Chapter 19
When we're a little way down the road, Rob asks, "You ok, brah?"
"Yeah, I've just got a killer stitch. Nothing a man like me can't handle."
"I mean with all the gore. You look sick."
I glance back to see a hovercraft buzz away with Anita's body draped in its claws, trailing blood.
I swallow bile.
"Oh, well, you could say I'm green with envy. I should have got that kill. Sugar stopped me killing Anita back in the woods."
I'm not technically lying. She did distract me from chasing after Anita right away.
Rob exclaims, "Did she really? Man, that cunning shark. First, she pulls one over on you, then Greg… I'm starting to think she can't be trusted."
"Obviously."
That was Greg. He stands with his arms folded at the entrance to the widest path to the cornucopia. I see a sign on the gate and realise that we started the games in a derelict college campus.
Greg continues, "That bitch is gonna stab us all in the back the first chance she gets. She's said so herself."
"Ya," Says Rob, "She's like, totally playing with us."
"Yeah!" I join in, "She's a real doo-doo-head!"
"She is!" agrees Rob.
"She doesn't deserve to win the Hunger Games!" I say.
"Yeah!" Rob and Greg agree.
"In fact, she doesn't even deserve to make it to the last few with us!"
"You're right!" Say's Rob.
"We should kill her!" Says Greg.
I take a step back.
"Now hold on, that might be diffi-"
"Totally!" Rob talks over me, "And her brat sidekick, too!"
"Well, I don't think Salto has actually done any-"
"Right." Says Greg, "This is gonna be tricky. So, we've gotta keep this a secret and form a plan."
"I'm with you, my dude." Says Rob.
"Bros' Alliance?" Says Greg.
He holds out his fist.
"Ya, radical." Says Rob.
"O-okay." I say.
I go to fist-bump the guys. Instead, Greg punches me hard in the shoulder, then Rob follows suit. They do the same to each other.
"We're turning on the girl who told us she'd kill us if we try anything." I query, "Just checking I got that right?"
"What, you scared?" Greg sneers.
"No…"
He flaps his arms and makes chicken noises at me.
Rob puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Come on, man. It's the Hunger Games. And I've got your back, okay?"
I look into his sea-green eyes, imagining foam-crested waves carrying me to triumph. The waves smell like Rob…
"Yeah, okay." I say.
"Noice!" says Rob, "So, were you guys thinking clubs or maces?"
"Time for that later." Says Greg, "For now, how about some Mario Kart?"
Once we make it back upstairs in the college accommodation, Greg plugs in the PS6.
To our delight, the monitor on the wall glows to life.
The Capitol truly are merciful overlords of this arena.
"We've gotta put the disk in." Says Greg.
I reply, "What disk?"
"You'd better be screwing with me." He says.
The camaraderie between us is gone in a flash.
It slowly dawns on me.
I argue, "Well I couldn't bring two tokens in with me! One of you should have brought the game!"
"Unbelievable!" Greg shouts, "I actually thought you were gonna contribute something to this team, even if it was just entertainment, and you can't even do that!"
"Woah, dude." Says Rob, "Midnight was trying. He might not be strong, but he's a good guy. He's like, the gay best friend. I wanna keep him around, 'cause he makes me feel better about myself, y'know?"
The words best friend pierce me right through the heart.
I say, "You're wrong! I am strong; I just haven't had a chance to show off yet because everyone keeps stealing my kills!"
"Argh!" Greg shouts, "You are infuriating! You're just a weak little squirt who thinks he's better than everyone else because he wears a gallon of gel in his hair."
Before I can correct Greg about the natural moisture in my hair, he picks me up by the collar and holds me over the window ledge.
My body dangles 30 feet in the air.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't drop you." Greg snarls.
"Because it'll kill me!" I choke.
"Good." Greg spits in my face.
"Wait!" I say.
I think frantically.
"Th-there's n-no need to be hasty."
My voice does not tremble. My palms are perfectly dry, and I give Greg an impossibly steady, controlled look.
"A… A t-time could come, when… when I save your life. You n-need me, Greg."
"Are you kidding me? I've had enough of your grandiose bullshit!" He yells.
Spittle flies into my face as he shakes me.
He goes to throw me out of the giant window.
Electricity sparks crackles through me.
I shouldn't feel like this right now – I'm not a sub.
The jolt continues and every muscle in my body seizes up. I feel my hair stand on end, and see Greg's do the same.
He grunts through clenched teeth. His fist is seized up around my collar so he can't let me drop.
The electricity stops.
"What was that?!" Greg demands.
"Dunno." I pant, "But it hurt."
"Smartass! You're gonna pay for that, however you did it!"
Greg goes to drop me again.
This time the voltage is higher.
Greg's muscles pop with tension.
When the shock subsides, Greg pulls me back into the common room and drops me on the carpet.
"Ow! Carpet burn!"
Greg massages his temples and wipes sweat from his reddened face.
Rob says, "Let's all calm down, dudes. That was obviously the game-makers trying to stop us killing each other for now. My brother Plaicey is one of them. I know how they think."
Greg says, "If I can't kill this punk by dropping him, I'll beat him to death instead."
He bears down on me.
Rob tries to restrain him, with as much success as a Haymitch has with sobriety.
"W-wait!" I plead. I lower my voice to whisper, "Don't kill me. I have a really good thing going with Rob at the moment, and I want to see where it goes."
Greg does not react.
I should have guessed he isn't the romantic type.
I close my eyes and wait for his fist to cave in my skull.
Then he bursts out laughing. Raucous laughter that shakes the already unsteady foundations of the building.
"Unbelievable!" He guffaws, "You think… You reckon you have a chance… HAHA!!!"
"I don't see what's funny." I say.
"I get it now." Say's Greg, "That's why they wouldn't let me kill you. The Capitol loves a romance. Even better, a hopeless romance."
"Well, I wouldn't say hopeless…" I protest.
I worry that Rob will guess what we're on about, but he appears busy fixing his ponytail.
"I get it now." Greg laughs, "Ok, I won't kill you yet, if that'll stop the game-makers turning on me. We'd better get some rest, huh, team-mate?"
With that, he claps me on the back and shoves past Rob to open the door.
"I'm going to bed." Says Greg, "I feel like my body is full of burning hot pins. Besides, gotta recharge the massacre-machines."
I figure out what he means when he kisses his biceps. And I have to say, he described the aftereffects of the electricity pretty well. My skin feels like it's being pricked over and over with millions of tiny needles.
I am left alone with Rob.
My heart is still racing. I try to flatten my hair again, to appear less like a porcupine who recently discovered the punk-rock scene.
Rob and I look at each other. I get the feeling neither of us want to go to sleep just yet.
I take a step towards him.
"FUCK!"
Greg barges back into the common room.
"I forgot the bedrooms are bloody locked!" He rages.
"Perhaps this would be of use to you?"
Sugar stands in the doorway behind Greg, holding up a fistful of lanyards.
"How'd you get in here so fast?" Greg demands.
Salto appears beside Sugar.
He says excitedly, "Anita had a key card on her. It unlocked the office downstairs, and we found the keys for these rooms!"
"And we destroyed all the other key cards, so nobody else can hide in this building." Sugar adds.
"Nice work, dudess and little dude!" Rob grins.
"Yeah, whatever." Snorts Greg, "Gimme a key then; I wanna go to sleep."
He reaches for a lanyard.
Sugar moves them out of reach.
"Ah-ah…" She tuts, "I think you owe me an apology before I help you with anything."
"I'm not apologising for shit. You threw a pigeon at me."
"No sorry, no key."
The two glare at each other for a solid minute.
Salto chimes in, "By the way, Greg, why are you red and sweaty?"
"Midnight." Greg huffs.
"Ohh…" Sugar raises an eyebrow, "I expected you to have higher standards, Greg."
"Not like that, you freak!" He cries out angrily.
Greg makes another swipe for the keys.
"What was it like, then?" Sugar pushes.
"I tried to kill him – that's what happened!"
Greg looks increasingly furious.
How dare Sugar manipulate him? Who can blame him if he has feelings for me?
Sugar remains deadpan.
"Kinky." She says.
Greg lunges at her. She dodges nimbly and tosses him a lanyard.
"No apology needed. You looked pathetic enough regardless."
Sugar throws me and Rob a lanyard each, before reconsidering.
"Do you three even want a room each?"
"I swear, if you don't shut your pretty mouth, I'll shut it for you." Greg threatens.
Sugar laughs lightly.
She and Salto enter a room each and close the doors behind them.
"I am going to throttle her." Greg growls softly.
"Now that is kinky." Says Rob.
Greg rounds on him.
"It's ok, dude! I was only joking! Remember the Bros' Alliance?"
The corners of Greg's mouth turn up into a reluctant smile.
"Yeah. We take down Sugar, then the rest of the arena."
"That's right." Says Rob.
"Yeah," I say, "And don't worry, I won't hog all the kills to myself."
"I'm still pissed off at you, punk." Greg says.
He beeps his card on the nearest door and enters his room.
I turn back to Rob, to retry the moment that Greg ruined a few minutes ago.
I see a door closing and Rob is nowhere to be found.
I sigh and enter my own room for my first night in the arena.
Light filters through the dorm window from the dead tributes projected into the sky.
I fall asleep to the Capitol anthem, vaguely contemplating the poor quality of the mattresses in this arena.
The next morning, I am awoken to the sound of an explosion.
Orange firelight floods my room for a second, before I roll out of bed and rush groggily to the window.
The rising sun peeks through the gaps between houses opposite my window.
Between my room and the houses is what used to be the college football pitch, now with unkempt turf and torn-down wire fencing.
And on that pitch, Minx and Mace are trying to kill each other.
Mace has a giant hammer in each hand.
Minx refuses to be clobbered between them, instead taunting Mace from afar.
I open my window, hoping they don't look up and see me.
Minx reaches into a pack over her shoulder and lobs something at Mace.
He dives to one side.
Whatever Minx threw explodes as Mace skids across the astroturf.
Barely injured, Mace jumps up and charges her. He deflects another projectile with a hammer. This time I feel the heat of the explosion through my open window.
Minx considers briefly, then runs, vaulting over the mangled fencing and down a hill, into the orchard where we chased Anita.
Mace is hot on her tail.
There's a banging at my door. Before I can answer it, Greg yells from the other side.
"Oi! Wake up dickhead!"
I open the door to find the rest of the careers in front of me.
I rub sleep out of my eyes.
"Did the explosions wake you all up too?" I ask.
"No." Says Sugar, "I shouldn't have to say this again, but we are in the Hunger Games. Lie-ins are for wannabe-corpses."
Rob explains, "The first job of the day is to move everything from the cornucopia up here, so it's locked away."
"Everything?" I say, "That's a lot of stuff to move."
"It's less now." Says Greg, "We shoulda secured it all yesterday. Now Mace and Minx have pinched some of our supplies, along with who knows what else. Saw those two fighting with our weapons and backpacks."
Rob says, "With any luck, they'll kill each other."
"Where's the fun in that?" Says Sugar, "Anyway, let's go."
A minute later, we stand in the courtyard in shock.
Around some of the pedestals, the concrete has been churned up like molehills. A broken hammer-drill lies discarded on the ground.
On the concrete, the word BOOM! has been graffitied in luminous pink and blue spray-paint, next to a crude, grinning monkeyface.
"Minx." Says Sugar.
"She dug up the bombs?" Says Rob, "How did she re-wire them?"
"She's from the livestock district." Says Salto, "They use animal fat to make bombs there. Didn't you listen to anyone's interviews?"
Sugar says, "At least the drill broke before she could collect more. She would have had about a hundred if she dug them all up."
Greg points and counts under his breath.
"Looks like she got thirteen." He notes.
"And we saw her use three of those earlier." Rob adds.
"So, she definitely has no more than ten left." Says Sugar, "Good to know."
"Good maths skills, guys!" I say encouragingly.
We get to work moving our resources from the cornucopia to our base upstairs.
While Sugar and Salto work together to carry a duffel-bag full of melee weapons, Greg makes his way right to the back of the giant horn.
"Hey bros," he calls, "Can you help me dislodge this huge crate?"
"Sure, bro." Says Rob, grinning slyly.
I say, "Can't you do it yourself, Greg? I thought you were strong."
"Just get over here so we can talk." He huffs.
I clamber over crates and sacks to huddle with Greg and Rob in the very back of the horn.
"We don't have long," Says Greg, "So here's the plan to kill Sugar."