32. A Battle of the Sexes

       "Show yourself," Sutton demanded, not lowering her bow.

            The girl emerged from her cover, becoming bathed in moonlight. She looked like she had slept in bushes—there were leaves plaguing her very dark hair. Her eyes were a shade of brown I couldn't quite make out from the light that shone on her. Her frame was extremely thin; she had to be worse off than Sutton and me. Slung across her looked to be a strap, and on her back was a pack. She looked to be near my age if not a year younger than me.

            The girl put her hands up in surrender. She tottered slightly to one side but regained her balance. Her legs looked as thick as the branch she stood on, and that wasn't thick at all. She didn't look to have many injuries from what I could make out.

            "Lower your bow," said the girl quietly. Sutton flinched, taking a step towards me protectively. "Please. I won't hurt either of you."

            "How can we be sure of that?" Sutton growled.

            "I haven't attacked, have I?"

            "Sutton," I whispered, "I say let's give her a shot. Lower the weapon." I hissed as I grabbed my leg. The wound being exposed to cold air made it sting like hell. My face felt like it was slowly going numb.

            "I think I might be able to help you, if I can see your injuries."

            "I don't trust you near her," Sutton barked.

            "Ease up, will you? I'm trying to offer my help, and you're trying to bite my head off," the girl retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

            "Sutton, relax," I snapped.

            "I won't just yet," Sutton said out of the corner of her mouth. She lowered her bow a fraction—progress. "What can you do to help us?"

            "I have the proper things to help patch her up and even heal her," the girl proposed. "How bad is she?"

            "She's got a torn shoulder and leg, and she's got some cuts on her face—all bleeding," Sutton reported quickly. "We're not sure how deep they are, though. Got medicine for all that?"

            "Actually, yeah, I do. If you'll let me get to her, I can help her."

            Sutton looked over to me. I gave her an all-clear. Sighing, Sutton lowered her bow and climbed a tree branch or two, giving the girl space. The girl leapt to my tree branch, grabbing it and swinging onto it. The way she was crouched, she looked almost catlike. She rose and inched to me, kneeling down to examine the damage for herself. Her brows knitted in concentration.

            She maneuvered the strap to where the pack was against her torso. She opened it, digging through it. I watched curiously, stealing a glance up at Sutton. She watched the girl very intently, like a predator watching prey. The girl whipped out a small container and removed the lid. She dipped two fingers in. I saw that it was some type of ointment.

            "Where do you want it first?" she asked.

            "Anywhere, as long as it lessens or stops the stinging," I said stiffly, biting my lip so I wouldn't scream in pain.

            She started with my leg first. The ointment felt warm when it was applied to my wounds, it felt so good. She had to move shreds of my shirt away from my injured shoulder to get what she needed. She didn't put as much on my face. Once done, she resealed the medicine and stuffed it in her bag. I began to roll down my pant leg, but she grabbed my hands. I looked at her, head cocked.

            "I've got gauze too," she said.

            "Did you pack a hospital in there?" I joked.

            "It's what I got for a sponsor, nothing but medical supplies." She shrugged. The girl carefully wrapped my slightly bleeding leg and shoulder. "I would wrap your face, but I don't have plain bandages on me, and they don't look like simple bandages will cover them. Out here, I'm pretty much a nurse in the Games."

            "Why are you helping us?" Sutton asked. I sensed a little hostility in her voice still, but there wasn't as much as before.

            "I've watched you from time-to-time, mainly you." The girl looked at me.

            "Me?" I gasped. She nodded. "Why me?"

            "I never mean to, you just seem to be near me by coincidence. A while ago I crossed paths with you, but I was up in a tree, so you would've never seen me. You're...different. I feel like you're someone who I can actually trust."

            "That's two people that have told me that." I looked up at Sutton. I looked back to the girl. "Sorry, I can't remember your name. It's been so long since the interviews."

            "Oh, I'm Seraphine," she said. "Don't worry, a lot of tributes forgot about me when I fled the first chance I got. I bet that's what happened to you."

            "I wish." I laughed dryly. "I've had my fair share of enemies."

            "Seraphine," Sutton cut in, "what else do you have in that bag, if I can ask?"

            "A small water bottle—it's still half full. I drink as little as possible. Umm, a blowgun with a few darts still left—"

            "Wait a second," I stopped Seraphine. She looked at me. "You have a blowgun?" She nodded. "You...you were the one who killed that one girl a long time ago in the Games." Another revelation hit me. "You shot that dart at us when Jillian was nearby!"

            "Actually, I didn't intend to shoot either of you," Seraphine confessed. "I was aiming for that brat. She kept following me for a while, so I kept avoiding her. I don't need to worry about that now, of course."

            "I have another question," Sutton chirped. "How did you find us?"

            "I happened to be around here, like you, and I noticed that one girl was lost here. Mutts got to her so quickly she never heard them coming until they were right on top of her."

            "So you saw her die?" I squeaked. Seraphine bobbed her head solemnly. Well, that answered my question as to how Kristi got killed. Knowing she wasn't far from where I was unnerved me. She could've found me.

            "The mutts picked up your scent and tailed you, and when I saw you defenseless—I had to help."

            "You're the one who helped me fight off the mutts," I whispered. "You shot them with the darts."

            "Yeah, the poison works fast. They drop like flies once it's in their system." Seraphine shrugged.

            "Did you ever encounter any of the Career pack?" Sutton piped.

            "No, shockingly, I didn't—although, I did see one away from the pack. She ran off with some other kid—"

            "It was probably Kaya and Noah," I said. "Wow...you were hidden a lot, weren't you? So you could've seen everything that was going on if you wanted to! You had a bird's eye view."

            "Yeah. My hiding didn't go unnoticed." She grinned. "This year my mentor was really lucky to get me some good sponsors—lots of food, water, and medicine. The blowgun I've had ever since the first day when I snatched it from the Cornucopia."

            "You've had it easy. You sound as well off as the Careers."

            "Well, I still don't have a sleeping bag or blanket or something. That's the only thing I'm missing." Seraphine and Sutton stared at each other. "Look, I know you don't trust me very much, and I get that, but you two need me."

            "I think Bridget needs you more than I do," Sutton said coldly.

            "Fair enough, but still. You both want to come out victors, right? So do I."

            "Doesn't everybody?" I sighed.

            "You want us to include you?" Sutton's voice became even more venomous again.

            "If you're willing to let me in. Listen to me, if we all team up, it's just the two Career boys left, right? We've got an extra number. We've got the weaponry, long range and close range," Seraphine explained. She eyed Sutton's bag of arrows and my ax. "We can take them out easily. And if any of us gets injured, as long as I don't lose the medicine, we can easily mend ourselves."

            "We don't know that," I said cautiously. "I mean, we haven't seen them since the first day. We don't know where the boys are for certain, and we don't know what they have."

            "Bridget's right," Sutton sighed. She put her chin in her hands. "For all we know, they could have body armor that arrows and poisonous darts can't penetrate. So really, we won't know what we're up against until we can actually find them and scope out their camp—if they have one."

            "You're a Career, though. You were with them for a few days. You never bothered to survey what you had in your inventory?" Seraphine probed.

            "No, I had other issues to deal with, like the pack itself."

"Where were you when you were with them?"

            "The Cornucopia. They probably haven't abandoned it since we claimed it." Sutton shrugged.

            "Exactly. It's got shelter from the bad weather that could come around; they can gather everything inside of it. It's the ultimate base that only Careers usually take because there's a pack."

            "But I would think that's a predictable thing for them," I voiced. "That's what normally happens."

            "Well, let's hope they aren't in the Cornucopia and well off like we fear they are."

            "Unless the Cornucopia is a dangerous place to stay in, I'm sure they stuck around," Sutton said. "I wonder what's been happening to them. We've been through quite a bit."

            "Me more than you," I grumbled. Unless Sutton had gone through things like I did, she had no room to talk.

            "So...are we going to make this pair up to a trio?" Seraphine asked, looking from Sutton then to me. I looked up at Sutton.

            "One more couldn't hurt," I surmised. "Besides, she's helped us so far when tending to me."

            "Okay, but if you backstab us," Sutton growled at Seraphine, "I won't hesitate to shoot an arrow through your neck. I don't like to be betrayed." That was some pretty dark stuff coming from her.

            "I won't turn on you two, I promise," Seraphine vowed. "Now that we have that out of the way, what's say we sleep now?"

            "We usually take shifts," I piped.

            "Oh. Okay. How awake are both of you, then?"

            "I'll take the first watch," Sutton volunteered darkly. "You can get some rest; I'll wake you when I'm about ready to pass out." She climbed another branch or two higher before settling in above us.

 Seraphine disappeared onto a neighboring branch next to me to sleep. I had a feeling I wasn't going to be doing a shift tonight. I curled into a tight ball, trying to get comfortable. This was an interesting turn of events. I nearly get murdered only to be helped out by Seraphine, who wanted to ally with Sutton and me. Was there no end to the surprises in the Hunger Games?

What Panem was seeing now was a battle of the sexes. Let's the final days of the Hunger Games begin.

*     *     *

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep. To me, that made no sense. I guess I had been so exhausted from the events that happened that I just conked out fast. Nevertheless, I felt like I got a good amount of sleep, just not enough.

My teeth chattered, waking me up. I kept my eyes shut, trying to keep my mouth shut as well. How could it be so cold this time of day? If there was one thing I needed most, it was heavier clothing. Too bad I couldn't send Johanna a note requesting what I wanted. The Games didn't work that way. Johanna was going to have to assume what I wanted.

"What the...?" Seraphine's voice was close by. "This is new. Hey, Bridget, wake up."

"I am up; I just don't want to open my eyes. I'm resting them," I mumbled, shivering.

"No, seriously, you have to see this."

"See what?"

"Just look, will you?" she snapped. Bossy much?

I yawned, peeping my eyes open to the new day. I had to blink twice to make sure I was seeing things right. There was white salt on my jacket. Wait...it wasn't salt. It was snow. Snow? I looked around the jungle area. This was an interesting change.

It was still snowing lightly, snowflakes danced before my eyes. If it weren't for the fact I was still in the Hunger Games, I would've considered the sight to be actually beautiful.

"This is different," I mused. I looked up above me. "Hey, Sutton, you've got to see this!"

"Yeah, I know, it's snowing," she called. She dropped down onto a branch just above me. "I got a handful of it dropped down on me from the leaves." She shook her damp head. "Well, we don't need to worry about a water source. The Gamemakers practically handed it to us."

"Seraphine, you said you had no food, right?" I asked.

"Nope. I think I know why the Gamemakers did this," she said. I looked at her. "They're shooing the food away. I bet this is a way of them making us move closer to the boys."

"They know we can't stay here forever."

"I can't. I get cold easily," Sutton said, rubbing her arms.

"Then we've got no choice but to move," I huffed. "Great. Sutton, get your things."

"I'll go down first. I'll let you guys know if it's all clear," Seraphine volunteered. Smoothly, she leapt out of the tree, landing softly in the snow. I watched her from above, just waiting for something to leap out and snatch her, or for something to shoot at her and kill her on the spot. Nothing did. "We're good," she called.

Sutton was already climbing down. I followed suit, though I was a little more careful than she was. It felt weird, looking at snowy ground. I blinked away snowflakes that threatened to cloud my vision.

"I saw no tracks," Seraphine reported. "Nothing's come by."

"Good. Sutton, my ax," I said. Sutton handed me back my weapon. Hello, old friend. I quickly switched the ax to my right hand. Just the weight of it hurt my on-the-mend left shoulder. I wasn't accurate with my right hand, but I was going to learn.

"Where are we headed?" Sutton asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Anywhere if you get cold easily," Seraphine said, scanning the perimeter around us.

"Don't you think we should cover our tracks, just in case?" I proposed. "I mean, it sounds like a long shot, but it wouldn't hurt."

"If the winds pick up, our trail will die. We'll just try and keep our tracks limited to one pair of feet."

We picked a random direction and started moving. We all fell in sync when walking; I was stuck between Seraphine and Sutton. So much for keeping it to a single pair of tracks. I had a slight limp due to my bitten leg, but neither of the girls noticed, so I assumed it wasn't that bad. It means the medicine is working. I thought I would've been in perfect shape, like I had been when I was given medicine for my poisoned wound in my side. I guess some medicine worked differently, took more time and more applications.

The sky remained cloudy, continuing to dowse us with snow. Sometimes it would get thick, but then it would thin out. The only things heard were our feet crunching in the snow. We were all on edge to where we tried to make our footfalls silent in the snow. It wasn't easy to do so.

The longer we hiked, the more tired I became. Sutton seemed to be warm as long as she was moving; Seraphine was constantly on the lookout for something for us to share for food. I bet things would become very scarce now if they weren't already because of the climate change. A few times we froze because Seraphine thought she saw something, but we ended up continuing on.

Both girls cleared the way for me when I lagged a little bit behind them. They'd take turns in looking over at me from over their shoulders to make sure I hadn't disappeared on them.

"You okay back there?" Seraphine asked me.

"No," I admitted, gripping my injured leg as I stopped. Seraphine stopped, Sutton moved a few feet before stopping as well. Sutton stood where she was while Seraphine trotted to me, whipping one of my arms over her shoulder. "Thanks."

"Do you need me to help, too?" Sutton offered.

"Nah, I think I'm fine," Seraphine grunted. "Keep going, I'll help her catch up."

"I'm in no rush; I don't want anybody to get left behind."

Sutton was patient in going a slower pace because of me holding us all back. She'd always look around us while Seraphine escorted me onward to keep up.

"Is it too much to ask for a conversation?" I asked quietly. I didn't really like it being silent between the three of us.

"Maybe later tonight if we survive," Seraphine huffed.

"You mean when," Sutton corrected her. "Don't doubt anything. You said it yourself; we can take the boys on. Don't start doubting our chances when you're the one who suggested for us to team up in the first place."

"Sometimes I wonder how you stand her," Seraphine muttered under her breath.

"Sometimes I wish I knew how," I admitted, grinning.
            We seemed to be walking in an endless winter wonderland. There was no patch that we crossed that didn't have snow lying atop the ground. I bet the Gamemakers made it snow in the entire arena.

After what seemed like forever, we decided to call it quits and claim an open area with a few mutilated, snow-covered trees.

"Wait a second..." I whispered. Seraphine helped me sit down. I looked around. How could I forget this place? "I think we keep going back and forth between the jungle and the woods, because this is what's left of the woods."

"Really?" Seraphine swiveled her head around. "Maybe we should go back, then."

"You really think that's a good idea?" Sutton asked her. She scratched one of her palms. "I mean, we just walked for pretty much the entire day. I'm sure Bridget is exhausted, and I doubt walking will help her. We're going to have to camp here for tonight. Besides, I bet the boys are too busy being sheltered by the Cornucopia from the snow."

"We don't know that for sure," I sang. Sutton rolled her eyes.

Seraphine and Sutton never argued about staying or moving anywhere. We all just stayed where we were. How we were going to endure tonight without any source of heat was beyond me. If we were lucky, we'd either come up with something or our mentors would pull through with valuable sponsor gifts—some critical, like a sleeping bag, blanket, or even flint to start a fire.