Zoe had heard the cannon go off: 8 tributes dead. Not bad for the second day, but Zoe had to continue on her crusade. Too many women had died. She wanted to bring up the death count for the males, especially the ones that had proven themselves to be unworthy. Octavian and Ethan were awful, and Leo wasn't amazing either. Zoe avoided the idea of killing her district partner. Nico was a male, yes, but Zoe felt that she owed it to Bianca to leave her brother alive for slightly longer.
Knives at the ready, Zoe, continued down the dark hallway. The lighted wooden hallways had abruptly changed to concrete tunnels. Zoe had considered turning back, but the path behind her had seemed to disappear. So Zoe continued. She had lost all sense of time, but that was no matter. Time did not matter in an Arena.
Zoe found herself at another fork in the road. She listened, thanking her keen ears for warning her that there was an ominous noise from down the left hallway. Zoe turned right, treading lightly. She did not want whatever that thing was to hear her.
But thudding footsteps were still coming closer. Abandoning all pretense of stealth, Zoe began sprinting away. The footsteps became louder.
Zoe changed tactics again at the next fork in the road. She threw herself into the left cavern, against the wall, and tried to regain her breath. When the thing showed up, she would destroy it with her twin knives. They were not a bow, but they would do.
Thud. Thud. Thud. The noises became louder. Zoe became aware of the fact that her heart was beating faster than usual. Zoe had attempted to shut off all emotions of fear from her life. It was necessary back in District 12. After her father had thrown her out, and she had been relegated to the streets, Zoe had tried to make herself strong. She had learned how to protect and provide for herself. Fear became a thing of the past. But now, she was genuinely afraid.
A hulking behemoth came out of the darkness.
Zoe forced her terror down and analyzed the thing. It had no eyes or ears. How did it know where she was?
It turned towards her.
Zoe leapt out of the shadows, aiming for its head. The thing wasn't fast enough to move out of her way, but Zoe's knives barely sunk into its head. It was made of stone. Zoe realized that she was lucky that her knives were undamaged.
Zoe moved toward the other side of the room. The thing slowly turned around to face her, stepping forward, arms outstretched. Zoe dodged, slamming her knife into the thing's arm. Her knife sank in a few inches, but then the monster pulled its arm back, sending her crashing into the wall, her knife still imbedded in its arm. Zoe eyed the weapon, knowing that she had to get it back. The idea seemed dangerous, and the thing began advancing on her again. Zoe rolled out of the way and sprinted down another corridor. The thing's footsteps followed her.
Zoe came to an empty cavern, and instantly knew that running had been a mistake. There were three other tunnels leading to the room. A few moments later, Annabeth entered the room, breathing heavily. She seemed to be wet.
The thing was still following her. Zoe slipped out of the doorway, moving along the wall. She could not allow her back to be uncovered, where another tribute—a male, probably—could knife her. The stone monster stopped in the doorway.
It had been herding her.
Zoe made eye contact with Annabeth. The blonde girl hung back, seemingly unwilling to fight. She also held a knife. Her eyes darted back and forth between the other two entrances. Zoe realized that she was also waiting for the next challengers to enter.
Enter they did. Ethan ran in, sprinting away from some dark figure that loomed in the hallway but did not enter. He looked between the two girls frantically. Zoe noted that he looked slightly strange. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the fourth person entering: Katie, being chased by what looked like a group of vines.
For a few moments, the four tributes eyed each other. Then, the stone thing that had been herding Zoe entered the room, charging for her.
Zoe dove out of the way, letting the thing smash into the wall. When it turned, it did not look too damaged. That was disappointing. Zoe's knife was still imbedded in its arm. Zoe wanted it back. The monster charged towards Annabeth next, who rolled out of the way, throwing her knife at the monster's back. It hit, lodging itself.
"It doesn't have eyes or ears!" Annabeth called.
"No kidding!" Katie replied, hovering by her entrance, looking unsure. "What does that matter?"
The monster charged back at Zoe. Annabeth back up next to Katie. Zoe felt a flash of frustration. Why weren't they helping her?
"How does it know where we are?" Annabeth asked. "It must be sensing us, or being guided by a Gamemaker. Everyone stay still."
"That's not exactly possible," Katie said. "How do we kill it?"
Zoe dodged the monster once again, coming to a halt next to the other two women. "Thank you very much."
Katie, at least, looked chagrined. "Sorry."
Zoe noticed that she was clutching her wrist to her. Annabeth was resting mostly on her left ankle. "We need to go for the joints."
"What? Why?" Katie asked.
"They look unstable. If we hit them, that thing might fall apart."
It was a long shot, but as the monster charged Ethan, Zoe decided that it was a chance they should take.
"Come on," Annabeth said.
"Why me?" Zoe asked.
"You're the only one that isn't hurt."
"Kill her!" Ethan shouted from across the room as he stabbed the monster in the chest. "Kill Zoe!"
"He's crazy," Annabeth muttered.
"Not crazy!" Ethan protested. "She scored the highest! She'll kill us all!"
"Let's go," Annabeth said.
The four tributes ringed the monster. Zoe made the first move, charging it and stabbing it where the arm met the shoulder.
The thing cracked. Actually cracked.
Zoe could practically hear Annabeth breathing a sigh of relief, before Katie charged the thing with her knife and hit it again. The arm fell off. Zoe could tell that Katie had seriously injured her arm in some way. Her hand fell limp against her body, and her wrist seemed to be pointing the wrong way. Zoe felt new respect for her competitor. She was a worthy woman. And Zoe had killed her district partner.
The monster turned again, charging Zoe. This time, Zoe stood her ground, before diving at the last moment and smashing her knife into the creature's leg, again and again until it fell off. Zoe could not help it. She imagined her father standing in the creature's place, imagined hurting him like her had hurt her.
As the leg fell off, the thing fell over. Annabeth stabbed it in the neck. The head fell off.
For a moment, all four tributes stood, waiting for the thing to rise again and try to kill them. But the rock monster stayed on the ground. Zoe breathed a sigh of relief as the vines and whatever had been waiting in Ethan's tunnel retreated, leaving the way clear.
But something shifted. Katie screamed. Zoe turned, seeing Ethan charge at her.
Annabeth was the one who acted fastest. She threw her knife. It caught Ethan in the arm. He howled, but kept going at Zoe.
"You idiots!" he screamed. "She'll kill us all! We have to kill her!"
Zoe punched him in the gut.
He briefly fell, but got up again, knife at the ready. Zoe approached with her own knife. "Leave, male," she hissed.
Ethan's eyes flitted around. Katie and Annabeth remained motionless.
Ethan threw his own knife, at Annabeth. It hit her in the shoulder. Annabeth screamed and fell.
Ethan ran. He didn't know why he hadn't thrown his knife at Zoe. She was the bigger threat. But she would have dodged or something, and he would have failed. Annabeth was unprepared. Taking her down would be a victory, in any case. Just as big of a victory as killing Castor! She had sided with their future killer!
Annabeth lay on the ground, waiting for the pain to come. It didn't. Instead, her arm felt numb. Annabeth gripped the knife, carefully pulling it out. It didn't hurt. There was something green on the blade.
Poison, thought Katie. Ethan had gotten poison from somewhere. Who knew how hard it would be to stop? Where would the antidote lie? Katie wondered if she should even bother helping Annabeth. They were still competition, after all.
Zoe stood above the two girls. "Is the blade poisoned?"
"Yes."
"That—that bastard!" Zoe never stuttered, but Ethan had made her so angry! She had half a mind to chase after him now, to bring him down, but Annabeth required her help. She was not about to leave her new ally lying on the floor, dying.
The thought caught Zoe by surprise. Ally. Zoe had never planned on having allies, but the two women had proven themselves more than worthy. Katie and Annabeth could both help her, and she could help them in return.
"Well," Zoe decided, "we have to find the antidote. Let's go."
"Zoe, I'm not sure if there is one."
Zoe looked at Katie, and shrugged. "We will search. We will try."
Katie inhaled. Exhaled. Finally, nodded. "Fine. Let's go."
Tributes:
D1: Nancy Bobofit
D2: Octavian Hill; Reyna Ramirez-Arellano
D3: Leo Valdez; Annabeth Chase
D4: Percy Jackson; Clarisse La Rue
D5: Jason Grace
D7: Grover Underwood
D8: Ethan Nakamura
D9: Will Solace
D10: Frank Zhang; Hazel Levesque
D11: Katie Gardner
D12: Nico di Angelo; Zoe Nightshade
Any suggestions?