Okay, hope I didn't disappoint anyone in the last chapter but for a warning, this story will be filled with disappointments. But! There will be some happiness too, just to let you know. Okay, enough with the blabbing, on with the story!
Katniss's POV
I wake up with Peeta right beside me, awake. I give him a smile and he returns it, but it was rushed. I look at the clock. It's ten-thirty…AM! Haymitch was supposed to wake us up at twelve o'clock.
"Great, that man's probably drunk." My anger basically takes over and I get out of bed in a huff and barge out of the room. "Haymitch, you were supposed to wake us up at twelve." I yell out. When I reach the room, Haymitch is sitting where he was, watching the screen.
"Oh, your awake." He smirks and I just continue to give him an icy glare. But, I take notice to something else.
"Why aren't you drunk?" I ponder.
"Well then. I feel insulted." He sarcastically says. I just roll my eyes.
"You're usually drunk." I retort.
"Well, do you want me to be drunk, cause I can get a bo—." I cut him short.
"No, please don't do that. Aren't you tired?" I ask because I know he can't stay up that long. Usually he would be asleep by now.
"No." He says it like it's no biggy.
"But, you stayed up the whole night." I argue.
"What do you think I did for the rest of the games?"
"You have to fall asleep eventually."
"Yeah," He shrugs his shoulder. "But until then, I'm staying up." I leave it at that and then Peeta comes in.
"So, what did we miss?" He asks.
"Nothing much. Just that the boy killed two Careers in there sleep." Haymitch says.
"Well that's great—wait what!" I yell.
"Jeez, what am I A broken record? I said, Dray killed two Careers while they were sleeping." Haymitch turns back to the screen.
"Well we know he's a fighter." I hear Peeta say. I have to give a bit of respect for Dray. He's desperate to save his sister even if it means his own life.
"Well, I'm gonna go check for sponsors." Haymitch says and gets up to leave. I hear the door shut and then it's only Peeta and me.
"He never did tell us about sponsors." Peeta tells me.
"And I don't expect him to ever tell us." I say and we watch the action from our screens.
Ray's POV
I gather my stuff together and fill my water bottle with the water from the dripping stalactite above me. I put it back in my bag and grab my bag by the straps. I walk towards the front of the cavern and am about to climb up the rocks and out through the crack when I hear footsteps hitting the mountainous rock. I quickly scoot over into the shadow and look up. I see the Career pack, weapons at hand. Wait, aren't there supposed to be two more. They seem to be arguing about something so I listen in.
"I'm telling you, we should check on the others. You heard the two cannons." One of them says.
"No, we haven't even spotted one kid yet. We need to keep going."
"But what if that miner boy did something to the other two? You heard the canons." Miner boy? Oh no.
"Yeah I don't trust him either. We should go back to camp Rizz." I hear yet another Career say, but she has a smooth tone in her voice.
"Fine! We'll head back to the Cornucopia, but just to check." I hear there footsteps fade away as they walk over to their camp. I peak out to see if they're still there, but the coast is clear. I scurry up and quickly run away from my hiding spot, desperately looking for my brother.
I eventually have to stop and walk because my little lungs couldn't take anymore. I'm breathing heavily, not thinking about my surroundings. My hands are on my knees and I open my backpack. I quickly grab the water and take three sips. It's not enough to quench my thirst but it will have to do. I get moving again, but don't run because I'm still tired from my last sprint.
"Dray." I don't yell but I raise my voice. "Dray!" I hear something behind the rock and I quickly turn to the source. "Dray, is that you?" How wrong I was. The District 3 boy come lashing out, hands reaching for something. I'm about to run when I feel his weight drag me to the ground. I see his knife in his hand as he puts it to my shoulders. I continue to struggle, but it's no use. So this is how it all ends? I ask myself.
"Help!" I call out as I feel his knife slip under my bag strap. But I realize he's not trying to kill me, he's trying to take my bag. I can't let him take it, it's my only source of water and food. Even warmth. He cuts the final strap and pulls it off of me. "No stop!" He grabs it by the top handle and is about to run, when I see Dray come charging at him with his sword held high.
"Oh no you don't." He says. Dray swings his sword and it slices the boy's ankle. He falls to the ground, blood seeping out of his ankle, but he manages to get back up and run off with my bag. Dray forgets all about the other boy and comes running to help me up. "Are you okay?" He asks me and I shake my head.
"No, he stole my only supply of food, water and heat." I cross my arms and Dray gives me an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry. Here, you can have one of my bottles." He pulls out another bottle and hands it to me.
"Thanks." I say and I see Dray's gaze go to my hands. He holds them up and has a alert look.
"What happened?" He asks urgently. I let out a sigh and look at my hands also.
"I was climbing down a tree when I slipped and fell." I remember the whole thing. The falling, the stinging feeling. I push my thoughts away and go back into game mode. "Look, we should probably go somewhere more hidden because the Careers could show up anytime." Dray flinches at the word Careers and I remember their little chat that I over heard. I think I need to ask Dray some questions.
Dray's POV
Ray and me walk, finding any place besides being in the open. I still feel guilty because I let that boy get away with her backpack. It's just that I didn't want to hurt him much because I already killed two people already and I wasn't ready to do it again.
We've been walking for hours. Literally. Judging by the sun in the sky, it must be around five. I begin to get impatient. My feet hurt, my hands are caked with blood from the previous night, I haven't eaten (which I'm used to, living in the Seam and all), I haven't even slept really, and I don't want to be here.
"Have you found any place to hide yet?" I whine. I see Ray roll her eyes and look up at me.
"No, and would you quit whining it's getting annoying." Ray may be only eleven, but she sure acts more mature than me. I shut up and keep walking, ignoring my aching feet. We walk and walk and walk until I realize. We've been walking away from the woods.
"Ray, where are we going? The woods are that way." I say and Ray just keeps walking.
"I'm going back to this little cavern I found where I slept for the night." Just as I'm about to protest, I hear a booming sound.
"What was that?" Asks Ray. I already know.
"What do you think?" She should already know, she heard twelve go off yesterday. The cannon's loud boom echoes through the mountains for a while then fades away. "I wonder who that was?"
"I hope that wasn't Amary." I hear Ray murmur and deep down inside, I hope that wasn't her either. We trudge along, searching for Ray's cavern. Ray stops and so do I.
I see an opening in the rock and I immediately know that's it. But there's one problem. "Ray, I can't fit through that." I complain and I see the gears turning inside her head. She starts stomping and I become more confused. "What are you doing? Are you trying to attract attention!" I hear a small crack and Ray stops stomping. The rocks cave in…along with Ray.
"Ray!" I run and grab her by the hands just in time. Ray lets out a whimper and I pull her up.
"Ow!" She cries and I let her hand go as soon as she's on solid ground. "You know I cut my hands!" She yells at me.
"I'm sorry, but it would've been a lot worse if I didn't grab your hand." She crawls down into the dark cavern and I hesitantly follow. I almost slip but catch myself and we settle down by a small spring. I've never been in a cavern, but it seems pretty cool besides the fact that the Gamemakers created it.
"Dray." I hear Ray begin.
"Yeah." I say as I wash off the blood from my hands. It's tough, but I really don't want to see it anymore.
"I heard the Careers talking. I think they were talking about you. What happened?" I knew she would have to know sooner or later. I let out a sigh and sit down next to her.
"The girl from 4, Raving, got me into joining the Careers. I agreed, but only if they wouldn't kill you. I joined, but that night most of them were going out on a killing spree and wanted three of us to stay back. The District 1 tributes and me stayed and I was afraid they wouldn't listen and go ahead and kill you. I knew I couldn't escape without being killed, so I waited until they fell asleep. Then, I killed them." I get choked up on the word killed and look at my reflection in the clear water.
"How could you?" She says in disbelief.
"I told myself that I wouldn't let anything happen to you and that's what I'm sticking to." I argue.
"I don't care Dray, that's still killing." I see her eyes watering up. "So those two cannons last night were because of you?" I keep quiet and face away from her. She goes quiet and I hear her walk off, away from me and somewhere into the cavern. I look out of the crack and see that the moon has taken place of the sun. The stars sparkle in the night sky, but that doesn't lighten the mood.
"Why does it matter, I'll be dead in a few days anyway." I mumble and wash off my sword. We sit in silence for the longest time until we hear the anthem begin playing. I look up into the sky and see three faces, Dazzle, Rich, and the District 10 boy. Good-bye District 1 and 10.
Amary is still alive, and so is Ray, but the numbers are dropping. Nine of us are left. Eight will die and one will live, and I know, I will be one of those eight.
Okay, hoped you liked it! Please review to let me know that you don't hate the story!