The Black Widow | A Hunger Games Fanfiction

The First Night

We spent the rest of the day taking stock of the supplies and weapons in the cornucopia. We each took a backpack and packed everything we thought we might need: food, water, weapons, medicines, clothing, camping supplies. The rest we threw off the side of the mountain. It wouldn't help us if it was in the hands of our enemies. Of course, in a game with only one victor, everyone was your enemy. But we preferred not to think about that.
My pack wasn't very heavy- I was relying on sponsor gifts and the rest of my alliance for most things. For anyone else it was a gamble, but I knew I would have no shortage of gifts. Maybe I'd even get a gift like Finnick Odair's trident a few years ago. In my pack I only had two litre bottles of water, enough food for one week, salves, bandages, needles and thread, a sleeping bag and spare clothing and some climbing equipment. I strapped all my knives to my person with some sheaths I had found in the cornucopia. I knew that the lighter pack was riskier, but if I needed to run, it was best not to be weighed down too much.

As night fell and the air started to get even colder, we began to descend into the caverns around the cornucopia. It was time for the hunt. The caverns inside the mountain were protected from the wind and much warmer than above. Immediately, I started to sweat.
"Let's stop here to take off some layers," I told the group, "We don't want to lose too much liquid as sweat." The others agreed and we began to strip off our thermal layers and jackets, stuffing them into our packs. I was once again glad for the extra space I had left in my bag. Morgan was struggling to stuff his jacket into his pack on top of all his equipment,
"Let me carry it," I said,
"How do I know you won't steal it?" I cocked an eyebrow as if to ask him what I would use it for,
"Your saved my life, it's the least I could do."
"Is that all?" he asked, holding out the jacket,
"Who could say?" I asked flirtatiously, tucking the jacket into my now full pack. But there was one more thing I needed to do, I thought as I remembered what Victoria had told me. Soon I was standing in nothing but my sports bra and thermal leggings with my blades arranged over me, sheathed with the leather straps from the cornucopia. I wondered if they had been left for this specific purpose. Just so that I wouldn't need the looser clothes to hold my knives. The thought sickened me.

When we had all stowed away our warm clothes, we took off through the caverns as a pack using our night vision goggles to see so that we wouldn't need to turn on our flashlights and alert all the tributes in the area to our presence. Them running wasn't going to be helpful. We reached a crossroads and decided to split off into two groups.
"Mason and Jupiter come with me," Hildegarde commanded, "Morgan and Rose go the other way."
"No way," Jupiter protested at the thought of being alone with the pair from two. I understood that.
"He's right," I said, "we can't send district partners together." Hildegarde glared at me but the Mason agreed,
"I'll go this way with Rose," he offered, "you take Jupiter and Morgan the other way." I smiled, knowing why he wanted to be alone with me, knowing that my plan was working. But Hildegarde wasn't having that,
"She's basically useless in this environment. You'll be killed if someone attacks. You take Morgan as well." Begrudgingly, Mason agreed and I laid a hand on his arm. I felt his arm flex at my touch,
"It's okay," I whispered, "I know." And he understood my coded message. I could only imagine what was going through his head right now. How smug he must be feeling.

We followed the path to the right after having promised to meet back at the surface for the anthem. After about half an hour of walking, we came across a faint glow around the corner. I braced both the boys I was with in a warning to keep quiet. We crept around to the corner and Mason, who had the darkest hair, chanced a glance. We removed our night vision goggles so we could see in the new light and Mason held up three fingers. We drew our weapons. And attacked.
The first warning they got was the whizzing of my throwing knife and the splatter of blood as it impaled the throat of the girl in the centre of their gathering. I was very glad the wind was no longer an issue.
The cannon boomed and Mason and Morgan swept in for their attack. Morgan impaled the other girl with little resistance and the cannon boomed, but the boy Mason was fighting attempted to fight back.
Not that it did much.
Until Mason cried out in pain. He stabbed the boy through the stomach and watched as the boy ghasped in pain, dropping to the floor. Mason's face was contorted in anger as blood seeped through his shirt where the boy's small blade had sliced him.
"You're going to regret that," he spat and kicked the knife away from the boy, who was starting to bleed out. Then, he picked it up and began to carve into him. I wanted to vomit as he began to slit open the boy's nearly concave stomach and remove each organ. I shot a panicked look to Morgan, who was watching with the same disgust. I decided that whatever happened, I needed Mason dead. I couldn't die that way.
The boy's screams echoed through the cavern as Mason continued to carve. Upwards. peeling back more skin. Until he finally ripped out the boy's heart and shoved it down his throat. I ran to the corner and threw up as the cannon boomed.
"We... we should go," Morgan stammered, his face fully white,
"Yes," I agreed, "But put out the fire first. We don't want to accidentally end up back here." Not because I was worried about getting lost. No, I knew if I ever saw this place again, I would have to see what Mason had just done all over again.