Chapter 8 - The Hunters and the Hunted
My eyes blinked open to a ray of sunshine beating down on my face. I yawned and stretched and nearly fell. I opened my eyes fully, now wide awake. I was in a tree. And then I remembered it all.
I had made it through the Cornucopia bloodbath in the Hunger Games. Karis was my ally.
I ducked down, checking to make sure Karis was still there. Sure enough, Karis lay in the tree, her head propped on her arm, sleeping soundly.
"Karis," I whispered urgently. She didn't stir.
"KARIS," I said more loudly.
"Mm?" She mumbled, opening her eyes. Seeing her surroundings, she sat up abruptly.
"Asher," she said. "We need to move." She began to roll up the blanket, which she had used during the night. "The Careers, they'll be hunting us now. In fact, they've probably already started." As if to signal her point, I heard a high-pitched scream nearby and a cannon.
They killed another tribute. 13 left now.
And now they're going to kill us.
Together, Karis and I jumped down from the tree, hitting the ground hard. We took a moment to let the soles of our feet absorb the impact, and then we were off. Running further into the Arena. Further into the forest. We ran fast, flying over fallen objects. I carried my spear in my hand, and Karis had a knife in hers.
We smashed through the forest, trying our best to be quiet, but it was no use. We could hear the loud noise of the Careers behind us. They were tracking us, and wouldn't stop until our blood was on their hands.
We had run for about a mile straight, not stopping, when they surrounded us. Ripper, Faith, Lancer, Allan, and Felix. They were all there. Menacing smiles decorated their faces. I noticed that Felix had the axe that I had had my eye on, and my blood began to boil. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Karis and I both knew that.
Hopefully we could take down a few of them before we were killed.
The battle began.
Ripper made the first move. He charged towards me, a large sword in his hands. He swung, and I easily sidestepped his swipe. He swung again, and I whirled around, dodging his blows. It was soon clear that he was getting frustrated.
I glanced over my shoulder quickly. Karis was up against Faith, the District 2 girl, and Allan from District 4. Lancer and Felix weren't stepping into the fight, which was odd. I wondered what was keeping them from trying to kill us….?
And then I saw. Jessica Lerva, the little District 5 girl, was dancing around them with amazing speed, swiping at them with a knife. She stabbed at them, and struck Lancer in the leg, and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. It was clear that her 10 in the private training sessions had been well-earned.
She stepped away from Felix, who was clumsily handling the axe in his hands, trying to swing at Jessica. She knocked the axe out of his hands, and Felix ran over to me, where I was battling Ripper. He charged right through our battle and wrapped his hands around my neck. I wasn't fast enough in my attempt to move away, so I choked and kicked out at him, clawing at his hands and face. But nothing worked. He wouldn't let go.
I faintly heard a cannon, which must have been Lancer's. 'Congrats, Jessica,' I thought to myself. 'You killed a Career.'
My vision began to cloud and my lungs were gasping for air when suddenly, Felix released me. Standing behind him was Jessica, a knife and my axe in her hands. She dragged the knife down Felix's back, leaving a shallow cut. Felix staggered back and turned to Ripper, who had paused and watched.
"Let's go," he choked out. Ripper didn't need to be told twice. He ran back with Felix alongside him. I noticed Faith making a run for the forest, but Allan was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and noticed Karis standing in front of him, her knife bloodied. A cannon sounded.
I turned to Jessica, whose blonde pigtails were matted with dirt and dried blood.
"Thank you," I choked out gratefully, still regaining my breath.
She turned away from me. "No biggie."
I turned to Karis, who rolled her eyes.
"Well, what next?" I asked Jessica, who was inspecting her fingernails.
She shrugged. "I guess we move on and let the hovercrafts collect the bodies. Unless there's something you'd like to take from their bodies…?"
I shook my head. Their only weapons were a mace and a bow, with no arrows. Those things would only slow us down. "But, if you wouldn't mind, could I possibly have that axe?"
Jessica nodded and handed the axe to me. "I'm lousy with them anyways."
"Thank you," I told her. Karis fell in step alongside us as we walked through the forest, crashing through the foliage. "How many more are dead today?"
"Three, I think," Karis responded, glancing at my axe and smiling. She knew that with this weapon, I could protect us properly.
"Okay." I looked at Jessica, who had a bloody knife. "Do you want my spear?"
She grinned a little and snatched it from my hand. "I was waiting for you to ask."
I rolled my eyes. What a snarky little kid. But she was beginning to grow on me. After all, she had basically saved our lives back there.
We walked further and further until I looked back and noticed a trail of blood following us. I looked at Karis. She seemed unharmed. Then I glanced at Jessica.
She was walking with a slight limp. I hadn't noticed it before, but now I could tell it was there. She was trying to be discreet about it, and keep it her own secret, but the blood oozing from her leg was giving her away.
I motioned to Karis and pointed to Jessica's leg. Then I tilted my head backwards and indicated to the blood trailing behind us.
She nodded. Then, without warning, she grabbed Jessica around the waist.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She yelled as I crouched down and steadied her leg. With her good leg, she kicked my knee and I winced but kept going. I gently rolled up her left pant leg.
It revealed a deep gash that was leaking blood all over.
I closed my eyes tightly. Jessica had stopped struggling and watched me. I wouldn't let her know what I knew.
"It's not that bad," I lied. I stood up and dusted myself off. "You'll be fine. Rest is all you need."
She pouted but consented. It was mid-afternoon when she climbed onto my back while I scaled a tree. Karis followed behind me, carrying the backpack full of supplies. When we got to the top, I laid Jessica down carefully and unzipped the backpack. I took out the sack that Karis had gotten from the Cornucopia and opened it. First I poured a bit of water on the wound, and then I applied some of the creams that was in the sack and carefully wrapped it up with bandages and tied it together with rope.
Then I set her spear aside next to her and let her sleep.
She was asleep quickly, snoring softly. My heart broke. She was only 12, and had to go through these horrors.
I shook my head and sat next to Karis. We talked for a bit and discussed strategy, although we mainly sat there watching Jessica. Protecting her, almost.
We both took our turns hunting individually, and came back within a few minutes with a fresh kill. Karis made a small fire and we quietly roasted the small squirrels we had killed. Both of us ate quietly and quickly, finishing the meal off quickly.
We had just put out the fire when the Capitol anthem began.
The faces of the dead shone in the sky. First came Lander's, as expected, and then Allan's. Finally, they showed Shing Curren's face, the District 12 girl, and then the sky went black.
3 more dead. 11 of us left.
Karis and I crawled up the tree and slept. Hopefully, the morning would bring nicer things.
I tried not to think about what would happen if Felix found us again.
DEAD:
The Bloodbath:
-District 3 male: Cordin Smith
-District 4 female: Charlotte Parks
-District 5 male: Viktor Murr
-District 6 female: Ciara Morris
-District 8 male: Brendan Corwin
-District 8 female: Peggy Lynn
-District 9 male: Ian Stork
-District 9 female: Maria Lancer
-District 11 male: Andrew Larr
-District 11 female: Leila Shard
Day 1:
-District 2 male: Lander Kavis
-District 4 male: Allan Viper
-District 12 female: Shing Curren
TOTAL OF DEAD: 13 TRIBUTES
ALIVE:
After Day 1:
-District 1 male: Ripper Vinard
-District 1 female: Faith Mortemer
-District 2 female: Karis Montfort
-District 3 female: Sasha Rhine
-District 5 female: Jessica Lerva
-District 6 male: Darren Hills
-District 7 male: Felix Jameson
-District 7 female: Asher Mills
-District 10 male: Roran Cooper
-District 10 female: Mary-Grace Hodnett
-District 12 male: Jack Shan
TOTAL OF ALIVE: 1