The Assassin (Finnick Odair X OC)

Chapter Fourteen: Day Five

Chapter Fourteen: Day Five

A faint pair of footsteps wake me up.

My eyes snap open instantly, grabbing the goggles by my head and putting them on. Once they're secure, I grab a spear, finding a good grip easily.

The steps grow louder and louder until they're no longer an echo.

I look out of the hole that I crawled into these rocks from. There's is a tense moment before, suddenly, a woman passes me.

It's the older girl from ten. Loretta.

I spring into action quickly, rolling out of the rocks, and lunge at her. The sounds of my entrance into the hallway makes her duck instantly, my spear narrowly missing her head.

Loretta looks at me as I hold the spear out defensively. She's got an axe in her hands.

Neither of us speak for a long moment.

Then, suddenly, Loretta speaks. Her voice is low and hesitant, but plain and clear in its delivery. "You killed the others?"

I raise my eyebrow. "I - what?"

"You're the only career left. Did you kill them?" She rephrases herself. Her hands tighten on the axe.

Why would she care?

"Not all of them." I finally settle on that answer, my confusion leaking out into the open. "May I ask why we're not fighting?"

Loretta snorts. "Do you want to?"

"I'm - what?" I frown.

"I mean - you're injured." She takes one of her hands off of the axe briefly to point to my leg. "You're favoring one of your legs. Fighting might not be your best option."

She's not wrong. All of the walking yesterday made my knife wound hurt a lot and, as soon as I left my small cave, I barely put any weight on that leg.

That doesn't mean that I can't kill her.

I hesitate, unsure of how to respond.

Loretta decides to speak again, her curiosity clearly getting the best of her. "Look, there's no need to go silent. I'm sure that one of the careers stabbed you when-"

Although I'm wary of her friendly attitude, I chuckle. I just - I have to.

Loretta pauses, unsure of how to react. "Um - is that funny?"

"I stabbed myself." I inform her, a small smile on my face. "I had to convince the rest of the careers that I didn't kill someone."

Her eyes widen briefly before she lets out an incredulous sigh. "Did it work?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?" I quip back instantly, shifting the spear in my hands. "I'm confused. You should be taking advantage of the fact that I'm injured."

"You seem skilled enough - I doubt that a stab in the leg really makes you useless." Loretta shrugs. Smart girl. "Can I be honest with you?"

I dip my head.

"Well, I ran out of food yesterday night." She admits readily. "I figured that you'd still be at the cornucopia and that other tributes would head over there to get supplies - it's hard to survive in pitch darkness, you know. Well, I doubt that you know. Hey, why did you leave the cornucopia?"

"I didn't want to move the dead bodies out myself." I state simply.

Loretta pauses for a moment. I don't think she was prepared for the calmness associated with that statement. "That's a good reason-"