I sigh as I look into the sky. I am sitting on The Hanger with silent tears rolling down my cheeks. Poor Oak, he was so young and yet he has been taken from life. He didn't deserve this, none of us do, really. We are all just trying to get home.
The sky lights up with the Capitol seal and the anthem booms through the arena. The first face to show is the girl from 5. Then it is Oak. His innocent face that will never be seen again. My heart aches for him, he was like a little brother and I felt the need to protect him. His face disappears and I let out a sob for him. "I am sorry" I whimper as I pull me knees up to my chest. The last person to show is the girl from 12, the outer district career tribute. I wonder if the other careers killed her after finding out she was injured by Alex. At least that is one career down for us.
"Are you ok?" I turn and see Thorn coming to sit next to me.
"Not really, but I will live" for as long as I can. "He was just so young and defenceless" I say before feeling fresh tears come. I feel Thorn shift next to me and then a hand on my shoulder.
"He is in a better place now" he says. That is true, he will no longer have to live in Panem. He will be safe up in heaven. This doesn't make the pain go away though. I still feel hatred towards both Glitz and Alex. "You go sleep and I will keep watch" he says. I turn to look at him and his blue eyes lock onto mine.
"Thank you" I reply before wiping my tears and make my way down the hanger and under it. I lay my head down and sigh before closing my eyes.
"Maple!"
"Oak?"
"Maple, help me!"
"Oak, where are you?"
I look around the field I am standing in. Bodies litter the ground and the grass is stained red. I notice that all the bodies are the dead tributes. "OAK!" I scream at the top of my lungs.
"Over here" I hear his voice to my right. I turn and then my eyes widen. He is staring at me, his face void of emotion. Then I see Glitz come up behind him, axe in hand.
"Oak, behind you" I shout but it is too late. The axe flew through the air and lunged into Oak's spine. "NO!" I screech and run to Oak. A pool of blood has gathered around him and he is shaking.
"Maple" she says.
"Oak, I am sorry" I mutter.
"M-maple, b-b-behind, y-you…Alex" he stutters. Before I can turn, I feel a hand on my hair and a blade on my throat.
"Say goodnight" I hear Alex. She swipes the blade across my throat and my body becomes numb. I fall to the floor and close my eyes waiting for my life to be over.
"No!" I shout as I shoot up. Sweat is beading down my face and my shirt is damp with it. I pull my knees up to my chest and let out a sob, "Why Oak? Why him?" I cry. I look to the others and I notice that Thorn and Chip are asleep, which means Alex is on watch.
I feel sorry for blaming Alex. She was the one who volunteered for Oak to check, but she didn't know that Oak was going to stand up and wave. She didn't know if the careers were there. I too sent Oak to the hill, so I can't blame Alex for anything.
I make my way out from under the Hanger and see Alex sitting on top. I climb on top and sit next to her. It feels awkward and none of us talk for a while. But then she brakes the silence, "Maple I am sorry" hear her say.
"No, you don't need to be" I reply. "You weren't to know the careers were there. I too sent Oak to the crater. It was none of our faults, it was Glitz" I say.
"Sure enough, I weren't too fond of the kid, but I didn't want him dead. I know that sounds weird, seeing as how we are in the hunger games, but I didn't want him dead" she says.
I take her hand and squeeze it, "He was just too young to die" I say, feeling tears come.
"I know…but we have to take out the careers. There are eleven of us left, our group, the careers and the little girl from three" she says. I feel a pang of guilt knowing that the girl was out there all alone.
"So when do we attack?" I ask.
"As soon as. I suggest we look for a water source, closer to the careers. No doubt we might die, but if we can manage to take then down with us then at least somebody from the outer districts will win" she says. I nod before resting my head on her shoulder.
When morning comes it is even hotter. It feels like the Gamemakers are trying to roast us. I can feel myself getting sun burn, aswel as the others. I have stripped from my shirt and I am just in my bra. I see Chip blush as I do this and Thorn tries his best to not look.
"That looks like a good idea" Alex says and copies me. Chip blushed even more and I see Thorn look at both of us before averting his gaze.
"Erm, I-im going to find some, erm…berries. Yeh, berries" Chip says and I can't help but giggle at his nervousness as he scrambles to his feet and walks away.
"Yeh, I will join you" Thorn says before following him.
"Awww, bless them" Alex says as she splashes water over her face. The stream has defiantly started to dry up, so we will have to move anytime soon.
"Let's go hunt, I can't sit around here doing nothing" I tell Alex. She nods and we get up, grab a bottle of water and head off.
It has been an hour since we left camp and we have not yet caught anything. We have found a couple of berries along the way and Alex got me to check them before we ate. Some were poisonous, but none were deadly. The ones that were not poisonous were delicious.
Snap!
"Did you here that?" Alex whispers as we freeze in the spot. I grip the axe handle and I see Alex grab her sword. I can hear voices not too far away and heading towards us.
"Get into a tree, now" I tell her. She nods and I scale a tree within a minute, but Alex is a little longer. We wait for about 5 minutes and then I see them. The duo from district 4 walking towards our tree.
The boy has a spear and the girl has two daggers. "I can't believe we escaped" the girl said excitedly.
"Calm down Bass" the boy replied, "They could still find us and with just the two of us they will kill us" he says.
"Sorry Hook" Bass replied as she leaned against the tree Alex and I are in. "What now?" Bass asked.
"We look for that other alliance. If we kill them, then we take more out of the running" Hook replied.
So they want to kill us. I won't let them find us. I shuffle a little quietly towards the edge of the branch we are on, "What are you doing?" Alex whispers.
"Taking down the careers, what do you think" I whisper back before carrying on. I am above the boy now, concealed by the leaves. Little does he know that his life is about to end. I raise my axe and then let it free-fall. The metal blade digs into his head and blood splatters everywhere.
The girl screams so I jump down, pull the axe out and hearing his cannon boom in the distance. "You bitch" she screams as she charges at me with her daggers. She lunges at me but I jump out the way, but not far enough because I feel pain shoot through me as her dagger cuts a deep gash in my side.
"Alex" I shout and then see her jump from the tree with her sword raised.
The girl looks scared and seems to be a year or so older than me, but she is smaller. "I will kill you both and then I will kill the other two" she screams as she runs at me again. I hold my side but manage to jump out the way. She heads towards Alex who uses the sword to block the attack.
I run and grab Bass's hair. I pull it as hard as I can and she screams as she falls to the floor. I am about to kill her but then I see Alex's sword enter Bass's body. The sword is in her chest over her heart. The cannon booms and they are 2 careers down. 5 more to go.
We take their weapons and their bags before leaving so they can collect their bodies. I walk back to camp feeling numb. I don't feel remorse for killing them. They were careers and deserved it. I am feeling numb from the gash in my side. It is the first major injury I have had in the games. I am certain it won't be my last.
We get back and find Thorn and Chip looking at us worried. "We heard the cannons" Chip said as he stood up. "We thought you died" he says as he looks at us.
"You killed?" Thorn asks.
"The duo from four" I say plainly. I look down and see blood dripping of my axe. I have killed 2 people within 3 days. I wonder how long the games will go on. Will they bring us together now? We are the final 10. They will be waiting for us and the career group to start splitting up soon. But before we do, we need to kill the careers, or go down trying.
"We also have weapons for you two" Alex says as she drops the two daggers and the spear on the floor in front of Chip and Thorn. "They were what district four had on them" she adds on.
I take a seat and look through the bag I took of the boy. Inside was a half empty canteen, a bag of fruit and nuts. A pair of sun glasses, a small dagger and a first aid kit. "Not bad" I say as I show the others. I try the sun glasses, hoping they are night vision glasses, but they aint. They are just plain old sun glasses.
"Are you hurt?" Thorn asks. I turn to him and then look down at my bloody wound.
"Oh, I guess I am" I chuckle nervously. He gets up and walks over to me before taking the first aid kit and getting to work my wound. If I thought the pain from the prep-team was bad. This is ten times worse. As he stitches me up, pain shoots through my and I have to bite down on my arm to stop from screaming out.
When he is finished he puts padding over the wound and then goes to wash his hands. "Thank you Thorn" I tell him and he smiles at me. I turn to Chip and Alex, who are talking about different strategies. I can't help but smile. This is my family. My own little family. Yet, they will all have to die.
I turn my head and let the tears fall. It has been a long day and we have an even longer one ahead. Tomorrow is the day of deciding. Will we rise victorious or will the careers?
A/N: The games are drawing to a close and there will be a big fight scene next chapter between the careers and anti-careers. There will be a lot of deaths and I promise I will make it the best chapter yet.