The 23 Cannons Trilogy

Shattered

April Holme, 14, District 12 Tribute

I sit on a branch, eating one of the legs of the turkeys we were sponsored yesterday. Normally, by this point, most tributes would be starving to death. But no, right now, we're all eating a nice lunch, courtesy of one drunkard of District 12. At first, I pretty much hated Haymitch's guts, but after this sponsor gift, I have realised that he's either a genius, or just lucky with his gifts.

Tossing away the bare bone of the leg, I hop down from the tree, and land expertly on the forest floor below. I walk a little further forwards, and emerge in our little camp. Right now, both Hunter and Magnum are sitting around the camp, finishing off lunch. Hunter still has his home-made explosive in his hand, even though you'd have to be absolutely insane to ever call this hell hole home, and Magnum's holding her knife.

When Magnum first found out about our plans for assault, she was shaken rather badly at the prospect of killing; a complete contrast to mine and Hunter's views on the assault. Hey, I think the Careers have it coming; they murdered both Nikki and Tobias in cold blood. Sure, neither of them were really going to last as long as us, but still, they didn't have to die so horribly.

"Hey," I call out to my two allies, and they turn their heads, looking at me, "Now that lunch is over with, I have to ask you something, Hunter." 

"Me?" Hunter asks, and stands up, still clenching that bottle. Then again, so would I; it is practically our ticket to making sure a Career doesn't come home this year.

"Yes." I reply, before looking at Magnum. Ever since we got into this arena, she's been awfully jumpy, "Sorry Magnum, but this concerns mainly Hunter." I say this softly, and calmly, to ensure she doesn't freak out. Instead, she smiles and nods, and walks off into the forest in the direction of the lake, humming to herself.

Sitting at one of the logs, I motion for Hunter to sit next to me.

"What do you want?" He asks, and my eyes wander to the bottle. "Oh, does this concern the attack?"

"Yes," I reply, looking back at him, "What I want to know is when. When are we going to get this little burning party started?"

"Oh, about that," He says confidently, "Well, I was thinking this evening. You know, so we can get close to them without getting caught, since it won't really work if we're all full of arrows and spears, will it?"

"You're right." I say. It is a pretty good idea, since, like he says, it'll be awfully hard to get them if they're throwing more weapons than we have teeth into our body, rendering us as dead, bloody pin cushions. And even if we do die, we have to make sure that we have caused some major damage with the cocktail, since if the Careers get hold of it, well, Claudius might as well announce the victor there and then.

"I think I am, April," He says, letting a cocky grin show.

"Don't get too confident." I cut in, and obviously realising what I was on about, Hunter drops his smile.

"Anyway, until then, how about we get a little more rest." He continues, "After all, we'll need to be at full strength if we want this to work." He lets out a yawn, before pointing in the direction of the lake. "Would you mind getting Magnum, as well? Since she seems to trust you just a little more than she does me."

"Alright then." I reply, and watch Hunter disappear into his tent, resting for the grand assault tonight.

Okay, so I have until sundown to prepare for this full scale attack on the Careers. Part of me is tingling with excitement, yet another part of me is trembling in fear. A number of things could go wrong. First off, the Careers might go hunting for us before we even go out. Then there's also the issue of dying before we can blow them up. And let's not forget accidentally killing ourselves.