Chapter 8

I must admit, I'm taken by surprise. There's a bark somewhere off to my left, and our entire party looks to see.

And stood there, in plain sight, are five wildcats. When I say wildcats, I mean more like large lynxes. They're mutts. No animal's eyes are the exact colour of blood. No other animal stinks of roses. And no other animal has green saliva dripping from its snarling lips.

"RUN!" I scream. No one needs to be told twice. We're sprinting off into the forest, not caring about which district we're from. None of us remember we're enemies. Not even Aquette. We just run, because our weapons are one thing; the mutts are quite another.

That's when it happens.

Neptune trips. And then the cats are upon him, ripping and tearing. We continue to sprint off. I'm trying to block out the sounds of Neptune's screams as the mutts tear him limb from limb. None of us thought about stopping to help. It's self-preservation or nothing in the games. So we keep sprinting through the forest, trying to outrun the mutts. I can always climb a tree, but I have a feeling the lynxes can too, and I'll be no better off above ground.

The cannon sounds. Neptune is dead and there's five of us left. So many died so quickly. And there we have a brutal reminder of the capitols power. I hate them for it. I hate every single one of them. Because now I'm running away from one of the most lethal threats I will veer face.

I'm running alongside my enemies. Running alongside the person who I suppose has become my first love.

Running for my life.

Aquette throws her trident to a mutt. Good. One less problem to deal with. I start running but I can see two of them are following me. I remember watching the 38th Hunger Games, where the tributes were chased by mutts that duplicated by the minute. They climbed the Cornucopia to escape. Didn't survive for long, seeing as they then were left only with each other. There was a bloody fight to the death after they'd escaped from those mutts. It makes me shiver thinking about it. But the Cornucopia is too far away right now, and I by the time I reach it, I'll be dead.

I can see Squirrel running as fast as she can from one of them, and I watch as she takes a knife out and slices the mutt's skin. Whether or not it actually made an impact is debatable.

I'm still running. Where? I don't know. My legs are directing my body to my lake, and Squirrel starts following me. I think she's only doing that because she thinks I know where I am going, although that, I suppose, is true.

After a long, frantic period of running, some of which I spend trying to shake both Squirrel and the mutts off, we reach the lake, but there are two mutts behind us. If I had to guess, I'd say the others were either finishing off Neptune, or going after Aquette and… And Flint.

I start trying to think of a solution. There's no way we can fight these. But… Every mutt is controlled by the capitol, and every mutt has some part of them that proves it. These mutts have a silver metal collar with the symbol of Panem on it, and I suppose it's from that spot tht they're controlled. If I could somehow get at it…

Wait a minute. They're made of metal. Electricity is the only thing keeping them moving. The Capitol doesn't like using live animals. It creates its own because sometimes the animal survival instinct is too strong and the mutts back off. So usually, instead of genetically engineering, they make full out… robots, I suppose. If I can lead them to just a little water…

It's only a possibility, but I'm desperate. And unfortunately, I can't do it alone; I need Squirrel's help.

"Hey! Girl from 2!" I call. I really don't know Squirrel's name, but if I called her that, I was not going to receive help. "I have an idea, I don't know if it will work, but…" I trail off, waiting for a response. We're still running and both breathless. She turns her head to me, sharp eyes mocking.

"What idea "girl from 7?" She spits. Nice of her to make fun of me at a time like this. But I can see the panic and the insincerity behind her eyes, so I let it slide.

"Water!" I shout. She looks at the lake, then at the mutts and realizes what I mean. We're at the lake now. This should be easy.

We both run straight into the water, leading the mutts in after us. I turn to look and I see them run straight into the water. For one sickening moment I think about the fact that they could be able to swim. What if they're not normal mutts, just genetically-engineered cougars. Because if they are, I bet they can swim a whole lot better than me.

It's just then that their collars start to throw sparks. I stand back as their joints creak and they fall into the water, inactive and harmless. Squirrel and I both stand there for moment or two, breathless and soaking. It's hard to remember that we're enemies. She turns to me.

"How very clever of you." Squirrel remarks, sarcastically. Charming. As much as I would have liked to kill her there and then, I had to go. Not only would she start attacking me at any moment, Flint was out there in the forest somewhere, face to face with a mutt.

Before squirrel has a chance to say anything more, I start running, and running, and running. I didn't hear a cannon, which is a good sign, but that doesn't mean that Flint is okay. I know we're allies, but for me... he was more than that.

And in that moment, I realise that it's true. I've fallen for him. I'm in love with him. I'm in deep trouble because of it, but it doesn't matter. Because I love him and that's all that matters.

And right now he's in danger.

"Flint!" I scream into the darkness. "I'm here! Where are you?"

No answer.

"Flint!" I cry, desperately.

No answer.

Maybe he can't hear me; maybe I'm not near enough… Or maybe the mutt got him, and he's living his very last moments. I shudder. I can't think about that. I have to keep looking.

"Regan!"

Oh my God! That's Flint: He's alive!

"Flint!" I call back, my voice breaking with the relief.

He continues shouting, and from the pain in his voice I can tell he's been injured, but I am going to save him as he did with me.

Then I see him. In the middle of a tree lined clearing, opposite a mutt. He has a sword out in both hands, poised to attack, but that mutt's claws are just as good. The mutt's growling at him but it's not attacking. Then I realise why.

The Capitol controls the mutt's actions. They were waiting for me to get there.

And here I am.

The mutt leaps into the air towards him, claws out. Just because they wanted me to watch him die.

Before it can reach him though, I hurl my axe and it sinks into the mutt's neck. It still collides with Flint and he falls back onto the grass, but it's dead before it hits him. Flint just painstakingly pushes it off.

I saved Flint. He's alive, and he's right next to me.

"I love you." he whispers me and then kisses me.

I can tell he's injured. It's worrying me so much, that I barely register the kiss as out of the ordinary. We're both bleeding, and we need medicine urgently.

"How did you kill the other mutts?" He asks me, teeth gritted in pain.

I tell him everything. How Squirrel and I ran to the lake, leading the mutts in. I told him about how they died.

"The Capitol didn't think you were that smart." he says, smiling. "You'll get sponsors. They'll realise how much you're worth." I smile at him, and he taps my nose lightly with his finger, a move which I know the audience will love.

We lie on the ground next to each other, prepared and tired enough to sleep. It occurs to me as I close my eyes that Squirrel will have told Aquette about my lake. It's no longer my safe haven.

It's a death trap.

THANK YOU FOR READING! :D Could you please review this? It doesn't take long and it means the world to me, so please? Pretty please?

Lucy xxx