In Your Hands: The Thirtieth Hunger Games SYOT

Chapter 20

Mase POV

"No. No, no, no."

Kisarna and Emma were bad enough. They were good partners for as long as I had to stick with them, but I was doing this on my own. They didn't get what killing meant. They wanted to win glory and honor. I didn't give a crap about Two. I wanted to kill. I wanted to kill in ways that would make them "look bad". They might decide I was a liability, and together they'd be hard to beat.

"I don't like it either, but we need more people. Three people does not a Career pack make. I know we have Hunter, too, but he doesn't seem very into it. Something's up with him," Kisarna said.

"There is no way some outer-District trash is joining my Career pack," I said. Wait, why are you so mad? Just let them in and kill them at the Bloodbath. If they're not even Careers, the others won't even get mad at you.

"Fine, who did you have in mind?" I said as if I was making a huge concession.

"Our first choice would have been Reiner or Ludwig, but they seem to be part of a loser's alliance," Emma said. "Our next choice is Calvary."

"Calvary? Aren't there any boys?" I said.

"Calvary is street-smart. I can tell she's had a hard life, and she knows how to survive. We're trained in killing, not living. She can help us find food. After that, we won't need her," Emma said.

"Didn't you see her in the training room? She was a crack shot with a whip, and she had no trouble using a sickle or a knife," Kisarna said. Whatever. It was no skin off my back who joined us. I'll kill them all anyway.

"Hey Calvary, you're in luck," Emma said when we found her eating from a fruit bowl. "You're in the Career pack." Calvary finished her bite of peach and barely seemed to notice us.

"Lucky me. I get to join a pack of backstabbing killers. I don't think so," she said. What?

"Hey redneck, you wanna piss off the people with every incentive to rip you apart?" I growled at her. She wiped her mouth and stood up.

"Bring it on. You would have anyway," she said. Emma held up her hands.

"That's why we want you. We all know alliances don't last forever. While they do, you're strong, fearless and bold. You're everything a Career is. Why shouldn't we work together?" Calvary seemed to think it over as she calculated our lethality.

"I'll let you know," she said. Impudent, stupid girl. When the time came, I'd tear her apart extra slow.

Calvary POV

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. If I joined, I would be next to the exact people I wanted to avoid. If I didn't, they'd think it was personal. Darned if you do, darned if you don't.

It was obvious the Careers weren't to be trusted. I didn't trust anyone easy, much less children bent on nothing but killing. Why'd they have to pick me?

It's because you didn't join anyone else. The oddballs and the Wild Cards had both approached me. The first group was too good to last. I hoped they died easy. The Wild Cards might have worked, but I just couldn't bring myself to ally. Aside from Dustin, I'd never had anyone I could depend on. Maybe it was too late to learn.

Why did this have to happen? Dustin and I were doing fine. It was hard, but we made it. We had each other. Why did they have to take that away? They were monsters. Thirty years ago we tried to break free and they still hated us for it. We'll always want to be free. All we wanted was the freedom to care for ourselves and grow our own food. We were dogs to them. They threw us scraps every year after they took twenty-three of us. We streamed through the streets celebrating when our last Victor brought parcels and parades. We shouldn't have been rejoicing over cans of food and winter jackets. Those should be normal.

At the end of the day, all that mattered was survival. I had to do whatever would help me live. There wasn't much I knew better than survival. The Careers didn't know who they were dealing with. I'd sawed through a cow's vertebrae with a rusty hay knife. I'd wrung a chicken's neck while it screamed for mercy. I could kill, and I could live. My very life was ideal preparation for the Games. The question was: would I run from the enemy or keep them close enough to watch? It was the most important decision I would ever make. It was quite literally life or death.

Emma POV

That night, Calvary knocked on my door.

"I'm in. Don't expect me to stay long," she said.

"Good idea. When you're part of my pack, I'll kill to protect you. As soon as you're not with us, I'll kill you as easily," I said. To my surprise, Calvary brushed past me and took a look around my room.

"Sure is nice here, isn't it? I suppose it's not much different from home," she said. She seemed to disapprove.

"What's it like in Ten?" I asked. In One, we mostly focus on the Games and our luxuries. I didn't even know where Ten was on a map.

"What does a rich princess like you care? You wouldn't last a day in Ten. You know how to kill a man ten different ways, but you couldn't tell lupine from clover," she sneered.

"Is that why you're so thin?" I asked.

"In Ten, we work for our food. We don't eat anything we don't cut the life out of or rip from the ground," she said.

"You're stronger than we admit," I said. The Academy never told us the people we killed were actually people. I shouldn't get close to anyone, but Calvary's life was utterly alien and fascinating.

"Strong enough to live," she said. I resented the feeling that she thought everything was handed to me on a platter. I was rich, but I didn't choose that any more than she chose being poor. I couldn't be blamed for my birth.

"You can't expect me to know those things," I said. "All they teach me is "fight" and "kill". How was I supposed to know what your like is like?"

"Maybe if you did, Panem would be a better place," she said.

"Maybe it would," I said. I felt a respect for her I'd never known before. If I'd come from a different District, maybe we could be friends. Maybe some packs went farther than the Games. Already I trusted her more than Mase or Kisarna. I wondered if she would ever trust me.

Kisnarna POV

Always have your enemy underestimate you. I was glad to let Emma be our leader and Mase the year's blood knight. Under the radar was the place for me.

Calvary was a solid addition to our team. She would be invaluable with the survival skills we were weak in. The rest of the Tributes were taken or too weak. We wouldn't be the strongest Career pack, but we'd make do.

I was sitting with the Careers at dinner, eating sushi while Mase teased me about eating "fish food", when that strange girl from Twelve marched up to our table.

"I'm joining your alliance," she announced. I returned to my sushi and left the matter to the others. I truly didn't care either way, and it was best to have them think I was meek and unenthusiastic.

"What? Why on Earth would we want you?" Emma said, always the diplomat.

"Hold on," Mase interjected. Emma looked at him with disgust and shock. Mary Sue preened. I munched on tuna and rice.

"We need a girl like you. Can you run?" he asked. He help up a hand when Emma tried to interrupt, and she almost turned red.

"Of course," Mary Sue said.

"Great. Here's the plan: we'll get the weapons. As soon as the gong rings, run straight to the Cornucopia and grab all the food and supplies. Bring them to me and I'll guard them while you hide in the Cornucopia."

I had to smile, grim though it was. Emma tried not to smirk. Mary Sue nodded eagerly, Mase smiled proudly, and I innocently ate my sushi.

Everyone except Calvary and Mary Sue was expected in the pack, so I didn't write how they got together. Calvary's a little more complex than Mary Sue, so the characters reflected more on her.