Nothing Personal

Bloodbath - 24

The town had been deserted for a long time. It was a nice little place, situated on gentle rolling hills with neat square houses, each slightly different to its neighbours. The loosely turning roads seemed to lead in random directions, the sort where a pleasant afternoon walk could take you anywhere if you weren't paying any attention. Patches of trees intersected the houses, running along back gardens, and a large scrubby area marked mostly by low, wiry bushes and brown grass indicated an old demolition site that nobody had ever got around to building on. A stream bubbled through the centre, curving under little bridges and making the lowest woods marshy. Two hills, steeper than the others, were all grass and trees, with small patches of water perched on top. Since everyone had left, nature was starting to take over, birds inhabiting the rooftops and weeds poking up through the once smooth roads. In its prime the little town had held around eight thousand people.

Today it held twenty four.

In the park in the middle of town, twenty four children stood around a glittering golden horn, stuffed with all manner of weapons and food products. Some looked around nervously, clutching tokens with shaking hands. One was already in floods of tears. Others were analysing the surroundings, plans darting around their heads.

A loud noise blared over the area, making the buildings shudder. All the tributes except one immediately ran; Meridan stood where he was, bemused. Many ran in the general direction of the horn and snatched up whatever they could find on the floor before scampering for the houses. The four Careers surrounded the horn, waving various weapons expertly. The girl closest to the horn and aiming for a cluster of knives tripped up and sprawled on the floor, falling hard on her wrist with a shriek.

Klaus stepped up eagerly as she struggled to get to her feet and plunged his sword into her back. Cherry twitched twice and went still, blood seeping out of the wound. "Oh yeah!" Klaus roared triumphantly. 

Tile was bouncing around, wielding a machete. She saw the two District Nine tributes rushing for a little path but didn't follow. She could always get them later, unless somebody else did. The Three boy and his boring circuit chip thing was within reach, grabbing a packet of knives, but as she moved towards him he saw her and bolted and she couldn't be bothered to chase after him.

"One down!" Klaus shouted, over the sounds of people running and the occasional clash of weapons. Dark gritted his teeth; he couldn't believe that Klaus had got first kill. Quickly, he cast around for somebody else. The lover boy from Six was running hell for leather, clutching a little bag, out of anyone's range but his. Everyone else had already vanished. He took one of his knives, aimed and let fly. As usual his aim was perfect; Rufus stuttered and collapsed, a handle sticking out of the back of his skull.

Misty pulled hard on Meridan's hand. He hadn't heard the alarm and she'd come across him stood there, looking out over the scene with a frown. She'd had to run right across the front of the Cornucopia, dodging the bloodthirsty Careers, and had only managed to pick up a bag and some kind of dagger thing, too heavy to throw but too small to be a sword, but she'd eventually got to him, watching the tributes rush past him with a clueless expression. Her sign language had deserted her; she could only grab his hand and tug him along. She'd heard Klaus shout about one down and she had to wonder who it was, but she didn't think about it.

"Come on," she urged, even though she knew he couldn't hear. It made her feel better. They plunged blindly through a small cluster of trees, Misty nearly hitting her head several times.

Something flew past her head and embedded itself in a tree, handle quivering. The tree creaked and split in half; they had to dodge it sharply. She glanced behind to see who was chasing but couldn't make out much apart from a blurry shadow darting from one tree to the other. It was hard to tell but she reckoned they were quicker.