Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
OCTAVIA HADN'T SLEPT. The fear of what would happen to her tributes when she fell asleep was tormenting. If she fell asleep, would she wake up to their deaths?
Thankfully, Thresh and Rue were still alive. Thresh had somehow managed to be completely estranged from the rest of the tributes, hiding far out in a wheat field. Rue had gone unseen, but was right in front of most of the tributes eyes. The girl bounced from tree to tree, effortlessly and quick. She hadn't eaten, though. Octavia felt guilty to eat when Rue was starving.
At the moment, Octavia watched as Katniss Everdeen sprinted away from a taunting fire—no doubt the gamemaker's attempt at turning her back toward the other tributes. She made it through, but wasn't unscathed. The flame had just kissed her leg, disintegrating the skin with a throbbing pain.
On another screen, the careers have just made another kill. The girl from two swiftly lodged a knife into the back of an unsuspecting, sleeping tribute's head. Her precision was terrifying, Octavia doubted the girl could miss even if she tried.
It was surprising to see that the boy from Twelve was allied with the careers. After revealing that he was crushing on his district partner, Octavia was curious to see what his angle was. She'd have to ask Haymitch later.
Octavia walks into the kitchen of her dimly lit apartment. The floor creaks ever so slightly as she moves. Squinting, she reads the clock on the wall: just past seven am.
The time reminded her that in the Arena, the days were manipulated to go at a faster speed. It was morning in the Capitol, but evening in the Arena. Though the time doesn't matter much to Octavia, she couldn't have slept either way.
Seeing Thresh in the Arena was like reliving the worst of her days all over again. Dimitri, Augustus, even herself, and now Thresh, fighting the same fight. As much as everyone tried to reassure her, the likelihood of Thresh coming back was slim. It wasn't because he couldn't. If Thresh wanted to, he would've killed more by now, it would have been hardly a contest.
The reason you could count the Victor's from Eleven on a hand was simple. District Eleven's community is taught not to play the game. Octavia felt guilty for coming home alive. Not that her community was unhappy that she did, but the guilt of what she did followed her like the unmoving scent of wheat that coated District Eleven.
Chaff's victory was earned. He lost an arm in his games, everyone was rooting for him at that point. Seeder had basically hid until hers was over. Thresh wouldn't. Even if Thresh made it to the "finale", Octavia doubts that he'd put up much of a fight. His first choice would be for Rue to make it out, even if it wasn't realistic.
