SILVER • THE HUNGER GAMES ¹

| 21. THE WOLF'S HOWL

BOOK ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

( THE WOLF'S HOWL )

     "YOU STILL THINK THIS IS A GOOD PLAN THEN?" Bella awkwardly asked, rocking her trident in and out of her arms then catching it in mid-air. My eyes focused on the distance, ready for anything that jumped out of the vines dangling from the branches of the tropical canopies that engulfed the sky, making it unusually dark for early morning.

     "The Careers would most likely be at the Cornucopia, that's where we are going to go," I abruptly said.

     Bella laughed, surprised at my attitude towards the situation. "And you're still happy with this?"

     "Yes."

     "You? You're okay with this plan? I seriously misjudged that little girl I saw in the interview, now she's prepared to die for another person that she has only known for a month."

     "He deserves it, but he might not make this out alive. So... I'm not going to stand back and let this happen. I might be fighting for him too, but, more importantly, I'm fighting for myself."

     "I like the way you think." Bella smirked, patting my shoulder proudly.

     I raised an eyebrow curiously. "And I'm not going to die for him. We're gonna die together, because I don't think he'll notice that we're gone for too long. You'll fight with me?"

     "Of course."

     "Why?"

     "Because I'm fighting for myself as well... not just for you. Think of it as — I don't know — a little bit of help."

     The crash of a cannon passed, interrupting our conversation. I felt everything inside me drop. What if it was James or Freya? And it looked like Bella was thinking the same thing too. Suddenly, looking up to my newly found ally, I saw a different side to her, someone who actually cares for people and was different from the other Careers. She wasn't heartless like I'd originally labelled her as, she was somewhat caring. That's when I decided to round up the ball of emotion and knock it aside, changing the saddening subject to something else.

     "Look, the Careers are doing it all for us. We'll kill them and then it will all be over."

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     Darkness began to swallow up the day. We had been searching for hours, with no single Tribute in sight. We'd followed the the jungle from the cliff edge (assuming that was where the arena ended) to as far south as we could, but our minds were still lost in the sameness of the over-canopied jungle. Our thoughts had slowly turned to the conclusion that there was no way back to the Cornucopia. Then, like the leaves had cleared above our heads, the Capitol anthem played and our eyes were summoned up to the deep blue abyss of the sky which we couldn't see before. This was when the world revealed who died. The boy from Three's face, who's name was Huxley, was shone across the Arena, he was standing in an almost regal position with his nose pointing upwards onto all of us that watch. His cannon went off about that last hour before when we heard a huge flock of eagles swoop away into the distance where a fire had been lit, and their neon yellow talons sparkled in light from the sun. Mutts. They're were every Games, and I was pretty surprised that I hadn't encountered any yet.

     Bella and I paused for the next face anxiously, hoping that the cannon from this morning was announcing either of our allies. It couldn't have been a Career, because the District Three boy was shown first: only Freya, James or the boy from Twelve could be shown.

     And, at last, the face was shown to us. It wasn't James; it was Freya. I saw a small tear roll down the side of Bella's face, she probably knew Freya the best out of all of us and now there was only eight of us left to fight.

     "She's in a better place now," I admitted and I was right: she was in a place with no more violence and death. She was away from the Capitol - the devil watching over all of us, ready to strike us down one way or another.

     "We're out in the open now, we've got to keep moving." Bella's voice was hollow, like her soul had been ripped out of her by the devastating news. Was what they established before the Games really such a strong bond? I heard that they had a set friendship since their first meeting way back when, but the inevitability of Freya dying was far to strong. Perhaps Bella was willing to let her die at the right time, peacefully and under her eye. The answer to that question would forever linger and the back of my consciousness.

     We kept walking further through the thick tropical forest for a good number of minutes over and over again before the metallic surface of the Cornucopia was visible. We both let out a sigh of relief as we landed sight on our destination. We had made it.

     "Get down," Bella whispered, pushing my shoulders down to counter the effect on the rest of my body. "It's the boy from Twelve and Althea: they're fighting."

     As I ducked, a pair of silhouettes appeared behind the proximity of the Cornucopia and the taller, better built easily seemed to be overpowering the smaller one. Then, with the swing of a sword, one fell to the ground and the sunlit sand grew a crimson disguise. A cannon sounded announcing his death.

     Now, it was our turn to take them on.

     Bella's eyes drifted towards my direction, nodding to confirm our plan, "We're gonna be outnumbered, you understand?" I nodded back, unsure whether to continue. "You still don't know, do you?"

     "No, but I'm going to give it a shot," I replied warily. A cloak of silence hung in the air between us, swaying me in between each side. I couldn't understand what to do, and I doubt  I ever would. On one hand, I had to let James win and go home, but on the other hand, I never got to say goodbye. I was torn in half. The silhouettes of the Althea and Ottilie, who had emerged from the distant jungle to join her fellow Career, were gradually increasing towards us and Bella nudged my arm to warn me of there presence.

     "Be quiet," she demanded, pulling a finger to her lips. "If we're not going to settle with the original plan, we might just have to wing it." Bella pulled me up by coat collar, helping me stand camouflaged in the tropics and I leant down under an overhanging branch. The heat flared down onto my cheeks and my body was warmer than usual. It slowly came aware to me that the Capitol was preparing us for the end.

     Suddenly, a muscular arm wrapped around my neck, strangling me in the process. I squirmed against the person, in hope of alarming Bella who was only a couple of metres in front of me. But, it was too late already.

     They'd got her too.

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