-Part Fourteen – Traitor -

"Arthur!" Ludwig shouted when he noticed the lean figure walking into the camp.

He looked up and saw Ludwig standing in front of Antonio, who was on the ground looking over Arthur fearfully. He dropped his weapons and sat down. "What is it?"

"Hand over the gun."

Arthur reached instinctively for the weapon and slid it across the clearing to the other tributes. "What's wrong?"

Ludwig grabbed the firearm and narrowed his eyes at Arthur. "We heard another sound not too long ago. Not loud enough to be a cannon, but close to what a gun would sound like."

Arthur looked over at the two silently. He hadn't thought about that.

"Where did you find the ammunition for this?"

"I..." He paused and then decided that telling the truth would be better. "When we were looking for a spot, on the first day, there was a small grove of trees and I found it there." Ludwig raised his eyebrows and nodded at him to continue. "I didn't tell anyone because I still was afraid of getting killed over this."

"Fair enough." Ludwig's gaze moved over to the knife beside Arthur. "And where did you find that?"

"Lovino had it."

"Can I see it?"

"No." Arthur clutched the handle of the weapon and pulled it closer to him.

The camp fell silent for a few moments. Arthur sighed and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Why?"

"I don't trust you." The frigid silence fell over the two of them again. Arthur rose to his feet slowly, keeping his eyes on Ludwig. "Don't try anything."

"I won't, I just don't like you standing over me. With a gun." Arthur narrowed his eyes and clenched the handle of the knife tighter.

"I'd say a knife is more threatening than an unloaded weapon." Ludwig kept his gaze on the knife, ready if Arthur tried to attack.

"Please, could both of you just sit down?" Antonio suggested quietly, looking at both of them with widened eyes.
Ludwig nodded slowly and moved to sit down. He was pushed to the ground by Arthur's tackle.

Antonio let out a cry of fear and scrambled to get away from the two. Ludwig, landing hard on his side, growled and attempted to shove Arthur away with the gun. Arthur tried to lunge forward with the knife, but was punched by Ludwig's free hand. With Arthur down, Ludwig jumped to his feet and raised the gun over Arthur's head.

"Stop! You don't have to kill him!" Antonio shouted, his back pressed against a tree and his fingers digging into the earth. Ludwig's hesitation was all Arthur needed to plunge the knife into his stomach. There was another cry from Antonio as Arthur stood up and watched Ludwig fall on his knees, grabbing his side.

"There can only be one winner." Arthur kneeled down next to the tribute and sliced a clean line into his neck without much struggle. Ludwig slumped lifelessly to the ground and the second cannon of the day fired.

Arthur grabbed the shotgun from his limp hands and walked past Antonio into the forest. Though he was shaking with fear from what he had done, he calmly repeated to the remaining tribute, "May the odds be with you."

"Oh God." Alfred stopped in his tracks and looked up at the forest canopy. The cannon had just fired.

Ivan merely sighed and muttered, "I wonder who it was this time."

Alfred looked over at him. "You should be more worried than that! Someone just died. Other than Lovino. There is a killer on the loose now!"

Ivan smirked. "How do you know Lovino is dead?"

"Are…are you trying to say Lovino's the killer? But Arthur said he would kill him! And Arthur seems like he would be able to take down someone from District 12."

"I just think the whole game has gotten more exciting."

Alfred shook his head in disbelief. "Man, there is something wrong with you."

He shrugged. "Peace clearly isn't an option. I say it's time to start playing this how it's meant to be played."

"Wait…" Alfred looked over Ivan warily and took a step back. "You were creepy to begin with. And know you're threatening to kill me?" He shook his head and moved farther away from the confused tribute. "If peace isn't an option anymore…I can't stay with the group."

"I never said I was going to kill you. I just said that peace in the Hunger Games is not an option. It never was." Ivan argued. He folded his arms against his chest and continued, "I bet you never believed Matthew in the first place."

Alfred bit down on the inside of his lip, holding back a few insults. After a few silent seconds, Alfred spun around and ran off. He didn't care where he was going. He had to get away from the inevitable murderers.

After sprinting through the wooded area blindly for a while, Alfred slowed to a weary jog and eventually stopped to lean against a tree. The forest air burned his throat as he tried to catch his breath from the escape. He closed his eyes and tried to enjoy the soft breeze that would blow by occasionally. But the serenity didn't last long.

"Alfred?" A surprised voice called out from nearby. He jumped at the noise, nearly tripping over his own feet. "I...why are you here? You haven't been back at the camp, have you?"

"Uh, sorry didn't expect to see you out here." Alfred breathed a sigh of relief and turned to face Arthur. "Are those bloodstains?"

"Well, of course, I…I was the one who killed Lovino."

"Then where did the knife come from?"

"Lovino was carrying it; I thought it could be useful."

"You didn't happen to see what happened to…the other tribute that died, did you?"

Arthur paused. He had expected the question, but still hadn't thought of a reasonable answer. "Um, no. No I didn't. But I came out here to try hunting. I saw that no one had brought anything back yet, so I thought I could help…"

"Well, ah, we probably aren't too far from the camp." He couldn't see anything of the sloped ground that lead back up to the cornucopia and he could faintly hear the lapping waves of the lake. "I think I should really get back to, ah, checking my traps. I was just doing that with Ivan and.."

"I'll help." Arthur cut in abruptly.

"Really, I don't need it. You just said that you were hunting alone."

"You shouldn't be going alone without weapons. That other tribute…Kiku was killed by some animal."

Alfred sighed. "Okay. You can help."