16.

All over the Arena, for all the tributes, the clock was ticking.

…

The Amateurs had found a second paddle and rowed out of the cavern, with Alba clutching Wicker's clothes tightly to her chest while he swam alongside them. They had no idea what awaited them once they left, so they decided to take it slow. Alba continued to sing those same lines from that song to keep their path alighted the whole way out.

…

Patch and Marrow were starting to panic, fearing that they would never figure out the puzzle as the sand started to touch their feet. It seemed like it was pouring out of the walls faster and faster. Soon enough it would be up to their ankles. Patch struggled to reach the blocks at the top, and seeing this, without warning, Marrow lifted Patch up so that he could have better access. Patch looked back at Marrow in surprise, then immediately refocused his attention on the puzzle. They were getting close, he could feel it. Marrow called out possible ways to organize the blocks and Patch took his suggestions without question. There was no time for them.

…

Nona looked around the room of mirrors—not mirrors, ice. Either way, she felt disoriented and suddenly all of her frustrations with herself and the world, all of her newfound fears—fears that she now knew she should have had all along if she'd actually been thinking clearly—were overwhelming her. She didn't want to be here, in this place, surrounded by all of these reflections. This was a puzzle, a riddle, it had to be, she knew that. It was something she was meant to figure out. Another hoop to jump through. But Nona didn't feel like jumping any more. She was freezing and scared, and now even crying.

Angry at her own weakness, she screamed, raised her sword over her head and swung it at the wall of ice that was displaying the wrong image of her. And the next thing she knew there was a large crack and several different smaller versions of her scattered across it. She did the same thing to all the other walls.

Nona slid back against one of them and let the tears fall more freely. And even with the longsword she was still holding slack in her hand, she felt so powerless.

…

The Careers found themselves in the same place that the Amateurs had set up camp just the other night. They stood around for a few minutes trying to figure out exactly what it was they saw. What kind of monster had the Capitol created just for them? It wasn't a normal mutt, that was for sure.

They quickly decided that it didn't matter what it was and that they should focus on moving forward just as they noticed the hole and quickly debated going down it. Sky offered to go down to see what was on the other side while Servius and Inga stood several feet apart, eyeing each other distrustfully, waiting for Sky to get back.

Once she reached the cavern, Sky bent down and loudly called out to them through the hole, telling them what she was seeing. She didn't hear the crack the way that the Amateurs had. When the other two didn't hear her, she called out louder. That caused a stalactite to shake and fall from the ceiling and go through her neck, silencing her forever. Inga and Servius looked at each other nervously the minute she stopped speaking mid-sentence.

…

Marrow put Patch down without warning so that he could get better access to the puzzle. He thought about how, back in Ten he would herd sheep and dogs. This wasn't exactly the same, but it had reminded him of it. He moved the pieces around, his fear of drowning in the sand that Patch confirmed was definitely there overriding any fear he had of potentially messing it up. And before he knew it, by some miracle, he was able to pull the red block out through the small opening at the bottom. Patch let out a squeal of joy as Marrow tried to figure out what to do with it, sure that it must go somewhere.

"Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me," Patch repeated over and over again, holding out his hands. Without hesitation, Marrow gave it to him, and sure enough, on the left side of the door there was a tiny square shaped spot on the door, almost as if that was where a door knob would be. Patch pushed the square into it with his lower palm.

Without warning, the door opened outward, causing most of the sand that had piled around them to fall through it. Patch and Marrow dug through the sand for their containers, brushing it off as they raced out through the door, and before they had a chance to really be thrilled about it, their jaws dropped at what they saw.

"Am I—" Marrow began.

But before he could ask the question that Patch had already become accustomed to, Patch, slightly awestruck by the wide open field in front of them that seemingly had no end in sight, quickly said, "No. You're really seeing what you think you're seeing. Oh boy. Maybe we should—"

"Rest for a moment?" Marrow suggested, sounding hopeful.

Patch looked over at him, grateful that he was eager for the same thing. They both nodded at each other and set their food down.

…

Nona finally stood up, unable to handle the cold anymore and started walking. She debated on going back to face the other Careers, but then she stopped, realizing that one spot felt less cold than the others. She held up a hand near that spot and felt warm air pour through. Her eyes went wide. She raised the sword with both hands and swung it at the ice again. She kept swinging until it completely shattered, the pieces falling to the ground.

She walked through and her whole body instantly felt warmer. She allowed herself to smile and thanked the Old Gods for this stroke of luck that came right when she was feeling the most hopeless, because this could only be luck. Pure and simple luck given that she'd found this exit just by having a tantrum. When she opened her eyes she realized that she was standing on top of a wide cliff. She took a couple small steps forward and looked down, and much to her horror, there was a chasm of running water at the bottom.

Well, she thought to herself, at least she wasn't cold anymore. Now how in the hell was she supposed to get down?

…

Inga and Servius went back and forth over who should go down to check on Sky, but neither one was willing to turn their back on the other.

"She's probably dead," Inga suggested coldly.

"Well, don't sound too disappointed," Servius responded.

"Oh, what, and you are? Please, it benefits us both if she croaks, don't pretend like it doesn't."

"Stop it," he insisted. "You know, if something bad happens to her it means that something just as bad can happen to us seeing as how that's our only way out. Did you think about that?"

She groaned. "The whining. All of you. I thought you Careers were supposed to be tough. Trained to kill people practically from the time you were born, you'd think that would make you show a little more backbone than this."

Servius eyed her carefully, gripping the hilt of the knife he'd managed to grab while they'd escaped at his side. "What do you think is down there?"

Inga rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go down there and check."

Servius didn't move. He gripped the knife even harder. Inga looked down and eyed the knife, then she looked back up at him, her expression totally unreadable.

"Whatcha doin', Sev?" she asked. "What are you thinking about doing that may turn out to be a pretty terrible idea in the end?"

"End of what?" Servius asked in a low voice.

Inga tilted her head to the side. "You and the other one. You're both so sensitive."

"You mean Nona?"

"Whatever. That thing probably killed her already."

"Stop it," he demanded.

"What? Come on, think of it this way, if it kills her then you won't have to."

He shook his head at her. "You're an animal."

She laughed. "And you're boring. Seriously, I was so disappointed when I met all of you. You might be good at killing people, I guess, but you're boring. All of you. Sitting around talking about your scores and special skills. There's nothing special about any of you, or your districts, but you're the ones who always have the highest odds. It's absurd."

"No, what's absurd is that we let a monster like you join us," he responded without thinking.

"That high and mighty tone is so adorable. Like you and I aren't in this for the same reason."

"Your district wanted to get rid of you, mine wanted me to represent them."

"Yes, and when I win and go back home with all those great prizes, those bastards are going to feel really, really silly."

"Really?" Servius asked, his stance becoming even more defensive. "And how exactly do you plan on winning?"

Inga raised an eyebrow, amused. "The old fashioned way."

"The old fashioned way," he echoed softly.

"The old fashioned way," she repeated, nodding her head. She tapped her fingers at her side, and somehow that was more threatening to him than if she'd been holding an actual weapon. "I like doing things the old fashioned way. Especially winning. And especially winning the Hunger Games."

"There's two of us you know," Servius warned her. "Her and me. Even if something happened to Sky, Nona is still out there. And if I recall, her score was higher than yours. Higher than everyone's."

"Scores? This isn't school. All that matters…is who can win in the moment."

They faced each other, never breaking eye contact, each wondering when would be the right time to make their move. Because it was perfectly clear that there would be a moment, and that moment was coming soon.

…

The waters were smooth as they went along the river with both Latia and Xandra standing up and rowing. Unfortunately there was no land in sight so they weren't sure how much longer they would have to go on for. Still, they stopped occasionally so that they, and especially Wicker, could catch their breaths. From time to time, Alba passed around some carrots to everyone when they all started to hear stomachs grumbling. There wasn't a lot left, the supply wouldn't last them forever. They tried not to think about that.

Emmer was about to ask Alba to help him block the view from the cameras in order to check his notes again, but she stopped him mid-sentence.

"Why bother?" she asked. "They've probably already figured out that we have some kind of edge. So why bother hiding it?"

Emmer hesitated. Alba continued, "And at this point, can you even hide it anymore?"

"Right now, I'm mostly just afraid of losing it in the water," he admitted.

"Well then be careful. Here, pull it out."

They heard Xandra chuckle on their left side. They looked up at her curiously.

"What could possibly be so funny?" Emmer asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Xandra responded, still smiling. She looked down at the water. "How are you doing, Wick?"

Wicker raised his arm above the water and gave them all a thumbs up.

"We need to find dry land, and quick," Latia observed out loud, looking straight ahead with focus. "Wicker can't go on forever."

"He's not the only one," Xandra informed her. "We're all going to lose steam eventually. So come on, Em, what do you have for us?"

Emmer quickly unfolded the notes and searched for where they were.

Down the River

Eventually you will get to three whirlpools, you will have to pick one and go through, only way out. Pick the one that is not like the others.

"Again with the damn whirlpools," Emmer said out loud, shaking his head. "What is with all the whirlpools? So I guess be on the lookout for—"

"Whirlpools," Xandra nodded, looking troubled. "Got it. That should be so fun. And what does it say after that?"

Emmer didn't need to look again as he remembered something. He scoffed in amusement. "We're gonna end up in the middle of nowhere."

"You sound pretty sure," Latia observed, sounding skeptical.

"I am. I remember. After that we just keep on walking. It's all a test to see who's smart and resourceful enough to get this far."

"Dumb," Alba said simply.

"I don't know—" Emmer began to argue, but he was cut off by Latia.

"Dumb."

"I mean—"

Xandra placed a lot more emphasis on her words than the others had. "Dumb."

"Okay," Emmer said, deciding not to fight them on this further. "Hey, Wicker, you should swim behind us so you don't get caught in the whirlpools."

Again, Wicker gave them a thumb's up and did as instructed.

Not long after that, they found themselves in a large circular space that was surrounded by cement walls, the first solid proof they'd all seen in a while that they were still in the Arena. In front of them in the water were three relatively small whirlpools that, the way they were positioned, made a triangle shape. The one on the top was dark, almost resembling a black pit. The one on the lower left had a layer of seafoam on top. And the one on the lower right was completely clear and well lit with nothing blocking their view of what was down there.

Latia studied them carefully. "One of these is not like the others…"

"I know," Emmer said out loud. "They're all different."

"But one is more different than the others," Xandra added.

"What about temperature?" Wicker chimed in, sounding out of breath. They all looked over at him, their silence encouraging him to elaborate. "I mean, they might have a different temp, and if one is colder or hotter than the other—"

"Yeah, but how could we tell?" Xandra asked. "Without getting sucked into one."

"Oh don't worry," Emmer said, gesturing to the paper. "That's not gonna be a problem. According to this, they don't suck you in. You go in of your own accord. But once you're in, you're in, there's no coming back out."

"Oh," Xandra was momentarily taken aback. "So we could actually test his theory if we really wanted to."

"I believe we can."

"Let me," Wicker said, swimming around the whirlpools.

"Be careful," Latia called out to him, concerned.

Wicker swam towards the one that was closest to them, the one with the seafoam. He raised his hand over it and shivered.

"It's freezing," he called over to them. Then he swam to the one on top, the pit, and held his hand over that one. "It feels normal." Then finally he went over to the clearest one and, for the final time, held out his hand, but only for a moment before immediately pulling away. "It's hot. I think the one farthest away is the safest."

"Another black pit," Xandra grumbled. "Again, hoo-ray."

Alba turned around to face the rest of them, almost looking a little nervous. "So, are we doing this? Are we actually going through a pitch black whirlpool?"

Everyone exchanged glances, and that seemed to be all anyone needed to say.

Alba let out a small sigh. "Okay."

They paddled forward until they were where Wicker was floating. He looked up at them, unsure. "Do you think we should all dive in one by one? I mean, will that thing even make it if it goes in there? Even if it does, it might just throw us off anyway."

"Oh no," Emmer said, only just now realizing something. "Oh, no."

Latia looked over at him. "What is it?"

"I just realized…I could lose my notes. I should memorize these."

Emmer looked at the page and scanned it as quickly and carefully as he could. "Yeah, it's just…after this it's just all about survival. Apparently Isley just wanted to see how we would survive. You know, he told me that he saw everything else as a trial and if you could make it past all of that then you would deserve to make it to this place, some kind of sanctuary."

Xandra raised an eyebrow. "And assuming that more than one person was smart enough to make it to this 'sanctuary'? What then?"

Emmer shrugged. "He said that he wanted to see if we would work together or just kill each other if given the chance. Apparently we're a part of the former. Now, I'm assuming that we're sticking with our original plan to avoid killing each other as much as possible?"

No one disagreed.

"Well then. Let's take our chances. Let's go forward. And from what I can tell, Wick is right, we won't need this raft any more. And even if we did, I doubt that it would make it."

So everyone dived in, one by one, with Alba taking great care with her quiver and bow, trying not to lose them. Even if they lost the vegetables, she could always hunt for more food, assuming they could find any that would require a bow and arrow.

It sucked them in and dragged them down, leaving them all temporarily scared that they'd all made a terrible mistake. But no, they hadn't. One by one, they all came up for air in a small lake in the middle of the plains that Isley had promised would be there. The notes might have been lost, but Emmer was confident that he didn't need them anymore. He would have to be.

…

How Inga managed to wrestle the knife away from him, Servius would never know. He wouldn't be left with a whole lot of time to wonder after the knife was out of his hands and used to slit his throat. Inga looked down at him as he fell to his knees, smiling at the job she'd done. She crawled through that little hole, already sure but just wanting to be positive that Sky was dead. Well, she was certainly about to be. And sure enough, there was her head, very not attached to her body.

It almost made her laugh, how easy all of the Careers turned out to be to kill. Trained from birth, they'd all been so proud of themselves and their abilities. And look at them all now. Five down, one to go. And who knew, with any luck, that thing might wind up doing the job for her.