The Capitol Games

Chapter 6

"Scarlett. Scarlett. Scarlett?"

"Five more minutes, Mom," I grumble. "It's Saturday."

"I'm not your mother. We're in the Capitol Games, remember?"

The mysterios voice disturbing my sleep is right. It's not my mom's voice. It's Sam's, and he's standing over me, whispering.

I jolt awake and fumble for my spear. I don't want to kill him, but I won't let him kill me.

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down, I come in peace," Sam backs away.

I lower the spear ever so slightly. "What do you want?"

Sam bites his lip. "To be allies."

I lift an eyebrow. "Don't you have allies already?"

"Dead."

I sigh. Part of me wants to be alone, but the other part knows I should say yes. He could be valuable, with his score, plus he's super cute.

I ignore that last thought of mine, but still nod. "Sure."

He smiles. "Looks like you've found water," he says, gesturing towards the stream.

I nod. "Here, take some. I got a purification kit."

I remember my training session. Even though I didn't finish it, I got the idea.

Sam had brought all his supplies with him. He hadn't gotten much, and he explained how he had given his good stuff to his friends. They had been taken up by the hovercrafts. So I willingly shared mine.

Sam did have a big water bottle, which would be useful for when we needed to store water. He also had a big piece of fabric, which looked waterproof and wind resistant.

We got on well for the next day. No one bothered us. It was just me and him and a few fish we found in the stream, who became our small dinner. Turns out Sam is really good at fishing, even though we didn't have a fishing pole.

"I used to fish with my younger brother," Sam had said. "He would always drop his, so I am practiced in the art of handling slippery fish."

It wasn't until the next night when I heard trouble.

I was awoken by leaves rustling. Sam was getting out of his 'bed' and walking away from me.

"Why did you come here?"

I sneak a peek at who he's talking to. It's a tall, muscular boy who looks sort of mean. I vaguely remember him as one of the guys who was hanging around with Sam.

"You know why. I want you back on the team. Even though Alistair and Fred are dead."

Sam hesitates. "I... I have a different ally, Monty. You can join us, if you want."

Monty snorts. "Her?" he spits out, and I narrow my eyebrows. They're obviously talking about me. "I wouldn't ally with a girl like her if I got an offer to live like a king in the Districts. She's a bad omen, she is. No good will come out of working with a Snow."

I'm not easily angered or upset, but at those words, a tear drips down my face.

"She's not that bad, honest. She's really nice, and she has a good chance of surviving."

I smile. It's nice to know that Sam is looking out for me. A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through me, tickling me.

"I'm not going to let her happen to you."

He's walking towards me now. Sam is trying to hold him back, but Monty just shoves him away. When he gets close enough, I spring into action.

"Don't-" I kick him in the shins, hard "Talk-" I punch his nose, blood streams out "Me-" I back away, panting "That way!" I kick him where it hurts and shove him down to the ground. I watch, half satisfied, half horrified, as he lies on the ground, moaning.

Then he staggers back up amd swings a smack at me. I try to get out of the way, but I only avoid a full blow. My cheek stings as I feel a bruise forming there.

I try to fight back, but it's Monty's turn to get the best of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam shuffling around in the bush, trying to get our weapon supply. I give a small smile at that, thankful that Monty doesn't have any weapons, or we'd be dead.

"Don't hurt her!" Sam screams, and plunges a knofe in Monty's side. I guess it went deep enough to kill him, because Monty falls on the ground as his cannon goes off.

Both of us panting, Sam and I look at each other, then at the ground. I feel a sudden urge to do something brave and maybe a bit stupid.

"Good job," Sam says, breathing a sigh of relief. He holds his hand up, for a high five or a hand shake I don't know, but I don't care. Ignoring his hand, I walk up and hug him, whispering 'Thank you' in his ear. Sam seems surprised, but then hugs me back, and we stand there, hugging each other, covered in another person's blood by a peaceful stream.