I walk to the lake with Cerulean and Lachlan, each of us carrying a couple of water bottles with what seems to be automatic filtering systems in them. We found them in bags and crates inside the cornucopia.
“Elliee.” Cerulean says in a cheerful voice. She’s taken on the nickname she heard Jewel call me in the training center.
“Yes, Cerulean?” I ask, looking over at her as we crouch down next to the water.
“Do you wanna go hunt for tributes with me and Blue later?” She asks, like it was a casual thing.
“Oh, sure!” I respond, forcing a smile. At least I could watch out for my actual allies in the games.
We fill up the bottles and begin walking back. Lachlan stops us quickly, putting a finger up to his lips and walking closer to the treeline. Me and Cerulean follow him quietly, Cerulean pulling her knife out just in case. We hear the voices that obviously made Lachlan stop.
“Maysen, you have to hurry. Climb, sweetie!’ A boy's voice whispers from somewhere above us, followed by a small thud and whine.
“Wilde, I can't!” A young girl says. I move closer, as do Lachlan and Cerulean.
“May, grab onto this branch and then grab my hand.” Wilde says, whisper-yelling down.
I can see movement at the bottom of a tree. I watch a brown haired girl reach up to try and grab the hand of the tribute in the tree, but she’s just barely too short to reach.
She jumps up and grabs it, Wilde trying to pull her up.
Lachlan nudges me, nodding his head at the tree.
“Let’s get ‘em.” He whispers. Him and Cerulean start creeping forward, and I slowly follow them.
“You alright?” I hear Wilde ask Maysen. We’re closer now, almost under the tree, and I can see they’re really not that high up.
“Hey there, Buttons!” Lachlan calls up the tree, laughing at the panic the two from 12 have at the noise. Me and Cerulean walk out into the open, smiling. Maysen’s lower lip quivers, and I observe the girl fully for the first time.
Brown hair in pigtails, bright green eyes, but most importantly, a little button nose. Buttons.
“Please don’t!” Maysen pleads, tears forming in her eyes.
I look over at the boy, Wilde. He’s older, taller. Scruffy black hair and brown eyes. He has one arm wrapped around the girl, and the other is holding a small pocket knife. Like that would do anything.
“Hey pretty boy, wanna come down and talk?” Cerulean says, giggling. She tilts her head and waves.
“Please- please just leave us alone.” Wilde begs, terrified.
“Get them down, Capella.” Lachlan says, nudging me. I move towards the tree. I don’t want to do this, but what choice do I have?
“Stop! Don’t come up, or I'll-” Wilde hesitates, "I'll stab you!”
Wilde points his knife down at me, but I don’t stop. I climb up, and he stands up on his branch, trying to reach the branch above, but he slips. He grabs onto Maysen, trying to hold on and not fall, but he just drags her down with him.
“Wilde!” She screams, the two of them hitting the ground hard. I watch as Cerulean walks over to them, spinning the knife in her hand. She stands over Maysen and runs the side of the knife down her cheek, smiling.
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.” Cerulean says before lifting the knife and stabbing it into the side of her neck. A cannon shot sounds.
“You monster! You kil-” Wilde yells, running towards Cerulean before having a trident go through his stomach. Lachlan walks up and pulls it out before stabbing it into the boy's neck. Another cannon shot.
I climb back down and look between Cerulean and Lachlan.
“Let's go.” I say, glancing at the two kids on the floor.
***
I walk through the streets of the small city, Blue and Cerulean, following after me. It’s darker out now, closer to being night. We all have flashlights in our jacket pockets in case it gets too dark now, but for now we’re fine. I walk up to one of the better-looking buildings. It’s still fully in-tact, so I push open the door and look around. I hear Blue and Cerulean walk in after me.
I walk through the house, pushing open doors and looking around for tributes. I hope for their sake we don’t find them.
We make our way through houses slowly, and soon, it grows dark. I push open the door to a smaller house with boarded windows. I hear something move quietly from a room and walk towards it, turning to see where Blue and Cerulean are.
The two are sitting on the steps up to the house, laughing. I turn back to the room and slowly open the door, looking around at an old bedroom. I shine my flashlight around and notice something shiny sticking out from under the bed.
“I can see your knife.” I whisper, nudging the bed with my foot and holding one of my own knives just in case.
The district 5 girl slowly crawls out, staring at me with fear in her eyes.
“Are you gonna kill me?” She whispers, holding up her throwing knife like it was a sword. I know she won’t use it.
“What’s your name?” I ask quietly, glancing back at the front door.
“Alessi.” She says, lowering the knife.
“I’m not going to kill you, Alessi. I want you to go out that window as quietly as you can, okay? You climb out and as soon as you can go for the forest.” She nods, and I walk back out of the room as I hear the window quietly open.
“No one in here either.” I say, loud enough that it should cover any noise. “You think all the others are in the forest?”
“They can’t all be in there, right?” Blue asks, looking down the street. “Especially when no one’s died since the two from 12.”
Cerulean laughs and nods, walking back down the street we came from when there's a scream from behind the house.
I run around to see Alessi pinned on the ground by a knife. I look over and see Jewel. As soon as she spots me, she turns and runs. Rye runs out from behind a house, stabbing the girl from 5 in the side with a pocket knife. Rye pulls it out and runs after Jewel. Where’s Cy?
Blue and Cerulean are behind me, staring between me and the open window of the house we were just in.
“You let her go. You let her get out, and you just let those two get away.” Blue says, raising her sword.
“No it’s not like that-” I start, but I know it’s pointless. Blue runs towards me, and I drop my flashlight, running after Rye and Jewel, towards the forest as I hear a cannon shot.
“You can’t run forever, Capella!” Cerulean yells from behind me. She’s further than I expected, but I don’t slow down. I run as fast as I can.
“You should’ve thought about this.” Blue says, much closer than Cerulean but still far behind me. I know I'm fast, I have stamina. But they’re trained for this. Fighting, running, and combat. I have to hope they give up before I do.
I don’t know how far I've run from the cornucopia, even the town, for that matter. I don’t know how much longer I can run either. I’m about to give up when a hand grabs me from above, pulling me up.
“Shh.” A boy's voice says, holding onto me. “We go up more.” He whispers, grabbing my hand and slowly climbing up. I hear Blue and Cerulean down below us run by, and I hold my breath for a few seconds until I'm sure they’re gone.
“Capella?” I hear another voice whisper. A young boy’s voice. Cyrus.
“Cyrus? Are you okay? Where are you?” I ask quietly, trying to look around in the darkness.
“I’m above you, so is Rye. Jewel’s on the branch next to yours, and that’s Birch, who brought you up.” He whispers.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Cy. I don’t know what I would do if-” I’m cut off by the sound of the anthem and the appearance of light in the sky. The fallen tributes.
A picture of Monroe, the girl from 3, flashes across the sky. She’s followed by Ambrose, the boy from 3. Alessi appears, and then the boy from 5 as well, Lane. Bellamy, the girl from 6. Ellis, the girl from 7. Finally, Maysen and Wilde appear.
8 people are dead already.
"We need to rest, all of us. I'll take the first watch and make sure they don't come back to poke around. There'll be plenty of time to catch up later." Jewel says quietly. I can hear her adjust herself on the branch next to me, and I put a hand out carefully, trying to find where she is.
My hand brushes against her shoulder, and I smile slightly. I lay down on the branch and close my eyes, knowing I won't be able to sleep anyway.
(Word count: 1549)