The Hunger Games: Camden Shepard

Chapter 10

I pulled my night binoculars out of my backpack as I made my way down the darkened street. I pulled up the felt hood on the back of my leather jacket to keep my blonde hair from showing and kept to the shadows. The street was pitch black, not even the moon shone through the dark clouds. There would be more poisonous snow soon. I began to run in the direction of the field. My eyes had adjusted to the light, but I could still barely see in the pitch black. I stopped running and crouched behind an over turned metal box before putting the binoculars up to my eyes. I'd been right, they were supposed to be used after dark. I could see down the street, all the way to a slightly brighter splotch of land, the field. There was no one on the street that I could see, and no one that could see me from the windows. I let the binoculars fall back around my neck and held them against my chest as I ran through the night towards the field.
When I reached the edge of the building closest to the field I stopped. I pulled the binoculars up to my eyes and slowly leaned around the corner of the building. No one in the field either. I allowed myself to lean further around the corner when all of a sudden I heard it, the whoosh of a spear. I threw myself backwards on the ground and rolled. I brought myself into a crouch and angled my trident to strike upward. Before I could jab at my attacker a knife was at my throat and a hand pulled down my hood.
"Cam?" A familiar voice said. The knife dropped and I spun around. Jacks face was only inches from mine and I could see him clearly through the darkness. I dropped my trident and threw my arms around him. He returned the embrace, pulling me into his chest. I realized he was shaking uncontrollably.
"What's wrong, Jack?" I asked, not letting go of him.
"I'm just so relieved to see you." He whispered into my hair. He was still shaking. I pulled away and looked into his face. He had dark circles under his eyes and his face was almost sunken in.
"Jack?" I took a step backwards. His eyes were wild, almost spinning around in his head. I took another step back. "Jack?" I said again. His hands that had been on my shoulders now fell to his sides. His eyelids began to flutter and then clouded over. I watched in horror as he began to shake his head furiously and gasped over and over.
I had just begun to crouch down for my trident when he lunged at me. A madness had crept into his eyes as he grabbed me by the shoulders and threw my hard against the wall behind me. I called out, but the sound was drowned out by the noise of the Capitols anthem. Jack was bigger than me and stronger than me and had easily been able to pin me up against the building.
"Jack!" I yelled. The anthem continued to blare above my head. Jack moved suddenly, letting go of my arms and then throwing his left arm across my body, pressing me even harder against the wall. I bent my arms at the elbows and began to push against his hips, trying uselessly to shove him off of me. Jack reached down to his side and brought up a dagger. My dagger. The long curved blade slid effortlessly beneath my chin. I looked up into Jack's eyes, still clouded over. It was the same look I'd seen in Daryl's eyes before he'd attacked me. Jack had saved me then. No one would save me now.
"Jack." I whispered. He blinked once, his eyes unclouded momentarily, then he was gone. I swept my leg hard and threw Jack off balance. He collapsed. On the way down I grabbed his wrist and twisted my dagger out of his grasp. I turned to run, but Jacks hand found my ankle and brought me down with him. I fell, the dagger clattered to the ground and out of my hands. I rolled to my back and kicked at Jack's hand. I didn't want to hurt him, but I knew from experience that he could hurt me. He let go of my leg momentarily and I scrambled to my feet. I dove for the dagger, desperately trying to keep it away from him, grabbed it in one hand, and spun. Jack lunged and caught me around the stomach, tackling me and knocking the air from my lungs. He straddled my hips, effectively blocking my reach to my throwing knives or extra daggers in my boots, and reached for my neck, his hands rough against my throat. He pulled my head towards him and then slammed it against the ground. My vision went black for a moment and I tried to gasp for air, but Jack's hands were firm. He pulled my head back up again and I acted. I pulled my right hand up with the knife and cut his arm. Jack dropped my head and reeled backwards, holding his arm.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered. I slid myself backwards on my hands and feet until my left hand reached my trident. I dropped the dagger and pulled up my trident. Jack was above me holding his spear now. I knew how deadly he was with a spear, I could only hope that I was as deadly with my trident. He jabbed at me and I rolled. His spear landed firmly in the ground where my face had been. I rolled into a crouch and aimed my trident. Jack quickly spun on his feet, his earlier weakness had been replaced by a crazed frenzy, and slashed with the spear. I quickly blocked with the staff of my trident and tried to knock the spear from his hand.
"Jack, it's me! It's Cam!" I was screaming now. The anthem had stopped, a face had appeared, but it didn't matter, I was too focused on Jack. He pulled the spear back and attempted to stab me again. I dove out of the way and brought my trident around, connecting with his ankle and knocking him onto his back. I leapt to my feet and ran to him, kicking the spear out of his reach. I placed one foot on his chest and the tip of my trident at his throat.
"Jack, stop!" The trident was heavy in my hands, tears were beginning to streak down my face, and Jack had managed to slice open my left shoulder with the tip of his spear. I knew I would have bruises on my neck and legs tomorrow, but the adrenaline of the fight was still coursing through me and I couldn't feel them yet.
"Jack you know me." I pleaded uselessly, the fog refused to lift from his eyes. "Jack, it's me, Cam. You know me." Jack let out an inhuman snarl and moved suddenly. His left hand went to the foot I had on his chest, his right hand went to my trident. He pulled hard with both hands and I landed squarely on his chest, my trident out of reach. I reached for the dagger if the shoulder of my backpack at the same time that Jack reached for my hands. He got there first. His large hands captured mine easily, and he pinned them against my side.
"Jack, please, please come back to me." I whispered. He paid no attention. He shifted his weight and knocked me onto my back and slid my hands into one of his. That's when I heard it. Footsteps. Jack and I were fighting in the middle of the road, and my screams had attracted other tributes. My mind raced as Jack reached over my shoulder to the knife in my bag and slowly pulled it from my backpack. His eyes gave away nothing. I shut my own eyes, a frightened tear escaped and slid down my cheek. I saw Charlie walking into my room on the morning of the reaping. I saw Finnick's face on the train. I saw Jack in the training room. I saw my parents. And then I heard it. A canon.
It took me a moment to realize it hadn't been my own. I opened one of my eyes. Jacks haze had cleared, his eyes were back to normal. A horrified expression was on his face as he looked down at me. I realized the knife in his hands had blood on it and a small figure was on the ground behind Jack. Fear gripped my stomach as I tried to get a look at the body. Jack had dropped the knife and his hands were covering his mouth. My hands were free now and I placed them on Jacks hips, gently moving him off me, not wanting to trigger him again. I wiggled out from beneath him and rose to a crawl. My stomach was in knots. The body was too small, too little. No one else was that little. I crawled around Jack and came face to face with-
"Layla." A tight whisper escaped my lips as realization sank in. Blood was pouring from her heart where Jack had stabbed her. "No." I whispered. "No, no, no, no, no." I pulled her into my lap and clung to her tiny, lifeless body. My voice rose to an involuntary scream that tore through my throat and sent echoes through the entire city. I couldn't stop the scream. I just clung to Layla and shrieked into the pitch black night until the hovercraft came to take her body away from me.