Deadly Game - Chapter 25

I'm very sorry, once again, but I'm trying to keep up at least one upload/week. This one's a bit longer...

Music is Crossfire by Stephen, which I think fits the Hunger Games universe well - and also the world we live in.

Enjoy!

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<3 Anna

Chapter 25

Her cannon fires.

I feel numb, still.

I don't think my brain has grasped the fact that Faith is gone yet. I think this state is called denial. I refuse to realize that she's gone.

Axara's sobs bring me back to reality, and suddenly I feel a strong pain in my chest. I look down at the small girl in my arms, the innocent little creature the Capitol killed for fun. Rage fills me, chases away the sorrow. How? Why did I let this happen? I should have walked first, should have been more observing, should have noticed the trap... It's my fault. I should have protected her, this small angel in my arms. I failed.

Don't blame yourself, Cass. You can't save everyone.

Evan's voice rings through my head. I know it's just my brain tricking me, but it sounds just like him. That's the thing he'd tell me if he could.

Crying is a weakness I can not afford, but still I let a few tears slip out.

I knew this was going to happen. I told myself not to get attached. But of course, that was useless.

Because who could not care for this girl? So sweet and kind, so innocent. A child.

I force myself to focus.

"They need to come and get her body," I tell Axara. She nods through her tears. I know that will not happen as long as were inside the cave. But still I'm not ready to move yet. I'm stroking Faith's hair, running my fingers through it, gently removing the tangles.

Then I rise, and give Faith's body to Axara. I quickly melt some snow over the fire, and clean Faith's wounds, making sure no blood can be seen on her. Then I braid her hair, and something gleams on her wrist. The flickering light of the flames reflects from three small bracelets. I run my fingers over them,

"Her tokens," Axara says. She removes two bracelets. "Faith wanted us to have these." She gives me one, and I run a finger over the surface. Something is written, and I take the bracelet closer to the fire so that I can make out the words.

Faith, Hope and Love.

I let the bracelet slide onto my wrist, the coolness feeling great on my skin that is hot from sitting so close to the fire.

I see Axara take slip on a bracelet too, and then I pull up the sleeve of Faith's coat a little, so that you can see the final bracelet on her arm.

Then she's ready, and I know it. I can't do anything more, and it's time to say goodbye.

Axara and I carefully lift her out of the cave.

We place her body twenty meters away from the opening, and I touch her hair, kiss her forehead, and mumble,

"Goodbye, Faith. I love you, you're not alone."

Then I go to stand in the opening of the cave, letting Axara say her private goodbyes. Faith seemed to be very important to her.

After a while she backs, but before that, she melts some snow in her hand and paints a cross of water on Faith's forehead. When she reaches the cave, we stand there and watch, wait for a hovercraft to come and pick her up.

A squirrel cautiously moves to her body, nuzzling her hand with it's nose. It almost seems like the animals are mourning the loss of Faith too, and the squirrel has come to say goodbye.

It then leaves as a bird nearby – a mockingjay, I think – gives a sharp warning. A hover-craft appears, and they slowly reach down for Faith, transporting her frail body into the hovercraft.

I watch her higher and higher in the air, and then do something I never thought I'd do. I raise my fist and press it to my heart. It's a gesture you only use at funerals for a family-member. And that's what Faith's become. My sister. I see in my eye-corner how Axara honors Faith in her own way, by raising her hand and painting a cross in the air in front of her.

The last thing I see of Faith is her reddish hair gleaming in the sun that peaks through the clouds.

Even the sun has come out to say goodbye to this innocent girl.

We go back inside the cave, and Axara is very quiet. I wonder what Faith wanted her to say, what she mean, but I do not dare to ask. The last thing I need right now is a crying Axara, 'cause that will only make me cry, too. But soon she falls asleep, exhausted after this emotional drama. And it's too late to ask.

But, when I think about it, I'm glad I didn't ask.

It could have been something secret, and we never know if this cave is bugged, if the audience can hear everything we say.

The audience...

Riccy.

Is he watching? He promised me.

I hope Adina isn't. I don't think Suzanne would let her. This isn't anything she's supposed to see. I sit in the opening of the cave, watching as the sky darkens, and snow falls again.

"If you see this, make sure Adi-bird doesn't watch, please, Ric." My voice is barely over a whisper, and I hope Riccy can see this. I hope he realizes what it means to me that Adina is kept out of this, that she won't have to see me like this, killing other people. Adina needs to stay away from the games.

When It's dark, and my watch tells me it's time for the Anthem, I wake up Axara.

During the music, I ask her what Faith meant, quietly.

She breathes her explanation into my ear, speaks low so that no one can possibly hear.

"It turns out that my father was re-assigned to District 9. Just like he did in 8 - 'cause that's how he and my mother met - he let women sell their bodies to him, because he wanted to give them a chance to more money. Apparently Faith's mother got pregnant and never told him. Faith knew this because her mother told her before she died, and left Faith an orphan." Axara takes a deep breath after the rant.

"So Faith is your half-sister?" I mumble back.

"Yeah. We only found out during training."

This shocks me, 'cause they do not look like each other at all. But maybe Faith took after her mother... who knows?

Once again, I wonder who loved Faith. Surely, someone did. Someone at the orphanage, I bet there's someone who she was dear to. I can't believe she could not have had a place in anybody's heart.

The brown eyes stare at me in my mind, and remind me that I'm not allowed to think these thoughts right now. Right now is when I survive. When that task is gone, I'll get revenge on the Capitol for doing this, by helping to start the uprising. Helping to destroy those who killed her.

If you want to punish them, Axara has to die, a small voice in my head reminds me. A chill runs through me as I force the thought into the back of my mind. Focus.

One step ahead. Play above the rules.

Julily's face can be seen in the sky first, and I whisper,

"Goodbye, Julily. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

Axara sends me a surprised glance, and I shrug.

"She died from the falling trees."

Then Faith's face is there, and we watch it silently. As it disappears, I wonder if I'll ever see it again. If I win, I will. If not... well.

I wonder what we should do next. I think I need to let my shoulder rest for a while, so I suggest we stay here. Axara agrees, and we move back inside the cave. Axara offers to take the first watch, and I don't argue, because I'm so tired I'm surprised I haven't fallen asleep in a standing position yet.

The last thing I see before closing my eyes is the black sky and the dancing Northern lights.

"Wake up, Cassie, wake up!" Somebody's shaking me, hands on my shoulders. Immediately I realize there's danger, and my reflexes react. I'm up in a matter of seconds, but it seems like somebody's still shaking me. Axara stands beside me, her eyes full of fear.

"Cassie! Something's wrong!"

The ground is shaking, and I hear a distant but hard noise. I don't know what I'm doing, but I run to the opening of the cave, and the mountain keeps shaking.

When I peak out, and look up at the mountain, I gasp.

"Damn!"

An avalanche is running down the peak of the mountain, straight at us. It's still quite far away, but I know we'll never get out of it's reach, even if we run now. It will swallow the forest in about a kilometer's range.

Okay, breathe, Cassie. Above the rules. Don't let fear take over.

What is the meaning with this avalanche? To kill us. They want us to be scared, to run. They use our instincts as an advantage. They want us to try and escape, so that the avalanche will swallow us. But there has to be some way to survive. There always is.

It's too late to run, I know it. But if we stay right here, hide in the cave?

That's our only chance.

I turn to Axara.

"They want us to run. That's what they're planning on. So we won't. And it's too late to run, anyway."

Axara looks pale. "Let's go back into the cave."

I follow her, and we take our things, gathering them as deep in the cave as we can. Then we sit and wait, listening as the avalanche comes closer. I once again find myself fingering on my necklace. It's becoming a bad habit when I'm nervous.

Then the mass of snow floods down over the opening of the cave, and half-way inside, too. Axara shrieks, and I hold my breath.

"We made it," Axara whispers shakily as the snow finally stills.

"We did," I nod.

"Now, lets get us out of here. That might take a while, and if we run out of air we'll die here," Axara says.

We pack our backpacks, and then I see Faith's backpack in the corner. Slowly I unpack it, stuffing everything into mine and Axara's. It hurts to do so, and leave the empty backpack behind, but I stay quiet.

I hand Faith's weapon, the needle, to Axara, and take her knife and stick it under my belt.

Then I walk towards the snow.

"Cassie, don't!" Axara says.

"What?"

"You need to test it first, no one knows if it'll collapse if you touch it!"

"Oh."

I back a few steps, and take the bow from my shoulder. Might as well test it, too.

I place an arrow to the bow, and get ready to release it. My body automatically adjusts itself, and I wince as my shoulder stretches.

I release the arrow, and it hits the snow-wall. To my surprise at exactly the place I wanted it to. The snow-wall doesn't react in any way.

I glance at Axara, and then we start digging ourselves out. It's a hard job, and the snow is packed. We tire quickly, and take a pause.

My gaze lands on the small fire still burning in the corner. I pick up some dry wood that Axara collected, and stick the end of the branch into the flames until it catches fire. Then I bring it to the hole we started, and hold it a few centimeters from the snow. The snow starts melting, and Axara follows my example, grabbing another branch, making the hole wider. After a while she starts using her ax to widen the hole, and we quickly work our way out. When I finally stick my head out of the three meters long tunnel we made, I'm exhausted.

We leave the cave behind us, and cautiously make our way over the snow.

I lead the way through the forest, and we decide to move over the river, see what's on the other side. I try not to move any closer to the Cornucopia, and that's why we keep a straight line to the river, the mountain almost right behind us. When we suddenly break into a big meadow, I'm surprised. It's huge, and in the middle of the snow stands a few houses. They seem to be empty.

"Traps, I guess," Axara says. I nod.

We walk along the edge of the meadow, trying to stay hidden. I see the gleaming river behind the trees on the other side of the meadow.

We make our way to the river, and I stick my hand into the water, and flinch from the cold. I watch the nature on the bank of the river, and then walk down-streams. Axara follows, knowing my knowledge of water is better than hers.

Soon enough, I find what I'm looking for. After a small creak there's a part where the water doesn't flow so fast, and I can see that the bottom is only about thirty centimeters from the surface.

"This is where we cross," I tell Axara.