Nothing Personal

So Close - 4

She didn't really know where she was going. She'd wandered aimlessly for hours, half-looking for either of the others, but her heart wasn't in it and now she wanted somewhere to sleep. Or not sleep. She was sure she wouldn't be able to, but it was probably best to try. After she'd slept, it would be easier to focus.

Please, don't let it be me and...she thought. After everything I've been through, please not that.

The sun was going down, painting everything a watery orange colour, the clouds seeming purple. It felt like a fire, a warning light, a marker. Something bigger and deeper than a sunset.

Would the Games be over before the next one?

None of them knew it, but three out of four tributes were in the green undergrowth and trees that meandered with the stream.

Sebastian was cat-napping in Crete's shelter, waiting for the cover of total darkness.

Skyler had decided against the hills; it was easier to hide here and there were berries and leaves that she knew were edible.

Megan stumbled through the nettles and brambles, keeping one ear open for any noise that might indicate another tribute. She was sure there had to be at least one other person in here or the Gamemakers would have brought something out by now.

Well, she hadn't seen them yet.

She stopped and listened, remembering watching Sebastian's tactics on the screen, chuckling at the befuddled expression on the Careers' faces when they woke up and couldn't find Tile. Was he still around? She hadn't seen him in the sky. So he'd been alive at the end of yesterday. But a lot of people had died since then; the two in the night - one within the hour after the anthem - and then the one in the morning and the one in the afternoon. Four people. He could be one of them. But it never hurt to be too careful.

Who else? Her instinct said Court or Crete, perhaps Klaus. Probably Court, the girl slightly crazy with revenge. She must have cared about Raylum after all, deep down. 

No, don't think about it. Think about staying alive, going home, finally clearing your name. 

But she'd be going home alone, as alone as she was when she left.

"I didn't do it," she whispered to the cameras, if there were any around.

She ducked under a low-hanging tree branch. Not quick enough; her hair got caught. It was a mess, unwashed, unbrushed, and it took her a few minutes to untangle herself. All the while, she was listening out for the cannon that would mean...something.

Once she'd freed her hair, she sat down. She didn't really know why; it just felt like it was better to sit down rather than wander around making herself obvious as it got dark. She wasn't especially small or nimble and her hair was like a beacon. The more she moved around, the more she put herself at a disadvantage, especially if the roaming Sebastian was still alive.

Soon the anthem would be playing and she'd know what she was up against.

She already knew one, although she refused to think of Vedran as competition. She didn't know what he was.

Please...

Skyler leant back into her tree to look at the sky. The clouds were streaked with pink and orange, the actual sky itself a deep velvet colour with points of light twinkling through, like points of light poking through the forcefield of the arena. She'd been shaking constantly for hours. Something had to happen. She'd spent the whole Games wandering, apart from when she'd been keeping an eye on the twins. She shuddered, remembering their horrible ending. At least they had died together, that was a small shred of comfort.

She couldn't stop a tear leaking down her cheek. They'd been so young. And Daisuke and Fiona.

She wiped the tear away furiously. No, she'd cry when she was back home and nobody was looking at her. After going to see Oak's family. She didn't know how she would manage, but she would have to. Somehow.

She'd have to get back first.

The bow and arrow hung lazily from a branch; she snatched them up. Whatever the Gamemakers were planning, she wanted to be ready for it at any moment. It was going to happen tonight. It had to, or she'd go crazy just waiting.

Would she shoot to kill, if she had to? She'd shot at Pataya and Sebastian. She'd meant it then. She hadn't thought about it, but she must have meant it or she wouldn't have shot.

Thinking about it was only confusing her. 

The anthem burst into her thoughts, the familiar, menacing seal stamping itself across the sky, blotting out the stars.

Klaus was the first picture. He looked down on them, fierce in a quiet way. She didn't know how she felt about that.

Then Grace. Skyler felt her insides twist. The poor girl. She'd done nothing; without a doubt she hadn't even injured anyone. Her expression was tearful, her pale green eyes startled and shocked, like she still hadn't quite come to terms with being reaped. 

Crete, smiling charmingly at the camera, looking confident and alive.

Finally, Court. She snarled down on the arena, bitter and full of hate, her grey eyes sharp and sly.

"You're still here," the jabberjay hissed, just to remind her. It had followed her, maybe as a bad omen. Or as a good luck charm. She looked at her wrist, where her bracelet token hung. The locket, the family heirloom dangled off it. She slid the bow around her neck and flipped open the catch for the first time in the Games.

Vintage smiled back at her, sweet little Vintage, her spitting image only without the glasses. She couldn't remember the picture being drawn but it must have been recently. Perhaps it was by her mother; she was a neat artist when she had the time. It must have taken her hours.  It wasn't a perfect picture, and she had to smile at the fact that she appeared taller than her father. He was looking at her, one arm around Vintage, and smiling proudly. She touched the picture with a fingertip, imagining that she was giving them a hug. She ached to see them again, be able to talk to them.

"I love you guys," she whispered.

She could imagine Vintage whispering "Love you too, Sky," back. Her little sister, the one she'd always looked after. She needed to get back to her.

She'd do what she had to.

Sebastian opened his eyes and prodded his brain into waking up properly. He'd manouvered himself into stalemate and there was no way out of it, and it was totally dark now anyway. He stretched out; he was stiff from being sat so still for so long, and he wanted to have every possible advantage tonight. He was so close to going back home. He'd already killed four people. Four people had lost their lives because of him. Maybe they would have killed him too. He could think about that later.

He crept around silently, glad for all that sneaking around the factories in the dark. He'd never have thought it would come in useful in the Games, mostly because he'd never thought he'd end up here. What would Eddie think? And Millie and Gaz? What were they doing now? Working, probably. Eddie would be tugging at the machines, his face pulled tightly around his nose in concentration, well aware that the slightest wrong movement could sever a finger or worse. Millie and Gaz would be in town, trying to trade and probably failing.

Lost in his thoughts for once, he nearly blundered straight into the middle of the clearing. Well, it wasn't much of a clearing, just a break in the trees and bushes. And there was someone there. Luckily, she was asleep.

She. Just a she. He wouldn't put a name to her.

He took aim and fired.

It wasn't a great shot, not as good as the one that had got rid of Crete. It hit her in the arm. But she didn't wake up, at least, not while he was watching. He slipped back away into the undergrowth and back to the shelter, listening and waiting.

Vedran, still sat at the entrance to the Cornucopia and remembering sitting in the room watching the screen, remembering Megan's head on his shoulder, her talking in her sleep, the expression on her face whenever he caught her off guard, heard the cannon and dropped his head into his hands.

A few tears snuck down his face.