My heart pounded in my throat, and the blood rushing through my ears was so loud I feared the Careers would hear it. Everyone in the cavern was completely silent, waiting to see what would happen. The shuffle of footsteps overhead was muffled by the stone, so I couldn't tell how many of them there were. Just two? Or three? Or were all of them up there, waiting to cut us into little bits?
Ty silently got to his feet, keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"It's coming from down there," the first voice said, and I heard them kneel down on the rocks overhead. One of the cracks darkened as something covered it; a face, I assumed. "It's too dark, I can't see anything down there. How do we get there?"
I looked at Ty, and saw him looking back at me. I stared at him, thinking hard and hoping he was thinking along the same lines. We had to get out before they found the way in; we couldn't let ourselves get cornered in here. And as long as they didn't know the way in, it was still safe here. So there was only one option: the older kids would go outside and fight the careers, so the younger ones stayed safe and out of our way.
Ty's eyes flickered between mine, and he gestured slightly towards the opening. Clearly he had been thinking what I had, and Dianna got to her feet. The three of us grabbed weapons as quietly as we could manage and headed towards the entrance to the cavern. The sounds of the careers rustling overhead kept me on edge, and the adrenaline made my hands tremble. Thomas, Thray, and Ashe moved to stand up as well, but I motioned for Ashe to sit back down. The five older kids should be able to handle it.
I clinched my bow tightly and bit my lip, my knuckles turning white around the grip. I adjusted my quiver so that I could reach it easily, and tested the draw on the bow with my right pointer and middle fingers. The string was thin and sharp and the draw weight was higher than most I had shot with, so it was going to cut my fingers open after a round or two of shooting – hopefully I would be able to make a tab to protect my fingers later. If there was a later...
I shook my head to erase the thoughts and followed Ty to the entrance of the cave. His red armour glittered in the light, and I hoped it wouldn't give away our positions. Thomas and Thray followed me, with Dianna bringing up the rear. There was a soft splash as Ty set foot in the river, and I followed him. Ice cold water wrapped itself around my ankles and I sucked in a deep breath, trying not to shiver.
I looked up over the rocks to where the Careers should be standing, but there was no one there. I stepped a little further into the river to allow the others to come out from behind me. We stood silently in the river, listening for anything that would give us a hint of where the Careers were waiting.
Something whistled by my ear, and Thray let out a cry and staggered in the water. I spun towards him and saw the bristled end of an arrow wedged between the chinks of his armour. Blood was oozing down his arm and made his dark brown armor glisten red. He tried to move his arm and couldn't.
"Where did it come from?!" Thomas yelled, his eyes searching for the shooter.
"Thray, get inside now!" I yelled, pushing him back towards the cave. "Everyone, get close! Don't let them pick us off one by one!"
Laughter rumbled from the trees, and my stomach twisted. There were lots of voices, and it made me worry that we were far outnumbered.
"Katniss's daughter, taking charge!" Maroon's voice filtered through the branches, and something moved. I loaded an arrow and shot before I had time to take another breath, and the arrow clanked loud against metal. Someone grunted, but I knew I had hit armor rather than flesh.
"I liked this armor," Maris grumbled.
"Suck it up, it saved your life, dumbass," a boy's voice said. "Are we gonna spend our whole time standing in the trees, or are we gonna fight proper?"
"Fine, but if you get shot, I'm not doing crap for you," Maroon said.
"She isn't that good, don't be ridiculous," a fourth voice said. "She isn't her mother."
I tensed and knocked another arrow. Figures emerged from the trees on top of the rocks, and I took a step back in surprise. There were seven Careers – we didn't stand a chance. I drew my bow and shot, an arrow sailing into the nearest figure. It went about ten centimeters higher than I was aiming for; I hadn't been prepared for this bow. It bounced off the armor, leaving a dent.
I shot again, this time making it between the chinks of their armor, and they fell to the ground without a sound.
"She's not her mother, huh?" Maroon asked, kicking the immobile body. I didn't know who I had just killed, but the remaining six were Maroon, Maris, Blaise, Otaco, Thalia, and the boy from District Eight.
I knocked another arrow and pulled back, aiming at Maroon's face. "Where are the others?" I asked. The District Four careers were missing, along with a few others.
"Busy," she responded, seemingly unperturbed by the arrow aimed on her face. "Watching camp. Not getting killed, like you are." I released my arrow just as she dropped flat against the rock, causing my arrow to whistle overhead. She rolled across the rock until she dropped into the river directly in front of me, and before I had time to knock another arrow she had knocked me on my back in the water.
The other Careers followed Maroon into the river, and Dianna immediately got back to back with Ty. Four careers circled around them, and the last Career stalked towards Thomas. That is all I got to see of their fight before I had to focus on Maroon alone. Maroon held a knife tightly in her hand and lunged straight for me. I rolled to the right, and after she splashed into the water I rolled back, trying to get on top of her. She was strong and fast, though, and sent me flying through the air before I had the chance.
I staggered to my feet and fought to regain my balance – if I wasn't on my feet, I would be dead before I had a chance to lay a scratch on her. I didn't have any weapons aside from my bow and arrows, and my bow had been knocked from my hand when Maroon tackled me. I drew an arrow from the quiver and clinched it in my fist, hoping that I could use the arrowhead as my weapon. If I had the chance to stab her with it, it should work fine.
She circled me slowly, her eyes flickering between the arrow and my eyes. She lunged towards me and I brought my arrow towards her face, but she twisted to the side at the last second so it skimmed by her ear instead. I pushed her away, hoping to get her off balance, but she didn't fall.
I spun sideways. I couldn't use the arrow as my weapon by turning that way, so Maroon didn't expect it; I smashed my fist into the side of her face, sending her stumbling away. I heard a quiet scream and watched Dianna fall to her knees, a knife sticking out of her stomach.
"No!" I yelled, spinning back to face her. Dianna's eyes widened and fixed over my shoulder. I spun just in time to see Maroon going towards me again, and I twisted out of the way. I stuck my foot out in her path and she fell into the water, spluttering. When I turned back to Dianna, she was laying in the shallow waters of the river with her eyes closed. Her blood stained the river, and she didn't move. Another body lay beside hers; the boy from District 8. She must have killed him before they took her down.
I looked around while Maroon was trying to get back to her feet, evaluating the situation. Thomas had already taken care of the Otaco and was standing off to the side, unsure of what to do.
"Thomas, guard the entrance!" I yelled. Thomas nodded and drew back towards the entrance. Maroon stumbled again, and I took advantage of the time gap to tackle her again. She wrapped her arms around my waist and turned, using my momentum to push me to the ground. Maroon pinned my hands down and I squirmed violently. Maroon looked up to the remaining four Careers.
"Blaise," she said, "Hold the big guy down. Maris, Thalia, come grab Rosa here. Let's teach the Mockingjay's daughter a lesson... No fun in killing her slowly, is there?"
Blaise, in a surprisingly quick motion, spun around behind Ty and put him in a death grip. Maris and Thalia – both of whom were thinner and probably a little weaker than I am, but they were fast and together they would be able to hold me down – made their way over to where Maroon had me pinned down in the river.
The water rushed around my head, and I was instantly grateful that the river was only a few inches deep here, otherwise I would be drowned and dead by now. The rocks on the riverbed scratched against my armor with teeth-grating noises, and my struggling was only making more grating noises.
Maroon hauled me to my feet and Maris and Thalia each grabbed one of my arms. I shot out my foot to kick Thalia, but my angle was awkward and there was no strength behind the kick. Thalia just laughed at me, and tightened her grip.
"Rosa!" Ty yelled, trying to get free of Blaise, but Blaise was too big and strong – he didn't even flinch.
Maroon dried off one of her daggers and dragged the tip along the small exposed part of my collarbone. She dragged the tip up across my cheek and dug it in just enough to draw a thin line of hot blood that trickled down my face.
"Maybe we should cut things off," Maroon said, musing. She brought her knife over to my ear and pricked my earlobe. I yanked my face away and she laughed.
"Rosa!" a little voice yelled, and Maroon yelped. She spun away from me and I saw a knife sticking about two inches into her shoulder. Thalia and Maris loosened their grips and I tugged free, just in time to see Maroon slice open Chryssie's throat.
The kids had come out of the cave to help. Chryssie had stabbed Maroon in the back to save me.
Part of me wanted to run to Chryssie but the other part of me knew she was already dead, so I used the surprise to hit the knife in Maroon's back and drive it further into her shoulder. She cried out and turned towards me, but then hesitated and turned back towards the rest of the kids as though suddenly realizing she was outnumbered. She backed away down the river and Thalia and Maris followed her. Blaise released Ty and backed away as well. They scrambled out of the river up onto the rocks.
"This isn't over," Maroon yelled, holding her injured arm. Then the Careers disappeared into the trees.