The Hunger Games

14

Alec's eyes followed the line of her finger up into the leaves and branches above him. At first, he had no idea what she was pointing to, but then, about fifteen feet up, he made out a vague shape in the dimming light. But, what was it? Some sort of animal? It looked about the size of a raccoon, but it hung from the bottom of a branch, swaying ever so slightly. There was something wrong.

There was a familiar hum coming from the thing. Then he knew.

It was a wasp nest.

Fear shot through him, but he had enough sense to stay still. After all, he had no idea what kind of wasps lived there. It could be the type to leave humans alone as long as they weren't bothered. However, they were in the Hunger Games and nothing was ordinary.

Alec knew what they were now: tracker jackers. Like the jabberjay, those killer wasps were Clave's mutations, spawned in a lab and strategically placed, like land mines, around the districts during the war.

Larger than regular wasps they had a distinct solid gold body and a sting that caused a lump the size of a small orange on contact. Most people couldn't handle more than a few stings. Some died at once. If they managed to live, the hallucinations brought on by the venom had actually brought some to madness.

And there was another thing: those wasps hunted down anyone who disturbed their nest and attempted to kill them. That was where the tracker part of the name came from.

After the war, the Clave destroyed all the nests surrounding their city, but the ones near the districts were left untouched. Another reminder of their weakness, Alec supposed, just like the Hunger Games. Another reason to keep inside the fence of District 12.

Whenever Jace and Alec came across a tracker jacker nest, they immediately headed in the opposite direction.

So, was that what hung over his head? He looked back to Madzie for help, but she had disappeared.

Given his circumstances, he guessed it didn't matter what type of wasp nest it was. He was wounded and trapped. Night had given him a brief break from what was happening under him. By morning, the Careers would probably have formulated a plan to kill him.

There was no way they wouldn't, after Alec had made fun of them in front of the whole country.

That nest was Alec's only option. If only he could drop it down on them, he would be able to escape. But he would risk his life in the process. He might die if he didn't try, anyway.

Of course, he would never be able to get in close enough to free the actual nest. He would have to saw off the whole branch at the trunk and send it all down. The serrated portion of one of his knives should be able to manage that.

But, would his hands be able to? And would the vibration of the sawing raise the swarm? And what if the Careers figured out what he was doing and moved their camp? That would defeat the whole purpose.

Alec suddenly realized his best chance to do the sawing without being noticed too much would be during the anthem. That could begin at any time now. He dragged himself out of his bag, ensuring his knife was in his belt. He made his way up the tree.

That in itself was already dangerous, because the branches were thinner the higher he went, but he kept on going. When he reached the limb that supported the nest, the humming became more obvious. It was still oddly low, if those were tracker jackers.

It's the smoke, he thought. It had sedated them. That was the one defense the rebels had found to battle the wasps.

The seal of the Clave shone above him and the anthem began. It was now or never and he began to saw. Blisters burst on his right hand as he awkwardly dragged the knife back and forth. At some point, it required less effort once he started, but it was almost more than he could handle.