Lottie's POV
"There's nothing you could have done," I said, in an attempt to calm her down. "Nothing at all."
"If we had left sooner, if I hadn't taken so long packing up-"
"Silver. It's not your fault."
She paced back and forth. We had finally managed to get back to the church after seeing the boy from district seven die. "This always happens, no matter what I do, they always end up dead." She turned to me. "Except you." She ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders. "Lottie, whatever you do, promise me, that you'll keep yourself alive."
Her hazel eyes stare into mine. "I promise," I said, knowing very well it could be a lie. I just need to get her off of me.
She released her grip and went back to her bag, which was lying on the floor. "Who is left now? Just the careers and the girl from three and...And you should avoid the fives if you ever come across them, they for sure won't just listen..." She winced, as if remembering her encounters with them. "Unless you have a spear and you can get them from afar, don't do anything."
I nodded. "So where are we going now?"
"To the north of town, past the bridge. We didn't see whoever kill-killed the boy...The careers and such. I have no idea why the girl from three is with them, she's very small..." She shook her head. "Anyway, that's where I'm going. You're going to be staying in here until you need to."
"Excuse me?" I say, shocked. "We're in this together now."
"You'll be safest here," She explained. "I can do what I can, but it would be best if you stayed here and ate the food. Don't leave unless you run out. Understand?"
"No actually, I don't understand," I raise my voice, "You can't expect me to just stay here alone, waiting it out until everyone else is dead, while you go on some sort of self-sacrificing mission-"
"Woah, who said anything about a suicide mission?"
"Well you never said you were coming back!"
Silver's face fell. "I don't have another choice. I can't go back home a murderer. I can't live my life like this."
"So you're expecting me to?" Silver's voice may have gone quiet, but I was still yelling. "Do you think I want to go home, to live with an aunt who ignores me, with people who have never bothered to learn my first name? To live with the shame and memories of this place all of my life? Is that what you think I want?"
"I couldn't do it!" she cried. "I couldn't. I know I can't. But other people," she whispered, "They're better."
Without another word, she flew out the front door to the church, and I ran after her.
Jewel's POV
We hear Gadgetta's cries first, just like Ellia said we would. She had been on lookout a safe distance away. We told her that if anyone was to ever hurt her, that she should do her best to scream as loud as she could, and we would come and try to save her. What the poor girl didn't know what that that was a lie.
Within an instant, the three of us are on our feet and racing in the opposite direction. I think of what Gadgetta must be thinking, waiting for us to save her, and how we will never come. I shake the thought of my mind. I can't think of her. It will weaken me.
We've only run a couple hundred yards when we see her. Smiling, leaning against a tree, sharpening her knife, is the girl from district five.
"My partner and I hardly ever approach our prey from the same angle," She said, standing up straight. "We lose all sorts of oppertunities."
As a cannon sounds in the distance signifying Gadgetta's death, she lunges towards us. Ellia gets her bow out and shoots, but the girl ducks to the ground and the arrow whizzes above her. Reagan and I run after her, but she throws her knife at him, hitting him square in the chest. I can't let this district me, and as Reagan falls to the ground I pull one of my own knives out of my pack. She does the same. Ellia reloads her arrow and shoots again, this one narrowly missing the girl's ear. I throw my knife, but it also misses, and lodges itself into a tree. I hear another cannon, probably Reagan's, right at the point of impact.
I reach for another knife but it isn't in the pocket, I must have left them somewhere else in my pack. Stupid. I think I'm done for, as the girl is ready to throw my knife. I begin to dodge to the side, and then see I don't need to.
Ellia has shot an arrow right in the girls head. A third cannon is heard throughout the entire arena as the girl from five drops to the ground, dead.
"Nice shot," I say as walk to grab the missed knife from the tree.
She nods. "Thanks." She walks around, trying to retrieve her arrows. I pull my knife out of the tree and turn around just in time to see the boy from five running from behind Ellia, who is bending down trying to pull the arrow from the dead girl. He has two knives in his hand, ready to throw.
"Ellia, watch out!" I yell as I throw, without hesitation, my knife. It lands directly in his chest, and he fells, and a fourth, final cannon of the battle sounds.
Lottie's POV
Four cannons, only spread apart by a matter of minutes. Four. There's only four of us left now, only two besides me and Silver.
She's running far ahead of me now, and I'm racing trying to keep up. If she's trying to lose me, it's not going to work. She can't force me to stay inside the church.
Night has fallen, and the sky is almost completely dark. In only a few short hours, we'll know which two are still alive.
"Silver, please just stop," I yell ahead. "There's only two others left! They could very well be the two from five, and even you said it wouldn't be a good idea to approach them! Let's go back together, and see who has fallen! Then we can make plans. Together."
She finally stopped, turned around, and walked back toward me. When she got close to me she whispered.
"What are you doing? Somebody could have heard you yelling and now be coming here!"
"I needed you to stop."
She sighed. "Alright. We'll go back. But I can't guarantee anything."
We made our way back to the church and had some berries and crackers from our packs. When we heard the anthem start to play, the two of went out to the back porch where it would be less likely for us to be spotted.
The boy from two was the first to appear, followed by the girl from three. Even though she was older than me, my stomach still dropped when I saw her, seeing how young she looked. After that, both of the tributes from five appeared, and then the sky went black.
Hi! First author's note in a while. Ok, so sorry about how this chapter is a little shorter than usual. It's just that there were four entire deaths and I wanted some sort of space. Also, sorry for about how bad the action scene is, I'm not used to writing those. But I guess the more practice the better I'll get! :-) Anyway, the story is almost over, only about two more chapters and then an epilogue, so prepare yourselves. Also, I might have some plans for a sequel. Maybe.