Reprogram (Hunger Games Cato/OC)

Chapter 7

Reprogram 7

I made my way back to Axel's cave, where he'd just woken up. I angrily held back tears fighting to stream down my face and yanked up my axe, very upset.

"Come on," I very nearly yelled.

"Let's go kill somebody." Axel picked up a knife.

"It's about time. Let's go." We darted out into the forest blindly, scanning the trees for the remaining three faceless tributes. By midday, we'd found no one. Axel and I had stopped to get a drink from a nearby stream when he pointed excitedly at the sky. A column of smoke rose up from the trees and we jumped to our feet, sprinting away.

A girl from some district, I didn't know, was drenched in water and shivering. She warmed her hands by the fire as we crept out of the shadows in the forest. She looked up and was about to scream when Axel flicked his wrist and sent his knife flying into her throat. It hit the side of her neck, barely drawing blood, not even sticking, but effectively shutting her up.

"Hush, now," Axel purred.

"Wouldn't want to bring every ruthless killer in the arena down on us, would we?" The girl whimpered and shook her head. I lunged on her, knocking her to the ground, and held out my hand. Axel placed a knife in it.

"You know, I've always wanted to try something," I said conversationally. "I've always wondered..." I trailed off at the end. I was amazed my voice didn't shake with anger and repressed emotions. "I wonder what being made an Avox feels like. You'll tell me, won't you?" The girl shook her head frantically and squirmed under me.

"Axel, come hold her down," I ordered. Once he was, I took hold of her jaw and forced it open. "If she squirms, cut her." I handed him my battle axe. I reached in her mouth and grabbed her tongue. "Any last words?" I asked tauntingly. She tried to bite my hand. "How feisty." I stuck the knife in her mouth and made the first laceration. She screamed out in pain and Axel made a small cut in her leg. I pulled the knife out of her mouth and wiggled a finger at her.

"Ah, ah, ah. None of that, please." Then I plunged the knife back in her mouth and continued sawing her tongue out. The severed organ flopped around in her mouth, no longer attached to anything. Axel pulled it out and made it lick her. "Ew, gross," I laughed. The girl's screams had changed halfway through the procedure. What had once been normal, gut-wrenching, ear-piercing screams had become guttural animal shrieks.

"Now," Axel said tauntingly, "how did that make you feel?" Tears rolled down her cheeks and her hands clawed at her bloody mouth. We switched weapons and he began making long, deep incisions in her head, staining her hair dark red. She writhed and tried to hold in her screams, but failed and screamed a guttural cry. She instantly shut her mouth, as I imagined screaming hurt her stumpy tongue. She began to choke, and I stopped Axel from slicing her head open.

We rolled her over on her stomach so the blood from her tongue stump wouldn't drain down her throat and into her lungs. She hacked up some blood and lay limp. No cannon boomed, so we knew she was still alive. Axel slapped her, and she blinked, so we knew she was still conscious. Axel grinned at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Xylophone?" He asked.

"Mallets up!" We raised our feet slowly, dramatically, and brought them down quickly and powerfully on her ribs, making almost simultaneous, sickening cracking noises. She wailed again, but for longer this time. I guess pain was winning out. Axel and I "played xylophone" twice more, stopping when five of her ribs were broken. Axel had broken one in two places. I raised my hand to slice my axe into her back, but Axel stopped me.

"She'll die soon. Let's just leave her." Upon hearing this, the girl, with a burst of strength, rolled over onto her back. She let out a howl as she put pressure on her broken ribs. Axel and I waited patiently as she rolled herself over. She looked at me and shook her head, mouth forming the word 'please'. I shook my head and buried my axe in her chest. Her cannon fired immediately, and she died with a peaceful smile on her face.

"What was that about?" Axel caught my arm. "You're usually wanting to make people suffer more. This is unlike you." I shook my head and pulled my arm free. Suddenly I felt exhausted.

"Oh, Axel, I just want to sleep." I swayed on my feet, suddenly unable to keep myself up. He grabbed my arm to steady me. I was exhausted and heartbroken. We trudged through the woods, but I made slow progress and before long, Axel just couldn't stand it an picked me up, carrying me through the forest. I dozed off somewhere along the line, but awoke when we got to the cave. I just wanted to sleep. Sleep, and never wake up.

Axel POV

Hazel was so tired all of a sudden, I really was worried about her. I picked her up as we trudged through the forest, the going was so slow. I laid her on her bedroll and she instantly curled up and fell asleep. I smiled and went outside. Time to train.

I hurled knives, first impaling them up to the hilt in tree bark, then I threw them with such little force they barely stuck. I was thinking. Thinking about that little spunky thing from District 2, Clove. Her long black hair and cute scowl. I shouldn't fall in love in the Games. So I thought about Hazel instead.

I'd been so afraid for her at the beginning of the Games. Cato had stalked her and marked her and terrified her. She watched her back. She was Hazel Xaccian. People watched their backs to see if she was coming. The hunter had become the hunted. She was the Warrior Princess from District 7, and my best friend here. But now it was like she didn't care at all. Like Cato was already going to get her, or he already had her. I was all of a sudden terrified and sprinted back to the cave.

Hazel was sleeping soundly on the ground. I collapsed next to her, also suddenly tired. When I woke, it was the next morning, and Hazel was still sleeping. I sharpened my weapons and prepared for the finale that was sure to come soon. It was late afternoon when she woke, and it was a cannon that woke her. She sat up straight, clutching her hip, the one with the C. Her eyes landed on me and she opened her mouth to let out a shriek. I stood up quickly.

"Hazel! It's me, Axel." She visibly relaxed and sank to the ground. I ran over to her and she shoved me away, sobbing into her hands. I let her be, and she stopped about a half hour later.

"We have to go," I said hollowly. "To the Cornucopia. The Capitol wants us to fight the Careers." This was the inevitable fight throughout the entire Games. The entire Capitol, I realized, wanted to see Hazel and I versus the Careers from day one. We had killed the most tributes, and they wanted to know who the survivor was. She stood up, packing up her backpack quickly. Mine was already packed. We headed out into the sunset to face the Careers. I somehow knew they were the only ones left alive, and this is what we were going to do. This is what I was born to do.