The Rebel Victor | I [THG]

Chapter Twenty-Six | A New Alliance

It had been two days since the earthquake-- two days that Quinn was on her own, trying to get all of her things to dry out. She had stayed on the new beach that had once been part of the grassy valley. She drank enough water that she was sure that she couldn't drink anymore. She got a few hours of restless sleep, and the few hours had made a difference.

The water had killed two tributes, and no other tributes had died since then. The boy from District Five and drowned, and the girl from eleven had apparently drowned too. Quinn couldn't help but feel guilty that she hadn't died, or maybe she was just trying to not get too cocky. Snow wanted her dead, she knew for a fact the mist the first night had been directed towards her-- he had sent her a white rose. If he wanted her dead that bad, the water could have been meant to kill her too-- it did leave her weaponless. All she had was her backpack and what was in it. Her spear was somewhere at the bottom of the giant lake, that made her a sitting duck.

Quinn ran her hand on her jacket, it was still damp. She was glad she at least had the red zip-up hoodie. It hadn't gotten as soaked because of the backpack, so it had dried faster. And on a day like this, she was glad she had it. It was an overcast day-- at least that was what the Game Makers made them all think. It could have been the middle of the night and thundering and lightning out. But regardless of what it actually was, the occasional light rain shower was just enough to put a chill in the air.

Quinn took a deep breath and tugged at the drying jacket and found her mockingjay pin. She quickly undid it, pricking her finger as she did so. She then pinned it on her red jacket. She would have to move today, and she would have to carry her jacket so it would continue to dry. And if she had to run for some reason, she wouldn't bother to bring it with her. But she couldn't leave her pin-- Damiens' pin.

She let out a big sigh and pushed herself up off the ground and grabbed her jacket as she started walking. She had finally found a valley she didn't mind, one that didn't try to kill her in the middle of the night. She didn't want to leave it, but she knew she had to. She couldn't just sit there.

She was walking along the water for maybe an hour, and then she began her march up the ridge that was the waters barriar. It was just as steep as the ones before, but it was a bit more difficult to keep her balance without the spear. But at the same time, it was easier for her to keep her footing, whatever had made her sick before had begun to wear off. Once she made it to the top, she had to climb up a bit higher, and then when she looked to the next valley, instead of another valley, it was more ridges, all of which were different heights and looked dangerous.

At that moment, Quinn felt her heart sink. It was as if the reality of everything hadn't sunk in until then. Right there, in front of her were mountain ridges that she had to find a way over or around. She couldn't do it, how could she? She didn't even want to be there! Maybe if her brother had won the games, if her family had been in Victor's Village all along, she wouldn't be in the position. And if she was, she'd at least have a bit more luck on her side! She'd be a Capitol Favorite for sure if that had happened. But instead, she was just a rebel tribute to all of Panem and Snow hated her for it! If she would have just thrown the spear at a normal target that wasn't labeled then things wouldn't have been different! There were no odds in her favor...

Quinn stared out at the ridges, how was she supposed to do this? She was just starting to get the hang of climbing, she'd fall to her death for sure if she did this on her own.

As she tried to contemplate a way around the ridges, she completely forgot to keep a look out for her surroundings. A sharp pain stabbed into her thigh. Whatever it was, it made her leg give out from beneath her and caused her to fall down the short ridge before slamming into the bottom of another. She cringed in pain as he leg moved, she reached for it and saw that a silver rod like her spear, only smaller was stabbed deep into her leg. The pain was unbearable, and the screams of pain sounded so detached from her that she would have thought it was someone else.