Surrounded by Death
Gert rolled over and groaned. It was far too early to be up- she had stayed up on watch for half of the night before- but she couldn’t help it. She was cold.
They only had one sleeping bag, courtesy of Chase, and it was currently Nico’s turn to use it. Karolina was on watch, and Gert and Chase were left to make the most of the cold ground with nothing but a thin blanket to curl up under.
Speaking of Chase… where was he? Gert reached out to her side, but all she could feel was the grass and stone that covered the floor of their camp. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Nico was still fast asleep in her sleeping bag, but Chase was nowhere to be seen. “Of course he’s with Karolina.” Gert grumbled, getting up and stifling a yawn. Where else would Chase be, but with the gorgeous blonde from Eight? She made her way up the hill, shielding her face from the morning sun.
Karolina was alone. “How was watch?” Gert asked her bitterly. “Anything interesting happen?”
“Not really.” Karolina shrugged, not seeming to notice Gert’s tone of voice. “I think I saw a deer down that way.”
“And is that all you saw?” Gert questioned, already sure of the answer.
“Uh… yeah.” Karolina frowned. “What’s wrong, Gert, are you okay?”
“Didn’t happen to see any tributes, then?” Gert continued, bitterness still evident in her tone. “No tall, handsome brunettes from District Four, maybe?”
“No.” Karolina frowned, mulling over Gert’s words in her mind. “Are you talking about Chase? I thought he was in camp with you.”
Gert scoffed. “Yeah, right. As if I’m actually going to believe that.”
“No, seriously.” Karolina stood up, meeting Gert’s eyes. There was confusion and worry in her face- Gert realized, belatedly, that she wasn’t faking it. “Chase isn’t in camp? He’s gone?”
Gert nodded. “He was gone when I woke up. I thought he’d come up here with you.”
“And the supplies?” Karolina asked urgently. “Gert, did you check the supplies?”
Gert shook her head. “No, but Chase wouldn’t-“
Karolina was already halfway down the hill. Gert took a deep breath and followed her. When she got to the base of the camp, Karolina was digging through their bags, looking frantic. “It’s gone.” She said breathlessly, looking up at Gert.
“What’s gone?” Gert asked, feeling like she was missing something. Beside them, Nico was sitting up in her sleeping bag, having been awoken by the commotion.
“The food.” Karolina explained. “The supplies. Everything. It’s all gone.”
“No.” Gert couldn’t believe it. Chase wouldn’t… would he? “I- he wouldn’t- there has to be some explanation.”
“What’s going on?” Nico asked, sounding concerned. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face as she spoke.
“Chase is gone.” Karolina explained. Gert’s mouth was dry. “He took the supplies with him. He’s gone back to the alliance, or- or to somewhere else, maybe, but he’s not here.”
“He knows where the camp is.” Nico’s expression was grave. “He can bring them back here. They’ll slaughter us.”
“Hold on a minute.” Gert objected. “How do we know there’s even an alliance? Charles is dead, and Ororo… maybe he’s just gone off on his own.” It was a sad state of affairs that that was the optimistic scenario, but it was at least better than Chase selling them out.
“That still leaves Erik, and Romanoff, and Jean.” Karolina pointed out. “And who knows who else they’ve gotten to join them.”
“I trust him.” Gert argued, but her argument was weak even to her own ears.
“He knows where the camp is.” Nico repeated. “We can’t risk it.”
Karolina nodded. “She’s right. We have to move.”
Gert looked between them. After a long moment, she nodded. “All right.” She said. “Let’s move.”
“Why should we believe you?” Erik demanded, standing before Chase with his sword drawn. “You’ve betrayed us once, you might do it again.”
Chase opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Natasha spoke up. “She’s telling the truth.” She said, watching Chase carefully.
“That doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind.” Erik argued with her. “We can’t trust him.”
“We can’t trust anybody.” She pointed out, standing up from where she had been leaning on the tree and taking a step towards the two of them. “Doesn’t mean he can’t be useful.”
“Useful?” Erik repeated. “What use could he possibly have? We already have supplies, we don’t need his.”
Natasha turned her gaze on Erik. He was hurting, that much was clear. Still upset about Charles, no doubt. That was why Natasha was going to win the games, and not her partner- he was too soft.
“He knows where the others are.” She said, turning back to Chase. He suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights. “Don’t you?”
“I- they don’t matter.” He tried to say. “They’ll die anyway. I can help you track down the ones that have a chance- Drax, Danvers, Killmonger…”. He trailed off.
Natasha laughed. Still trying to protect his friends, then. “Drax is dead.” She told him. “Didn’t you see the broadcast? And I think your friends do matter, if you’re so desperate to protect them.”
Chase hesitated.
“How can we trust you,” she continued in a silky voice, “if you continue to choose them over us?”
“I can’t just betray them.” He argued, although she could tell she almost had him convinced.
“Fine, then.” She said. “A deal. You tell us where they are, we let your girlfriend live. You don’t, then… let’s just say you won’t want to be her when I find her.”
That did it. She always knew just where to strike. Chase swallowed and nodded. “They have a camp. It’s about an hour’s walk from here, a little valley between the hills.”
Natasha smiled. “Take us there.”
The camp was empty when they arrived. Only the muddy bootprints in the grass showed that anyone had been there at all. “Split up.” Natasha decided at once. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”
Erik nodded. As she passed by him, she leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Don’t let him out of your sight.” Erik nodded again to show that he had heard her.
Natasha followed the footprints up the hill until they vanished in the forest. They seemed to be heading back towards the Cornucopia. Their footprints were still fresh, so they couldn’t have gone far.
Sure enough, she had only been walking for a few minutes when she heard voices. “I’m telling you, he wouldn’t betray us.” One of them was saying. Natasha recognized her as the girl from Five.
“We can’t risk it.” The girl from Eleven- what was her name? Nico?- insisted. “He could lead them right to us.”
“He won’t.” Five argued.
Natasha stepped out from behind the trees, a small smirk playing on her lips. “Are you so sure about that?” She asked, eyes narrowing in satisfaction as all three girls whirled around to face her.
“Romanoff.” Nico greeted her, wary. She reached for her staff, careful not to make any sudden movements.
“Eleven.” Natasha greeted her with faux politeness. “Five. Eight.”
She knew their names, of course. But did their names really matter? All they were was targets, one more step between her and victory. She didn’t enjoy killing, of course, but she wasn’t afraid of it either. Killing, to her, was something as natural as breathing; controlled, effortless, unavoidable.
“You don’t have to do this.” Karolina told her, gripping her sword tightly. “You can still walk away.”
“This is hardly a fair fight.” Gert added.
Natasha rolled her shoulders and thought about where she would strike first. Gert was the easy target, of course- weaponless and afraid. Karolina wasn’t a good fighter, but she knew enough to be a danger if Natasha didn’t pay her mind. And Nico was easily the most dangerous of the three, so she should be taken out as quickly as possible.
“You’re right.” She agreed pleasantly. “It’s not fair at all. Good luck.”
With that, she struck. First at Karolina, then at Nico, ducking under Karolina’s swing and knocking the sword from her grasp. Nico managed to hit her in the leg with her staff, but Natasha worked through the pain and continued on unflinchingly. Gert did try to put up a fight, surprisingly, but it was weak and uncoordinated. Natasha kicked her in the side of the head, knocking her to the ground. She turned back to Karolina and Nico, who were both glaring at her.
A cannon sounded. She’d hurt Gert, yes, but a bit of a headache wasn’t exactly going to kill her. Chase, then. Erik must have come to the same conclusion she did, that he was of no use to them anymore. Karolina and Nick both flinched, obviously wondering which one of their fellow tributes had fallen.
Their split second’s wavering was all Natasha needed. She lunged forward, flipping off the ground and trapping Nico’s head between her legs. As she fell, she twisted, feeling the crunch of Nico’s neck as she did. Karolina gasped in horror as Gert struggled to her feet. The second cannon boomed.
Gert was next, then. Natasha drew her knives, starting towards Gert swiftly. Before she could reach her, however, there was a sharp pain in her stomach. She stopped dead.
The tip of Karolina’s sword was sticking through the front of her shirt, stained with blood and gleaming bright. Natasha staggered, pulling herself off of the sword and falling to one knee. Gert started towards her, but Natasha forced herself to her feet. She glanced between Gert, her face a mask of fury, and Karolina, still clutching the bloody sword. There was only one thing to do in this situation.
Natasha ran.
Running was, in this case, not her best plan. Of course, she’d had no way of knowing that her path would take her straight into Okoye, the girl from District Ten.
A third and final cannon sounded off.
“Are you sure she went this way?” Jean asked again. She and Mantis were trudging though the undergrowth, searching for some sign of their missing ally.
“No.” Mantis told her again. “I have no idea where she is.”
“But this is the way she went?” Jean rephrased her question.
Mantis nodded.
They continued in silence for a while. Jean’s senses were on high alert. A rustling in the bushes? Could be Carol, or possibly the person who killed her. The chirping of a bird? Could have been startled by Carol, or by someone coming to murder them.
There was a faint noise from behind them, like the crunch of a stick under someone’s shoe. Jean did her best not to react as she wrapped her hand around the hilt of her knife.
The noise came again, and Jean turned around. “I know you’re there.” She called, doing her best to ignore the rapid beating of her heart.
There was a moment of silence. Then Carol Danvers stepped out of the undergrowth, fire in her eyes and a sword at her hip.
“Step away from her.” She told Jean in a steely voice.
Before Jean could react, Mantis was stepping between them. “She’s not going to hurt me.” The litter thirteen-year-old declared.
“You don’t know that.” Carol said. “You can’t trust her.”
“She helped me find you.” Mantis insisted.
Carol hesitated, then sighed. “Alright.” She said, nodding at Jean curtly. “Allies.”
Tony crept through the woods, keeping one hand on the weapons in his pocket. Despite the disaster that had befallen Charles, he and Pepper did need food, and so they had set more snares. Smaller ones, this time, in the hopes that they could catch a rabbit or a squirrel instead of another tribute. Stealth was not Tony’s best skill, although he wasn’t completely hopeless; Pepper had been the one to suggest they check the snares during the broadcast, when the loud Capitol anthem would cover up the sounds of their footsteps.
Pepper was guarding their supplies while Tony snuck out to check the snares. The previous night, they had done the opposite, but now it was his turn. As the music swelled and the faces of the deceased tributes shone in the sky, he ducked under a tree branch and reached for the first snare.
Nothing. That was disappointing, but not too surprising. They had five snares in total, the the night before only two of them had caught prey- one a squirrel and the other a woodpecker. He moved on towards the next snare, but stopped short when he saw movement.
There were two figures there. One was taller than the other, broad-shouldered and muscled. The other was short and slim, and even in the dim evening light Tony could make out the glimmer of red hair. Jean Gray, then, and Carol Danvers. He held still, hoping the two would continue past him without there being a fight.
They did not move. Tony cursed his luck as he realized, too late, that the two weren’t traveling through the forest. He had stumbled across their camp, and he was outnumbered.
“Eleven dead.” Carol was saying as the music died down. “That means there’s only thirteen left.”
“Almost halfway done.” Jean agreed quietly. “All we have to do now is keep her alive until the others take each other out.”
“Lehnsherr and Killmonger are both still alive.” Carol pointed out. “And both of them from Ten. It’ll be hard.”
“We’ll make it.” Jean promised her. “I’m not letting her die. She doesn’t deserve to die like this.”
Tony had heard enough. They were both decently strong tributes, Carol especially. And they were protecting someone else, which made it three against one. He needed to get out of here, and fast.
Tony took a step back. A twig snapped. Carol and Jean’s heads both snapped towards the sound, and there was a moment of hushed silence. Maybe they didn’t see him. Then Carol’s eyes fixed on Tony, and she drew her sword.
He reacted on instinct. Pulling the weapons he had created from his pocket, he threw one of them towards his opponents. Both of them dodged the initial throw, but they weren’t prepared for the explosion that followed mere seconds later. It was a small blast, but it was the shrapnel that got them. A sharpened nail flew into Jean’s shoulder, but she had been standing farther away. Carol took most of the damage, screaming as bits of metal sunk into her flesh.
Even Tony hadn’t been quite far enough from the blast. A few shards of metal hit him square in the chest and he stumbled back. The grass where his bomb had landed caught fire, burning dry and hot. This whole section of the forest was dry; it wouldn’t be long before the trees caught too.
He ran. Jean ran, too. As the forest caught fire around them, she grabbed onto his shirt and pushed. The last thing Tony saw, as he fell backwards into the fire, was the deadly glint of her eyes.
Twin cannons sounded.