Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Day 11 Part 6

Fuyuko realized right as she got to the first turn that she had made a grave mistake.

"We--I never showed Pierre the map!" she cried. "How's he gonna know which way to turn?!"

The underground maintenance tunnels were a labyrinth. Various pathways to many different locations snaked in and out of each other, trailing off into dead ends or looping back around the way you'd just come. Asahi's map clearly marked the directions to take, but without his map, navigating to their escape would be a nightmare.

"Sh*t," Fuyuko whispered. Frustrated and distraught, she kicked the nearest wall. "SH*T! What do we do?!"

"Should we go back and get sticks? L-leave arrows on the floor?" Touma suggested.

"What if they don't see 'em and kick 'em apart?!" Fuyuko asked. "C-can we make a new map...?! Anyone got a marker or somethin'?!"

"I have a sword," Faqir said sadly.

"And I got a flashlight," Hinata added. "That's...that's all we're working with, Fuyuko, I...I'm sorry."

"I...I-I can come back for 'em," Fuyuko decided, pacing restlessly in a circle. "I'll just backtrack! E-even if we lose time--"

"Give...give me the sword."

Fuyuko jumped. The voice that had spoken was one she had never heard before; confused, she tried to figure out who it was and saw Levi was sitting up slightly in Laurel's arms, reaching his hand out expectantly.

"You can talk?" Haruka blurted.

"Wait," Faqir said. "Why do you need the sword?"

Laurel looked alert.

Levi licked his lips. "...To make arrows," he said quietly.

"With...with a sword...?" Faqir asked.

Fuyuko immediately realized what Levi was thinking. She flinched, then narrowed her eyes and yanked the sword out of Faqir's hand, shoving it at Levi. "We're takin' a right here," she announced, patting the wall of the turn they were about to take.

Any other time, she may have tried to stop the injured boy from making this choice. But when they had little other choice and said injured boy was a Career who had killed other tributes, her pity was quickly overrun with a sort of contempt.

"Wait, there's another way--!" Laurel tried to say as Levi took the sword.

Ignoring her, Levi cut a clean slice in his palm, the completely unbothered look in his eyes implying this sort of injury was not new to him. A bit of Fuyuko's pity returned, accompanied by a flash of empathy.

Faqir jumped. "Oh, okay!"

Levi handed the sword back to Fuyuko without a word. She took it, watching as Levi nudged Laurel to bring him closer to the wall. Shockingly casual, he scooped some of his own blood onto his fingers and painted an arrow onto the wall, pointing in the direction the tributes were going.

"...Pierre and Marco are observant," Hinata muttered. "I bet they'll see that if they have light. ...Thanks."

Levi shrugged. "...He...h-he stood up for us," he murmured, his voice weak from weeks of unuse. Fuyuko realized she hadn't even known he had a voice. "...The rest of you would have left Laurel and I to die. But...h-he brought us into the group. He gave us a way out. ...I-I have to repay that."

Laurel's expression wavered. She frowned, eyes shimmering with genuine gratefulness.

"...Let's keep moving," Hinata urged. "We gotta trust them for now. Laurel, can you and Levi be in charge of marking directions?"