Trust Me

“The Careers will probably have set up camp either near the best water source or by the Cornucopia. We set up near their camp, get you set up with a very smoky fire to draw their attention, and then we wait. I’ll be hidden up in the trees with the best view so I can hit them while they’re taking aim.” Adri said.

I was about to agree with that when I remembered that the Careers were supposed to be my allies. “Why don’t we start out with a less difficult target?” I suggested. “I’d rather work my way up to the Careers.”

He sighed. “We really should get them out of the way.”

“Or we can wait for them to turn on each other. They’ll kill off half the alliance just by themselves, and then we’ll have less to worry about.” I suggested.

Adri raised an eyebrow. “It’s a big risk leaving them alive until then.” He pointed out.

Suddenly, a loud cannon blast ripped through the air of the arena, and I felt my blood turn to ice as I wondered who had died and what it was. Either way, that cannon blast was a good sign for us to get moving in case it was another tribute or some kind of twist from the Game makers.

“Fine, fine. We’ll start out with individual tributes rather than groups. Now, let’s just get moving!” Adri hissed, urgency in his voice. We watched the hovercraft stop to pick up a body just a few hundred yards from us, somewhere in the trees, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

“Agreed,” I snatched the pack off the ground while Adri carried the few other loose belongings that we didn’t have time to pack up. We took off running in the opposite direction of the hovercraft, ducking between the trees as we flew down the rocky hillside.

We had been running for at least ten minutes when I nearly tripped as I saw the soggy ashen remains of a now-extinguished fire, and I screeched to a halt. Someone had been here recently, and by now we were too far away from where the hovercraft had stopped for it to have been the dead tribute.

Adri stopped a few moments later, after realizing that I was no longer running by his side. He turned back to look at me with a confused look on his face, and I pointed down to the remains of the fire pit.

I crouched down and ran my fingers through the ashes. They still clung to the last remaining shreds of warmth, and I knew it hadn’t been long since some tribute had tried to huddle around this fire pit in a desperate attempt to remain warm. “It’s pretty recent. Whoever made this fire couldn’t have gone far.” I said as I noticed that the fire seemed to have been stamped out rather than died out on its own.

Adri nodded and crouched down, looking at some black scratches in the rock. It looked like some black dye from the rubber soles of someone’s shoes. “Looks like whoever was here was limping.” He murmured, running his fingers lightly against the black tracks on the rock.

“Frostbite?” I suggested.

Adri nodded. “Must be. We’ll follow their direction until we’re close enough, then you start a smoky fire and I’ll get into hiding.”

“Okay. By the way, you didn’t happen to collect any water yesterday, did you?” I asked hopefully.

Adri grimaced. “Not exactly,” He admitted.

I bit back a groan. Last night I had been too cold to think about any other concerns, but now that I was warm – and now that I’d just finished running through an obstacle course of trees, shrubs, and rocks – my thirst demanded to make itself known. My paper-dry tongue and throat panged with a sharp fiery ache, yearning for the cool hydrating promise of water. However, all I could seem to say was, “Oh.”

He seemed to understand my pain – if not share it. “We’ll find water right after this. With all the dew on the grass, we might not even have to find a lake or a river to get a drink.” He promised. “Besides, I wanted to travel to a water source to try and hunt down the Careers. You’re the one who shot that idea down.”

I crinkled my nose at him. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. All my fault, I got it.” I drawled, and he laughed. I wondered why he was still so lighthearted. It wasn’t typical of any tribute – Career or otherwise – to be so cheerful once they were in the arena.

“Just keep walking and gather some sticks as we go. I want to get this all over with as soon as possible,” He instructed, starting to salvage a few of the least-charred sticks from the remnants of the fire pit.

I obediently gathered an armful of sticks and moss before following him as we followed the black sneaker tracks across the rock. Eventually we reached a point where the moss was too thick to detect any traces of black, and we decided that we would have to set up there. Adri had the fire started in moments, leaving me to just sit back and watch – though he made me drop my knives on the ground next to him so he could be sure I wouldn’t attack him while his back was turned.

Once the fire was started, he threw as much moss as he could get his hands on to the flames, sending the fire up in a thick choking smoke.

“That should do it,” He murmured, leaning back to inspect his work with a slight grin on his face.

“I think we did a pretty good job.” I agreed.

He whirled around to glare at me quizzically. “We?” He repeated incredulously.

“Well, I mean…I collected some of the wood and moss, too, and…” I paused as his eyes narrowed further with every word I spoke. “Look, do you want me to do this or not?” I demanded finally.

He laughed, every trace of a glare gone from his face. “You just sit there and try to look vulnerable. Keep your knives hidden, and pretend you’re asleep or something. Make sure you’re facing me. They’ll probably try to approach you from the back, so I’ll have a better view of them. And whatever you do, stay down. If you sit up too quickly or do anything unpredictable, I might hit you instead of them by mistake.”

I stared at him blankly for a few moments. “Well gee, those are comforting words of encouragement.” I muttered.

He chuckled. “Just lie down!” He instructed before turning and scampering quickly into a nearby tree. He was perfectly hidden in the thick foliage, and for a moment I panicked, wondering if he’d be able to see well enough to keep an eye on me. “Quit staring at me, you’ll tip them off!” He hissed, and I quickly glanced away. Apparently, he could see me well enough.

I had been lying on the rock for about an hour when I heard it. The quiet scraping of sneaker against stone, the gentle rustle of fabric as a pair of pants swished together, the loud thud of a foot hitting the ground. The loud thud satisfied me that this was the tribute who’d gotten frostbite. I wondered why they’d come back to this spot – surely they’d have some suspicion that this was a trap. But maybe they weren’t thinking clearly, their mind clouded from the pain, the hunger, and the thirst.

I tensed as I heard the footsteps draw closer. Metal scraped against metal as some sort of blade was drawn. All my muscles were aching, begging me to spring to my feet and grab my knives, but I remembered Adri’s warning. If he fired a knife and I stood up, I might be stupidly placing myself right in the path of his blade.

I heard the singing echo as a knife swam through the air, along with a choked out, gurgling scream accompanied by a sickening thwack. I quickly rolled over onto my stomach, peeking my head out to the side to see if the coast was clear. The boy from 11 lay sprawled on the ground with Adri’s machete delved straight through his heart, his arms twitching as his breath came in rapid, shallow jerks through his chest. I saw what was either a large knife or a small sword clutched between his fingers – the weapon that would have brought my death.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, but I knew he was already dead. I crouched over him and closed his eyes, straightening him out and crossing his arms over his chest.

“What are you doing?” Adri asked, and I heard a thud as he landed on the ground behind me.

“If I have to kill people, then I’m going to at least show my respects for them.” I insisted.

He sighed and leaned over, plucking both his machete and the tribute’s blade from the body. He watched me for a moment as I simply stared at the body, before he disappeared into the shrubbery. For a moment I wondered if Adri had decided to just leave me on my own, but after a few minutes he reappeared with a handful of wildflowers, which he arranged carefully over the boy’s chest.

The dark splotches of blood were now hidden by the flowers, making him look more peaceful. He could have almost passed for sleeping, if it weren’t for the puddles of blood around him.

“That’s beautiful,” I murmured as Adri finished scattering the flowers around the body.

“Like I said, if I win, I want to win with pride.” He insisted. I got to my feet, now eager for some water. I knew I should have felt much worse, but my guilt was marred by the fact that this boy was about to kill me himself.

“Let’s go, I’m thirsty.” I pressed, not wanting to stick around in one place too long – especially with the smoky fire still alerting everyone to our whereabouts.

Adri nodded, giving a final nod of goodbye to the body before we headed off, stopping to check the moss every so often for some indication of the nearest body of water.