Again, you readers never fail to motivate me (: Thanks to your very awesome reviews, I decided to give you guys a good chapter! I want to thank the new followers for adding this story to your favorites list, I really appreciate it! (:
"I'll stay back and guard the supplies," says Gary.
"Don't you want to hunt with us?" I ask. I don't trust Gary, I still have the idea that he's just playing a friendly façade to earn our trust, and stab us in the back when we're not expecting it.
I whisper to Evan. "I don't trust him,"
"So are you going to stay back with him?" he asks.
"No, I want to hunt." I say. I may not trust Gary, but I'm not missing out on what could be an interesting hunt tonight.
"Do you want someone else to stay back and guard the stuff with him?"
"Yes, but who do you think is willing to stay back?" I ask. We're all careers, none of us don't want to be left behind to guard supplies with a tribute from a poor district. We want to hunt. We want to spill blood.
"I'll do it," Marina pipes us. Evan and I raise our eyebrows.
Marina is skillful, but due to her small stature, Gary could overpower her easily.
"No offense, but if Gary tries to do something, he can take you down with ease." I say, she is unruffled by this.
"I know, but neither Caiden, Vinera, or Sebastian will be up for it." she says.
"Fine, but listen closely. Make sure Gary isn't behind you. Stay in front him and keep a close eye. You can run fast right?" I ask.
"Yeah," she says.
"Okay, so make sure you have your bow loaded. Run if you know you can't take him on, alright?" I say in a whisper. She nods her head.
"Good, then it's settled." I say.
"What's settled?" asks Sebastian.
"Gary and Marina are staying behind to guard our stuff." I tell him. "Are you sure?" he asks her.
"Yeah." Marina says in a reassuring tone.
I undo the tie that's on the back of my pack. I take my sheath of spears and make a tight knot around the strap of the sheath, attaching it to the back of my pack. I look at my allies to check if their ready. Vinera is using the bottom of her t-shirt to wipe her axe, Caiden is putting a lot of shuriken stars in his belt, Evan is putting one plastic bag full of dried fruits in his pack, and Sebastian is just swinging his trident at the empty air.
"Is everyone ready?" I ask.
"Yup," says Sebastian leaning on the wall of the Cornucopia.
"I was ready ever since," Vinera says in an annoyed tone.
"Ready," Caiden says. I look over at Evan. "I'm ready,"
"Make sure no one steals our things," I say to Marina and Gary. "We won't allow that to happen," says Marina. I nod.
"Let's go," I say.
It's a long walk to the where the barns are at, but it's worth it. I am curious as to what's inside. It must be a trick, because the Gamemakers never make the games easy to win. If they did, the audience wouldn't be happy because they want to watch something intense. Now that I'm here, I'll give them the show they want.
There are three barns that look like they've been abandoned. It's a tall building, and the red paint is fading away, causing a tinge of brown to appear. Vinera is eager to walk in, but my extended arm stops her. "Don't, there might be something dangerous inside." I tell her, but that doesn't affect her decision on wanting to enter.
"Well, we don't know, so let's go in and find out." she says.
"There could be a mutt that can slice your body in half with one swipe," I say.
"I'm with Vinera, let's check it out." Caiden says.
"Check it out, you say? What happens if you check it out, and don't come back out alive?" I ask. He shrugs sheepishly, but Vinera defends him.
"We have our weapons," she says.
"Yeah and the monster has supernatural powers." I say.
"I agree with Amethine, it might be a trap." Evan says. "Me too," says Sebastian.
"So is it district 1 and 4's word against district 2's?" Vinera asks, crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side.
"Call it whatever you want, I'm not going inside." I say.
"Why, is the golden goddess afraid to enter the scary barn?" she asks.
"Don't start, because I'll have no problem teaching you a lesson." I say, with my fists raised.
"Enough!" Caiden yells standing in between us. "Vinera and I are going to go inside and take a look, you three can stay out. I mean the Gamemakers didn't just put these barns here for decoration." he reasons.
"Fine, you got a flashlight?" I ask, remembering that I didn't bring one.
"Yeah," they say at the same time.
"What are you waiting for? Go." I say. Vinera rolls her eyes at holds her axe in position in front of her, ready to swing if someone, or something attacks. Caiden takes five stars out and puts them in the gaps that are in between his fingers. It doesn't cut his hands because he places the gap between the sharp points on his skin.
Vinera tries to push the door open, but it won't budge. She sends a questioning look to Caiden and I send one to Evan. Why won't it open? It looks old, it has to open easily. Or they might be something valuable in there, and the Gamemakers have the made entering the barn difficult. Vinera makes way for Caiden, and he tries to push it open but fails, too. He nods to Vinera, she hands him her flashlight and buries her axe onto the wood. She keeps doing this until she creates hole big enough for them to fit through.
"Scream if you're in trouble," I say.
"Don't worry golden goddess, I know how sad you'll be if I die." Caiden teases and hands Vinera her flashlight back. Sebastian gives a light chuckle and I roll my eyes.
"In your dreams,"
Vinera smacks his shoulder and motions for him to follow behind as she goes inside. I hear their footsteps crunch on what could be hay. I hear them walk around, they're probably checking if there's anything interesting inside. I would hear their voices, sometimes discussing on what could be there. Then, I hear shrill cry then a scream, followed by a loud thump, and the whistle of a blade.
"Vinera, Caiden?!" I call out. Wow, not even ten minutes have gone by, and something goes wrong. They should've listen.
I rush into the barn, not caring if I don't have a flashlight. Evan and Sebastian run behind. I see Vinera on the ground lying next to the wall, rubbing her shoulder. Caiden's hand which was full of shuriken stars is now empty. The only he's holding is his flashlight. Vinera's flashlight is on a pile of hay, next to her.
"Let me see," Caiden say as he checks Vinera.
That's when I spot the ugly mutation lying on the floor with a throwing star buried in both of its eyes, and forehead. The creature has blue and green scales. Its head is the same shape of a human, and it has hands similar to a human's, besides the claws. Its body is skinny and it has a long tail. Its lifeless yellow eyes bore into mine, and its mouth is hanging open, revealing all the jagged sharp fangs.
"The Capitol really make these monsters ugly," says Sebastian.
"I know," I say.
"Is it really bad?" I ask about Vinera. Caiden gaze shifts from Vinera to me. "No, it's probably just bruised." he says.
"Where's your axe?" I ask Vinera.
"Somewhere over there." she gestures to an area not too far away.
"That monster knocked it right out of my hand," she says.
I find Vinera's axe. "We should leave now, look for other tributes. They might be sleeping, so let's head out." I say. Caiden helps Vinera up and I hand her her axe back.
We get out of the barn and make a beeline for the forest. When we get there, Caiden, Vinera, and Evan turn their flashlights on.
"You don't have one?" Evan asks. I shake my head. "I forgot,"
"So just stand by me," he says. I nod in response.
I take a spear from my sheath cautiously, so it won't cut my fingers. I raise it in position, and look around for any threats. Caiden leads, Evan and I walk behind, Vinera walks behind us, and Sebastian takes the rear. Caiden retrieved his shuriken stars from the body of the mutt, and he is holding them right now.
I hear a rustle, and my spear is already flying in the direction of the source. I threw my spear to my left, about two yards away. Evan hands me his flashlight, and I walk there slowly, trying to stay quiet. I find my spear, with its silver end sticking out of a rabbit. The rabbit twitches, with my spear lodged in its leg. I pull the spear out and stab its chest. We probably don't need the rabbit, because we still have a lot of food back at the Cornucopia. I'll hunt when I separate from the others.
"It was just a rabbit," I inform Vinera, Caiden, Sebastian, and Evan.
We continue on our hunt. I would occasionally stop the others, and listen closely to any sounds that signal a tribute is nearby.
That's when we spot blood on an oak tree. Looks someone escaped the bloodbath, not unscathed. The blood looks like three finger marks, like the tribute tried to hold onto the tree, but let go and probably fell. Caiden shines his flashlight on the ground, and we spot a trail of blood leading north. I smirk at them, my eyes gleaming with malice in this dark night.
We follow a trail and come across Derek- the boy from district 8 holding his bleeding abdomen while sitting high up in a tree, sleeping. The tree is stained with blood, probably when he was climbing. I can't believe he climbed 15 feet up with a stomach injury. He might have fell asleep while holding his wound.
"How are we going to wake him up?" asks Evan. Caiden searches the ground for something, and picks up a small rock. He chucks it at Derek, and it hits him right on the chest. Derek stirs and rubs his chest.
"How was your sleep?" I call. He looks around and sits up straight when he spots us.
"I made a mistake at the bloodbath when I stabbed you. I should've finished you off, instead of chasing after that girl from district 5." Vinera says to him. So she's responsible for his injury.
"How are we going to kill him?" asks Vinera.
"Maybe I can throw my spear at him, but I won't deliver a death blow. Just another injury." I suggest. They seem to agree.
"Then I'll throw my axe." Vinera concludes. I nod. "Since you missed your chance at the blood bath, why don't you kill him?" Evan asks Vinera.
"Good idea. So Amethine throws her spear, Caiden his stars, Sebastian his trident, and I don't think you can throw your sword, Evan." Vinera says.
"I can't, but I call the next tribute we find," he says.
"Deal," we all say.
"Ready?" I ask Vinera and Caiden. "Go,"
I twirl my spear in my hand and aim it at Derek. There's a chance that he might dodge it, but due to his wounds I'm sure he won't be able to move quick enough. I throw the spear at his shoulder and he yelps in pain. He groans and pulls it out and throws it angrily at the ground.
"Thanks, I was going to get it back anyway," I say.
"My turn," Caiden says. Under a minute, he has one star penetrated in Derek's calf and two others near Derek's torso. Derek screams. Sebastian's trident goes through his shirt, and stabs his forearm.
"Please! Just stop!" he pleads. "As you wish," Vinera says. She raises her axe, brings it back, and throws. It whizzes right into Derek's chest. I walk over to the area he threw my spear and pick it up. A cannon fires.
"Are you going to get your axe?" I ask Vinera. "Yeah," she jogs over to the tree and hugs the tree. She moves her feet carefully, fearing that she might fall. She's good at climbing trees, but not as fast as me.
She pulls herself up next to the branch Derek's dead body is planted on. She hugs the tree with her legs and reaches over to Derek's body. It's a good thing the width of the tree isn't large, because Vinera would've plummeted to the ground. She puts in some effort pulling her axe out, but when she does she throws it on the ground. She pulls Derek's collar and yanks the stars, out of his torso. It was easy taking the trident out, so she throws it on the ground carelessly. She extends her hand to get the star on his calf, but it's too far.
"It's alright," Caiden tells her. She hugs the tree with her hands and uses her feet to move down. When she's two feet above the ground, she jumps off.
She picks her axe up, takes Sebastian's trident and walks over and gives the boys their weapons. I notice the crimson liquid on her finger.
"Vinera, is that Derek's blood?" I ask.
She looks at her finger, and it bleeds more. That is not Derek's blood.
"No, I probably got cut from Caiden's star." she says.
I get behind Vinera and open her pack. She doesn't protest, because she knows that if the cut is not taken care of, it will get infected. I take out the white bag with a red cross professionally painted on the front. I unzip it and pull out the bottle of alcohol spray that will clean it. I grab her finger and spray it without a warning.
"Can you at least warn me?" she asks. "It's just a little sting, don't be a baby." I say.
I take out an unscented wipe and get rid of the blood. After that, I take a band-aid out and wrap it around the cut. I use my teeth to cut the tape, and wrap it out the band-aid to secure it from falling. I am impressed with the result, because it looks so much better.
"Thanks," says Vinera. I nod.
We walk in the direction of the way we came in, figuring that one kill should keep the audience happy. The fun has just begun, and tomorrow we'll hunt again. We hear the hovercraft from behind. I turn and see some kind of metal hand picking Derek's body up. It takes him away, and just like that, Derek is gone with the wind.
We get out of the forest and walk past the barns. My spear is in my hand, ready to fly at anything that tries to harm us. When the barns are far behind us, we wonder where the others might be hiding.
"Do you think some of them have made an alliance?" asks Vinera.
"Maybe," Caiden answers.
"Do you think some of them are hiding in the barns?" asks Evan.
"No, they're scared to go in alone." I say.
We come up behind the Cornucopia and meet with Marina and Gary.
"Did you guys find any tributes? We heard a cannon. I was for sure that it belong to Vinera," says Gary. Vinera scowls at him.
"Shut up," she spat.
"We got the boy from 8," I tell him.
"Okay so now that you're back, why don't we eat some dinner?" asks Marina. We all agree.
Marina gets a big pot and heats up three cans of vegetable stew. She hands everyone a bowl and serves the food. Coming from the Capitol, the food is delicious. We eat in silence until Caiden speaks.
"I'll take the first watch," he says.
"Okay, just wake anyone up when you get tired." I say. He nods. When we all finish our food, and get ready to sleep. Everyone but me sets their sleeping bags inside the Cornucopia. Gary is the first to sleep, then Evan.
"Good night," Marina says as I walk to the tent. "Good night," I get in the tent and smooth the wrinkles out of my sleeping bag. I put my sheath of spears next to me, in case someone tries to sneak up on me. Or what if I'm too late to reach for my spears? I'll just sleep with one in my hand. I put my pack down and get into the sleeping bag. My eyelids feel heavy, so they close and I fall asleep, with my hands wrapped around my weapon.
Thanks again for those reviews on the last chapter! You have no idea of what kind of mutts I plan on using in later chapters. Okay so at the end of the chapter, I will post a list of the tributes that died and what day. This was suggested by C.B Weasley, so I want to thank you!
Day 1:
Bolton from district 3
Latteine & Nick from district 6
Tanner & Sequoia from 7
Amber & Derek from district 8
Bonnie & Timothy from district 10
Feltrix & Maggie from district 11
Calvin from district 12.
Thanks for reading! May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor (: