized by her. Stuck on the forest floor, I quickly look back to check on the others. Foster is brawling with Hali while Sprig and Heather have taken on Gusto. The two being shorter than him is sort of a benefit as they are able to duck and dodge his knife swings while distracting him from both sides.

Then, with a quick dash, Heather manages to cut Gusto, her knife slicing across his arm. He stumbles back in surprise, almost dropping his blade. Heather takes advantage of his distraction to slice across the arm again. He grunts angrily and swats at her. His hand slams into her head and she's knocked to her knees, dropping her knife. With Gusto's back turned, Sprig reaches up and stabs him between his shoulder blades.

Gusto grunts in pain and hunches over, feeling his back. Off to the side, Heather crawls over and joins us with Opaline. She wraps her arms around Opaline's neck in a chin lock and forces her back. Rory is grabbing her now too and he and Heather pull her off me. As Opaline is pulled away from me, she tightens her grips on my arm and shoulder blade. My arm is roughly yanked back with her and there is a horrible popping noise. I screech as my arm hangs limply.

I glance back at Opaline, who is close to throwing Heather off of her. I desperately try to think of how to assist her. But I can no longer move the arm without sharp, excruciating pain shooting up to my shoulder.

With no other options, I flop my body sideways across Opaline's legs, my weight pinning her down bottom half. She kicks at me painfully and I grab her ankle with my good hand to still her. The three of us have successfully pinned Opaline to the floor.

Heather holds Opaline's head down and shouts for Rory. Rory is the only one of us who still has a knife, which he has in his white-knuckled grip. Rory hesitates, looking unsure. Heather's eyes dart around nervously. She grasps at Rory's knife but he pulls it back from her reach in a knee-jerk reaction. With a grunt, she grabs a hold of Rory's wrist and pushes his hand down, stabbing Opaline in the throat.

I shriek as Rory gasps, jerking his hand away as blood squirts out from the wound. Heather grabs his knife and starts sawing through Opaline's neck.

I feel nauseous and I instinctively turn my head away from the gruesome sight. Below me, Opaline's kicks and struggles reduce until she stops moving. The cannon booms loudly.

I crawl off of Opaline's body slowly because I can only use one arm. I glance back at the fight worriedly but there's not much more I can do at the moment. I slide up next to a tree and Rory is beside me, looking worriedly at my injured arm.

"Are you okay?" I ask Rory quickly. He gives me a baffled look, glancing down at my bad arm.

A rage-filled cry calls out, drawing our attention back to the brawl. I gasp at the sight of Foster stepping back from Hali, having just sliced through the front of her abdomen. Hali wails, grasping at her stomach while what looks like some of her intestines are gushing out of her body.

Now I am definitely nauseous. I push Rory aside and vomit on the ground, supporting myself with my good arm. When I'm done I force myself to look back at the fight.

Hali has stumbled back away from Foster, supporting herself against a tree while desperately grabbing at her stomach to hold everything in.

Heather has returned to Sprig and Gusto, having retrieved a knife. He glances at Hali and with a roar of frustration he barrels at Sprig, brutally punching his chest.I scream as Gusto pushes Sprig forcefully, knocking him on his back.

Foster races up to Gusto, his knife at the ready. Gusto pauses and surveys the area. With a deep grunt he backs up and grabs Hali's shoulder and pushes her towards the forest. Gusto and Hali seem to know they're both too injured to keep fighting right now. Hali stumbles into the forest clumsily, Gusto right behind her.

We don't move for a tense moment. Then, with a groan, Sprig pushes himself up from the ground.

"You okay?" Foster asks him, breathing heavily.

"Yeah," Sprig gasps. "Yeah, just hit my chest pretty hard but I'm okay. You?"

Foster just shrugs in response. A bloody nose has drenched Foster's face and he has a nasty cut below his collarbone.

"Can someone see what we have in the first aid kid?" He asks.

Heather digs in her bag and pulls out the small kit. Beside me, Rory begins moving again, satisfied that the Careers are truly gone. I can't resist peeking at Opaline's body. At some point Heather had dragged her off to the side, so she's not in the middle of our campsite. She rolled her over on her stomach, so I can't see the wound aside from some blood pooling out around her.

"Any iodine or anything?" Foster asks Heather.

Heather tsks and shakes her head. "No iodine, just some hydrogen peroxide."

Foster sighs, thinking deeply. "I can just clean it out in the stream later. We'll need to get moving soon anyway."

I definitely want to wash up. I glance down at the blood splatter on my clothes.

As my adrenaline wears off, I feel the terrible pain in my arm. I gasp loudly without meaning to.

"Madge!" Rory calls out worriedly as Foster comes to my left side to check on me. Foster gently touches my arm and I hold back a wince.

"I think it's your shoulder. I'm pretty sure it's dislocated," Foster tells me. "It's starting to swell. If we fix it right away we might be able to avoid the worst of it."

"Can you help her?" Rory asks in a panicky tone.

"Well, I've seen this before." Foster says hesitantly. Rory's head perks up but Foster holds his hand up to dissuade him. "I only helped someone else do it. I don't know if I can do it myself."

"What happened?" I ask him.

"Well, my aunt fell out of a tree. She landed on her hand and the shoulder popped. The doctor was busy so we had to reset it," Foster explains. "I just held it in place while my mom did all the work."

"Well, it's the best we have," I say, holding back tears as the pain worsens. "You have seen it before."

"Well, yeah, but," Foster tells me, "If it goes wrong, well...it might snap the arm."

I freeze involuntarily. Foster notices and looks ready to step away but I shake my head determinately. My arm is useless and in pain. What will I lose by letting Foster try this?

"Please." I grab Foster's hand with my good arm. "Please try."

Foster sighs then nods. "Okay. We need to find the right angle to slide it back in. Rory you'll have to hold her in place."

Foster and Rory kneel around me. Foster directs Rory to stay by my head and shows him how to position my shoulder. Foster grabs a hold of my elbow and readies the arm.

Foster looks grim. "Sorry, but this is gonna hurt."

"Here." Heather grabs my fleece from the ground and holds it up to my head. I bury my face into it and bite down on the cloth.

Above me, I hear Foster count aloud for Rory. "Okay. One, two, three!"

Foster sharply pushes my arm up and twists it in. My screams are muffled by my jacket and I can hear the popping sound as it goes back into the joint.

It instantly feels so much better. I roll my head back from my fleece and see the eager faces staring down at me. I hesitantly hold up my hand and wave my fingertips. I smile in relief. I wipe away my tears as a laugh bubbles out of me.

"It feels fine."

"It's gonna hurt real bad in a day or two." Foster tells me seriously but he is grinning.

I hear what sounds like someone moaning. I start to sit up when Heather cries out suddenly, clutching her side.

"What is it?" Foster asks her.

"I don't know," Heather gasps painfully as she hunches over. "I must have hurt my ribs when I fell. I think they are broken or cracked or something."

"Do you know what to do?" Rory asks her.

"I mean, I've tended animals before," Heather states, "But I don't know if-"

Suddenly, there is a loud thumping noise, making us all jump in shock. We look back to see Sprig has collapsed to the ground.

Rory scampers over to him quickly. "Sprig! Sprig, what is it?"

Sprig's head lobs to the side. His eyes are rolling back into his head as he moans loudly. I recognize it as the moaning I heard just a few minutes ago.

Heather has joined them. She feels around Sprig for the problem, stopping at his torso. "Oh, God."

Heather gestures to Rory and they pull back Sprig's jacket, revealing a pool of blood seeping from his chest.

"Okay, well, Sprig just try to stay awake and-"

Rory is cut off as Heather shrieks, sliding back from Sprig.

"What the hell is that?" Foster shouts. I lean over to glance at Sprig from their angle and gasp in terror.

Sprig is foaming at the mouth. Then, with a jerk, his body begins convulsing violently.

Rory cries out. I force myself to my feet, and pull him away from Sprig and into my side. We all begin shouting in panic and confusion.

"What is going on?"

"Is it a seizure?"

"Check first aid again, maybe there's something…"

But our voices all trail off as Sprig's spasms begin to calm, his movements less frantic until with one last jerk, he stills.

The boom of the cannon rings out. We all stare in silence at Sprig's lifeless body.