Late that night, Annie awoke to the sounds of Luster screaming for her. She put on her night vision goggles as she ran over to where the One girl stood. The hill on which the Cornucopia stood was quickly becoming an island as water filled the area. Luster pointed, and Annie could see Mila struggling to stay afloat in the rushing water. "She thought she saw something at the bottom of the hill, so she went down there to check it out," said Luster visibly shaken. "Then there was suddenly all this water. What should we do?" she looked to Annie with tears in her eyes.
Annie swallowed, trying to keep her expression neutral. "Let her save herself. If she can't, we're down to nine tributes." Luster nodded. Neither of them could tear their eyes away as Mila slipped underneath the waves. A few minutes later, a cannon sounded. For the rest of the night, Annie and Luster sat together, not talking, both caught up in their own thoughts.
When morning came, the three boys returned. Their expedition last night had been fairly successful, as they had found and killed three tributes. Decius accepted the news of Mila's death emotionlessly, but afterward Annie noticed him calculatingly observing the four other Careers. The District Two man was smart; he had to know that without someone to watch his back in the Career pack, he was likely to become the next target.
From a tactical standpoint, these Games were going extremely well for Annie. Seannan reported that the rest of the Arena was also hilly, and the small flood that had killed Mila had occurred everywhere. Now, the Arena was a maze of islands, the perfect environment for District Four's tributes, but a nightmare for many of the others. Annie had noticed that Seannan help Amethyst across the channel to the Cornucopia. The District One tributes could not swim. From the look of Dacius's slow, jerking strokes, he was not comfortable or confident in the water either. In contrast, she and Seannan had practically been raised in the sea. The other Careers would need to rely on them to hunt down the other tributes. This was a definite advantage for her.
She needed to talk privately with Seannan, but she doubted that the other remaining Careers would allow that to happen. Instead, she settled on shooting him some meaningful looks over lunch. After their meal, Seannan offered to take the first watch so the rest of them could sleep. Amethyst stayed up with him. About an hour after Annie laid down, Seannan walked over, clamping his hand over her mouth before waking her. Annie tried to scream, but her voice was muffled by her district partner's hand. Seannan nodded over to where Luster and Amethyst waited. Being sure not to wake Decius, Annie moved to join them.
"We should get rid of him," said Luster. Annie was surprised by her change in attitude from the night before. Luster had wanted to rescue Mila, and now she was planning to murder Decius in his sleep. It sounded terrible, but Annie could see the practicality of her plan. There would only be eight tributes left, half of them Careers. She, Seannan, and the District One tributes could find and kill the others over the next few days before it came down to the four of them. Hopefully, Annie could come out on top and see her family again. If not, then maybe Seannan would. She found herself nodding in agreement. Seannan looked uncomfortable with Luster's proposal, but he agreed as well.
Amethyst picked up a heavy sword from their pile of weapons and walked over to Decius's sleeping form. He plunged the weapon deep into Decius's chest. The blade pierced his heart, and Decius was dead before he even had a chance to scream. The cannon boomed. Together, Amethyst and Seannan carried the dead tribute's body to the water, letting the tide carry the fallen tribute away. Seannan came to sit by her, and they watched together as a hovercraft came to collect the corpse. Noticing that her friend was shaking, Annie took his hand. "It's okay, Seannan," she said. "He had to die so that one of us can go home."
Seannan nodded, but she see tears in his eyes. "I'm not sure I want to go home," he said, his voice breaking halfway through the sentence.
Annie tightened her grip on his hand. "Of course you do."
"No, I don't. I'm sick now, Annie. I didn't even feel bad as I watched Amethyst kill Decius. I didn't care. I don't want my mother or my sisters to see me like this." The usually quiet, reserved man broke down in tears. Annie wrapped her arms around him, resting his head on her shoulder. She knew there was nothing she could say to make Seannan feel better, so she rubbed his back and made comforting sounds until his sobs quieted.
Dusk came all too soon. The four of them decided to leave the Cornucopia unguarded. It was unlikely that any of the other tributes knew how to swim, so their supplies should be safe. Annie and Seannan helped the District One tributes swim to the next island over. They would comb the islands for any sign of the other tributes before moving to the next. Annie was glad that there were still four living Careers. She remembered as a little girl watching a big man from Seven tear through three Careers with an ax. Although she knew that was an anomaly and that Seven was normally not even a real contender in the Games, the image had stuck with her, and she was terrified of ending up alone near the Seven boy.
Amethyst tried to lighten the mood by making small talk. "What do your families do in Four?" he asked.
Seannan didn't answer, but Annie felt obligated to keep up the conversation. "My father is a fisherman," she answered, "and my mother makes rope. My two brothers and sister help on the boat. What about your families?"
"My mother's a silversmith, and Dad does some glassblowing."
Luster joined their conversation. "My dad makes music boxes," she said. "They're the most beautiful things." Luster played with her blond ponytail as she daydreamed of home.
"What does your mother do?" Annie asked.
At this, the other girl looked sad. "My mother's been dead for several years." Luster's answer sounded bitter. Annie felt terrible for bringing up such a sensitive topic and apologized. "Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known." With that, Luster went to help Seannan search a field for any sign of the other tributes. Annie swallowed around a lump in her throat. She couldn't kill Luster or Amethyst. They both seemed like honestly nice, kind people. Maybe she wouldn't have to hurt them. Maybe the other tributes would get to them first.
Their search of the island yielded nothing, so they moved on to the next one. Here, they found remains of a fire, but no tributes. They must be close, though, since the ashes looked fresh. When they moved on to the third island, they found the Three girl huddled under a rock. She awoke just as Annie stepped towards her. The girl, a small, frail-looking thing who couldn't have been more than fourteen, launched herself at Annie, managing to make a long cut along Annie's ribs before Amethyst wrestled her off. Annie stabbed the girl with the sword a dozen times, only stopping when the cannon went off.
She then heard another, more threatening sound, and turned towards the water. The water level had risen again, and several of the smaller islands were now completely underwater. Annie grabbed the watch out of her pack. Two a.m., probably almost the same time as the first flood. She considered telling the other Careers, but decided that she wanted to keep this knowledge a secret for now.
Annie stripped off her shirt to examine her wound. The cut was not deep, but it extended for about five inches along the left side of her chest. She hunted through the packs until she found some antibiotic ointment and some bandages. Annie was left-handed, so she had a difficult time cleaning the wound herself. Noticing her difficulty, Luster came over and helped. "Don't worry," said the One girl, "I've done this before." She took out a needle and sanitized it by putting it in the flame of a match. Luster then sewed Annie's cut shut. Having the needle pass through her skin again and again hurt, but at least she was no longer bleeding. Together, they wrapped that side of Annie's chest in bandages, and then Annie got dressed again so they could move on.
They found nothing on the next four islands. As soon as she stepped onto the fifth, Annie was hit with a terrible feeling. Before she could say anything, the Seven boy was sprinting towards them, ax in hand. The Careers turned to run, but before they could escape, the boy landed a blow on Seannan. Annie felt frozen as her friend's head separated from his body. She watched as his knees bent and his body collapsed. She saw his head hit the ground, the eyes still open in a shocked expression.
Her world shattered. An inhuman scream left her mouth, and Annie ran as fast as she could for the water, her only thought that she needed to get away. She dived in, accidentally breathing in some water as she swam. Annie choked and sputtered, but she kept swimming. She swam and swam until she reached land. She pulled herself up onto the grassy field and lay there with her legs pressed against her chest and her hands over her ears. Annie squeezed her eyes shut, but all she could see was Seannan's expression as his head sailed away from his body.
A/N: I intended for this story to be completely canon compliant, but I've read so many versions of Annie's Games where the dam breaks, and they have all been so well done that I didn't think I could add anything. So, I decided to change the method and timing of the flood. I hope you liked it!
As far as bookkeeping goes, I intend on this story having about seven more chapters. The next two will cover the end of the Games, the following three will be about her recovery, and then I plan on writing two epilogues. I really hope you have enjoyed the story so far. Thank you so much for reading! I love feedback, so if you could leave a review, it would be fantastic! See you soon,
~finnicko-loves-anniec