Chapter Seventeen: Well, That Was Unexpected

"Where the hell could they be?" I ask in frustration. We've been hunting for hours, and we haven't sighted either of our targets. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Why don't we split up?" Marvel suggests.

"Good idea," I say sweetly, turning to him. "Cato and I will stick together, and you can go off on your own. Go on – we'll see you back at camp after we hear a cannon."

Marvel sighs. "That's not what I – oh, forget it." I watch him walk away, grumbling to himself, before I turn to Cato.

"Can we kill him already?" I whine. "He's so irritating!"

He smirks. "I was hoping you'd say that. Tell you what – we'll kill him when we see him again. Agreed?"

"Agreed," I grin happily. "What's the plan, then?"

Cato appears to think about it for a minute. "All right. Why don't we head back to camp, and we'll ambush him. He won't expect us to be back first."

Sounds good to me. "Great! Let's go."

"We should go slowly, we might run into someone," he reminds me.

I shrug. "Sure."

Going at a pace this slow, it takes us a good couple of hours to get back to camp. Not that camp means much anymore, since there's almost nothing left. Needless to say, we don't find anyone. Unsurprising, since there are only eight of us left…

"So, how do you think we should do this?" I ask, biting my lip.

Cato has a good answer ready. "I think you should hide in a tree, and I'll hide behind the Cornucopia. We should camouflage ourselves, too, just in case."

I frown. "How?" I was terrible at that during training – with a small pang of regret I remember Glimmer and I completely failing in our efforts.

"Mud," he says simply, and I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

"Will that really be necessary?"

He nods. "Yep. It's the Hunger Games, little girl, and you'd do well not to forget that. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Okay. One – desperate times call for desperate measures? Really, Cato? Are you sure this is the Hunger Games, or is it the Make-Yourself-Sound-As-Ridiculous-As-Humanly-Possible Games?

Two – I don't think we're desperate.

Three – I definitely don't think we're so desperate that it's necessary to cover ourselves in mud, of all things! So help me if it comes to that!

"Mud is gross," I remind him.

Cato stares at me in disbelief for about ten seconds and then bursts out laughing. "Are – you – serious?" he chokes through his laughter. "We're in the Hunger Games, and you're worried about a bit of mud?"

I glare at him. "Maybe."

He continues to chuckle. "Fine. Forget the camouflage."

"Good," I sigh in relief.

Rolling his eyes, Cato says, "Go climb a tree, already."

I choose a tree that's not too high, but it's got very sturdy branches. That's good. I hoist myself up onto a branch that stretches out into the clearing.

"This good?" I call.

Cato looks at me critically. "Try to hide behind a couple of smaller branches, and he'll have a harder time seeing you."

I do as he says. "Like this?"

"Perfect. When Marvel shows up, just jump down in front of him like you did with the cripple yesterday morning."

"What if there's a cannon?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Just wait. And there probably won't be. We're just about the only tributes capable of killing, it seems. I don't think there's a very good chance. But I suppose if one does go off… we'll just stay put."

He walks over to crouch behind the Cornucopia. "And now, we wait," I mutter to myself. By nightfall, there will be one less tribute in the arena.

I think about my mother while I try to get into a more comfortable position. Of course she's watching – are we on screen right now? Maybe. Does she approve of our plan to kill Marvel? Are Fire Girl and Little Eleven really allies? She'll know. I wish I could talk to her. She'd know what to do.

And what about Dad? I've made it to the final eight with almost no effort – well, unless you count the fire and the tracker jackers. Does he know that I'm coming home, since I've made it this far? Hopefully.

I lean back against the trunk of the tree. Marvel should show up any minute. Actually, I'm surprised he hasn't come back yet, since he usually slacks off when it comes to –

The boom of a cannon jolts me out of my thoughts. Who was that? I squeeze my eyes shut and hope with all my might that it was Fire Girl – although, now that I think about it, I'd rather kill her myself. Actually, it was probably Lover Boy. He's been at death's door for days now.

I stay where I am for a few minutes, like Cato instructed me, and then… another cannon sounds. I peer out from behind the branches, searching for Cato – two deaths in the space of a couple of minutes? When there are only a few of us left? How strange.

I see him jump up from his hiding space and jog over to me. "Who do you think that was?" he asks excitedly.

I shrug. "Could've been anyone, really. Probably Lover Boy, but I don't know about the other one."

Cato nods. "You're probably right. I guess we'll see when they show the faces." He goes back to the Cornucopia.

Night falls. Marvel doesn't return.

Eventually I'm too sick of the tree to stay in it any longer, so I painstakingly climb down and join Cato. "Why isn't he back yet?" I hiss. "When we finally decide to get rid of him… that's when he decides to not show up. Naturally."

"Maybe he got lost," Cato says. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"Maybe," I allow. "Or maybe he went and got himself killed," I add jokingly.

Cato seems to think about it. "You know, that wouldn't surprise me. That would explain the second cannon."

"I was kidding," I say, exasperated. "Who would've – "

"There's Fire Girl," Cato points out. "She… damn."

"What?" I ask immediately.

"Damn it all," he mutters. "I forgot – I meant to tell you – she took Glimmer's bow and arrows. After the tracker jackers. Damn."

I stare at him for a second, and then I start yelling.

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaim. "You have got to be freaking kidding me! You just forgot to mention this? God, Cato, what's the matter with you?"

He holds his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry! I didn't think it was important at the time! I was worried because you hadn't woken up yet! And then you did, and I was just glad you weren't dead! And we all felt like shit from the venom, and we had to go hunting… and I just forgot, okay?"

I glare at him. "Sure," I growl. "You were worried that I wasn't going to wake up? No. You'd worry if we were friends, and we're not. We're in the Hunger Games, remember? It would've been much easier for you if I'd died – one less tribute standing in between you and the victor's crown. You're such a liar."

Cato stares at me, lost for words. "I – you – just forget it, Clove," he fumes.

I close my eyes and try to calm down. "Okay. Okay. The important thing is that we know that Fire Girl is an archer – why else would she have stopped to grab the weapons?"

"Right," Cato says, but he's clearly still irritated. Wait – he's irritated at me? What the hell is wrong with our world?

"Look," I sigh. "I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have freaked out like that, but – we're allies! That's the sort of thing you have to tell me. It's important."

"I know," he admits. "And it was stupid of me to forget. But I really was worried about you, you know," he adds quietly.

I look down. I'm not sure how to answer that.

"So," I continue, my voice oddly high-pitched. "Um… there's Fire Girl. I guess she could've killed him. Since she's got weapons. It wouldn't have been Lover Boy, obviously. Maybe Thresh, but I don't know if he has any weapons."

"Maybe," Cato muses. "Or maybe the cannon wasn't his. But he should be back by now."

"I can't believe there are only six of us left," I say slowly. "Little Eleven won't last much longer, that's for sure."

Cato's eyes narrow. "Nope. And she's all yours. We agreed. Although… do you remember her interview?"

I snort. "No."

"She said she was very hard to catch," Cato recalls. "And we know she's a good climber. I noticed during training." Odd. I didn't. "Actually… you know what? I think… after the bloodbath…"

"What?" I ask.

Cato looks sheepish. "Maybe this is a bad time to spring this on you. But it didn't really register. I think I saw her running away… climbing a tree… and I think…"

"What?" I ask again, starting to get frustrated.

"It almost looked like she was… jumping into a different tree. I might've just imagined it," he says quickly, seeing the look on my face. "I was busy fighting someone else."

I look up at the sky. "Wow, Cato. Just wow. Is there anything else you've forgotten to mention?" I mean, that doesn't seem very likely. Wouldn't she have run, first, before climbing any trees? Although... she looks very light. She's tiny. Jumping from tree to tree probably wouldn't be much of a challenge for such a small child, especially one raised in District Eleven...

"Like I said, it didn't register," Cato says slowly.

I sigh. "Whatever. So that's why she's hard to catch? Because she can freaking stay in the trees without ever coming down?"

Cato opens his mouth to answer, but he's interrupted by the anthem. About time – I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to be time for the death recap.

"Finally," he says, smirking.

The first face in the sky is Marvel.

I glance at Cato with wide eyes. I didn't think I'd be surprised – but I am. How could Marvel have died?

My district partner is staring at the sky with his eyebrows raised. After a couple seconds, he slowly starts to clap.

"About time," he says, shaking his head.

"Hush," I scold him, even though I'm actually glad that Marvel's out of the picture. "We need to see who the other one is."

"Oh, it's Lover Boy," Cato says confidently. "I told you he – "

Marvel's face fades and is replaced by Little Eleven's.

My mouth falls open.

What? Not Lover Boy? Impossible, Cato nearly killed him; he should be dead by now. And, how did Little Eleven die? It doesn't make sense – and who killed Marvel? Were the two deaths related?

Cato looks dumbstruck. "What – but – Marvel – and – Lover Boy – he – he should be – what the hell?" he exclaims, raising his voice.

"I don't know," I whisper.

He leaps to his feet. "Let's go. We need to hunt."

I grab his arm and force him back down. "Cato, hunting isn't always the answer! We need to think about this, look at it from every angle, and try to figure out what could have happened. We can't do anything rash!" Wow, that sounds weird, coming from me. "So calm down, and let's think."

"But there are a hundred possible answers," he groans. "How are we supposed to know what happened? The only person who would tell us is Marvel, and he's dead!"

"I know," I say, squeezing my eyes shut. "I know. So we need to be careful and make sure to be as certain as possible about what happened, or everything could blow up in our faces."

Cato takes a deep breath and then lets it out slowly. "You're right. As usual, though I hate to say it. I guess since there aren't many of us left, this can't be too hard to figure out. There are only so many ways it could've gone… I hope…"

"Exactly," I agree, relieved that he's decided to be rational. "And remember, this is very, very important – if we don't figure this out, it could sway the outcome of the Games."

"How?" he asks, looking as if he's going to panic.

Grimly, I say, "Think about it. There are at least two tributes out there that are dangerous. Very dangerous. With this… we might be able to identify one of their strengths, or weaknesses, or alliances…"

"Or it could mean nothing," he reminds me softly. "Maybe the two deaths were unrelated. Little Eleven might've run into Thresh, and Marvel could've tripped over his own spear."

"Maybe," I sigh. "I don't think so, somehow. But I'm guessing that whatever it was, we'll find out what happened soon enough… one way or the other."

Yeah, I know I said it'd be a week before I updated this, but guess what? I have internet! :D So, here's Chapter 17. We're almost to the end, guys... the epilogue will be Chapter 21. I really don't want to kill Clove off... :(

I'm going to insert a bit of shameless advertising for my other story here. If you haven't already, I'd love it if you'd check out my one-shot, "Quell". It's about the Quarter Quells (in case that wasn't obvious...), since I've always been wondered them. Also, I'm planning another fic after I finish this one, I'm going to put a description on my profile so I might actually feel motivated to write it. ;)

I think that's all... oh. One more thing. Bet you'll never guess...

REVIEW! XD

~What the Quell