Game On

Chapter 8

Half of the next day goes by without any carnage. The Capitol people must be getting anxious by now, so I don’t expect this calm to last.

“Why don’t we get going?” I suggest.

Cameron groans. “Do we have to?” 

I know exactly what he means. My blood sugar’s low, I have almost no food in my system, and I feel terrible. We’ve been slumped behind the bush for several hours, drained of energy.

“She’s right,” Quinn says. “It’s not safe to assume that the Gamemakers won’t target us here. Or, worse, one of the Careers might find us.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Careers?”

“Back home, it’s what we call the tributes from Districts 1, 2 and 4. You know, because they make a career out of training for the Hunger Games?”

“Right,” I reply with a nod.

Cameron shudders. “I don’t like that idea. It’s so unfair for the rest of us. Two weeks of training just isn’t enough.”

“You’re telling me,” I agree. The only reason I’m alive is because of my intelligence and speed.

As we walk, a series of growling noises begins to register in my ears. Whatever the source is, it sounds gigantic and vicious.

“What could it be?” Quinn asks. I’m feeling curious, too. We can’t resist marching onward to where the noises are coming from, and before long, we reach a cluster of pine trees that encircle the mystery animals.

The beasts turn out to be monstrous bears. They’re about ten feet taller than I would expect a bear to be. Mutts.  But somebody’s already killed them.

My eyes move next to the dead bears. Lying unconscious, weapons in hand, are two tributes: Sapphire, the beautiful brunette girl from District 1, and Tally, the red-headed girl from District 4. They don’t look gone yet, but by the looks of their gruesome wounds, death will come soon. I think both of them are younger than me.

“Wow.” Cameron looks paralyzed with fear at the sight of these bodies.

I must look afraid, too. It haunts me that not even the people who trained illegally back home are strong enough for this. Their cannons make it official: Only seven of us are left now.

Just then, an ear-splitting roar cuts through the air.

“I should’ve known,” I mutter. We’ve got one more bear to deal with.

Cameron springs into action, grabbing the closest, biggest rock he can find. I get out my knife.  Quinn preps her bow with an arrow.

She looks from me to Cameron. “Get behind me, you guys.”

I stay put. Do I really want to owe my life to her?

“Get behind me, now!” she repeats.  

“Fine.”

The bear steps into view, towering over us like a skyscraper. A tree beside it falls down at the power of its might.

Quinn shoots arrow after arrow at the bear, but none of them seem to do lasting damage. This mutt bear is truly indestructible. I feel helpless with only my knife to protect us.

The bear stomps its way closer to Quinn. She paces around him, then charges straight for its chest. He locks his jaws onto her shoulder.

I can’t help but scream at the same time as her.

“Wiress!”  Cameron hisses, “Stop it! Do you want that thing to come after you, too?”

I shut my mouth. Good thing he can knock some sense into me. I think I’m going insane in this arena.

Cameron takes his bulky rock, spins around, and heaves it straight at the bear’s head. The bear falls over in pain. Quinn moves out of its grasp, wincing. Bravely, Cameron runs at it with another rock. He bashes it repeatedly into the bear’s skull before it has a chance to hurt him. All I see of its head now is a bloody pulp. Definitely dead.

I run to Quinn’s side.

“Listen, Wiress,” she whispers. “These wounds aren’t too bad right now, but it’ll just get worse in the next few days, without any medicine. I don’t want to suffer or burden Haymitch with the task of getting me a sponsor who’ll pay for it. So… I need you to kill me.”

 “No, no, no, no, no.” I keep mumbling it, shaking my head repeatedly. Tears are forcing their way down my face.

“Slit my throat, stab me in the heart, I don’t care. I’ll die anyways. ”

“Please don’t make me do it,” I beg. “I’ll never forgive myself.”

“But this is an exception because I’m asking you to. I won’t hate you for it. You’re helping me. Wiress, honestly, you’re such a great friend.” She pauses, wincing. “If you don’t win, I’ll be waiting for you. Wherever we go.”

With a deep sigh, I place my knife at her throat, trying to compose myself. “Ready?”

“Yes. Goodbye, Wiress.”

“Goodbye, Quinn.”

I move the blade across her neck as quickly and effectively as possible.

Her cannon rings in the air, a somber echo that never completely fades. I plunge my knife into the snow, allowing it to wash off. But it won’t get rid of the blood on my sleeves. Cameron puts an arm around my shoulder. “You did the right thing, Wiress. She’s not hurting anymore.”

“True,” I admit, giving him a quick hug. “Thanks for getting rid of that bear.”

We watch as the hovercraft arrives, and I get my last glimpse of the girl from District 12.

I can’t focus on anything else for the rest of the day. How am I supposed to recover from killing my friend? All I want to do is sob uncontrollably. I don’t even look up when the fallen tributes are shown.

“Any more besides the three?” I ask Cameron.

“No.”

I finally decide to handle Quinn’s items afterwards. I take everything I can use: her sleeping bag, slingshot, and knife. No food remains in her bag. I don’t want to grab the bow because every single arrow was wasted on the bear.

“Hey, Wiress!” he calls. “We have a parachute.” He opens it up to find a loaf of bread, and a note. Cameron reads it aloud:

District 12 thanks you for allying with Quinn, and for obeying her final request. I know it took some real courage. We’re rooting for you now, District 3. –Haymitch Abernathy

“Thank you, Haymitch,” I mumble after taking a bite of the delicious bread. No doubt it was baked by Quinn’s father.

I fall asleep staring at the fake sky, pretending that Quinn’s sleeping bag is the warm embrace of Beetee.