Day Three of the Arena

July 4th, 2427

Genevieve Ardelean, 18

When she arrives back at the cornucopia, Geneve is relieved to see Aida still alive as she is carrying the medicine that will save the Four girls' life. She can't die on Geneve now. Aida is a mystery that she cannot allow to go unsolved.

To the detective's surprise, Aida is looking better than she did when they left her earlier; she is sitting up against the bunker, and while she is still pale, she no longer appears to be in the delirious state that she was in before they left.

Geneve is no medical doctor, but she knows whatever the Capitol did to Aida is not going to just go away. She's never seen them be that merciful in The Games.

Geneve sees a sparkle of hope in Aida's eyes when she notices her; something she's not seen before in the usually stone-faced Four girl.

"How you feeling?" Geneve asks, placing her bag down beside the sick girl.

"Better… I think," Aida groans, rubbing her head. "But I could really do with that medicine if you've got it."

Geneve smiles. "Don't worry. I got you covered."

Aida's eyes suddenly fall down as despair seems to gush into them. "I talked about her, didn't I?"

Geneve pauses for a moment. But they both know who she's talking about. "Yes," she murmurs.

But then, Aida looks up at the girl she spilled her secrets to, and her eyes are no longer filled with dread, but with a warm comfort. "Thank you," she croaks, giving Geneve's hand a light squeeze.

Now that everything has calmed down and Geneve has a chance to think straight, the cogs begin turning in the detective career's mind. Something doesn't feel right. She can't help but overanalyze everything, it's her job back in District One.

Emery takes a handful of the bottles from the bag and then heads straight for Brizio, but Geneve cuts him off before ushering him to the other side of the cornucopia. As she is doing so, she catches a glimpse of Romulus and Landon standing together and observing them with their arms crossed while whispering something to each other.

"What's going on?" Emery asks impatiently as they turn the corner of the cornucopia, out of the view of the others.

"I don't know… something just feels off about this."

The Ten boy furrows his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? We got the medicine, isn't that what we were after? Now if you'll excuse me-"

Emery attempts to pull himself away from the conversation, but the persistent career grabs his arm to prevent him from leaving, much to his visible annoyance.

"It's just… it all seemed too easy. Like why was a box of anti-rads just waiting there for us to conveniently pick up?" Geneve ponders aloud. "Besides, I'm no expert in this sorta thing but I would have thought that the medicine would come in tablets. Not some weird… green liquid."

Emery shakes his head, "You're being paranoid," he states. He tugs himself free of Geneve's grip, and heads back over to the Fours.

Maybe he's right? Yet, Geneve's intuition has rarely been wrong in her life - it's something she inherited from her mother and her teachings.

(She's having the same feeling she had on the morning of her family's murder.

She knew deep down that something was off that day.)

Geneve is suddenly cast back to one of the first murders she ever investigated with Cesar; out of all the dozens of murder scenes she witnessed, it always stuck with her in the forefront of her mind. It's true to say that it was a high-profile case - the victim being District One's previous Mayor. The Mayor was renowned for one thing: having an excessive drinking problem which he used to remedy the stresses from the responsibilities of the job. However, the assassins took advantage of this when planning his murder by poisoning his favorite whiskey, which he indulged in every night. Effectively, they turned his remedy into the murder weapon. That was the genius of it. That's why it stuck with her all these years.

The memory causes an alarm bell to ring in Geneve's mind. Where are the anti-rads? She left them with Aida!

"Wait! Wait!" She shouts, rushing back over to her friend from Four.

But she's too late.

Aida has already rummaged through the bag and gulped down an entire bottle of the medicine. The Four girl freezes, turning her dark eyes to Geneve, who also becomes motionless.

It is out of her hands now. She can only hope that her intuition is wrong. That this is not a repeat of the day of her parent's murder.

For a brief few seconds, it seems like that is the case. But then, Aida gasps with terror. She clutches her stomach tightly like something has invaded her insides. A split second later, the poor girl collapses down on the ground, coughing and choking violently.

Geneve practically collapses onto Aida before scooping her up in her arms.

It's poisoned. I knew it!

By now, the Four Girl has turned a dark shade of purple. Streams of blood have begun running down from her eyes. Her muscles jerk and jolt with exaggerated movements.

"I'm… I'm so sorry," Geneve stutters. "I-I didn't know… I was trying to help."

Geneve stares into the face of the dying girl and holds her hand, feeling her muscles begin to relax.

Aida manages to give Geneve a faint smile… that is the first and last time Geneve sees her smile.

Aida's hand goes limp, followed by the rest of her body, and a cannon fires in the distance. Her agony is finally at an end.

BOOM.

Geneve's eyes travel from the murdered career to the rest of her allies. Yes, murdered. A tribute did this.

Brizio glances at his own medicine bottle in his hand before hurriedly dropping it on the ground and kicking it away.

Everything seemed to go so fast that the other careers have only just registered what happened.

But as they all gather around the scene, suspicion begins to spread throughout them like a virus.

Briar Bacardi, 17

After the horrors they experienced last night, Briar and her alliance decided to head back into the main town to get out of the tangled, web of a forest. This will come with the downside that they will be nearer other tributes, but it's a risk that Briar is prepared to take.

As noon hits, they finally clear the forest, wandering back to the edge of the town. Before long, they find themselves in a parking lot, filled with bright yellow buses with the words "school but" written on them.

Before them is a large, concrete, square building that Briar figures must be the school itself. The grey building seems to be deteriorating the longer Briar stares at it.

Chaney turns to the rest of the group, half smirking. "Well, we don't wanna be late for class, do we?"

Seeing Chaney getting back to his old self before the games began gives Briar the beacon of hope that he always gave her in dark times. Even though part of her knows it's a facade now - like he's trying to claw his way back to a better time of their lives. But then, sometimes a facade is all anyone needs.

The alliance agrees that the school is the best place to lay low for now - the multiple stories, corridors, and classrooms will offer some protection for anyone trying to look for them.

Chaney pushes open the main entrance doors. On the other side, the group is met with a grey, abandoned hallway with rows of lockers dotted around.

They proceed up several flights of stairs until they feel relatively well hidden, or as hidden as they can be when there are almost twenty other people that need them dead.

Finally, the alliance stops in a corridor, containing half a dozen separate classrooms.

Briar leans against the window in the corridor facing the entire town. From here, she can get a good look at the arena; the first thing she notices is that it looks smaller than it did on the first day after they ran from the bloodbath. Just next to the school is the park, the one that they first stopped in, and in the distance, behind several ruined houses, is the factory around the cornucopia.

Auren leans next to her on the window sill, looking troubled. "I'm not sure about this, Briar," She murmurs. "We're too close to where we started… what if someone or… someones are looking for us?"

"Thought this is what you wanted…you insisted that we stayed in that house, remember?" Briar retorts harshly.

"I'm just sayin'."

Briar nods. "Okay… we'll stay here for a bit, then move on."

It hasn't escaped Briar's notice that Auren hasn't complained or tried to pick a fight with someone all day. In fact, she might go as far as to say that the Ten girl has been decent company. She's not sure whether it was because she held a knife to her throat or because of what Reese said afterward to her… maybe it was a combination of both.

Reese appears on the other side of Briar and stares out the window for a brief second, but then his face suddenly turns as pale as a ghost at the sight of the park just below them. He hastily turns his back to it, holding his chest and panting heavily.

Chaney immediately takes note of the boy's discomfort. "You good, bro?" he asks with a frown.

Reese nods, trying to smile. "Y-yeah… yeah. I just need a moment to clear my head… I think."

The fifteen-year-old then begins stumbling away down the corridor.

"Don't go too far," Auren calls.

Briar, Chaney, and Reese all stare at Auren, surprised.

Unless she's mistaken, Briar detected a hint of concern in her voice. Still, stranger things have happened already - she thinks.

"I mean… I don't wanna have to come and find you," Auren clarifies with a shrug.

Reese nods and continues away, turning at the end of the corridor.

For the next few minutes, Chaney and Auren gather some snacks from a nearby vending machine while Briar checks the classroom labeled "6A".

It seems like a pretty average classroom inside, cluttered with various objects including rows of desks facing a whiteboard and shelves of books adjacent to the desks.

There is only one sound in the room - a single ticking clock.

"Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock."

The sound makes Briar feel slightly nauseous; there are few sounds that can create a feeling of dread more than a ticking clock in a place where time is of the essence.

The sound creates the sudden urge inside Briar to talk to Chaney; to hear his voice. She may not get many more chances. If not now, then when?

The Nine girl exits the classroom and heads straight to her other half, who is deep in conversation with Auren.

"Can I borrow him for a moment?" Briar requests.

"Be my guest," the short-haired girl responds.

Briar takes Chaney by the sleeve and drags him into the classroom.

"You cannot leave me alone with her again," the tall, lanky boy quips as they shut the door behind them.

"We have murderers, careers, and monsters after us and you're afraid of her?" Briar chuckles.

"Compared to Auren, those don't scare me."

Briar nervously peers around the room for cameras; she desperately wants to share an intimate moment with the love of her life, but she can't forget the Capitol's disdain for lovers in the arena and she can't forget their mentor's plan.

Yet, she would have found it easier to be deprived of water over the last few days, than being deprived of Chaney's loving embrace. She is being deprived of the truth. She knows this is just as hard for him.

Chaney plants himself on the desk opposite her and begins circling his foot restlessly. "So… what's up?"

"Nothin'... I don't know, really. I-I just need to know that you're okay, I guess," Briar replies.

"Uh-huh… well ignoring the fact that we're in the Hunger Games but hey it happens."

Briar chuckles again, glancing away.

"You know it's funny, I needed to talk to you too about something… I just haven't had the chance since I-" He suddenly drops his smile and wiggles his foot more intensely. This time, Briar senses it's from anxiety.

"What scared me the most was not what I did, but what I almost lost. That's what shook me the most. I can't afford to lose you, Briar."

"I can't promise you that."

"I know," Chaney shifts in his seat, uncomfortably. "It shook me that I didn't feel bad about what I done, not if it means you live. But now I realize it's a good thing. It's made me see things clearer than ever…"

Briar folds her arms. "Like what?"

"Like what's most important to me." His eyes fall down and he swallows. "Like who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with…"

Now Briar realizes what he wants to talk about - the night before the games. On the one hand, she wants to forget it, and follow Lance's plan, if that will mean that Chaney lives. On the other hand, she knows she can't hide from it.

After a painful silence, Briar finally speaks, "It's like I said back on the train… there is no rest of our lives."

"Yeah, there is. This is it! We live in the moment, remember? All we ever had was now." Chaney tilts his head. "Besides, if they kill me then you can always reconsider."

Briar rolls her eyes. "Chaney…"

"Alright, fine. I'll be serious then."

For some reason, she thinks he's going to start talking about shiny pens.

But instead, he locks eyes with her and asks, "What's your answer?"

Briar breaks eye contact, unable to give an answer because she doesn't have one. That, and also a thick lump is fast forming in her throat that's preventing her from speaking.

Either way, their conversation is cut short when the door bursts open. Auren comes rushing in, wide-eyed. "I was right… I was right… they're here."

"Who?" Briar questions.

"They've come for us."

"Who?"

"Those three we had a fight with back in training…"

Chaney leaps off his desk, readying himself for a battle.

As the three of them glance around at each other, they come to the same dreadful realization out loud, "Reese!"

Auren races down the hallway in the direction that Reese went in while shouting, "I'll go find him, you two wait by the main entrance," before Briar or Chaney have time to argue.

Briar's eyes land on Chaney. They never have enough time.

Morton Moreno, 18

Ren has had his second taste for blood. Two deaths are not enough. Blood fuels him for more blood, like an ever-growing snowball of blood - the more he gets, the more he wants, and he always gets what he wants.

Revenge is just as good a motivator as a need for blood. It's been two days since Ren last saw the spitting girl from Ten; it's about time Ren got their retribution. Jokull and Ozias don't even try to convince him to take a break; they know it's futile.

Ren travels by tunnel vision; a tunnel that leads to the next person to be on the receiving end of their knife, and crying in agony. Nothing can stop him now.

The three boys and Zora left the factory around the cornucopia about half an hour ago. Ren and Ozias have exceptionally smug grins on their faces after the sound of a cannon signaled the death of what they assume was one of the careers, although Ren wishes they could have got two of them. All they can do is lay in wait for the distrust to be seeded in the remaining careers.

Jokull doesn't share his team mate's grins. Ren has noticed the Six Boy's lips have been downturned with concern ever since Zora joined their little escapade.

Ren is leading his alliance in the last direction that he remembers the spitting girl and her alliance going; hopefully, they are still nearby but if they have strayed away, Ren and his crew can easily track them down.

Ren's gaze moves to Zora, who is strolling next to Jokull, and they give her a look that says, "After this, your ally is next."

The group stops inside a children's park which faces a number of decaying, grey buildings, one of which resembles a school.

The murdering dentist's eyes are immediately drawn to dried blood stains on the ground like bees to honey. He crouches down and runs his finger over the blood. "Looks to be a couple of days old… definitely not fresh," they mutter to anyone listening.

Ren glances up at the building directly across from them. "I bet that would be a good place to lay low for anyone hiding." They nod towards the multi-story building.

Jokull unzips his bag, removes his crossbow, and begins loading it with the tip of a spear. "Lead the way then," he says casually.

They leave the park, cross a street, and then pass through a fire escape door into a corridor in the back of the building.

"I'll sweep down here, you guys check the other floors," Ozias says, taking out his falcata knife.

Ren nods at the Fourteen Boy.

They start ascending a flight of stairs with Jokull and Zora just behind, but as Ren passes a window, they catch a glimpse of their new monstrous reflection - their face is riddled with dark bruises, and a deep, red slash, inflicted by the Twelve Girl, stretches across their cheek.

The group pushes open the doors to the next floor and turns a corner. All of a sudden, they are staring at that gangly-limbed, dreamy-looking kid with the messy red hair from Eleven.

It doesn't take long for the boy to notice them as well He freezes and his eyes seem to bulge out of their sockets in alarm.

A grin lines Ren's face. He's one of her allies, perfect.

The Eleven boy manages to free himself from his trance-like state. He turns and pivots to the right to get into a classroom.

Jokull raises his crossbow to swiftly dispatch the boy. But, Ren places their hand on it to lower it - a much better idea materializes in his twisted mind.

The two boys and Zora follow Eleven into the classroom. Once inside, Ren hastily works to corner their target to the back of the room, while Jokull stands in front of the fire escape with Zora, aiming his crossbow at the boy, whose eyes are now moving anxiously between the two menaces.

Ren pulls a chair up in front of their victim, and takes a seat, calmly crossing his legs. "Long time, no see," they greet with an ice-cold smile.

Eleven does not reciprocate the greeting. This causes Ren to begin to tap his hand on the desk impatiently.

"If I recall, you have a friend… a certain tribute with a nasty spitting habit… short hair… you know the one?" Ren questions.

"Yeah… she kicked your butt in training, if I recall," Eleven jabs back.

Ren drops their smile like a sack of potatoes. He cracks his neck, "There is one way that you get out of this… tell me where she is… tell me where your ally is."

Of course, Ren has no intention of letting Eleven live, even if he does help them. But that's all part of the fun for him.

The red-haired boy falls back into silence, but his face remains strong with an unwavering spirit.

Perhaps Ren wasn't clear enough. He stands up and steps towards the boy, "Don't feel like talking now? That's okay, I have ways of being persuasive," they say, drawing their still bloodied knife from their pocket.

As Ren approaches the boy from Eleven, they expect him to recoil in fear as he did during training. But this time, the plucky boy stands strong and delivers a swift punch to Ren's gut. The killer dentist stumbles back, holding his torso, winded and surprised.

But he quickly recovers, raising their knife and proclaiming with a chuckle, "Looks like we've got a feisty one here… Just tell me where she is. All I want is your ally-"

Suddenly, a new voice cuts him off - "Be careful what you wish for."

Ren turns his head to find the Ten Girl standing beside him, with a chair raised above her head. She must have snuck in while he was talking to Eleven.

Before he can react, the Ten girl smashes the chair across Ren's head, knocking him several feet across the room and into a nearby desk.

Ren hits his head on the floor hard, but they are fast to scramble for their knife and get back to their feet.

His eyes travel around the room to survey the situation as fast as possible - the Eleven boy has jumped across the room towards Jokull and is now wrestling for control of his crossbow. Meanwhile, the Ten Girl stands, with the chair that she used to hit Ren, now in pieces.

The Eight Boy smiles again, advancing toward her, with a desire to get revenge for the incident during training and on the hovercraft.

But, the rough girl doesn't give up so easily; she grits her teeth and begins hurling different stationary and classroom equipment at Ren's head; the bloodthirsty boy raises his arm to shield his face, continuing to advance toward their enemy.

It's when a hard stapler bounces off his skull that Ren finally decides they've had enough - he jumps at his opponent like a pouncing cat, beginning stabbing down repeatedly with his knife, unable to stop.

The Ten girl manages to block the first few stabs with her forearm but the last two slice both her arms. Her groan of pain spurs Ren to strike again harder, but this time his momentum is too much for even himself to control. Ten swivels around causing Ren to miss - his knife sticks into a desk.

Suddenly, he's tugging at the hilt of his knife in a desperate attempt to free it.

Ren's opponent takes advantage of this, producing a sharp pair of scissors and jamming them forcefully into his hand. The Eight boy lets out a blood-curdling squeal as the stinging blade of the scissors goes straight through their hand, and into the top of the desk.

Ten pulls the scissors out of his hand and then flips them in her own; a new spark of confidence radiates in her eyes.

Ten's next move is to throw a swinging right hook, with the sharp end of the scissors in between her fingers, straight at Ren's face. Her fist, combined with the tip of the scissors spins Ren's jaw upon impact. More blood shoots out of his cheek.

Ren now finds themself back on the classroom floor, holding his cheek - the only consolation for the Eight Boy is that he manages to retain his grip on his knife.

Ren's blood-dripping hand tightens around his knife hilt, "I'll chop you to pieces… slowly!" He hollers in anger. "That's a promise!"

The Ten girl prepares to continue her scissor assault on the downed Ren. But before she can do anything, there is the sound of a ping as Jokull's crossbow is fired, followed by the shattering of glass and a light explosion overhead.

Ren glances up to see the classroom ceiling light dropping directly down towards his head and threatening to put an end to his spree of delightful terror. No, I can't let that happen!

He ducks under the desk to narrowly avoid the impact of the exploding light.

BOOM

Suddenly, it is a lot darker inside the classroom.

Clutching their bloodied right cheek with their bloodied hand, Ren emerges from under the desk as quickly as he can, wanting to inflict double the amount of pain on Ten.

He looks around the room to assess the situation. Jokull is still tussling with the Eleven Boy for control of his crossbow. This leads Ren to the conclusion that he must have fired it accidentally.

At last, Jokull frees his crossbow from Eleven by planting his boot into the boy's chest, forcing him to the floor.

The Ten girl is there to help him back to his feet. "Go!" She yells, shoving her ally towards the door.

"I won't leave yo-"

"Just go!"

The Eleven boy reluctantly backs out of the room but waits just outside, refusing to leave his ally.

While all of this is going on, Zora stands in the corner of the room, observing.

Ren crawls to his feet, gripping his knife tight and bearing his blood-soaked teeth at his enemies.

Ten's eyes shift between Ren and Jokull as the two murderers step closer to her. She braces her scissor hand for round two. She won't go down without maiming the two of them as badly as she can, Ren knows this. So, they nudge Jokull's crossbow, "Reload!" They bark, blood leaking out of their mouth like water from a burst pipe.

Zora rushes forward to help Jokull reload his crossbow while Ren steps in between them and Ten to give them enough time.

This seems to prompt the Ten Girl to realize that the odds are against her. So, she turns and races out of the room, joining the Eleven Boy in the corridor.

"I thought I told you to go!" Ten's voice echoes.

Ren, Jokull, and Zora follow the two tributes; disbelief follows them in their wake.

How did we let them slip out of our grasp? I'll make them suffer. I'll make everyone suffer.

Chaney de Kuyper, 17

Chaney de Kuyper has a small problem - the murderous, machete-wielding criminal from Fourteen charging through the school corridor towards him and Briar; it's the same boy they had beef with back in Training.

It's not something the duo can't handle - they have had many run-ins and narrow misses with mobsters, peacekeepers, and robbery victims who wanted to see them dead.

This, however, is different. Death in this place seems to sneak up on people like a thief in the night - like what happened to the Seven Boy… like what could have happened to Briar. Besides, this Fourteen boy, (Ozias is his name if Chaney recalls), has a determination in his eyes that Chaney hasn't seen before, a goal that he has to reach, and right now Chaney and Briar are in the way of that goal.

(He can't afford to lose her.)

Chaney fruitlessly attempts to get Briar to safety, "Go… I'll be right behind you."

"We both know that's not happening," Briar rebuts, keeping her eyes on the murderer in front of them.

It looks like they're going to have to fight a machete-wielding serial killer in the middle of the corridor, after all.

"Ya know, I never liked school at the best of times," Chaney sighs.

(Although, that's not entirely true. He did enjoy being the class clown even if he was a nightmare for the teachers.

For that reason, Chaney chooses to picture Ozias as Miss Andrew, the teacher who spent half her working day yelling at him , to make this whole messed-up situation make more sense.)

"So… what's stewing around in that head of yours? You got a plan to get us outta here?" Chaney asks Briar as Ozias gets closer and closer.

"My plan is to not get killed," She answers.

"Works for me."

Chaney brings out his switchblade, which he found in one of the bags they got in the cornucopia, while Briar lifts up the metal pole, which she found in the janitor's closet in the school.

The outlaw from Nine glances at his girlfriend momentarily, aware that this could be the last time they are both alive, together, and when he glances back at Fourteen, the boy is upon them.

Ozias swings his large, curved knife at Chaney's mid-section first; the attack narrowly misses but it does connect with Chaney's switchblade, knocking it out of his hand.

Ozias smiles in triumph, swinging for Chaney's head next in an attempt to take it off his shoulders. Chaney manages to duck out underneath the blade, but the stinging metal grazes his forehead on the way. A warm trickle of blood runs down his forehead.

CLANG

Ozias' blade impacts the wall. Briar closes in on the Fourteen Boy furiously then hits him hard across the face with her metal pole; the boy staggers back, holding his now bruised face.

Chaney has never seen Briar attack someone so quickly and vigorously.

(Although, it is a funny sight to Chaney, as he just witnessed Briar hitting Miss Andrew across the face with a metal pole.)

The Nines take the opportunity of Ozias' distraction to make a retreat. They turn and run down the school corridor.

(Running away from Peacekeepers was something they got pretty good at when they couldn't drive away from them.)

The original plan was to wait for Auren and Reese, but the appearance of a killer barber has put a slight dent in that.

"So we found our friend the cannibal barber or whatever he is… but what about his two gnomes?" Chaney breathes as they sprint through the corridor.

"Let's worry about one murderer at a time, hm?"

But as they turn the corner, Chaney's question is answered, as is the whereabouts of Auren and Reese - their two other allies are charging in their direction with the Eight boy, and Six pair not far behind.

When The Nines, Auren, and Reese are back as a four, they waste no time in bolting out of the main doors and slamming them shut. Briar then slides her metal bar through the handles to keep the doors sealed from their attackers, if only temporarily.

"The Six boy… he's got some kinda crossbow," Auren says, placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"You're hurt," Briar replies, staring at the slashes on Auren's arms.

The Ten girl takes a quick gander at her injuries but simply shrugs. "You shoulda seen the other guy."

Chaney takes note of the pair of scissors in Auren's hand which are dripping with blood. He then turns his attention to Reese, relieved to see that he's unharmed. "You okay, dude?" he asks.

Reese nods with a meek smile.

Chaney, Briar, and Reese promptly begin backing away from the door as their attackers try to kick it open, and Ozias's blade impales through it with wrathful force.

Meanwhile, Auren stays put. "We can take them," she insists.

"With no weapons… accept scissors?" Chaney counters.

Chaney's gaze meets Briar's, and by the look she gives him he knows the same thought crosses her mind - I can't lose you, I can't live without you.

So they run, and Auren finally agrees, not wanting to fight an entire alliance on her own.

As they are making their way through the school parking lot, Chaney suddenly stops next to one of the yellow buses and starts eying it up. An idea begins forming in his mind like some kind of dastardly concoction. It'll never work, will it? I don't care, I have to try it.

Almost in sync, Briar also pauses in front of him, "C'mon… what are you waiting fo-" Suddenly she realizes her boyfriend is staring at the bus. "Oh no… I don't like that look…"

"We can't outrun them but we can out-drive them…"

Briar simply stares at him; she doesn't have to say anything, because her face is repeating the word "no" over and over.

"Okay, I might have made that phrase up, but I've hotwired a thousand cars in the past. Come on… this will be no different."

Briar throws her arms out. "How do you know it'll even drive?"

"What, you think it's just there for decoration?"

"What's happening?" Auren asks as she and Reese pause next to them, her eyes move impatiently between the Nines.

Neither Chaney nor Briar answer; they just continue to stare at each other in a standoff.

"Chaney…no," Briar states defiantly.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Briar sighs as Chaney twists the multi-colored wires together underneath the steering wheel of the bus.

Auren and Reese hop on after them, neither of them fully comprehending what the audacious thief is planning.

As Auren peers in closer at Chaney's handiwork, she starts to catch on. Her eyes light up in shock, "Chaney… this has to either be the dumbest or the best idea I've ever seen in the Hunger Games," she exclaims.

"You'll be surprised how often those two things go hand in hand," Chaney replies.

It turns out, the hotwiring process is much simpler in this bus than in the cars back in Nine. Chaney forces himself to be gentle when he presses the end of the motor wires against the twisted multi-colored wires. He does this repeatedly while muttering the words, "Come on," until the engine ignites.

Euphoria floods through his body. The sound of the bus rattling as it comes to life is the best sound he's ever heard in his life; it's the sound of their salvation.

The Nine boy pumps his fists in the air. "Yes! It worked! Whoo!"

The sound of their pursuers bursting through the doors echoes from behind them.

"They're coming!" Reese cries, poking his head outside of the bus door.

"You might wanna hold onto something!" Chaney shouts to the rest of his allies.

Auren quickly drags Reese back inside as Chaney puts the bus into reverse gear and then slams his foot on the gas, driving the vehicle directly at the three boys. He clenches his jaw as he remembers that they tried to hurt Briar and his other friends.

"Chaney… what are you doing?" Briar questions at the top of her lungs.

"Nothin'. Just some unfinished business."

Gnome number one, aka the SIx boy, is the first in Chaney's line of sight, and so is the target of his ramming attempt.

The Six boy throws his district partner, who is standing next to him, out of the way and to safety. He receives the force of the back of the bus for his efforts but manages to roll under another bus, preventing Chaney from squashing him.

With Fourteen and Eight approaching fast from the other side, Chaney hastily puts the bus into drive gear. Then, he slams his foot on the gas; the force throws his other allies around the bus like ragdolls.

"Sorry!" He yells.

Chaney's handling of the large lumbering vehicle isn't the best. As the bus leaves the parking lot and he begins dodging between the ruins of the city; his allies groan as they are thrown around the inside of the bus with each bump and scrape against a building.

In Chaney's defense, he's never driven a bus before; as it turns out. it's not at all like his shiny, red car.

They must be quite the sight for the Capitol right now - Chaney thinks to himself. Four teenagers from Nine, Ten, and Eleven driving a bus through the arena. He knows those pretentious Capitolites won't be appreciating their little endeavor, but Chaney is enjoying it and that's all that matters.

The getaway driver turns sharply onto a wider road which slopes down in a straight line for some distance.

"I think we lost them," Reese cheers, staring back through the bus window.

Chaney relaxes his hands on the steering wheel for a moment. He glances to his right to find Briar smiling, and for a moment, it's almost like they are racing across a highway through the fields of Nine, after performing a very successful and satisfying heist.

If Chaney could have one wish then it would be for this moment to last forever… for it to be their forever. Living in the moment forever.

A pinging from the dashboard snaps Chaney's attention back to reality. Bold, red writing flashes on the display - "Warning: fuel low," it reads.

Having exhausted the little fuel it had, the bus gradually rolls to a halt under a bridge by the edge of a large body of water resembling a lake. Only, this is no ordinary lake - the water is murky and sickly green.

Sticking out of the water is a yellow sign with three black polygons on it and a circle in the center with words underneath that read, "Danger: Radiation Contamination."

Chaney rests his head on the steering wheel before looking over to Briar, who has the same exhilarated smile on her face. "Let's not do that again," she chuckles.

The pair of them look back into the main body of the bus to check on Auren and Reese.

"Everyone okay?" Chaney asks. "Saying you're car-sick doesn't count."

Auren is holding onto one of the rails tight; the short-haired girl is pale and shaken like she's just been put through a washing machine. "Next time, I'm driving," she answers.

Meanwhile, Reese is lying in the center of the bus on the floor. Suddenly, he begins giggling and running his fingers through his bright, red hair. "Hey Auren," he laughs.

"What?"

"I've just thought… back in that classroom, you could say we schooled those two, didn't we?"

Auren can't resist the urge to smile at Reese's joke.

"Yeah, all good," Chaney says, turning back to Briar.

The Nine pair face their new surroundings with intrigue about what dangers lie next.

That entire escape on the bus has made Chaney see things clearer than ever. The three killers chasing them, what he did to that Seven Boy, how he felt afterward. None of it matters if they're living in the moment.

Yet, one question still remains. The most important question that there has ever been - what's her answer?

Fuma Marlows, 18

Fuma feels as though she has been knocked back to where she started. In the span of three days, all her allies are either dead or lost.

The memory of entering that hospital room, and discovering Lilac's lifeless body in a pool of blood will be harder to shift than a deep splinter. As she tugs aggressively at her braided hair, the memory becomes muddled with the memory of her last argument with her father and then discovering his dead body in the forest. Why am I always in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Fuma wanders alone now in the dying light. She urgently scours around for somewhere to set up a basecamp and a fire to avoid a repeat of the horrors of last night.

But, as her tired feet carry her across the rubble, she becomes less sure of the path she's supposed to take.

Her vision drifts around the city. The buildings are getting closer. The streets are getting narrower - she's sure of it. The confusion of it all stands the hairs up on her skin.

(If only she wasn't alone… everything would much more sense.)

(She can't bear to be alone anymore. She can't lose anyone else. Not with her father gone. Not with her sister missing.)

Fuma shakes her head to get rid of her disorientation. She's standing on a main road in between two sets of buildings. She quickly ducks underneath the half-collapsed doorway of a compact house to her right, then perches down on the stairs to begin searching through her bag for her dinner. She took the food, and first aid equipment from Lilac's bag and added it to her own; her ally won't be needing them any longer, after all.

Fuma knows she has to move. She has to do something - search the house for any supplies, prepare some dinner, despite the fact she has no appetite, or just plan her next move.

But instead, all she can do is sit there on those steps, with her face buried in her hands. Why did I leave Lilac? How did I lose Zora? Is my life just characterized by failures?

By now, it has become almost pitch-black outside. Fuma moves into the kitchen and switches on the light; It doesn't seem like those creepy faces are coming back tonight, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

The nature-loving girl looks out of the window, taking in the decaying urban forest around her, and wishing she was in a real forest. She sighs internally. She can be again. She will be.

The Capitol national anthem suddenly starts booming all around like it's being played in the very same room as Fuma. Her heart jolts against her ribs. Next, the faces will come, she knows this. No, she can't take staring into the face of the girl she failed.

Unfortunately for Fuma, she doesn't have a choice. The small screen of a box-shaped TV bursts into static, and then begins displaying the names and faces of the dead.

The first to appear is the face of the Four Girl. Two careers dead this early? The ray of hope that fact gives her is quickly snuffed out by the appearance of Lilac's courageous face. Fuma tries to pull her eyes away from the screen but to no avail. She has to look. She has to be courageous like Lilac.

The TV screen switches off as fast as it switched on.

Fuma scans the room for anything to take her mind off of Lilac. Her eyes land on the stove. Yes, I'll make dinner, that's what I'll do.

She rummages around in the cupboard next to the sink for a pan, and then she places it on the hob and begins tossing in any ingredients that she can find from the bag.

(Back in Seven, after her father's murder, Fuma would distract herself with any menial task that she could find.)

Once the ingredients have been heated together to produce something at least vaguely edible, the Seven Girl tips it onto a plate then sits back down on the stairs to eat her meal.

About halfway through, she is alerted to the sound of footsteps outside - the only sound in the entire street. Her heart starts thumping loudly in her chest once again.

Placing her plate of food on the stairs, she creeps into the kitchen and switches the light off before ducking down under the kitchen counter.

The footsteps outside grow louder, and thus, so does Fuma's heartbeat.

When they are directly outside, her ears catch the sound of their muffled voices.

"How did you let them slip outta' your grasp?" Mutters a deeper, assertive voice.

"I was caught off guard. It won't happen again," A lighter, croaky voice responds.

Once the voices and the footsteps have moved off, Fuma cautiously peeks her head over the counter and peers out of the window to get a look at them - It's those three boys again. The ones that killed Lilac in the hospital.

Fuma's fists curl with anger at the sight of them. But then, her eyes widen with shock - there is a fourth person with them… Zora.

Fuma is about to rush outside to snatch her ally back from her captives, but hastily, she stops herself. She's going to have to be smart about this. She's going to have to play this stealthily. Despite the fact that the three boys all seem to be clutching various injuries on their bodies from a fight they've just had, Fuma doubts she can take them all at the same time.

Like a phoenix from the ashes, determination returns to Fuma's heart. She wasn't there to save her father, she wasn't there to save Lilac, but she will be there to save Zora.

The resolute girl slings her backpack over her shoulder and is about to creep out of the door to begin her stealthy approach, but then, a terrible thought crosses her mind - What if Zora betrayed us?

Fuma is no stranger to betrayal. Even after Terrance revealed himself to be the Jack-Tree Killer, she was subject to another betrayal - her best friend Tomid was helping the serial killer hide the bodies… he was helping the guy who killed her father.

Could Zora be another Tomid? Is she helping the people who killed Lilac? No, I won't believe it. Life wouldn't repeat itself in a circle of cruel irony like that, would it?

There's only one way to find out - she'll find Zora and ask her herself, and put that horrible thought to bed once and for all.

Deaths:

19th: Aida Canterra (District Four Female): Killed by Jokull, Ren and Ozias - poisoned. Moose, I hope your not too mad at me for this :DD. A while ago when we met irl you said you thought Aida would die before Briar and you were right. I did really enjoy writing her and the mystery and internal conflict that surrounded her and I hope you enjoyed the arc I gave her. Thank you for submitting her!

Not much to say in this authors note accept urm another death and I probably won't get another chapter out until after ve. See you then!

Kill counter:

Geneve: 1

Romulus: 1

Aida: 1

Ren: 3

Chaney: 1

Auren: 1

Jokull: 1

Ozias: 1