Enigma Fenn (13) D1F

"They're just under the desk still. Really, I don't know how you missed them when you were running downstairs," Heidi explained to me after I had told her about my mad dash from the bear. I needed her to think I was weak, so I may have embellished a part or two about some extra crying, and I may have left out a part or two about killing Super. She didn't need to know that I could really fight. She thought I was somebody the Careers could easily kill while I helped her take one of them out, and she could keep thinking that.

"I was in a bit of a rush," I said, jokingly sassing her. She liked this fake personality of mine, and I intended to keep it up. I was dumb, innocent, and just some kiddo around her. She was going to get herself killed and a Career injured. I could lose my pride for that.

"Yeah, whatever. Look, we're pretty close to them, so we need to make a plan right now. Then we can attack. I say you go in first, since they won't really take the bait with me. You tried to join them, right? Anyways, you go in first. I'll follow behind, and when you run, I'll jump in and kill whoever's on your tail. Sound good?" Heidi asked, pretending that she wasn't sticking me with the worse job. I might be slow, or she might ditch me. There was a good chance she was trying to kill me. But I nodded. I was supposed to be dumb.

"Sure! But are you sure you want to be the one fighting them? I mean, it sounds pretty dangerous. And they might fight hard. There's only fourteen of us left," I said, referencing the last three cannons we heard. I couldn't believe she wasn't still suspicious of me, but I did a fake look of wide-eyed innocence, and I could see she was totally falling for it. Or she was a far better actress than I was.

"Oh, yes! I'm willing to take the risk, because it's my plan. That's only fair," Heidi said proudly, holding herself taller. As if it looked like I needed more convincing. It was hard for me to keep smiling, but I did. I kept myself looking like a total idiot.

"If you're sure. We could get going right now, I guess," I said, beginning to climb down from the dinosaur. We weren't too far from the Careers, so it wouldn't take us long to reach them. We would really have to be on our guards, though, because they could be on the hunt, and all we had for weapons was four-inch claws. It was something, but it wasn't much.

"Okay! Remember, you'll have to run really fast, or the Careers might catch you," Heidi said condescendingly. I tried not to sigh while she followed me, instead looking around at all of the cool things around us. There were more huge reptile things, some weird looking mammals, and a giant stuffed bird-looking thing. It was all pretty interesting, but I didn't know why it existed, or why the Capitol could be bothered to spend this much money on an Arena. Definitely going to be a tourist attraction.

I stopped dead in my tracks, and the giant footsteps on the floor, when I noticed a small door nearby us. It was a thick, wooden door, and it was wide open, despite there being glass up half its height. It led to a large, dark cave, with the only light seeming to come from the entrance I was standing in. I couldn't imagine why there was a wooden door to a cave, but I wasn't too worried about that. I was more interested in the small, disheveled boy who was sleeping facing the door, apparently asleep while trying to guard his cave. He had some supplies, including actual bandages, which I was quite interested in.

"What if we get some more bait?" I asked Heidi. It wouldn't be too hard to convince the kid to ally with us, I figured. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept in a while, something an alliance could fix for him. We could also threaten to kill him if he didn't help us, so we were pretty safe.

"Sure! Why don't you go in there and talk to him?" Heidi replied, and I nodded, jumping the glass barrier easily. Inside the cave there were some stick paintings and simple drawings, as well as basic rock stones that didn't look very sharp. I noted that the boy had one of those and decided not to get to close.

"Hey! Get up," I whispered to the boy, to no avail. He didn't wake up or even shift. I didn't want to get any closer to a probably easily spooked child, even though I could likely fight better than he could. It wasn't worth the risk. Instead, I grabbed onto a rock and threw it at him. When he didn't shift, I threw another, then another. Finally, he shifted, either because of the thrown rocks or because he had rolled over onto pebbles. Then he woke up and screamed.

"Who are you? Get out," he yelled, picking up his small, sharpened rock. I took a quick step back and put my hands up.

"I'm Enigma Fenn. I'm looking for an ally," I said, trying to look honestly scared. I was mildly worried, yes, but most tributes would be suspicious if they noticed that it was only mild. "I already have one, but we could always use more. Safety in numbers, you know?" I kept my voice low and calm, hunching over so I didn't look like a threat. I could tell that it was working by the kid's face, and it was confirmed when he let his weapon drop to his side.

"I'm Six," the boy replied. "I don't like to talk about that. You're really looking for allies? Do you have any food?"

"Not on us, but I know where we can find some. More importantly, though, we have a plan to take down the Careers. Wanna help us out? It'll be hard with only two of us," I said, trying to draw the boy in. I stood up now that he wasn't afraid anymore, and he nodded.

"Sure! That'd be great. What do we need to do?"

"All right. You and I are going to get the Careers to attack us, then Heidi back there is going to fight them for us. Easy as that! Makes sense, doesn't it?" I asked, rolling my eyes to the boy. He knew it was a dumb plan. I knew it was a dumb plan. But both of us were smart enough not to let Heidi know that, and I could see that he could actually be a valuable ally.

"Of course! Let's go take them down. Here, you can use my bandages. You've bled through your shirt," Six said, handing me the bandages. I took off my shirt and put them on, far past the point of caring that people were seeing my young body. I just didn't want to die.

Then we were off. I had to jump out of the cave, and I noticed that Six did, too. Then we walked through the Arena, Heidi with a purpose, Six and I just looking around us. I wanted to see everything about the ancient section of the Arena while I could, since there was no way I was going back there with Careers on my trail. I was going to run back upstairs once I was confident I could.

"Here were are," Heidi whispered, crouching down. "Go!"

I walked over to the desk, Six hot on my tail, and made some noise. "Hey Tiger! Get over here and fight like a man! Didn't you say you could take me down earlier? Come at me!" I yelled, hoping Tiger really would come out. He was the physically biggest Career. It would be good if Heidi hurt him before he inevitably killed her.

Sadly, Pumice came out instead. He shrugged when he saw me and took off after me. He definitely knew it was a trap; he wasn't an idiot. I had to assume he just didn't care, since Six and I definitely weren't threats. Just like he definitely expected, we turned tail and ran the second he ran after us. I was faster than Six, which was a definite blessing.

Pumice caught Six easily. I heard a quick gasp then a cannon, and I assumed Six had been stabbed with Pumice's spear. I kept running, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Heidi could hopefully slow down Pumice, but she wouldn't win. She was going to die. That much I had planned for. But I hadn't thought ahead to the point where I would still have to outrun Pumice.

I heard a gasp, and I looked up to see Heidi lunging out from her hiding spot, catching Pumice in the side with her claw. She cut a deep gash in him, and he stabbed her with his spear. It didn't kill her. I doubled back and slid down, attacking him from down low. He didn't block it. He couldn't have expected it. Instead, he let it get deep in him and come back out.

Getting back up, I stabbed Pumice again. He could block one of us at a time with his spear, but then he couldn't attack. He could attack, but then he blocked neither of us. He turned his back on Heidi and went for me, which had to be because I was a Career. Heidi stabbed him in the shoulder, and he turned his spear around and stabbed her in the throat. Just like that, the tides were turned. It was one-on-one, and I was going to lose unless I acted fast.

I jumped for Pumice while his spear was still stuck in Heidi's throat. I could see in his eyes that he understood his mistake, but it was too late. He reached his arm out to stop me, but I grabbed onto it and knocked it down. He was stronger than I was, but not strong enough to stop the inertia of a whole child. He also wasn't strong enough to stop my claw from going into his throat, allowing me to have one more kill under my belt.

When the third cannon fired, I knew I had to go. The Careers would let Pumice handle two outer-District kids, but they definitely wouldn't trust a third cannon. I sprinted for the cave I had been in, realizing that I definitely couldn't go back to the desk and try to make a run for the upstairs. The cave would, at the very least, provide a botteneck against the ten tributes that were left other than me.

Only ten to go.