Celebrity Hunger Games

Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

~ Taylor Swift's P.O.V ~

Taylor sat silently while the others marveled at their loot from the Cornucopia. Calum was currently stuffing his face with dried apple slices, while Luke chugged down a bottle of water. Even Ashton's face looked more lighter and carefree as he sorted through the assortment of weapons they now had. Didn't they care about Niall?  Taylor then answered her own question. No, they're just happy that there's one less person to deal with now.

"Taylor," Calum called, causing her to look up from her bow. "Can you pass me that?"

Taylor looked down at her feet to see an unopened backpack. Wordlessly, she picked it up and tossed it across the mini campsite to Calum, who caught it and thanked her. She grunted in response, returning to fiddling with the string of her bow.

"Hey guys!" Zendaya entered the area in excitement.

"What is it, Zendaya?" Luke Hemmings asked, looking up from his lap in question.

"This - bag - " Zendaya gritted her teeth together, dragging the heavy thing into the center of their circle. "I think it has explosives in it."

"Really?" Ashton dropped his weapon, hurrying over to it and shoving the curly hair out of his eyes. "Let's see!" he unzipped the bag, hazel eyes widening as, for once, the boy from District 12 was at a loss of words.

Taylor, oddly curious herself, peeked in as well to see the head of several grenades in the backpack. She could use those to kill us all, Taylor thought with a slight grimace, slightly more alert now.

"Where were these?" Calum asked, lightly reaching in to stroke the cold surface of one of the bombs.

"Right in front of the Cornucopia," Zendaya answered. "I think the Careers were planning on using these."

Luke's next comment silenced everyone. "We could win with these."

Calum nodded slowly. "We could bomb them if they're at the Cornucopia. If we all throw a grenade at once, there's no way any of them could survive." he said pointedly, eyes darkening.

"Is this all?" Ash asked, looking up at Zendaya. 

Zendaya shook her head, proud that she had made her allies happy. "No, I left some behind a bush to lighten the load. I'll go back and get them." With one last nod at the group, Taylor watched Zendaya walk back the way she came, knife clenched tightly at hand.

As much as Taylor Swift hated to admit it - She had actually learned to tolerate Zendaya. The girl wasn't a brat, as Taylor had thought back at the brick house, but was a genuinely nice person and a hard worker. "What's the game plan today?" Taylor asked, looking up at the sky that was the most vibrant blue she'd yet to see in the arena. It was about noon, she guessed.

"We should take the time to rest while we can," Luke answered, rubbing his eyes. "Who knows what the Gamemakers will do next? We're the final ten."

"Good point." Taylor replied, standing up and stretching her arms above her head in the beginning of a yawn. Running her fingers through her coarse golden hair, she sat back down, smacking her lips. Luke was right - None of them had slept at all in the past few days. But Taylor would always sleep with one eye open. With only ten of them left, it wouldn't be long before they started turning on each other....

~ Michael Clifford's P.O.V ~

Michael had to do a double take when he first saw the grenades piled neatly under the bushes. He felt adrenaline pulse through his veins, realizing that whoever left them there would probably be coming back to get them, and that realization triggered a small smile to appear on his face. "This ought to be good." Michael quickly scampered forwards, grabbing a grenade out of the top of the pile and dove behind a bush of nightlock.

Now all he had to do was wait.

Michael had just begun to get restless when faint footsteps crackling through the dead leaves and twigs alerted him that someone was coming. Based on the light tread, Michael assumed it was a girl. He crouched lower, firming his grip around the grenade just as the girl from 8 - Zendaya - padded into the clearing, looking around for the bush where she left the bombs.

  Stupid girl, Mikey thought, finger twitching as he waited to pull the pin. He saw his chance and took it as Zendaya turned to bend down over the bush and pick up a grenade. Pulling the pin, Michael threw it as hard as he can, instinctively backing up as it tapped her foot.5.....4......3..... He almost laughed out loud when he caught the look of horror on her face when it rolled up to her boot, turning and sprinting through the woods as fast as he could....2....1.....And then it exploded, sending a devastatingly loud echo through the arena.

 Michael, still somewhat close to the sight of the explosion, was thrown a few feet by the impact, but got up quickly, looking around and dusting his pants off. The arena now knew of his general location, so he had to move. Fast.

"I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby." he smiled at the coil of black smoke rising through the trees, knowing that Zendaya had been blown to bits and that the hovercraft would have to make several return trips to collect all of her. The shouts of who must've been in an alliance with Zendaya echoed through the pine trees, outraged and alarmed, and Michael cast one last look at his handywork before sprinting away down the ravine.

~ 9 TRIBUTES LEFT ~