The Trubute

10

(Finnick's POV)The Capitol is simply buzzing over their newest favorite tribute and it's all I can do not to feel ill.They are applauding her for honoring the final wish of her fellow tribute. They are calling her sweet and kind, but the fire I see in Piper's eyes is anything but kind. It was the look of a girl driven to running for her sanity. When she breaks down in the woods, they cry along with her, but I clench my jaw and silently scream for her to keep running.As long as the smoke from the iconic bonfire she set over her dead ally's body circles into the sky, the Capitol will remember Leif Wayland. When it fades, all they will remember is that Piper set the fire.She's still moving fast for being through what she has in the past two days. Her ally kept her moving, and now I think I see his spirit pushing her forward. I don't know where she's running. I don't think even she knows.But as long as she keeps flying, Piper Lockly keeps breathing.(Piper's POV)Even though I can finally run to my fullest speed, there isn't as much joy in it. I'm running more like a hunted animal, trying to escape a snare. I know the boy from District 7 is stalking me. He's out there somewhere. He killed Leif. I'm going to get my revenge for that.Do Leif's parents hate me? I led their only son into a trap. He followed me blindly into that ambush. And he died to save my life.I hate myself for not feeling more pain. I hate myself for thinking that at least now I'm moving faster. But I'm beginning to realize that even though I'm trying to cling to who I am, the Games are taking it from me. I'm losing my humanity and I'm losing my mind.I killed someone without a second thought. I killed the boy from District 2. His parents are cursing me right now, his friends are wondering how a girl from District 12 brought down such a brute of a boy. My only answer for them is that I was trying to save Leif and myself. Not that it worked.And the boy from District 7, though gone for now, is tracking me. He's singled me out for this. Sooner or later, it'll be me against him, I guarantee it.Magnus is still out there somewhere. He's still a threat, though I still don't understand why he isn't working with the Careers. Maybe he is and that's the plan, to confuse me. I don't know. I can't grasp his motives at all.The anthem plays at dusk, and I look up into the sky to see Leif's face one last time. The music only reminds me that I'm trapped her like a caged dog and that maybe Leif's the free one.I only realize I've run through the night when dawn splits open the dark sky. My muscles shake with exhaustion and my breath comes in quick, painful gasps. I guzzle an entire bottle of water, refill it, and try to find a place to rest. The only food I have left is the crackers, now dry and stale, but I munch on them anyway. The sky quickly begins to cloud over. Looking up is like looking at a cloud palace, but it reminds me that if it begins to storm, I won't have shelter to speak of.The cannon goes off like a gunshot, and I jump before scurrying to a tree. I can't hear the hovercraft, so maybe the tribute died a ways off. The branches in front of me prove a challenge, but after a struggle, I get high enough to see the hovercraft disappearing into the clouds across the arena, by the mountain. I watch until it disappears, then another cannon goes off. I flinch again and nearly slide off my precarious branch before wrapping my arms around the trunk. The hovercraft dips down again and picks up another body from the same area, the mountain. I was wise not to go there.My eyelids are drooping by the time my feet hit the ground again. The sky is getting darker, but somewhere in my brain I know it's too early for nighttime. A storm is coming, and I can guess that if the Gamemakers whipped it up, it won't be any normal storm.I begin to drag myself uphill to find shelter as the temperature rapidly drops. I won't be able to survive the night without a fire at this point, and I can barely feel my feet and hands despite their protective coverings.Finally, I find a cave and duck inside. Someone's been here before me, a while ago. There are smoke stains on the roof and a pile of charcoal. As the air gets colder and my entire body begins to shiver, I duck outside and gather as much wood as I can carry. My only consolation is that anyone hunting me will be forced to find shelter as well.I begin to hear a howling as I build up the fire. The wind is whistling around the caves, chilling me to my bones. Flakes of snow begin swirling down, abnormally large and thick. I catch one on my skin and it burns with frostbite. The snow gets thicker and thicker. I light a match and touch it to the kindling, and it catches. The little blaze gets larger and larger. I curl up into my sleeping bag and try to close myself off from the cold. I can't even see the trees outside anymore. I'm out of food, so even if the storm rages tomorrow, I don't have a choice but to go outside.Fitfully, but protected from danger by the blizzard outside, I fall asleep. The howling of the wind wakes me up constantly, but it's an opportunity to feed the fire, to keep myself alive.When I finally drag myself out of sleep to hear the anthem play, I can't see the faces of the tributes that died because the clouds are so thick. I can barely hear the music.The storm rages and all the while I'm getting hungrier. The crackers did nothing to stave off, and I'm still weak from my fifteen-hour-long flight.I think it's daytime; the…it's the ninth day, I think. That scares me for some bizarre reason. I can't remember how long I've been here.I venture out into the wind, leaving my fire burning but taking all my things. Everything outside is frozen. The snow has become particles of ice that sting when they hit me. I can't touch the metal of my knives without getting burned.That's when I see it, a rabbit, already dead and frozen, lying under a bush, so well camouflaged that I would never have seen it if it weren't for its glassy black eyes.I reach under to grab it, and a crunch of snow warns me. I spin around, a knife at the ready, to face nothing.But I made the mistake of thinking nothing was nothing with Leif, and I won't do it again.I put my back to the tree and look around carefully. There's no one to be seen, but the blizzard is so thick no one can see me either.I raise the knife carefully, ready to wield it against anything that comes after me.I hear a battle cry behind me, and someone else yells, "DUCK!" I do what any natural person would do; I hit the dirt.The boy from District 1 falls to the ground with an arrow in his throat. His torn flesh is so quickly covered by the falling ice I barely catch a glimpse."Are you alright?" A voice asks me as I stand.Magnus helps me up, and I push him away, my knife ready."Stay away from me!" I scream over the wind."I'm on your side!" He screams back, and I catch movement behind him. I throw my knife straight past his head, and it sinks hilt-deep into the heart of the girl from District 2, who falls scarce feet from Magnus."Why should I trust you?" I scream at him, another knife already at the ready."Because I'm not going to kill you! And I just saved your life!" Magnus sets down his bow and raises his hands."I have a safe spot we can wait out this blizzard!" He shouts, and I retrieve my knife from the dead girl."We don't really have a choice, do we?" I say finally, and he nods before jogging uphill. I follow him, wary, but also aware that Magnus just saved my life.He could've let them kill me, but instead he saved me. That must count for something.