Welcome back everybody! Wowzers…will Sonia get away with her reluctant fatal move on Cato? Or will his allies realize what happened and avenge him? The answer is just around the corner ;)
The Edge Of The Ultimate
Cato's cannon went off ten seconds after his chest was pierced. And once it did, Peeta and the District 1 tributes were roused from their sleep. The moment their eyes opened, and their fatally-wounded ally lying there as the sun rose was the first thing they saw, Sonia wished she hadn't been too caught up in her guilt to run away from them sooner. Yet she had been, and because of it, the three remaining members of Cato's pack knew exactly who had killed him.
Well, Sonia didn't waste a second after that. She ran back the way she'd come, pulling the sword out of her victim's body right before she did. Yet she could hear Marvel and Glimmer were hot on her heels, and just as she approached Nessa, both tributes tackled her down at the same time. Luckily she tightened her grip on the sword as soon as she began to fall forward, and it didn't fall out of her grasp.
"Hey!" Glimmer yelled angrily, once Sonia had been knocked down. "I can stop her myself, you know!"
Marvel chuckled. "Yeah, right. You could have joined the fallen Cornucopia kids if it wasn't for Cato, and for some reason, Clove's replacement had a really easy time stealing your stuff after the campfire stunt."
Nessa, who was instantly woken up by Sonia's fall and the remaining Careers' arguing, leapt to her feet and yelled, "Get off of her!"
Neither Career was any happier to see her. "You again?" Glimmer snarled.
"Figures," snorted Marvel. "Every time we go through some bad luck in the Games, you have something to do with it!"
"Lady, why can't you just let me win in peace?" demanded Glimmer.
"Uh, I think you mean let me win in peace."
"No Marvel, I'm the me I meant. You can fight, I'll admit that, but you don't have the guts to pull anybody's hair. Which makes me one step ahead of you, because that move's something I'm the best at!"
"How many times do I have to tell you? Hair-pulling is a cliché way to finish people off! Weapons make it look more interesting. More stylish. And I know how much you hate not looking stylish…"
Glimmer and Marvel were so focused on their argument that they didn't realize they were taking their focus away from Sonia. She realized it though, and she was soon able to wiggle her way out from underneath them. But almost immediately after that, Glimmer leaned forward and was startled when the top half of her chest suddenly fell forward now that her prisoner was no longer underneath her. Instantly she glared at her district partner. "Now look what you did! You distracted me, and—"
"No, that was your fault for letting yourself get offended by my comeback instead of brushing it off like real Careers do. From now on, follow my lead and don't acknowledge my remarks."
"Come on, Nessa, let's get out of here," whispered Sonia.
Nessa started to nod in agreement, but then paused, peering above the Careers' heads and seeing something happening behind them. Something that, to her ally's astonishment, prompted her to stay put and ask, "Why don't you two like each other?"
Glimmer rolled her eyes and stood up. "Like that's any of your business."
"No, really! Cato seemed really upset that Clove didn't get to go in the arena with you, but you…two days ago, Sonia said you were from the same district, and last night she said that usually tributes from the same district have an easier time getting along."
Marvel chuckled. "Okay. Alright. Let's talk about that before we do anything to you. I could use some spotlight time after Cato hogged the cameras and stole a bunch of victims that could have been mine."
"Oh really? Now who's the helpless dumb one who does whatever it takes to hide their dumbness?" Glimmer retorted. "Unlike you, I'm actually considering the fact that she's trying to trick us again."
Sonia laughed, unable to help herself. "You two actually think each other's district partner is dumb? That's why you don't like each other?"
"Hey, it can't be personal on my end," said Marvel. "Not if Cato thought she was dumb too."
"He only thought that because you gossiped to him while I was practising my skills in the Training Centre!" Glimmer shrilled.
While Nessa just watched with a neutral-looking frown, as she usually did when having to watch similar standoffs between Matt, Yuri, and Lili, Sonia said, "Um, Glimmer, just out of curiosity, does Clove think you're dumb too?"
The blonde girl smirked. "No, thankfully. The only thing she ever says about me is that I should be her second-biggest threat, second only to Cato. Which I consider a compliment, because she could have also put me behind Mister Shallow over here."
"I'm not shallow!" Marvel retorted. "I'm just being smart by acknowledging your physical strengths. Because if you didn't have those, Cato and Clove would have taken the risk of recruiting Five's female tribute instead of you."
Glimmer guffawed. "Well at least Lover Boy thinks I'm smart too." She then turned around. "Come on, I know you want to do a good job at keeping Fire Girl up there, but you could tell my district partner I'm—" She then gasped in shock. "Hey, where's Cato's body?"
Confused, Marvel turned around and then, along with Sonia (who hadn't noticed the sight because, not having gotten to her feet yet, the duo had been blocking her view), he gasped in surprise too. Peeta was still by the tree, guarding Katniss, but Cato's corpse had mysteriously disappeared. And then suddenly Sonia smiled, now realizing why Nessa had decided not to evacuate the area. She'd seen whatever had happened to Cato's body, and it couldn't have involved a hovercraft—they would have heard the vehicle coming if that had been the case.
Marvel glared menacingly at Peeta. "You'd better know what just happened behind our backs."
"I do," Peeta said, his tone sounding apologetic. "He was dragged away by another tribute. Backpack and all. I know you guys want as much weapons with you as possible, but if I'd gone after him, our prisoner would have been left unsupervised."
"Then why didn't you tell us what was going on?" Glimmer demanded. "I could have stopped whoever that was for you!"
"Who was it, by the way?" Sonia whispered to Nessa. Although, considering Cato's weight and the physical strengths of the other tributes, she had a feeling she already knew. And if she was right, then that meant things really were going her team's way.
Nessa smiled and started to reply, but before she could, Marvel drew a sword of his own in suspicion. "I'll answer that one for you, Glims. Lover Boy didn't say anything because he's secretly working with Clove's replacement."
"Hey, don't think I wasn't already suspecting that since Day 1," said Glimmer. And to Peeta, she stated, "I didn't say anything about it because you were our only hope of finding Fire Girl. But you knew this woman's name, and every time we tried to touch her, you came up with a bunch of excuses for us to leave her alone. So, since she's obviously trying to sabotage us, why don't you confess already. You only convinced us to ally with you so you could help 'Effie' make us lose."
Peeta shrugged a little. "Okay…maybe I might as well come clean, since without Clove, you're the only Careers left."
"I knew it!" Marvel exclaimed, only to be elbowed in the hip by Glimmer.
"No, no, let me finish. The truth is, I do know that woman. She's my escort. And I do care about her, even though she was the one who drew my name at the reaping. But I promise, I had no idea she was going to take Clove's place, or that she was trying to sabotage you! Really, I was just trying to protect my district partner...and then I ended up protecting both of them at the same time."
"Traitor!" yelled Glimmer, pulling out one of her daggers.
"Consider our alliance over," Marvel agreed. He stepped forward and was about to land an attack on Peeta, when another unexpected thing happened: a sudden fiery explosion from several feet away shook the ground, catching everyone off guard. The impact thankfully wasn't close enough to harm them, but they could tell by how visible it was that it had come from somewhere else in the forest.
Glimmer started to ask what that was, but was interrupted by another loud sound: an ear-splitting noise that could only be a vehicle crashing into the ground and being demolished as a result. But…how could that possibly be? Hovercrafts were the only vehicles that could ever be found in Hunger Games arenas, and those never crashed!
Suddenly Marvel noticed the smiles on Nessa and Sonia's faces, and he approached them once again. "You two didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"
"How could we?" Nessa asked. "We don't have anything with us that could have…done that."
"Yeah right," scoffed Marvel. "After Cato gave Three Boy his shovel, he told us that you two were allied with Foxface and that she got taken hostage. She has just as much smarts as he does, so who'd put it past her to play some tricks of her own and blackmail him into letting her borrow one of the Cornucopia mines? Only at least one of those could have been responsible for an explosion that big. And even with a bad leg, I can just imagine her sneaking it into the forest. Obviously that explosion was meant for Glimmer and me, and it accidentally hit the body-confiscating hovercraft instead."
Glimmer shook her head. "Idiot. Three would never let something so clever slip right past him. Odds are, these girls had a secret word with him before he told Cato that hostage story, and he helped her with the mine stunt. If there are any hostage situations right now, it's not Foxface held by Three…it's these two and Lover Boy held by us."
Sonia chuckled. "Guess again, Glimmer. Two tributes can't hold three people hostage at once, even if they're Careers. Besides, if you include Katniss Everdeen in your list of hostages, that's definitely too many. You're gonna have to let someone go, and it's probably not going to be your stronger hostages. Because once you let them out of your sight, they'll kick your butts. Maybe even literally, if that'll add to the humour. Clove won't like watching it, but the rest of our viewers will love it."
"Yeah, Glims," said Marvel, "it's too many hostages."
"Don't lash out on me, Marvel. You know this impacts you too. Just like last time, we're going to have to let 12's escort go just so we can take on Fire Girl first."
"Or maybe not," smiled Nessa, pointing over the Careers' shoulders. Glimmer and Marvel turned around, and they were not happy to see that while they had once again been distracted with their "weaker hostages," Peeta had helped Katniss down from her tree. Now both of District 12's tributes were evacuating the area together, and were almost out of sight. Even better, based on the flawlessness of her sprint, Katniss's burn had apparently been healed at some point last night. She must have gotten something really useful from a sponsor.
"Okay, that's it," stated Glimmer. "I'm going after those two—"
"And I'll make sure these two don't go anywhere," interrupted Marvel. But Nessa and Sonia were already running away from them before he even finished his sentence, which added to his frustration. So, with one final glance at Glimmer, he took off after his targets, while she pursued Katniss and Peeta.
Once again, Foxface was discovering a statement from Sonia had been correct. District 11's female tribute, well…she. Was. Amazing. Not that she was going to admit it though; she still didn't want to risk a betrayal any more than she technically was just by forming so many alliances.
That girl was more intelligent and brave than even Foxface could have predicted. Not only did she have the guts to go up to her stubbornly reserved district partner and ask him for help, but she also had the most clever idea of how to get the chosen reactivated land mine to Nessa and Sonia's current location without raising suspicions or even leaving the Cornucopia. It was a plan so brilliant, some of the Capitol residents probably would have been surprised she wasn't from District 3.
The boy from District 11 had unsurprisingly been very reluctant to trusting her, Geolo, and those of their allies who were currently absent. But to her shock, he was keen on trusting his district partner, and that, along with the mention of possibly being able to leave the arena without any more non-Career casualties, were the sole reasons why he'd agreed to working with her new team. He was very protective of her—in fact, when she led him to the Cornucopia, the first thing he'd said to Foxface (and Geolo, though he'd had to pretend to lose consciousness again for the sake of the hostage act) was an angry warning: "Betray the little girl, and you'll hear from me. Same to the other two. You understand?"
Foxface had simply nodded, unable to hide the terror in her eyes. Yes; she undoubtedly had made the right choice, being as afraid of him as she was of death. The boy from 11 was practically invincible when it came to anything. She just hoped he didn't and wouldn't have enough distrust towards his new teammates to kill them after they crashed the hovercraft and everything.
The girl from 11 had then introduced herself as Rue, and her district partner as Thresh. Once Foxface whispered an introduction of her own and explained the act she and Geolo were portraying in front of the cameras, a plan was made. Since they couldn't do anything that would risk revealing the truth about the pretend hostage situation, Rue decided that Thresh would bring Nessa and Sonia's victim to the ditch himself. He would also fake a second hostage situation as he did so by taking the harmless mine she'd brought into the wheat field and seemingly kidnapping Geolo as bait for the Careers—they would certainly take the bait if he did it now, since the land mine trap that was supposed to guard the food stash wasn't complete and Geolo was the only one who knew how to finish it. Then, while he brought the District 3 tribute into the forest, Foxface was to guard the last mine that had been reactivated before Thresh's arrival (which, unlike the others, hadn't been buried). And Rue? Well, she hadn't said much about her part at first; just that she would need to dismantle all the fabric from Geolo's backpack and, depending on how much of it she needed, some of the fabric from her own backpack as well.
By sunrise, Foxface had understood, and she found herself resisting the temptation to admire Rue the way Sonia did. How resourceful could a tribute be? Showing strong intelligence, agility, and courage levels was one thing, but tearing away the fabric of a backpack, stretching the strongest bits of it out, and tying them together, then wrapping the ends of the soft rope around the Cornucopia building itself? That was skill. She would have won the Games for sure. Either that, or the "fatal battle of the wits with possibly two losers" scenario that Foxface had been fearing would happen if she and Katniss crossed paths would have happened with Rue as her opponent instead. The furtive tribute doubted that many people in District 11 knew how to take the simplest objects and build them into a strong slingshot. Which, considering the circumstances, was exactly the kind of weapon they needed.
Rue finished the slingshot exactly two seconds before the two of them heard the cannon. They'd waited for a moment, in case another one would go off too, but nope. Just one. Which hopefully meant that Nessa and Sonia had finished off one of the Careers. Just one wasn't surprising, since the other two most likely would have heard it happening and prevented the same thing from happening to themselves. But that didn't guarantee that the two inexperienced allies would succeed in escaping in time…
Still, regardless, it was Rue and Foxface's job to make sure the hovercraft crash went according to plan. So, as soon as the cannon went off, Rue had gone over, grabbed the last reactivated mine, and brought it back to the slingshot. Then she'd pulled back the elastic she had built with all the backpack fabric far enough to place the mine in its lap. When a minute passed and no hovercraft appeared, all she could do was pull the elastic back even farther, while estimating just how far it would have to go for this step of the plan to work. And without the hovercraft itself there to give her much of an idea, that last task seemed impossible to accomplish.
Thankfully, the hovercraft had eventually faded into view above the forest, and quick as a wink, Rue managed to make the right calculations. Straining with all her might, she had pulled the elastic back a lot further, but since the distance between the slingshot and the vehicle was incredibly large, it hadn't been long before she'd needed to ask Foxface to help her pull it even more. She wasn't pleased with having to do so, mainly because of the poor tribute's injured leg, but it was her only option if she didn't want anything to go wrong. Of course, when she'd summoned her, she made sure to pretend they were trying to make the Careers explode; not the hovercraft.
Their audience was probably enjoying the spectacle more than they had previous eventful Hunger Games moments. The odds were that if they succeeded in catapulting the mine—regardless of whether it hit the hovercraft or another tribute, they would likely receive some sponsors that could provide a cure for her injuries or at the very least something to ease their pain. If it hadn't been for that thought, Foxface would have stayed put. She knew without a doubt by now that her scrape was infected, and putting pressure on it would only jeopardize her leg's chances of healing. But if there truly was a chance that she could get out of the arena sooner rather than later, she would rather take that chance than let herself suffer any longer. So, grimacing the whole time, she'd removed her backpack and set it under her injured leg before half-sliding-half-crawling toward the slingshot.
It was more pain than she'd ever felt before. Even more than when she had tried unsuccessfully to dismantle her flask's lid, and when she had fallen down after Geolo's spear broke in half. Standing up and straining with every bit of strength she had as she helped Rue take a few more steps back had been nearly unbearable. For most of that agonizing time, she'd worried that her leg would break in half exactly like the spear had, and the only thing that stopped her from doing anything that would accidentally sabotage the plan was reminding herself of the reward she would receive if they succeeded. When her ally at last said it was finally time to release the elastic, she'd wanted to feel relieved, but the pain she was in prevented her from feeling any emotion besides agony.
She and Rue had succeeded in launching the mine forward a second after the latter gave her signal. Almost immediately after she'd released her grip on the contraption, the pain had become so intense that Foxface had collapsed onto her back, unable to think about anything besides it. For a few seconds she forgot where she was, who she was, and the rest of her memories, and it wasn't until the present moment, the current now, that everything—including what had led to her losing focus—came back to her in the blink of an eye. When she finally became aware that Rue was shaking her shoulder, worriedly calling her name. Well, her nickname; nobody in the arena besides Nessa knew her real name.
"I'm fine," Foxface murmured. Her leg was still hurting, but the pain had ceased enough for her to think clearly again.
Rue frowned. "You're not fine. We both know that. A lot of people in my district get whipped, and none of them…zoned out…like that. Even if they did, I don't think they would for that long!"
"The people in your district do not zone out because your district has a hospital with ointment."
"It's a hospital that's struggling to stay on its feet, Foxface. If there's ointment there, that would be miraculous."
"My point was that there is no ointment here at all, alright? So do not ask how I am feeling, because there is absolutely nothing that could heal my—"
Foxface was interrupted by a sudden scream coming from the forest. She and Rue turned in its direction and froze, seeing Nessa running out of the woods with Sonia, who was sitting on her back and holding a sword with fresh blood dripping from its blade. An angry Marvel was right behind them, carrying another sword, this one with dried blood on its blade. Katniss, Peeta, Thresh, Geolo, and the other two Careers were nowhere to be seen, which probably wasn't a good sign.
"Stay here," Rue whispered. "We've got company. The bad kind."
"You might as well stay here too. Neither of us have any weapons that aren't broken in half!"
"Well…it'd look like that. But trust me, there is one thing we can do to help our friends."
"They are not my friends! Just my allies!" Foxface hissed. But Rue was already running away from her, a plan clearly made.
After she had woken up from her slumber, Nessa hadn't focused her attention on Cato enough to see the booboo Sonia had given him, or exactly how big it was. She'd been too worried about her and her ally's safety because of Glimmer and Marvel's intervention, and she had only glimpsed their friend for a second—just long enough to see the boy from District 11 sneak over with an extremely nervous Geolo on his back, grab Cato by his feet, and drag him away from the scene. And once again, Peeta had seen the move but not mentioned it to the Careers until it was too late.
As she ran faster and faster, struggling to get away from Marvel, Nessa couldn't help wondering if Peeta believed her about the body switch now. She had done a lot of things that obviously but unintentionally surprised him ever since they'd entered the arena, and ever since she'd realized it, the information was clear: Peeta knew the real Effie, and the things he'd seen Nessa do were things his friend would never do.
Another thing she'd figured out was that Effie was Peeta's escort. Which meant that up until her conversation with the taxi driver who had mistaken her for a stylist, Nessa had actually done Effie's job right. Escorts were supposed to gather sponsors for their tributes, and now that she knew Effie's tributes were Katniss and Peeta…well, if she wasn't being chased by an angry Career, Nessa would have been proud of herself. H (at least she thought that was their name), the person who had written the note saying she'd slept in, would be so happy with her…well, as long as they were okay with her being in the arena. Which they probably were, since she'd replaced Clove in the process, and she seemed to be one of the people who wanted to hurt Katniss.
"Be careful when you get to the Cornucopia over there," warned Sonia. "We don't know how many mines Geolo dug up, or where he put them."
"O…kay…" Nessa gasped, barely able to hear herself speak. She was really out of breath after the distance she'd gone so far, and it was incredibly tempting to stop now. Yet she knew something bad would happen if she did, to both her and Sonia—so for the sake of both of them she kept going.
Well, at least until one of the hair strands she'd tied around Effie's dark purple skirt slightly came loose and sloped low enough to hang in front of her legs. Then she was taken by surprise, which caused her to trip and fall forward, taking Sonia with her. Instantly Marvel took advantage of what happened and pounced on both of them, keeping them from getting back up. Next, he lifted one arm and aimed the blade of his sword at Sonia's head as she struggled to turn it and see what he was doing now.
"Game over," Marvel sneered, "for you two anyway." He started to avenge Cato's death, when suddenly something hit him in the back of his head; hard. A loud clunk, and for a split second his grip on Nessa and Sonia softened. Both of them took the opportunity to roll out from under him, and exactly a millisecond after they escaped, he fell forward, a strange metal device revealed to have mysteriously appeared right behind him. Not a weapon…well, it hadn't been a weapon until now.
As Nessa lay there, trying to catch her breath, Sonia stood and rolled Marvel onto his back. He'd been knocked out cold, but not hard enough to kill him. Then, when she saw the girl from District 11 standing nearby with a knowing smile, all the pieces fell into place. She had thrown one of the deactivated land mines at Marvel and deliberately knocked him out.
Without thinking, Sonia ran forward and hugged the girl tightly. "Thanks so much," she gushed, "that guy was like…" Then she realized how strange she was probably acting in the girl's perspective, and she released her. "Sorry, it's just that both of us could have died, and personally I think you're awesome. Like, really. Really awesome."
The girl just stared in surprise, unsure of how exactly to respond. After a few seconds, however, she somewhat shrugged it off and said, "Thanks…I'm Rue. I take it that you're Sonia?"
"Yeah. And I take it you succeeded with letting your district partner in on what we're doing?"
"Well, yes," said the girl, Rue. "But I have to warn you…he might not warm up to you so fast."
Sonia chuckled. "I can handle him. He's not the only one in our team with trust problems." She noticed Foxface lying next to the Cornucopia building and gestured towards her, but then gasped as she noticed the discomfort and fatigue on her face. "Oh my g…she's not dying, is she?"
"I don't think so," Rue told her. "I don't know how she got hurt, but it must have gotten infected. She isn't in danger of dying now, but she could be if she doesn't get any sponsors soon."
Nessa got up and joined the girls, who then led her toward Foxface so she could hear the meeting too. Rue introduced herself again, and then explained that Foxface had told her all the details about "the plan," and "the switch." Her district partner, Thresh, was revealed to have learned all the details too, and then through whispers, she explained the second fake hostage situation that he and Geolo were portraying in order to get Cato, whom Rue then learned from Sonia was the latter's victim, to the ditch.
"So you succeeded with the mine?" Foxface asked.
Rue smiled in appreciation. "We did. I couldn't have done it without you."
Foxface looked away from her present allies, trying to muster an expression that, like others she'd given, strongly indicated that she was only on their team because her injury had left her with some vulnerability. Yet Nessa was pretty sure she glimpsed her eyes twinkling with positivity, and she knew Rue's comment truly meant something to her.
"Her leg's getting worse, Nessa," Sonia worried. "My bandage isn't enough. We need a sponsor as soon as possible."
"Sonia, we have no time for this," insisted Foxface. "Geolo and Thresh are still out there, along with the tributes from 12. If Glimmer did not accompany Marvel here, she must be with them. We need to provide a distraction so the stronger tributes can take on you-know-who, and we must do it quickly."
"You're right," agreed Nessa. "Katniss and Peeta don't even know what we're all teaming up to do, and if Glimmer's chasing them, I'm not sure Thresh and Geolo will have enough time to find them and explain it." She thought hard, and then made a decision. "We should all go help them. While Thresh, Geolo, and the District 12 tributes take care of the next part of the plan, we'll distract Glimmer. By the time Marvel wakes up, it'll be too late for him to help her hurt us."
"All of us including her?" Rue asked, motioning to Foxface.
"I'll give her a ride," reassured Nessa.
It was absolute pandemonium at the ditch. The hovercraft was on fire because of the crash, and some of the Peacekeepers couldn't even make it out of the vehicle because the flames and smoke stood in their way. It was better than expected, even in Geolo's opinion. But when five Peacekeepers did manage to fight through those obstacles along with the bodily burns they received as a result, the male tribute from District 3 immediately knew he'd spoken too soon.
As soon as the still-living Peacekeepers saw two tributes standing there, obviously having expected the crash right from the beginning, Geolo glanced around rapidly for the District 12 tributes. It wasn't that he didn't have any faith in Thresh; he was just worried that despite his presence being a strong advantage, it wouldn't be enough to defeat all of the Peacekeepers. Regardless of whether or not he himself helped him fight them.
"It's my fault," Geolo quickly said, becoming increasingly nervous, "I should have known. They're Careers. They're too big of an obstacle for every single thing to have gotten done in that amoun—"
"Save it," Thresh cut in, his tone and expression serious and downright fearless. "We run, I fight. Now."
The Peacekeepers were climbing out of the ditch as his words were being spoken. There was no time for rambling, which being in his worried state, Geolo knew he would have done if he had given another reply. So, without any further conversation, he followed his teammate away from the ditch. Unfortunately, due to the conspicuous differences between the duo's physical strengths, it wasn't long before Thresh surged several footsteps ahead of Geolo, who had to double his velocity in order to keep up. Yet by then it was too late. The Peacekeepers had now officially joined the chase, and despite his best efforts to stay ahead of them, one Peacekeeper caught up to Geolo, grabbed him by the hood of his jacket, and pulled him backward. Geolo screamed as he felt the sudden sensation, and then glanced around in terror, hoping Thresh had heard him and would come to his rescue. Which he didn't.
"Rebellion doesn't fly well, Mister Keyship," sneered the Peacekeeper holding Geolo captive. "Especially in an arena. I suggest you come with us. Don't bother drawing attention to yourself until you're in a torture chamber."
Suddenly another Peacekeeper—one whose helmet had almost burnt to a crisp—held up a hand. "Not so fast. He's a weakling. Weaklings can't do stuff that big on their own, even if they're from District 3."
The Peacekeeper holding Geolo guffawed. "After Beetee Latier electrified most of his opponents and won his Hunger Games, that's your line of defence? Can't you do better than that?"
"I'm just trying to help you out. But if you don't like it, tell me what you want me to say."
"No, it's true," Geolo gasped in fear. "In my case it's true. I was never destined to be a Hunger Games victor, it was obvious from the beginning! Even though Beetee himself mentored me and did everything in his power to give me some other strengths, I'm a loser! Might as well just kill me now. You're wasting your time with me!"
"The only one wasting our time is you," said a third Peacekeeper. "By not telling us whether or not that tribute we saw you with is your only ally."
Now Geolo was speechless. Whether he called out to Thresh for help or confessed the truth, he was going to receive a negative consequence either way. Whether it was torture or death, he was panicking just by the thought of it. And what if Thresh didn't come to his rescue? What if Rue really was the only member of Nessa's team that he truly valued? Even if she wouldn't be able to escape the arena without his knowledge on hovercraft functions?
He probably doesn't even believe I can fix and drive that hovercraft, thought Geolo. District 6 is the district that's really in charge of building hovercrafts, but because everyone there hates travel and has a tendency to get addicted to drugs, my district was told to be a second option when it came to building vehicles. Because we're situated right next to 6, and we're already highly intelligent and good at building electronics as it is.
The fourth Peacekeeper tapped his gun against the palm of his hand. "We're waiting…"
Geolo gulped. He didn't have a choice. Not like this. He might as well come clean…
Suddenly the Peacekeeper holding him captive was violently shoved against the second Peacekeeper's head, and both of them fell to the ground, unconscious. Geolo was pulled downward with his captor, but with him there to unintentionally soften his fall, he didn't lose consciousness as well and was able to wriggle himself free. He made it to his feet, and there was Thresh, zooming to his hands and knees and narrowly avoiding the other Peacekeepers' gunshots. Then he yanked the third Peacekeeper's ankles out from under him, causing him to fall on his back. Though unlike the first two Peacekeepers, this one didn't lose consciousness. The fifth Peacekeeper then tried to attack Geolo, but before he could, Thresh shoved him into a tree, pushed the fourth Peacekeeper out of his path, and scooped Geolo up by the entire back side of his jacket. He then ran out of the area, bringing him to safety.
"Thanks," Geolo said, shocked by what just happened. "I thought you'd abandoned me!"
"Not an ally working with Rue," stated Thresh. "That was for her."
Geolo gave him a smile, which Thresh immediately ordered him to wipe off. "Still got work to do. I'll take them on. Find our allies. The Twelves too."
"B…by myself? But what if I have to face the Ones? I'm not a fighter, and all the tributes here know it!"
Thresh narrowed his eyes. "I'm trusting you, Three. Better not change that."
"Oh yeah, yeah! Yeah, sure! Okay, I'll make this worth your while. Sure th—"
Before Geolo could finish his sentence, Thresh pushed him onto the ground and ran back the way he'd come to hold off the Peacekeepers alone as best as he could. Knowing he wasn't to waste a second, District 3's male tribute made it to his feet and continued his way forward.
As he walked, Geolo inhaled slowly, still shocked that he'd just survived an intense encounter with five Peacekeepers and that Thresh had entrusted him with such a huge and risky responsibility. Thresh, the ultimately invulnerable male tribute from District 11. That was just…wow. He'd known he had several weaknesses, and yet he had not only saved his life anyway, but also trusted him with Rue's. And their other allies' lives too. He hadn't seen that coming. Someone like Thresh saving and trusting someone like him?
Will you stop that? Geolo told himself. He did it for Rue. Not for you. He only did it because I'm the hovercraft repairman/driver guy. Our only hope of making Nessa's dream come true, something that's going to benefit both Rue and himself. I'm only playing a role this big because I'm the only choice left. When all this is over, even Foxface will be getting more spotlight time than me. Because I'm just…me. Someone who could never be the knight in shining armour Thresh is as much as he tried.
To be continued in the next chapter. Will Nessa and the non-Career tributes be able to survive against these unfavourable odds? Brace yourselves for what's to come…