Chapter Eleven: Killings

Lucy awoke again in the morning, although it was still dark, to find the Careers were already up and ready to go. Even Peeta looked surprisingly ready. Lucy stood up and shook herself mentally, ridding herself of the feeling that she needed to go back to sleep before picking up her bow and arrows and taking an apple from the District 3 boy for breakfast. 

"I say we go hunting again today." Clove said as she finished off her breakfast. "We may even find fire girl today." 

"Or maybe we won't," Marvel yawned. 

"Be quiet!" Clove hit him on the head. "I was talking to Cato not you!" 

"Maybe we'll find someone else though," Lucy admitted as she stretched. "After all, there's still plenty of tributes to kill." 

"Of course." Cato drew out his sword. "I think fire girl will be our main priority though." 

"Yes!" Marvel grinned, grabbing his collection of spears. "We can get rid of her for good then!" 

"I say we start the hunt now, we could kill her in her sleep," Lucy pointed out wisely, even though she knew this statement was very cruel.

"But I'm killing her!" Cato snapped. "I'll be the one to finish her off."

"Lets go," Clove said and the Careers headed towards the forest, the District 3 boy was left to guard the supplies once again. 

They travelled through the forest just like they had done yesterday but were even more alert when searching for Katniss, they had to find her and kill her. No matter what it took. 

"Who wants to lead the way?" Cato asked. 

"I'll do it," Peeta said. "After all, I think I'd be the one to know where my District partner hangs out." 

Peeta took the lead, Lucy and Cato followed along behind him with Marvel and Clove just behind them. Lucy had to admit that she felt a lot safer with the Careers now than she had done yesterday, not only did they get the tributes killed quickly they protected one another in a way. They had to work on a team to survive...until it would come down to just them of course, then things would start to go wrong. 

"Look! Over there!" Lucy pointed out suddenly, almost jumping up and down. There was smoke rising above the trees, there must be a tribute by the fire. 

"Some tributes aren't the brightest," Marvel shook his head and took the lead. When they arrived they saw the District 8 girl sitting by the fire and trying to warm herself up. 

"Who'd like to do the honours?" Cato asked as the girl's head snapped up. 

"You do it, Cato," Clove grinned. "You kill her." 

"No please!" The District 8 girl pleaded. 

Cato laughed viciously as the girl stared in terror, she was about to take off and run when Cato brought his sword down at lightning speed and blood sprayed everywhere. The girl screamed and with one more blow of his sword she was no more. 

The cannon went off and Lucy jumped. 

"One down, ten more to go," Marvel laughed and he took the lead with Lucy. 

"Oh no! Don't kill me!" Clove mimicked the District 8 girl as she walked alongside Cato. 

"Lover boy, do you think fire girl went this way?" Cato asked Peeta. 

"Yeah, I'm sure," Peeta nodded. 

They continued to walk through the woods, their main goal was to kill Katniss but just like the District 8 girl they wouldn't mind if they found other tributes to kill. 

"Who do you thinks going to be next?" Marvel whispered in Lucy's ear. 

"Either the District 9 tributes or the small girl from District 11," Lucy whispered back after a moment of hesitation. Although she knew she was a fool. 

Rue, the girl from District 11, was a twelve years old and although she was very small Lucy had a feeling she was quite intelligent and quick. As for the District 9 tributes, she wouldn't be surprised if they encountered them anytime soon. 

"Definitely," Peeta joined in, startling Lucy and Marvel. "The District 9 tributes won't be much longer for this world. They just about escaped the bloodbath." 

"The girl from District 5's pretty intelligent," Lucy said, although she hated to admit it. "The boy from District 10 must be able to fend for himself...but Thresh from District 11...oh I wouldn't want to encounter him." 

"I would," Cato mumbled. "I'd kill him on the spot." 

"What about Rookie?" Lucy asked suddenly. 

"She didn't join the alliance, she grabbed a backpack and that was it. She won't last long, even if she is a good fighter. She might not be able to survive in the wild." 

"I think Rookie will surprise us," Peeta said. "I think she'll get pretty far into the games." 

"I'm going to have to agree with Peeta on that one," Lucy smiled. 

It was late afternoon when everyone started to get bored and hungry and they were about to head back when they made it to a ledge with a stream flowing downwards, all seemed pretty calm when Marvel took the lead and started pointing. 

"Look! Look! There she is!" Marvel laughed and all the Careers turned in the direction he was pointing to. 

Cato began to laugh as they had found Katniss, swimming in the stream. He lead the way as Katniss scrambled out of the water and tried desperately to get away from the Careers. 

Cato steamed ahead while Lucy ran just behind him, Marvel, Clove and Peeta following. Lucy realised that Peeta didn't look too enthused that they had found his District partner so suddenly...and she had a feeling that Peeta was trying to put them off route. 

They hopped over tree roots and rocks alike, just to chase down Katniss. They had finally found what they were after. And Cato was determined to kill her. 

"Where are you going?" Clove taunted as Katniss began climbing a tree. 

"That's not going to help you up there, Katniss!" Lucy joined in, as her hatred for Katniss was probably as strong as everybody else's and even though she hated to admit it, this was someone she really wanted dead. 

"I'm coming for you!" Cato laughed as he began to climb the tree, Katniss gasped and tried to climb quicker but Lucy noticed she had an injury on her thigh that looked pretty painful. 

"Come on, Cato!" Clove grinned. 

"You've got this, Cato!" Lucy laughed. 

"Go!" Marvel joined in. "Go!" 

Cato made it halfway up the tree before he grabbed hold of a branch and it snapped, he fell back down and landed with a faint thud on the ground. Lucy shook her head then grabbed an arrow from her sheath and placed it against her bow. 

"I'll do it myself," she muttered and then let the arrow flying, Katniss leaned against the tree, the arrow narrowly missing her. 

"Give me that!" Cato growled and snatched Lucy's bow then pulled an arrow out of the sheath on her back then aimed it at Katniss, missing her again. 

"Maybe you should throw the sword!" Katniss yelled and the Careers all ground. 

"Lets just wait around," Peeta said suddenly, approaching the group. "I mean she's got to come down sometime, otherwise she'll starve." 

"OK," Cato said, feeling a little disappointed that he couldn't kill Katniss here and now. "Somebody start a fire." 

*      *      * 

Lucy sat down on the ground as she began making a fire and wished she'd gone to that station in training as it took her quite a while to successfully start it and as soon as she did Marvel sat one side of her and Clove sat down on the other. Cato and Peeta sat opposite them and they waited patiently. 

"Who's got food?" Cato asked and Clove pulled her backpack off her back and handed everyone some food, just as well because Lucy hadn't thought about taking food with her. But she didn't know they would be camping out away from their supplies today. 

"She'll come down soon," Lucy said. "If not I'll have another go with my bow and arrow." 

"Or I'll throw a spear," Marvel said in agreement. 

"I'll throw my knives if push comes to shove," Clove muttered as she shrugged off her red waterproof jacket so everyone finally got a good look at her knife vest that had so many knives that they could last her the whole games. "I've got quite a good aim." 

"I'm not risking my sword," Cato said as he picked it up and hovered it over the fire so the tip turned red. He took it out and then spat on the tip, making a sizzling sound causing them to laugh. 

Clove threw a few small knives which some sort of lizard and they cooked it over the fire, sharing it out between them. Lucy passed up the offer and thought starvation would be better than eating a a lizard...

"Not bad," Marvel said once he'd finished and it turned dark. "I say we sleep." 

"Who's keeping watch?" Cato asked. 

"I'll do it," Lucy said. "I think you all deserve to sleep." 

"No I'll do it, Peeta told me you woke up in the night," Marvel said. 

"I'm fine, I promise you." 

"Alright..." 

As everyone settled down for sleep on the ground, Lucy watched as the fire died down and all that was left was the smoke wafting up into the air. She was a little sad to see it go because she had been quite proud that she'd been able to make it. 

As she kept watch, she could feel her eyelids getting heavy but she refused to give into her tiredness. She had vowed that she'd keep watch and wasn't going to give in because if something came and attacked one of the group (apart from Peeta) Cato would kill her. 

"Hey," a voice behind Lucy whispered. It startled her because the voice sounded so loud in the silent air. She turned around from where she was keeping guard in the night and smiled. Marvel lay awake, his spears lay next to him and his backpack had been propped up just by his head. 

"Hey," she smiled, also keeping her voice to a whisper. "Can't sleep?" 

"Couldn't if I tried." 

"You should try and sleep, you need your energy. After all, there's still tributes to kill," she teased. 

"Plenty to kill," he gave an airy laugh as he nodded towards Katniss, who had tied herself to one of the tree branches with a bit of rope and was fast asleep. "But she's Cato's main priority." 

"As soon as she's dead I think Cato will kill off Peeta," she whispered. 

"Most probably, they'll be no use for him any longer." 

"I guess so..." 

"We'll go after the District 9 tributes next and then maybe the District 5 girl..." 

"Stop talking, Marvel," Lucy whispered. "Sleep." 

Marvel let out a sigh as Lucy tried to get the fact out of her head that she really was turning into a Career. She was positive that The Hunger Games weren't going to change her and that she was going to stay the same fifteen year old but just by joining an alliance her attitude had changed. But she'd be dead soon anyway, so did it really matter?" 

Lucy bit her lip and tried desperately not to think of her parents watching her on live television right now...if they were...surely Gaze would be peering over her parents' shoulders to catch a glimpse of her friend before she died? Surely she would still be caring...or would she?

"Lucy?" Marvel asked. His eyes were closed. 

"Marvel?" She turned to him. 

"Can you sing?" 

"No, I'm not singing you to sleep either." She snapped and turned away, hugging her knees to her chest. 

Marvel remained silent as she sat there and thought about District 1. She really hated singing although she did have a passion for music. She was too embarrassed to ever sing in public and she surely wasn't going to sing now on live television in front of the whole of Panem. Not even to her best friend. 

"But what if it was my last request from you?" 

Lucy blinked. "Request?" 

"Yes, perhaps I might not be in existence much longer...so would you sing?" 

"Perhaps..." she muttered. Marvel gave her a hopeful look and she took a deep breath.

"I only know one song off by heart and I'm not even supposed to know it! It belongs to District 12, I heard someone singing it when there was a mine explosion and — " 

"Sing." 

She looked around nervously and then composed herself and tried to get the thought that the whole of Panem was on the edge of their seats watching her. So she forgot about all of them and just thought about it being just her and Marvel here: 

"Are you, are you coming to the tree? 

Where they strung up a man 

They say he murdered three

Strange things did happen here 

No stranger would it seem 

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree." 

"Thank you," Marvel whispered then fell into a deep sleep. 

Lucy shook her head and stood up, she grabbed her bow and arrows then began gingerly walking through the forest but little did she know she had left Katniss, Clove, Cato, Peeta and Marvel all dreaming about her voice. 

Even though she knew Cato would have a fit if he found out of her absense she didn't care, she needed to have a walk alone. She felt since she'd entered The Hunger Games she'd been enclosed in the pressure of killing other tributes and it was getting too much to handle. 

She stayed silent and alert for any signs of life, she had to be on guard 24/7 in the arena if she didn't want to die, especially now when she had been brave enough to venture away from the Careers alone. Anything could attack her now. 

"Well, well," a voice chuckled from up in a tree, Lucy looked up to the trees and saw the District 9 boy with his arms folded. "Lucy the girl from District 1 with the training score of 4, how disappointing..." 

"Glad you pay attention," she rolled her eyes as he hopped down from the tree he was sitting in to face her. Despite the fact she was only 5 ft 4, she towered above the boy. 

"I've heard about you." He said and Lucy's brain was on full alert, she sensed something was wrong...she gripped her bow tighter and was ready to grab an arrow from her sheath. 

"I haven't heard about you." 

"It's best you don't know about your killer, isn't it?" 

"What?" 

And suddenly a searing pain hit the back of her leg and she screamed out in pain, surely the Careers would hear her? The boy laughed as his District partner dug her knife harder into Lucy's leg. She toppled over and landed at the boy's feet, he snatched her bow and an arrow and shot one in her back. Unfortunately she didn't have her backpack to protect her...

She sobbed as they laughed at her and while they were doing so, out of the corner of her eyes she saw one of Marvel's abandoned spears. She got up, tore the arrow from the back and yanked the spear out of the ground and held it firmly in her hands. 

The District 9 tributes stopped laughing at her and Lucy approached the boy, his eyes were filled with fear. 

"I'm afraid that you're going to know an awful lot about you killer..." she got an iron grip on his shoulder and with one quick motion she stabbed him straight through the chest, the glint that Marvel had when he was killing Lucy had in her eyes too. This wasn't like when she killed the District 4 girl, she didn't want to kill her.

She wanted to kill the District 9 tributes. 

They had made fun of her, humiliated her even in front of Panem. They had laughed at her and her pathetic training score...it was time Lucy got revenge. 

The District 9 boy's partner screamed as Lucy pulled the spear slowly out of the boy's body, it was all covered in his blood. It didn't even make Lucy feel sick. 

The boy gasped, fear still in his eyes, determination in Lucy's. She stabbed him once more and his eyes slowly closed as he hit the ground when she let go. Fear was etched into his facial expression as the cannon went off to signal his death. 

Lucy rounded on the District 9 girl, she held her knife defensively at Lucy but Lucy dropped the bloody spear and snatched the knife from her. She shoved her to the ground and put her knees on her shoulders so she couldn't move, Lucy held the knife above her head and the girl quaked is fear. 

Lucy stabbed the knife in the girl's chest, blood sprayed everywhere and it was on her hands, her clothes and her face. She took the knife out and stabbed the girl again and again, just like she'd seen Clove do as well as Marvel on the day of the bloodbath. 

Lucy yelled in determination and stabbed her once more before the cannon went off and she stood up, leaving the girl's corpse. 

"LUCY!" Marvel cried through the trees, his voice was agonised. "LUCY!" 

She didn't reply as she stared at her two unfortunate victims. Their faces held pure terror and then Lucy realised something. She was just another piece in the Capitol's games...they were trying to turn her into something she wasn't...

"Oh what have I done..." Lucy whispered. 

"Lucy!" Marvel cried again as he moved into the clearing where Lucy had killed the tributes. "Oh...what happened?" 

"They made fun of me!" She whispered then looked at the bloody knife she held. "Oh I've changed so much! What's happened to me?" 

"Just thank your lucky stars that isn't you! I was worried sick when I heard the cannon!" 

"I escaped with a few wounds though..." she admired the back of her leg and Marvel saw the wound on her back too. 

"Lets go back and get you cleaned up," Marvel said and put an arm around her shoulders, almost supporting her. 

"OK..." 

The two walked back to where the rest of the Careers were sleeping, supporting her all the way. As soon as they arrived Marvel helped her sit down and then he opened up his backpack and pulled out the ointment and healed her wounds. 

"I'll keep watch, you sleep," he whispered. 

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked. 

"I'm sure, you haven't been sleeping for these past couple of nights and it's time you got some rest." 

"Alright..." she laid down and was about to fall asleep when she opened her eyes. "Marvel?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Your turn to sing," she laughed. 

"Not if you want the whole arena woken up," he winked and she laughed once more before falling asleep and being haunted by the faces of the two District 9 tributes...