Dangerous Allies // Cato Hadley

Part 12: Day in the woods

Eve's only company as she walked along the riverbank were the fish that swam in the clear water beside her.

No one told her how lonely she would get inside the arena. She was alone back home, but she could always sit outside and watch her neighbors. Their smiles and laughter helped ease the sting of having an empty house behind her.

She could tell her boss about the yields the day brought, but here her voice only seemed to come to taunt the careers as they tried to kill her.

A small part of her wanted to see them again just to chit chat.

When she had her spear ready to fly into her dinner the familiar feeling of being watched flooded into the back of her mind and she was left to regret her wish for human interaction.

She dared not release her weapon. Instead she played dumb, letting the fish go while she walked slowly along the shore.

She knew it wasn't the careers. They didn't have a stealthy bone in their bodies.

Red hair was the first thing she noticed from her scan of the green tree line.

She sighed with relief.

"Finch." She called the girl's name as gently as she could.

Foxface stayed behind her cover.

Eve placed her spear on the ground before kicking it towards the girl. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Finch hesitantly stepped out into the rocky shoreline.

"You are a sight for sore eyes." Eve smiled.

Her heart was racing worse than when the careers were after her, but for different reasons. She found an ally.

Finch didn't have a knack for small talk.

"You saved me yesterday." She quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

Eve had been asking herself the same thing and found many reasons. Her hatred for the careers, the drive to snuff out her own cowardice, and one more thing. "You don't deserve to die at their hands."

Eve's eyes drifted over the quiet woods.

"Do you know where they went?" She was paranoid to say the least.

Finch shrugged. "After Katniss, I presume."

"At least that means we have some time." Eve said. "Do you have any weapons?"

The girl nodded, holding out a small knife.

Eve frowned. It wouldn't do anything against the threats in the woods.

She dug through her bag, pulling out her last knife.

"Here." She gave it to her new ally before turning back to her own weapon.

"You hungry?" She asked, walking back to the edge of the water.

"Yeah." Finch nodded.

"I was a fisher back home." Eve explained.

Finch didn't speak as she watched her.

"The trick is to aim where you know they are, not where you see them." She said, training her spear just past the fish swimming below her.

She slammed her spear into the river and the pole fought against her hands as the fish tried to free itself.

Eve pulled it from the water and tossed the flopping fish to the girl.

Finch struggled to hold it as it wiggled between her hands.

Eve laughed. "Just knock it against the rocks a few times."