Skyler had seen Raylum leave, carrying Court tenderly. The rough girl had looked up, straight at her, and she'd ducked and crossed her fingers, but in that little glance it was obvious that she was ill and she'd probably thought she was hallucinating. A little sponsor note had fallen out of the air; they discussed the contents very briefly before Raylum broke into a trot. Puzzled, she'd applied more cream to her arm, though she ought to save it, because it was itching like mad. She should eat something, but she didn't need to and it was probably safer to stay on the roof. Only Oak would think to look for her up here.
Not long after Raylum and Court had vanished behind the houses, she heard a spine-chilling roar and shuddered.
Then she'd heard a cannon.
She presumed it was Court. She had looked very ill. She desperately hoped that whatever was making her unwell hadn't made her suffer and the hatred flamed up again. How could they just stand by and watch this?
She was still struggling to believe that she was actually here. More to the point, that there were only ten of them remaining and that she was one of them. Would it really be possible to win Oak's way; sit back and let them kill each other?
But Oak wanted to win that way to defy the Capitol. She wanted to win that way for herself.
Somehow, at least one of them was going to die. At least they wouldn't kill each other.
Her bowels grumbled.
Sebastian was cat-napping. He never really slept - that would have meant letting his infallible guard down - but it seemed like he could get his rest by sitting back, closing his eyes, and letting his mind roam rather than focusing it.
Right now he was imagining what the Gamemakers were seeing. In his head there was a rough bird's eye map of the arena, with dots for people's locations. The only one he could be sure of was himself, but he could have rough guesses for everyone else. Crete was out to the east; he'd seen him run away. Megan and Vedran - he was fairly certain they would stick to each other - would probably have gravitated towards a set location, close to the centre of the map. They wouldn't have run around aimlessly. Klaus, being the last remaining Career, would have stuck near the playground, hoping that by now everyone would know that was the Careers' space and avoid it. The Eleven tributes would be hiding; they always did, probably near trees. He dotted the mental markers everywhere there was trees. Which was almost everywhere. Ditto District Twelve, although he wouldn't be surprised if the girl was sneaking around near Klaus somewhere. She looked like the sly, vicious type. A girl after his own heart. Who was left? Ten boy; grassy places. Either the wasteland he'd glimpsed on one of his scouting trips, or one of the two lumps that counted as hills. There was one tribute he couldn't remember, which meant that they probably weren't that important. One of them had just died - the cannon had gone off while he was thinking, with a kind of yell before it - but he didn't know which one and couldn't work it out. It didn't matter, apart from that he was one more closer to winning.
Happy to let his mind relax in the assurance that nobody was likely to be nearby, he reflected on how you could tell where people would hide just by their district. If they had any sense they'd avoid doing that, but of course they didn't have any sense. Except for Vedran. He was a concern, especially with Megan around. He wasn't much of a fighter, but she could be brutal. So he'd have to get her out of the way if his plan was going to work.
No, that was starting to focus on small things. He went back to thinking like a Gamemaker.
It was like looking at a chessboard, moving pieces around an arena, knocking them off until there was only the winner standing. If you could move these two pieces closer together, somehow, they'd have to confront each other. He guessed that that was the reason for the storm.
An aggressive game strategy, but it was only to try and make them aggressive. As soon as you started doing that, doing what you were meant to, you were predictable, and as soon as you were predictable, you were beatable.
As far as he was concerned he was unbeatable, as long as he stayed out of sight. Or at least got rid of the people who saw him.
And then, if everything went the way he'd planned...
Crete froze as soon as he saw the house.
It was exactly the same as all the other houses, except for one crucial difference. The door was open. Someone was inside.
If it was anybody but Klaus, he should go in and make good use of the spear.
But what if it was Klaus? He ducked behind a bush, just in case. He doubted that it would be Klaus this far away from the action, but you could never be sure...
A tiny hint of red bobbed in an upstairs window. Dai-something or another. The kid from District Twelve, the little one. The one who would be easy to get rid of, unless he was hiding something. A little part of him rebelled against killing someone so young, but if he didn't do it one of the sadistic ones - Klaus or Sebastian - might do it instead. He could at least make it painless. After all, he was only a kid.
Inside the Cornucopia, Vedran went white and grabbed Megan's hand. She blinked, waiting for him to explain. He put a finger to his lips, even though she wasn't going to say anything. "I think there's someone outside!" he whispered.
Megan listened. She could hear it now, someone breathing. Maybe it was the little kid from District Twelve, or the Five girl, looking for shelter. Or maybe it was Sebastian - she hadn't seen him yet - or one of the Careers; Klaus or Amber, on a supply raid.
"I know you're in there!"
It was a girl's voice. Megan reached out and grabbed the spear with her free hand. The voice was strong but trembled with some kind of emotion. Vedran shook his head at her but she gently prised his hand off hers and shuffled towards the entrance. A thin figure was casting a shadow; it looked like it was brandishing a bow and arrow.
"I know you're out there!" she replied.
Court stuttered. Her mind was still foggy from the medicine and she hadn't been expecting a girl, let alone someone who would say something so stupidly obvious. Her grip on the bow shook but she steadied it.
She also hadn't been expecting the girl from Three. She'd seemed so...blank. She would have expected her to hide or pretend she wasn't there.
It didn't matter. She'd killed Raylum.
"Come out and face me, then!" she challenged.
A blonde head poked out of the golden horn. When Court didn't fire, a whole girl stepped out, holding a spear up warily. They stared each other down, Court angry, Megan with her blank face.
"Get lost, Twelve."
"The only person in the world who gave a shit about me is dead," Court stated, her voice wobbling. Megan continued to look at her, not giving anything away. The girl's hair was a mess and she looked like she was constantly underfed, totally feral.
"You killed him," she continued. It sounded nearly like a shriek. The arrow trembled on the string. She couldn't fire, not without saying what she needed to. Then she would have nothing to regret.
Megan leant on the spear. This was scarier than the fight with Raylum because Court was clearly unstable and unpredictable. Her hair was a scrambled mess and her trousers were missing a leg; she was covered in scratches and glistening with sweat. She decided it would be best to call her bluff and assume she wouldn't shoot, rather than going on the offensive. She took a moment to piece together the pieces she'd only half-digested; Raylum's going straight for the medicine, not seeming to care about being hurt, and reached a logical conclusion.
"He's dead because he gave a shit about you," she pointed out. From inside the Cornucopia, Vedran hissed something that sounded like 'be careful!'. "Stay in there!" she muttered; another person might make her shoot.
Court took a step forwards. "He's dead because you killed him!"
Megan held back her smartass response; it would only be lost on the desperate Court. She settled for something more simple. "If it wasn't for the fact that he gave a shit about you, he wouldn't have been anywhere near me."
The response couldn't have been stronger if she'd stabbed her. She almost bent double and her face contorted.
A cannon went off. Both girls jumped. Nine. Somewhere, someone had died. Been killed.
"One of you would have had to die anyway," Megan continued, trying to get close enough to Court to actually be able to cause some damage. She felt sorry for the poor girl, even though she couldn't understand her getting so upset, but this was the Games. Court stumbled.
"He was in pain," she croaked.
"So was whoever just went," Megan said.
Vedran was worried. Megan sounded sarcastic, and the other girl was Court. At any moment either of them could snap. And he didn't know which would win.
Court shrieked something.
He had to go out there.
A boy came out of the Cornucopia and threw himself in front of Megan, arms wide. Court stuttered, waving the arrow. "Get out of the way!" she cried, "I don't want to shoot you!" Vedran gritted his teeth. She wouldn't shoot. He was sure of that. Almost sure. But...
"Then why are you pointing an arrow at my face?"
"I want to shoot her," Court snarled. She considered shooting him, but what good would that do? By the time she'd done with that Megan could be attacking her, whereas she doubted that the guy would be able to do her any damage. He was unarmed, anyway. Seeing that he didn't have a reply, or didn't want to say it, she added, "She killed Raylum!"
"You'll have to shoot me first," Vedran whispered.
For Megan, everything stopped.
"Get out of the way, you idiot," she hissed.
"No. You'd do the same for me." Megan opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Court was glaring at them, but there were tears pooling in her eyes. Of course. Raylum had essentially done the same for her. And look where it had got him.
She wouldn't let that happen to Vedran.
Which meant that she would do the same for him.
Which meant...
"Get out of the way, lover boy!" Court demanded. Vedran held his ground, eyes flashing. Megan pushed him out of the way; he grabbed her arm.
"Don't shoot him," she insisted, "He's done nothing to you."
"Megan!"
"Shut up. Listen, Court, I can see why you have a problem with me. It's his own stupid fault for getting so attached to you..."
"He wasn't stupid!"
"...but I can see how you blame me instead. So I'll fight you fair and square."
"Megan, no!"
"What, do you think I'll lose?"
Vedran grabbed her other hand, whirling her to face him, his expression desperate. She pulled herself free and turned back to Court. The girl was shaking so badly that Megan could see it in her bow. Was it an aftershock from the medicine or was she genuinely afraid?
"No," she said, lowering the bow.
"What, are you chicken?"
"No! But I won't kill either of you lovebirds now. Raylum's dead and that won't bring him back." The real reason was that she couldn't kill one without the other attacking her. She still wanted her revenge - the need for it burned badly - but now was not the time.
Megan put on her blank face. Somewhere, she must have cared about him. But this was the Games; she'd only done what she had to. Vedran put a hand on her shoulder; she reached for his hand, still dizzy. Court stared at them both, her eyes glinting. Something had occured to her, something better than killing them.
"What would happen?" she asked, "What if you two are the last two standing? What would you do then?"
And she turned and ran into the bushes, following the trail of Raylum's blood.
Vedran pulled Megan into a hug.