Twenty Four Shades Darker: The Hunt

(8) Things Fall Apart

They kept walking.

Will had been sure that they were going to stop so that everybody could get their breath back and recover from the groll-mutt attack, but the discovery of the Peacekeeper uniform in the mutt’s belly had been a pointed reminder that they were being chased. Sometimes it was easy to forget. In the early morning stillness, when Erik had snuck off to wherever he’d gone and everybody else had been floating somewhere between being too wary of each other to be asleep and yet too exhausted to stay awake, it had seemed as though it might only be them in the entire forest. In the entire nation. Everything had been so peaceful and he’d been so calm that he’d found himself believing it and wondering how they would manage with being all that remained of Panem. Then Cordelia had screamed and the groll-mutt had attacked and the feeling of being in a hurry was back. As soon as Jute and Blaire had got Cordelia’s face bandaged they were on the move again. Always following the sunrise. East. Knowing that Jute had placed their location somewhere in the north of Six or Eight, Will was painfully conscious that soon they would be passing close to Three. Perhaps they already had.

Being so close to home and unable to get there ached. If he’d been with others, if he’d been with his little group of friends from home, he’d have split away and gone in search of Three, rebellion or not. But going out on his own in a forest infested with mutts and Peacekeepers…

He realised he was starting to fall behind and took a few quick steps to catch up. By now his knapsack was chafing at his shoulders despite the padding and he’d long since given up on paying attention to the aches and tiredness in his limbs. He wasn't sure how he was still moving. He just was. At least he was alive.

Nobody had discussed it, but as usual they’d formed into groups. The two Career boys about whom Will was still uncertain stuck close behind Jute, Holly and Erik, and Will had to wonder if this was so that Lincoln was free to repeat his stunt with the knife again if he wanted to. There was a look of grim determination to his china-doll features that suggested that the slightest thing might provoke him. He was reliable with the knives and in the evenings was always cracking jokes and making people laugh, but to Will it seemed hollow and last night he’d noticed that whenever Lincoln smiled his eyes didn’t crease at the edges. He’d resolved to keep his distance from him. Satine was less of a threat and actually seemed like a bit of fun, reckless and fearless with a tendency to say things just to fill the silence, but as he always seemed to be tacked to Lincoln’s side then Will naturally found himself avoiding him.

In between himself and the two Career boys were the main body of the group: Marisa, with her shiny dark plait and quiet intelligence; Blaire, who hummed as she walked and who always gravitated to the middle of the group and allowed everybody else to huddle around her irrepressible energy; Avery, whose shrill voice had gone quiet since the mutt attack and who now shuffled along in silence without even bothering to pick her feet up properly, answering Blaire’s questions as to her wellbeing with monosyllabic mutters; and Barley, hovering as if he wasn’t sure whether he was part of the group or not. Will had noticed that he never spoke unless he was spoken to and half of the time the others seemed to forget he was there. He had a pleasant face, which was forgettable enough, with neatly cropped blonde hair and big boyish eyes, and at thirteen he was the youngest one still alive. Will’s partner had been thirteen too, but he’d known even less about her than he knew about Barley-from-Nine. He’d been very careful not to make friends with her and was glad that he’d taken this precaution; before the bloodbath had been interrupted he’d seen her throat get slashed by the pretty girl from One. She was dead now too. The doomed Thirteen hovercraft had fallen right on top of her. The force of the explosion had been enough to hurl him into the air and he hoped for her sake that she’d died instantly.

He was bringing up the rear with Cordelia. Jute and Blaire had done the best they could with what they had but there was an unspoken agreement that it wasn’t good enough. The air around her reeked of the disinfectant paste that Jute had applied to the cuts. It was the only extra item they’d found in the bloodbath packs apart from the bandages and Will had got the feeling that it was more for Cordelia’s peace of mind than because Blaire had thought it would actually do any good. Her whole face was obscured by bandages; Will still felt slightly dizzy whenever he caught sight of her. Her one good eye had been left free but it was bloodshot and she needed help walking. As the other person who hadn’t formed part of a group, Will had decided that that was up to him.