— 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐱 —

━━━━━━ ☽【❖】☾ ━━━━━━

We sat in a small circle, observing our dwindling resources as if stuck between a choice of what we should do. Although our alliance with what remained of district six, eight, and eleven had proved beneficial, four weeks—on top of the first one—was a long time to make these rations last. However, it was do able. Almost like the gamemakers had expected the games to go on for this long.

Over the course of these five weeks, my lessons with Harlan had improved and I was practically fluent when it came to speaking with my hands. Even Honey seemed impressed the first time we were able to have a conversation and I didn't need an interpretation.

It was easy to forget why we remained hidden away in another cave; however, the gamemakers had done their best to remind us every couple of days. The second week of the games was the only time we were granted peace. Only because half of us were injured, and the other half had caught pneumonia. Harlan's ailments were the worst as he constantly looked like he was on the verge of life and death. You have no ideas how appreciative I was when district ten received some medication that they were willing to share. And if I were truly honest with myself, allying myself with Rex might have been the best decision I could have ever made.

Harlan seemed to idolize him too, constantly asking for more lessons with his bo staff. Not because he wanted the protection, but because he genuinely enjoyed spending time with the older boy. Over the past few weeks, not only had he learned to defend himself, but he'd been taught a few tricks for show as well.

The third week is where trouble picked back up, and hadn't seemed to stop really. First, it was the bear muttation that tried to steal our established home. We managed to defend ourself, several of us were injured by the end of the fight. Second, we were forced to deal with a bat muttation infestation. I almost considered this one worse than the bear purely due to the number of hostile creatures we faced. Finally, there was the temperature, many of the nights dropped below freezing and all of our supplies had become too damp to start fire. Luckily we had that bear pelt; otherwise, I doubt any of us would have made it.

Focusing back on the supplies, what remained was a small handful of rations, Harlan's bo staff, district eight's rope which had once saved our lives, my spearheads which had been crafted into throwing knives, and my canteen and flashlight—albeit the batteries had run down somewhere at the end of the third week. We also had a single steel dagger, a sword none of us knew how to properly use, an axe that only Rex had the strength to lift, and our climbing gear which had been used to get up the mountain in the first place.

'So what's the plan?' Otto questioned, swiftly moving his fingers while his lips remained sealed—a miracle on its own as the boy never seemed to shut up.

As a group, we decided it would be best to learn the silent language to keep our plans quiet while the Capitol watched from their hidden cameras. It was though incidents where we'd been caught speaking of our plans out loud that instigated the moments where the gamemakers had tried to kill us all.

"We should gather our supplies and head for the cornucopia," Emory said out loud while his hands contradicted his words. 'Head for the border. Find weak point.'

"That's just asking to be spotted by the careers," Rex contradicted, keeping to the plan of distracting the audience with our voice while our hands were the instruments of true communication. 'What about the ceiling? If we could short out the border I think we might have a chance of escape that way.'

'Not if we don't shut down the cameras and get rid of these trackers,' Webb contradicted with her hands, adding with her voice, "I've done the math, we outnumber them eight to five."

Tuck was the only one really struggling to keep up. His eyes had been permanently damaged despite the herbal remedies Honey had concocted to soothe the pain. His glazed over look almost made it seem like he wasn't paying attention. The truth of the matter was that he was relying on touch to translate our messages while our voice acted as a distraction to his ears. Webb had been relaying the conversation painfully slow onto the palm of his hand.

"We've got a few rations left that should last a couple days tops. We have time to come up with a better plan." Hesitantly, he took his own turn.

Webb was the one to translate, messing up a few words, but we all understood what she meant. 'He says that we should split up in to teams. Divide and conquer.'

Honey held up a hand. I immediately flashed back to the first time she'd done so, reliving the deja vu of water filling my lungs.

"Honey?" Rex questioned, his brow furrowing with concern as he touched her on the arm.

Her complexion had paled. 'Ground moving.'

"Somebody want to explain what's going on?" Tuck asked, turning his head in both directions as if fearful that we'd left him in the following silence.

"We need to leave," I announced the obvious, grabbing Harlan and Honey by the hand while Rex took charge of gathering the supplies.

"What wrong?" Otto's confusion kept the others still despite the four of us that had jumped to our feet.

"Let's just say the last time that the ground moved we were introduced to each other," Rex vaguely explained while tying the rope up and shoving it inside the pack. "So unless you too want to be waterlogged, I suggest you get moving."

"But what if it starts at the front of the cave this time?" Harlan asked, gesturing to the walls around him. "I don't see any leaks."

"What about that?" Emory asked, pointing toward the ceiling where little spikes of ice had begun jutting through the cracks.

The rock ceiling continued to split while the size of the icicles increased. Only after the first fell between Tuck's legs did we understand the threat that the gamemakers were once again pulling the strings. As the rest of us screamed out a warning, Tuck's features twisted with fear—unable to see the icicle that had nearly ended his life, but capable of feeling its chill.

Webb pulled Tuck to his feet, slinging one arm over her shoulder to guide him while Emory took the other side. It was clear the boy stuck in the middle hated feeling so useless, but there wasn't much he could do to refute the overruling fact that he needed help.

Otto helped Rex finish putting the supplies away and the race was on. The size of the icicles only continued to increase as we sprinted down the rocky corridors toward the entrance of the cave. I swore under my breath, compensating for the cold that made all of our joints ache. Harlan and I narrowly avoided one or two shards of ice that dropped from the ceiling just as we passed underneath. Otto and Rex weren't so lucky.

I whipped my head around as their cries of pain echoed through the cavern, shaking the ice above that loosely clung to the ceiling. A large icicle had embedded itself in Rex's side and another pinned Otto's foot to the ground.

I turned on my heels, prepared to turn back. But with a stern look, Rex shook his head. "Don't you dare come back for me!"

"But—"

"No!" Rex insisted. His features softened. "You get those kids to safety. We'll see you on the other side."

I knew he was lying. But as I looked down at Harlan and Honey who had remained at my side, I knew I had to make the hard choice.

"We'll see you on the other side," I confirmed. I turned my back, pulling Harlan and Honey back just as another icicle tried to add us to its casualty list... also effectively beginning to block off the tunnel and separating us completely from Rex and Otto.

Harlan and Honey both cried out, trying to convince me to turn around and help, but there wasn't anything left to be done besides escape. The cavern grew lighter as we reached the entrance, narrowly escaping as the tunnel was sealed and the cannon's echo rang through the air.

My heart fell as Honey tugged on my sleeve, looking up at me with her big, warm eyes as if pleading to bring her brother back. I slowly shook my head. Sequentially, my eyes watered as silent tears streamed down Honey's cheeks.

Harlan shook his head, denying the loss as he tried to claw away the rubble that blocked the entrance. "He can't be dead. There was only one cannon. We have to help him."

"Harlan..."

"He's still in there and he needs our help," Harlan insisted, struggling against the ice and boulders that refused to move. "Please, someone help me!"

"Harlan," I grabbed the boy by the shoulders, turning him to face me. "He's gone..."

The small boy broke down in my arms and no matter how strong I tried to stay, I too couldn't ignore the loss that ached infinitely more than the bruises and scraps I'd accumulated.

The other three were also solemn, taking a moment of silence for the boy that never stopped talking. As stoic as each of them seemed, Otto was the optimistic one. The kind soul of their otherwise weathered band. And if dealing with the loss of our allies wasn't enough, a foreign voice tainted the silence.

"Well, well, well... what have we here?" As we turned our heads around to face the threat, there stood one of the things we feared most in this arena. The careers. Rena clapped her hands, proving to be the one who'd spoken as she continued her taunt. "I spy with my little eye a fallen goddess and her mangled worshippers."

"This is almost too easy," Halo laughed.

"Like a pond of sitting ducks waiting to be plucked for supper," Lux agreed with a cruel chuckle of his own as axe in his hand glinted in the sunlight.

"They don't even have any weapons," Beckett sneered, planting his harpoon on the ground beside him like a staff.

Webb snarled. But with a quick flick of her wrist, her expression relaxed to admire her work as Beckett dropped to the ground. The boy from district four clutched his throat, choking on his own blood as his hands wrapped around the dagger that Webb had embedded into his throat.

The cannon echoed and Rena released a cry of insult. "You'll pay for that mistake in your own blood. Romulus, let's finish this."

My eyes flashed over to the boy Rena had gestured to. As he unsheathed the sword from his back and I met his eyes, I briefly froze in an overwhelming second of deja vu. His miscolored eyes stared straight into my soul as if trying to extinguish my flame from the inside out. His blue eye was ice while his golden burned with a fire more enraged than my own. And I could finally see that every path that we'd taken separately—starting with the parade of chariots—were meant to bring us to this exact moment. Not all of us were going to walk away alive tonight.