Nothing Personal

Bored - 16

Amber woke up as the first rays of dawn fluttered onto her eyelids. At first she yawned, her brain still foggy from sleep though it had been trained not to be. Then she realised that Tile hadn't woken her up for her watch. The stupid girl had probably forgotten; she could have got them all killed. Well, some of them at least.

"Tile, you were supposed to wake me up!" she complained, stretching. Her back ached from a night in the comfortable but solid swing and she longed for her bed at home again. It was mildly warm, enough to not be uncomfortable. Her shouting woke up the boys. Klaus sat up, hit his head on the tower and swore angrily. Crete rolled out of the tunnel with a lopsided grin.

"It's morning," he said.

"Is it?" drawled Amber, "I hadn't noticed! Tile! You were meant to wake me up!" Crete yawned and looked around, while Klaus emerged, rubbing his head and grumbling. The playground was empty. Klaus swore again and raced to the pile.

"Everything is still here!" he exclaimed. 

"Except the machete," Crete added, joining him. Amber slinked over, frowning. She'd known the girl wasn't worth trusting. "Parasite," she snapped icily.

"Easy," soothed Crete, "She's not taken anything. Apart from the machete. Hasn't even killed any of us." His smart-ass attitude was really starting to annoy Amber now. Maybe it was a District Five thing; something reserved for the techno districts.

"Either way, I get the first blow when we find her. Or when she comes back."

Crete winced, looking out into the woods as if expecting to find her there, laughing at them all for being so silly. He'd only known the girl for the day, but the endless time and pressure of the arena made it feel like much longer.

Something glinted on the floor. Klaus, knelt in the dried blood, hadn't seen and was busy checking that Tile hadn't stolen anything. Amber paced up and down, glaring out into the houses, all traces of sleepiness gone. Crete ambled over to it, knowing what it was before he got a good look.

"The machete."

Klaus was there instantly, whipping the machete into the air and catching it again in a pointless show of strength and coordination. Amber followed slowly, like she was considering every step, watching the mesmerising spin of the blade.

"She could have gone...you know..." suggested Crete, red in the face.

"She wouldn't have gone out there unarmed," Klaus grunted. Crete nodded his agreement, shivers dancing up his spine. Someone had come out here at night and killed her silently, probably without any blood because there wasn't any on the floor, and had left the rest of them alone.

"We should have two on watch tonight," he suggested.

"That's a good idea," said Amber, "I don't want to leave you awake on your own anyway." She nearly laughed when the boy turned white. She'd almost forgotten that he wasn't a Career and therefore not to be trusted.

Then it hit her that two of the Careers hadn't made it to the second day.

Suddenly, she felt very small and almost scared. She wished that Dark was here so she could mess him about, to make herself laugh.

Klaus was seeing Rian again, lounging in the swing with his legs kicking in the air. "Keep going, little brother," he said, and his voice was little more than the rustling of the leaves, "Keep going."

Clarence raided the kitchen, but there was nothing in there that was still edible. The smell had been enough to convince him of that, but he'd thought that maybe there'd be some tins or something. He'd passed the night in various beds, switching every time he woke up, and it was weird sleeping where you knew someone had slept before. He found himself wondering what they were like; young, old, male, female, kind, sarcastic. He briefly wanted to go looking for Pataya, before remembering emotionlessly that she'd been one of the faces in the sky last night, along with the District One boy. That was good; it meant the Careers were starting to get vulnerable. Once another of them died he'd go and hunt out the rest.