Katie didn't quite trust Zoe to take watch for them, but fatigue eventually overcame her. At least Zoe seemed normal, unlike that freak Ethan. A little strange in her way of talking, but at least trustworthy when it came to the matter of—what, 'looking over her fellow women?' Maybe not so normal, actually.

That said, it hadn't been easy to fall asleep. Annabeth was obviously in pain. Every few minutes, there was a quiet whimper or other sound of pain from where Annabeth was lying down. Katie had seen the wound, which was a horrible green color. The knife had been poisoned, that much was obvious. The only question was how long it would take Annabeth to die.

Zoe, too, was watching Annabeth. The woman was brave, that was sure. Strong. A true warrior. Still, was it kind to let her suffer this way? Would it not be better to end it? Zoe considered how she would feel in Annabeth's position. She would want to face her death with pride. She would not want to die slowly with the knowledge that there was no hope of her survival. Would it not be better to unburden herself and Katie and end Annabeth's suffering in the process?

No. The idea sickened her. She was not a traitor, nor would she ever do anything damaging to a fellow woman. They had to stand strong together in the face of all of the males that would come in their way. They had to ensure that a woman would be the just winner of these Games. Zoe was not about to let a man go back home to fame and fortune and glory—

But she would not think about that. She would not.

"You're alive," Zoe murmured, not sure who she was talking to. "You're alive."

"Who's there?!" Annabeth called out. Zoe's blood ran cold. Did Annabeth not remember her? Was she delirious? What was going on?

"It is I, Zoe," Zoe reminded her.

"Zoe?"

For an agonizing moment, Zoe believed that Annabeth had lost all memory of the last day. But then she spoke again. "W-Water?"

Zoe had water, yes. But should she give it to Annabeth? Once again, she sickened herself. But still, they had searched for an antidote for hours, until the anthem had come on and revealed the deaths of Octavian and Leo (7 males left in the Arena, only 7) and they had had to stop for the night. The maze had changed setting over and over, and still there had been nothing. Zoe was beginning to believe that there was no way to save Annabeth. And as such, should Zoe prolong the inevitable?

"Are you going to give her water?"

Zoe startled before realizing that it was Katie who had spoken. Zoe stared at her, silent. She could barely see Katie in the dark, but had a feeling that Katie was glaring at her.

"Well?" Katie challenged, and Zoe could begin to see more of that angry girl on interview night, not the meek one who had followed her around, taking turns supporting Annabeth.

"Well."

Katie snorted. "You might as well kill her now, you know."

"You would turn on our ally?"

"You weren't going to give her water."

"You may be right."

Zoe imagined Katie looking surprised. "R-Right—I mean, right. Yes. I was right."
"I do not want to kill her."

"Wait, what?!" The challenge was in Katie's voice again. "You were really considering killing her?" A tinge of fear had come into her voice.

"Would it not be kinder?"

"She's still alive, Zoe! She's not dead until her cannon fires! What, are you going to kill me too? It's kinder, right? I won't have to die a slower death from starvation or a Career! So why not do me in?"

"You still have a fighting chance, Katie!" Zoe was surprised at the emotion that she had allowed into her voice. The last time she had been this emotional—it must have been two years ago as she bid Bianca goodbye.

"H-Hey," Annabeth coughed weakly from the ground. Both Zoe and Katie turned, surprised, worried. "I'm still…alive, you know."

"Are you in pain?" Katie asked.

"Are you gonna kill me if I say yes?" Annabeth asked, pushing herself up with her good arm. It was what, four days into the Games? And already her supposed 'allies' were going to kill her. They could try to justify it however they wanted to, but Annabeth wasn't going to allow herself to die, even if her arm did hurt so maniacally that it made her teeth hurt.

Katie became aware of how there was a long hallway behind her, all plush walls and wine-red floors made out of velvet that could soften her footsteps and damn, did she want to get out and leave into the welcoming darkness because she wasn't meant for this! She wasn't meant for alliances!

And then it came to her. She didn't have a fucking obligation to this alliance. She knew that Zoe had killed Connor when they had brought up their district partners after the Anthem had played and Annabeth had mentioned Leo's death. She didn't owe Zoe anything, and Katie didn't even know Annabeth!

She had a choice. This doomed alliance with a doomed girl from 3 and little water left or Miranda, her sister Miranda who was watching at home and waiting for her. Miranda, who deserved to not just have wildflowers on the kitchen table but real ones, too, roses and tulips and whatever else she wanted.

Katie didn't dare pick up the backpack. She didn't dare kill Zoe or Annabeth. Instead, she slowly padded off into the darkness.

Annabeth watched her go. Though she felt hate rise in her at Katie's departure, a small bit of admiration rose in her. Katie had the strength to do what she needed to do, and she wasn't killing Annabeth in the process. But what should she do? Would Zoe kill her without Katie around? Would Zoe go after Katie? About five minutes after Katie had left, Annabeth finally spoke up. "She's gone."

Shock rolled over Zoe's face, and Zoe turned. "Traitor."

Annabeth knew that she was being an idiot, but she had spent years being prudent. She was in pain and she was probably dying anyway, so she spoke her mind. "We were never really an alliance anyway."

Now Zoe looked—betrayed. There was no other way to put it. Annabeth wondered what was going through the older girl's head. Did she really think that they were allies? Friends? Had she trusted them?

But there was no point to wondering anymore because then Zoe stood up and grabbed the backpack and followed Katie into the dark.

Think, Annabeth told herself. You can do this. Ethan had a poisoned knife. Her hand closed around the knife.

And I still have it.

If there was still poison on it, it was a formidable weapon. But before using it, she had to find a way to survive. Ethan either got the poison from…from inside the Arena or outside. That means that there will be an antidote inside the Arena, or outside of it. And if Ethan managed to get a sponsor gift, then so can I.

Annabeth forced herself up, even as her shoulder and arm screamed out at her and started in the opposite direction as the other members of her broken alliance.

XXXXX

Percy had walked until he had managed to leave the damp hallways behind. He tried to force his mind off Leo. Why hadn't he done anything? Leo had a family, that much was obvious from his ramblings as he died. He was what—15? Percy should have been able to save him!

And then it hit him. Even if he had managed to save Leo, how would the outcome have changed? There was only one winner. He would have had to kill Leo later on.

And as always, his thoughts came back to Annabeth. She had called him out on the fact that being a volunteer made him, well, the worst person ever. Just thinking about Annabeth made him feel sick. What if she had died. They had been separated—what, last yesterday? It felt like an eternity. The same way that the five days he'd known Annabeth felt like longer. It wasn't possible that he could care about someone's death if he hadn't known them for long. Then again, Leo…either I'm just a super caring person, or I'm wrong about, like everything. Shit, did I just talk about Leo's death like it was a joke?!

Something shifted in the darkness behind him. Percy whipped out his sword, ready to charge, but then it solidified and it was blonde and it was Annabeth!

Percy actually laughed, laughed right out loud, and then sheathed his sword and reached out to hug her. Annabeth made an 'oomph' noise, and Percy drew back. "Sorry!"

"S'fine," Annabeth mumbled. Percy noticed that she was clutching at her stomach. "It's…nice..to see you."

"What happened?" Percy asked.

Annabeth grimaced and shook her head. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?"

"What did it…sound…sound like?" Annabeth's voice was a rasp.

"Do you need any water?" Percy asked. Whatever Annabeth claimed, she wasn't okay. Percy wasn't willing to let her die too.

The thought almost made him drop the water bottle in his hand. Where had that come from? There was only one winner.

Leo, a small voice in his head said. She's Leo's district partner.

Whatever, Percy answered.

"I'm glad to see you again," he told Annabeth.

"W-W-Why?" she stuttered out, and Percy had never been so glad to see such an aggressive look on someone's face. "We're enemies, you know that."

"Yeah, I guess." Percy honestly wasn't sure why he felt so happy. There was something about seeing a familiar (more familiar) face in the Arena. There was something about being around a person that he could trust. There was something about Annabeth.

"You're weird."

"That's my middle name, you know."

Annabeth shook her head. "You're such…such a…seaweed brain."

"Seaweed Brain, huh?" Percy felt like laughing again. "Okay, then."

XXXXX

The pain was screaming through Nancy's body like fire and it almost made her regret wanting to torture the people she had killed. It was like knives and then she was regretting volunteering in the first place. It made her want to die, actually want to die, and that was when she wondered why she had done it.

"You're just an ugly nobody that's never going to get anywhere," Allina had told her. "I don't know why you bother waking up in the morning when you daddy doesn't love you and when your mommy didn't love you enough to not kill herself and when you don't have any friends—"

Nancy punched her across the face. "I—I don't need anyone to love me!" The words were almost comforting, like a lullaby. "I'm going to be somebody! I'm going to win the Games, you'll see!"

Being a winner had never seemed farther off. Things were drifting out of focus, fading black, and things were almost hurting less…if this was dying, then maybe, maybe…maybe Nancy would see her mother again…

XXXXX

A cannon fired.

Tributes:
D2: Reyna Ramirez-Arellano
D3: 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

And so District 1 and 6 have been eliminated and only Districts 4, 10, and 12 have two tributes left, we're at the final 14, and things only get worse from here. And by worse I mean - better. Yes, better. Not that I'm going to kill even more people.

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