Chapter 19.
Eamon sat at the lip of the crater where he had an unobstructed view of the Cornucopia and the surrounding rugged landscapes. The sky was a perfect, unblemished blue as it had been every minute since the Games had started and the morning sun had just extricated itself from the horizon beyond the mountains. He was on watch duty after a relatively sound sleep following his reunion with Madeline the previous night. He turned to look back at her and Blair in their sleeping bags under the rock overhang in the crater, deep in thought as he recalled what Madeline had told him the previous night.
He'd had what felt like a minor heart attack when she burst out from the shadows in tears, but then sweet relief and joy would wash over him. And if Leslie was watching (as she surely was), he could surely feel the same feelings come over her as well. The ensuing hugs and reassurances that everything was okay took what felt like an age, with Blair standing off to the side, little more than a third wheel for the time being.
Once everything had calmed down, they'd sat in the darkness and Eamon began to ask what had happened since the first day.
"It didn't go well," said Madeline softly, shaking her head. "I knew you would go for the Cornucopia, so that's what I was going to do to but then at the last minute… couldn't do it."
"Yeah… that was my bad," admitted Eamon. "I'm sorry we should've had a plan beforehand, that one's on me."
"Kind of just ran into the forest," continued Madeline. "Too panicked to find food or anything, just tried to stay away from… anything really. Eventually Nott sent me this."
Eamon didn't realise she had a backpack of her own until she reached for it, from which she pulled out a clear bottle with a mouthful of water left in it. He also realised that this meant Nott was still around. He'd crossed Eamon's mind a few times, but he'd almost forgotten that Nott had just up and disappeared without a trace the morning before the Games. At least he was doing what he was meant to and helping Madeline before himself.
"He also told me to find you somehow. I see you found my trail," she said, with a smile at the corner of her lips appearing briefly before vanishing once again. "I figured you would. It was dark, and difficult, and… and…"
Suddenly her words became choked and incomprehensible, and her hands began to shake and quiver, more so than they already been. For the first time since seeing her again, Blair leaned in and asked surprisingly gently, "Maddie… you didn't get that backpack by running away from the Cornucopia, did you?"
Whether it was the question, or Blair speaking up for the first time, Madeline went completely still. Staring fixatedly at her feet, she shook her head ever so slightly.
"Who was it?"
A tear rolled down Madeline's cheek. "The boy from Three," she whispered.
Eamon had remembered hearing the sound of Timothy Crow's cannon on day one. He put his arm around Madeline and held her close, before taking out the water bottle from his own pack and handing it to her.
"He was walking nearby," she mumbled, "I thought he was coming towards me. I hid and when he walked right past me, I picked up a rock and I hit him with it. And I hit him again and again and again…"
The three of them sat in silence for a while before Madeline continued. "After that I freaked out. Took me a while to remember to leave my trail. Came up here and I've been here ever since. Nott sponsored me again around midday. Some corned beef sandwiches."
"You mind if I ask what's in your bag?" asked Eamon uncomfortably.
"Umm… a sleeping bag, some bandages, a bag of grapes, and… whatever these things are," she said pulling a number of colourful, metallic objects from the bottom of her pack.
"Carabiners," said Blair taking one and examining its hinge. "We use them in climbing training in the academies at Two. Can't imagine them being all that useful on their own though."
After that, Eamon and Blair had recounted to Madeline their events of the Games thus far, albeit excluding certain details like exactly how they'd killed the two District 11 kids.
"Wow," said a hushed Madeline. "You two have been through a lot. I guess I'm just glad you're okay." Eamon could tell she had mixed feelings anyway but held his tongue.
"We're running a bit low on water though," said Blair shaking her bottle slightly. "Might need to head back to the cave tomorrow."
Eamon nodded and stood up, stretching. "You two should get some sleep," said Madeline. "You've had a long day and I can't see myself sleeping anytime soon. I'll keep an eye out for the Careers."
Eamon opened his mouth to protest but all that came out was a yawn; it had been a very physical day. He gave Madeline one more very long hug and took her sleeping bag under the rocky overhang, while Blair unfurled the one from her pack a short space away. His relief at finding Madeline and exhaustion of the day washed over him and easily plunged him into a dreamless slumber.
At some point during the night Blair had taken over watch duties. He was somewhat more prepared for Blair waking him up this time, with him only half-heartedly reaching for his glaive beside him. A tinge of dark blue now pervaded the previously inky black sky and the sun would surely be breaching the horizon soon.
"Shh! Don't wake her!" muttered Blair, jerking her head at a spot a few metres away.
As he stood up and cleared his senses, he looked over at the other sleeping bag, occupied by a snoring Madeline. He smiled slightly.
"She was out like a light the instant I took over for her," said Blair quietly. Although it was dark, Eamon could tell she too had a small smile on her face. They walked away so as not to wake her while they talked.
"Need to talk to you about her by the way."
"I suppose this is where you tell me I'm a sappy fool for trying to help her?" said Eamon stretching.
"Well I wouldn't exactly be wrong. But no, to be honest. Actually I can see exactly why you're trying to help her. She's… she's alright, Madeline."
"More so than you thought?"
"Maybe. We'll see."
"Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Not quite. Come here."
Blair led him over to the lip of the crater, where the surrounding mountains and the Cornucopia in the valley below were bathed in moonlight.
"The Careers came down from that mountain during the night. They hiding in the bushes at the bottom of it, just north of the Cornucopia. Allows them to rest up and ambush someone if they try to steal from it."
"And if they don't, they're probably going to try and come up here tomorrow."
"Looks that way. A fight's coming sooner rather than later I think. Eamon… there's only nine people left. A third of us are up here, a third are down there, and god only knows where the rest are. We need each other to beat them. But if by some miracle we fight them, and all come out okay… well, that's where we part ways."
"Wait, what?" said Eamon confused.
"There's only one winner. And I know how this works; if it came down to it, you'd side with her over me any day."
Something caught in Eamon's throat and rendered him speechless. His face flushed with a mixture of emotions and his brain went numb. Despite her flaws, he felt like there was a genuinely good person in Blair, and it hurt to think that soon she would be gone. She was right of course, there was never going to be a happily ever after, but that hadn't stopped him from trying to prolong such thoughts.
"For what it's worth, I've enjoyed our time together. Even if I screwed up sometimes," she said softly, before heading back to the sleeping bag and leaving Eamon with nothing but his forlorn thoughts alone in the dark.
Such thoughts had occupied his mind throughout the rest of his watch until the sun came up. He took another tour of the surrounding area (as he had done so many times already during his watch) in a vain attempt to clear his head. He'd barely climbed two paces out of the crater when he saw it: two figures moving slowly on the neighbouring mesa range to the east. He crouched low and ducked behind a large rock to avoid being seen.
A boy with a knife was moving slowly and methodically behind what was the largest mountain goat Eamon had ever seen. If the beast had seen him stalking it gave no indication of knowing. On sure feet it navigated a path through the twisting precipices with the boy making the most of impressive agility to keep it firmly in his sights. Bit by bit, he closed up on his prey however at the last moment the goat turned and lowered its gnarled horns, rushing him down with overwhelming force.
It's a mutt! Eamon realised with a shock.
But the tribute had apparently seen such a manoeuvre coming, as he rolled out of the way with precision timing. As cunning and powerful as the mutt was, it was noticeably slower than him. It rushed him again, but the boy slipped to the side once more. With a swift slide, he reached through its shaggy hide and drove his knife through the beast's underbelly. As he twisted the knife, the mutt gave one final bleat, a low cry that somehow carried all the way to Eamon and it gave him goose bumps.
Eamon had to admit he was impressed. Over the years he'd seen few people kill a mutt, let alone come out unscathed. What was most curious though was that the boy was seemingly cutting open the mutt for meat; Eamon wasn't even aware that you could do such a thing. However it soon became clear that the mutt still had some secrets up its sleeve; unbeknownst to the tribute, who was focused on harvesting what he could, two more identical beasts were slowly converging on him the hills behind him.
I knew it couldn't have been that easy. When they die they call out to others nearby, thought Eamon.
They approached closer and closer, moving soundlessly like two great, shaggy ghosts. By the time the boy realised they were upon him it was too late. One of them had charged at his back with immense vigour, pushing him towards the cliff face and he had not the strength to push back or even move.
His body seemed to fall for ages, flailing in a desperate attempt to find some purchase on the harsh terrain but it was no use. A massive thud resonated through the valley and then another as his cannon declared, "District 6: Grant Overton".
Eamon sighed, but he had no more time to ponder what he'd just seen as the noise had seemingly woken up Blair and Madeline in the crater behind him. They were both still somewhat drowsy when he re-joined them and so he set about making what could only loosely be described as breakfast – everyone getting a slice of bread, a third of sausage, a handful of grapes and the remains of Blair's hot chocolate – as he recounted what he'd seen.
"So… stay away from big goats? Seems pretty straightforward," said Madeline.
"They seem pretty brutal, but if you're prepared you should be able to beat them. If you're not prepared though…"
"Madeline's right though," said Blair sucking on a grape. "As long as you avoid them, they're harmless. I mean, why would you go near one to begin with?"
"Food, apparently."
"Food? Can't imagine anyone ever trying to eat a mutt. Then again, maybe I just don't want to."
After breakfast, they packed up everything and looked out over the valley.
"Well we wanted to go back to the cave and grab some water right?" asked Eamon. "That'll let us grab the rest of the stuff we left behind as well–"
THUD.
"What was that?" asked Madeline uneasily.
THUD.
The loose rocks around them started vibrating violently and sliding down as the whole mountain began to rumble. All three of them suddenly found their footing uneasy and buckled backwards into the crater.
THUD.
The tremors grew louder, and they watched in horror as large cracks began appearing in the terrain and spreading like wildfire.
"Is it an earthquake?!" Eamon shouted over the noise.
"Worse! Landslide! Right underneath us!" yelled Blair.
"It doesn't matter what it is, we have to go!" panicked Madeline.
They didn't need telling twice. They could all hear the base of the mountain beginning to melt and collapse into the valley and it would be mere moments before the land beneath their feet gave way too. They bolted across the face of the mountain, and sure enough, the crater behind them crumbled and cascaded down into dirt, rock and rubble with an almighty roar. The cracks forming in the earth almost seemed to chase them as they ran, as if daring them to slow down. This was bad for Blair who was bringing up the rear, but also put a lot of pressure on Madeline in front to quickly and safely find a way to cover as much distance as possible.
After a minute, the mountain had almost completely transformed, but the landslide seemed to be relenting a little. For one split second they thought this meant they could let up, but they were badly wrong. A cry of shock and pain rang out from behind Eamon and he looked back in dread as a colossal chunk of earth chipped out right from underneath Blair's feet and threatened to send her plummeting to an almost-certain end.
There was no time to think. Rationale and practical reasoning escaped Eamon entirely as he lunged back for her outstretched hand. Sweaty as his hand was, he firmly clasped hers in his and wrenched her back up even as he continued running. It took all his strength and she twisted in a painful fashion as she landed, but Blair was alive. And that was all that mattered at that moment.
At that moment the chasing cracks slowed and ceased, even as the dirt and boulders continued to tumble below. Madeline was a few metres up ahead, looking back with a terrified, yet relieved expression. All three of them were sweating and panting as they fell to their knees and crawled to a relatively flat-topped section of the mountain, as far away from the landslide as possible. Madeline coughed and spluttered before rising to her feet hunched over. Red-faced and tasting sick in his throat, Eamon made to stand up, but it took several attempts for the disorientation started to subside.
"Well," he panted, "I was wondering when the Gamemakers where gonna brighten our day up. You were right though Blair, they're not the friendliest."
Blair hadn't noticed his remark as her face was contorted in agony, clutching at her foot.
"Oh shit."
"I think I twisted my ankle," she moaned.
Blood was thundering through Eamon's brain and making it impossible to think. He still couldn't quite comprehend everything that had happened during the landslide, let alone how to fix a shattered ankle.
"…Well, I think that's game over for me," winced Blair.
"No. I did not pull you back just there only for you to give up. We'll find some way to fix it."
"Oh come on Eamon, nobody ever wins with an injury like this."
"I thought you Twos were supposed to be made of sterner stuff?" Madeline laughed, despite her exhaustion. She was pulling something out of her pack.
"I don't think bandages are going to make much difference," said Blair, flinching as she took of her shoe.
"I beg to differ," muttered Madeline. "Can I borrow that knife, Eamon?"
"You're not cutting me open. No way."
Why don't you sit still and be quiet or I won't help?"
As serious as the situation was, Eamon couldn't help but stifle a grin at the sight of Madeline bossing around a girl five years older than her while fussing over her. Blair made no more noise aside from the occasional twitch of pain from her ankle as Madeline set about whatever she was doing. Growing up, Eamon had occasionally seen Madeline play doctor at her house, but this wasn't playing anymore. She would occasionally ask Blair questions or move her foot into certain positions, while also using Eamon's knife to carve strips of fabric from her backpack.
Incredibly, using no actual stitching, she was able to intertwine the bandages and fabric together and mould it around Blair's foot, ankle and lower calf to create a makeshift splint. And in only a few minutes no less. Eamon was awestruck. Even with his extensive training, Madeline far outmatched him in treating injuries and wounds. Together they helped Blair up and moved her foot into position before sliding her shoe back on.
"It's hardly perfect, but at least it'll give your ankle the structure it needs. You might not be able to run, but you won't be a sitting duck if push comes to shove. And we might still be able to get off this mountain. But it does need time," finished Madeline somewhat proudly.
Blair looked at her and Eamon immediately knew she was wondering why she'd ever doubted Madeline. A hushed, "Thank you," told him all he needed to know. He was immensely proud of how far Madeline had come and what she could do for people. And he was happy that now other people could see it too. But as he looked into the valley below, he realised his joy would be short-lived.
"About that whole 'needing time' thing? We don't have it," he said, pointing.
They must've sensed vulnerability following the landslide, as the three Careers had emerged from their hiding and were sprinting across the Cornucopia grounds towards their mountain, looking directly up at Eamon, Madeline and Blair.
Holy moly, this was a far more intense chapter than I originally planned it to be. Madeline's back, and I'm actually really happy at how this chapter developed her! The group are aware of the mutts, but what does that do? The landslide I think was a really fitting Gamemaker screw-around for such a mountainous arena and it was clearly effective; how will Blair's injury affect her? And tbh her declaration of leaving the alliance even had me a little sad Worth pointing out that we're coming up to a string of very climactic and emotional chapters - so brace yourselves.
24th Place: Cecilia Moreau - District 12 Female. Killed by Hilda Blythe.
23rd Place: Axel Costa - District 1 Male. Killed by Eamon Cunningham.
22nd Place: Ivanna Merchant - District 6 Female. Killed by Vesper Rhodes.
21st Place: Paige Delaney - District 8 Female. Killed by Karmichael Damocles.
20th Place: Owen Magnussen - District 8 Male. Killed by Landon Starr.
19th Place: Zoey Townsend - District 3 Female. Killed by Dennis Kessling.
18th Place: Spencer Nash - District 7 Male. Killed by Blair Lynch.
17th Place: Cooper Hastings – District 10 Male. Killed by Karmichael Damocles.
16th Place: Alys Redding – District 5 Female. Killed by Landon Starr.
15th Place: Timothy Crow – District 3 Male. Killed by Madeline Skylock.
14th Place: Harvey Goodwin – District 12 Male. Killed by Holdhorn.
13th Place: Kale Fox – District 11 Male. Killed by Eamon Cunningham.
12th Place: Nora Wormwood – District 11 Female. Killed by Blair Lynch.
11th Place: Jasmine Wilde – District 1 Female. Killed by Vesper Rhodes.
10th Place: Vesper Rhodes – District 7 Female. Killed by Landon Starr.
9th Place: Grant Overton – District 6 Male. Killed by Holdhorn.
