The 53rd Hunger Games- Two Words

24. Which Side Are You On?

I hear voices.

This is the first thing I process. My eyes snap open, and I see the late afternoon sun hanging low in the sky.

The second thing I process is the voices below me. They’re loud, which means the owners aren’t afraid of being discovered. And they’re discussing how to kill me.

“Couldn’t we just climb up there?”

“She’s thirty-odd pounds lighter than you. You wouldn’t be able to get up there.”

“You can’t climb up to her unless you want a long, painful fall.”

The last voice is what really jars me into motion. Hadrian. That means the voices can only belong to one group of people; the Careers. I’m stuck in this tree, not very high at all off the ground. Through some miracle, my axe is still in my lap.

Through some miracle, the Careers haven’t climbed up to kill me yet.

I stand up against the trunk, and look down. Arabella, Jem, Marina and the boy from One are below me. They whoop excitedly. I’m much more exciting if I’m awake and moving. I graze myself against the rough bark of the tree as I climb into a fork higher up in the tree.

I’m not dreaming.

The Careers have found me.

All because I feel asleep. Because I’m an idiot.

And now, because of my stupidity, I’m going to die.

But before I die, I’ll see him again.

Hadrian.

The last line belonged to him. He looks up at me, as handsome as ever. His grin is long since then, replaced by a guarded expression. He looks up at me with interest. I wasn’t sure how he would react when he saw me again. Not this. I didn’t expect him to look at me like I was a target. Something he needed to figure out how to trap.

Something he needed to figure out how to kill.

How did the Careers find me? Their whole pack is below me; I would have heard them if they’d been following me. But they’re here, regardless of how they found me.

They don’t want to do anything but kill me. I’m too big a threat to be reasoned with.

“I’ll climb up there,” Arabella says, tossing her curls back, which are wilder than usual. Jem hands her two knives, and she tucks them into a weapon belt. She looks up at me, and grins. A grin that means she can’t wait to kill me.

“Did you hear that?” she calls up. “I’m coming to get you!”

I look down at Hadrian, desperate. Why isn’t he helping me? I can think of all sorts of legit reasons, but I expected him to... to what? Fight off the Careers?

I don’t know what I was expecting.

I make sure my pack is slung over my shoulders, and begin to climb. This tree is tall, with plenty of thick branches. I look down, and see that Arabella is following through with her threat. She climbs recklessly, eager to slit my throat.

I look down at Hadrian again when I reach the top of the tree. He’s still just watching, waiting to see what happens. The top of the tree isn’t hard to get to, which means Arabella will join me in less than a minute.

I want to yell out to Hadrian, yell at him to help me. If I do, I’ll just set the Careers against him. I had made up my mind before the arena; I trusted Hadrian. Even if I don’t feel that way now, I need to keep the act up for the Capitol. Each tribute is desperate enough to betray another.