Chapter Sixty-Six: That Escalated Quickly
Night Six
Toren Laris, District Nine Female
I'm never unseeing what we just did. I doubt Zari is, either.
She's not talking. I understand her there, unfortunately: what can either of us possibly say that hasn't already been said by someone else?
Hopefully, we can uphold that girl's promise and get rid of the monster who did that to her, or at least make an effort. I'm sure there have been worse (trust me, even for a murder sport the Games on TV can get brutal), but at the same time, does anyone outside of District One, and even some of them, really want that as their next victor?
I'll have plenty of time to think about all those things, since we've found what looks like a nice spot to settle down for the night and Zari looks like she could sleep standing up. I don't trust her with the first shift, I'll grin and bear it.
"Get some sleep," I tell Zari. "I'll wake you up when it's your turn."
She doesn't need any more convincing. Within three minutes, Zari falls asleep soundlessly, only stopping to emit what can best be described as whimpering. Something's nagging at me, wondering how this girl possibly made it this far, but I shove it back down with all the other bile I've been holding in. Now's not the time. I can vent all I want once I get out of here.
My train of thought gets interrupted by a beeping noise. I instinctively flinch, but then I realize it's just a sponsor gift. Considering it's so small I can barely tell what it is, I don't think it can be that important until I see that it's just a piece of paper.
A note? This late in the Games? This must have cost a fortune to send, so this has to be important enough to dump my funds into. Without hesitation, I snatch it out of the air and read it as fast as possible.
Your solution's right there.
-Anisa
The serum. This has to be about the serum. Or, at the very least, I can't think of anything else Anisa could be trying to say.
I know I'm technically supposed to be covering for Zari at the moment, but she's pretty well hidden from all angles and as long as I don't get turned around I should be able to find my way back. For a potential game changer, I'm willing to take that risk, even if Zari already has a vial. What's the harm in having one for each of us?
Walking backward so I can keep a careful eye on Zari while looking around, I begin circling, looking for anywhere that might represent an obvious hiding spot. For a while, though, I get nothing. No trees with conveniently-shaped hollows, no holes in the ground to bury something in, not even any trees with branches I can easily climb.
I whip back to full alertness, expecting to have triggered some kind of alarm, but it's just a pile of stupid leaves. No one's running towards me or jumping out, so I think I can just move on with my life and…
Wait, why would there be a pile of fallen leaves in the middle of summer? Unless the Gamemakers placed it there to hide something, of course? Looks like I'm digging through it.
The process takes far longer than I would have liked, my pace remaining slow and methodical so I don't accidentally trigger any traps or something. Stick, rock, another stick, what I'm really hoping is just a brown rock…
At the very bottom of the pile, just when I've given up hope, I see a flash of blue. Shoving the last few leaves aside, I reach down and grab the object, pulling it up to reveal that yes, it's exactly what I'm looking for.
The glow isn't as bright with there being no sun to reflect off the vial, but the serum's color is the same as I remembered. Grinning like a maniac, I pocket our new secret weapon. Just like that, everything's turned back around.
Two vials of serum, one for each of us? Maybe now we stand a chance.
Thomiah Marshall, District Eleven Male
Lacey and I have proven opposites in just about every single way, and I'm not sure whether that's a good thing yet.
I'm huge, she's tiny. I can knock things out with one swing of my weapon but don't have much range, while she can throw knives with the best of them (and she still has about ten of them in her belt, so she has ones to spare) but it's possible to dodge them and even if they don't, a person hit by one can stay upright. I try and keep things as light as possible, she's all doom and gloom. I'm unsure if this alliance is going to hold, but she seems dead set on keeping us together.
Having another set of helping hands can't hurt unless they're about to stab me (which I should probably start watching for now that we're nearing the end), but for now, it's all I can do to make sure things stay on the rails.
With the darkness swallowing everything and leaving our vision limited at best (even mine, well-adjusted from many dark nights at home, especially in winter, is noticeably worse), any actions we take tonight will have to worry about that.
Since there's nothing that important to handle at the moment, I might as well try to make conversation. "You tired?"
"Not at all," Lacey says. "I can pull through until morning. Plus, if I remember anything from watching other Games, the Careers usually kept to a day/night schedule for the most part, they just kind of waited in one area all night and only moved during the day."
Well, I think I know where this is going. "So you want us to try and catch some attention while the Careers aren't hogging all the screen time?"
"Sure," Lacey says. "I was just thinking we'd have an easier time tribute hunting then."
Never mind. She makes a pretty good point in that regard, though: there's no better way to make a splash than killing another tribute. If we want the Gamemakers to take us seriously we're going to have to get a handle on that soon whether we like it or not.
"Watch your step," I say. "I say we get a move on, since I'm pretty confident anyone who has eyes will see me coming. Let's be quick."
"Not too quick, though," Lacey replies. "In case you can't tell, short legs. Not that much of a runner."
I was never much of one either, but I doubt she'll be able to pick much of that up. I got this strong for a reason.
Without any further talking, the two of us get our weapons ready before breaking into a brisk jog, making sure we don't trip on anything as we go. This is quite an important night for us, so we've got to make it count.
Rhaemyr North, District Three Male
Well, with the last of my supplies having been lost to the Careers, I need to think about my options.
I have nothing to hunt with, I have no means of sustaining myself, and doing those things are only going to become harder as the Games continue, since the Gamemakers don't want them to drag. With six days having passed and I think nine tributes left, the final reckoning has to be pretty soon, but I don't want to be at anything less than peak condition when that happens, especially since I'm far from a skilled combatant with literally anything. If I want any chance at beating a Career, even if they're somehow having an off day, a lot of things need to be going right.
Hopefully only one makes it that far. I only have slightly better odds of taking down one in combat than getting struck by lightning, I doubt that'll happen twice, doubly so considering the short time frame I'm going to be doing it in.
With that truth as obvious as anything I've ever thought in my life, I'm left without much of a choice as to what to do. I'd love to sleep right now since I'm already running on fumes, but I know that if I do that and make myself wait to prepare for the future, there probably won't be much of a future to prepare for.
Thus, I set off. I can sleep in the morning. For now, I need to find another person or group to raid, if a worthwhile one even exists anymore.
Sienna Starboard, District Four Female
Godric's asleep. I'm watching with my eyes and the occasional aid of a flashlight for anyone who might try and sneak up on us, although the number of people capable of doing that never stops dwindling.
With our opponents now numbering seven and Godric having kept careful track of who remains, I have time to formulate our plan should we run into any of them, or vice versa.
Clara is obviously our biggest threat. Two on one we have the advantage but if she overpowers Godric or even me then the tables turn in a hurry. I'm not saying I can't beat her, but she got a ten and I didn't for a reason. Considering most of her favorite weapons could hit from a distance and we specialize in close-range combat, as long as we stay in open areas we should have the advantage there, but that's no guarantee: six days isn't a lot of time to practice with a weapon but it could make a world of difference in the end.
Everyone else, fortunately, we can beat in a straight fight so long as we're smart about it. Boy from Three is unlikely to attack directly based on what I've seen of him: as long as we keep looking around us so we can't get snuck up on, that neutralizes just about anything he might try. His District partner seemed the same way, although she'd have probably set whatever trap she wanted to use well before we could fall into it. Girl from Six looked pretty easy to handle, I'm not sure how she got a score as high as she did. Girl from Eight falls into the same boat as Clara albeit to a lesser degree. Girl from Nine, I'm not sure, but she only got a five so she can't be that much of a threat unless she was faking like a master. Boy from Eleven's the biggest non-Clara threat, especially since he also focused on close-range combat. Boy from Twelve? He didn't seem that threatening or have any notable skills, so I'm just discounting him.
Unfortunately, I've buried myself so deep in my thoughts that it takes me far too long to realize that I've got a death grip on my trident and have been walking back and forth in a straight line instead of the circle I'm supposed to. Well, might as well start looping around. Threats can come from any direction.
Then I see the glint of moonlight off what can only be a blade. Every single brain cell I have starts screaming at me. Might as well investigate, but it's too dark to see much of what's going on and I don't want to get blindsided. This calls for a flashlight.
The light I have is a dinky little thing that barely illuminates the surrounding area, but it does reveal two important things nevertheless the instant I turn it on.
One, the weapon in question is the blade of a machete.
And two, fucking Clara's expression going from smug to surprised in an instant.
"Godric!" We've probably alerted everyone left in the Arena where we are at the moment, but I am long past caring; there's no place for subtlety here. "Wake the hell up! We've got company!"
I think Godric shoots awake in an instant if the flinching I see is anything to go by, but Clara uses that as an opportunity to charge right toward him, shit shit shit what the hell am I going to do to stop her? Godric's on the fucking ground and he's grabbing a weapon but there's no way he's going to be ready to use it in time, have to think of something fast…
Then the obvious solution slams into me after far too long. How did it take this fucking long to come up with something anyone else would realize?
Right before she stabs down to try and murder Godric, I hurl my trident.
Thankfully, my aim is more than good enough. It doesn't hit her, since she swings the machete to bat it aside, but between the time it takes her to do that and the time it takes to return to her original stance, Godric's fully woken up, thrown himself to his feet and landed one hell of a punch to Clara's gut. I see her bend double around Godric's fist but somehow stay upright and try to stab Godric again with the machete, forcing him to leap sideways to dodge.
I grab my trident out of the dirt and Godric stays out of the range of her weapon, but Clara takes one second to look at both of us and immediately starts running in the other direction, probably believing she has no chance at beating us now that her trick didn't work. Godric takes several leaping strides to try and catch her before I motion for him to stop, which he fortunately does.
"No point," I say. "She probably set down traps to lure us into just in case we tried chasing her. Following her half-blind is just going to get us killed. We'll try and find her when it's light out and she can't pull that trick on us again."
"Cowardly fucking bitch," Godric spits, which summarizes the situation pretty accurately if I say so myself.
Once that venom is gone, we return to far more mundane things: namely how we're going to handle the rest of the night. I'm more than fine with returning to guard duty and letting Godric go back to sleep for a while, since I doubt Clara has the balls to try again. Even then, I'm going to keep the flashlight on all night now just in case someone else decides we look like an easy kill.
Well, I doubt either of us is getting much sleep after that, but there's no harm in trying, right?
Author's Notes:
-Well, update was relatively slow this time, but it came! Haven't been in as much of a writing mood recently, unfortunately: I was in a good groove for a while, but all good things must come to an end.
-Sienna's scene honestly came out of nowhere for me: it was just going to be another introspection/recap scene to catch up with her and Godric, then halfway through writing it HOLY SHIT CLARA SHOWED UP! I really hope that kind of stuff happens more often.
-More serum has been found! But one vial remains that isn't claimed. And who knows where it'll end up at this point?
-That's all I got. See you next chapter!