Breaking Point Sextet V
Love: The 75th Hunger Games
Chapter Thirty-Two
Day Two
A/N: Welcome, dear readers, to Day Two of the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games! I still do not own the Hunger Games, and this chapter contains violence, and perhaps death. You have been warned.
Seras Axis –15- -D6- POV
"Ah, morning, Rem," I greet Rem as he awakens from his slumber. I toss him a ration. "It's hunting day!"
He snorts, rubbing his eyes and opening the ration. "Right." He looks over. "Ah, good morning, Avery. Sleep well?"
"I… I had a nightmare, about… Angelo," she says. "I-I'm, fine though. You two ready to do the hunting?"
I shrug. "Once Rem finishes breakfast, I'm good."
Rem nods. "Give me a few minutes."
"Gotcha," I respond. I look at Avery. "So, a nightmare about Angelo, huh?"
She nods. "Well… he just meant so much to me… and, I mean… how he died."
"Right," I respond. I wonder how she'll react if I push her. "Although, you didn't die too."
"What… what do you mean?" Avery asks.
"Well, you could have gone in and helped him," I say. "Now, against careers, you'd probably be dead, but you could've tried."
"I… what good would that have done?" She asks.
I shrug. "I don't know, but if you love him…"
"Are you suggesting that I don't love him?" She asks. She's displaying all the right emotions, sadness, anger, but I still feel like something's off. Maybe one more little push.
"Seras, don't -" Rem starts, but I ignore him.
"Maybe. I'm also suggesting that you let him die," I say. "Because it was convenient."
"I – how could you say that?" She asks, apparently outraged. Hmm, maybe she is telling the truth, or she's a really good liar. "I would never do something like that."
"Seras," Remington says. "Let's go, find some food. Avery, I'm sorry, we'll be back later." He stands up, and I do as well. It's obvious that this conversation is over.
"Okay," she says, still sounding hurt. "I'll… be here. Try not to get yourselves killed."
"Will do," I respond, and then Rem and I walk off into the forest for some hunting.
Emilene Avery Osiria –18- -D12- POV
Well, that's it. Seras has to go, sooner than I was thinking. Whether she's just being a b—h for the sake of it, or whether she actually knows that I don't Love Angelo, she's a threat. I've got her and her brother gone, now just to figure out a way to kill both of them at once… let's see, I'll need a trap of some kind. Ideally, something that can get both of them. Hmm, what do I have the skills to build, and can build in a couple of hours, that could get both of them?
I take a look around our campsite. I could build a falling log trap, but I don't think I have the strength to manage that. What about a pitfall? I don't have time to dig a pit, but – yes, there's an elevation change that would be fine to walk through, but dangerous to fall down. All I need to do is cover it up so it looks flat, and hope they don't remember it wasn't always that way. And maybe fashion some spikes for the bottom and sides, for increased lethality. Yes, that'll work. I better get to work.
Over the next couple of hours, I use my dagger to fashion some sharp spikes out of nearby materials, mostly wood and stick a bunch of them on the bottom of the pit, as well as a few on the sides. Once that's done, I use twigs, leaves, and a few more solid supports to cover the pit, making it look, hopefully, like any other part of the floor. It's not great, it's barely big enough for two people, and at more than a cursory glance, it's fairly obvious. But if they notice and don't walk into it, I'll just say it's for animals or whatever.
Of course, during the construction of my trap, I had to explain what I was doing to the cameras, using excuses like "I can't believe Seras would say things like that," and "anyone who disrespects Angelo must die." Hopefully, they'll believe that line of bull, but they've been buying it all so far. I think. I'm not sure how they felt about my killing of Angelo, although I don't think the Capitolites exactly understand enough to know that I wasn't just locked up and trying to help as I could, or that I didn't just a mistake that got him killed.
Anyway, I hear noise, and, ah, it's Seras and Remington. And they're coming from the direction of the trap! Beautiful! I wave at them.
Remington Axis POV
"No more trying to get a rise out of Avery, okay?" I ask Seras as we return from our hunt. It had been kind of fun, actually, working with Seras to kill a fuzzy thing wasn't that different from working with her to rob something. It took us a bit, but we had got a couple of rabbits.
"I know, I know," she says. "I think something's off, but it probably doesn't matter."
"I think it is too," I respond. "But I think we keep her around until she tries something, or until more than three people are dead."
She nods. "Yeah, you're right, we should. Oh, look, speak of the devil."
I look up and see Avery waving at us. I wave back at her as we walk closer to camp. "Hey, Avery!" I say once we're within earshot.
"Hey, Seras, Remington," she smiles at us. Oh no, something is off. "How are you two?"
"Fine," I respond, slowing my pace a bit, although Seras keeps going."You?"
"Fine," she says. I look at the path ahead of us – oh no!
"Seras -!" I shout, but it's too late.
Seras Axis POV
"Seras!" Rem shouts, just as I take a step forward and the ground gives way beneath my feet. I feel a series of sharp pains, one scratching down my side, then one in my foot, as darkness envelops me, then I hit my head on something, and the world goes black.
Remington Axis POV
As Seras disappears, I hear a scream, then nothing. No… no, she can't be… no! I look at Avery. "You did this."
She sighs. "Well, I had hoped it would get you too, but yes. I can't believe your sister would say such hurtful things."
I look around. I think I see the edges of the pit. Good, I can avoid them. "She didn't deserve to die!" I shout, then draw my sword, and charge at Avery. Unfortunately for me, she reacts quickly, and raises her dagger, blocking my first strike. I swing at her again.
Avery Osiria POV
Ah, Remington is angry. As I expected, but he's not as focused as I feared. This shouldn't be terribly hard. I block his second strike and take a step back. He steps forward, swinging again, but swinging wide this time to make up for me being further back. Easy, like I said. I step sideways and stab forward.
Remington Axis POV
Aver dodged, d—nit! She is slippery! I see her stabbing at me. I move my sword to block and – feel a sharp pain through my stomach as her dagger sinks into it. Then another one in my chest, then a slicing across my throat, before the world goes completely black.
Boom.
Emilene Avery Osiria –18- -D12- POV
Well, that's two down. I clean the blood from my dagger as the boy falls backward in front of me. Some people might recognize the signature pattern of stab marks, but, eh, they can't prove anything, and those bodies are probably burned by now. Well, I should probably be leaving here. I quickly pack up the supplies I'll need, taking the food that Remington had hunted and was carrying, then set off to find another campsite. As I walk, I monologue to the cameras.
"I… I know maybe that was extreme, but… Seras was trying to get me to attack her, so she and her brother could kill me. I know that… I'm sorry, but I did what I had to." I try to put regret in my voice because I figure that's an emotion I should be feeling. Hopefully, it works.
It's only when I'm eating dinner at my new campsite that I realize something important. I only heard one cannon. S—t! Well, too late to go back now. She's still stuck in the pit anyway, she'll probably bleed out or die from dehydration soon enough.
Seras Axis –15- -D6- POV
I wake up in great pain. I look around, there's a bit of light filtering through the hole I made in the top of the pit, and my eyes have adjusted, so I can see that I'm at the bottom of a pit, filled with spikes. One said spike is currently through my foot, which is not ideal. The ones on the side cut alongside my side as I was falling, so I have a big cut on the side of my chest. I seem to have passed out for long enough that the blood has dried, and I feel a bit lightheaded. Probably blood loss, that'll kill me soon. But I'm not dead yet. Let's see, what can I do?
Well, nothing with my foot stuck like this. But, pulling it off the spike will make the blood loss problem worse, because I'll be bleeding profusely from two wounds, which is generally less good than one. Although, hmm. I pull at my shirt and tear off the forearm of the arm on the other side from the one I got cut up on. This poor shirt is extremely bloody and tattered now, but oh well, it's the only thing I have that can help.
I grit my teeth in preparation for the pain that's coming and pull my foot off the spike. It hurts. A lot. I probably scream. Oh well, it's done. Turning my head to check for spikes, which there thankfully aren't on this small section of wall, I lean back and pull my foot up, tying the former arm around it tightly. Looking at it, the rag starts to get soaked with blood, but it stops fairly quickly. Good, that probably means the pressure was enough… or I'm running out of blood, mere minutes from passing out. Hopefully, it's the first one, if it's the second, I'd rather the pit have killed me the first time.
Now, to get out of the pit. Let's see… maybe I can climb the spikes to the surface? Then push through the thin roof and kinda flop onto the ground outside. Not the best plan, I might fall back onto the spikes, and this time I'd be doing it starfish-style, almost certainly getting my vital organs pierced, and I'd bleed out and die, pinned like a bug. But, it's worth a shot. I hesitantly grab one of the wall spikes with a hand and then push down on it as hard as I can manage. It comes out of the wall, breaking free in my hand, and causing a small cascade of dirt to fill where it had been put in. D—n. That won't work, then… which reduces my options to… basically waiting for somebody to come by and pull me out.
Of course, while I'm hoping for that to happen, I might as well ask for the Capitol themselves to lend me a hand and give me my own personal hovercraft to win the Games with. Anyone who comes by would be much better off tossing a knife in here and killing me than helping me out. Or just leave me, maybe even watch for their amusement as I hopelessly suffer. Honestly, if I start to get too lightheaded, or if it's a day and no one has come, I'll toss myself on the spikes. Better I go out with some dignity than dying from lack of water or blood loss.
Although, if I do hear anyone, I should shout for help. I mean, they'll probably just kill me, but at least it'll be faster than waiting for the many factors, including the possibility of an infection, which really doesn't sound like fun. And of course, there's the slim possibility I'll run into somebody nice.
Wait, I hear noise. "Help!" I shout. "Help me!"
Daisy Brownstone –15- -D5- POV
"Daisy, wake up," Mattie's voice says, as I feel her gentle hands on my shoulders. Where am I that Mattie – oh, right.
"Ugh," I sit up. "Morning, Mattie."
"Morning, Daisy," she says, handing me a ration. "We should find some more food and water today."
I nod. "Yep, I know." I tear open the ration and begin to eat. "Think we should keep this campsite?"
Mattie shrugs. "If we can find food or water nearby, sure."
I nod. "Makes sense. Hopefully we can, then."
A couple of hours later, and about an hour into our search, we've found a good source of water, a river not too far away, but the food is proving to be a little harder. "Why," I ask, "do they keep running away?"
"Because," Mattie chuckles, "they don't want you to kill them. They know you're a threat."
I sigh. "Why aren't you getting the rabbits again?"
"You're smaller, faster, sneakier," she says. "And have a better chance of getting one out of its warren, if we follow it that far."
"Right," I sight. "Ri- wait." I hold up a hand. "Did you hear that?" I thought I heard something, and as we stand still and listen, I hear it again.
"I do," Mattie says. "Sounds like… a voice."
"Yeah," I respond. "We should check it out, right?"
Mattie nods. "Yeah, quietly."
As we get closer to the source of the voice, I can tell that's it feminine, and calling for… Help. I look at Mattie. "Trap?"
She shrugs. "Maybe. But if somebody does need help -"
"We'll try," I respond, and we continue forward.
A minute later, we've reached the source of the voice, which is coming from… the ground in front of us.
"Oh, it's a pit," Mattie says. "She must be in there."
"Yeah, great observation," the voice says. "Hi, break the 'roof' of the pit and get me out of here, please."
"We'll break the roof," Mattie says. "But we'll have to talk about getting you out of there." She kneels down and punches through the ground, causing the thin 'roof' of sticks and leaves to fall down, in our section, then across the entire pit. "Huh, shoddy construction," she says, as I look down to see the girl from Six looking up at us.
Matilda "Mattie" Edlington –17- -D5- POV
I look down at the Six girl. She looks terrible. Her foot has a piece of shirt wrapped around it, which is extremely dirty, as is her face, and just her general self. One of her arms is bare, and the other is soaked in dried blood, as is that entire side of her shirt. She looks pale, probably from the blood loss. And angry.
"Get me out of here," she says.
"Hey, Seras, right?" I ask. "Slow down."
"Yeah, I'm Seras," she responds and sighs. "You're Mattie, right?"
I nod.
"And I'm Daisy," Daisy says.
"Great," Seras says. "Now that the pleasantries are over, could you please either kill me or rescue me?"
"Right," I respond. "How did you get in there? And how do we know you won't kill us when we get you out?"
She sighs and then shrugs. "First, that Avery b—h. Second, I… promise not to kill you two if you don't hurt me."
"How do we know we can trust you?" I ask her.
"I mean…" she looks around the pit. "I am, unfortunately, completely at your mercy. As you may have noticed, I'm also probably going to die soon without proper medical treatment."
"Right," I look at Daisy to get her opinion.
She shrugs. "I don't think we can just leave her to die."
I nod. "Okay, give us a minute to, uh… figure out how to get you out of there."
"Yeah, I'll just go get a snack while I wait," Seras says. "Oh, wait."
I chuckle. "Yeah, we'll get you out of there." I look to Daisy. "Uh, we don't have any rope though, right?"
She shakes her head. "Nope."
"Hmm, well…" I look around, considering, then I spot something. "Ah, guess it's time to speak softly and carry a big stick."
"What?" Daisy laughs.
"It's a saying," I respond. "And in this case, accurate." I point over to a long tree branch, sturdy enough on its own, but slowly breaking free from its tree.
"Ah," she says.
A minute later, after breaking off the tree branch, I lower it into the pit. "Grab on," I say.
"You sure you have the strength to lift me? And not bump me against more spikes?" Seras asks.
"Probably," I respond. "And, uh, if not… well, there isn't a better option."
She sighs and grabs on. I pull, and she comes up, although she's darn heavy. "Daisy," I grunt, "hold onto me with one hand, and that tree behind us with the other, will you?"
She nods and does as instructed, and with the extra leverage, I'm able to pull Seras out of the pit, catching my breath as she flops onto the surface. "Thanks," she mutters.
"Yeah… no problem," I respond, then sigh and get to my knees. "Okay, let's get you patched up."
"Patched up?" She asks.
"Yeah," I say. "Can't leave you like this, you'll die in hours."
"That's good for you," she says.
I sigh. "Sure, but I'm not a killer, and leaving you like this to die is the same thing. I'm glad we brought the med kit with us, lie still."
She seems surprised but does as I instruct.
Seras Axis –15- -D6- POV
After the Five girl patches me up, I… well, I'm a bit surprised. Not only did she get me out of the pit, but she cleaned the cut on my side and bandaged it, doing the same for the one on my foot. She didn't need to, but she still did. That's a good person, right there… a lot more humanity than I was expecting.
"You're free to go," she says. "Although, if I can ask… you said Avery put you in that trap… what about your brother?"
Rem… I hadn't given much thought to Rem, in trying to survive, but I… I have a feeling I know what happened. "Did you hear a cannon?" I ask. The girls nod. "Then… he's dead," I sigh. I can't believe it. I knew… Rem or I would die, but I didn't think it'd be this soon… and not to somebody like Avery. "He must have attacked her, maybe thought I was dead, and… she won. Otherwise he'd have got me out."
They nod, somberly. "I'm sorry, Seras," Mattie sighs.
I sight. "It's… it's fine. I knew this would happen. At least now I have a goal."
"What's that?" Daisy asks.
"I'm going to kill Avery," I say. "Even if it kills me. She killed my brother, tried to kill me, she's not going to get away with that."
Mattie nods. "Well… be careful, Seras."
"Always am," I say, standing up from sitting and looking around. Nothing here for me to take, I'll have to go with just my weapon, and the clothes on my back… the tattered, torn, bloody clothes. "Look, you two have been nice, if I run into you again, I won't kill you, unless we're the last ones left." Should I have said that? Maybe not, but… these girls showed me compassion, and I can't really bear the thought of killing them for that.
Mattie nods. "Thanks, Seras."
Daisy smiles at me. "Yeah, thanks, Seras… and I'm sorry about your brother."
"Thanks," I see. "Well, see ya. Or not." I look around and pick a direction that seems likely for Avery to have gone. That b—h is going to die.
Although I don't find her for the rest of the day, I think I'm probably closer than I was before. I catch a rabbit for dinner and make a small fire to cook it, then… cry myself to sleep in a tree. I can't believe Rem's dead… the person who's cared for me my whole life… dead, and I couldn't even do anything about it. And, d—nit, I might be the reason he's dead. If I hadn't been so brazen, I might not have fallen into that trap. He might not have had to fight Avery alone. She could be dead now, instead of him… but it doesn't matter. He is dead. The last family I had in this world. And Avery will pay.
Daisy Brownstone –15- -D5- POV
"Well, she was… angry," I say to Mattie after Seras leaves us.
"Yeah," she says. "I mean, understandably."
"Yeah," I say. "I… I would be the same way if I were in her position." I'd rather not think about that, though.
She nods. "Yeah… I'm kind of happy that we didn't make ourselves any more allies. Seem like more trouble than they're worth."
"Definitely," I agree. "Anyway, finish hunting?"
She nods. "Yep. Finish hunting, then back to camp."
We do finish hunting, then head back to our camp, which thankfully doesn't appear to have been found, for lunch, and later dinner. Mattie and I talk, trying to keep our minds off the fact that we're in the Hunger Games. It's good to talk to her… I just really hope that I'm not ever in Seras' position. Even if that means getting brutally murdered first.
Elara Sora –14- -D3- POV
When I wake up, I'm in the tent… alone. Odd, I thought Yuna was in here with me – ah, I hear her outside. Talking, laughing. Poking my head out of the tent, I see Yuna snuggling with Cedar, as she, him, and Rowan eat breakfast. Of course. No, I shouldn't be jealous… she's happy, that's good.
I crawl out of the tent. "Hey, Yuna, Cedar, Rowan. Morning."
"Morning," Yuna smiles at me. "Sleep well?"
I shrug as I sit down next to the fire. "Eh. The ground's hard."
"Yeah," she says. "Sorry, you could've had the sleeping bag after I got up, I didn't want to wake you though."
I shrug. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. Thanks for thinking about my sleep."
She smiles. "Of course. Anyway, this is our last food, so we should probably get some more earlier rather than later."
I nod. "Right… and then, we need to set up traps."
Yuna nods. "Yeah. I was actually thinking we stay here to set up traps, while the boys go out hunting, sound good?"
Oh, some alone time with Yuna, some time without Cedar around. Sounds nice. "Yeah," I grin. "Sounds like a plan."
"Awesome!" She smiles.
Cedar Mildberg –15- -D7- POV
After breakfast with Yuna, Rowan, and Elara, Rowan and I head out to find some food.
"You really like Yuna, don't you, Cedar?" Rowan asks me as we walk through the forest.
"I, uh… yeah, I do," I respond. "I… hadn't exactly expected to find somebody like her here, but, I mean, she's cute, she's intelligent, she's also a writer, she's funny…" I can't help but chuckle a little bit. "For, y'know, my first girlfriend, she's pretty awesome."
Rowan smiles at me. "Glad to hear that, Cedar. Glad to hear that."
We walk for a little longer, before I say, "Y'know, I feel bad for Elara."
"Why's that?" Rowan asks.
"Sometimes I feel like she's jealous, of the time I spend with Yuna… and I can't exactly blame her. From her perspective, it might feel like I stole… what little time she has left with her best friend… that said, I also really like spending time with Yuna," I explain.
Rowan nods. "I don't think you should feel bad for your feelings, Cedar. You've got to realize that you can't control your feelings, not feelings like that, and it's also not your fault that Elara is upset. I think you're right, she is upset, but I wouldn't feel upset about it – you should talk with her, though. See if there's some way both of you can be happy with the time you get to spend with Yuna, have Yuna there too. But if she doesn't want to talk, than that's on her."
I consider that for a moment, then nod. "Thanks, Rowan, that's -"
He cuts me off, holding up a hand for silence. "What's that?" He whispers. I listen. I hear branches breaking. Quickly.
"Somebody's coming," I say, grabbing my dagger.
He hefts his ax. "Or something."
He's proven right, as a second later, large wolves with unnaturally blue, glowing, eyes burst out of the forest, forming a semi-circle around us, growling. They must be as big as I am, and probably weigh more. The wolf in the center bears its fangs, which look about the size of my dagger. Mutts!
Rowan Mildberg POV
"Cedar," I say calmly. "When I say so, you back away slowly, until you can't see them, then run back to camp, okay?"
"What?" He looks at me, suddenly, causing one of the wolves to pace closer.
"No sudden movements," I say. "Remember, back away slowly, they will outrun you if you run."
"What about you?" He asks.
I look at the wolves. They'll follow us if both of us leave. We can't win a fight, there are ten of them and two of us. Maybe if we were careers, we could. But we're not careers. But if one of us makes a distraction, the other one might be able to slip away. "I'll be right behind you," I lie.
"O… okay," he says.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Yeah," he says.
"Now," I say. He starts to back away, slowly. One of the wolves pads towards him a bit, but the others are still looking at me. He backs away further. The wolf continues to follow. Hmm. "Aro!" I shout, more like a bark than a word. That gets the wolf's attention, and it looks at me again, as Cedar slips away into the forest back towards camp. I hear his pace pick up. Good, he's safely out of – the wolf that had been stalking him runs off, following him. Well, this is bad. One's following him, and I still have nine to deal with.
"Nice doggies," I try, looking at the lead wolf. "I, uh, don't have food, but, uh… sit?"
The lead wolf does not sit. In fact, it howls. And so do the others. Well, s—t. It barks what I can only assume is an order, and one of them charges me. Just one, eh? I take a swing at it as it leaps towards me in the air, my ax slicing the creature in half before it even comes close to me. If they all come one at a time, this won't be a problem. But wolves are pack hunters, I'm sure they didn't genetically modify them to be stupider.
Indeed, two wolves leap at me, from opposite sides this time. I can only get one, so I choose the one on my right, stepping towards it to try to avoid the one from my left. I succeed in slicing its head off, and as the corpse falls to the ground with a whimper, I – fall to the ground, as the other wolf collides with me. As I fall, I rotate so that it's on top of me, and manage to keep hold of my ax. Landing on the ground with a thud, the wolf's blue eyes bore into mine for a fraction of a second before it goes for my neck. I bring my ax down with hopefully the right amount of force, closing my eyes just in case – and hear a surprised whimper as I feel a warmth on my neck and face. Opening my eyes, I see that that's one more wolf down. Only six left now.
As I push off the corpse of the other wolf, I see the remaining five advancing on me. Wait, there were six… one must be behind me. I'm still lying on the ground, this is bad. They've moved so they encircle me, I go to sit up, getting my torso vertical – just as something slams into me from behind. My head is forced down towards my legs – as I feel a sharp pain in my neck and the world goes black.
Boom.
Unfortunately for the wolves that had just torn out Rowan's throat, they would not be treated to a nice meal today, as their neural implants instructed them to return to their containment area as a hovercraft came to retrieve his body. After all, the wolves wouldn't be useful if they were full, now would they?
Cedar Mildberg POV
Boom.
I hear the cannon shot. That must be Rowan. I… I can't think about it right now. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears just as loud as the bounding of the mutt behind me. I've been running for… wait a second. Shouldn't the mutt have caught me by now? I'm sure it's faster than I am, being a genetically engineered version of a creature that's already fast… oh, oh no! I'm leading it back to the camp, aren't I? Should I… just turn around, fight it here? It'll probably kill me, but maybe it'll help protect Yuna… but the three of us could probably kill it… but it could hurt Yuna, but then again – my questions become more or less theoretical as I burst out of the forest into the camp, to surprised looks from Elara and Yuna.
"It – it's behind me!" I say, turning around, raising my dagger.
"What is?" Yuna asks. "Cedar, are you okay?"
"A, a mutt," I say. "I'm, alive, I… Rowan is -" The mutt bursts through the trees.
Yuna Odalis POV
Cedar looks… terrified and exhausted, and he's been gone, maybe half an hour, although I suppose if they ran into mutts, that's not surprising. I walk over to him, then run, pulling out a throwing knife as the mutt breaches the tree line. I did not expect this today, but okay. I take aim at the mutt's eye, as it pauses, growling, taking a deep breath before I release, tossing the knife perfectly and – being knocked off my feet as the mutt leaps at me in the blink of an eye, knocking me to the ground.
Cedar Mildberg POV
Wha – the mutt tackled Yuna?! I mean, she was next to me, but – it needs to die. Now! I jump on the mutt's back and start stabbing at it. Stabbing and stabbing, although to how much effect, I don't know. One of its claws slices across Yuna's stomach, and she screams. The motion also tosses me off to thud on the forest floor.
Elara Sora POV
Yuna's been tackled by a mutt, and I'm still on the other side of the campsite! Let's see, Cedar's dagger doesn't seem to be effective, at least not on the thing's furry back. But there has to be something I can do. If there isn't, Yuna will probably die. Her knives are already gone, tossed aside by the – that's it!
I grab a log from the fire, one of the ones that are still on fire. I grab it from the side that's not, but it's probably still hot, I can't really tell. "Get ready to roll!" I shout, tossing the log as hard as I can towards the mutt. It lands on the thing, setting it alight! It yowls in pain, jumping off Yuna for a second. She rolls to the side, towards Cedar, and away from it as it runs off into the forest.
I collapse onto the ground, suddenly aware of immense pain in my hand. Looking down, it's burnt. Eh, looks like a first-degree burn, I'll be fine.
Cedar Mildberg –15- -D7- POV
I look up, seeing the mutt run into the forest on fire. Inventive Elara, I'll give you that.
"Ughh," I look at the source of the noise, the Yuna next to me. Oh. She's not good. She has a long claw slash down her abdomen, the cuts aren't deep, but they aren't shallow either, and they're bleeding.
"Yuna!" I crawl to sitting, and grab her head, putting it in my lap. "Elara! Get the med kit!"
"On it!" She shouts, running over only a couple of seconds later with the med kit. Her dominant hand is – burned. Badly.
"Elara, are you, okay?" I ask her.
"I'll be fine," she says. "Burns don't really get infected, I can wrap it later. Yuna, look at me, can you look at me?"
Elara Sora –14- -D3- POV
Yuna's eyes make contact with mine. Oh, good.
"Okay, good," I say. "Let's see…" I look over her. Even one claw of that thing is powerful, too powerful. I wait for a second, almost expecting a Rebel hovercraft to swoop down and rescue us at this moment. But it doesn't. Darn it, Diana! So for now I have to treat these wounds… Yuna was always the first aid person, but I'll have to do… maybe using basically all of our bandages and some stitches, I can stop the bleeding, hopefully. "Cedar, get her shirt… what's left of it, off, we need a clean look at the cut."
Cedar nods, and starts to do as I say.
"I'm… still awake," Yuna says.
"I know, that's good," I respond, as Cedar finishes getting the tattered and bloody shirt off. I take a look at the cuts. Yeah, deep, but there are none that I didn't see, and more importantly, none of the shirt material seems to have gotten stuck in them – which could've caused an infection. Now I'll need to clean them and figure out which parts need to be stitched and which parts bandaged. "Sorry, Yuna, but this is going to hurt, a lot, for the next few minutes. Probably longer, actually."
"Mmm," she says.
Yuna Odalis –14- -D3- POV
I think I passed out when Elara was working on cleaning my wounds – which I'm thankful for because it was a lot of pain. Moving my head to see the cuts, I realize first that I feel thirsty, and second, that I have a new shirt, made of sleeping bag material. Then I notice that it's dark out and I'm in the tent now. I must have been out for a while, and… is that Elara and Cedar talking outside? It is… wonder what about.
Elara Sora –14- -D3- POV
After we get Yuna patched up, I sigh and look at Cedar. "Well, she's breathing, so she hasn't died from blood loss, and probably won't. I think she should be fine, assuming we don't get into any more fights soon, she might pop her stitches. I've done what I can to prevent an infection, but that's our worst possibility. We should move her inside the tent, and get her," I look at her old shirt, "dressed in something that's not that, the blood isn't sanitary, and holes over the exact places I don't want to get infected defeat the point."
Cedar nods. "Right, let's carry her to the tent."
I nod. "I'll get her legs, you get her shoulders. On three?"
He nods.
"Three, two, one, lift," I say, as we pick up Yuna, stretcher-carrying her inside the tent and setting her down next to the sleeping bag. "Hey," I say, "that sleeping bag can be what we make her shirt out of."
"Really?" Cedar asks.
"Yeah," I nod. "But, uh… could you do the cutting? I feel a bit tired after all that."
"Of course," he says, pulling out his dagger. "Just tell me what to do, and – Elara, you never wrapped your hand!"
"Oh, right." I had forgotten about that. Actually, thinking about it, I don't want to wrap it – just maybe put some aloe or something on it… not that I have any of that. "I probably shouldn't wrap it, it's just, like a sunburn. But from picking up fire."
He shakes his head. "You're crazy, Elara, but thanks, you saved our lives."
"Yeah… I hope so," I sigh, looking at Yuna.
He tries to smile at me, but I can tell that he's worried too. "Hey, you seemed to know what you were doing, I'm sure she'll be fine."
"She… was always better at first aid," I sigh. "I was just copying what I thought she'd have done… hopefully I did well enough."
"You did your best… and like I said, it seems to have been enough," Cedar says, then holds up an about shirt-sized piece of the sleeping bag. "Here we go, what now?"
"I'll sew it up," I say. "Then we put it on."
He nods, and once that's done, my stomach grumbles. "Oh," Cedar says. "We never, uh, did find food."
"Right… guess that's our problem now," I respond. "Actually, wait, do you think there are fish in the river?"
Cedar shrugs. "Maybe? Worth looking before we go into the forest."
Going out to the river, there are indeed fish, and we catch a few and cook them. As we're finishing eating our fish, I notice Cedar has tears in his eyes… oh, right, Rowan. "Cedar, are you… alright?" I ask him. "With, uh… Rowan, I know this must be hard."
He looks at me, seeming a little surprised. "I… I'm just a little… it's hard to believe that the person… he was just giving me advice, he always has been, and now… now he's… gone."
"I… I'm sorry, Cedar," I respond. "If… if you want to talk about it, I can listen."
"May… maybe later," he says. "I… I just want to think, for now."
I nod, and stay silent for a while, thinking about Yuna and the Rebels. I really, really, really hope that they'll come soon. I mean… I don't know how long Yuna will last. How long any of us will last at this rate. Sometime during the day, I heard another cannon. Five dead, already. The careers are probably hunting us… if we don't get rescued soon, we might die before then.
As it's getting dark, Cedar speaks again.
Cedar Mildberg –15- -D7- POV
I can't believe this… this morning, I was able to chat with Yuna, with my girlfriend, and with Rowan, with my brother, at the same time, and be happy and cheerful… and now, now Rowan's dead… Yuna might die… Elara still probably doesn't really like me… Rowan is dead. I've known him my whole life, and now he's dead. Dead… I… I don't know how to come back from that… I… I… I need to do something, but what? I can't exactly get revenge on those wolves… I… Yuna. I need to make sure Yuna stays safe, at least. I can do that. I… I should talk to Elara.
"Elara?" I ask her.
"Yeah?" She responds.
"I… I… I'm sorry for monopolizing Yuna a bit, recently, I… know it's not fair to take your best friend away now," I say.
"Oh… oh, Cedar," she looks at me. "You… don't have to apologize." She sighs. "You… see how awesome she is, just like I do. You want to spend time with her, that's… you should, it's fine. But… shouldn't you be thinking about Rowan, now?"
"I… I'll grieve, properly, on the off-chance that I get out of here… but I… probably won't, Rowan gave his life for me, and what I did with it was nearly get Yuna killed," I sigh. "I mean, if I had stopped to face the mutt, I'd be dead, but it wouldn't have gotten to you two… Yuna's cut up because of me… I… should at least protect the one person I care about who's left, so if… my goal for now is just to make sure Yuna gets out of the Arena, if I die and she does, I'll be happy."
Elara considers for a second, and then nods, coming over to hug me. "Me too, Cedar, me too…"
We sit there for a bit, before Elara finally asks me, "So, Yuna told you about some of her stories?"
"Yeah," I respond. "Um, there was this one about…"
We make conversation about Yuna's stories for a bit until Yuna peeks her head out of the tent. "Hey, guys… I'm thirsty."
"Oh, you're up!" I go over and hug her, as Elara does the same.
"Thank goodness!" Elara says. "I… was worried I didn't do something right."
"No, uh," Yuna smiles at her. "You did everything right… water, please?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Elara responds, handing her a waterskin full of some of the water we had boiled earlier. Yuna thirstily slurps it and then smiles. "Seems like you two are getting along?"
"Yeah," I respond. "We, uh, had a talk."
"Good," she says. "I'm, uh… gonna go back to sleep… I'm tired. Night."
"Night," I and Elara say at the same time, prompting a mutual chuckle.
Sage Hills –16- -D11- POV
"Look at her one last time, Sage," the Peacekeeper says, as Evelyn kneels, bound and gagged, in front of me. "Before she dies. All because of you!"
He shoots her, except the bullet isn't a bullet, it's a sword, and after it pierces her heart and she screams it goes back and stabs her in the stomach and she screams and she screams and she screams and I scream "Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn!"
"Shh, Sage, it's okay, I'm here," Evelyn's voice says, cutting through the fog. Evelyn? But she's… wait… I look in front of me, something's not… oh, this is a dream. I force my eyes to open, to see Evelyn's chocolate eyes staring at me, concerned. "Oh, good, you're awake," she kisses me. "You had another bad dream?"
"I… yeah," I respond. "You… were getting hurt again… sorry if I woke you."
"No, you didn't," she says. "I, uh… I was already awake, but you were so peaceful there for a bit, I wanted to watch."
I smile a little. "I… thanks, Evelyn. You're too sweet for me."
She gives me another little kiss. "Nah, you're too sweet for me. C'mon, let's get up. We should get some more food today."
I nod a little. "Sounds good."
We get up and out of the tent, eating some breakfast and chatting. Then I hear something in the bushes.
"Evelyn, you hear that?" I ask.
She nods. "Hopefully just a deer or something, but still, weapons ready."
I nod, picking up my smallsword as she picks up a throwing knife and readies it in the direction the sound came from. Something comes out of the bushes – it's the boys from Ten, looking a bit surprised to see us.
"Uh, hi," Gage says. "Please don't, uh, shoot, or… throw, I guess," he says, looking to Evelyn. I see that Simon has a large number of dead rabbits with him. "We, uh, come in peace?"
I look to Evelyn, and she shrugs. "Sounds convincing to me." She thinks, then, "hey, actually, besides just not killing us, would you two be open to a trade?"
The boys look at each other, then Gage nods. "Sure, we've got some extra food, if you want that, what do you have?"
Evelyn Robbins –16- -D11- POV
What do we have… what do we have, excellent question. Oh, I know! "We have a sleeping bag if you two need another one. Keep you warm at night, and all that. Say, our sleeping bag for…" I see Simon has ten rabbits. "Three of those rabbits?" They're pretty meaty, and neither Sage nor I eat a lot, that should keep us fed for a day or two.
The boys look at each other again, Simon shrugging, and then Gage nods. "It's a deal."
"Outstanding," I smile. "Set the rabbits down out here, and I'll get the bag." Simon nods, and Gage begins to take rabbits off the stick. I pop into the tent, rolling up our one sleeping bag, not too useful for us as a couple, and bring it out, offering it to Gage, seeing the three rabbits on the ground. "Here you go."
Gage smiles. "Thanks, Evelyn, nice doing business with you."
"Nice doing business with you too," I smile back at him. "Now skedaddle, you two, this is our camp."
"Right," Gage nods. "See… or, hopefully won't see you later." I nod at him, and the boys wander off.
"Wonder how they got that many rabbits," I comment to Sage, as she starts to look over the rabbits.
She shrugs as I sit back down by her. "However they did, it's impressive."
"Yeah," I say, then sigh. "Guess we should probably move our camp, huh?"
She nods. "Think they might not be so nice later?"
"Yep," I respond. "Want to finish with the rabbits now or after?"
She thinks, then, "I can finish now, that way we're not carrying bloody raw meat through the forest."
I nod. "Ah, yeah, probably a good idea."
Sage Hills –16- -D11- POV
After I get the rabbits properly butchered and cooked, with Evelyn's help, we pack up our small camp and set out on the road again. We talk as we walk for a couple of hours until we reach another clearing by the same river.
"What do you think?" Evelyn asks me. "Good spot to set up, or not?"
I look around. It's not too bad, we have good visibility of entrances, although it's perhaps a bit obvious place for a camp, that's probably fine. At least it's by the river. I shrug. "Looks good to me."
Evelyn nods. "Awesome, let's set up, then!"
I smile at her, and we set up camp again, chatting with each other the whole time. Once that's done, we eat some rabbit for dinner, and watch as the Anthem plays.
"Two more," I say. "That Twelve-Six alliance is not doing well."
Evelyn nods. "Yeah. But Avery and Seras are still alive."
"Yep," I respond. "Wonder what happened with them. And poor Rowan too… seems like the big alliances aren't doing that well."
"Yeah…" Evelyn sighs, then smiles at me as the Anthem finishes. "That's fine though, that's why I only need you, the best ally ever." She kisses me on the cheek.
I blush. "Aw, thanks, Evelyn. You're the best ally ever, though."
She laughs. "No, you!"
"No, you!" I respond.
"No, you!"
This continues for a bit before we finally go to bed, although it takes me a bit to fall asleep after Evelyn does… I'm afraid of falling asleep, afraid of my dreams… but I have Evelyn here. She'll make it okay… she'll make it okay.
Gage Padgett –17- -D10- POV
"I have a plan for food," Simon announces to me as he tosses me a breakfast ration.
"Good morning, Simon," I respond. "What's the plan?"
"Well… maybe it's better if I show you," he says. "We need to find a rabbit warren first."
"A warren… those places they live in?" I ask.
He nods. "Ideally one with a few rabbits. Then I need you to get ready to kill them."
"Huh, okay," I nod. "Just gimme a few minutes to wake up."
He does, and after my few minutes of waking up, we head off on the rabbit hunt. It only takes us an hour or so to locate a rabbit warren, but then Simon has us walk around the area, looking for every possible exit besides two, and blocking them with leaves and sticks.
"Is your plan to smoke them out?" I ask as we return to the first warren entrance.
"Exactly!" Simon smiles at me. "We block all the other entrances besides two, the one we're smoking them through, and the one you'll be waiting at. When they flee, you grab them and kill them."
"Huh," I nod. "Okay, I guess."
Simon smiles. "So, you go over there, and I'll handle the smoking, okay."
"Sure," I nod, and go to the indicated entrance, as Simon breaks a medium-sized stick off a tree and sets it alight with the flint and steel, sticking it into the remaining entrance.
The ensuing chaos was both furry and bloody, but in the end, I managed to catch ten out of the eleven rabbits that ran out of there.
"Well," I say, "this should be enough food, right?"
Simon nods. "Let's head back to camp, although let's go this way, I want to see if there are any more rabbits around."
A bit of walking later, I pause. "Hear something?" I thought I did, but I don't know.
Simon shrugs. "Maybe?"
"Let's be careful," I say. Simon nods, and we proceed forward, only to come out of the forest to Sage and Evelyn's camp, the two girls with weapons at the ready. "Uh, hi…" I say. "Please don't, uh, shoot, or… throw, I guess."
After our encounter with the girls, we start back to camp.
"Well, they were nice," I say.
"Yeah," Simon says. "Glad that didn't turn into a fight."
"Me too," I respond, then chuckle. "I don't think a stick of rabbits would make a good weapon."
He laughs. "No, I don't think so."
"Think they'll be okay?" I ask him. "The girls, that is?"
He shrugs. "They seemed prepared, but there are only two of them. I think just like us, their best hope is that the careers break up before finding them."
"Right," I respond. "Right, well hopefully they will."
"Hopefully," he says.
Simon Hazel –17- -D10- POV
After rabbit-hunting, Gage and I return to our camp and spend most of the day butchering the rabbits. We also talk a bit, really more than we have any day before. He is pretty funny, actually.
"How do you come up with plans like this one?" He asks me at one point. "The rabbit one, that is. And so quickly, too."
I shrug. "It's… not that hard for me, once I decided we needed food, it wasn't hard to come up with a plan to get it."
Gage nods. "I suppose that makes sense, you're smart, good at making plans. Like Fenna, I suppose."
"Fenna?" I ask. "That's, your older sister, right?"
He nods. "Yeah. She's got, like, her entire life planned out. She's going to marry at twenty-five, have three kids, and be done with that by thirty."
"That's quite the plan," I respond. Although he tried not to, seems like Gage seems that kind of planning is a bit silly. "I can't say I had a life plan like that."
Gage nods. "I'd say that's good, live life as it comes."
I shrug. "I don't know… I want to know what I'm getting into ahead of time, at least. Make sure I'm making the right decision. But my life has just been so… chaotic, coming up with a plan for the entire thing seems doomed to failure."
"I suppose that's fair," Gage says. "Although sometimes you have to go into things without knowing what you're getting into, that's party of the fun."
"I suppose," I respond, not really agreeing, but not wanting to argue with him either. Time to change the subject. "You have other siblings, right? What are they like?"
Gage smiles. "Well, there's Soren and Cairo, both my younger brothers. Soren's really sweet, and Cairo is… well, he's also really sweet, he's just going through puberty."
I chuckle. "Fair enough, they all sound really nice."
"They are," Gage smiles. "What about your siblings?"
"Oh, they're all wonderful," I respond. "Ella's really courageous for somebody so young, Felicity's a great artist, and Charlotte is, well she's seven, and she's adorable. And Harvey is nice too, of course," I say. I mean… he's fine. Not the best, but I don't want to say anything bad about him.
Gage smiles more. "I'm glad to hear that, then. I hope you get back to see them."
"Oh, uh, thanks, Gage," I respond. "I hope you get back to see yours." I do, really, Gage has been nothing but nice to me, even though I've been frosty to him this whole time.
He looks a bit uncomfortable at that thought, but nods. "Thanks, Simon."
We talk for a bit longer, and by the time we're done with the rabbits, it's dinnertime, so we eat and watch as the Anthem plays.
"The big alliances are falling apart," Gage comments.
"Yeah," I respond. "I feel bad for those boys."
"Me too," he nods.
After that, he goes to sleep, and I take the first watch.
Mazie Miller –13- -D9- POV
I wake up to a voice calling my name.
"Mazie? Mazie?" The voice calls.
I look around. There's no one around, besides Harvey, and his mouth is closed. Oh no. I clear my dry throat, and Harvey looks at me. "Oh, Mazie, you're awake," he says.
"Yeah," I respond. "And hearing things."
He shrugs. "I'm sure you'll be fine, probably just a residual dream. Take your pill, and have some food."
I do as I'm told, and as I'm scarfing down some food, I ask him, "So, what's the plan for today, bro?"
He shrugs. "We have plenty of supplies, so we might as well just stay here."
"Fair enough," I nod.
We make spotty conversation until lunchtime when I hear something in the forest. Or, I think I do. Should I tell Harvey? Probably. "Harvey, I thought I heard something," I say. "Over there." I point. He looks over there with a nod and rests his hand on his scimitar.
A minute or two later, a deer pokes its head out of the forest, then goes back in. "Oh, thank goodness," I sigh, relieved. "I thought it was other Tributes… or nothing." Is it bad that the second option is almost more terrifying than the first?
Harvey nods. "Well, at least you heard it."
"Yep," I respond… "yeah."
Harvey Miller –18- -D9- POV
Towards dinnertime, Mazie looks up again. "I hear something," she says.
"What?" I ask, resting my hand on my scimitar.
"It's," she looks over, to where she presumably heard the sound from. "Oh, just another deer."
"There's… nothing there, Mazie," I respond.
"Really?" She asks. "I see the deer, clear as day."
"Oh…" I sigh. That's not good. There is, in fact, no deer there. "It's not there, Mazie."
She sighs. "Harvey, you should take the dagger away from me. It's only going to get worse."
"Maybe, but you still need to defend yourself if I die," I respond. "And you don't get violent unless it gets really bad, usually."
"Yes, but this is stressful," she says. "I might get violent earlier."
"I…" she has a point. But I can't leave her defenseless, and I can probably restrain her if it comes to that. "I'll be fine. Keep it, Mazie."
She sighs. "Fine… fine."
Mazie Miller –13- -D9- POV
So the Capitol is probably messing with me… I'm scared. I don't think I've ever been scared of my illness before, it was just something to live with. But now… I… I was so lucid, and I can feel it slipping away a little bit. Bit by bit… I don't want to lose control of my body, of my mind… I don't want to hurt Harvey, or myself… but besides keeping taking these pills, which seem to be less and less effective, there's… nothing I can do. And that's what terrifies me.
Lamè Lunzdior –18- -D1- POV
After eating our breakfast, we set out vaguely in the direction we think that the Three-Seven alliance went. I and Velvet walk in the lead, while Hal and Foxtrot take up the rear. After a bit of walking, we hear a cannon.
"Wonder who that was," Velvet comments.
I shrug. "Hopefully one of the people from those alliances. Maybe there will be more soon."
She nods. "Hopefully, be nice of them to do our work for us."
"Exactly," I say.
We wait a bit longer, without any more cannons. "Well, that's a shame," Velvet comments.
I nod. "Well, it is only the second day, but we can't expect everyone else to just kill themselves. Most of them are probably hiding."
Velvet nods. "Yeah, you're right."
I almost go to ask her what she'll be doing after this, but then I remember… there can't be an after this for her. She… my sister, she… she needs to die… I need her to die, I won't be perfect if I don't win. And I… I need to be perfect. I need to.
Velvet Lunzdior –18- -D1- POV
Lamè is quiet today. To be fair, with the boys chatting quietly among themselves behind us, there's not much to talk about. We know we need to find and kill everyone else… and then… we're supposed to kill each other… I… really don't think I could do that, but… I can't think about that. There are still a lot of other Tributes to get rid of before then. And I can't be weak either, if I am, it might get Lamè hurt. And I can't let that happen.
Foxtrot Suevite –18- -D2- POV
Hal and I chat all day, mostly about our various training experiences. He reminds me of a lot of the people I know at home: dedicated to training, but friendly, outgoing, all around a good guy.
"You trained on your birthday?" I ask, surprised.
He nods. "Well, of course, can't miss a day after all."
I chuckle. "Of course. What'd you do on that day?"
He thinks. "Well, let's see, I started with warm ups, of course, then a five mile run, then a water break, then the 100 yard dash, then I did some training with tridents, that," he chuckles, "was the first day I hit the dummy in the neck, and with all three prongs."
"Both of those at once?" I ask. "How do you manage that?"
"Oh, that's easy," he says. "Just twist it after you throw it, so that it lands vertical in them."
"Ah," I nod. Right, note to self, please let somebody else kill Hal if that needs to happen. Although I kinda hope it doesn't, he's a good guy. "Gotcha, so, what else?"
"Well," he shrugs, "then some other training, nets, daggers, that kind of thing. Then another run, then a shower, then it was time for my party…" he gets a faraway look in his eyes for a second, then shakes his head. "Sorry, that party was, uh, the first time Nerys and I kissed."
"Oh," I respond. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you -"
"Oh, it's fine," he waves his hand. "It's… been a while, I really should be over it. Can't be hung up on her, not with what she did, forever."
"Yeah…" I say. "Yeah, you're right." Is that what Justice thinks of me? Probably, she did say she was going to get an annulment, after all. But it was a mistake, I… ugh, even if I survive this, Cadence will be the death of me, my life, at least. I should've never gotten involved with her.
"So what were your days like, as a trainer?" He asks me.
"Oh, uh, my days were," I chuckle, "a lot less intense. Still started with warms ups and a run, but just a few laps around the track. Then I'd go around the Academy, see who needed help with stuff, usually their swordplay, sometimes I'd act as a spotter for weights, that kind of thing."
Hal nods. "Work on your birthday?"
I chuckle. "Well, that depends. For a few years, yeah, Cadence wouldn't take the day off from training, and I wanted to be around her. But more recently, no, after I met Justice, I'd spend the day with her."
"Justice?" He asks.
"Oh, yeah, she's my fia-wi-uh," I stumble over my words. I'd… rather not tell him that I'm also a cheater, like the girl who is currently very absent from this alliance. I try to fake a laugh and hope it sounds real. "My wife, sorry, still getting used to it, we got married the day before the Games."
He smiles. "Oh, you're married?"
"Yeah," I lie. Agh, I feel terrible lying to him, but I don't think the truth is a great idea right now. Well, it might not be a lie, I'm not sure of my current marital status. "She's, uh, well, she's beautiful, and really sweet, and, uh…" Wow, I didn't use to struggle to describe all of Justice's virtues. "She's just awesome." I smile.
Halian returns my smile. "That's good to hear, mind if I ask how you two met?"
Okay, I really need to change the subject after this, which I have to answer because otherwise, it'd be suspicious. "Yeah, uh, she's… Cadence's sister," I admit. "Since Cadence and I are such good friends, of course, I met her twin sister."
Halian nods, and chuckles. "So you married your best friend's twin sister? I feel like that's breaking a few rules," he jokes.
I laugh. "Ah, Cadence doesn't mind, she made it pretty clear from the beginning that there was nothing like that between us, we never even dated or anything." Technically, that's all true. When I first had a crush on her, it was pretty obvious she felt nothing for me… which makes what happened, which was certainly not a date, even weirder… and puts it even more firmly into the 'should not have happened' category. "But anyway," I say to change the subject, "has your training routine always been the same?"
He chuckles, shrugs, and starts on another story about his training routine as I mentally sigh in relief. I feel really bad about lying to him, but I like the new friend I've made, I don't want to lose him, as a friend, or as an ally against the girls when they do, inevitably, try to kill us.
Halian "Hal" Maui –17- -D4- POV
A bit before it starts to get dark, we set up camp again, finishing just as they start to play the Anthem.
"So, two from the big alliances," I comment.
"They are doing our work for us," Velvet chuckles. "Although I wonder how that happened."
"I feel like," Lamè says, "Remington was probably done internally."
"Yeah," Foxtrot says. "What about Rowan though? I wonder how he died but no one else did?"
"Good point," I respond. "You'd think one of the girls or his brother would've died too, or more than one person from the other side, if there was another side."
"Probably mutts," Velvet says. "Like you say, otherwise we'd be seeing more dead."
I nod. "That makes sense."
"Well," Lamè says, "who wants first watch?"
"I'll take it," I respond.
"I'll take second," Foxtrot says.
"Cool, then I'll take third," Lamè says.
"And I guess I'll be fourth," Velvet finishes.
"Awesome," I say. Once dinner's done, everyone goes to bed, and once my watch is over, I wake up Foxtrot, who I really have been enjoying spending time with and go to bed myself.
Cadence Fellows –18- -D2- POV
I'm up before the other careers. It looks like they're going to get the Three-Seven alliance, good for them. I'm certainly happy that they've chosen to take on one of the bigger alliances. I think I'll head in the direction the Ten and Eleven pairs went off, neither of those should be a problem to deal with.
I walk at a sustainable pace for most of the day, only taking a fifteen-minute break for lunch, which I count-out. By night, I've started to see signs that people have recently been in the area I'm in, but with the light fading, I can't figure out which way they went, and even climbing into a tree doesn't show me a line of sight to any fires, so it's likely safe to assume that they haven't been around here in a bit.
The Anthem plays. Two dead, two cannons. Interesting. Either the Six-Twelve alliance no longer exists, or is at half-power if it does, although given that only one is dead, I'd be inclined to believe it doesn't exist. Regardless, there is only one major alliance besides the careers left, and even they are down to three people. Perhaps these Games won't be much of a challenge at all. Although, the amount of deaths does mean that the careers haven't killed anyone yet, but I suppose they're moving slowly.
In one way, I hope they will split up sooner rather than later. The shorter the period of time is where I might run into four well-trained people who want to kill me, the better. Well… perhaps it's three well-trained people that want to kill me. I don't think Foxtrot would. That's a weakness on his part. I could kill him, easily. Again, that weird feeling in my stomach. That's annoying, but I'm sure it'll go away when he's dead.
Again, I eat packaged rations and drink bagged water, going to sleep without a fire, in a secure location.
Nerys Pacifica –18- -D4- POV
I wake up early and creep back towards the Cornucopia, witnessing the careers – and Hal – get up, eat, and head off. Ah, they're going for the Three-Seven alliance. Not a bad idea. There's a bit of problem with my plan though, in that I can't follow the careers from sight range, or they'll probably notice me. I'll have to take their heading and follow well behind them, using tracks, and hoping they don't make any sudden changes. Not that I'm the best at following tracks… not that I'm cut out for any of this! I mean, I dropped out of the Academy for a reason… I didn't want to be here, eating rations and drinking water out of bags, carrying a weapon around, I certainly didn't want to be stalking bigger and more powerful people just because Hal won't realize I want to protect him, I… none of this should've happened, d—nit!
But it did, I suppose… I have to accept it and do what I can to survive or at least make sure Hal does. Anyway, I wait an hour more, then, double-checking that the careers have left, dash back to the Cornucopia to grab some more supplies, before heading off, following their heading.
Although I see some signs of their passage as I walk, I don't see many. They're clearly trained for this… better trained than I am… I guess that's what happens when you finish your training. Maybe I should give up on this, maybe I should hide in a ditch, wait until the end, then maybe I could win, then maybe I wouldn't die… but then Hal wouldn't be safe… and I can't have that… but I don't want to die…
I stop, leaning against a tree, and cry for I don't know how long. Time is hard to tell here. But no, I need to help Hal. I… I dragged him into this, I… might hate it too, but I owe him my help, even if he thinks he doesn't need it if he died because I didn't help him, I… I have to help.
I stop leaning against the tree and continue walking until just before sundown when I climb a tree for some dinner. The deaths are interesting, but I don't want to think about them right now… just sleep. Sleep, at least, won't hurt me… hopefully.
Kylie Mino –18- -D10 Rebel Forces Co-Commander, Pilot- POV
After our training has wrapped up for the night, I'm exhausted, but just as I get back to my house, well, my and Kayne's house, I get a call from… Diana. She's taking a big risk.
"Hey, Diana," I answer with a yawn. She's got a shower on in the background, good.
"Hey, Kylie," she says. "About the mission, it needs to happen soon, if you're going to do it. Otherwise, it might be too late. Yuna's already badly wounded, there's a possibility she doesn't last too much longer.
"I know," I respond. "We're going tomorrow night."
Diana nods. "Good. Are you… ready, though, Kylie? You and Angel?"
I shrug. "We did it successfully, once."
"Once?" Diana raises an eyebrow. "That's not a lot."
"I know," I say. "We'll be ready, though. I promise. I just hope the four we're getting can hold out until the evening. Emma would never approve us going in the day."
Diana nods. "For good reason. If you're seen by the public -"
"I'm very aware," I respond. "Remember, my hus- er, fiance, is there with you."
"Yeah," she nods. "They'd move up their plans to attack us, and if they know specifically that their former Victors are in on it, they'd detain us too."
"Yeah, we have to poke the bear just the right amount," I nod. "Piss 'em off, but not so much they act stupidly and ahead of schedule. Don't worry, Diana, I know. And we'll be ready."
She gives me a slight smile. "Glad to hear it. Be safe, Kylie. I gotta go now." She taps her screen and disappears from mine. Actually… that reminds me I should make another call.
"Hey, Layna?" I ask once she picks up the call. "I'm gonna need a favor, sorry."
She looks tired and doesn't look less tired when I ask her for a favor. "It's fine, what do you need?"
"I need a way to get back here, to Ten, after the mission," I respond. "I can't stay at Airbase One, not only will people notice I'm missing, but I… I have to be here, with Kayne, when it goes down."
She nods. "And you," she yawns, "need me to find you a sketchy way to get from A to B?"
"Yeah," I say. "Please. Sorry to ask more of you, I know you're busy."
She shrugs. "Oh, not at all. Just doing my job, and Diana's job since she's in the Capitol, and making sure everyone is ready for impending war, and helping you and Angel train, and trying to see if there are any defenses I've missed, and still pretending to go to school and watch the Games. And of course, doing favors when they're asked."
"I know it's a lot, trust me," I respond. "I've had double the work since Kayne left, and I've only gotten out of it recently because I delegated it to somebody else while I trained for this mission. Like I said, sorry for asking more of you, Layna… hey, once this is all over, I'll buy you…" I pause, I was going to say a drink, but she doesn't drink, nor do I. I don't know if she plans to, but I don't. "Lunch, whatever you want."
That makes her laugh. "So, all I have to do to get free lunch is win a war?"
"Exactly," I chuckle. "Seems like a fair deal to me, right?"
She laughs again. "Y'know, when I was out grocery shopping, there was a boy who offered to buy me lunch if I went out with him, said I was 'pretty'." She uses air quotes around 'pretty'. "Maybe I should've taken him up on that offer."
I chuckle. "Why didn't you?"
She snorts. "Well, you know I don't… get that stuff. I certainly don't think he's cute, and even if I did, I don't exactly have time for that."
"Fair," I respond.
She sighs. "Ah, it's fine, I'll be happy to just get lunch in a free country. Don't worry, I'll figure out a way back for you."
"Thanks, Layna," I smile at her. "You're the awesome-ist."
She chuckles. "Thanks, Kylie. Anyway, that it?"
"Yeah," I respond. "Gonna go to bed?"
She shrugs. "Probably should, but I've got… things to do. You should, though, big day tomorrow."
I nod and yawn. "Yeah. Talk to you later, Layna."
"Later, Kylie," she responds, before hanging up.
Well, time to shower, then bed. I must admit, I'm getting a little nervous, butterflies in my stomach… not a feeling I normally get, but then again, I don't normally fly hovercraft into The Arena to rescue Tributes from the freakin Hunger Games, so… yeah. But we'll be fine. We have to be, for those Tributes' sake.
A/N: Well, another long one, but hopefully a fun one! Only two more deaths, but that might change soon, stay tuned! Please let me know your thoughts, predictions, and such!
Alliance Breakdown (Tributes listed by District):
Allied Tributes (17/21):
Careers (4/4): Lamè, Velvet, Foxtrot, & Hal.
4-Anti-Social People (3/4): Elara, Yuna, & Cedar. (Deceased: Rowan)
Definitely Not Criminals (2/4): Seras & Avery. (Deceased: Remington & Angelo.) Note: The Alliance is no longer considered formal for the purposes of betting.
The Girl With Two Older Siblings (2/3): Harvey & Mazie (Deceased: Mazie.)
Sisters (2/2): Daisy & Mattie
Gage Your Hazels (2/2): Gage & Simon
Sage And A Ginger (2/2): Sage & Evelyn
Loners (2/3):
Cadence
Nerys
Deceased: Cambric
The Fallen:
24th: Cambric Frymith, 17M, D8. Stabbed through the chest with a trident by Halian "Hal" Maui.
23rd: Nira Telatto, 17F, D8. Stabbed through the heart with a sword by Foxtrot Suevite.
22nd: Angelo Kilkenny, 17M, D12. Decapitated with a mace by Velvet Lunzdior.
21st: Remington Axis, 18M, D6. Throat slit by Emilene Avery Osiria.
20th: Rowan Mildberg, 18M, D7. Throat ripped out by Capitol mutts.
Official Capitol-Published Odds, as they appeared at the end of Day Two:
Lamè Lunzdior: 1:9
Velvet Lunzdior: 1:9
Cadence Fellows: 1:6
Foxtrot Suevite: 1:6
Elara Sora: 1:18
Yuna Odalis: 1:36
Nerys Pacifica: 1:9
Halian Maui: 1:6
Daisy Brownstone: 1:24
Matilda Edlington: 1:36
Seras Axis: 1:32
Cedar Mildberg: 1:24
Harvey Miller: 1:72
Mazie Miller: 1:48
Gage Padgett: 1:24
Simon Hazel: 1:24
Sage Hills: 1:24
Evelyn Robbins: 1:24
Emilene Avery Osiria: 1:18
Tribute Kill Counts:
Velvet Lunzdior: 1
Foxtrot Suevite: 1
Hal Maui: 1
Avery Osiria: 1