The Ultimate Sacrifice (The 107th Hunger Games) [Fan Fiction]

19. Change Is Coming

19. Change Is Coming

Once night began to fall, Jenna, Victor, and Bane set out for their night hunt. At first, Jenna was reluctant and wanted to stay, but Aubrey and I convinced her to go with Victor and Bane. She could let her anger drive her into killing whoever she ran into, whether or not it was Bella from Seven. Jenna led the charge into the woods.

Moonlight shone on the grass, somehow managing to get thin strips into the Cornucopia. Aubrey was picking at her nails while I stayed by Ben's side. Neither of us had bothered to pull the arrow out of him yet, only because we were afraid that if we did, he'd die. Jenna would probably kill one of us if we tried to lodge the arrow out of him. We'd all feel horrible if we let him die, Jenna probably would feel the worst more than anything.

"Aubrey," I whispered, "does Jenna have a thing for Ben?"

"You seriously want to talk about relationships when we've got a barely alive ally with us?" she scoffed.

"I'm serious. Jenna freaked when she saw him fall out of the tree. She was acting as if the world was coming to an end." I put a hand lightly on Ben's chest, he was still breathing. I kept it there to keep track of his faint heartbeat.

"Jenna isn't a very open person, just like we all aren't." Aubrey scratched her head, picking off a piece of dirt. I rubbed my dirt-ridden cheeks from last night. "We'll probably never know the answer to that one."

"She was hoping Ben would get help from a sponsor since he's been alive this long."

"I don't know about that. If a mentor knows their tribute is barely alive, they'll let them die. It sounds harsh, but if you're injured too badly or in a horrible state, you're left to die."

I couldn't imagine Ross abandoning me, or Bane. "If only there was medicine here with us," I sighed. "We tore apart everything and there's not even a pill to kill someone with if it's shoved down their throat."

"That's why there's nightlock instead of death pills." Aubrey laughed meekly. I looked at her, confused. "You know...the berries that can kill you within a minute?"

"Oh."

I closed my eyes. In truth, I didn't want Ben to die. He wasn't a bad kid to be around, but I couldn't fully trust him, like I couldn't trust the other members of the pack. I wanted our pack to remain six strong as long as possible. If the Careers started getting picked off one by one, I'd go solo. I wouldn't want to hang around to get killed off, whether by another tribute or something the Gamemakers threw at me.

A noise interrupted my thoughts. My eyes popped open, ears listening intently.

"Do you hear that?" I murmured.

Aubrey ventured out carefully to the exit of the Cornucopia, a mace in her right hand. I looked around, wondering where in the hell we kept maces—probably in a pile full of extras nobody wanted.

Aubrey watched something in the sky, backing away for a second. In what light I could see, a silver canister was dropping in via a small parachute. I let out a sigh of relief.

Aubrey jumped up and down, unlocking the canister, retrieving what was inside, and then dashed back in to kneel at Ben's side. It was a small circular container. Aubrey turned on a flashlight and put it on the container. Inside was something clear and pasty.

"Medicine," I breathed. "I guess his mentor does care about him. We better give it to him now."

"I don't know," Aubrey said uneasily. "Jenna would kill us if we—"