|AUTHORS NOTE|

Guys, I really do appreciate the votes, reads, and fans. Those are all great, but I would really love to read what you have to say about each updates. I understand that some of you may not be able to because you don't have an account, but I would still like some feedback from you guys!

Enjoy, and stay classy!

____________

The group of tributes stayed in the ridges for what seemed like day's. Calab kept watch most of the time, and Scout spent her time messing with things, seeing what she could do with it. She kept quiet after she explained to Quinn what happened the day they found her.

They had been camping in a valley just over the ridge, it was their worst nightmare. But there was a clearing in the middle of the dense forest in the valley, they were trapped there. During the day, they thought it was a safe place for camp, they thought the career pack as claimed the Cornucopia. So they figured if they camped in a forrest like that, they'd have more cover. The branches were at face level, so they got wacked in the face a few times each. During the day, it was perfect. But at night, it wasn't just their nightmare. It was the nightmare of every Victor outside the arena.

"Victor's Valley," Calab had added, a flat tone. An emotionless tone, the usual snarky, but assertive tone that Quinn had began to get used to was gone. "Every night we had to be back in the clearing, they couldn't go there. They could only stay in the tree's..."

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Who's they?"

"The Victor's." Scout replied, "Every night they came out of no where, as soon as the anthem played. They'd appear in the tree's." she stated, "Victor Mutts. Can you imagine that? Being a Victor, you won to keep yourself out of them games and then you have to watch yourself kill more tributes?"

"That's how Arkon got that trident," Calab stated. "The first time we got into the tree's was at night, we thought it would be smart to travel at night. But your mentor, Finnick Odair was practically waiting for us." Calab's voice softened a bit, a tinge of fear became obvious.

Quinn felt her stomach begin to churn. She knew Finnick had been skilled in the arena, that was why he won! She couldn't imagine the horror he went through sitting, watching the games and seeing himself back in the arena. She didn't want to think it would set him over the edge, but she wouldn't be surprised.

"Him, Twelve, and One...they were all waiting for us." Scout said, "We barely got out of there. Finnick was after Arkon, nobody else-- just Arkon. They other's sort of just kept us at bay, it's almost like each mutt was only meant to go after the tributes from their district."

"Arkon had lost his grip on his trident when the wave came, I've never seen someone run so fast-- I'm pretty sure he broke his nose from the branches he let hit his face." Calab said, "But the mutt got nailed in the face with a branch that Arkon let snap back so hard that it knocked him off his feet."

"Arkon jumped him, wailed on him so much his face didn't even look like Finnick like it was supposed to..." Scout said quietly, looking at Quinn and glancing at Jakobb as he cringed a bit. "As soon as the mutt quit fighting back, Arkon grabbed the trident and we just ran till we hit the clearing."

Quinn couldn't stomach the idea of a mutt looking just like Finnick, a mutt that was meant to kill the District Four tributes. She didn't want to imagine Finnick being so ruthless-- she knew why those mutts were there. It was another thing to keep everyone in line. The tributes, the Victor's, and anyone else who might not want to do what the Capitol said. But for the tributes, and future Victor that faced them-- it was only a way to terrorize them. To break them down until they were nothing, until they were something that the Capitol could mold into what they wanted them to be.

"Quinn," Calab nudged her, and Quinn sighed as she forced herself to open her eyes. The sun was bright, she had slepted through the whole night. That was something she hadn't done for awhile. "We have to start moving today."

Quinn looked around, Scout was packing things away in her pack. Jakobb was doing the same.

"You can use the trident to help keep you steady," Calab stated. "Besides, you need a weapon anyway."

Quinn looked at the silver trident that he was holding out steardily so she could pull herself up. As she reached for it and began to pull herself up, Calab used his other arm to help her from the otherside. She still didnt entirely understand why they didn't just kill her. Infact, she would have appreciated it. But they were right, numbers were better than skill at that point. But she wouldn't be much help if they needed it. In a way, she felt sick to her stomach at the thought of Finnick's last note. Reminding her that Fiona wasn't the enemy-- President Snow was the enemy. What if Snow had found out? What if he was angry with Finnick? What if that was the reason Finnick hadn't sent anything to help her leg? What if that mutt hadn't been a mutt? What if that had actually been Finnick? What if Snow had put him in the arena as punishment...

She quickly shook that thought from her head. That was impossible.

She gripped the trident tightly, and swatted her free arm at Calab so he'd leave her alone. She forced herself to take a small step, she knew that they had to move. So she had to ignore the sharp pain that went up and down her entire body with each step. But eventually, her body became numb to it. The pain was nothing more but a small ache that covered her body to remind her that she still wasn't dead.

The four of them slowly made their way through the rocky ridges. Calab stayed a step or two behind, Scout took the front, and Jakobb stayed off the the side. All of them were on edge, but there was something different about their mantality. They weren't trying to survive. They were hunting the other tributes. That was how they had found her.

"So, District Eleven, who's in their alliance?" Quinn asked.

"Just the girl from ten I think," Scout said over her shoulder.

It wasn't much longer that they were marching through the ridges when it happened. It all happened so fast. But at the same time, everything seemed to move in slow motion. A silver knife, identical to the ones that Fiona had struck Jakobb right in between the shoulder blades. He fell to his knee's, and hit the ground and a cannon sounded the death of another tribute. Quinn felt any contents that was left in her stomach beginning to flip. She obviously hadn't spoken to Jakobb all that much, but why they were camping at the ridge, he did all he could to help her. His gentle touch and caring eyes reminded her of both Annie and Ciruss. Without saying anything, he probably said the most. There was something in his eyes every time that he looked at her, something that agreed with her about the games, about the Capitol, about everything.

"Quinn! Duck!"

Without turning to ask why, she let herself drop to the ground. She looked up to see that Scout was taking aim at a tribute behind her. Calab? No, Calab had been the one to warn her. Quinn flipped over onto her back just in time to see a red head duck back into safety.

"Scout! No!" Quinn shouted, Scout glanced down at her. She lowered her bow for only a moment, but then as soon as she did her eyes shot open. She gasped for air just as a small arrow from a blow gun seemed to just poke through the front of her neck. Then suddenly blood filled her mouth and she fell to the groud.

"Stay down!" Calab ordered as he ran past her and in the direction of whoever had just killed Scout.

Scout's eyes stared at the air, she saw nothing. She felt nothing.

"It's better to die in the arena as yourself than to survive, I think." Ciruss had told her that when they were going down to training on her second day. At first it hadn't made sense, but it did now. But she couldn't help but think if she did die, she wouldn't die herself. She would die terrified, and furious. She would die, and Snow would be happy.

Quinn stared at Scout's dead body for a moment, blood pooling around her face. Quinn felt sick again, but this time anger and frustration took over her. The same anger she felt when she caused a big problem during her interview. Ever since then, she had been trying not to make Snow more angry with her-- she had been trying to just be a tribute. But she wasn't just a tribute, and she knew that if she died she'd be remembered as a tribute who tested Snow.

"So go out with a bang," she thought. It made her sick to think that all the tributes who died like Scout and Jakobb would just be forgotten and new tributes next year would take their place. They were nothing to the Capitol. But she had become something to the Capitol and even the Districts. Damien had even told her on the roof that the rebels had claimed her as their tribute.

Quinn pushed herself up, her body was still numb to the pain in her leg. Or maybe she just had so much anger flowing through her body that she didn't care. Without even leaning on the trident, she turned towards the direction that she had seen Fiona hide. She began walked towards it, she could feel her heart pumping more and more with every step she took. But she had so much anger, so much disgust with the games that she had to get it out. She needed some sort of release.

And there was no target to call President Snow.

"Fiona?" Quinn asked aloud, and it took a moment but she watched the ground carefully. Looking for maybe a few stones to move. But instead, a backpack came flying at her. She knew it wasn't heavy. She had helped Fiona pack it. She reached up and grabbed it, well as it hit her she stummbled back and she caught it. She kept her eyes up as she dropped it off to the side. Fiona stood not that much higher up than she was, her eyes stared down at her.

They both stared at each other. Neither of them wanted to make the first move.

Fiona's eyes didn't move at all, she didn't even blink. But as soon as she raised her arm to throw her second and last knife, Quinn let her anger boil up and she swung the trident so hard that when it hit Fiona it didn't just knock the knife from her hand, but it knocked her to the ground too. As soon as she hit the ground, she lunged for Quinn's bad leg. Tackling her, they both fell to the ground. Fiona was on top of her, her hands that had probably been trained for something like this; one was on her neck and the other was held back ready to punch Quinn in the face.

But her eyes softened. For a moment, she wasn't a career. "Quinn...I'm sorry." she said quietly as she uncurled her fist and wrapped it around Quinn's neck.

Quinn could feel the tension in her body building until she finally could use all her strength to hit Fiona hard enough to at least loosen her grip. Then Quinn knocked her further down the rocks, towards where Scout and Jakobb were. Then as if she had never even hurt her leg, she pulled herself up from the ground, and adjusted her grip on the trident as she took the few steps towards her.

"Yeah," Quinn said in a whisper that was almost silent. "Me too."

Quinn didn't leave any time between her words and the sound of Fiona's gasp for air when the fork end of the trident sunk into her stomach. Quinn drew back once, guilt hitting her like the arrow had when she first met the others. But she forced herself to think about President Snow, this was all his fault in the first place. Quinn stabbed the trident into Fiona for a second time, and Fiona became completely still.

The air became silent, and then one cannon sounded directly above her. Then another, and then a third one.

Four dead tributes; Scout and Jakobb from District Six, Fiona from District One, and she knew the fourth wasn't Calab. Because he hadn't gone far off and he had just been running back.

Calab stayed silent. Just as another cannon sounded. Five fallen tributes and it was still morning.