A couple of hours later, the sun rises. No one woke up during the night, even though it rained for a while. I'm glad Emma slept for some time. I owe her that much, especially after how things went down yesterday. I feel absolutely terrible. Before she took that fall for me, I told her I'd kill her. While watching her sleep, I couldn't help but get thoughtful. Could I…
Could really I hurt Emma yesterday? Could I kill her if things came down to it? Or was I just scared?
I thought about this all night long: I know I can kill someone, but could I do it knowing it was Emma?
Brian shuffles on the ground. No. Please. Brian looks like he's about to wake up for a second or two, but goes back to sleep. It's well past sunrise. I need to go away. I prepare to get down the tree, but I hear something.
"Psst,"
Someone is more like it.
Initially, I look down. Then sideways.
"Psst!"
I finally locate the source, it's from the next tree. Rahne.
She waves and points at something above. A beehive, connected to a branch slightly higher. She then points at the ground, at them. It's not a bad plan, it's a great plan. It's not only my guaranteed escape but also serious damage. If I'm lucky, one of them might be allergic. But I shake my head.
Rahne's eyes widen. She begins to point more aggressively.
I shake my head again and point at Emma. The Beehive would fall right between her and Megan. Rahne stops gesturing and places one of her hands below her chin. She then collects a handful of pine cones and begins throwing them. I motion her to quit it but she ignores me. She needs to stop before the cones hit someone else, and my escape gets completely ruined! If Emma wakes up and finds out I flunked at escaping after she threw herself off a tree for me, she'd collect me from the afterlife and kill me herself. But Rahne doesn't listen and doesn't have to, because one of them finally hits Emma. I sigh in relief.
Emma rapidly opens her eyes and looks around, alert.
I gesture at Rahne, who points at me, the Beehive, and them. Emma picks it up quickly. She gets off the ground in a phantom like manner. Her movements are still off, but she seems better. Emma takes the crossbow and one of the backpacks. She begins to walk, and points left with her thumb. Rahne follows her.
Is Emma leaving them now? Not that I'm complaining, I just didn't see it coming. Wait, no. I will not make any speculations anymore. Not until I'm sure, not when Emma remains the most unpredictable person I've ever known. Besides, I have something more important to focus on.
I begin to climb higher to get this over with. The closer I get, the less I'm convinced these are bees that we know of. They're completely black, they're bigger. I take out the axe and begin cutting the branch. It doesn't require that much effort, the axe is sharp and the branch isn't that thick. But it still takes some time because I'm not in the best position. I start hitting harder, trying to ignore the burning pain in my hands after four of them sting me. The burning pain is quick to jump to my neck, as much as I try to shoo them away with my free hand.
"Come on," I grunt.
It happens way too quickly. The silence is long gone, and the entire area is filled with their screams.
"Son of a bitch!" Shaw yells, and runs away. Betsy, Brian, Selene and Jamie follow; but Megan stumbles. The bees (?) surround her. her screams pierce my ears. I get off the tree and head left, where Emma and Rahne are.
"Rahne," I breathe out. "Emma!"
I feel hot. I run a hand through my hair, only to discover it's completely wet. Is it raining again? I hold out my hand to feel any droplets. No, it's not raining. I'm sweating. I'm now certain that those were not bees. The World spins around me as I try to walk. I try to adjust, but it's no avail.
"Where are you," I mumble into the air.
Finally, I see someone come out behind the trees.
Light brown pigtails, dark blue skirt, white shirt. The most snobby seven year old I ever knew: The Emma who used to play hopscotch with Astrid Bloom, sing Strawberry Fields Forever during the choir assemblies, and lecture me when I misspelled the word Rhythm.
"Emma?"
"Idiot," She responds. "You are idiots."
I blink twice, and I see present day Emma again. The World remains blurry, but I can make out what she's saying.
"Those weren't bees, Rahne. Those were tracker jackers. They're genetically engineered. Extremely toxic. I only see a couple of bumps, he's probably not going to die, but we need to keep an eye."
"What do you mean probably?! How do you know all this stuff?"
Emma snaps. "Was I the only one who read the damn books?"
"What do we do?"
"Good question," Emma points at her backpack. "I have tweezers there. I'll remove the stings so more venom isn't released. Do you remember that tree we walked by? The one with the yellow leaves? Collect some of those, they'll help."
Rahne runs off, I'm alone with Emma. I feel her cold fingers on my neck. My head is still spinning, and everything is blurry. Dark spots keep appearing in front of me. I feel like I'm about to throw up. My legs feel weak. I'm tired.
"Hey," Emma lifts me by the chin. "What's… Oh no."
I haven't been sleeping all night. Maybe I could while Emma took care of me.
"Scott," Emma says.
Just for a little while.
"Look at me!" She shakes my body.
Just for a little while…
"Fine. The book said you need to be kept conscious. Didn't say how."
The World is visible once again, upon the impact of her hand against my cheek. Emma looks taken aback.
"Oh. I didn't think that'd actually work." Emma slaps me again, with the back of her hand. "Just to be safe."
She pulls me by my collar. "I'll say this as gently as I can, okay? I did not throw myself off a tree yesterday for you to die from a bunch of mutt wasps. I need you to stay awake until Rahne comes back. Do you understand?" She says firmly, her hands frame my face tightly.
I let out a deep breath, and nod with the little energy I have. Emma kisses me on the cheek, then works on taking out the stings. Rahne comes back with the leaves in a short while. Emma begins to remove the venom.
"Hey, what's that?" Rahne points at the sky. There's a beeping sound of some sort, Emma looks up with worry. Oh god, is it explosives?
A metal box with a white parachute lands nearby. Emma runs to the box. "Come on…" She mutters while opening it.
Emma walks over to us with a smile. "Medicine from sponsors," She says. "And a note from Logan."
She shows me a small piece of paper. I can barely make out the letters, but I'm able to read after pushing myself.
You call that a kiss? -L
Oh my god. It's astounding, what a single kiss did. In a few minutes! The sponsors are eating up this star crossed lovers thing. She didn't even have to kiss me on the lips, and they sent us medicine. Emma is quick to apply it on the bumps, while Rahne uses the leaves as bandages.
"Will it work?"
"They wouldn't send it if it didn't," Emma answers, and sits next to me. I'm still too tired to talk, but at least I can keep up with them. She must have done something right.
"What do we do now?"
"We'll wait. We need to camp somewhere. We can't go anywhere like this."
I rest my head on Emma's shoulder.
"Won't you go back to your allies?" Rahne teases Emma.
"No. I wasn't there when Scott dropped the hive. They probably think we ran off together. I'm stuck with you."
Rahne snorts. "Least you can climb. We won't be the worst team."
"Where's your friend, uh… Guido?" Emma asks.
"He's doing his own thing. Unless he joined that other alliance. But don't worry, he wouldn't hurt us. He likes me." Rahne brags.
I mumble, I try to answer, but I can't. I can't speak.
"You did good. Rest." I hear Emma say, and then I let go.
Before I wake up, I think I'm back home.
The birds sing, the sun is up, I'm warm, and I smell apple blossoms. I quickly realize that I'm not home. I lie on the ground, and Emma lies next to me. Rahne's head is placed on her lap. I try to move slowly to make sure I don't wake them up. Emma shifts, but she's still asleep. I scan the area. There's a fire they put out, I must have been out for a while. I'll ask them when I get back. But first things first, I'm starving. I collect some twigs to make a trap.
"A feast!" Rahne exclaims upon smelling the breakfast and wakes up Emma in the process. She jumps, startled because of Rahne's high pitched voice.
I pass them some food I placed on leaves, then put out the fire before I sit on the ground.
"Sorry, doesn't come with forks. You'll just have to eat with your hands," I tease Emma.
Emma doesn't bother to react. I expected an eye roll, at least. It's what she usually did whenever I made fun of her.
"How long was I out?"
"Two days," Rahne says.
Emma eats. She hasn't looked at me once.
"What happened when I was out?"
"St. John. You already know Megan." Emma notifies while eating, her tone ice cold.
I respond with a nod. I think I'm slowly catching up. Now that we're all out of danger, she feels free to be mad at me for how I acted the day she fell from the tree.
"So…" Rahne says, crossing her legs. "Are you guys really in love? I've been asking Emma for two days, but she won't answer."
This is such a bad time for this question. It's the worst time for this question. Emma and I stare at each other. She continues eating. It's my turn to keep the act going. This thing is televised, and they sent us medicine for being a couple. We're going to need the sponsors to survive. I'm sure Jean will understand.
"Yes, very much," I say.
"Eat your food, Rahne," Emma says, annoyed. She takes off after finishing her food. "I'll go look for water."
Rahne's lips form a sinister smile as we watch her leave. "What did you do?" She asks me, taking a bite.
"What?"
"You heard me. We've been nursing you for two days. But whenever I asked something about you, her face got weird. Like now. What'd ya do?"
I swallow the meat. "Nothing."
"Fine, don't tell me. But she's really pissed," Rahne takes her final bite. "Just saying."
Emma finds a nearby stream. So after packing, that's where we head. We have four water containers, if we only drink when we really need to, it'll last us a while. Emma splashes her face and her hair. Rahne plays with the water. I wait for them to be done on a nearby rock. After the flood, I'm not really in the mood to get too close to the stream, even though it's extremely hot today. We all removed our raincoats on our way here. It would be idiotic to wear polyester today, especially with the humidity. Even with the T-Shirt, I'm sweating a lot.
"Let's not stick around here too long," I say, while playing with my grandfather's pin.
"I don't think they can turn every stream into a flood, Scott. Relax." Emma says, rolling her eyes. I told them about the flood on our way here.
"Yeah, relax," Rahne repeats while kicking the water.
Relax, they say. You try almost drowning, I want to say.
But I don't. That's not what I need to say now. My gaze finds Emma. She sits by the stream, hugging her legs. She watches Rahne play. I approach her.
"Hey."
"Hey," She answers, eyes locked on Rahne.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I sit next to her.
Emma doesn't answer. Her brows are furrowed.
"Emma."
"What?"
"You're going to have to talk to me, you know. If we're allies now—"
"Were you going to kill me?" She finally looks at me, the words come out sharp and quick.
"Emma…"
"No, you wanted to talk, so let's talk. It's a very easy question, Scott." She lets out a passive aggressive smirk. "Were you going to kill me? Come on, Mr. I'll do it. Answer it."
The sun is high with all its might today and the rays hit right on Emma. If we were at the parade, she'd be glowing right now. Her wet hair is unbraided at the moment, the strands fall just below her shoulders. The cuts on her face are all healed now. She's not spiteful, she's not sad, she's not angry. She's something else.
My thoughts resurface: Could I hurt her? Could I fight her? Could I kill her?
Her eyes look at me bitterly while I remain speechless. I remember the moment I drew the axe in front of me when we were surrounded by the branches. I remember how scared I was. I remember how my hand was shaking like a leaf. I remember how fast my heart was beating.
Could I look into her cool blue eyes and watch them slowly lose their sparkle?
I know the answer.
So I confess.
"No, Emma." I don't believe a no has ever left my lips with such strength. "I could never hurt you. I'm sorry. I just thought you were going to…"
"Kill you?"
"Well, yeah. They were your allies, you were climbing after me with a blade, and it got me thinking. Call this paranoia, or whatever, but… Can you seriously blame me for that?" I pull the weeds beneath us. "I know how you are with people. And at that moment, I thought everything was an act since we left Thirteen just so I wouldn't be a threat to you. I thought everything you did was a trick. I panicked, alright? I got mad and did the first thing that waltzed into my mind." I say. "But I couldn't do it, Emma. I could never. Haven't you seen me? I was shaking. Then you fell, and then I knew I could tru—"
Emma closes her eyes and sighs. "Is it that fucking hard to trust me? Do I have to fall down a tree to earn your trust every single time?"
I need to know when to shut up.
"The moment I began climbing that tree, I began calculating the perfect height to let go. High enough so they wouldn't think I fell on purpose, and low enough so I wouldn't kill myself. Hurting you, Scott, it was never an option. I would never hurt you." Emma says, and I'm certain that she means it. I know her fake voice. The one she used with Flickerman, with the careers. This isn't it.
I finally understand my true mistake. I did it again! I let my past judgments about Emma win. I got paranoid, let my doubts take over, and stopped looking at her as the girl I got to know ever since we left Thirteen.
Cunning, manipulative, shallow, superficial.
The moment I panicked, the words we used to talk about Emma resurfaced and blinded my judgment. I know she can get difficult. But Emma is so much more than a couple of stupid words. I think of the time she gave me the ring. All the questions she answered during classes. How warm her eyes get whenever she talks about Christian. How good she is at teaching. How she sang during choir assemblies when we were kids.
I can't keep doing this to her. I can't keep limiting Emma into some invisible mold we've built for her. Especially now that I've actually seen how she can really be.
"I know." I nod. "Em, I'm sorry. I fucked up," I don't know what else to say. This is the naked truth. "But you have to know... Even if I have to repeat myself a thousand times, you have to believe me when I say this. I would never hurt you, Emma. I could never. The moment you fell, I wished you'd thrown the blade at me instead."
Emma briefly stares at me, dumbstruck.
"Do you trust me, Scott?" She finally asks.
I think of the way she shook her head no before the Cornucopia bloodbath. How she warned me during training so I wouldn't appear weak to them. The look on her eyes when she fell.
"Yes," I say. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes," She answers.
We watch Rahne together. The silence is comfortable, she places her head on my shoulder.
"Another thing," She says after a while. "I don't want this to turn into a conversation, so I'm just going to say it and you'll agree with me, okay?"
"Um—"
"Great. Do not ever compare me to my father again."
I really need to shut the fuck up sometimes.
"I didn't mean a single word of that. I was just—"
"Ever."
I want to keep talking. I want to tell her a million ways she's better than him. How I could never really think they could be alike. But I don't, because she doesn't want to talk about it. I respect that.
"Okay. I'm sorry."
"We really should have discussed the alliance thing before the Games," Emma changes the subject.
I snort. "Yeah."
"Why didn't you ask me?"
"I don't know. Why didn't you?"
Emma shrugs. "I didn't think you liked me enough."
That was true— Before I got to know her.
"What matters is now," I say. "I like you just fine."
"You're only saying that because I keep saving your ass out here."
I chuckle. "How's your back?" I can't help but ask.
"It's better. Still hurts, though."
"Isn't there any medicine left?"
She shakes her head. "I'll be fine."
"Turn around."
"What?"
"Turn around," I repeat myself. "I got this."
"You don't have to—"
"Emma."
She turns around, and I place my hands on her back, applying pressure upstream. She tenses up immediately. "Bruises," She winces. "Less pressure."
She's not just tense because it hurts, she doesn't like this, someone doing something for her. She was tense before we began training together too. She likes being on her own. Doing things herself. She's independent. While I admire that, too bad: I won't sit here and watch her be in pain just because she's too stubborn. If we don't have any meds right now, this is the best I can do.
"Sorry." I try again, with less pressure. My hands travel from her lower back toward her shoulders. I repeat this a couple of times. "You need to loosen up a bit, Emma. That good?" I apply some pressure right below her middle back.
Emma sighs in relief. "Yeah. Right there,"
She watches Rahne throwing pebbles into the water. I gently separate the wet strands of blonde hair to massage her shoulders.
"If it's us…" I manage to say what I've been thinking for a while. "Us three left, I mean. Did you think about what happens then?" I massage the back of her neck with my thumbs.
"Then it's her." She says, leaning into my touch. "She's just a kid."
I'm relieved we're on the same page about that.
After I'm done massaging, we lay on the grass while waiting for Rahne. I think I like the new arrangement. It's certainly less hectic. This is the sixth day, I'm still not dead, and I have allies I can trust. Rahne and Emma, my star crossed lover.
Her hand rests on the ground, next to the cloves. I don't know where the cameras are, but I sure think they're filming. I place my hand over hers.
Emma looks at my hand, then at me. Our faces are only inches apart. I can feel her breath on my face.
"Someone is getting used to the gig." She says quietly.
"I can't believe we received medicine that day. And you just kissed me on my cheek." I answer, even quieter.
"I know. I wonder what'd they send if it was a real kiss, maybe an entire hospital,"
For the first time the Games began, I laugh.
The sun begins to lose its reign over the sky while we're looking for somewhere to spend the night.
"It's almost sundown," I look around. "We need to settle somewhere quickly,"
"It's not sundown," Emma corrects me. "It can't be. It's too soon."
"Then why is it so dark?"
It is getting darker, every second. It's getting darker way too fast.
"Something's not right, Scott,"
I stop, and I really think. This is what happened before the flood began, something was off and I ignored it. Not this time.
"We need to get out of here." We grab Rahne by her hands and try to find a way out.
"Uh…" Rahne says. "I don't think we can."
She points behind us.
Fog? Was it just fog covering the sky?
I sigh in relief.
"Wait," Emma places her hand on my shoulder and stares at the fog, then looks down in horror. "Look," She points at the ground.
The plants are dying. Poison.
The fog is poisonous. And it's getting closer second by second.
"Run," I mutter. "We need to run!"
We speed towards the opposite end of the woods, still holding Rahne by her hands. I snatch her in my arms.
"It's not stopping!" Rahne yells.
"You're joking!" Emma mocks, out of breath.
From the corner of my eye, I spot a rabbit. The fog burns it like acid.
"Faster," I breathe out. "We need to go faster."
We keep running. Eventually, we're able to put a certain distance between us and the fog, but it hasn't stopped. Emma stops. To breathe for a while, I let Rahne go.
"We need to keep going, come on," I mutter.
"No," She says, her hands on her knees.
"Are you insane?!" Nobody can blame me for being impatient while we're being chased by poison fog, right?
"This won't work. For how long can we run, Scott? We're pretty high above. We need to get down. Then it'll slow down and we'll escape," Emma suggests.
It's not a bad idea. The problem is that we don't know where we can get down. This is a pretty good time to point out that we're lost.
"We don't have a map, Emma," I snap, the fog is getting closer. "We're lost, we don't have time to speculate."
"What if we run and run, and it keeps chasing us? What then?"
"Guys," Rahne says, but we ignore her.
"Emma," I begin, trying to cover up my annoyance as much as I can. "We don't have time for this. That thing just deep fried a rabbit."
"There's another stream on the right. Most of them go down the hills. We can follow that."
"Emma, Scott," Rahne speaks again.
"No!" I object. "It'll lead us to the lake, we might run into—"
"I don't care!" Emma yells. "We'll handle it somehow, you have the crossbow now. I have blades. But we can't outrun the fog, it might not stop for all we know—"
"You're driving me insane—"
"Guys!" Rahne yells.
"What?!" We snap at her in union.
"Scott is getting shorter."
"What do you mean I'm getting..."
Emma is looking at me like she's seen a ghost, she looks at my feet. When I do the same, I recall Logan's words on the train the day after the reaping.
"You can tell by what they make you wear before the game. If it's got a lot of polyester, you'll likely be somewhere wet. Expect a lot of rain and watch out for swamps."
Our raincoats. Polyester.
We ran by a swamp a minute ago. Here's a fun fact about swamps: It's likely that there's quicksand nearby one.
I'm sinking, and I'm really starting to think that my grandfather's pin is not lucky.