Chapter Fourteen
Finnick POV
"My god it's hot." Aden complains.
"Is that all he does, complain, if I was Annie I would've killed him-" Lena starts.
"Gamemakers are still keeping it at 95. After someone died of exhaustion you would think they would've lowered it a little." Zayden says.
"7 still heading to the canyon?" Finnick asks.
"Yup, going at a faster pace than Annie and Aden so they might avoid a big confrontation if they're really lucky she'll kill off a tribute from 1." Zayden says.
"Who else is left?" Finnick asks.
"Girl from 5 she's 15. Girl from 2 she's 16. Girl from 7 she's 17. Both from 1 and they're both 17. Then Aden and Annie." Zayden says.
"Interesting, more girls than guys left." Lena says.
"Can we take a break?" Aden complains again.
"No, I want to get there while it is still light in case someone is waiting to attack." Annie says
"So, it's easier to see." Aden says
"Obviously." Annie says slightly annoyed
"You really think people would hide there?" Aden asks.
"Careers like to have a homebase and since you said the cornucopia was destroyed they need somewhere else to hide." Annie notes.
"Not if it's a big arena." Lena says.
"We don't hide." Aden says defensively.
"I wish we had that sunscreen." Annie says.
"I wish we had water. Hello Finnick or Zayden send us something please!" He shouts.
"We would if there was something useful to buy." Finnick says annoyed.
There are only seven kids left so anything that is seriously useful like food or water is out of their price range. If they would've lost their supplies before the final eight they may have been able to send them something small.
"Aden is just arrogant, probably thinks everyone in the Capitol is cheering his name." Lena says.
"Have you looked at the polls in awhile?" Zayden asks.
"No." Lena and Finnick say at the same time.
"He's on the bottom for popularity ."
"Shut up." Lena says.
"He's six out of seven and number seven is the girl from 5." Zayden says.
"What about Annie?" Finnick asks.
"She's fifth, then girl from 2, girl from 1, girl from 7, and boy from 1 is in the lead." Zayden says.
"What about the odds of the winner?" Finnick asks.
"Classic bet, the person with the most kills which is currently the boy from 1." Zayden says.
"And the next highest?" Finnick asks.
"The girl from 7 actually." Zayden says.
"Interesting." Lena says.
"Caesar said she was popular with the common people in the Capitol." Finnick says.
"She's entertaining to watch as well." Lena says absentmindedly. She isn't even looking at the screen just at a magazine. Finnick is surprised and annoyed by this because the game will be coming to a close soon.
"Be quiet someone could be close." Annie says.
Aden smirks
"I think we, rather I could take them." He says.
"I don't want to risk it, or lose the little supplies we still have." Annie says.
"If Aden would just shut up they could probably make it there faster." Finnick says.
"The heat is slowing them down as well. They will be lucky to make it to the canyon before nightfall." Zayden says.
"I think Annie would have them break before if it was dark.' Finnick says.
"Would he listen to her though, he wants to kill tributes." Zayden says.
Finnick looks towards the live feed.
"I think we should move on." The girl from one says.
"No, we stay. 2 is still out there and she has it out for me." The boy from 1 says.
"I'm tired of just waiting around, it's not a good look for us. District 1 tributes don't sit around waiting for people to come to us. We go hunting for them." The girl from 1 says.
Finnick looks towards one's fish bowl. He notices only one mentor is there and it isn't one Finnick talks with.
"Where do you think the rest are?" Finnick asks motioning to the fish bowl.
"Cashmere wanted them to die so she and her brother wouldn't bother. As for the rest I have no idea." Zayden says.
"Kind of cold, not even bothering to help just because you don't like them." Lena says.
Finnick snorts.
"What?" Lena says.
"I would never expect you to say something like that " Finnick says
"I may think Aden is a pig and Annie doesn't have the strongest chance of winning but I wouldn't wish death on them." Finnick says.
"She made it to final 8, what would you rank her now?" Zayden asks Lena.
"Aden, 1, 2, and probably 7 could kill her. I don't know enough about 5, but I think she has been playing the hiding game. I'm confident Annie could take out the girl from 5. I can't say I'm confident about the rest." Lena says.
"Out of our tributes who do you want to win?" Zayden asks.
"Putting up with Aden for the rest of my life would be annoying. I'd prefer Annie but like I said I don't wish death on either of them." Lena says turning a page in her magazine.
It turns to night in the Capitol, but in the arena it is still a bright 95 degrees.
"Looks like the gamemakers don't want them to miss the fight." Zayden says.
The tributes from 1 decided once it was dark they would leave the canyon and go back to hunting down tributes. However, the gamemakers missing an opportunity for a five way fight would be useless.
"Yeah, but they should at least drop the temperature if they don't want them to collapse or die from dehydration.
"Finally water." The girl from 7 says but is hanging back slightly. She too thinks people could easily be hiding there. "So damn hot." She says and wipes sweat off her forehead.
"This is it." Finnick says
Annie POV
"Here we are." Aden says once they are a few feet away.
Annie sees the wide open area that cascades into a giant canyon. She can't see the water from this distance but can tell there is mud. She can see white wild flowers that are bell shaped and she's fairly certain they are poisonous.
"Lily of the valley." She says.
"What?" Aden asks confused.
"Those plants." She says and points.
"Can we eat them?" He asks happly.
"No, they're poisonous, but they are pretty." Annie says.
"You can gawk at wild flowers later, right now we need to get water." Aden says.
Annie scans the area and sees someone close by.
"Down." Annie says and shoves him down behind a boulder.
"What?" He asks annoyed.
"Someone is there." Annie says and motions her head.
"Who?" Aden asks impatiently.
"A girl probably are age I think-"
"Dammit Annie I meant did she have a weapon." Aden says annoyed.
Annie peaks her head out carefully.
"She's got an axe." Annie says.
"Must be from 7." Aden says.
"Anyone could've picked it up."
"Should've kept that bow, I could've tried to take her out." Aden says. No longer interested in what Annie is saying. He is just interested in the kill.
"The knife you have is it a throwing knife?" Aden asks.
"No, it's just a regular hunting knife." Annie says.
"Damn." Aden says.
"She's too far away for you to hit anyway." Annie says.
"I'm not surprised you would think that. She's only about fifty feet away I think if we charge her we would probably be able to take her down." Aden says.
"I don't-"
"Like you said someone could be hiding in the canyon, best to take her out first. Now, take out your knife and get ready to run." Aden says.
Annie nods and pulls out her knife. She looks out the side carefully.
"Anyone else there?" He asks.
"No." Annie says.
"Then get up and let's go. I'll cover you if I can."
Annie nods.
He puts up his hand and counts down from three. Then they jump out from the boulder and start to run towards the girl from 7.
"Come and get it." The girl says with an evil smile on her face.
When they are close enough she swings her axe at Aden who easily blocks the attack.
His sword and her axe collide making a loud clanging noise. Annie stands there watching the fight happen. She soon realizes that if Aden were to lose this fight she would be next.
Annie crouches to the ground and grabs the girl's ankle hard causing her to fall forwards. She almost fell face first to the canyon, but caught herself in time. She did break her nose in the process which is now gushing with blood.
"Bitch." The girl says loudly looking up at the sky.
"Annie push her!" Aden says loudly.
Loud enough to alert the tributes from 1.
"Push her into the canyon." He says.
Annie tries put the girl gets a grip on Annie's forearm causing both of them to roll down the hill into the canyon.
They both get scrapes from gravel and plants. Annie gets a deep cut on her forehead from a sharp rock. If she was closer it would have gone through her eye and probably kill her. Luckily the force of the fall made the girl from 7 and Annie let go of each other. Annie ends up rolling ungracefully into the water with a loud splash
The water stings the new cuts and burns her eyes when she opens them. The water isn't very deep or clean, but is still drinkable. She manages to open the small bottle on her belt to get a little water before she feels a hand around her arm jerking her out of the water.
The girl from 1 slams her against the canyon wall putting her forearm against Annie's throat.
"First you, then Aden." The girl from 1 says and pushes her forearm harder against Annie's throat blocking off her airway.
Annie frantically moves her hands to the girls face and it is not an easy task. Annie is losing air and the girl is holding tightly. Annie is starting to see black spots when she finds the eye socket. Annie digs her thumb deeply into the girl's eye socket.
The girl falls to her knees screaming swear words and holding her eye tightly.
Annie sees the girl from 7 dig her axe deep into the boy from 1's head and a canon goes off. Another canon goes off and she feels blood on her.
"Come on Annie. Come on!" Aden shouts this time and starts dragging her out of the canyon. She sees the girl from 1 slumped over dead and Aden's sword glistening with blood.
Once they get out of the canyon they start running west and don't stop.
Finnick POV
"How hurt are they?" Zayden asks looking at their medical levels.
"Annie got superficial scrapes and cuts. Aden got a deep cut in his arm, but he should be able to manage." Finnick says.
A loud crackle is heard on the screen and is followed by a hard rainfall. The arena starts to turn to night almost instantly.
"Rain, well at least they will be able to collect water." Lena says.
"Yeah they just wanted to get a few dead bodies first." Finnick says.
"Well, District 1 is now gone and there was some blood splatter as well. The gamemakers must be happy with this little fight." Lena says.
"Interesting that both the careers were killed." Zayden says.
"Aden is a career and took down the girl. Although, Annie did some damage by digging her thumb into the girl's eye socket. I thought Annie was gone for sure." Lena says.
"I'm surprised Aden just didn't leave her to die." Zayden says.
"I'm still surprised it was the girl from 7 who took out the boy from 1." Lena says.
"I'm surprised Aden just didn't leave Annie to die." Finnick says.
"Especially since they are now at five." Lena says.
"Only five left." Finnick says surprised.
"Yes and that is when Annie said she was going to ditch him."
"Interesting." Zayden says looking at the live feed.
"What?" Finnick asks.
"The girl from 7 is following Annie and Aden."
"They've got some mileage on her they are still running at full speed." Lena says.
"I have a feeling she will catch up to them." Finnick says.
"Well, hopefully they don't die if she does." Lena says.
Annie POV
"Stop." Annie says out of breath.
They have ran at least two miles from the canyon however, neither of them have been to this side of the arena.
"Fine." He says out of breath as well.
"You hurt?" She asks him.
"I can manage." He says holding his arm.
She nods and sits on the ground. Annie takes out the small water bottle and fashions her coat in a way that will collect water.
She takes a few gulps of the water before giving it to Aden.
"So that was all for nothing." Annie mutters to herself.
"What are you talking about two more people are out of the way." Aden says with a smile.
"What?" She asks.
"That makes five left and if I recall someone wanted to leave once that happened."
"I can still leave." Annie says.
The rain is falling so hard that it feels like bullets are hitting her skin.
"Put your jacket back on. I think it is going to be a long rainy night." Aden says.
He is almost shouting because the rain is so loud.
Annie does hesitantly.
"We should find shelter." Annie shouts back.
"Fine, I gotta say though Annie you were bad ass when you stuck your finger into that girl's eye socket." He says.
Annie doesn't respond they just keep walking around hoping to find some place dry. They walk for an hour before Annie hears it, hears her.
Almost as if the gamemakers knew this the rain slowly starts to let up
"Stop." Annie says softly to Aden.
"What, why?" Aden says annoyed.
"I think someone is following us."Annie says.
"You're just paranoid we put a lot of distance between the canyon and ourselves. Besides, I don't think the girl from 7-"
Aden stops mid sentence as the girl from 7 chops his head off with one swing.
"Ah!" Annie screams loudly as Aden's head falls to the ground causing blood to splatter all over her.
Aden's headless body falls on top of Annie as more blood spills from his decapitated body.
She can taste it. She can smell it. She can feel the thick liquid spill all over her body. She doesn't want to move even when she sees the girl from 7 standing over her.
Finnick POV
"Get up and run." Finnick says.
"She's got a dead body on top of her and is a slow runner." Zaysen says.
"What is she doing?" Lena asks as Annie is rifling around Aden's waist.
"She's looking for his knife." Finnick says.
"Come on 4, stop hiding under your dead partner." The female from 7 says.
"She's got the knife." Zayden says with hope
As the girl from 7 lifts up Aden's body Annie uses this brief moment of opportunity to slash her throat open.
A cannon goes off and more blood spills onto Annie's face. The girl from 7 falls on top of her as well.
"Oh god." Annie says and pushes the dead bodies off her.
"Don't scream." Finnick whispers because the tribute from 5 is very close to her.
Annie stands up and topples over hitting her arm hard against rock.
She starts to run away not bother taking anything with her.
"Why isn't she taking any of their stuff." Lena says angry.
"She probably just wants to get away from the dead people." Finnick says.
"She's coming back." Zayden says.
They look towards the screens and see her patting down and taking the pack from the girl from 7.
"She broke her arm." Finnick says pointing to the screen.
"Probably when one of the bodies fell on her." Lena says.
Annie grabs the bag and swings it over her good arm then runs away.
When she stops she runs her fingers through her hair and screams loudly before the tears start to fall from her eyes.
The girl from 5 looks in the direction where the noise came from. She considers going that way to find the tribute, but instead keeps walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh god if she gets killed because she is crying-" Lena starts.
"I think seeing someone getting their head chopped off and having the majority of their blood spilled on you may be a good excuse for crying " Finnick says.
It gets worse when she looks down at her hands, she tries using spit but there is too much blood. She runs her fingers through her wet hair trying to get the blood off of her hands. Annie wishes it was still raining.
She winces when she moves her arm. She holds her arm to her chest.
"At least she is smart enough to not use her water." Zayden says.
"Yeah." Finnick says and looks at the money she has left. "Is there enough to buy a type of splint?" Finnick asks.
"The good ones are too expensive, but wrapping bandages would be good enough." Zayden says.
"She doesn't have much left and the crying isn't a great image. Do we know what the girl from 7 had in her pack?" Lena asks.
"No one was given bandages." Finnick says pulling up the inventory from the start of the game.
"Then give them to her I guess. She has food and water right now." Lena says.
"Okay it's been ordered." Zayden says and turn to the screens.
Annie jumps violently when the parachute lands next to her.
"The trauma from that event is going to be what gets her killed." Zayden says this time.
"Not you too." Finnick says.
"If her mind got messed up from the trauma then it will be hard for her to concentrate on the actual threat at hand."
"I think she can handle it."
"I hope she can." Zayden says.
After a awhile she takes her supplies to take cover in one of the crevices.
ANNIE POV
Sticky and metallic is all Annie is thinking about.
Her shirt is sticking to her like a second skin. The blood from Aden's body is all over her, running down her arms and chest. Her chest was already sweaty and wet from the rain, but now it is covered in a crimson red.
I never thought blood would be so sticky. Annie thinks to herself as she runs her fingers through her wet hair. Her fingers are coated with blood, but she doesn't seem to notice. The more she touches her shirt or skin the more blood gets on her fingers.
"Rain please rain." She says and looks to the sky.
She opens the parachute that floated next to her.
At first she is confused by the bandages because all the adrenaline and fear coursing through her caused her not to feel the pain in her arm, but once she looks at it she feels the pain instantly.
She puts her jacket in between her mouth so the scream can be muffled when she straightens it out.
Next, she puts her hair into a french braid. Her hair is matted with wet blood. If she had blonde hair it would be much more noticable. Her face has streaks of blood on it. The front of her white t-shirt is now a dark crimson. Aden and the girl from 7's blood is seeping into her skin.
Annie leans against the rock and pulls her knees to her chest.
"Rain. Rain. Rain." She whispers over and over again while rocking back and forth.
She closes her eyes, but opens them instantly. Tears run down her face as she sees the image of Aden's head falling away from his body and his warm blood gushing on her body.
She considers for a brief moment of just staying here waiting for someone or something to kill her.
"Mom, Dad, Dawson, Marina, Luna, Zapp. They're waiting for you, they're all waiting for you. They're waiting for you." Annie says and pulls her face from her lap. "Even if they think I'm going to die they're still waiting for it to happen." Annie touches the rock wall. "I wonder if being crushed to death would hurt as much as a stab." She says as her hand runs across the smooth rock leaving behind a small blood trail.
Annie presses her hands to her face and briefly remembers what her brother said to her during her goodbyes.
"Don't give up when you're in there." He says and hugs her.
He smells like fish and his hands are rough from constant rope burn but it is the price of being a fisherman. Right out of school that's the job her brother Dawson was given.
"I'm gonna die Dawson you know that."
"Maybe, maybe not. If you make it past the bloodbath and kill someone don't worry about it then. If you win you'll have plenty of time to sort it out."
"But-" Annie starts.
"Take this." He says and pulls off the navy rope bracelet she gave him years ago. "Use it as your token. When you look at it just think about us, think about coming home."
"This was a gift." Annie says.
"You can give it back to me if you make it home. When you're in there and you feel like giving up just look at it. Even if you feel so alone, just remember there are people here waiting and wanting for you to come home." He leans in and kisses her forehead. "Come back to me little sister."Dawson says.
She hugs him tightly.
"I'll try." She whispers and hugs him closely.
Her hand has absentmindedly been turning the bracelet.
When a booming thunder signals she climbs out of the crevice, the gamemakers have been giving a signal before earthquakes hit and this could be one.
FINNICK POV
"Can we pull up the aerial view I want to check on the dam." Finnick says.
"Why?" Lena asks.
"I want to see how full it is." Finnick says.
"You think they're gonna break it?" Zayden asks.
"Possibly, why else would they make it rain so much?" Finnick says.
"Because they made a piss poor arena." Lena says.
"I don't think so. I think the dam has something to do with the finale." Finnick says.
"Well whatever they are going to do, it will be soon. There are only four left...Annie should start killing... the game would end faster that way." Lena says looking at the screen only to see Annie holding her knees to her chest and crying.
"I don't think she is strong enough, even from the first day. She doesn't have it in her." Zayden says.
"She killed people in self defense." Finnick says.
"Exactly, self defense she had to do it or she would be dead. She isn't going to hunt down tributes and kill them. We should just let the gamemakers do their work to pull them together. Annie seems to do alright when backed into a corner." Zayden says.
Annie POV
Annie fell asleep in a wide open area, she wasn't planning on it but was crying so much she didn't seem to care where she was.
She jumps awake when the rain starts to fall down hard, harder than it has before in the arena. It's like when there is a typhoon in District 4, the boats are on lock down and people are not allowed to leave their house. People are even recommend to board up doors when it gets really bad.
When Annie sits up she hears the footsteps behind her.
"Look at all that blood." Annie hears the girl from 2 say behind her.
Annie runs but slips in the rain and falls against the rocks.
"So uncoordinated. I wanted to kill Aden but it appears someone beat me to the punch." She says and lunges at Annie. Annie manages to avoid her attack and continues to run. The hard rain fall is making it harder to see anything that isn't inches from your face. The rain is so hard that Annie can barely see in front of her.
"Oof." Annie hears and falls to the ground along with someone else.
Annie takes the knife from her belt. She may not have been able to take down the girl from two but she can manage an unsuspecting target.
The rain is hard to see, but once she gets a good enough view she stabs the victim hard. She can't tell where because it is raining so hard, but the sharp pain he made indicates she at least hit him.
She gets knocked to the ground by a large earthquake.
Annie groans loudly.
Before she can get up the arena starts to shake and a loud cracking sound whooshes throughout the arena.
FINNICK POV
"They broke the dam." Finnick says.
Just as fast as the rain storm had come it has disappeared.
The person Annie stabbed is slowly bleeding to death.
"Find high ground." Lena says.
Annie starts to run for the mountain as the water spills out of the dam. The break caused two cannons to go off.
"There's only two left including Annie." Zayden says
"They're just drowning." Lena says referring to the other tributes.
"Most people don't know how to swim and they don't teach it during training." Finnick states.
"No shit. What I meant is, this won't make a very satisfying end." Lena says.
"That's true, was the dam breaking just a rouse to flush everyone out." Zayden says.
"This has been the plan from the start, the dam could've easily killed everyone at some point. They chose to break it for the finale, all the earthquakes and heavy rain was just to break the dam." Finnick says.
"The water is draining." Lena points out. The water in the arena is sinking as if it is going down a drain.
Annie manages to swim to a rocky edge, but is shivering violently.
"Still so much blood on her outfit." Lena says.
"Where's the other tribute?" Zayden asks and looks at the map.
"Who is the other tribute?" Lena asks.
"Girl from 5." Zayden says.
"They have that electrical dam." Finnick notes.
"Both of their supplies washed away. It will be a good old fashion drowning." Lena says.
"It's hard to drown someone." Finnick says.
"The girl is smaller than Annie and they are both fatigued. Besides, Annie is the better swimmer." Zayden says.
The girl tackles Annie into the water first, but it doesn't seem to phase Annie. There are lots of splashes, screaming and flailing around. But, Annie gets in a good position to hold the girl under water long enough to drown her.
Annie crawls back to the rocky ledge as the final cannon goes off. She spits out water and is breathing heavily.
She falls to the ground when the horn is blown and hears the announcer's voice claiming her as the victor.
The live feed goes to Caesar Flickerman as the gamemakers go to collect Annie.
"I cant believe she actually pulled it off." Lena says. She stands up and stretches. "It will be nice to have another girl on the team."
"I just hope she is okay" Finnick says.
"You say that after every winner and they usually are. She'll be fine after a few days." Zayden assures Finnick.
"I hope so." Finnick mumbles.