The 24th Hunger Games: Part Six: Alliance

The 24^th Hunger Games: Part Six: Alliance

By L. N. Price

            “What are you smiling about?” she snarled at him, the tip pressing further into his throat, almost enough to cut skin.  He hadn’t even realized he had been smiling, a clue that he was more worn out than was safe. 

            “Nothing,” he moved to raise his hands in surrender, but she only tensed, the spear going further and further.  He wanted more than anything for that spear to be gone.  “Look, I’m defenseless.  I’m not going to strike back.”

            She merely glared at him, not lowering her weapon.  “So?”  Her eyes flicked to his axe which was still in reaching distance from his hand.  “Is that supposed to make me trust you?”

            In one movement, he kicked the axe away from his grasp, an action that spooked her enough to have the spear’s tip slice into his skin.  It was only a small cut, but its size didn’t mean much when the blood started flowing.  Kaede quickly pressed a hand to the cut, staring at the girl in shock. 

Her own expression nearly mirrored his, the spear finally angling down.  She took a deep breath, sliding the weapon behind her, perhaps to calm him or even herself.  “What is wrong with you?” she breathed out, shaking her head.  “Do you have a death wish?”

“No, I just got picked.”  He didn’t mean to laugh, but when it came out, she joined him, their laughter tinged with their nervous energy.  When the laughter died down, they stared at each other for a long moment, trying to figure out what to say, but inevitably lost.  “What do we do now?”

The spear edged back around her body, resting in front of her.  “I don’t know,” she said.  Her smile was gone, but she didn’t frown either.  “I should probably kill you.”

“Or you could let me go,” he replied unconvincingly. 

“And what good would that do me?”  She stood in that moment, aiming the spear back at him.  “You would only kill me down the road if you had the chance.”

“No I wouldn’t.”  He tried to smile, but the fear won out.  The blood that oozed from his neck began to trickle down, his hand wet where it had went to cover the wound.  He was starting to feel like his death was imminent no matter which way this conversation went.  That was what probably prompted him to bring up the one topic that could get him killed: “Why aren’t you with the other careers?”

She glared at him, the spear back at his neck, way too close to where his hand was already serving as a bandage.  He didn’t flinch, not when it could mean impaling himself on that weapon, but he remained very still.  “What makes you think I’m not?”  She was denying the obvious, her glare terrifying, but not entirely hiding the truth that was slipping out its cracks. 

He tried to tilt his body away from the spear, but she only came closer, her eyes trying to melt a hole into him.  When he knew he couldn’t escape her, he took a deep breath, gathering up his courage.

  “For one, they aren’t anywhere nearby.”

“They could be waiting,” she warned.

“For what?  I’m already captured.  I wouldn’t be waiting.”

“You wouldn’t know that.”

“I don’t need to.  You left the careers, admit it.”  He had long since forgotten his cautiousness, his courage rising as they bantered. 

She didn’t show any surprise if she felt it, only lowering her head, in shame.  “I left them.”  She dropped her weapon finally, sitting in front of him.  “He was going to kill me,” she whispered, her face falling into a frown.

He didn’t respond immediately, her words too close to the isolation that had followed him into the arena.  “I-,” he stammered as her eyes fell on him, clear and understanding.  “I’m sorry.”

“Why?  You had no influence in this.”

“I’ve been on my own for a long time.  It’s never easy.”

She shook her head, and tapped her finger absentmindedly on her spear, her gaze on the ground.  “No.  It’s not.”  There was a pause as she looked up at the ceiling of the forest, her blond hair resting against her back.  “I left Chrome with him though, and the only thing I can think of is that I abandoned him.”

“What’s your name?”  She stared at him now, still trying to figure him out, but without a weapon pointed at him this time.  He didn’t smile, or frown, his curiosity keeping his expression plain.

“Lux.  From District One,” she said.  “And you?”

Now he smiled, only a small one.  “Kaede from District Seven.”  Lux smiled back, but with a nervousness that didn’t put him at ease.

“And now we’ve made this much harder.”  Her hand gripped her spear, pulling it between them, ready to kill him.

“Or there’s another option,” he replied, hopeful though his axe was already in his own hand, waiting for the first sign that this wouldn’t work.  “We could be allies.”

Lux snorted, amused by his half crazed idea.  “Doomed to kill each other eventually.  Not to mention that I’d be doing the heavy lifting.” 

“Not true.  You are forgetting your District Two enemy.  Would he really just let you leave?”

Lux narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything, letting him continue, even if he dug his own grave with those very words.  “Besides, even if I did make it to the end, I’d be an easy kill.” 

Her expression lightened, a slight nod telling him that she was in.  “Don’t get your hopes up.  I won’t drag you around if you get hurt.”

“Good.  I wouldn’t want you to.”  She quirked an eyebrow, but stood, waiting for him to follow.

“So what is the plan, Kaede?”

“I think staying alive is a good place to start.”  Kaede stood, and picked up his axe, not missing the laugh that came from Lux.

“It’s going to take more than just simply staying alive, Kaede.”  She didn’t move to follow him, her gaze on the ground before her instead.  “We need to either keep ahead of the Careers or fight them now.  They’ve already started hunting other tributes, soon the lower ranked ones won’t sustain them and we will be next.”  He knew just by looking at her that she was imagining Mason standing over her, the giant tribute sending shivers down his spine simply in anticipation.

“So we stay ahead of them and if we meet them we fight then.”  She nodded, but something was still off, her motivation still weak, given it was their own lives at stake.  “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t entirely sold on this?”

Lux looked up at him, her eyes resting on his axe which was gripped calmly in his right hand.  “What if I can’t kill him?”

He had to fight himself to keep from sighing in frustration.  “Who?”

“Chrome.  I thought I could do this but now-,” she broke off, shaking her head.  “Now I just don’t know.  He was my friend, Kaede.  Before the games, before I’d ever even thought about volunteering.” 

Kaede finally sighed, putting down his axe and offering his hand to her.  “You can give him a chance but the first sign that he isn’t with us and I end him.”  Her eyes locked with his, surprised by the aggressive statement

"You mean that?"

He gave a nod, and helped her up, picking his axe off of the ground.  "This alliance only works if we are both alive, right?"  They gathered their belongings and did their best to hide the evidence of their earlier scuffle, kicking the dirt around, hiding their tracks.  "Which way should we go?"  They could go back up the hill he had just fallen down, or disappear further into the trees, either choice still left them far away from safety as the days crept further on.

“Trees.  We can hide better there.”  Her confidence from before was back, Lux taking the lead again.  She used her spear like a walking stick as they ambled further down the hill, straying from the level path he had collided with her on.  Bushes scraped his pants as they moved slowly, picking their way carefully down.  The lower they got, the more trees that sprouted up, the two of them weaving through the growing forest.  Distantly he could see the beginning of a plain, void of trees, green, and almost beckoning them to it.  He knew instinctively that that was the one place they should try to avoid, it would definitely end in a trap, which was something they couldn’t handle right now.  Lux must have thought the same, taking a turn to the left, and following the line of the trees, inching further and further away from the plain with every step. 

Suddenly, Lux stopped in front of him, Kaede bringing his axe up before him, preparing for an attack or a betrayal.  He wasn’t an idiot, he knew their alliance was a rough one at that, formed only for survival, though it would be an odd time for her to attack.  Lux merely raised an eyebrow at his attempt to prepare himself, saying nothing and simply pointing ahead.  Through the lower branches of the trees he caught a glimpse of movement, two people circling each other in the small clearing.  “Careers?”

She shook her head, kneeling on the ground to get a better angle.  Kaede lowered himself next to her, watching as the other two tribute finally grappled with one another, trading blows that were visibly on the weaker side.  Definitely not careers.  That was when he saw something that hit him with familiarity.  Her black hair waved with each wild movement she made making his breath halt.  Lux still had no idea who the tributes were, but he knew without a doubt that it was Ashley, her knife flashing in the light as she made another attempt to gut the male tribute.  Her aim though was easy to guess, and was easy to deflect.  She wouldn’t last long.

At that moment he wanted to go and help her.  The other tribute wasn’t that much stronger than she was and he could definitely outmatch the boy.  Lux must have realized what he was thinking as her arm reached out and blocked his advance, forcing him back down.  His adrenaline was already pumping now, prepping for action, slowing down any thoughts beyond violence.  He tried to move again, his axe ready by his side, but Lux moved faster, locking her hand on his shoulder in a vice like grip.  With a hard stare at him she whispered, “Would she have done the same for you?”  That question alone brought his adrenaline to a screeching halt, filling him instead with a coldness. 

“We need to be strategic, Kaede.  We can’t just blindly run into a fight.  We aren’t the Careers.”  Things had changed in such a short time, their roles suddenly reversed.  It was now him who was abandoning her, leaving her to die.  He tensed under Lux’s hand but didn’t try to move again, watching intently as the other two tributes fought.  Ashley was putting up a good fight despite her low skills, her blade still not finding its mark, but her opponents faring the same.  It seemed as if the fight would go on forever when one of the knives hit home, blood spurting from the fatal wound.  Kaede leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at the lone victor as the other tribute’s body fell to the ground, stirring up dust in its collapse. 

It was the boy who stood still, his face grim as the cannon sounded in the distance.  Lux’s hand dropped from Kaede’s shoulder as she brought her spear out in front of her.  “Are you ready?” She made a motion in the direction of the boy, and didn’t need to say more as Kaede nodded back at her, both of them moving quickly.