The Rebel Victor | I [THG]

Chapter Thirty | The Victorious Pearl

Quinn had forced herself to keep moving, she didn't have a choice. She was so close now, there was no way she could have just let herself die. Especially now that Calab had died. She couldn't let the fact that he came back to save her be pointless, she had to at least try. Even if that meant going at it on her own.

She didn't force herself to run, even though she couldn't even see the bottom of the valley yet. But she had to be close to at least halfway down. She used her trident the same way she had used her spear the first day, stabbing it deep into the ground with every step. But her leg was still throbbing, and she could have sworn her wound was incredibaly hot. But she was probably just imagining it. With every throbbing step on her bad leg, she had to practically lean all of her wieght on the trident just so she woudn't lose her balance and fall.

"Attention tributes," Seneca Cranes voice filled the arena for the second time. Quinn kept moving though while she listened to another surprise announcement. "A sixty second countdown to dawn will begin...now."

Quinn felt her heart stop for a moment, and she could still feel her brain buzzing, trying to make sense of everything when she started running. Even though a sharp pain went up and down her leg with each step, she felt the same adrenaline pumping through her body as before.The tree tops were dense, so there wasn't much like. So Quinn had to squint so she could try to see where she was going. Then she saw it, the bottom of the valley, but it was still so far away! So she quickly dropped her backpack so it would stop slammiing into her and almost knocking her down. It wouldn't be of much help anyway. The odds of her surviving long enough to need it again weren't good.

As soon as she hit the bottom of the valley, she stopped, gasping for air. She looked at the cornicopia that was gleaming with the light from the purplish night sky. Above it was a hallogram of a box, it was at twenty seconds. Her breath caught in her throat and she began sprinting toward the back side of the cornucopia. It didn't matter where at the cornucopia, did it? They just said they had to be at the cornucopia by dawn.

As soon as she touched the cornucopia, she began to continue gasping for air, leaning against the cold metal. She looked up at the timer.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Right at one, the sky began to change color. And it was completely silent for a moment. She began to look around frantically for other tributes, a few yards away from the cornucopia stood the girl from District Eight. Quinn had taken a few pointers from her in training. She stood there, completely still. The same thought was probably going through her head-- where were the other tributes?

But suddenly one cannon sounded, and then a second. Two tributes hadn't made it to the cornucopia, but that meant there were two more who had made it besides Eight and Quinn. Just as she was about to reveal herself from against the metal, Max was running towards the girl from eight, his sword was still in his hand-- the same one he had gotten on the first day. He slashed the knife through the girls neck easily and swiftly as if it was no problem.

Quinn inched across the back of the cornucopia to go around the other side. She poked her head around the Cornucopia to see the entrance. She saw that Leanne stood facing Max and the other tribute, a new silver machete was in her hand too. Quinn's stomach flipped and fell to the ground, that alliance was about to fall apart.

As soon as Leanne disappeared out of the Cornucopia, Quinn hurried inside it. Just like the gamemakers had promised, it was full of supplies. She looked through it quickly, only scanning it with her eyes. There were backpacks along the floor, one with a district number for each of the districts that had been remaining before the countdown ended. She grabbed the one with her District number and yanked it open. There were only two things in it. Something she assumed was medicine. She yanked off the cap and tipped the bitter liquid into her mouth. The second thing made the familiar feeling of anger boil up inside her.

A white rose.

Quinn cringed at the sight of it. This was his way of trying to get her killed? Luring her to the cornucopia?

She snapped out of her spiteful thoughts about President Snow when she heard someone nearing the Cornucopia as two cannon's sounded. She grabbed her trident and stumbled over to the side of the Cornucopia. She wanted to just melt into it, she wished she could lean against it with so much force that she would just become part of it. She tightened her grip on the trident and waited, and just as Leanne rounded the corner to reenter the cornucopia to see if she was in there, she turned and saw Quinn immediately. Her eye's squinted and turned into a glare. But her machete wasn't as long as Quinn's trident was. Without really thinking, she stabbed the trident into Leanne's stomach.

Leanne stared at her the same way that Quinn stared back at her as she fell to the metal floor of the cornucopia. Quinn yanked out her trident and staed at Leanne as she took a few steps out of the cornucopia. Leanne's dead... she looked towards the girl from eight, she was dead. And not far from her body was Max. Two tributes died because they didn't make it there in time...

"The Victor of the seventy-third annual Hunger Games!" Seneca Crane announced, "Quinn Maverick of District Four!"