New Era: A Hunger Games Story

Chapter Fourteen

Aiden watched her sleep, and suddenly an idea filled his head. Quietly, he stood up and walked away from her, knowing that she would be asleep for a while. He moved through the trees gracefully, and stopped only when he reached a small clearing. He raised his hands and stepped towards the group of tributes stirring before him.

"Hello Tom." Aiden said.

The Careers parted as Tom stepped towards Aiden. He regarded him carefully, sword in hand.

"Do you have a death wish?" He snarled.

"Not today," Aiden replied, "but I do have a proposition for you."

Intrigued, Tom lowered his sword. "Go on."

Aiden pointed back the way he had come, not taking his eyes off of Tom as he spoke.

"Beyond those bushes is Cordy Williams. She's injured, and passed out, but alive. Now you have two options available to you: you go now and slit her throat, or if you're spoiling for a fight, then you let me bring her to you."

"Why would you do that?" Jade demanded.

"Because I value my own life."

Tom sniggered. "How do you know we won't kill you now and hunt her ourselves?"

"Because if you were going to kill me, I would be dead already. Plus, a cannon would probably alert her and thus ruin any hope you may have of killing her. You have her, and I get to live through the day."

                                                               ---

Cordy opened her eyes slowly, the pain in her head gradually growing as she woke up. To her surprise, Aiden was still sat in front of her, although now he looked more relaxed. She watched him, suddenly suspicious.

"How long was I out?" She asked.

"You slept almost all the way through yesterday," Aiden said, "and all night."

"Those two cannons yesterday, who were they?"

"The girls from 6 and 10."

Cordy tried to sit up, and slowly the pain in her chest began to subside. The rest had clearly done her good, except now she was a day behind in finding Katie. She felt confident enough to stand up, and noticed that Aiden was holding a spear. Curious, she opened her mouth to ask him where it had come from, but before she could say a word he threw it into the bushes. A cannon boomed as a body fell out of the bush.

"We need to move." He said.

She followed behind him without argument. Gradually the pain became more bearable and she was able to catch up to him, but he wouldn't even look at her, let alone offer an explanation as to why he protected her. They approached the clearing, and Aiden paused. Cordy drew her knife, ready to fight, and she stepped ahead of Aiden. It was her turn to help him. As her foot crossed the line into the clearing, she felt something pressing against it. Convinced it was just another tree branch she tried to kick it out of the way, but she realised too late what it was, and she gestured at Aiden to stay put. A net fell from the branches above her, landing on her and forcing her to the ground.

She struggled against the net, but soon realised that it was made almost entirely of barbed wire. The razor sharp barbs tore through her clothes and skin, shredding her even with the slightest of movements. Aiden watched her struggle, and was still watching her when his throat was cut. The cannon boomed as he hit the floor beside her, and Lewis wiped the knife on Aiden's jacket. The rest of the Careers appeared, and the barbed wire net was ripped off of her in one swift motion.

She rolled with the net, her clothes still snagged on it, and she was grabbed from behind. Her jacket was pulled off of her body, and her arms were exposed. She tried to stand, but Tom kicked her down with a swift blow to the ribs. Her vision blurred with the pain, but she was not ready to give up the fight.

"I guess you were right," Tom said, "I did make a mistake. I should've checked you myself. You could've had a painless death, but now, you're gonna suffer."

"Then let's make it a fair fight." Cordy growled.

She scooped her knife up from the grass and dived aside as Tom brought his sword down, slicing where her head had been. She sprang to her feet, adrenaline keeping the pain at bay. She dodged an attack from Megan, only to be caught in a chokehold by Ruben. Despite being younger, he was incredibly strong. She twisted her knife and sent it backwards into Ruben's stomach. He let go, and she stumbled away from his body as he lay writhing in the grass.

Jade let another arrow fly, missing Cordy's face by a hair's breadth. She resorted to using her own knife and screamed with rage as she slashed across Cordy's back. She no longer had a rucksack for protection, and she staggered away, bleeding. Tom swung his sword at her, and she didn't have the energy to dodge his attack. He buried his sword in her chest almost halfway to the hilt, and as he pulled it out she fell backwards onto the grass.

Cordy thought this was it. She looked up as Tom raised an axe to finish her off. He hesitated, and she used that split second to kick him hard in the groin. He crumpled, and in the confusion she hauled herself to her feet, grabbed the axe, and limped away.

Once she was a safe distance away, she collapsed. She tried to conceal herself in the bushes, but it was useless. Her blood was creating a trail leading right to her, and she knew that sooner or later the Careers would regroup and come looking for her again. Just as she thought she was safe, she saw the boy from 10 coming towards her. He still had the mace, and he was closing in for the kill. She closed her eyes, ready for the final blow, and she heard the cannon fire. She opened her eyes, and to her surprise she saw the boy fall to the ground, dead, and in his place, covered in blood, stood her saviour.

"You're not dying on me." Katie said.

                                                         ---

Katie helped Cordy into the battlefield, where she gently lowered her into a large deep crater. Cordy cried out in pain as her back touched the edge of the hole, and once Katie was sure they were safe, she stopped to examine Cordy's wounds.

"How are you even alive?" Katie asked.

"Well it's certainly not my people skills." Cordy croaked.

"Glad to see your sense of humour is intact."

"Yeah. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, and I am so sorry about Joel."

Cordy opened her mouth to speak, but froze when she noticed a silver parachute floating down towards them. Once it was low enough Katie grabbed it. Attached to it was a silver barrel, and inside the barrel was a silver container and a note.

"It's for you," Katie said, handing her the note.

Cordy read it and smiled. It read:

'Keep fighting, we're all so proud of you. We love you.'

"It's from home." She said.

Katie opened the container and was surprised to see what looked like lotion. Gently she took some out and rubbed it on Cordy's cut arms, and immediately the pain was gone. Seeing the relief in Cordy's eyes, she applied the lotion to the rest of her wounds, stopping only when she saw the gaping slash across her back.

"You can't carry anything with a wound like that." Katie said.

"I can try." Cordy protested.

"No, the stress will kill you."

"Then what do you propose?"

"We stay here for the rest of today, and then tonight we move."