No Peace for the Wicked

My eyes shot open. I saw Walin hovering over me. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine.” I shot a dirty look at Carmella, whose eyes were still in tears. She shot a look back, but it wasn’t as challenging from the wet-crying eyes.

“So what’re we doing?” I asked Walin.

Carmella spoke up. “We’re waiting for Kyjuan. He let us come to him – now he comes to us.”

I spit. “Oh, what a good plan!” I said, sarcastically. “He’s not dumb. Vicious, crazy, mean, but not dumb. He’s not going to come to us! Look! I’m here, Walin’s here, Ren’s here, Galen’s here, Makaya’s here and you’re here. And he knows you’re hunting him. Anyway, are we supposed to sit here and not even go out hunting to eat? Can’t we just turn the other way?”

“Well how do you know that Kyjuan isn’t watching us now?” Galen snaps at me.

I let that sink in. He was right. I really didn’t know what Kyjuan was thinking. Or planning. Or doing. I didn’t really care much – Kyjuan could be dead for all I care. But, he’s not, that’s why we have to stress ourselves upon killing him. “We don’t.” I replied.

“Shouldn’t we just get a good night’s sleep?” Makaya suggests. “I think we’ve all been through a pretty rough day, right, Carmella?”

Carmella nodded slowly. I did too. “Who’s on guard tonight?” Makaya asks.

Ren is guard tonight.

The next morning, I woke up to the cooking of a squirrel. I went downstairs of the building. And I stepped out onto the hot rocks – with my bare feet. “Ouch!” I said as I jumped back. I looked onto my foot, and there was a burn forming. “Must be like 1000 degrees on that.” I grumbled.

“Careful,” Ren said with fake concern.

I wanted to say something about how he really didn’t care, but I didn’t. It really wouldn’t do anything useful, would it? I got my shoes on, and I stepped outside carefully. I saw Carmella and Walin cooking the squirrel, and next to them were a pile of them. “Wow.” I said. “Where did you find all of those squirrels?”

“Walin went hunting last night.” Carmella said. “And we’ve cooked whatever you and Maaden got,” she said, pointing to the eagle.

“You must not know what an eagle is,” I snapped, as I swiped it off of the ground. I carried it inside. I took deep breathes for a couple of minutes.

“Ren! Loren! Makaya! Galen! Come quick!” Carmella shouted. I ran down the steps, half-tripping, and I looked out to see a lot of tributes. A lot. They were throwing knives, and shooting arrows – ever weapon. Tadlin was targeting me. I ran inside, and grabbed a knife. I got myself outside, and dodged anything I could. I killed the man from ten. Walin killed the woman from ten. And so on.

As I saw an arrow go through the air, I saw it hit Walin. “Walin!” I said. He fell, and I had to keep fighting. I saw Galen get nailed in the head with a stick. He was knocked out. By, you could guess, Kyjuan. Everyone was fighting and killing senselessly, no one but me noticed Ren was gone.

I didn’t know where he was. And my attention went back on the fight. Kale, who was from District twelve almost got me with a spear. I thought back. I remembered his Hunger Games where he killed people with this made-out-of-wood-spear. It was pretty scary, what I saw him do. I threw my knife, which hit him in the arm, making his right arm not available for throwing.

I ran over to him, avoiding the fight between Carmella and Kyjuan, and I took my knife, and I stabbed him in the chest. “Sorry, Kale, I am really sorry.” I saw him shaking his head as I said that, as if I really wasn’t sorry. He died, and the cannon fired for him.

After the fight died down, night was already falling. Beaded with sweat, people looked for the sky. I saw the face of Walin, I saw the two people from ten, and I also saw Kale. Everyone else was alive. Galen, who had a big-swelling bruise, was really wacky. He kept moaning, “I’m sorry, Joan! Sorry, sorry, sorry!” different behavior, but after a while, it got sickening.

“Shut up, or I swear I’ll beat the living crap out of you,” Carmella said.

Galen stopped. The night was peaceful, but I couldn’t let that fool me. What had happened today was terrifying. I just wanted to fall asleep.