Dying is easy, living is harder

Part 10

Day Two started off as good as it could get in a televised show of child murder.

They went to Annie's house early in the morning because Olanna said that sometimes, things happen at night so Caesar shows it then early in the morning.

Stoick let the TV play as background noise and tried not to pay attention to it unless the careers were on the screen.

"We need to go hunt. I don't know about you but I'm not eating beef jerky and cans of beans for the next few weeks," Dulce exclaimed after taking a sip of water.

"Agreed. Maybe we can find a lake," Annie added hopefully.

"How can she smile like that," Astrid asked, staring at the screen as if it held all the answers in the world. "When she's in there!"

"I mean she's probably, like, accepted it by now. You know?" Ruffnut replied.

She didn't. If Astrid was in there, she'd be raging angrily at the world, looking for ways to give the Capitol a big fuck you.

Stoick frowned harder.

"Or a few tributes," Sadie said with a vile smile.

"We'll need to split. A few of us need to keep an eye on the base while the others get food," Percy stated. The others nodded in agreement. "Annie and I will stay here then."

"No way," Sadie interrupted. "I don't trust you as far as I can throw you. If I leave you here with Annie, you'd both be gone by the time we're back with all the other water bottles and food. Annie comes with me." She pulled Annie by the arm to her side.

Tuffnut stood up straight in his seat, rubbing his hands against one another with an eager look in his eye.

"Shit's about to go down," he exclaims.

Astrid rolls her eyes. Yes, Tuffnut, we want a fight to break out in Annie's group on the show where people kill each other.

Percy shrugged and shared a look with Dulce as if to say she's way too suspicious.

Sadie watched the interaction with narrowed eyes. Astrid was scared for a moment that she'd throw her axe at him but she just turned around. Tension she didn't know she had left Astrid's body.

"Maximux, you're staying."

And so Sadie, Dulce, Amity and Annie left to look for food. Like in a real show, it switched to the supporting cast to show what they're up to. In this case, Grayson had found the girl from District Three. They all quickly left the room with the unspoken agreement that Ollana would call them back if anything interesting to do with Annie happened.

Two hours or so later, they were brought back to the living room by an excited Ollana.

"What've we missed?" Ruffnut asked as she jumped into a chair.

"Not much. Just the District Three girl died. There was a small earthquake a half an hour ago but nobody got hurt."

"An earthquake!" An alarmed Gobber exclaimed.

"Nothing to worry about," Ollana waved it off. "The Gamemakers do simulated forest fires and the like all the time. But the Careers and the alliance of Eleven and Twelve are about to run into each other."

She was right. The Careers were following a coyote from a distance and it drove them closer and closer to the beautiful girl from District Eleven and the boy from District Twelve.

Astrid could see that Stoick was alarmed that:
1. They were following a coyote who can kill them at any time.
2. They were about to meet up with people who will be hostile.

There's no doubt that they won't be hostile because Amity had killed the boy from District Eleven and earlier when the feed rested on the duo, the girl from Eleven mentioned how they were dating. Their plan had been that she'd run out of the Cornucopia and he'd get them a backpack. Considering how it went, she was no doubt vengeful.

Turns out, Stoick had nothing to be alarmed about. Basically, four against two means that they had the upper hand.
The second the twosome saw the Careers, they made a run for it. The Careers immediately abandoned their coyote and ran after the tributes hollering and cheering.

"Stop, c'mon! We're not going to hurt you," Sadie calls out mockingly.

"Where are you going, Eleven?" Dulce yelled breathlessly as he ran.

"You know how this is going to end, why don't you do us all a favour and," Amity huffed, more exasperated than anything and slightly out of breath "just stop!"

Right as she said that, the boy from Twelve tripped and fell to the ground. The dark skinned girl paused and turned towards her ally who had fallen behind but Dulce was already upon him with his spear. She hesitated for a second, eyes flickering between her ally and freedom but it was a second too long as the girls caught up to her. A cannon boomed. Twelve was dead.

Sadie jumped her like a crazy squirrel, pushing them both down to the ground. The girl from Eleven struggled against her but Sadie punched her in the stomach knocking the air out of her sails.

Sadie, Amity and Annie circled the poor girl as she looked around frantic for a way out. The Career girls had her trapped. Astrid felt sick to her stomach as she watched them taunt and laugh at her teary eyes.

Seeing the Careers at work, she could finally see why the Capitol liked them so much. These tributes were just as much part of the punishment as any earthquake or poison berries. A pack of hyenas picking off the weak and playing with their food is the best way to describe it. They made their victims suffer. And the parents watch, unable to do anything.

The worst part wasn't that Annie was with these laughing hyenas but that they reminded her uncomfortably of Snotlout and the twins tormenting Annie at school. She snuck a look at Snotlout and realized by the way his eyes were glued to his cousin, he was thinking the same thing.

Annie had a smile on her face though and she was laughing just as much as them. How can she laugh like that in this situation? Astrid sucked in a deep breath and then blew it back out. In and out. Think about it logically, Astrid. Annie needs to look just as ruthless as the rest of the Careers if she doesn't want them to turn on her. They pick off the weak. And while Percy hid the fact that she can't kill for shit, that doesn't mean they won't wise up.

"Stay there, you little rat!" Sadie pushed the girl from Eleven back onto the floor and she landed with a small scream.
Sadie turned to Annie with a crazed smile on her face.

"Time to prove yourself, Four!"

Annie's smile slipped off her face. "What?"

"No," Stoick let out in dismay.

"We never got the chance to see you at work! Impress us," she giggled manically. "This way you can add to your kill count!"

They want her to kill.