The Living Games
A/N Hellooo! I just got finished cleaning my room and I set the my desk with my computer (well, it's not actually mine it's the family's, yikes, I really need my own) and now I feel all organized. It's gr8. How are you doing? December is right around the corner, and then comes the holidays! Yes. Then the new year, 2017! Ah, yes, a year of telling myself I'm going to stick to my resolutions, and failing. We'll make it a good year, we will. Don't worry, my lovelies. I like to platonically call people babe and romantically call people dude. Is that weird? Also, can I use any more commas? Yes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, could.
Chapter Twenty Three: Allies, Allies, the More the Merrier
Aubrey acted out the plan in her head without even hesitating. She knew she was being reckless and they could be potentially killed or caught for what she about about to do, but . . . well, yeah. There were risks and she would take them all, and deal with the consequences later.
She got up quietly and searched around for a tiny rock or a stick to throw. She found a rock about the size of an eye. It wasn't what she was looking for, but it was good enough. She walked back over to the bush and nervously twirled the rock around her fingers.
She could feel Josh staring at her intensely, probably guessing what she was about to do.
She picked up the rock and aimed it at the ground at Andy's feet. She knew if she missed they were dead, but she wouldn't miss. She couldn't miss.
The rock hit the ground at Andy's feet, and Andy jumped five feet in the air.
"What's wrong with you? Crystal asked. "You look like you just got stabbed."
"Who got stabbed? Who got stabbed and didn't let me do it?" Jackson, the boy from Two, yelled, whipping his head around.
"No one got stabbed you idiot. Four is just being a wuss."
"I'm not being a—Whatever. I'm going to take a whiz, don't kill each other while I'm gone." He picked up his trident and walked away towards the clearing.
As soon as he left, the Careers started talking about if they really needed him, and Crystal was oddly defending him.
"Of course we need him! He's strong and he's not a bloodthirsty idiot like the rest of you!" She stormed off too, in the opposite direction of Andy.
The careers were silent and steaming. They stomped around and muttered angry to themselves like a pack of agitated bees.
Aubrey heard footsteps in their direction, and she peeked out from behind the bush to see Andy walking their way.
Aubrey was beyond excited to see him, and she opened her mouth to tell him so.
Andy shoved both of his hand over her face and shook his head.
"Not here," he whispered so softly Aubrey barely heard him. "They have ears like a pack of dogs, they'll hear us for sure."
Aubrey nodded slowly and looked toward Josh, silently telling him to get up.
She grabbed both of their arms and pulled them away, far away from the clearing and the Careers.
• • •
Along the way Aubrey slammed into someone, falling back on the ground and having the air knocked out of her lungs.
"Who the—"
Aubrey looked up to see Crystal, holding a small spear and looking at Andy. Aubrey was glad she was wearing loose-fitting pants so she couldn't stare at her legs.
"What are you doing with them? I thought you were going to pee?"
"I thought you were storming around the forest?"
She rolled her green eyes, "Technically I still am. You're not, unless you like to pee in the company of others."
"You don't know what my kinks are."
"You—"
Aubrey cut her off.
"What are you doing here?"
Crystal turned her intense green eyes on her.
"What do you mean?"
Aubrey stood up and stared at her. "Shouldn't you be with the Careers? Aren't you going to tell on us?"
Crystal snorted.
"Tell on you. This isn't elementary school, even with all of the similarities." Aubrey raised an eyebrow at her. "School for Careers is basically running around with knives and killing each other. Just ask your friend here."
Aubrey shook her head. "You're not going to tell them? But . . . aren't you a Career?"
"We're not all stupid and cruel, if that's what you mean."
"I just . . ."
Crystal waved her hand. "It's whatever. They might be skilled fighters, but they're not all the brightest. I was fortunate to have been raised in a household where wisdom is honored more than strength."
Josh spoke for the first time. "You're not completely loyal to them, are you? You can see how barbaric they are, how they only form their alliances to make themselves stronger. You know they'd kill you in an instant if they knew one of theirs wasn't loyal. You stormed off to find Andy and warn them about their doubts on him because you know Andy could defeat the Careers. You don't care for the Careers."
Crystal tilted her head.
"Are all the quiet ones so smart?"
Josh straightened.
"I'm right."
"You are. But you left out a part; I may not care about the careers, I may not want them to win, or for them to kill me, but I do care about Andy. Since both of us are children of Victor's, we've both been to the Capitol multiple times before, and I've known him since I was three. And that meathead from Two, but we were never close. Andy and I are like siblings and if you think for one moment that I only want to save him to benefit myself then you are wrong!"
"Join us." Aubrey blurted out, flushing slightly at how stupid she sounded.
Crystal smiled. "I would, but I can't. Once the Careers find out Andy has gone missing, they'll be very suspicious since we were closer than the others. If I go missing too then they'll go after me. And they will find me. I have to stay and act indifferent, and pretend like I don't care either way. Once I throw them off my scent, I'll leave and find you guys. But only to keep Andy safe."
Aubrey smiled and said, "See you soon, Crystal. Farewell."
"I'm not going off to die or anything, don't be a silly goose."
"I couldn't be a goose even if I wanted to. Geese honk too much for me, and I like to keep my honking to a daily limit."
Crystal smiled brightly, her smile seeming to light up the whole forest.
"You know, I think I like you. Stay alive for me, sweetheart."
"Sweetheart?"
"Bye!"
Crystal walked off with a wave and disappeared.
Andy shook his head.
"She never changes."
Aubrey threw herself at Andy, and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"You're back! You're really back."
Andy chuckled lightly and fingered her hair. "I never left."
Aubrey pushed him away and punched him on the shoulder.
"You never told me you knew Crystal! And that you were absolutely insane!"
He shrugged. "It didn't really seem important at the time. And you know I've never been completely sane."
"Not important!? You make me so angry sometimes I wonder why I even want you around."
"Then you take a look at me and remember."
Aubrey swore smoke was coming out of her ears.
"Whatever. All that matters is you're here, you're here and you're here. You're here."
"I think you forgot to mention that I'm here."
Aubrey ignored him.
"Josh, where are we camping?"
Josh looked startled, pulling his eyes away from Andy after watching them bicker.
"Um, in a tree."
"You don't sound sure."
"In a tree!"
"Better."
She ushered him along.
"Well? You think a tree is just going to pop up and suggest we sleep on it? This isn't a street corner, get moving."
Josh lead them through the forest, all of their eyes alert and ready for anything.
Anything but what happened next.
After a few minutes of walking, Aubrey felt like the ground was a little . . . squishy under her feet. Every time she walked she heard a loud plop! as she pulled her foot up.
"Um, guys?" she asked, not sure how to propose her thoughts.
"Hm?" Josh answered absentmindedly, like his thoughts were a million miles away.
"Does the ground feel erm, squishy to anyone else?"
"Squishy?" Andy asked incredulously. He stopped walking to look at her. "Why would it be—"
He was cut off by a small scream when he started walking again and tripped due to the fact that his foot had sunk three inches underground.
"'Why would it be squishy'."
"Shut up."
Andy pulled his hand up from the ground and came away with mud, dark, sticky mud. Aubrey helped him up.
She heard Josh curse and scrape some mud off of his leg.
"Guys, we're in quite a sticky situation. No pun inten—who am I kidding, that was a magnificent pun and I meant it."
"We're also about to be swallowed by the Earth, if you haven't noticed!" Aubrey threw her hands in the air and moved around lightly to keep herself from sinking.
"It's pretty hard not to—"
"Let's find a tree and wait until this," she waved her hand around, "whatever this is, is over. Okay? Okay."
They walked lightly over the ground, occasionally stumbling and sinking. It was like every tree had disappeared.
"Okay," Andy said, tripping over a stick and putting out his arms, "I know it seemed like a good idea earlier, but there are no trees. We could stop—"
"Stop if you want to die, Haiku."
"It's actually Limerick—"
"I don't care, Sonnet."
"That's not even close—"
"There's a tree!" Josh suddenly shouted, running towards it and then tripping over himself. Aubrey and Andy ran over to help him up.
They all stumbled towards the tree, grabbing onto its branches and pulling themselves up. They only went up a few feet, and they had to help Andy up.
"I'm sorry I don't spend my free time trying to be a squirrel," he said annoyedly as he blew his hair out of his face.
When they were all on the tree and situated, Aubrey took the time to scrape the mud off of her.
"Was that quick sand? I've only seen it once four years ago when they made the whole arena out of it and everyone suffocated in less than a week," Aubrey said, brushing her hands off.
Josh snapped his fingers just to have something to do.
"That year was a popular one."
"I bet."
Aubrey sighed and looked out into the forest. The whole day had been a mess. She had been in intense pain due to the acid rain, felt the effects of dehydration, killed a girl, found the Careers and rescued Andy, and possibly have added another ally to their list. Maybe the whole day wasn't bad, but the majority of it had left Aubrey with a pounding headache and a fragile mind.
After awhile, the ground seemed to harden up again.
After making sure, they climbed down and unpacked the stuff they needed to sleep and eat, then packed up the rest and climbed the tree a lot higher than last time.
Aubrey rolled out the sleeping bag while Josh handed out some of the rabbit and water. Andy seemed grateful for everything, even if he had more benefits being with the Careers. They were loaded with supplies and weapons, after all.
Night was quickly approaching, and they all stared at the sky for the anthem. It showed only the face of Kelly Marshall. Aubrey felt her stomach clench and she felt Josh take her hand lightly. She smiled a bit, even if it looked more like a grimace.
After the anthem, Aubrey and Andy settled down for the night. Josh would take first watch, then Aubrey, and Andy last.
Aubrey fell asleep easily, eager to erase the memories of the day for a short time.
She took watch when Josh woke her up. Nothing much happened, though she noticed a lot of animals running away, towards the cornucopia. She thought it was weird, but she didn't find anything when she got down to look. She noticed the ground was kind of soft again, but not the way it was before. It was soft and warm, like the top of a hot spring.
Aubrey dismissed her thoughts, telling herself it was just the quicksand.
As she was walking back to the tree, she kicked up a bit of dirt. It crumbled, and Aubrey swore she had seen a flash of red before dirt covered it.
She shook her head and climbed back up the tree, waking Andy for his shift. She was sure she was just hallucinating.
She woke up to Andy yelling and shaking them awake.
"Get up! Get up, goddamn it!"
Aubrey flew up, untangling herself from the sleeping bag that had become warm and sweaty from the intense heat coming from the ground.
"What—"
Andy pointed at the ground, and Aubrey's breath hitched in her chest.
The forest floor was glowing red and bubbling, turned into a pit of steaming lava.