It seems like I've just fallen asleep before I'm being woken up by Lucas. "Get up," he says in a stern voice. "A tribute is coming." I sit up quickly and rub my eyes as Lucas turns to wake up Brion. As Brion comes to, I look across the lake, where I can barely make out the boy whose screams have just reached my ears. I stand up, listening intently. "What's he saying?" asks Brion, who is now standing next to me. "He's calling for me. He's screaming my name," I reply after a moment. The boy, stumbling forward as if on a mission, spots us across the lake and starts to run. "We need to go," says Lucas. "I agree, let's get out of here," says Brion. He grabs my wrist. I hesitate. "He might need our help," I reply to the boys. "We can only help so many people. Now let's go," says Lucas unyieldingly. I sigh, then turn and run with the boys. Lucas has decided to run around the lake and head back to the forest, where we can climb a tree and hide out from this tribute. As we run, I look across the lake at the boy running after us. I can't tell who it is; the sun casts too much of a glare. He continues to call after me and now Brion as well. He's fast; by the time we round the lake and make it back to the forest, he's three-fourths of the way around. We jog into the forest, looking for a tree. "This one!" cries Brion. Lucas climbs up first, and I go next. Lucas scales the tree quickly; apparently climbing was included in his training regiment. I move along a bit slower, but eventually I make it into the higher branches covered in leaves. Brion joins us a second later. "Stay quiet. The boy's coming," he whispers.
That he is. "Heather! Brion!" he cries. Through the leaves, I can make him out on the ground, stumbling forward. I recognize him now; it's Richard, the boy from 9. Richard tries to call out for us once more, but his voice gives out and he falls to his knees, exhausted. "Heather, please! They took her!" he screams in a hoarse voice. Took who? I'm about to start climbing down when Lucas grabs me by the arm. He gives me a look that practically glues me to the branch on which I sit. Richard has apparently given up his chase; he lies on his side ranting on, as if speaking to the trees and grass. "They took her…took Eve," he groans between long, gravelly breaths. "Told me…5 hours…to find you…Flora…they'll kill her…have to find you…have to bring you back…" He stops talking and sits up, silently staring forward at something unseen. We may be far up in the tree, but I can still see his eyes shoot wide open. "No!" he is able to scream before something flies past his head. He spins and stumbles to his feet before another object embeds itself into his back and he falls again. It's an arrow. I cover my mouth to keep from screaming as the tributes from 1 enter the small patch of ground I can see. Beside me, Lucas impulsively moves is grip to his knife. The girl tribute strides forward and grabs Richard by the hair, lifting his head off the ground. "Look what we've got here, Togru!" she sneers. "Our next victim!" The boy strings his bow over his shoulder, walks forward, and silently observes Richard, who struggles in the girl's grip, letting out the occasional whimper of pain. Togru suddenly pulls out a knife and slits Richard's throat, a cannon fires, and it's over. Rachelle drops Richard's head and it hits the ground with a thump. The boy and girl then quickly and effectively search him for items. They come up empty-handed, and continue their trek through the forest. The three of us are deathly silent as the hovercraft comes to pick up Richard. I get a glimpse of his face as it passes by our branch. It remains twisted in agony. I slump back against the trunk of the tree. Eve only has a few minutes left. "Should we climb down?" whispers Brion. "Not yet, we need to wait for at least another hour," replies Lucas softly. "Until Eve dies," I whisper back, as tears begin to gather in my eyes. Brion and Lucas look at me somberly, and then look down at the ground, where a small bloodstain can be seen in the grass and dirt.
It seems like a century has passed when the inevitable cannon finally fires. Thirteen of us left. Heather's shoulders heave up and down as she sobs silently. Brion stares stone-faced at the ground. I reach up and awkwardly pat Heather on the shoulder. "It'll be ok," I say. I don't know what else I could possibly say. Heather sighs. "No, it won't." Before I can answer, Brion says, "We should climb down now." I nod in agreement, and start my descent to the forest floor. I look in all directions as I climb down; there's no sign of Togru or Rachelle. I skip the last few branches and leap to the ground, landing in a crouch. "What was that for?" asks Brion, who hangs from a low branch so his feet dangle above the ground. "I don't know, instinctual." Incredible, I've done so much training that I can't even climb out of a tree normally. Brion lands on the ground. He looks up. "Come on Heather, let's go!" he yells.
I can hardly make out the details of the leaves through my teary eyes. I'm such a fool. How did I trick myself into believing I could win these Games? No alliance can protect me, not even this one. Eve thought she was safe, and now she's dead. Richard too. I'm just dead weight for Brion to carry around. He can win these Games; I know it. But he needs to get away from Lucas. He may be our ally now, but eventually Lucas will turn on us. He's a Career; it's in his nature. And Brion and I will both die when he does turn against us. There's no point in trying to run, we have nowhere to go. And he'll find us and kill us once we run out of steam. But I can't kill him. I'm not a murderer. I can't kill anyone. Except…
"Come on Heather, let's go!" Brion yells from the forest floor. I silently wish both him and Lucas the best of luck, as I know that within the hour, one of them will be dead. Then I jump.
Tree branches start snapping above me. I look up to see a figure, cloaked in shadow by the leaves and the slowly descending sun, plummeting towards the ground. A backpack filled with food and drink, as well as a sword, tumbles down and spills out onto the forest floor. The figure's head slams into a thick lower branch, and snaps forward in an unnatural motion. Then her fall ends with a sickening thud on the hard, unyielding ground. Brion immediately rushes over to Heather's still form, screaming. I, on the other hand, stand still, completely shocked. Brion kneels before Heather's broken body. Her arms and legs are crumpled up beneath her, and her head hangs eerily to one side. I can see Brion's hands, never touching her, but shaking above her as if he was trying to disarm a bomb. There's nothing he can do; the cannon fires, and she's gone.
There is a brief moment where no one moves. No sounds can be heard except the ominous beeping from the collar around Brion's neck. Then he stands and turns away from Heather slowly, fixing an intense gaze on me that reminds me of the way a cat looks at a mouse before she leaps after it in hot pursuit. "Lucas," he says, pulling out a knife from his backpack as he walks towards me, "hold still." I dodge slightly to the left as Brion throws the knife. It goes way off target and hits the ground about six feet to the right of me. He pulls out another dagger and throws again. I dodge, but I underestimate his accuracy and it slices into my arm. I grunt and look down at my torn shirt and bleeding arm. It's just a cut. Brion is out of knives. He throws off his backpack and reaches for the sword that lies within his reach from where it fell. Picking it up, he yells a battle cry and charges me. I stand still, too stunned by the whole situation to even think. Just as he swings down for a deathblow, my Career instincts kick in. I spin to the left, and Brion's overpowered swing brings the sword down into the ground, knocking him off balance. He stumbles, and clumsily recovers, turning to face me once again. "Brion," I say in a wavering voice, "get away from me." He only answers with another cry and charges me again, this time holding the sword at waist level. He swings in a horizontal arc, and I dodge backward. He lifts the sword for a vertical swipe, and I have just enough time to yank out my two knives and move for a block before his swing comes in full contact with them. His sword caught in my two crossed knives, we stand, grunting and holding on for our lives. I look up for a moment at his shimmering blade, then down at his neck, where his collar beeps. I sigh, knowing what I must do next. Just like in training, I dodge to the side, taking the knives with me. With nothing to block or slice, the sword is brought down by Brion's arms into the ground. It sticks. I spin around Brion and slice downwards across his back with my right knife. He screams and drops his sword, reeling around to reach for his back with his right hand. Still spinning, I bring my left knife to slice across his wrist, drawing more blood. Another scream. He falls to the ground, writhing in pain. I walk past him, grab the hilt of the sword, yank it out of the ground and, with tears in my eyes, spin around and decapitate him as he tries to stand. His head hits the ground just as the cannon fires. A moment later, his body follows suit.
I toss the sword away and walk towards Heather's discarded backpack, away from both of their bodies. I grab some gauze to wrap my arm, but my hands shake too much to work it around the cut, and I eventually give up. The tears that I have been holding in since Sydni's death finally come out, and I sob on the ground as the hovercraft picks up both Heather and Brion's bloodied bodies. I cry for a long time, until the sun sets and the anthem drowns out my cries. The girl and boy grom 9 appear first. I didn't know them, but my heart still clenches when I see the girl's sickly eyes staring back at me. Heather's smiling face appears in the sky, followed by Brion's, filled with uncertainty. Then they are gone, and I suddenly fall asleep on the ground, feeling very tired.