My Hunger Games

Chapter Seven

Niall carried Annie all the way to the winter section, out of the chaos of the Cornucopia. Three cannons sound by the time they get there. Luckily, Niall had thought ahead, and had brought the bag that used to belong to the careers with him filled with supplies; food, water, extra socks and mittens, and a sleeping bag. "Do you think this was the best idea?" Annie asked him. "What if they come looking for us?" Originally, Annie was all for their plan of separation. Now, especially now that two careers were dead, she felt unsure.

"Trust me, babe, they won't know where to look." After walking around, trudging through the snow a while, Niall spotted a cave in the rocks. He put Annie down gently and helped her over there. Pushing a big bolder out of the way, the cave was plenty big enough for them to hide out in. It was perfect, and it surprisingly wasn't covered in snow inside. The floor was rock, as well. "Well, it may not be the most comfortable conditions, but we won't be bothered here," Niall assured her. Annie crawled in, Niall after her. He pushed the bolder back so that no one would be able to see into it, but so that he could easily move it to get back out, if he needed to. 

"No, it's perfect. No one will be able to find us, and if it keeps snowing, even if they traveled here the snow would slow them down. We're protected, in here." Niall smiled at her, taking her hands in his. They were freezing.

"Oh, god, Annie. Here, put these on," he said, putting the mittens on her hands. She smiled weakly, whispering a thank you. "Are you tired?" She nods. Annie set her gun down against one of the walls while Niall laid down the sleeping bag for her.

"You can get in too," she tells him. "It's big enough, and we'll keep each other warm." He happily obliges, and they both crawl into the sleeping bag. Niall put his hands behind his head, so that he wouldn't be lying on flat rock. Annie, who was shorter than him, snuggled down inside the bag, wrapping an arm around him, and resting her head on his chest. "Goodnight," she whispers, nuzzling into him.

"Goodnight," he replies lifting his head up to kiss the top of hers before laying back down and staring at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. There were thirteen tributes left. Not even halfway done with these games, which sucked. In the fall sector, District Tweleve's tribute Ashton stalked through the trees and leaves, laying low. He came upon what looked like a girl, laying at the bottom of a hill in the autumn section. She had serious wounds, and looked bad. Ashton approached her cautiously, in case this was some kind of trap. He could see the fear in her eyes when she saw him.

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered to her. "You're going to succumb to your wounds," he told her truthfully. There's nothing I can do to help you, but end the pain." She shakes her head when he raises a knife.

"N-no, more pain," she stutters. "Please." Ashton nods.

"I'll be right back, I promise," he tells her, leaving her temporarily. When he comes back, he hands her a handful of poisonous berries. "Eat these. No more pain," he repeats. Poison isn't necessarily painful. It's a peaceful way of dying a cruel death. So, it's sort of better than succumbing to wounds, right? Well, poor Sarah would probably agree all too well. She took the berries, bringing them to her lips.

"Thank- you..." she breathed out. As soon as her teeth ripped open the skin of the berries, her eyes fluttered closed, and she was dead. The cannon sounded, and Ashton said a brief goodbye before clearing out. 

When Savannah and Carlos get back to camp, Savannah has gotten the knife out of him, but it had left a nasty wound. Jake was waiting for them back there. "Where the hell were you?" Savannah screams, shoving him. "We lost District Two because we didn't have enough back up!" Jake was confused.

"What about Niall and Annie?" he asked, looking at Carlos. Savannah answers, however.

"Those traitors ditched before the bath even started!" she spat. "If you had fucking been there, we could have won!" She took more of her anger out on Jake, shoving him some more before Carlos intervened, pulling Savannah forcibly back off of him.

"Enough! Leave him alone, Savannah. I told him to stay back here." When Savannah's eyes widen in horror, he continues. "Someone had to watch the stuff," he covered. In reality, what Jake had said to him at the fire opened a new view of the games for him. He decided that Jake should stay back, so that he wouldn't have to be involved. Jake stayed quiet this time, and let Carlos handle Savannah. "We're going to have to get along now that it's just the three of us," he reminded the both of them. "So cut the bullshit, and get along." Savannah huffed, crossing her arms. Jake sighed, rolling his eyes. Since when did this become The Dysfunctional Family Games instead of The Hunger Games?

Carlos pulled Jake aside, to talk. "Don't listen to her, okay?" he told him. Jake nodded.

"Did we really lose Two?" Jake asked, thoroughly surprised.

"Unfortunately. They had more numbers than we anticipated, plus, Annie and Niall left. I should have seen that one coming," Carlos blamed himself.

"Don't go blaming yourself, now. You couldn't have possibly known they would double cross you," Jake says.

"They all do, eventually." A moment of silence passes before Jake speaks up again, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't," he promises. "I'd rather die." Carlos is taken aback, but in a good way.

"Seriously?" he questions, not knowing whether he should believe it or not. 

"Yeah." Another moment of silence and stillness passed, before suddenly, Jake felt Carlos' lips against his in a soft but swift kiss. The next thing he knew, the other boy was gone back to the supplies. He contemplated for a moment whether that kiss was real, and after thought, decided that it was. How Carlos managed to walk back to their supplies so fast was beyond him, but it felt too real not to be.

***

The next day, the triple alliance went straight to work, creating their bomb. Karalyn was fast at the process, Rhett helping her. He managed to take apart a few of the bombs without igniting them, and they used the powder inside to put in the flask that Kendahl had grabbed from the Cornucopia. Well, Brandon had, but she retrieved it when he died. Quickly and diligently, after a long process, they were able to make the batch. "Only two things are missing," Karalyn frowned. 

"What two things?" Luke asks, seeming worried. 

"Glass, and something to make it ignite."

"Like gasoline?" Kendahl asked. Karalyn nodded. A few hours later, a silver parachute floated down from the sky. They retrieved it, opening it up. It was exactly what they asked for; a glass flask. Now all they needed was the gasoline.

"I think I saw some at the Cornucopia day one," Rhett recalls. 

"Do we wanna risk going back there?" Kendahl asks.

"We'll have to. But maybe we should get a lead on where the careers are first," Luke suggests.

"Do we think they'll stay in the spring?" Karalyn wonders.

"They might. They're too lazy to move, plus, there's probably something there they need." The others agreed. 

"Okay, well, it's ready for now," Karalyn says, pouring the mix into the new glass flask and corking it shut. When that flask ignites, it will set off the biggest wildfires the games have ever seen. Essentially, there would be no escaping it. Once it started to spread, it was indestructible.