Stuck

13

The sound of cannons blasting is what woke me up, causing me to jump in shock as I reached for the knife next to me. They didn't sound close, but they were too close for comfort.

"How many was that?" Ashton asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "I counted three."

"No, there were four." Luke mumbled as he sat up as well, running a hand through his hair. "Lets just hope that one of them was Cole."

Laughing, I shook my head. "Do you really think he'll go down that easy? He's one of the hardest ones to beat out here, and trust me, I don't want to have to be the one to kill him."

After I spoke, there seemed to be tension that no one wanted to break as it just lingered in the air. "How about we all get out of the cave? Try to look for some more supplies?" Calum suggested, and no one wanted to argue with him.

Packing up our backpacks, we set out to go a little further than we had been going. Calum and Ashton both agreed, the game we were looking for wasn't near the cave, and we had to look harder for it.

"Michael, I never got to ask, what's your district like?" I asked him while we walked, looking around for edible plants while the others looked for animals.

He smiled slightly. "Lots of trees. Kinda feels like I'm home right now." He said, pausing to look around. "What about you?"

"The ocean. Lots of sun and sand. Very different from here." I laugh, looking up at all the trees. "I've never seen trees this tall before. Are they this tall in 7?"

Michael nodded. "Some are even taller. I wish you could see it. I wish anyone could see it." His smiled faded and we went back to looking at the plants at our feet.

A cannon went off, clearly close by from the panic on everyones face as they grabbed their weapons. "That was around the cave." Ashton said, looking at the rest of us before he started to slowly walk in that direction.

Once we got back, I couldn't believe my eyes. The cave, our home for the last few days, crumbled to bits. Someone was inside, and the cave must have collapsed on top of them. The hovercraft claw was digging under the pile of rocks for the body underneath.

"Let's just go. I don't really want to watch this." I sigh just as the rain picks up. Starting to walk away from the cave, I can hear the four boys behind me. The competition was starting to get harder, and five people dead in one day meant that it was anyones game out there. I was just surprised that the five of us were staying together.

"I think we should just say out here for the night. I'm sure if anyone comes we can handle them." Ashton sighed as he sat down on the ground.  There was no rain today, and the ground wasn't dry, but just okay to sit on.

Reaching into my pack, I pull out the case that Finnick had sent me. The three darts perfectly in a line. I knew I had berries left; I wasn't going to give them all to Beth if one was going to kill her. The boys looked busy enough, and didn't pay any attention to me while I squeezed the berries onto the tips of the dart.

"What are you doing? Wait a second, those are Nightlock berries!" Luke yelled, looking over just as I had started to pack my stuff away. "You killed Beth!"

"No I didn't!" Yelling back, I knew that I had no real argument. A perfectly healthy person doesn't just die on the spot, and now everyone knew I had killed her.

"Yes you did! She ate the berries you gave her yesterday!" Luke yelled back, starting to move closer to me. He was a lot taller, and bigger than I was, and I prayed he wasn't going to kill me.

My mind blanked for answers. "S-She was the one who just ate them!"

His face went red with rage. "I loved her! I loved her for years, and you just kill her like she was nothing!" He paused, looking down at the ground while shaking his head. "You're dead."

"Don't touch her." Michael said, the bow he was holding loaded and pointed at Luke's chest. "You take one step towards her and you're dead."

My mouth went dry and I knew that no matter how many times I apologized, it would not bring her back to him. I slowly backed away, the pack in my hand. "Then our alliance is broken. I-If I walk away right now, and you run into my later, I will kill you."

"Macy don't go." Ashton said, already standing and at my side. "Make Luke leave."

"What? Why? She was the one who actually killed someone!" Luke yelled, clearly confused as to why Ashton was taking my side.

The forest went silent, all of us looking at each other. It was a silent understanding that the alliance was split in two, and whoever separated would go their separate ways.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you right from the start." Luke grumbled, shaking his head as he started to walk the other way; Michael walking over to stand near Calum. "I wanted Ashton, not you. You're weak, and I'm surprised you made it this far--"

Luke was cut short by a spear piercing through his chest. He gasped, falling to the ground and screaming in pain. While he screamed, Cole seemed to appear out of the trees. He walked over to Luke and ripped the spear back out of him; causing blood to gush out of the open wound and Luke to cry in agony.

"Seems like I found where everyone was hiding." Cole smirked. "I'll give you four a three second head start." 

Luke's cannon went off and the four of us booked it through the trees. Cole was somewhere behind us, and we couldn't risk slowing down. "What do we do?" Calum asked as we ran, not daring to look behind.

"Just keep running, we can figure that out later!" Michael yelled back, stopping running only to see that no one was behind us. "I think he's gone."

"Did he just not chase us?" I ask, leaning up against a tree as I try and catch my breath; the rain slowly starting up once more.

Michael nods. "There are only six people left, and two are trying to kill all four of us. We can't run from him all the time."