TW: Serious illness and mental health concerns

It doesn't take long for us to break camp.

I look around the cave that has been our home for the past couple of days one final time, making sure that all trace of our presence has been removed. Then, with Drake's assistance, I step out of the cave and into the rain. "Are you sure you're okay to walk?" I ask.

Drake nods. "That medicine healed up my foot real nicely. I'm okay."

I look to Decida, who is being supported by Camdyn and Lincoln. "What about you, Decida? Are you good?"

Decida shrugs. "As okay as I can be." She smiles and reaches out to pat my arm. "Don't worry about me, Ames. I'll be fine."

"Do you need me to hold your axe?"

Decida laughs. "Aren't you a scythe person?"

I shrug. "Sickle, scythe, either or works I guess."

"Nah, I'll carry my own axe. I appreciate you looking out for me though."

I laugh. "Someone has to."

We make our way through the forest. Camdyn takes point, waving my tree branch across the ground in front of her, searching for any presents that Flower Power may have left us. Despite this, I watch where I put my feet very carefully. I'd rather not pull a Drake so soon after I injured my arm. The rain is intense, but thankfully, there hasn't been any thunder yet.

The raindrops knock some of the leaves off of the trees, and I begin to shiver a bit. "How's everyone holding up?" I ask.

I get nods and grumbles of affirmation. I notice that Bran is trembling violently out of the corner of my eye. I take off my vest and hand it to him. "Here, it's not much, but it'll help."

Bran takes it. "Thanks." He drapes it over his shoulders. I'm much bigger than him, so it shelters him from the cold just enough to slow his shivering.

We decide not to risk crossing the river with Decida's leg the way it is. Instead, we stay in the treeline, wandering until we come across a sharp cliff where the river suddenly drops off into a waterfall. "Is that the boundary?" Giemci asks.

I detach myself from Drake and walk to the very edge and kneel down. "Er, Ames? You probably shouldn't be doing that," he points out. "You could slip."

I ignore him and peer over the side of the cliff. There's nothing but fog down there. I can't even see the bottom. I pick up a rock and toss it down there. Then, I begin to count quietly.

Ten seconds…

Fifteen seconds…

At twenty seconds, I stand and carefully back away from the cliff. "Honestly, let's not test that theory."

"That was kind of stupid," Camdyn says. "Didn't a cliff give out on you the first time the fog hit?"

"Not the smartest thing I've done, no," I admit, "but we did learn a very valuable piece of information."

"And what might that be?" Lincoln says.

"We do not want to fall down there."

"You don't say?" Camdyn sighs. "Well, I suppose we found the boundary. And at least it's not a force field."

A force field boundary comes up occasionally in the Games. The Gamemakers prefer a more natural solution to the arena boundary, something that fits in more with the environment, yet attempting to cross it would be certain death.

Force fields, on the other hand, are more dangerous. Yeah, you can rest with your backs protected, but it's all too easy to crash into them and get electrocuted.

Not to mention that the Gamemakers love to mess with them.

"We should probably turn back," I say. "Camping near the boundary rarely ends well."

Lincoln and Drake trade places. We go back the way we came and after a few hours of traveling, we decide to chance the river after all. Drake scoops up Decida. She gasps in pain, causing Drake to mutter an apology.

"You sure your foot is fully healed up?" Camdyn asks carefully. "Last thing we need is you passing out too."

"Camdyn, you checked it like ten times last night," Drake sighs. "It's completely closed up. Even if it wasn't, I have new boots. It will be fine."

"New boots?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Camdyn replies. Apparently one of Link's bags had a new pair of boots…in my size. We tried them on out of curiosity. They were a perfect fit."

Drake groans. "Don't remind me, Cam."

"Hey, there's no shame in it. I happen to be a larger person. Besides, if I die before you, let it be known that I am altering my will. Drake gets my boots."

"You have a will?" Giemci asks, shocked.

Camdyn nods. "Yeah, I do. We were encouraged to make one before we left. Nero didn't see the point in it, but… there are things I don't want to leave up to chance."

I stare at the river for a moment. The last time I did this, it didn't end so well. Of course, last time there were mutts chasing us and I got scratched up. As long as I don't fall, I'll be fine, right?

"You good?" Bran asks, flashing me a concerned look.

Stop overthinking this and cross. You're better than this.

I take a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm good."

We wade across the river. My heart starts pounding as soon as the current hits me and I have to stabilize myself.

"Hey, Link? No river spray is getting onto those bandages of yours, are they?" Decida jokes.

"No river spray is getting onto that leg of yours, is it?" Link retorts.

This gets a laugh out of the others. Me? I'm focused on not falling.

We make the crossing and I have to fight back the sigh of relief.

"We're across," Decida says, clearly as relieved as I am. "You can put me down now, Montez."

"Maybe let go first?" Drake replies. "You're kind of hurting me."

Decida loosens her grip. "Right. Sorry."

Drake gently lowers Decida to the ground.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

Decida nods. "I'll live. You?"

I nod. "I'll live."

The rain is relentless. I swear, it's rained nonstop since the fog lifted. I always liked the rain but in moderation. This endless storm serves no purpose other than for ambiance, and I suppose to make the tributes miserable. I guess there's a silver lining of sorts. This water is safe to drink if you have the patience to fill the bottles.

Eventually, we find an overhang to shelter under. I'm apprehensive at first, given how the cliffs have given out in the past, but more ice-cold raindrops to the face is enough to get me under. We get Decida comfortable and Camdyn checks over her leg once again. Giemci hovers close, clearly concerned.

"I really wish your healer friend was still alive," Camdyn mutters. "She'd be able to explain why Decida is so sick despite her wound healing up."

Drake, Bran, and I exchange sad looks. "Yeah…" Bran says. "Me too."

"We should hold off on any master plans," I say. "Attacking the Careers is definitely still on the table, but not in Decida's condition. Anyone object to that?"

"I object," Decida says.

"Anyone besides Decida?" I specify.

"I can still fight," Decida protests.

"No, you can't," Giemci replies. "Your fever's getting higher and when was the last time you drank something?"

Decida shrugs. "Like an hour ago?"

"That's a load of crap and you know it," Drake replies. "I should know. I was the one holding you up."

"You promised, Decida," Lincoln says firmly. "Drink the damn water."

Decida sighs. "Fine. Give me the canteen."

Lincoln pulls her canteen out of his bag and hands it over. Decida snatches it and takes a sip, only drinking more at Lincoln's insistence.

Then, she throws it back at him. "There, happy?"

"Ecstatic," Lincoln replies with a grin. "Feel better?"

"Piss off."

Camdyn laughs. "He will. He's actually drinking water."

"Et tu, Camdyn?"

Now, we're all laughing into our hands, trying to stay quiet. "Don't say we didn't warn you," I say jokingly.

Something really interesting must happen because while there are no cannons, we're mostly left in peace. Over the next couple of days, we try to stay moving, but Decida continues to deteriorate, and none of the medicine we have on hand helps her. Camdyn is a decent enough medic, but I can't help but miss Jenny and her skills as a healer.

Eventually, she stops eating and absolutely refuses water and she goes completely quiet and lethargic.

When that happens, we decide to return to the cliff and make her comfortable. It's the least we can do.

That very night, I wake up to Giemci screaming.

I bolt awake and throw myself to my feet as someone turns on a flashlight. Decida is on top of Giemci, arms locked around her throat. Both girls are clearly frightened and confused. My own confusion turns into horror when I see the foam bubbling on her lips.

Rabies!

It all makes sense now! The illness, the avoidance of water! Her wound wasn't infected. The wolves were rabid!

How did you not realize this sooner, Reeves? She was bitten after all.

Decida is doomed. She was doomed the moment she started showing symptoms. Rabies will kill her sooner rather than later, and the disease has affected her enough to where her mind has slipped. She's a danger to herself and others and she will be for the rest of her shortened life.

Giemci's face is turning blue from lack of oxygen. It won't be long before she passes out…and then passes away.

Drake tries to pull Decida off of her and he is shoved violently. Link quickly steps in to catch him while Bran immediately grabs Decida's axe and kicks it far away. "Decida, what are you doing? Get off her!" Bran tries to pull her off, but he is slammed to the ground before I can react. "Get away from me!" Decida sobs, her voice raw and scratchy.

Something clicks in me like it did the day of the Reaping, and I rush into action.

I pick up my knife and step towards her. I wrap my good arm around Decida's shoulders tightly. Then, I slice my knife deep into her throat.

Blood spills onto my arm and onto Giemci, as she coughs and gasps for air. I pull Decida off her, but not before Giemci sees her body just above her and she freezes, eyes wide.

I slump to the ground, next to her as the cannon fires. "Dammit…" My bloodied fist slams into the rocky ground. "Dammit!"

Drake and Lincoln are unable to take their eyes off Decida's body. Camdyn and Bran are staring at me, Camdyn saddened and Bran wide-eyed and stunned.

I draw my knees up to my chest and it slowly dawns on me what I had just done.

I just killed someone.

I killed my own ally.

I just turned into a murderer.

For what feels like hours, it's silent.

Then, Camdyn is the first to break the spell. "We need to leave. So they can get her out of here. Giemci, can you stand?"

Giemci is still lying on the ground, frozen in shock. Camdyn sighs, not out of disdain, but pity. "Drake? Link? Can either of you carry her? I'll get Amber."

Drake grabs the body wipes and immediately begins wiping off Giemci's face, trying to clear the blood and other fluids off of her face. He also passes one to Bran. "Give this to her," he says quickly.

Bran rushes towards me and reaches out to take my hand, presumably to clean it, but I recoil without meaning to. "Hey, we need to move, okay? We can talk about it later, but we need to move. So that they can get Decida home."

Home. Back to District Seven. In a simple wooden box. Did she have a family? Friends? I can't remember now. I didn't get a chance to know her that well. Now she's gone. Gone because I killed her.

"Bran's right," Camdyn says. "Let's get you out of here. You saved Giemci and you made sure Decida didn't suffer. You did nothing wrong, okay? Ames, look at me." She kneels down in front of me and lifts my chin so that I'm looking directly into your eyes. "You did nothing wrong." I just drop my gaze.

I don't protest when Bran and Camdyn pull me to my feet. They both lead me away, with Camdyn turning me away when I turn to see Decida's body on the ground.

"Don't worry about that right now, okay?" Camdyn says. "It'll be alright."

No, it won't.

Even with her illness, Decida was so full of life.

Now, there's no life left.

*rubs hand over face* So that was absolutely soul-crushing. It went from a somewhat upbeat travel chapter to…that. I am so sorry for this.

14th Place – Decida Harding – Mercy-killed by Amber Reeves after contracting rabies
This one was hard to write. I had this death scene in my head for a while, and it still hurt a lot to write. Decida didn't get a real chance to be the badass I had in my head, mainly because she got unlucky enough to get rabies from the wolves. I know they can transmit from bites and not scratches, which is why she got sick and Amber didn't. I did my research on this, but I did make a few adjustments since it would make sense for the Capitol to make an alteration of the disease and put it in the wolves' saliva without anyone even knowing. Remember, if you get bitten by an animal, especially a wild one, and there's even the slightest chance that that animal may be rabid, seek medical attention immediately. Unfortunately for Decida, no one knew about the true nature of the illness until it was too late, not even the mentors. Decida was going to die, and she was so disoriented that she was going to take Giemci with her had Amber not intervened. It's a tough break for everyone involved, since Amber now has to face the fact that she killed someone, and her allies now have to face the fact that that person was an ally. Goodbye, Decida. I wish you could have lived longer, so everyone could see just how cool you were.

I did want to leave one last note here. As the story progresses, more content warnings may appear, especially regarding mental health. If you ever come across a chapter you don't feel comfortable reading and if you are comfortable doing so, please DM me and I'll give you a summary of the chapter, no questions asked. I want each and every one of you to be safe while reading this story, and I want y'all to know that you are all very much loved. Additionally, if you feel I accidentally left out a trigger warning, please let me know and I'll add it in as soon as I possibly can.

Until next time, everyone.