Nothing Personal

Bloodbath - 24

Suddenly, the trees were behind them and they were in the middle of a row of neat little houses. It was so startling that both had to stop and blink, which was enough time for the person chasing them to burst out of the trees. It was Clarence, and now they had no trees for cover. Her dagger would be useless because he'd be able to hit them before she could get close enough to use it.

"Truce!" she called desperately, as there was a shout from the bloodbath. Meridan edged behind her. Clarence frowned at her, tossing the axe from one hand to the other. He made it look so light.

"Why?" he asked, and took a step closer. Every single nerve in Misty's body told her to run. She stayed put. Hopefully he might get close enough for her to use the dagger. Her mind was blank.

"Because it'd ruin all the fun if you killed us now!"

"Who says I kill both of you?"

"The rules!"

He laughed shortly. Another step. Meridan was starting to shake now. Clarence grinned. "Oh yeah, you people are real sticklers for the rules, right?"

It worried Meridan that there seemed to be a lot of talking and not much fighting and he didn't understand any of it. From over Misty's shoulder he could see Clarence getting closer. Misty was trembling badly.

"Go away and we won't hurt you," she insisted. Clarence threw the axe from left to right, then back again. It was almost hypnotic.

"Okay," he agreed, "But next time you two are fish food."

And with that he bolted back into the trees. Misty let out a long breath, sighing "That was lucky." Meridan blinked at her, so she mimed wiping her forehead.

'House' he replied. The street was lined with them. Misty was still breathing hard. "Okay. Yes, you're right. Let's get inside." And she pulled him towards a house with the front window boarded up.

Grace was running. She didn't know where, only that there were trees and houses, little square blocks in red brick, and that the road was bobbly and uneven and kept trying to trip her up. Her side felt like it was splitting in two but when she checked she wasn't injured. What would Peter want her to do, apart from win?

Find allies, he would have said.

She slowed down. There was nobody in front of her. There was nobody behind her. Over the sound of her breathing, she couldn't hear any noises that would indicate people. This was good; no Careers. This was bad; no allies. She knew that she needed allies for now, especially because she'd panicked and run and had nothing to defend herself with.

There was a rustling noise behind her.

Quickly, she threw herself behind a hedge in a front garden, the thorns scratching at her arms, her heart rate flying. A small, pitiful figure shuffled down the street, sniffling. Fiona. Grace was about to run out to her, when she heard loud voices out to her right. Career voices.

"Run!" she hissed, before she could stop herself, but Fiona didn't hear. Peering through the leaves on the hedge, Grace could see that the little girl was in the middle of the street, looking around her fearfully.

"There's another!" announced a gleeful female voice, which Grace vaguely recognised as Tile's. Heavy footsteps rushed down the street. Grace stuffed her hand into her mouth to stop the sob breaking out. Another? Who had they already got? Which one of the twenty three tributes she'd shared a stage with yesterday was dead? Fiona started to run but barely got five paces before the Careers were on her, Dark and Tile grabbing her arms, Amber and Klaus standing by. The little girl burst into desperate sobs. "Please! I'll do whatever you want I just don't want to die!"

Amber leant down to look into her face, smiling cruelly. "Oh, honey!" she drawled, imitating Martina perfectly, "Don't you know that's why you're here?" Fiona kicked out at her but she slinked out of the way.

Klaus chuckled deeply. "I think she should get another cut for that!" he exclaimed.

Dark scowled. He wanted this kill. Yeah, he had Rufus, but he'd been running away. "Dibs on the final blow," he said.

Amber winked at him. "Oh, honey, we'll deal with that when we get there! First, a cut for her district!"

She dug her knife into the struggling Fiona's arm and dragged it down, saying "One little nick," in a singsong voice. 

Fiona howled in pain, wriggling desperately.

"Two little nicks." Klaus did the same to the other arm.

"Three little nicks!" Left leg.

"Four little nicks!" Right leg. Fiona roared louder as the jagged knife scraped her bones. Blood drenched the floor, lots of blood for a body so tiny.

"Five!" The stomach. The howls stopped as a foul stench pierced the air. "Eew! That's filthy!" exclaimed Tile, reeling, "Why isn't she screaming?"

Klaus prodded the limp body of Fiona, all her blood spilt onto the cracked road. He drew a hand across his neck. "Oh, okay," Tile muttered. Dark, deprived of his kill, scowled and threw the body aside. "Let's go find another!" he said.

Klaus glared at him. "I think we should make a base."

"Let's keep moving, though," suggested Amber and they instantly obeyed and walked back down the road, Dark and Klaus arguing heatedly.

Once they were out of sight, the hovership dropped out of the sky and claimed the limp and lifeless body of the little girl who had tried to run away at her reaping.

Grace, pale and shaking and horrified at what she had just seen, at being powerless to help, vomited into the hedge.

Three cannons went off.

Cherry.

Rufus.

Fiona.