Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or The Hunger Games.
Note: Just a friendly reminder to vote in the "final ten" poll if you haven't yet.
Start
Cari Hughes, 17
March 23rd, 16:37 MST
"What do we know about that cave?"
Cari watched as Piper registered her question, maybe peeking a moment or two into the future to see what she meant. "It won't work," Piper said at last, shaking her head. "It's a good thought, but it won't work."
"But if they can get outside the perimeter—"
They'll still be wearing their collars. That'll alert the MAAB as soon as they leave the cave – and let them know where to pick them up. And we don't even know where that cave might come out, if it does at all."
Cari sighed. "Okay. I just thought—"
"—that it would be nice to do something," Piper finished. "I get it. I do. But we can't let that push us to do something rash. We are doing something here, even if it doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere."
"It doesn't," Cari admitted. "I mean, I don't know what I was expecting, but…"
"But it wasn't this."
"Yeah."
"I know what you mean." She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder who we thought we were kidding. Sure, some people are protesting – rioting, even – but they're not going to convince anyone in the government, because it was the government that signed off on this in the first place. I just thought that if enough people spoke up…"
Cari shook her head. "But it isn't enough people. Not really. There are people who are upset, yes, but it looks like there are just as many who agree with what's going on. Anyone who's ever been hurt or threatened by a mutant just sees this as confirmation of what they already want to believe."
"That mutants are dangerous – and that even if some of us seem harmless, it's only a matter of time before we snap and hurt someone. That we're ticking time bombs – all of us."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
Cari sighed. "This isn't going to work, is it."
"Probably not," Piper admitted. "It was always a long shot, but it was the only one we had."
"Then it looks like we need another one."
"Cari—"
"Well, what's the alternative? We just give up?"
Piper shook her head. "No. We go back to what we were doing. We locate as many mutants as possible and help funnel them somewhere safer. We get them out of the states. We help them hide in the wilderness, and we bring them back with us to New Sanctuary."
Cari nodded. "Okay. Okay, that's a start. How have you been doing that?"
"Hm?"
"Well, what's the game plan? How do you find them?"
"We were using the MAAB's records of potential contestants."
"Not a bad start, but I think we can do more. Get more people out. Not just people who might be chosen for the Games, but other mutants, too. Before the government starts moving people to these … colonies they're proposing."
Piper nodded. "We'll need more help, then, if we're going to help more people. It's pretty much been just a few of us. If we want to help more people, we'll need to be more efficient. Build a network of sorts. Find ways to organize groups, to get more than one person out at a time. Find safe places to stop along the way." She leaned back a little in her chair. "I wouldn't even know where to start."
Cari leaned forward. "I think I have an idea."
Frederick Bouvy, 17
He wished he had a better idea.
Frederick gasped for breath as he took another step, and then another, slowly making his way up the slope. The bat had disappeared, but he had a good idea of which way it had gone. It wasn't too much farther. Then he could rest.
Or maybe he should rest now, catch his breath, and figure out his next move. But if he stopped for too long, he wouldn't want to get started again. And it was colder up here. Or maybe it just seemed colder because he was too tired, too hungry, too thirsty. Maybe it was just his body shutting down. Maybe this was what it felt like to starve to death.
No, he had to keep going. One more step. Then one more. Suddenly, he saw something on the ground. A backpack. Someone had left a backpack! Frederick clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself the rest of the way. Just a few more steps. Maybe there was food. Maybe there was water.
Maybe it was a trap.
No. No, he couldn't worry about that. If it was a trap, if this was how he died, then so be it. He knelt down beside the backpack and opened it. There was food. A handful of beef sticks, a jar of applesauce, and a whole bottle of water! Frederick unscrewed the jar's cap and poured some of the applesauce into his mouth.
It tasted so good.
And no one had attacked him yet.
Okay. After several more mouthfuls, he replaced the cap, ate one of the beef sticks, and drank about half the water in the bottle. Better. He felt much better now. And there was still no sign of anyone. Just a hole in the ground where someone had moved some rocks away.
Oh.
Oh, shit. So whoever the food belonged to was in the hole, or cave, or whatever it was. That meant they could be coming out at any minute. But why hadn't they brought the food with them? It certainly would have fit in the hole. Maybe they had more. Maybe they had several packs, and had wanted to leave a little something out here in case … what? They lost the others in there? Maybe.
Or maybe it was a trap. Maybe they were just waiting inside for him to let his guard down. But it was hard to imagine letting his guard down more than when he'd been scarfing down applesauce. They'd had the perfect opportunity to attack him then, and they hadn't taken it. So maybe they were farther in, not waiting just on the other side of the hole.
Frederick shook his head. Wherever they were, he certainly wasn't going to wait around and find out. He stuffed the food and water back into the pack, which also contained some bandages, a pair of socks, and a pillow. Nice. Okay, now he just had to get out of here before—
Wait. No, that wasn't a good idea, either. If it was the vampire he'd been following, she was working with the werewolf. With the sense of smell wolves had, it wouldn't take long for her to pick up his scent. Frederick glanced around. He remembered hearing something about being able to lose a dog's scent if you swam through running water, but he couldn't remember whether he'd heard that it worked or that it didn't. Besides, there didn't seem to be any running water, or patches of dirt to roll in, or anything else that might throw off his scent.
That meant they could track him the moment they stepped out of the cave.
If they stepped out of the cave.
Frederick glanced down at the rocks. Okay. It was worth a try, and it was the best idea he had. One by one, he picked up the rocks that had been moved and wedged them back into place. That still left some gaps, so he grabbed another rock from nearby, held it in one hand, and carefully removed the glove from the other.
For a moment, he wondered what might happen if he touched the mountain. But if the talent show was anything to go by, it would only turn whatever rock he happened to touch into goo. Even if it was a large rock, that wouldn't make much of a dent in the mountain. Besides, he didn't want to make much of a dent in the mountain. He was standing on the mountain.
Okay. Okay, he couldn't afford to get carried away. He touched the rock he was holding and dribbled the resulting goo into the cracks between the rocks. Okay. Okay, that was something. It probably wouldn't hold them forever, but it would be enough to give him a head start.
Maybe a head start was all he needed.
Liv Holle, 18
"Maybe they had too much of a head start."
Liv shook her head and adjusted her pack. Elena almost sounded like she hoped the others were too far ahead, that they'd had too much of a head start for their group to ever catch up. The two figures in the distance had seemed to be standing still for a while, but now that they were moving, they did seem to be moving rather quickly – almost as quickly as her own group.
Almost. "No, we can catch them," Liv assured the others. "Maybe not soon. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but as long as we keep moving just a little faster than them, or just a little bit later into the night than them, we'll eventually catch up. We're in this for the long haul, remember? We'll catch them eventually."
Them. The three of them weren't even close enough to tell who the other two might be. There had been quite a few groups of two – as well as some larger groups that could be down to two by now. Or now that she thought about it, it could also be two people who had joined up during the Games, although that didn't seem as likely.
But not impossible, now that the thought occurred to her. If she'd been separated from her group – or if they had died – would she have tried to find someone else to work with? Maybe. Since two of them could survive, it made sense to work with someone. But once she'd found a group to work with during training, she hadn't really taken the time to get to know any of the others.
Did that really make a difference, though? After all, training had only lasted a few days. How well did she really know Lee and Elena? How well had she really known Ansel? They'd spent quite a bit of time together by now, but whether deliberately or not, they'd avoided talking about anything too … personal. They were teammates, but not friends.
Not friends.
They couldn't be friends.
Not yet, anyway. They couldn't afford to be. If they made it through this – if they made it out – then maybe. If their coaches were anything to go by, if they made it out, they wouldn't have too many other options for friends – if any. It didn't seem like much of a life.
But at least it was something.
It was better than the alternative.
"We'll catch them," she repeated, in case she hadn't sounded certain enough the first time. They had to. That was the next step. The next stroke. That was all that mattered right now. There wasn't enough information to plan too far ahead. They had to get through today, and then tomorrow, and then the next day. Then they could worry about what came after.
"What about when it gets dark?" Elena asked. "We won't be able to see them."
"They haven't changed direction since they started moving," Lee pointed out. "We could probably keep going."
Elena adjusted her pack. "Unless they decide to change directions once they figure we won't be able to see them."
Liv shook her head. "They probably have no idea we're following them."
Probably. The two figures ahead of them hadn't given any indication that they'd noticed they were being followed. Of course, that could be part of their game. Maybe they had noticed. Hell, maybe they even wanted to be followed. It could be some sort of elaborate trap.
No. No, that was silly. If it was a trap, they could simply have stayed put earlier. Still, they didn't want to risk losing the other group in the dark – or catching up to them. Not until they had some idea of who they were dealing with.
"Maybe they'll stop once it's almost dark," Lee suggested. "If they do, then we can, too. We don't want to catch up to them at night, do we?"
Liv and Elena shook their heads, both watching the two small shapes in the distance. "So we keep going at least until dark, then?" Liv asked.
Lee nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
It didn't. It sounded like about half a plan – maybe less. But maybe that was good enough for now.
Maybe it was a good start.
Henry Helstrom, 14
Maybe it was enough that they'd started.
Henry stretched their arms, careful of their injured shoulder, and glanced around the area where they'd stopped. It was probably a good enough spot to stop for the night. There wasn't much cover, but with the golem around, there probably didn't need to be. Besides, they weren't likely to reach anywhere better before nightfall; the sun was already pretty low in the sky.
Still, at least they'd gotten somewhere. It was good to be somewhere else, even if they weren't sure exactly where they were headed. Somewhere new. Somewhere where there wasn't a dead body. Somewhere they hadn't been since the first day of the Games. It already seemed like such a long time ago that they'd killed the girl who had tried to attack them. If they'd known that they wouldn't lay eyes on another person for days, maybe they would have considered her suggestion that they work together a bit more carefully.
Maybe. But she hadn't really seemed interested. It had just been a way to keep them talking, bide her time until she was ready to make her move. Joining up with her had never really been a possibility.
Still, it was strange to go so long without seeing another person. Well, maybe not strange, considering how spread out people would probably be by now. It wasn't really unexpected. Just … unfamiliar. They'd always had people around – not necessarily the same people, but … well, people. New houses, new faces, new names, but always someone. They'd always cherished what little privacy they could find, what little time they had alone, but now…
They hadn't expected to be so lonely.
Henry shook their head as the tiny golem crawled up their arm and onto their shoulder. They would just have to deal with it. Because finding other people now meant risking death, and they weren't ready for that. They weren't ready for another fight. Their shoulder was still healing, and while they'd done just fine against the girl who'd attacked them, they didn't really know how the golems might stack up against someone whose powers were more of a threat.
And they weren't in a hurry to find out.
Slowly, carefully, Henry took off their pack and settled down. At least they were making a little progress, and that called for a treat. After finishing off one of the packs of graham crackers and another two beef sticks, they finally tried one of the cookies that they'd found in the girl's pack.
They were dry. Dry, just like the rest of the food. Sure, they still had plenty of water, but it would be nice if there had been something in the packs that seemed a bit more like a meal, rather than a snack meant to tide them over until they found something worth eating.
Of course, they understood why the MAAB had chosen the options they had. Dried food kept better. There was nothing in their pack that was likely to go bad anytime soon. Some things might go stale, but they would still be edible. They wouldn't get moldy. They wouldn't expire. It made sense.
That didn't make it any better.
Sort of like the Games, really. It was easy – maybe too easy – to understand why the MAAB were doing what they were doing. It didn't take much imagination to figure out why most people were afraid of mutants. And when faced with something frightening, most people would want to control it if they could. The Games gave people – normal humans – that control.
It made sense.
They hated that it made sense.
Henry sighed, pulled the sleeping bags out of their pack, stuffed one inside the other, and crawled inside. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't as cold as the other nights had been. At least the weather was starting to get a bit nicer.
Knock on wood.
Henry looked around. There wasn't any wood. They sighed and waved a hand in the direction of the golem, which grew to a sufficiently intimidating height. Henry gave the golem's leg a few raps with their knuckles, then rolled over and closed their eyes. It wasn't quite dark yet, but there was no harm in getting a little extra sleep.
Maybe they'd be able to get an earlier start that way.
Vi Voclain, 18
"Maybe tomorrow we can get an earlier start."
Vi nodded as he and Rick settled down for the night. They must be getting close to the circle by now, but it was too dark to see, and the last thing they needed was to accidentally fall down into one of the tunnels in the dark. Neither of them had wanted to risk using the flashlights or headlamps so close to where there might be other contestants watching, so they'd decided to set up camp for the night and start fresh in the morning.
"Sounds good," Vi agreed, nibbling on one of the beef sticks. Come morning, of course, chances were good that neither of them would feel up to getting started right away, but there was no point in saying that now. Rick wanted to keep making progress, and that was all well and good, but taking it slow today hadn't been such a bad idea. They were still moving, after all. They still had a goal. They just didn't have a deadline.
Vi stifled a groan as he shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. The sharp pain in his leg had given way to persistent aching and stiffness. It was good to lie down, but he also knew from experience that it would be harder and harder to get up again. "I can take the first watch," Rick offered, and Vi didn't argue. He was too tired to argue.
It was almost funny, really. When he'd teamed up with Rick, he'd assumed he would be the one keeping things going, reminding Rick that they needed to stay on the move, or they ran the risk of the MAAB turning his collar off. But after four days, they'd showed no signs of doing so, even though the pair had lost a fight and had been creeping slowly back towards the circle. Maybe they were making enough progress to satisfy the MAAB. Maybe the other contestants were providing enough entertainment without the two of them.
Or maybe they'd never really intended to turn it off in the first place.
Vi closed his eyes. He wanted to believe that. There was enough danger in the Games without having to worry about his collar. But just because they hadn't acted yet didn't mean they wouldn't, if things got too dull. It was a good idea to keep moving, keep making progress.
Just not tonight.
"Hm?" Vi asked, vaguely aware that Rick had said something but completely uncertain what it might have been.
"I just said good night," Rick answered.
Vi's eyes blinked open. Good night. How long had it been since someone had wished him good night – and actually meant it. "Maybe it is," he muttered.
"What?"
"Maybe it is a good night."
Rick nodded. "The weather's certainly gotten better."
"No need to brag," Vi teased.
"I just meant—"
"I know. Good job keeping a lid on it. Can't be easy with the pain."
Rick shook his head. "Actually, I hadn't even really thought about it."
"Huh. Well, maybe that's the right idea. Just don't think about it, and keep your mind on something else. Something that doesn't make you upset."
"Like getting us back to the circle."
"Yeah. Like that." A smile crept over Vi's face as he closed his eyes again. Not 'getting back to the circle,' but 'getting us back to the circle.' He liked the way that sounded. Of course, once they got there, he had no idea what their next move was, but that was something they could figure out tomorrow. For now, he just needed to get some sleep.
Maybe it really would be a good night.
Seb Krause, 16
Maybe it would be okay to let Phantom keep watch tonight.
Seb glanced out the window one more time as the last of the sunlight faded from the sky. Phantom stood obediently outside the door, keeping watch. Inside, Alphonso lay passed out on one of the couches Seb had written for him. The first two had apparently been too hard or too lumpy, but he'd finally managed to write one that was just right. Alphonso had barely been aware enough to hear Seb call him Goldilocks before falling asleep.
Seb sighed. Alphonso had said he'd only wanted one drink, but one drink had quickly turned into two, then three, and eventually they'd both lost count. He could have stopped making them. He probably should have. But Alphonso had been so … so miserable, and he'd wanted to do something to help.
Seb shook his head and tidied up some of the dishes. He didn't understand, exactly, what had caused Alonso to suddenly snap. Maybe he was just getting restless after days of staying indoors. But it was safer indoors; surely he had to understand that. Inside it was safe; outside there were people who wanted to kill them.
Well, maybe not people who wanted to. Chances were, the other contestants didn't want to kill any more than he did. But they were still people whose lives depended on him dying, and that was close enough to wanting it. If they didn't want to die, they would have to make sure that he ended up dead. Whether they wanted to kill or not didn't really come into play.
Except … well, except in their case, it had come into play – in a rather big way. If he and Alphonso had wanted to kill, he could have written a tank or something instead of a house. Maybe he could even have written a bomb. Certainly some grenades or something. Instead, he'd written them a place where they could be safe, but also where they wouldn't have to kill anyone else.
Not for the first time, he wondered if that had been the right choice.
Still, it was hard to argue with success. They were alive and safe and completely unharmed, aside from Alphonso's occasional inebriation. How many of the other contestants could say that? Probably not too many. Even if they were still alive, they'd been outside in the cold and the dark, with only whatever supplies they'd managed to grab at the start. They were probably cold and tired and hungry and desperate. Desperate enough to do something stupid.
Seb glanced over at Alphonso. Desperate enough to do something stupider than getting drunk for a second time during the Games? Maybe. After all, nothing had happened the first time. They had gotten lucky. Maybe that would happen again. Phantom showed no signs of seeing or hearing anything – or anyone – nearby. Maybe there was no one around at all.
Seb settled down into an armchair. He could let the dog keep watch for a little while. He'd done quite a good job last night, after all. Besides, he was tired, and there was no reason why Alphonso should get to sleep soundly while he couldn't. The younger boy was starting to snore, but the sound was almost soothing. Relaxing. It was a peaceful sound – something he hadn't expected. Finally, Seb closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep, hoping that he and Alphonso would be safe.
To his own surprise, he was really starting to believe they would be.
Iola Boman, 19
At least they were finally starting to settle down for the night.
Iola glanced around at the others as she finished off her bagel. They'd eaten some of the trail mix and a little applesauce, as well. Sort of a celebration, maybe, of the progress they'd made during the day. Right. Trail mix and applesauce was a celebration. At least that was familiar. She and her little group of mutants had been used to living off what they could scrounge and steal, celebrating little victories, grateful for just being alive and together.
Together. She hadn't expected to feel the same way here. But she did. They made a good team, her and Kiara and Fae. Maybe they hadn't done much of consequence so far – not much worth a celebration – but they were still alive. Four days of the Games, and they were still alive. That was something.
Right now, it was the only thing that mattered.
And they still had plenty of food. That was good, too. They'd done well with what they'd grabbed at the start of the Games. And so far, they'd done a good job of rationing it. They were all hungry, but they'd eaten enough to keep them going. She was good at that. She was used to that.
But the others weren't, so they certainly deserved some credit for how well they were handling it. If they were complaining, she couldn't tell, and neither of them seemed to be sneaking food while the others weren't watching. They trusted each other. They trusted her. That was good. Very good.
Except that it wasn't – or it wouldn't be eventually. Because sooner or later, one of them would have to die. Even if, somehow, two of them were the ones to survive, it could only be two. And she couldn't imagine losing either Kiara or Fae now, or imagine them having to deal with losing her. If it came down to the three of them…
Then what? If the three of them somehow outlasted the other contestants, what would the MAAB do? How would they be able to force them to fight? Or would they just leave them out here and see which one of them starved to death first? What if none of them did? What if they found a good source of food and could last for months out here? It was cold now, yes, but once the summer came…
Easy there. She was getting ahead of herself now – making plans for summer. It had been four days. That was all. Four days. It was just that it seemed like so much longer. It seemed like the Games had already stretched on for weeks. But if it had been weeks, their food would have run out by now. It had been days. And she was pretty sure there had only been four days.
Suddenly, Fae grabbed her arm and pointed. She'd heard something. Or maybe seen something. She caught a flash of something disappearing into the distance in the direction Fae had pointed. It looked about the right size for one of the other contestants, but it was moving quickly. Very quickly.
Oh shit.
There had been a couple boys at the talent show who had been that fast. If one of them had just sped by…
Maybe he hadn't noticed them. Maybe he was running away from something too quickly to worry about them. But that wasn't really a more welcome idea. If he was running away from something, then something was headed this way. And if he was running…
But they couldn't run. Or at least, she couldn't run. And even if they could, they wouldn't be able to outrun someone that fast – or anything that would have a chance of catching up to him. Iola glanced over at Kiara, who was putting in her pair of earplugs, ready just in case someone was following – or in case the boy came back. She said something to Fae, who nodded. They were ready now. Anyone who came by would be in for a nasty surprise.
She just hoped that would be enough.
Marcus Del Rio, 19
He hoped he'd been running fast enough.
Marcus gasped for breath as he finally slowed down a little. He had to be getting close to the circle by now, but it was getting dark. So dark, he hadn't seen the other three contestants until he'd been practically right on top of them. But maybe he'd been going fast enough. Maybe they hadn't seen him. Even if they had, they certainly wouldn't be able to catch up to him.
But…
But he could go back to them. He'd only caught a brief glimpse of them in the twilight, but they didn't seem to be armed. Of course, if they'd been settling down for the night, they probably wouldn't have had their weapons right out in the open or anything. But did it even matter if they were armed? If he wanted to, he could probably kill all of them before they knew what was happening, right?
Right?
Could he? He didn't have much in the way of weapons, either. If he got his hands around one of their throats, how long would it take him to choke them? Long enough for one of the others to step in and do something? There were three of them, after all. Three of them, one of him. Well, technically, Manaka was with him, but that didn't really count. The younger boy hadn't woken up all day. In fact, it would probably be best if he left Manaka here.
Slowly, carefully, Marcus untied the blanket and set Manaka down. He could do this. He had to do this. That had been the plan, after all, hadn't it? Find somewhere safe to leave Manaka, and then find the other contestants and kill them as quickly as he could. Now that he had the chance to kill three of them in one swoop, he couldn't afford to pass that up. Sooner or later, they would have to die.
So it might as well be sooner.
Okay. Okay. Marcus laid the blanket gently over Manaka, set the backpack down beside him, took a deep breath, and took off back towards the other contestants. He could do this. He had to. Manaka was counting on him.
His teammate was counting on him.
Marcus clenched his fists. Yes. Yes, that was it. His teammate. His friend. He didn't want to do this, but Manaka's life was at stake. So he had to. And he had to be fast.
He was good at that.
It didn't take long for him to catch sight of them in the distance. The last of the sunlight was fading, but the moon was beginning to take its place, and the sky was clear. That was enough to see by. Enough to see the three of them standing, facing his direction. None of them appeared to be armed, although one of them was holding a stick. That probably meant he should deal with her first.
Okay. He raced towards the three of them, wrenching the stick from the oldest girl's grasp. She tried to lunge at him, but fell to the ground instead. Immediately, he was on top of her, his hands around her throat.
Then someone screamed.
Kiara Moore, 15
She barely heard the scream.
Kiara lunged towards the boy, with Fae close behind. The earplugs had done their job well enough, almost completely muffling the scream. But the boy still had his hands around Iola's throat. The two were tumbling this way and that, the boy's limbs moving too quickly – albeit erratically – for Kiara to grab hold.
That was the plan, after all. Iola would attract his attention, appearing to be the only one who was armed. When he'd gone for her, Fae had screamed, and now it was Kiara's job to grab hold and bring back something from his past that would bring him down long enough for Fae to finish the job with the knife. But he was moving too quickly for her to grab hold of anything. Every time she reached out to try to grab an arm or a leg, or made a move to tackle him around the waist, he wasn't there anymore, and had dragged Iola somewhere else. His movements were clumsy, uncertain, uncoordinated because of Fae's scream, but he was still so fast.
Suddenly, there was a terrible cracking sound, and Iola went limp. The boy hesitated – just for a moment, but that was enough. Enough for Kiara to finally get a hold, wrapping her arms around his waist, clinging to one of his arms even as he thrashed and wriggled, trying to get away. Now she just needed something. Something strong.
And there it was, just below the surface. Something recent. Some sort of electric shock. That would do. Kiara concentrated, and back it came. Suddenly, the boy wasn't struggling anymore, but only twitching, helpless to do anything as the electricity's effects coursed back through his body. Kiara held on, and then she saw Fae's hand. Saw the knife plunge into the boy's neck. Felt the blood flowing out as Fae drew the knife out, then plunged it back in again. And again. And again.
Then the boy went limp.
"Fae, it's over!" Kiara called, then realized she still had her earplugs in. She plucked them out, tucking them in her pocket, and threw her arms around the younger girl. "Fae, it's okay. He's dead. It's done."
"But Iola—"
"She's going to be fine," Kiara insisted, laying a hand gently on Iola's arm. "It's okay. I've got this." And she did. The crack she'd heard had come from Iola's head hitting a rock, and the older girl had plenty of bruises from the fight, but both would heal. Kiara took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. This was the easy part.
This had always been the easy part.
Soon, Iola's eyes snapped open, and Fae grinned. "You're all right!"
Iola reached up and took Fae's hand, smiling. "Did we get him?"
Kiara nodded, gesturing towards the body, then the knife that was still in Fae's hands. Iola nodded approvingly. "Good." She sat up slowly, stretching, testing her limbs. She was still moving a bit shakily, but that was probably just the shock. She ran a hand through Fae's hair. "And you … Nice work. I knew you had it in you."
Kiara said nothing. Trusting Fae with the knife had been Iola's idea. The idea was, as long as she kept it hidden, she would be the last one the boy would expect to be armed. And she had been right. The boy had gone for Iola first, even though she'd only been holding a stick. Maybe he'd thought a stick was their only weapon. Kiara had been skeptical of the plan because she'd figured surely he would have a weapon, too. Surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to attack three of them if he was unarmed.
Except he had.
And she had an idea about why.
But she was tired. She didn't want to say anything now. The fight, and then healing Iola, had taken a lot out of her. And if she was right, then they could wait until morning. But then the others would wonder why she had waited until morning to tell them…
Kiara sighed. No secrets. That had been Henry's mistake. They hadn't trusted the others with information – information that had been more important than they'd thought. Maybe this was important, too. Fae turned to her, confused. "What is it?"
"I don't think he was alone."
Fae Tomasini, 13
"I don't think he was alone."
Fae froze, then glanced around frantically in the dark. Was there someone else nearby? If there was, why hadn't they attacked when the other boy had? It didn't make any sense. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice thin and shaky as she gripped the knife in her hand.
"He wasn't working alone during training," Kiara explained, her voice calmer, more even. "He was working with another boy like him – one who could move quickly. If the two of them were working together then … where's the other one now?"
"Maybe he's dead," Fae suggested, her stomach churning a little as she realized that's what she was hoping for. She was hoping the other boy was dead, just like this one. Just like the one she'd stabbed. The one she'd killed. But he'd been attacking Iola. For a terrible moment, she'd thought he'd killed Iola. So she had killed him. In the moment, it had all seemed so simple. Kill or be killed. Kill or let her friends die. There hadn't really been much of a choice.
"Maybe," Kiara answered. "But the first time he ran through here … Why not attack us then? And he looked like he was carrying something on his back. Maybe just a bunch of supplies, but maybe…"
"Maybe the other boy," Fae finished. "But that doesn't make any sense. If he was trying to get the other boy somewhere safe, why come back and attack us at all? Why not just keep going? There's no way we could have caught up with him."
Kiara shook her head. "You're right. But there was something … something I felt when I grabbed him, when I was looking for something – some injury I could use."
"What did you end up using?" Fae asked. "It looked … really bad." The boy had been in so much pain. He'd been screaming, flailing, trying to get away. It had all happened so fast, but whatever Kiara had done, it had hurt him – a lot.
"Some sort of electricity," Kiara answered. "Something strong – and something recent. Maybe some sort of electric fence or something."
"Electric fence? Do you think that's how they're planning to keep us from spreading out too far?"
Kiara blinked. "Maybe. I hadn't really thought about that, but … yeah, that would make sense. If there is a boundary of some sort, people who can run that quickly would probably be the first to reach it – and set it off. And maybe he was hurt, but maybe the other boy got hit harder, and he was carrying him…" She trailed off, uncertain.
Fae shook her head. "That still doesn't explain why he came back and attacked us."
"Doesn't it? Think about it. His friend's hurt, and he has no way to help him. There's nothing he can do to save his teammate except end the Games as quickly as possible. That's why he came after us. He was just trying to kill everyone else as quickly as he could, so that the Games would end before his friend died."
Fae cocked her head. "Do you really think there are that few of us left?"
"I don't know. Maybe he thought so. He probably didn't have any better idea of that than we do. I mean, what do we really know about who's left? We know this one is dead, and the other one who attacked us, and that's it. That's really all the people we've seen since the start – since the vampire and the werewolf attacked us and Henry left. We don't even know if any of them are still alive."
Fae nodded. She was right. "So what do we do?"
Kiara glanced over at Iola, who had been waiting patiently for someone to explain things. Kiara hesitated. It was dark – too dark for Iola to read their lips, even if she could. Finally, she pointed to the boy's body on the ground, held up two fingers, and pointed in the direction the boy had come from the second time.
Iola blinked. "You think there's another one? Over that way?"
Kiara nodded. Iola glanced from Fae to Kiara, then back again. Finally, she reached into their pack, took out their headlamp, and held it out to Kiara, who turned it on. Iola retrieved her stick from where the boy had tossed it aside, and Fae helped her to her feet. Iola nodded as Kiara shouldered one of their packs, and Fae took the other, still gripping the knife. Iola smiled.
"Then let's go find him."
Emery Mullins, 15
How were they supposed to find her?
Emery gripped Kenji's hand as the pair of them crept onward into the cave, the flashlight illuminating the path in front of them but little else. Bats lined the walls, but seemed curiously unbothered by their presence. Maybe there was something about the smell of vampire that reassured them; after days together, Florence's scent was all over them.
Still, probably better not to change into a wolf in here. Right now, they were just two lost vampire-smelling humans. Wolves, on the other hand, were predators. Not that a wolf was likely to be able to catch a bat, of course, or that it would be much of a meal if it did, but still. Better not to take the chance. Besides, with all these bats around, she probably wouldn't be able to pick out Flornece's scent anyway.
So they were stuck with the flashlight, shining it this way and that, but the cave seemed to go on forever. Tunnels led this way and that – some big enough to walk through, some where they had to get down on their hands and knees. And there was no telling which way Florence might have gone. In bat form, she was smaller than either of them. She could have gone down any of the tunnels, or maybe even one of the ones they were too small to crawl through. She could be anywhere.
But Emery didn't say that aloud. She didn't want to frighten Kenji. He was worried enough as it was, muttering to himself about how they shouldn't have let Florence go alone, how they should have left some sort of trail back to the entrance, how they shouldn't have left their backpack outside where anyone could find it.
That last one was probably true, but it was too late now. She was pretty sure she could find her way back to the entrance, but that would waste a lot of time. Time they could be spending looking for Florence. Once they found her, they could go back together.
If they found her.
Stop it. The caves couldn't go on forever. They would have to run into each other eventually. Besides, they had a flashlight. Florence would be able to see them – or at least see that someone was coming – and then she would head towards them, right?
Right?
Maybe. Unless she only saw the light and couldn't tell it was them. If she saw light around a corner, would she go towards it, or would she head away from it, thinking it might be one of the other contestants?
Emery gripped the flashlight tightly. Of course she would head towards it – even if she thought it might be someone else. Florence had been the one who had wanted to attack the other group at the start, after all. If someone else was down here, in the dark, unsuspecting, she would probably go after them, even though she was injured. She would have an edge down here in the dark.
Maybe that was why she had wanted to come down here, despite the risk of being trapped in a cave. It probably felt safe for a vampire down here. Emery, on the other hand, was itching to get back to the surface, back to the open air and the sky and some real light, not this pathetic little bulb that seemed to be growing dimmer by the minute.
That was probably her imagination, though, wasn't it? The MAAB wouldn't have sent them a flashlight only to have the batteries die after a few hours, would they? What would be the point? Unless the point was to lure them down here and then leave them in the dark…
"Emery! Kenji!" The voice caught her by surprise, a shout echoing off the walls of the cave. Florence, now in human form, was making her way towards them, leaning on the wall for support and shaking her head. "What are you doing down here?"
Kenji's hands moved frantically, probably explaining what had happened. That they had been worried and decided to come looking for her. Florence shook her head, annoyed. "You didn't need to do that. I was on my way back when I saw the light. Where'd you get a flashlight anyway?"
There was a brief pause as Kenji relayed what had happened, and Florence's expression changed. "We should get out of here, now."
"Why?" Kenji asked.
"Because if the MAAB sent you down here, there's no telling why. Maybe there's something happening up there. Maybe there's someone up there. Let's go. This way." She headed off to the left.
"That's not the way we came from," Kenji objected, signing along.
Florence raised an eyebrow. "Then you probably got turned around at some point. The exit should be a few hundred yards this way."
Kenji glanced at Emery, who shrugged. Down here in a cave, she trusted Florence's sense of direction more than her own. Before long, Florence stopped, looking up at the ceiling, which was now quite low – low enough for them to reach. "This is where we came in. I'm sure of it."
Emery shone the flashlight up. It did look familiar, but there was no opening. So that was why the MAAB had wanted them down here – so that someone else could close up the opening. Florence shook her head, reaching up to try to push the stones from the entrance.
"I guess we'd better get started."
Lea Cervantes, 18
"We can always get started earlier tomorrow."
Lea rolled over to go back to sleep, only to realize that Elio was already stuffing the blankets into their backpacks. He shook his head. "No, I meant we need to go now."
"Why?"
"Someone's coming."
That got her attention. Lea sat up, startled, and looked around. "I don't see anyone."
"I know."
"Then how do you—"
"Trust me, I know."
Oh. Lea slowly got to her feet, shouldering one of the bags. That was both the good thing and the problem with Elio's power – that absolute certainty. When God said to do something, there wasn't exactly much point in arguing. "So … which way?"
Elio glanced around, then gestured off to the right. "That way. Whoever's following us won't be expecting us to head up into the mountains."
He was certainly right about that. So far, they'd pretty much stuck to the flatter paths, assuming that one direction was as good as the next as long as they kept moving. But if someone was on their tail, heading into the mountains seemed like a good way to lose them.
Lea didn't bother asking about using their headlamp. If there was someone nearby, that was a good way to be spotted. Besides, the moon was bright enough for now for them to see a good distance in front of them. Until now, she hadn't given much thought to the idea that the light also meant other people would be able to see them.
"How are they even following us?" Lea hissed. They'd been pretty careful not to leave a trail, even making sure to dump the fish bones back into the lakes they'd come from.
Elio shrugged. "Maybe they have someone in their group who's good at tracking – someone with enhanced sight or hearing or smell. Maybe they've been following us from the start, and have just been keeping their distance. Maybe they just got lucky."
Lea nodded, hoping it was the last option. After all, if they did have someone who could follow their scent, they would certainly be able to follow them even if they went up into the mountains. And the darkness wouldn't pose much of a problem for someone who could hear them from this far away. They should probably stop talking, then…
But the silence was even worse. She could hear her own breathing, her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. She hadn't been this scared since the start of the Games. The thought had always been there in the back of her mind, of course – the idea that someone might eventually find them. But it had been a distant, vague sort of fear. Now it was sharp and immediate. Someone was following them. And they would only be doing that if they were planning to kill them. She had been hoping the others wouldn't really want to fight, but it was starting to look like they did.
Still, it had taken four days for anyone to find them. If they got a good enough head start, maybe it would be days before they caught up again, or before someone else found them. After all, what was the point in giving Elio a warning about someone coming if it was too late for them to get away? No, they had time. Time to put some distance between themselves and whoever was on their tail.
As long as whoever was following them didn't realize they were moving again. As long as they had stopped for the night. Lea fought back a yawn. She hadn't had time to get much sleep before Elio had insisted they should get moving. How long would they be able to keep up this pace? Even if they decided to rest somewhere in a few hours, she doubted she would be able to fall asleep now that she knew someone else was nearby.
So they might as well keep going.
Coburn Hughes, 17
"We might as well stop for the night."
Coburn nodded, glancing around in the moonlight. The ridge to their right had given way to a slope that led to a lake, forming a path through the mountains. But neither of them had wanted to get too close in the dark, in case the path was slippery or the lake deeper than the others they had come across. Besides, they weren't sure whether they wanted to head that way at all, or whether it would be better to keep going north. Stopping for a while would give them time to figure it out.
Besides, it was getting darker. For a while, there had been plenty of moonlight, but now a few clouds were starting to roll in, blocking some of the light. They had a headlamp, but it was probably better not to use that unless they had to. There might be someone around, after all.
So they settled down a little ways away from the lake and opened one of the bags. Coburn quickly cooked a poptart for each of them, and they ate a little of the granola, too. "We'll need to find something else to eat eventually," Savannah pointed out. Both the poptarts and the granola were about half gone, and there were only a few carrots left. They'd had plenty of opportunities to refill their water bottles, but aside from that, they hadn't really found much that was good to eat, aside from the bird that Savannah had shot down with her electricity that first night. But there hadn't even been many birds since then.
Cobrun nodded. "I'm open to suggestions."
Savannah rubbed her hands together. "I was thinking…"
"Yeah?"
"Well, there's a lake right there. Lakes have fish in them – well, at least, they might. And water conducts electricity, so…"
"So you think if you shoot some lightning into the water, we can have some fried fish?" Coburn finished hopefully.
"It's worth a try. Not right now, because it's dark, but maybe in the morning."
"Sounds good." He chuckled. "Didn't Penelope say she did something similar last year? Channeled some energy into the water and used it to kill the fish?"
Savannah nodded. "Yeah, but that was the ocean. More fish. We don't even know if there are fish in these lakes. That's why I didn't mention it before, but…"
"But now it's looking like we'll last long enough to need more food than we've got."
Savannah looked away uncomfortably. "It's not that I wasn't expecting us to last this long. It's just … well, it's been four days. Last year's Games only lasted four days. I wasn't expecting the Games to last much longer than this at all. But we're still alive, and for all we know, most of the other contestants might be, too."
For all we know. That was the problem, really. They had no way of knowing – not knowing for sure – how many of the others were left. But he'd had a feeling for a while that they weren't anywhere close to the only ones. Maybe that was Cari, trying to reassure him. Maybe it was just his imagination.
Coburn nodded. "Then let's keep it that way – us being alive, that is. I can take the first watch, and in the morning, we can try to catch some fish."
"Sounds like a plan," Savannah agreed, pulling the pillows from their bags. "I just wish…"
"I know." He'd caught himself wishing the same thing – that Lilith was still alive, still here with them. She was always so … so reassuring. And she could have probably helped Savannah focus the lightning on the fish.
But she was dead. And they were alive. And if they wanted to stay alive, they would need food. For now, they had a plan to get it. For now, that was good enough.
It was a good enough start.
Manaka Shizue, 16
Every time he started to move, he regretted it.
Manaka stifled a groan as he shifted a little, trying to find a position that didn't hurt, and finally settling for one that didn't hurt as much. He was lying on the ground, with a blanket over him. Maybe Marcus had decided to stop to rest. He'd been running pretty quickly for quite a while. Manaka must have passed out again at some point, because he didn't remember stopping, but it was still dark out. He hadn't been out long enough for a whole day to pass, had he?
Maybe. Maybe not. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He couldn't see much in the moonlight, which was filtering through the clouds, but he could tell that Marcus wasn't there. At least, not in the direction he was facing. Slowly, carefully, Manaka shifted a little, trying to look around. "Marcus?" His voice was raspy and faint, barely a whisper. Still, it would be enough for Marcus to hear.
Unless he was asleep. That was always a possibility. He was probably exhausted after so much running. Slowly, Manaka shifted a little more. Then a little more. Finally, he managed to prop himself up on his side against one of the blankets. Still, there was no sign of Marcus.
Okay. Okay, that didn't mean he was gone. Maybe he'd needed to relieve himself. Maybe he'd gone to fill a water bottle. Maybe he'd decided to scout ahead a little on his own now that they were closer to where they had started. They might run into some of the other contestants, after all.
That thought filled Manaka with a sudden, sinking dread. If Marcus had left, what would happen if someone else found him? He wasn't in any condition to fight. He couldn't even sit up. It wouldn't help if he could move faster than the other contestants if those movements were so small, so painful. Manaka closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Okay. Okay, calm down. All he had to do was wait for Marcus to come back.
Unless he wasn't coming back.
No. No, that was stupid. Of course he was coming back. If Marcus was going to abandon him, he would have done it back at the bridge, not after carrying him for hours on his back. And the other option – that he was dead – was even more implausible. If he came across another contestant, he could just run away. No one would be able to catch up to him.
Unless he didn't get a chance to run away. They hadn't been able to run away from the bridge, after all. They hadn't been expecting to get shocked. If someone managed to catch Marcus by surprise and kill him before he had a chance to run…
Manaka took a deep breath. He was overreacting. He was just scared. Any moment now, Marcus would appear in the darkness, and they would have a good laugh about how frightened he'd been, and Manaka would tell him not to scare him like that again. Any moment now…
A moment passed. And then another. Manaka wasn't sure how much time had gone by, but if Marcus had gone somewhere to fill a water bottle or gather firewood or something, he should be back by now. For a moment, he considered calling out, trying to get Marcus' attention and call him back, but he thought better of it. He had no idea where he was or who else might be close by. If his shouting attracted someone besides Marcus, that would be the end of it right there.
And as tired as he was, as much as it hurt to move, Manaka didn't want it to end like this. He would get through this. Once he recovered, he would be more careful. Careful not to run into the barrier again, and careful to listen to Marcus. Once Marcus got back, he would apologize again for getting them into this mess. Manaka lay back and closed his eyes, wishing he could fall asleep. But his mind was racing too fast, trying to come up with some explanation for why Marcus would be gone so long.
Something besides the obvious explanation. Either Marcus had left him, or Marcus was dead. Those were the obvious explanations. But neither of them made sense. Marcus wouldn't have left. And he couldn't be dead. Besides, if he was dead, why hadn't whoever had killed him been able to find and kill Manaka, too?
There. He couldn't be dead. If he was dead, then they would both be dead. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Manaka knew how desperate that sounded, but he didn't care. Marcus was alive. He had to hold onto that thought.
But he could already feel it starting to slip.
Jaime Sanchez, 20
They were starting to feel uneasy about this.
Jaime gripped the knife in their pocket as they and Kylena crept closer to the house. They couldn't help wondering if maybe Kylena had been right. Maybe they should simply have avoided the house. If there was someone there, they had probably taken precautions. There could be alarms. There could be traps. There could be—
Dogs. Or at least, one dog, standing a few feet from the house, sniffing the air. Jaime gripped Kylena's arm and pointed. Kylena nodded, silently indicating that yes, she saw it too. The safe thing to do now would be to go back. If there was a dog, there were probably still people. If it was standing guard, they knew they might be attacked. The best thing to do would be to get out of there while they still had the chance.
But they might not get another chance like this. Jaime pointed back towards where they had come from, and the pair retreated back a ways. But not too far. "Now what?" Kylena asked, her voice barely above a whisper, trembling with fright.
Jaime's mind raced. "The dog – do you think he'd be able to smell us through one of your bubbles?"
"I don't know. Not something we thought to test during training. Why? What're you thinking?"
"Well, we know the dog's out front. If we could get around the back without him noticing, maybe there's another way we could get in. Another door, or maybe a window."
Kylena looked uncertain. "A bubble big enough for both of us, for that long, with us still being able to move? I don't think that's a good idea."
"Got a better one?"
"Besides turning around and heading away from here?"
"Yeah."
Kylena shifted a little. "Look, Jaime, I know you want to do something, but the deal was we would come here and look. Check and see if there was anyone home. That's it. We checked. And someone is here. So why don't we just go?"
"Because if they left the dog to keep watch, whoever's in there might be asleep. We might have the chance to take out one of the most powerful mutants in the Games, and you want to turn around and go back?"
"Yes! Because why do we have to be the ones to fight them? Can't we just wait for someone else to—"
"To what? To kill them? Then we'd have to fight them instead. And if you don't want to fight whoever's in the house, do you really want to fight someone who could beat them?"
Kylena shook her head. "No, but…"
"You said you don't think you can make a bubble that big hold for that long. What about a bubble big enough for the dog?"
"What? What good would that do? All it has to do is start barking, and whoever's in the house will be out of there in two seconds."
Jaime hesitated. "Maybe you're right." Maybe she'd been right all along. Maybe this was just a bad idea. Maybe…
"It's not about bubbles," Kylena said softly.
"What?"
Kylena gripped the knife in her hand. "The bubbles can keep us safe for a little while, but eventually, we're going to need something we use against whoever's in the house. That means we don't just need to use my power." She shook her head.
"We need to use yours."
Ian Viera, 23
"We need to use yours."
Ian drummed his fingers on the table, his gaze flickering between the two screens. On one, Kylena and Jaime were plotting their next move. On the other, Seb and Alphonso were sleeping soundly. Well, Seb was sleeping. Alphonso was still passed out from the drinking he'd done earlier. Which one would wake up first if the dog started barking, Ian wasn't sure.
But something was bothering him even more than Alphonso's current predicament. Slowly, Ian stood up and made his way over to where Vincent was sitting, careful to position himself so Vincent could pick up his thoughts. "You asked Alvin to send them the map, didn't you. Jaime and Kylena. Even after what happened with Marcus and Manaka."
Vincent waited a moment, glancing at each of the three in turn, and finally nodded. "Yes. I did."
"Why?"
"Because it was a way to do what he wanted – to get the Games moving again. And because it'll be a fair fight. Or at least, it would have been if Alphonso hadn't picked the wrong moment to get plastered again." He leaned back a little, closing his eyes. "Mind you, I can't say I blame him. I wouldn't mind a drink myself."
Ian shook his head. There had to be something else. Vincent couldn't have done this just to get the Games to move along faster. That couldn't be what he really wanted. He wouldn't just want to give the MAAB exactly what they wanted without getting anything in return, would he?
Vincent shook his head. "Sorry, Ian. No tricks. No plan. No grand scheme. Just a fair fight between kids who shouldn't be here in the first place."
"At least they'll have more of a chance than Marcus did," Maria mumbled.
Ian said nothing. It had been Marcus' choice, of course, to go after the three girls, but he'd done it out of desperation. He'd wanted to end the Games quickly in order to save Manaka. But now he was dead, and Manaka was a sitting duck. Kiara, Iola, and Fae were looking for him, and while they weren't really close yet, it was only a matter of time.
They were one of the few groups still on the move. Florence, Emery, and Kenji were awake, but they were occupied trying to dig their way through the rocks that Frederick had piled on top of the entrance to the cave. They'd quickly worked out that if Florence turned into a larger bat, her claws and Emery's paws would have more luck than their hands, but it was still slow going because they didn't want to risk collapsing the entrance and making things even worse.
Frederick, meanwhile, seemed determined to put as much distance as possible between himself and the group in the cave. That was probably a good move, of course. Once they made their way through the rock, Emery would have no trouble sniffing out his trail. It would just be a matter of whether they would want to follow him, or whether they would prioritize getting their hands on more supplies since he'd made off with most of theirs.
The other group still on the move was Elio and Lea, who were making their way up the side of one of the mountains. If Liv, Lee, and Elena had realized they were on the move again, they hadn't done anything about it. They'd stopped for the night before Elio and Lea had started again, so it might very well be morning before they noticed the other group was no longer in sight.
Henry had stopped for the night as well, as had Coburn and Savannah, and Rick and Vi. And along with the other groups, that was it. Twenty-two contestants left. If Vincent had his way, it would probably be fewer by the time the sun rose. But Vincent didn't actually want that to happen. He just knew it had to happen eventually, and was trying to make sure that things went his contestants' way.
Except that until Alphonso had gotten drunk, it probably wouldn't have gone Jaime and Kylena's way, even with the element of surprise on their side. Seb and Alphonso had a guard dog. They were well-armed. And as long as Seb had access to a pen, he could just write anything they decided they needed. Jaime and Kylena had a pair of knives and some bubbles. That was it. And Jaime's power, like Kylena had said, but in order for that to be useful – in order for moving pain from one person to another to be a helpful power – there had to be pain in the first place.
What was he missing?
"I'm not sure either," Vincent admitted. "But it seems like Kylena has a plan."
Ian glanced back at the screen. Kylena and Jaime were whispering, but too quietly for the microphones to pick them up. Whatever they were planning, they didn't want to risk anyone overhearing – even them, apparently. Finally, though, Jaime nodded, and the pair stood up from where they'd been crouching behind one of the smaller slopes.
Whatever their plan was, it was about to start.
"You know I'd do anything to help. But honestly I wouldn't even know where to start looking."