In This Together (The Hunger Games Fanfiction)

Chapter 12: The Gift

I ripped the sponsor gift open quickly, frightened at the prospect of having two blood-thirsty Careers possibly following our trail.

"A ladder..." I mumbled, confused at what message Tally and Grim were trying to send. Tristan adjusted his eyepatch, which had moved slightly during our escape. We stood there thinking for a moment.

"Aha!" Tristan announced suddenly, and proceeded to sprint down the tunnel to where the waterfall had once been.

We didn't make it far before I began to hear footsteps, pounding right towards us. I glanced at Tristan as he ran beside me.

Were there other tributes left we hadn't known about?

Tristan looked just as confused as I felt. Seeing no other option, we continued moving forward, although we slowed our pace a little. The footsteps kept getting louder, and it soon became clear that there was more than one person coming our way.

But we were wrong; very wrong.

It wasn't people at all.

I realized just how bad the situation was when I heard the howls, and the first mutation came into view. "Mutts!" Tristan screamed, and somehow managed to calm down enough to toss me a knife from the belt he must have stolen from Denmark.

The mutts came pouring out of the tunnel ahead. As in past games, they had the eyes of the fallen tributes. "Run!" I called to Tristan, and started back towards the Cornucopia. There was no way I wanted to fight with these mutts right now, not when I was still trying to get over the death of some of my best friends.

"No," Tristan ordered. "We'll just run straight into the remaining tributes, which is exactly what they want us to do." The mutts were quickly closing the gap separating us from them. "We're going to have to fight them."

Gulping, I took up my fighting stance, feet spread shoulder width apart and bending my knees slightly. I focused in on the first mutt. It dove at me, and I think it had the eyes of the girl from Three, but it was hard to tell. Waving my knife, I stabbed the mutt in the eye. I almost froze, startled by the fact I just made my first kill, even though it wasn't a tribute.

I wasn't one to kill; I really wasn't. But the Games changed people, they changed me. I had to fight to survive. It was the mutts versus Tristan and I, and we weren't about to lose.

I had to remember my few days of training; the show I put on for the Gamemakers. I had to do it again. Gripping my knife tightly in my hand, I blocked out everything except the mutt approaching me. It bared it's teeth, but I was not frightened.

I am a fighter.

I sprang into action, stabbing everywhere within reach. Dodging one mutt's pair of deadly claws, I dove my weapon into it's exposed stomach. Not having time to even pause before another mutt attempted to bite my head off, I caught my balance and fought on.

It felt like I had been killing the mutts for days, but I was sure it had only been about half an hour. I just kept stabbing, stepping over the dead body, and repeat. Until finally, there were no more mutts to fight. I had done it! When I turned to celebrate with Tristan, however, I saw he was still scuffling with one of the mutts, and a second mutt was creeping up on his left side. His blind side! He still had his eyepatch on!

Knowing I couldn't call his name because I would distract him in his fight with the first mutt, I bit my tongue and jumped on top of mutt number 2. I looked into its eyes and saw Luna, from District 11. Growling, I attempted to toss it off of me, but the mutt rolled on top and slashed my shoulder with claws as sharp as any dagger. I screamed as red hot pain pulsed down my arm. Black tinged my vision, and my head pounded. But Tristan couldn't help me. He was absorbed in his own fight. "Not now," I told myself. "You can't black out now."

Summoning the last of my strength, I whipped the mutt off of me with my good arm. It slammed against the wall, and before it could get it's bearings I threw my knife right through the mutt's neck.

All the fight drained out of me. I lay on the cold cave floor, moaning and holding on to my shoulder. Blood was seeping through the rips in my jacket. It wouldn't be long before I bled out.

As if it could sense weakness, the mutt Tristan had been fighting thundered toward me. The warmth in its eyes pulled me up into them, and all I saw was Emilia. "Emilia," I sighed happily. "I missed you." I reached out my hand to touch her face, my vision growing darker.

The last thing I saw were Emilia's hazel eyes blinking back at me, before everything went black.

............................................

Hey everyone!

Early update, just because we're almost at 400 reads! I'll update again tomorrow!