We wait for a moment in silence.
"Capitol helicopters" Blain shakes his head "This is extreme"
"They can try find us but they won't catch us" Raven pats Blains shoulder while treading water. We all hop out and try to dry off but it doesn't work so we rebuild our fire and warm up.
"I wonder how Marvel and Glow are doing?" I ask "and Drina"
"They're still alive?" Raven looks suprised "But..."
"Dad planned with them too" Blain explains
"Oh" we sit in an awkward silence until Jack announces he is going to sleep. Then we decide that Raven and I will do guard duty for the night so I snuggle up to Jack and go to sleep.
Someone taps me on the shoulder, it is getting annoying. I groan and flick open my eyes to see Raven in front of me. Must be my turn to guard.
"You sleep like a log" she laughs quietly "I've been trying to wake you up for ages"
"Sorry" I mumble sleepily. I sit in the forest looking for any movements in the darkness. I wonder what's going on outside here: outside the arena. I wish I was out there. I turn towards something, coming towards me. I quickly aim my bow and stand up. It is a parachute, why would I get a parachute? I grab it quietly and open it. It has two bits of paper inside, one is a map and one is a note.
'Bring everyone to the highest point of the arena, be careful - M'
I shove the note into my belt and open the map, it is the arena and how it is built. Why would he send me that? Should I tell Blain or someone or not? Argh too many thoughts run through my mind. I'll wait until morning, or is it best to do this at night? I get up and grab my pack and start walking, the edge of the forest isn't too far away. I slowly jog and place little markers so I can get back quickly, I can't have anyone get eaten by mutts. I reach the end of the forest after a couple of minutes and look over the Cornocopia to the hill. I smack myself in the head, of course Marcus woould invite the careers as well. Did I just call them careers? They're not enemies, I repeat that in my head a couple of times as I watch shadows move around the fire on the hill. I turn and run back to camp.
"Jack" I whisper "Wake up" I turn and wake Blain and Raven and they all look at me "We need to leave"
"Why?" they all ask
"Just..." I hesitate, should I tell them "Because I heard something" I lie. This gets them moving, I just hope that Marvel, Glow or Drina have put the fire out so they don't get suspicious
"Come on" I start jogging "Follow me"
I decided to swim to the Cornocopia then swim to the base of the hill rather than going the whole way around, pass the jungle and ocean biomes. It is alot quicker to go straight through the middle, and quick is what I need. We go at a fast pace stopping for a drink once we reach the base of the hill.
"Why are we going up here?" Jack asks
"Because" I shrug
""Tell us Roxy" Raven crosses her arms
"Just trust me on this" I look at them all "Please"
They all huff but follow me up the hill, Jack knows I wouldn't go up here without reasons but I know he trusts me. As for Raven and Blain, I don't know. We walk up the hill with the sun glowing behind the hill in front of us. Once we reach near the top I stop.
"Wait here" I point to the shrub next to me. Blain and Raven start walking towards the shrub while Jack comes to me
"What are you doing Roxy?"
"I'll explain later" I turn to walk away but he grabs my arm and pulls me back
"Nothing dangerous?"
"No" I don't know if I'm lying or not "Just keep them" I look to Blain and Raven "Here"
"Ok" he kisses me and I kiss back
"Promise" I whisper as I pull away
"Promise" he nods. I turn and walk to the top of the hill but quickly glance back to see if they are still near the shrub, thankfully they are. I take a deep breath and walk over the hill to the other side.
"No one said you were coming" Drina looks at me with a drop dead face
"To be fair, I wasn't warned either" I retort
"Don't fight" Marvel steps between us so I'm on one side and Drina and Glow are on the other "Now why are you here?"
"I got Marcus's message"
"What did he tell you?" Marvel asks "And where's Jack?" he adds
"Jack is waiting and Marcus just said meet here"
"She probably killed Jack" Drina growls "She's a little.."
"Don't say that" I shout "I love Jack and wouldn't do anything to endanger him" I grab my sword from me belt and walk towards her but Marvel doesn't let me through
"Drina shut up!" Marvel glares at her "Roxy, don't be stupid" he grabs my wrist when I try to move
"Fine" I throw my sword on the ground
"Marvel she led them right to us" Drina points behind me
"How are they still alive?" Glow follows Drina's gaze. I turn to look and Marvel lifts his head. Sure enough, Blain, Raven and Jack stand at the top of the hill. I grab my sword and go to them
"I thought you said you'd wait" I whisper to Jack
"I heard shouting so I came, how'd you know they'd be here?"
"I didn't" I lie. I need to stop lying to Jack "I'll tell you later" I look down, he pushes my chin up so I'm looking at him but I don't fully meet his eyes
"Roxanne, please just tell us what's going on" Blain saves me from having an awkward conversation with Jack
"Umm" I run my hand through my messy hair "Well....." a buzzing sound stops me. I look at Marvel and see him smiling, I storm over to him
"What's this?" I hiss
"We're getting rescued" he laughs
"That is a Capitol helicopter!"
"I know. You don't have to but just trust me on this one"
"Roxy!!" Jack shouts, running towards Marvel and I "That looks like something we saw earlier"
"Like, from the Capitol" Raven and Blain jog up behind him. I look at Marvel and he knows that I can trust him, or not. This is my decision, I'm leading my group and he's leading his group.
"It's ok" I say, Marvel hides his smile "Just trust me one more time" they all hesitate but hold their ground. It is like there is a line dividing us, Blain steps over first.
"This is the last time" he voice is flat
"I'll tell you everything later, or maybe Marcus will" I hope this gets him on my side. His eyes light up for a moment but return to thoughtful. He stands a few meters from me but is on this side of 'the line'.
"Raven?" I ask, hopeful. Jack looks deep in thought.
"No" she says, I look over at Blain and he comes. He opens his mouth to speak but is cut off "I'm not going Blain, she could be with the Capitol! She could be a spy. We barely even know this girl yet we've trusted her and she brought us here, to them" she gestures to Marvel, Glow and Drina "I'm not going to trust someone who I don't know, not anymore" she is holding back tears now
"Raven please" Blain begs but Raven shakes her head "You don't have to trust them, trust me. I trusted you on the train now it's your turn" Raven doesn't move and Blain looks depressed. I take my pack off and search for the note I got telling me to come here
"You might not trust me" I hold it out "But I'm trusting this" they hold the note together and read it
Raven looks up "One more time" she half growls and pushes past Blain and watches the helicopter land
"Jack?" I reach for his hand
"You lied to me" is all he replies
"I didn't know they would be here" my voice goes high, I can't leave him here
"Maybe, but you got us to wait near that bush, why?"
"I...I." I stutter
"Another lie"
"No" I start crying "I saw smoke earlier and wanted to check it out first because I didn't want to put you in danger"
"Well I should be the one looking after you, not the other way around" he shouts. I turn away and see the helicopter doors opening, I turn back to Jack
"Jack.."
"I promised Chrom I would look after you, I'm not doing a great job" he cuts me off
"Jack, you have.." I stop because he seems distracted and I turn behind me and see Capitol soldier with guns coming out "No.." I look to Marvel and he looks confused. Raven and Blain just look plain mad, I've led them into a trap.
"Jack, I didn't know this" I turn to him and he stands beside me
"I believe you" he looks at me, I sigh in relief "But don't count on living"
"Well then" I watch the guards surround us "I love you". He doesn't reply, the tears come back to me and I start shaking but he takes me by suprise and grabs me and kisses me then pulls back
"I love you too but promise me one thing"
"Anything" I breathe
"No more lies" he says, I look into his eyes and nod. I watch more guards run out of the helicopter and first push Glow to the ground
"Hey" I shout, I like Glow. They can't do this "Leave her alone" they push down Marvel and Raven down and I grab my sword. Blain is fighting against them too but he is restrained with handcuffs, I can hear everyone shouting and screaming and I lift my sword to swing it but I'm knocked to the ground, I scream and I hear Jack
"Let her go!" he shouts. I roll around and kick and punch anything I hit. Jack whacks the soldier with his spear, he doesn't want to kill anyone nor do I. Jack helps me up
"Thanks" I smile. Some soldiers aim guns at Jack and I, it seems we are both surrounded. Marvel, Raven and Glow are kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their backs, I assume the are handcuffed. Drina has one soldier either side of her, holding her arms tightly and Blain has a gun digging into his back so he stands motionless.
"Hands in the air, throw your weapons on the ground" the soldier in front of us shouts in the silence, Jack throws his spear to the ground and raises his hand slowly like me.
"Enough" a voice booms through the air, I look at Jack then back to the helicopter. "Lower your guns you idiots" the voices booms again. I laugh with Jack when I see who walks out of the helicopter. Blain's face lights up and everyone else's is stunned or amazed.
"Hello tributes" he says
"Marcus?!", everyone but Blain says in unison