The New Hunger Games

Chapter Fourteen

Four days passed uneventfully. Near the end of the second day, we heard two cannons fire within seconds of each other. That night, we found out that both Spear Boy and Sword Boy were dead. I couldn’t help but wonder if they had killed each other, or if the boy that had saved my life had killed one or both of them.

Kainan wasn’t speaking to me. Not that he had actually been speaking to me before, but now he was mostly ignoring me. He didn’t really talk much at all, though he did smile at me once. The only time that he really showed any sort of emotion was when he tried to shoot his bow. He hadn’t even pulled the string halfway back, and he’d had to stop. I’d told him that it was okay, that everything would be alright, but all I’d been able to think about was that the boy that had saved my life wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if he got the chance, helpless or not.

I knew that something was coming for us soon. There was only four people left in the arena: me, Kainan, Ancara, and the boy that had saved my life. Kainan and I hadn’t even been far out of our cave in four days. No doubt Ancara and the other boy were hunting for each other and for us, but they’d had no luck, so I knew that the time was coming that the Gamemakers would drive us together.

I’d finally given up on keeping watch. I’d barely slept in several days, so I’d decided to just sleep. Kainan woke me just as the sun was starting to peer over the horizon, panic in his eyes.

“Run! Run!” It was the first time he’d spoken in days, and he was just repeating the same word at me over and over, getting more desperate every time. I quickly threw my sleeping bag over my shoulder, with my pack stowed in the bottom. He already had his over his good shoulder, and he grabbed my wrist with the hand on his other arm. He’d stopped using the sling, but I knew that his shoulder still hurt him.

“What’s wrong? Kainan, what’s going on?” He didn’t answer, just dragged me down the slope and immediately into the woods. I knew that something had spooked him, but I had no way of knowing what it could possibly have been. He ran faster than I could even hope to, and he was practically dragging me along. I could tell that my pace wasn’t near fast enough because he kept glancing behind us, worried.

We’d been running for several minutes before I heard it: a soft buzzing, and the footsteps of hundreds of animals. They quickly overtook us, and left us in the dust, but I could see that they had the same panicked look in their eyes as Kainan did. Whatever had spooked him had spooked these animals too.

Within a few more minutes we’d reached the clearing around the Cornucopia. I heard movement behind us, and knew that one of the other tributes was close on our heels. I saw movement far to the left, and saw a figure burst out of the woods on the far side of the clearing. It was the boy that had saved my life.

I watched in horror as a huge swarm of some kind of bug came out of the woods behind him. As they surrounded him, he screamed and thrashed, trying to get them off of him. In seconds, his body seemed to shrivel up and he fell to the ground, unmoving. In the distance, a cannon fired.

I poured on more speed, desperate to get away from those things. I knew they were driving us together, driving us somewhere, but I didn’t know where. All I could see in my head was that boy shriveling up like there was no more liquid left in his body. What a horrible way to die.

I was ankle deep in water before I realized that Kainan was leading me directly into the lake. Reflexively, I dug my heels into the ground and tried to stop him. Terror dug at me, destroying my judgment. I couldn’t go back, but I couldn’t move forward either. Not into the water. All I could see in front of me was a net and desperate hands reaching through it.

Then Kainan’s face broke through the memory as he turned back to me, glanced over my shoulder, and pulled harder. He was yelling something at me, but I couldn’t hear him. Finally, after much too long, I allowed him to lead me all the way into the lake, far enough that my feet barely touched the bottom. Kainan held his nose and took a deep breath before plunging beneath the water, and after a moment, I did the same.

After a moment, I managed to open my eyes. I could see another figure several feet to my right who could only have been Ancara. And then, for a short time, I couldn’t see anything as the swarm passed over us and blocked out the light. I couldn’t breathe, and I feared that I really would end up like my parents or, possibly worse, like the boy that had saved my life, when the swarm disappeared.

We all broke the surface at the same time. Gasping for breath, we dragged ourselves back to the shore, where we lay panting, hardly able to move. After the initial relief passed, I realized that Ancara lay only feet from me, and sprung to my feet.

“Kainan, get out of here!” I yelled. He’d already as good as won. As long as he stayed out of the way for this final fight, he would get to go home. I drew my daggers out of my boots where I’d stowed them the night before and Ancara drew her sword, both of us falling into battle stances.

Neither of us dared to move. I was within easy reach of her sword, but I feared that if I took a step back or made a move to toss a dagger, she would attack. I had a feeling that her thoughts were very much the same. Finally, after a few moments, we both surged forward at the same time.

She had a natural advantage. She had a larger blade and more power behind every blow. It was all I could do to block her and send the occasional swipe towards her. I was exhausted and my focus was splintered by the nearby lake. I held my own, parrying every blow, but my arms ached and I didn’t know how much more I could take.

There would be no boy with a spear to save me now. It was just me and Ancara. Kainan would offer no help. I caught a few glimpses of him a safe distance away, bow in hand. He’d tried just the day before to shoot it, though, and had failed miserably.

I stepped back and felt water hit my ankles. I was back in the lake, and the moment of broken focus was enough for Ancara to knock one of my daggers from my hand. With only one, it was all I could do to keep her sword from slicing through my skin, and I desperately reached to the back waistband of my pants for another.

Nothing. They must have come loose in the lake and washed away. I could hold her off with one, but not for long, and not very well. She got a blow past my defenses and just managed to graze my cheek. With my free hand I put pressure on it, glad she hadn’t his a few inches higher where my eyes were.

In less than a minute, she’d knocked my other dagger from my hand. For a moment, we both stood entirely still, panting, as she grinned. She’d won. I had no way to defend myself against a sword, not without a weapon of my own. She knew that she had me right where she wanted me, so she took the time to step closer, sneering at me. Her arm came back for the final blow, and I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to watch.

“NOOOOOO!” Kainan screamed. I heard something rush through the air and bury itself into something solid, and when I opened my eyes, an arrow was buried up to its feathered end in Ancara’s head. Her eyes went blank and see fell face first into the water in front of me.

For a moment, I thought she hadn’t had time to thrust her sword forward. But when I glanced down, there was a sword buried almost all the way up to the hilt in my abdomen. As if seeing it there turned on all the nerves in my body, the pain hit me, and I fell to my knees.

Strong arms went around me, and dimly, I heard another cannon fire. For a moment, I thought it was mine. But no, I was still very much alive. It was Ancara’s cannon. We’d won the Games. Kainan and I had won the Games.

But what good would it do? With every second that passed, with every beat of my heart, blood poured from my wound. Already I couldn’t hold myself upright even on my knees. I felt arms go beneath me and lift me up, but I couldn’t seem to open my eyes to look.

Finally, after what felt like an hour of trying, I managed to crack my eyelids. Kainan stood above me, holding me up as he scanned the sky above us. As I watched, a hovercraft appeared and a ladder fell to the ground next to us. As soon as Kainan grabbed on we were immobile.

When we were pulled aboard the hovercraft, we could move again. Or at least, Kainan could move again. I hadn’t truly been able to move since the sword entered my body. Doctors hurried forward to my aid, but Kainan stood over me, an arrow in each hand. He must have lost his bow somewhere, but he slashed with his arrows at anyone who came too close.

“Kainan, stop,” I managed to croak out. He looked over at me questioningly. “They’re trying to help… Let them help…”

And then I passed out, and I could only hope that Kainan wouldn’t kill the doctors that were the only thing that stood between my life and death.