Chapter 11-
The next morning was the most surprising yet. Everything had changed overnight. I opened my eyes to bright sunlight, the first sunlight I’d seen in several days. The surprises didn’t stop there however. I sat up in shock and looked around with wide eyes. The weather had changed drastically. It was warmer, much warmer. The sun was bright and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. What’s more is that the snow had melted completely overnight and the forest was a beautiful green. It was like the start of spring. I shook Scott awake. “Get up! Look!” I said happily. He stared amazed, rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times then stared again.
“How?” he asked. I thought for a moment and gazed at the crystal clear water of the pond. The sun reflected off of it brightly making the water shine a brilliant blue. That’s when I remembered Snow. “It’s almost as if the whole snowy arena was because of Snow. Once I killed her..” I said. “You killed winter” Scott said. I shrugged. “I don’t think it was a coincidence that’s once she died so did the cold, snowy arena. I like it this way. I can finally climb trees” I smirked at Scott standing up. He nodded and I jumped in the air excited. I grabbed my shirt off the branch I’d put it on to dry and slipped it over my head and let it fall in place on my body over my tank top. Then I grabbed my jacket and put it on as well, zipping it up. I noticed the torn fabric on the arm from my encounter with the bear. Finally I attached my remaining 2 knives to my belt.
“We need to keep moving” I said. Scott stretched and stood up, the blanket falling to the ground, and reached for his shirt. “Wait” I said. He paused and looked at me. “Let me check your back and change your bandages” I said. He nodded his head and turned his back to me. I sighed and reached over. My hand brushed the bare skin on his back as I took a hold of the bandages. I focused my eyes on Scott’s lower back as I took the bandages off. I placed my finger over the wound the arrowhead had made. I quickly wrapped new bandages around his wound. “It’s mostly healed up but you shouldn’t put too much stress on it. I’ll carry your axe for you” I said and picked it up without hesitation. He grabbed my arm and said “I’m not disabled. I can carry the axe” I rolled my eye. “Stop acting so tough. Nothing’s going to happen if I carry it and besides I’m running out of knives. I need a weapon” I said.
Scott sighed but nodded and put on his shirt and jacket, leaving it unzipped. “How many are left?” I asked as we slipped through the trees. “With Snow, Drex and that other kid dead, there are 8 people left. It’s you, me, Spark, Elra, Troy, Retner from District 9, the little boy Kurt and one other person” Scott explained. I nodded and ducked beneath a low hanging branch.
I jumped at the sound of the cannon. It took me a few seconds to calm my heart down. “Make that 7 tributes left” I corrected and we moved through the woods. I took the lead with a knife in hand and Scott followed close behind with his bow and arrow drawn. “Got any idea where we’re heading?” Scott asked. I shook my head and glanced around. “None” I replied. He smirked at me. “Feel like climbing?” he asked. I grinned and nodded. “Definitely” I replied and quickly strapped the axe to my back. Scott chuckled and I placed the blade of my knife between my teeth as I approached a tall tree. I quickly started climbing as if it was as easy as breathing. It was only a matter of second before I was at the top of the tall white oak. “See anything?” Scott called from below. I pulled my self onto another branch overhead and sat on it, letting my feet dangle from it. I pulled my knife out of my mouth and glanced around.
“Smoke” I called down from the tree. “Where?” he asked. “4 o’clock” I pointed in the general direction. “Climb down. We’re going towards it” he said. My eyes widened in surprise. “You want to go towards the people? Shouldn’t we stay away?” I asked as I placed the knife back between my teeth and climbed down as fast as I climbed up. As I reached some of the lower branches I released my grip and jumped down, landing on my feet. I took my knife into my hands from where it was between my teeth. “No we need to go towards the people in order to end this game as quickly as possible” Scott said somewhat annoyed. I sighed and looked away.
Scott grabbed my hand. “I know you don’t want to kill anybody but we need to end this” he said. I nodded. I do need to end this. I need to kill some people if I want to get Scott back home. “Let’s go” I said leading the way. I tightened my grip on my knife and held the axe in my left hand now.
“This way” I whispered to Scott and led him towards the smoke. As we drew closer I could see the fire and the rising smoke. We moved in closer and I readied myself to throw the knife. As I took a few more quiet steps I paused and turned to Scott. I glared down at his feet and he mumbled an ‘I’m sorry’ for his heavy footsteps. I hid behind another tree and glanced out towards the fire once more. I raised my hand to throw the knife but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it was Kurt, the little 13 year old boy. He glanced around nervously and shivered. I saw that he was only in a ripped t-shirt and his arm was bleeding. “What’s wrong?” Scott asked behind me.
“Nothing. Let’s go” I said turning away from Kurt and heading back. “What the hell Sky?” Scott asked grabbing my arm. “Let’s go” I ordered. Scott looked towards Kurt then turned back to me. “Sky we have to do this” he said sadly. I pulled my arm out of his grip. “I’m not killing a kid Scott” I said fiercely. “What choice do we have? He’s going to die anyway! Better we do it than the Careers” Scott said. I glared at him incredulously. “We can make it quick. He’ll die painlessly. The Careers won’t be so forgiving if they get a hold of him. They’ll torture him Sky” Scott tried to reason with me. I got closer to him and said “I’m not killing that kid and if you do I won’t forgive you Scott.”
Scott looked at me surprised. “Since when are you ok with killing a kid? Remember that little boy they tortured and whipped 5 months ago in the district square? He was only trying to feed himself. That would have been me. I would have gotten that same punishment if it weren’t for you. That kid had nobody so he was whipped to death. Kurt looks so much like that little boy. I promised myself that I would never hurt a kid and I’m not starting now” I growled. Scott stared deeply into my eyes and sighed. “Ok. We’ll keep moving then” he said placing his hand on my shoulder. I nodded and we turned to leave when we heard Kurt scream.
I spun around quickly. “Sky no!” Scott yelled grabbing my arm. I struggled to get away but Scott was a lot stronger than me. He pulled me behind a nearby tree. “Little cry baby” Elra’s shrill voice laughed. Kurt had stumbled and was crawling backwards trying to escape Elra. She stood over him laughing with a long spear in her hand. “Please let me help him” I tried to escape Scott’s grasp again. He covered my mouth and wrapped his arm around my waist holding me to him so that I couldn’t get away. “We can’t interfere” Scott whispered. “I can’t let her torture him” I mumbled into his hand. “You should have killed him Sky” he whispered into my ear and tightened his grip on me as we watched. “Where do you think you’re running to brat?” Spark came up from behind Kurt and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off the ground. “Scott, please” I begged struggling again to get free.
Spark threw Kurt back onto the ground. Kurt flew from Spark’s grip and landed on the fire. His blood curling scream of pain filled the forest as the fire burned the flesh on his back. Elra laughed hysterically like it was the funniest thing in the world and I bit Scott’s hand but he still wouldn’t let go. Kurt started crying as he tried to get up. The fire had died down and Spark picked him back up again. All I could think about was Kurt’s little sister watching her brother die back home. Tears fell from my eyes.
“I only wish the little lumber girl were here to see me kill you but don’t worry she’ll be able to hear your screams from wherever in the arena she is” Elra laughed and Spark threw Kurt onto the ground again. I heard something crack as Kurt’s back hit a log. “Both of you finish it off now” Troy walked over to them annoyed. “Oh Relax. We’re just going to have some fun” Elra laughed lifting the spear up. Troy caught her hand and said “Kill him quickly. Don’t torture him. We need to move on.”
Spark was at Elra’s side now. He punched Troy in the gut causing him to double over. “Shut the hell up! If we want to have a bit of fun we will” Spark yelled. Troy clenched his fist and straightened up. “Kill him quickly or I’ll kill you” he said to Elra. “Screw you Troy. Since when are you suddenly so merciful?” she rolled her eyes and turned back to Kurt. Troy shook his head and pulled out a knife from his belt.
It wasn’t long before Spark tackled him to the ground and then wrestled there. I didn’t pay much attention to them though. I focused my attention on Elra as she approached Kurt again. Scott lowered his hand from my mouth when I bit him again. “Please Scott please let me help him” I begged Scott. He looked at me sadly and said “Sky I’m not losing you and letting you interfere with 3 Careers around is suicide.” I glanced back at Kurt as he trembled in fear and Elra grinned walking closer to him. “Scott I’m begging you. Please. I’ll kill Elra” I promised. Scott looked surprised and shocked. “I’ll kill her. Let me do it please. Spark and Troy are busy. I’ll kill Elra and then we run” I said. “You’re willing to kill somebody?” he asked still shocked. “I’d kill to save. And I’d kill Elra to save Kurt from a slow death right now” I said determined.
Scott glanced back at them and nodded turning to me. “Fine. Then you run. We both run west, understand?” he asked. I smiled slightly and nodded. Troy had flipped his position with Spark so that Spark was on the ground as Troy delivered several repeated punches to him. I circled around towards Elra and Kurt and Scott followed with an arrow drawn. “I’m going to have fun killing you” Elra cackled. My plan was to throw a knife and end her quickly like I had Snow but my plan changed as soon as she shoved the spear into Kurt’s already wounded arm. He screamed in pain and cried as he reached out. It looked like he was reaching for me. I watched in horror and without thinking I put my knife to my belt and moved the axe from my left hand to my right.
The axe left my hands before I could think. And the next thing I knew it had made a clean cut straight into her chest and she fell to the ground with a thump. The earsplitting boom of the cannon sounded in the distance. Kurt looked towards me surprised. I couldn’t leave the axe so I ran forwards and grabbed it, pulling it from Elra’s chest quickly. I spotted Troy and Spark turning towards me surprised as Spark threw Troy off of him and tried to get up. I strapped the axe to my back and grabbed Kurt by his waist pulling him to his feet gently since he was injured enough. “Run!” I yelled pushing him towards the forest as Spark scrambled for a weapon. I knew they’d follow me and leave him alone.
I ran deeper into the woods myself and spotted Scott instantly as he stood waiting for me. He grabbed my hand and led me through the woods as if it was the forest back home. He seemed to know the perfect path. I heard Spark’s loud footsteps follow behind and a distant roar that sounded too familiar. I knew it was a bear just like the one that attacked me and Drex. “Faster” I yelled scared and Scott did run a lot faster.
I tripped over a tree root in my rush and crashed to the cold ground within minutes. Scott stopped immediately. “Sky!” he yelled. I tried to get up and it was a struggle. I could hear Spark’s loud footsteps following me. My leg ached in pain and I limped as I looked behind me. I turned back to tell Scott to go on without me since I couldn’t really run right now. Scott must have noticed the slight limp because he picked me up into his arms and quickly moved to a tall tree. A branch was just above our heads. “Climb” he ordered and I grabbed a tight hold of the branch and started climbing. “What about you?” I asked worried. He gave me a small smile, “Don’t worry about me”, and turned around just as Spark had found us.
“Scott!” I yelled terrified. Spark grinned menacingly and ran towards Scott with his sword in hand. It was only a matter of seconds before Scott tackled Spark to the ground and punched him hard across the jaw. Spark was already a bloody mess from his fight with Troy. Yet he still had a ton of energy.
My leg throbbed in pain as I inched to get a better view. I pulled out my knife and held the blade between my fingers waiting for a clear shot. It was nearly impossible to find one though since Spark and Scott were practically evenly matched. They kicked and punched and fought one another viciously like wolves and I was too afraid of hitting Scott to throw the knife.
I sat up straight and held onto the tree trunk for support. Spark had Scott pinned to the ground again and his back was to me. I had a perfect shot. As I pulled my arm back ready to throw the knife something grabbed my wrist tightly. I turned to see Troy standing on a branch right by me. A proud smirk had formed on his lips and I felt my heart skip a beat. He twisted my wrist and made me drop the knife to the ground. “You didn’t break his jaw like I hoped. The idiot can still talk” Troy said still smirking. I groaned in pain under the pressure of his strong grip.
I reached for my other knife and pulled it out swiftly swiping it across Troy’s face managing to land a scratch across his cheek. I tried to climb down from the tree to help Scott and escape Troy but my injured leg slipped and I let out a small gasp as I clung to the tree branch with only one hand.
Troy jumped down to the branch I clung to. I glanced down to see how high up I was as my hand was slipping. When I looked back up all I saw was Troy bending down closer to me with a knife in his hand and a smirk on his face.
