Kids are heavy. Steph can barely stand up, all of her being focused on not dropping Daniel as she laments that fact. He's skinny, too, and has probably lost half his blood, but still her muscles feel like jelly as she staggers down the hall. Pete and Hannah walk ahead, murmuring quietly to one another. The girl has calmed significantly over the last couple of hours, being away from that room and with people who want to help her.
"Lex always says that I'm special, but I don't know about that." She is explaining, fidgeting with her sleeves. "I think I'm just weird."
"Well, I think weird is good." Pete shrugs earnestly. "I'm a real geek, but would you hold that against me?"
She giggles as he pulls a funny face. "No, you're normal Pete! Don't be silly. You don't hear voices or say things that don't make sense."
"We all say things that don't make sense. And besides, maybe it's magic powers, what you have." The teen suggests. "Ever think of that?"
"That's what Ethan reckons." She smiles shyly. "But he's pretty silly too sometimes." Their footsteps slow as they approach the end of the hallway - it's a dead end, but they passed two sets of doors on the way down.
"Thoughts?" Steph asks the other two as she sets Daniel down gently on the floor. He groans softly, and Hannah crouches to hold his hand.
"I know you want to get out of here, but I just think we should find some shelter for a while." Pete turns Steph away from the kids earshot.
"Yeah, I know how you feel." Steph shakes her head. "I hate this. God, I hate it."
"He was looking out for Hannah, at the Bloodbath." Pete nods to Daniel, eyelids fluttering as he stares up at his friends. "Poor kid."
Steph's blood is running hotter by the second, and she turns her scowl to the ceiling, knowing there will be a camera up there somewhere.
"Are you happy now? Huh? Is this what you want to see, you messed up pieces of shit?" She yells aimlessly.
"Woah, Steph." Pete grips her arms gently, pulls her face back towards his. "Shhhh." He reaches up and she doesn't notice the tears leaking down her cheeks until he wipes them away. "You're in shock, we're all in shock. We need to rest."
She blinks at him. "This is the worst." She hiccups.
"I know. But you be strong for me and I'll be strong for you."
She manages a smile at that. "What do you think, Hannah?" She calls over his shoulder. "Do you wanna settle down for a spell?"
The girl is gripping her friend's hand so tight her knuckles have gone pale beneath the blood crusting them. She nods wordlessly.
"Alright." Pete nods, but before he gets any further, he hears the dull thud of footsteps. Uneven, and light, but there. "Up, up." He urges the kids, and helps them stand (Daniel leaning between him, Hannah and the wall behind them) as Steph plants herself in front of them.
It's a matter of seconds before the figure emerges from around the corner, short hair pinned back and face pale and drawn.
"Stay back!" Steph yells at Grace Chastity, who is limping down the corridor dripping blood.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, Lauter!" She calls back, sounding a touch offended.
"And how do I know that?"
"I just saved your pathetic friend over there, like, yesterday."
Steph glances at Pete and, whilst he looks upset about the pathetic part, he can't deny that she did save him from Jägerman.
"I'd argue that you were taking out the competition, laying into Max like you did."
"That too!" She smirks, taking another step forward. Her lug buckles as she does so, and she catches herself on the wall. "Regardless, there's only one of me, and four of you. And," She adds with a grin. "I have a plan."
...
They settle in an empty gym hall in the end, smaller than the one they had started the Games in and darker too.
Grace sits against one wall, the other four against another. She tries to pass around a half full water bottle, but nobody takes it.
"Suit yourself." She shrugs, and takes a swig herself.
"Would you get to the point, Chastity?" Steph rolls her eyes.
"Look, I don't like this any more than you do." She sneers. "But I've been thinking... we need to get out of this building." She says it with a certain emphasis, in a way that makes Steph's head snap up.
"Do we." She says slowly.
"Mm-hm." Grace hums. "There's got to be a way."
"And how do you know that?" Pete frowns, shifting forward.
Grace raises a hand, pulls a silver packet from her pocket. It rattles as she crinkles it in her grip and shakes it in front of them.
"Pills?" It's Steph who realises. It's a blister pack, small and shiny.
"For your boyfriend." She nods at Pete. "I found it in a parachute, with this." She tosses over a slip of card, but keeps the pills in her grasp.
Pete catches the note with his good arm and reads it aloud.
"You're not a loser, Pete. Keep fighting." It isn't signed, but he knows it must be from Paul. As if Zoey would have managed to get them any sponsors. Steph seems to be thinking the same thing.
"A sponsor!" She laughs. "Yes!"
"They're for the pain." Grace sing songs, messing with the meds absent-mindedly. "And I found them, which means they should be mine, technically."
Steph is about to smack this girl when she throws the blister pack over to them, and Hannah grabs it, Pete's good hand busy with the note.
"A peace offering." Chastity smiles like she's top of the class. "We have a common enemy, that dirty dude Max Jägerman. And we can work together to stop him."
Pete inspects the packaging of the medicine Hannah is showing him. It doesn't look tampered with, and is definitely legit - where would the girl have gotten these if not from a parachute? And the note? He pops a pill and holds it up to the light.
"I don't know, Grace." Steph is saying pointedly. "Maybe we need to lay low for a while; gather our strength."
Grace laughs. "You don't have any food, or medical supplies that I can see. What strength are we gaining, sitting on the floor getting hungrier and sicker?" She looks down at Daniel with a softening of her eyes that lasts only a second.
"Your water." Pete says suddenly. Hannah is nodding her head approvingly; she shuffles across the floor to rest Daniel's head on her lap. His breathing is audibly laboured now, and she strokes his hair out of his face gently.
Grace looks taken aback, but she holds out the proffered water bottle for him. "That's all I've got, Spankoffski, don't do anything stupid with it."
He snatches it from her and spins on his heels, handing both the bottle and a single pill to Hannah. She pops the pill between Daniel's lips, and coaxes him into sipping some of the water.
"Shhh, you're alright." She whispers. She reaches around and pulls a baseball cap, folded up small enough that Pete hadn't noticed it before, from the waistband of her leggings. "This is my magic hat. Ethan gave it to me, and as long as you have it, you have to be ok." She presses the crumpled navy material into Daniel's hands, and he smiles.
"You're sweet, Han." He manages blearily. "But you need it more." He tries hard to give it back to her, but sort of drops it halfway.
"Daniel, no." Hannah wipes at her face so her tears don't drip down onto his face where she's leaning over him. "You're giving up. Not allowed, Lex said, its not."
"You're... good friend. Glad we..." The words end with a wheeze; you could hear a pin drop in the room as Steph leans in close to Pete, and even Grace stays quiet.
"Daniel!" Hannah yells suddenly, angrily. She rocks forward and rests her head on his chest - it isn't moving anymore. "Get up." She whispers, shaking her head until her hair starts to unravel from its plaits. "Get up, Daniel!"
She sobs for a long, long time. Long enough for the cannon to sound and for Grace to move, slowly but surely, to sit quietly with the rest of them. Long enough for her eyes to dry and her voice to turn hoarse. But Daniel never does get up.