Standing on the Edge (That Goat Will Probably Eat You)

The Third Night

"You did what?"

"I don't really believe it either."

"Keep your voices down!" Trinity juts in, her breath white in the night air. It's bracing, the kind of cold where the wind can hammer the breath out of you. We're huddled on the ledge over the cave; climbing up was terrifying but easier than expected, especially with the snow shoes. I'm trying not to think about coming back down.

Garth frowns at me, troubled.

"I don't like it," he snaps, twirling one of the knives around. I'm not stupid; I know there's no fooling Dayn, so I'm taking the smaller weapons instead. Although I want to go now. After Mars, I can't stay with the Careers any longer. Alice will be fine, and what does it matter to me if she isn't anyway?

"It was that or watch him being tortured," I point out.

"I think Faraday did the right thing," says Trinity. I don't know what to make of her. She has a weird ability to sound like she's interrupting whenever she speaks. She also looks constantly suspicious. But at the same time, she seems fairly practical. It's a District Three thing, I guess. And if Garth trusts her, then I do.

Outvoted, he scowls at both of us and flips the knife again, letting it drop the millisecond it's obvious he won't catch it. It clatters and all three of us wince and freeze.

Nothing.

One of them is snoring.

The anthem blares out of the sky above us, the seal blazing itself into the clouds, lighting up the arena over the vague light of the hidden moon. Is it me, or is the seal brighter? They've added a few tongues of fire around it, as well. It makes me shudder, though Garth snorts. Trinity glares at him, perhaps warning him to take this bit seriously.

Daisy, her face blank, is the first one up in the sky. Expecting it, Garth just grins to himself. Trinity looks at me; I point to Garth. She shrugs and turns her attention back to the sky. What was Daisy's last name? I can't remember.

Barely perceptibly, Trinity breathes a sigh of relief when Verona appears, staring into the distance. I suppose she was worried about her district partner, the boy forced into volunteering. Verona. How did she go? I hope that it was another tribute, not the Capitol, that got to her. I hope that she wasn't in pain.

Garth and Trinity watch me carefully.

Mars appears in the sky. I quickly look down, not wanting to see him. I don't want to be reminded. Mars and Ford. Neither of them wanted to be here. They had families, probably. Ford did, at least. 'I hope you're happy, dad'.

Don't think like that, Faraday.

"No Ona," says Garth suddenly. Ona? Oh, the girl. His district partner. Ella is long dead, what's left of her cold in the ground by now, though my insides twinge when I think about the way she died. Both Trinity and Garth have district partners still alive. This is the first time I've heard Garth mention her. Trinity's eyes widen in horror and she clamps a hand over his mouth. 

I can't see anyone, but there must be someone there. It then hits me that they probably came out to see the faces. "Up yours, mockingjay!" roars Chuck's voice, rumbling off the mountain. He seems to have a personal problem with her. Or her memory, more likely.

"No rebels here!" Cinder yells.

"We will find you!" Chuck bellows, and none of us are in any doubt that in his head, he's talking to Garth.

Very steadily, Garth shuffles backwards, Trinity following him. Leaving for the night. Safe from the ire of the Careers for a day; it'll be me that takes the flak when Dayn inevitably discovers the missing supplies. I hold a hand up.