Chapter Twenty

A/N: Thank you to laikeyshakey and Guest for reviewing.

Ada Olana, the one who had pushed Costa to her death, lay pale and unmoving on the ground, blood still seeping from the arrow wound which had been the end of her. Her brother did not seem upset, did not even seem to care, and fought on as if he had not just lost a member of his own family to the fight. It was this hostile indifference, when Abby could feel her grief for Costa and for her aunt, for whom they were both named, tearing at her heart like the dagger at her belt, that made her want to kill him all the more.

Costa was gone now, taken by the hovercraft that collected the bodies, and soon enough Ada would be as well. Once this battle was done, there would be a great deal more bodies to collect; whose they would be was anyone's guess. Abby could almost hear the cheers of the betting men in the Capitol and for a moment wondered if she wanted to go home at all.

But then she remembered her mother and father, her grandmother, her godfather, Gale, and his family. She cast a quick glance over at Alex, who was battling against William, and knew that there were so many reasons she wanted to live through the Games, the most important of them being right there before her eyes.

The scrape of metal against the stone wall of the cave caused Abby to turn her head. She managed to duck just in time to avoid her throat being slit by Ebony. Immediately, the younger girl scrambled in the opposite direction, having no weapons at hand for close combat, only the bow strapped across her back, which would be of no help when the quiver of arrows had been kicked aside into the cave.

"Running away are you, you little rat?" Ebony taunted, in that dark growling tone she had. She sounded almost like one of the Muttations her father had once described to her from the past Games, where the Gamemakers had designed the creatures to echo the appearances of the deceased Tributes. Her mother still dreamt of the dog with the emerald eyes, golden fur and collar marked with a jewelled '1' and her father had a painting of the creatures stored beneath their bed, where their daughter could not see it.

No sooner had Abby pulled herself up than she was knocked down to the ground again by Ainsley, who seemed to have abandoned his pursuit of his District partner in favour of pursuing her instead. A quick glance around showed only the two boys fighting against the Careers; Isabelle seemed to have gotten away. 'At least one of us might survive this bloodbath.' she thought, smiling a little, even as she rolled to the side to avoid one of Ebony's blades. 'At least one of us will have the chance to tell our story and bring the Games to an end for good.'

Her smile was short-lived, however, as another knife was brought down upon her, grazing her wrist and causing her to cry out in pain. The cut was not deep enough to be harmful, thanks to her having quickly moved her arm out of the way of further harm, but it was still torturous and deep enough that the blood flowed freely from the wound. 'I have to stop the bleeding, or it's going to kill me.' she thought vaguely. 'I don't suppose it matters though. If it doesn't, someone here will finish the job.'

She rolled once more to try and get away, crying out with pain as the gritty stone floor came into contact with her bleeding arm. Some of the stones had become lodged in the cut, stretching the wound and holding it open, but there was no time to do anything about that now. If she stopped moving for a minute, for even a second, she would be dead before she drew another breath.

Ebony was just a step behind her and had drawn her knife again, but in a flash of metal and a cry of pain, Ainsley had fallen to the ground, impaled with a throwing knife. Abby did not know who had committed the deed, but she was thankful to them, for it meant that only four Career Tributes remained to fight.

Abby glanced quickly over her shoulder and gasped with amazement. Two.

Pascal Olana lay slumped against the wall of the cave, his neck at a strange angle. It was broken, Abby was willing to bet, by one of the boys, in vengeance for how he had not cared that his sister had died. Meanwhile, William Oldmanne lay nearby, scarlet blood still dripping down his pale white chin. There were bruises on his arms, his hands, his neck, that stood out far more now that his blood did not pump to redden his skin. 'The boys must have killed him too.' she thought.

A wave of victory passed through Abby's veins for just a second. They had the Careers outnumbered, two-to-one when Isabelle returned- surely they could not win now, against such odds?

So Abby hauled herself to her feet, darted around Ebony before she was expecting the move and pulled the blade from Ainsley's chest, brandishing it, blood and all, towards her enemy. It was a heavy weapon, built more for someone of a more muscled build than the smll lithe build Abby had, but it was all she had to hand, and it was more than sharp enough to do the job.

They fought for what must have been minutes on end, swinging their weapons at each other with gritted teeth and snarls of aggression. The cuts came thick and fast to both and bled deeply, leaving them more than a little unsteady on their feet. For Abby in particular, whose cut from the start of the fight still wept teardrops of blood, the world was beginning to spin. But she fought on and eventually, she landed a blow that made Ebony scream in terror and agony, before she fell to her knees and finally to the ground. One.

When Abby looked up, she found herself tearful. It was a very different thing, imagining someone's death to causing it, and now she knew why her mother still dreamt about those lives she had ended. 'I probably will do as well.' she realised, and shuddered, for she knew now that the Games would be with her until the day she died and that Ebony's screams would ring in her ears for just as long.

Abby had been so lost in thought that she had not seen the figure standing behind the boys. It was only when the glint of steel against the moonlight caught her eye that the girl managed to cry out in warning. Both boys turned and while Harry took a few steps in retreat, Alex ran right towards Coda, blocking his attack, which had been aimed directly at Abby. The battle was brief, a few strokes of the blade, and when Coda fell to the floor, the group rejoiced at the sound of the cannon.

The smile faded quickly from Abby's face. There was not one cannon, but two.

A/N: Oh no! Who is it? Please review!