The group of them ran through the marshland, mud and mulch squelching under their feet, breath coming out in steady pants. They could hear the screams from the blood bath continuing behind them. Soon it would be over and the cannons would begin, then they could ascertain just how many had been slaughtered.
Hebe could imagine the careers, wildly swinging their swords, lopping off the heads of tributes. She remembered Dean's blank stare, his head rolling on the floor. Then it hit her. Niamh may not know. How could she? They were out of sight before the games began. She tapped the girl on the shoulder, slowing her pace. Niamh turned to her, eyes wide with alarm, relaxing when she saw it was just her ally.
"Yeah?" Niamh stared at her, confused by her sudden grave expression.
"Dean, he… he stepped off the pedestal. Before the cannon. I'm sorry."
The girl's face dropped, a mixture of regret and sorrow churning in the depths of her eyes.
"I figured that was who it was. I hoped it wasn't though. He knew he could never make it. I just wished I could've protected him." Tears started falling from her eyes, and Hebe reached out and hugged her, Luca looking on in sadness at the pair of them. They broke apart, Niamh sniffling slightly, eyes red.
"We should keep moving," She suggested, "It would be good to get to higher ground before nightfall."
It already appeared to be late afternoon, Hebe looked up to see the sun struggling to force its rays through a thick clump of clouds. It wasn't the real sun though, not the real clouds, just a trick by the gamemakers to make the arena feel more real. She looked back to the trees that lay ahead, following her two allies forward into the swampy wilderness.
The same trees she had seen from her pedestal continued, twisted, gnarly, unnatural. They didn't have much foliage, only a few brown leaves hanging from grey branches. The rest of their vegetation had fallen to the ground, composted by worms and bugs. Tigris had been right about the environment, the air was hot and muggy and flies buzzed around them constantly. She could see Luca waving his hand about, trying to swat them away from himself, but to no avail.
They continued walking but so far they had not spotted any fresh water, only muddy pools coated in a thick layer of algae. Hebe prayed that she had managed to pick up some kind of water bottle from the cornucopia, otherwise lugging such a heavy backpack around with her would've been pretty much futile.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a cannon. Then another. Then another. Each one echoing through the group just like the first they had heard, the one that signified the start of the games. They all stopped moving, counting how many had died in the bloodbath.
"I counted 8." Luca piped up, Niamh and Hebe both nodding in agreement.
8 wasn't that high of a number, especially considering one was already dead before the cannon went off. The careers would be itching for blood, for them the games were not only about winning, but killing as many as possible. They were known for hunting down other tributes, even squabbling between them who would be the one to deliver the killing blow.
The group kept walking for a short while, no one choosing to discuss further the deaths at the bloodbath. Eventually they reached a small clearing, deciding that it would be a good place to spend the night.
Hebe sat down next to a tree, her backpack beside her. She dragged it onto her lap and opened the zip at the top, searching through it for anything of use.
Inside she found a spool of rope, a small serrated knife, two boxes of dry crackers, matches, some bruised apples, a roll-up sleeping bag, and right at the bottom, two canteens. She screwed open one of the lids, and it was empty. She let out a groan, opening the other, nearly bursting into tears at the sight of cool, fresh water.
Hebe called over Luca and Niamh, showing them her prize, holding it out to give them a drink. Niamh had similar supplies in her own backpack, and the group shared out half a box of the crackers and ate an apple between them, savouring the sweet flavour.
Night had fallen, the warped trunks of the trees looked like figures in the darkness. Hebe sat awake, looking into the woods for possible signs of danger, listening carefully for footsteps, or snaps of twigs. It was unnervingly quiet, the arena seemed devoid of wildlife save for the flies that droned around her constantly.
She remembered a fact her music teacher had once told her, that flies only made that noise in the key of F. Hebe didn't try to ignore memories of her childhood flooding back to her, the smell of her mothers fish dinners, the burn in her fingertips after practising too long, the sound of her fathers gentle laughter. She recalled Finnick's words to her, a reminder to hold onto those memories. It would be what got her home.
Then a sudden blast of music sang through the arena, what it took her a second to realise was the national anthem. She looked up to the sky, the capitol seal hovering there, replacing the fake-moon that had before hung bright in the darkness. Then the faces appeared. It started with the girl from 5, then the boy from 6, then the boy from 8, continuing until 8 faces had appeared. She felt her heart nearly stop when she saw the girl from 9, remembering how she had twitched on the floor. Strangely however, Hebe felt no guilt, only numbness. She had known it was within her to kill, but her lack of remorse almost stunned her. Maybe she was always meant for the arena.
A silent tear fell from her eye when Dean appeared, blank eyes staring forward. He looked even younger in that photo than he had in person. Then the moon returned, the music stopped and the swamp was once again silent.
Hebe looked over at Luca, his face more peaceful than she had ever seen it, and her heart almost bled at the reminder that he would probably never leave. This would be where he would die, his body lifted out by hovercraft, put into some sterile morgue until the end of the games. Then he'd finally return to district 4, in a standard issue casket, for everyone to come and gawk at.
Hebe refused to entertain the thought any further than that, choosing to stare back out at the forest, losing herself in thoughts of her childhood until it was time to wake Niamh up and let her take over.
Eventually she did, Niamh staring at her groggily before remembering where she was. Hebe walked over and lay down beside Luca, turning her back to him lest she get caught up in thought of his untimely death.
By the time she had woken up, it was morning, the sun lighting up the sky more clearly now that some of the clouds had cleared. It felt as though she had not had any sleep at all, she did not feel any more well rested than she had when she shut her eyes, but she knew that her body would have felt the effect had she not slept whatsoever.
Niamh was sat in the space Hebe had inhabited, eyes red from crying. Most likely about Dean. Hebe chose not to pry, instead leaning over and shaking her district partner awake. The younger boy shot up, almost hitting the older girl in the face with a stray hand.
"Sorry…" He mumbled quietly, wiping some of the gunk from his eyes.
Hebe just smiled at him, turning her head to Niamh.
"We should probably explore some of the arena today, don't you think? This water isn't going to last forever." Hebe asked, Niamh nodding in reply.
"Yeah. We should avoid going that way," She pointed to her right, "Last night I saw some smoke from there, and either it a dumb kid, or an arrogant career pack."
"Best not take our chances then. How about going straight up?" The rest of the group nodded.
They stood up, collecting their supplies back into their backpacks, grabbing their weapons, beginning to make their way through the trees. Niamh led the way, hacking and chopping at any low-lying branches, using her sword as a machete. Luca was close behind her, playing with the string on his bow. Hebe jogged to catch up with him, walking in step beside her district partner.
"How you holding up?" She asked, looking down at the younger boy. Despite the fact he had gotten the most sleep out of the three of them, Luca looked awful with dark circles under his eyes that rivalled Niamh's.
"Not bad. Tired. But I guess that's to be expected…" Hebe nodded at him, looking forward again. He had been slightly despondent ever since he learned of Dean's death. The boy must have made an impression on him.
They kept moving, Niamh ploughing ahead like a bulldozer, until suddenly Luca let out a shout, stopping the older girl's progress.
"Hey, I think I see water!" He turned his body right and pointed down the hill. Hebe squinted, and low and behold, there was a small brook, bubbling with clear water. It was entirely devoid of algae and looked shockingly clean compared to much of the surrounding environment.
The three of them ran down the hill, Niamh shucking off her backpack and retrieving one of the empty canteens inside, filling it with the water. She eyed it suspiciously, before grabbing an iodine tablet and dropping it in. She let it fizz and dissolve before taking a gulp. The other two watched her intently for a reaction, but she just shrugged.
"Tastes a bit funny, but that's just the iodine."
That was good enough for Hebe who took her own empty canteen and filled it up to the top, dropping one of Niamh's iodine tablets in it. She then returned it to her backpack, sitting down and enjoying the moment of peace.
It was broken by the sound of an arrow whooshing through the air, Hebe leaping to her feet axe in hand, only to find Luca holding a decent sized bird with an arrow through its neck. She let out a sigh of relief, Niamh laughing slightly at Hebe's worried expression.
"Nice shot!" Niamh said, giving the boy a big thumb's up.
"Bird for dinner then?" Luca asked, the other two nodding vigorously. It had been one night and they were already sick of dry crackers with a side of bruised slices of apple.
"I didn't even realise there were animals in this arena other than the fucking flies…" Hebe mused, remembering the dead silence the night before.
"Where to next?" Luca asked, seemingly spurred on by his victory with the bird.
"I figure we keep heading the way we were. I thought I saw some cliffs in that direction when we were down at the cornucopia." Niamh responded, looking to Hebe for her opinion.
She nodded her assent and they were off, trekking back up the hill and returning to their previous formation of Niamh at the front, Luca in the middle and Hebe bringing up the rear. They walked for what seemed like ages, not coming in contact with any other tributes. Hebe may have even forgotten she was in the hunger games for the lack of noise, there wasn't even the familiar boom of the cannon, just Niamh slicing through branches and flies buzzing in their ears.
Eventually they seemed to be reaching some sort of hill, as the incline began increasing. Hebe's legs burned with the effort of walking, and soon it began to feel less like a walk and more like a hike, the mulch and grass giving way to rocks and gravel.
By late afternoon they were on the top of a large hill, and would've been able to see the cornucopia from where they were had it not been for the thick vegetation hemming them in.
"Well this was a waste of time," Hebe said, sighing slightly, slumping down on the floor.
"You can say that again." Niamh whined, taking off her shoes and massaging her sore feet.
"Might as well set up camp here then, it's as good a place as any." Luca remarked, the two girls agreeing with him.
Hebe lay back, resting as Luca collected pieces of wood for their fire. It hadn't been the most productive day as far as exploring the arena was concerned, they had just as little information as they did when they first left the cornucopia. All they knew so far was that the arena was bigger than they thought, the hill continued rising even beyond their camp. And who knows how large the other side of the swamp was.
She got up, distracting herself from thoughts of how futile their day had been by collecting kindling for Luca's fire. She grabbed the brittle brown leaves from the low-hanging branches and put it in between the gaps in the small wood pile. They had made sure to make it small so that they could easily stamp it out as soon as the bird was finished cooking. Then Hebe ran over to her backpack, grabbed the matches and lit one, lighting the kindling and moving the small pieces of wood so they caught fire.
Then Niamh came over, holding the bird on and a few of Luca's arrows. The body had been plucked, and with its feathers removed it looked slightly ridiculous. She used the knife from Hebe's backpack to start carving it, cutting it into three pieces of meat. Then she stuck the arrows through the bits of the bird, allowing it to act as a sort of makeshift spit. She handed her two allies their pieces of bird, giving Luca the slightly larger piece.
They all gathered around the fire, turning the arrows around in their hands so that the meat was evenly cooked.
"How'd you learn to carve a bird like that?" Luca asked.
"My father's a butcher, one of the few people in 11 who don't work in the fields. He taught me how so that I could take over the family business some day." She didn't bother addressing the fact that she may not make it back to continue her father's business. Instead she just asked,
"What does your family do?"
"My mum and dad make nets for the fishing boats. They're known as the best around." Luca replied, puffing his chest out in pride at his family's renown.
"I can attest to that. My father used to work at the docks and he always bought his nets from the Merritts."
"What's the sea like?" Niamh asked, curiosity shining in her eyes. Hebe had forgotten that not every district had the luxury of growing up next to the sea.
"It's beautiful. And massive. It goes on forever, you can't see the other side." Hebe said wistfully, remembering her home.
They all looked down at their meat which was now golden brown, their fire starting to die slightly. Hebe quickly stamped out the remaining embers, before grabbing a box of the crackers from her backpack and sharing them out. They all fell into easy conversation about their lives back home, Luca telling tales about what he got up to at the academy, Hebe reminiscing about her time on the boats, Niamh explaining the workings of her district.
Soon she felt the familiar twinge of tiredness, deciding to go to bed. She curled up next to one of the bushes, Luca keeping watch with Niamh until she too decided to sleep. And yet again, before she had time to think about closing her eyes, she was drifting into unconsciousness.
Again, she did not dream, nor even fully realise she had slept until she woke up, opening her eyes to see Luca staring at her. She leaped up, watching as he laughed at her shocked expression. Hebe swatted him, grumbling about how childish he was, trying to keep up her show of seriousness. But she couldn't resist smiling with him, enjoying how infectious his giggles were, even if they were at her reaction.
Eventually he calmed down, regaining his composure.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going out to hunt for another bird for breakfast." Luca said, a determined look on his face.
Hebe looked at him, contemplating whether she should go with him or not. She then looked over at Niamh who was still fast asleep. She couldn't just leave her here, asleep and defenceless. Luca knew how to look after himself after all. It would be fine.
"Ok. But be careful. And don't go too far away." She told him firmly, taking on an almost motherly tone. He grinned happily, rushing to get his quiver and bow, not leaving before giving her a tight hug.
She sighed, walking over to wake Niamh. The girl woke with the same start Hebe had, looking positively dishevelled with all the leaves and twigs in her hair.
"Where's Luca?" She asked, looking around to find the small boy nowhere in sight.
"He's hunting for another bird. He won't be gone too long." Hebe replied, grabbing some crackers for her and Niamh.
"If he doesn't find any we're going to need to work out another source of food. These crackers aren't going to last more than a day or two."
"Yeah, I didn't see any fish in that pond yesterday either, so that's not an option. We could always try to find some plants or go back to the cornucopia. But that could be dangerous." Hebe began rambling on about different foods they could eat, but she was soon cut off by a bloodcurdling scream.
"Luca." She whispered, recognising the voice immediately.
She shot to her feet, grabbing one of her axes and bolting out of the clearing, Niamh hot on her heels. Hebe barreled through the trees, wildly slashing through foliage with her axe.
"LUCA! LUCA WHERE ARE YOU?" She screamed, but got no response. She kept running. Kept shouting his name.
Then she saw him, laying in the middle of a clearing, spear in his chest, Augustus leering above him.
The rest of the careers were sneering watching as Luca squirmed in pain. They all turned their heads to see Hebe and Niamh crashing into the clearing, opening their mouths to let out some kind of taunt, but she cut them off with a scream.
"LUCA!"
Hebe rushed forward, Niamh tackling Augustus to the ground, the two wrestling on the floor.
"Luca. Please. Listen to me, don't go!" She was practically wailing, cradling the young boy in her arms, ripping the spear out of his chest. He just gurgled in response, pleading eyes staring up at her, filled with fear.
Tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall, as she stroked his face lovingly with her hands, shushing his cries. He reached up and pulled a small chain from under his suit, using the last of his strength to rip it away from his neck and press it into her hands.
He started opening and closing his mouth frantically, trying to will the words to come out, but all he could muster was a few feeble noises before he went limp in her arms.
Hebe began shaking him, trying to rouse him as if he had just fallen asleep. She wailed again, ducking her forehead down to press it against his. She remembered her thoughts from the previous day. Soon the hovercrafts would be down to collect him and he'd be shoved in some Capitol casket and shipped off to his family. They'd sob and scream, demanding to see their son's body only to find a boy with a hole in his chest. Hebe felt herself become lost in her anguish, only broken from her grief when she heard Niamh cry from next to her.
Hebe turned her head just in time to see her last remaining ally get beheaded, Icarus standing above her and slicing his sword straight through layers of gristle and bone like it was butter. Her head rolled until it rested several feet away from her eyes staring straight forward just like Dean's had. She still looked alive and Hebe was horrified to see her eye twitch before they clouded over.
She let out a choked sob, still holding Luca's body, waiting for the careers to come to their senses and run her through.
"Oh would you stop whining?" Verity complained, reaching out a foot to kick Niamh's head away from her and into a nearby bush.
Hebe just gawked at her, still not aware enough to even understand how to be angry. She turned back, looking over at Augustus. It looked like Niamh had managed to stab him a few times with her sword and he lay there not moving, bleeding out from his injuries.
Then something snapped inside of Hebe. She could hear Finnick's voice yet again echoing inside her head, willing her to survive. She plastered on a smirk, standing up and laying Luca's head gently on the floor.
"That offer still open?" She asked, staring straight at Icarus with a fierce gaze. He seemed surprised at how brazen she was being, considering she had been sobbing and quivering mere minutes before.
"And why would we ally with you?" Verity said incredulously, almost like she was disgusted by the girl.
"Because I'm your biggest competition here. You're not going to let me just walk away from here unharmed. You saw my score. I could kill you with my eyes shut. So why not ally with me. Better than getting an axe in the back of the head." Hebe spat, not breaking eye contact with the girl. Verity just huffed, clearly not able to give her a sufficient answer. Instead she turned to Icarus.
"Fine. But believe me 4, you try anything funny, and you won't be as lucky as your friends. I'll make your death slow and unbelievably painful. So watch it." He then turned his back to her and started walking through the trees. Gaia skulked behind him, she had been so quiet Hebe had entirely forgotten she was there.
Verity motioned for Hebe to follow them, waiting for her to go so she could follow behind, like a guard so she wouldn't run off. Hebe let out an airy chuckle and started walking forwards, keeping up her amused expression until she was no longer in sight.
Her face hardened as 3 cannons went off, the hovercrafts descending to collect her allies, including the boy she considered her brother. She grasped the necklace that he had given her in one hand, fingers gripping tightly to her axe in another. Hebe reached up and bit the axe blade between her teeth, clasping the chain around her neck and tucking it beneath her suit along with her father's wedding band.
She allowed a small smile to make its way onto her face, already formulating a plot for her revenge in her head.
The careers were going to pay for what they did to Luca.