『 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗡 』𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Alliances

TRIGGER WARNING: GRUESOME SCENES, BLOOD, VIOLENCE HALLUCINATIONS, AND MENTIONS OF DEATH.

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Your eyes follow her finger up into the foliage above your head. At first, you have absolutely no clue what she's pointing to, but then, about fifteen feet up, you make out a vague shape in the dimming light. But of... of what? Some sort of animal? It looks about the size of a racoon, but it hangs from the bottom of the branch, swaying ever so slightly. Perhaps a large opossum?

Then you hear something. Among the familiar evening sounds of the woods, your ears can make out a low hum. Then you know. It's a wasp nest.

Fear shoots through you, but you have enough sense to keep still. After all, you have no idea what kind of wasp lives there. It could be the ordinary leave-us-alone-and-we'll-leave-you-alone type. But this is the Hunger Games, and ordinary isn't the norm. More than likely they will be one of the Capitol's mutations, tracker jackers.

Like the jabber jays, these killer wasps were spawned in a lab and strategically placed, like land mines, around the districts during the war. Larger than regular wasps, they have the distinct solid gold body and a sting that raises a lump the size of a plum on contact. Most people can't tolerate more than a few stings. Some die at once. If you live, the hallucinations brought on by the venom have actually driven people to madness. And there's another thing, these wasps will hunt down anyone who disturbs their nest and attempt to kill them. That's where the tracker part of the name comes from.

You look back to Rue for help, but she's melted back into the branches of her tree.

Given your circumstances, you suppose it doesn't matter what kind of wasp nest it is. You're wounded and trapped. Darkness has given you a brief reprieve, but by the time the sun rises, the Careers will have formulated a plan to kill you. There's no way they could do otherwise after you've made them look so stupid. That nest may be the sole option you have left. If you can drop it down on them, you may be able to escape. But you'll risk your life in the process...

Of course, you'll never be able to get in close enough to the actual nest to cut it free. You'll have to saw off the branch at the trunk and send the whole thing down. The serrated part of your knife should be able to manage that. But can my hands? And will the vibration from the sawing raise the swarm? And what if the Careers figure out what I'm doing and move their camp? That would defeat the whole purpose...

You realize that the best chance you'll have to do the sawing without drawing attention will be during the anthem. That could begin anytime. You drag yourself out of your sleeping bag, make sure your knife is secured in your belt, and begin to make your way up the tree. This in itself is dangerous since the branches are becoming precariously thin, even for you – but you persevere.

When you reach the limb that supports the nest, the humming becomes more distinctive. But it's oddly subdued if these are tracker jackers. It's the smoke, you think, It's sedated them.

The seal of the Capitol shines above you and the anthem blares out. It's now or never, you think, and begin to saw. Blisters burn on your hand as you awkwardly drag the knife back and forth. Once you've got a groove, the work requires less effort but is almost more than you can handle. You grit your teeth and saw away, occasionally glancing at the sky to register that there were no deaths today. That's alright. The audience will be sated seeing you injured and treed and the pack below me. But the anthem's running out and you're only three quarters of the way through the wood when the music ends, the sky goes dark, and you're forced to stop.