"I have never known a silence like the one fallen here
Never watched my future darken in a single tear
I know we want this to go easy by being somebody's fault"
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
The night is long, but we keep moving. We still had not formed enough trust to sleep near each other, and the exhaustion was starting to catch up, but neither of us spoke on it, not wanting to seem vulnerable or weak to give the other a chance to attack.
I had seen how easily he took care of that boy from ten, and I did not want to share that fate. I could only hope that after this alliance is over, Cato will handle Thresh for me.
We move quietly, working our way through the forest trying to gauge where Rue might be. Thresh shares that he suspects she will be in a tree somewhere, as being high up gives her an advantage of being tucked away from sight, so it would be hard to find her.
We can only hope that the sight of him will lure her down as she has the knowledge that they could both go home. We take a break from walking, deciding it would be best to finish this in the morning when Rue would be sure to be awake to spot him. This proves to be useful, as in the morning, sure enough, Rue spots us walking. She's so tiny, I wish I could keep her safe.
With her around, the atmosphere feels slightly more at ease. The tension between Thresh and I loosen slightly as we inform Rue of our plan to find Peeta. She's more than willing to be of help, explaining everything she had seen.
Rue shares that Peeta had been with the careers, and one night, when they had taken camp under a tree she had been staked out in, she had overheard them talking and everything that went down.
The careers had scouted Peeta for his strength, and decided to use him to try to find me. A girl from twelve who volunteered, and got a decent score in training, was apparently sure to have some tricks up her sleeve, and they wanted to take care of me quickly. On this night, Peeta had convinced them that they should stop and rest. Glimmer had first watch as they did not trust Peeta to watch as they slept, and as soon as the other careers fell asleep, Glimmer seemed to have dozed off, and Peeta took this to his advantage, killing her. Cato woke up and hunted him down, but the lack of a cannon or his image in the sky the next night proves that Cato hadn't been successful. It could only be deduced that Peeta wasn't going to be in the best of shape after Cato was done with him.
I am shocked to know any of this. Peeta was helping them find me? He killed Glimmer? He said he didn't want to do anything like that. Why would he kill her? Did he change his mind?
My mind whirls with questions, but this information was quite helpful, and Rue is more than happy to be rewarded with a heaping chunk of rabbit and water for her help.
"Did you see what direction he went in?" I ask as we walk and Rue nods.
"He went that way." she points in a direction. "It was a few nights ago... so he could be anywhere now. I don't know what happened to him." she admits softly.
What a sweet girl.
"Thank you, Rue." I smile to her and she grins back, nodding to me, her eyes big and innocent.
My heart aches just looking at her. She's made it so far. She must feel safe around Thresh and I. She has no weapon on her, yet managed to stay alive this long.
Thresh and Rue begin to talk, and their entire interaction is entirely sweet. He speaks to her as if she were a younger sibling, and the way she looks up to him hurts me.
Only one pair can win.
If not a pair, then only one tribute.
My heart aches at the thought, and we keep walking, only stopping when we hear the obnoxious chattering of the careers. We tuck ourselves away, not wanting to face the confrontation. Sure, it was even number wise, but three lethal careers versus three underdogs was no match we wanted to face. Thresh can handle his own, but all I have is my knife, and Rue has nothing. We'd be at a severe disadvantage.
Once the coast is clear, we come up with a plan to take away their food source.
"We avoided them this time, but next time we won't be so lucky and our numbers will be lower. We take out their food supplies, weaken them. They've never gone hungry, they won't know what to do. By the next time there's a confrontation, they'll be weaker. At least, that's the hope. Peeta can wait, this needs to happen now while they're away from the cornucopia." I state, and the other two seem to be heavily on board.
However, no plan ever could go so perfectly.
The whole thing felt like a fever dream. A nightmare waiting to be over.
It went well at first, the food was destroyed, and the careers killed off the boy with the crutch, who I had been surprised made it this long. I suppose he was meant to watch over everything, and had set mines from the platforms around the supplies, set to go off if a tribute stepped on one while trying to steal from the pile.
The girl from five seemed to have known this, knowing exactly where to step and sneak away without being caught stealing. We used the platform to our advantage. I had been tucked away into a bush as Thresh and Rue set fires to keep the careers distracted, throwing rocks that I had collected at the mines. It was hard as I was far away, trying not to be caught by the boy with the crutches. Yet, even if he caught me, what could he do? Call out for the careers? Would they even hear him?
I move a little closer, chucking a rock as hard as possible. It flies, seeming to be another failed attempt, but the next thing I know, there's a loud explosion, the impact sending me backwards. I lost hearing in one of my ears, but I managed to get away before the careers could find me as they sprinted into the clearing. That's when Cato killed the boy.
I had waited by our designated meet up spot, not finding Rue or Thresh. I begin to grow concerned, wondering if they had abandoned helping me find Peeta and ran off on their own, or if I had missed cannons.
I have a sinking feeling in my gut, urging me to search our fire sites. That's when I had come across Rue. She was trapped in a net, and as I had freed her, Marvel hit her with his spear. The impact was lethal, and I instinctively threw my knife, hitting him directly through the heart, killing him instantly.
Rue had asked me to sing for her, and I couldn't stop myself from sobbing as I held her innocent body, watching the life slip away from it. I hadn't known her long at all, but she was too young. Too sweet, too innocent. I toss the cursed spear aside and begin placing flowers around Rue's small body, placing a few in her hair and in her tiny hands. She was the embodiment of a child. The childlike wonder in her eyes, the way she spoke, and even now, the way she lays in this bed of flowers, lifeless.
I close her eyes, unable to refrain from crying, and stick up three fingers, kissing them before holding them into the air, a final goodbye to my fallen, short lived, ally.
As I collect the knife from Marvel's body, Thresh comes sprinting through the trees. He takes in the sight, his face twisting and contorting as he tries to piece together what happened.
"He did this?" He asks angrily, and for a moment, I fear that my body will be laying on the ground next. But much like Marvel, I will have no one to sing to me or place flowers around me. I shake my head silently.
He stares at Rue, the flowers displayed around her, and I feel as though I can see tears forming in his eyes.
"This alliance is over, twelve." is all he says before he runs off back from where he came. I don't fight it, only thankful that he once again spared my life.
I set off to find Peeta on my own, the tribute number now down to six, if I am not mistaken. I lost track at this point as I try to recall all of the fallen tributes, trying to piece together who remains.
Me, Thresh, Peeta, Cato, Clove.. Who else?
The girl from five. That sneaky girl who I had told myself I would keep out an eye for. The one I had only seen at the cornucopia this morning. She was fast and slick, reminding me of a fox with her slyness and red hair.
I head towards the direction I believe Rue had pointed in, though I have no idea if this was it or not. I've lost all sense of direction. I'm all turned around. I can't hear out of one ear, my leg is starting to hurt again. The odds are starting to not feel in my favor.