A/N: Hello everyone! I hope that you're enjoying the story so far. It's going to get a little AU from here on...just a warning. I feel like this chapter was hard to write, I'm not good at thinking up deaths. xD
Anyways, please leave a review if you're liking this story, if it interests you at all. I admit it, I am a bit disappointed when only a few reviews come in. Ok, very disappointed...
And...I abandoned the 3rd person POV attempt. I just couldn't do it after 5 chapters of 1st person. :)
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Cato:
20…19…18…
The ever-famous voice of Claudius Templesmith counts down the seconds. I am tense, already eyeing the excellent assortment of weapons scattered around the Cornucopia.
14…13…12…
I catch Clove's eye and grin wolfishly. She knows what to do. We'd gone through the plan last night.
9…8…7…
The girl will be allowed to stay in the alliance if she is useful. But one wrong move, and the little rat is good as dead. As are the others. Glimmer, Marvel, Narcissa, Howard, all the Careers are disposable. In the end, there is only one winner. And it's going to be me.
4…3…
I can feel the tension in my shoulders, waiting to be released.
2…1…"Let the 74th annual Hunger Games begin!"
I am already on the move, sprinting towards the huge metal object in the middle of the field. I snatch up a sword and skewer a tribute who was foolish enough to approach the weapons alone. As the boy crumples to the ground, a cannon sounds above the screams of pain, the victorious shouts, the clang of metal, the thud of bodies falling to the ground.
Tributes are dying everywhere, their corpses covered with blood, faces unrecognizable. There is danger at every corner, but not to me. Clove ducks under my arm and scoop up several knives, her small white teeth showing as she flashes a manic smile at me before speeding away.
I tuck two knives into my belt, throwing the third at a running figure. Like always, the knife finds its mark, and blood splatters onto the grass as the girl tribute from District 7 falls to the ground.
I examine the battlefield; Glimmer is splitting a dark-haired boy's skull, Marvel is wrestling on the ground with two weaker tributes, and Clove is pursuing a red-haired male who is too slow to dodge the knife that pierces his back.
There is the sound of metal scraping against the Cornucopia, and I turn to see Thresh's giant form lumbering away towards the rolling hills of wheat, several weapons clutched in his huge hands.
I growl in frustration and hurl a knife at the retreating figure. But Thresh is too far away, and the knife misses him by a few inches. It's not worth the chase, I'll kill him later.
More cannons sound, and I rush back into the midst of the bloodbath, not wanting to miss out on the fun. A red haze has once again clouded my vision, and I am a powerful lion amongst weak lambs. I destroy and break everything in my path, only veering away when a member of my alliance crosses in front of me. I see my own hands strangling a girl, pinning a boy to the ground, I feel my body slamming into tributes and sees my sword flashing as I ends their lives.
Finally, it is over. Bodies lay dead on the ground, the grass is slick with blood. The sticky red fluid is all over my clothes, arms, and face. But I don't care; I know that it is not mine.
Howard's body is among the fallen, a spear still clutched tightly in his hand. But Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, and Narcissa are still standing. Katniss is nowhere, and I feel a flash of annoyance. She was the one who wanted to be part of the alliance, after all. Then again, I'm not surprised that she ran from the initial fight.
"Take all the weapons that you can. Line your coats with knives if you want. " I smirk, directing the last part at Clove. I see Clove's tiny face lighting up with a dark joy. She actually takes me seriously, gathering knives and stuffing them into her coat.
Underneath a pile of backpacks is a silver bow with a quiver of arrows, and Glimmer picks them up, a satisfied smile on her face.
Upon Glimmer's request, we waste several precious minutes wiping the blood off of their skin and cleaning the weapons, and I am the first to stand, the front of my shirt wet with lake-water.
"Let's go." I growl. The others rise as well, and we are off, a fearless group led by a fearless leader.
Katniss:
I crash through the branches of a small tree, ignoring the painful stitch in my side as I continue sprinting through the forest. Then I remember- I am supposed to be part of the alliance. I slow to a jog and groan, knowing what my crazed departure might mean to Cato. I don't even know if he still wants me in the group.
But my best shot at survival lies with the Careers, and I only have a knife and an annoyingly bright backpack with me. I decide to stop and wait for them to find me.
I quickly scale up a nearby tree, and perch on a thick branch. I do not wait long. After half an hour or so, there is the sound of footsteps against the ground, and the Career alliance bursts out of the brush, weapons in hand.
"Hey! Up here!" I call down. They look upwards, and Cato rolls his eyes.
"Get down here if you still want to join us, Lover Girl." He grins, and I try to send telepathic swears towards Peeta. Making me desirable. Yeah right. All he did was create another reason for the Careers to poke fun at me.
I jump to the ground, half-expecting to be killed on the spot. Cato pulls out a knife from his belt and reaches towards me. I gasp and close my eyes, hoping that my death will be quick.
But it never comes. Opening my eyes, I see Cato and Clove eyeing me strangely. Glimmer, Marvel, and the District 4 girl have already forged ahead.
"Relax, I'm just giving you a knife." Cato hands it to me, still looking at me like I'm crazy. I take it from him, not bothering to tell him that I already have one stored in my belt.
Cato:
"I wonder where lover boy is. Probably going crazy looking for his one true love," I say. Katniss shoots me a look of annoyance.
"Shut up, Cato," she mumbles.
"Just saying," I smirk. Soon we catch up to the others, who have apparently adopted Marvel as temporary leader while I've been away.
"And we need should set up headquarters somewhere and leave someone in charge…" Marvel commands.
I clear my throat. "You were saying…?" Marvel turns and his face pales.
"Oh, sorry Cato. I was just-uh…telling the group what I think we should do," he stammers. I stride past him and take my place at the front of the alliance.
"You are such an idiot, Marvel." I growl. Marvel stays quiet as we break into a run.
Katniss:
It is dark when I see the smoke rising up into the air. It is a thin tendril of white, curling above the trees. We have been running for about hours now. I fell like my legs are about to fall off, but the others run with what seemed like never-ending energy. That, or they are just afraid to be left behind. Cato seems intent on hunting down the stragglers, the tributes who are out in the open.
No doubt whoever is sending the smoke into the sky is a straggler. It seems like no one else has noticed it yet…perhaps he or she will get away with it.
But of course, the odds are not in his or her favor. Cato lifts his head for a minute to survey our surroundings, and then his eyes are transfixed on the smoke. A precarious smile appears on his lips.
"I think that we've found one." He says simply, as if it was just a game of hide and seek. We all carefully follow him through the brush and trees until we can see the small fire in the clearing.
And beside it, a girl, slumped over…asleep. She certainly seems to be looking for her death. Cato pulls his sword out of its sheath and turns to us.
"I'll be the one to kill her." We nod in acknowledgement. Cato lets out a whoop, and bursts forward. Within seconds, the poor girl is surrounded on all sides. I despise myself for helping block off her escape, for helping the Careers kill off those who are weak.
The girl jerks awake at the sound of our scuffling feet. She sees Cato approaching, sword in hand. Then she stifles a scream as she realizes that there's no escape.
"Please! Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything! Anything! You can have all my stuff! Please!" She frantically scrambles onto the ground, pushing her bags towards us.
"No! Please! Noooo-" I gasp as her scream is cut off. There is the sound of flesh ripping as Cato skewers her with his sword and then a thump as the body falls in a bloody heap.
Clove starts laughing, and the other Careers join in. I'm the only one who stares at the remainder of the girl, petrified.
"Twelve down and eleven to go!" Glimmer shrieks, delighted. There is a round of appreciative hoots. I hold my tongue and refrain from pointing out that in the end, she will be among the dead.
"Check her for supplies." Cato wipes off his sword on the girl's bag, leaving a red smudge on the bright fabric. We find nothing useful.
"Alright, let's clear out so that they can collect the body before it starts stinking." He sounds bored, as if the only exciting part of the ordeal was when he killed the girl. We leave and start running again.
"Umm…shouldn't we have heard the cannon already?" I ask. Cato's eyes flick to my face.
"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately. "
"Unless she isn't dead." I argue.
"She's dead! I stuck her myself."
"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done." Clove seems thoughtful, she probably wants to be the one who 'makes sure the job's done'.
"I said she's dead!"
"We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on!" The words are out of my mouth before I realize it.
"Do you seriously think that we're going to let you leave alone? You'll probably run away to look for Lover Boy," Clove snarls. I admit it, something like that had flashed through my mind.
"Clove, you go," Cato says. Even I know that Clove will never leave him. She's the one he trusts most here.
Clove grins and slips away. Seconds later, the cannon fires.
"Let's head back to the Cornucopia," she suggests when she rejoins us.
"We'll sleep for a few hours before getting the rest of them." Cato agrees.
We set off at a run again, this time back towards the lake. I think of Peeta, Rue, Thresh…they've all been classified as enemies, victims. And I'm part of the alliance that will kill them.
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A/N: So, what did you think? Once again, please leave a review if you liked it. The more reviews, the faster I update. :)
*Also, if you're up for some Finnick Odair goodness, please check out my other fanfiction, about Finnick and his district partner in the 65th annual Hunger Games. I'm feeling quite depressed with it right now, no one seems to have any interest in it at all. *sighs*
As I'm updating this, I have 55 reviews. Thank you guys so much! Could you guys somehow get that up to 65 by tommorrow night? I'll update on Sunday/Monday if you do, and if not, I'll just update sometime later in the week. Love you!