The Reckless And The Brave - Chapter 15
Pairing: Jalex, Riassadee, slight Rydon.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Each year, the Capitol of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to fight to the death on national TV - until Alex Gaskarth, of District 11, and Jack Barakat, of District 7, change everything.
Warning: Character death.
Disclaimer: Fictional. Title credit to All Time Low. Song credit to Blink-182. Based on The Hunger Games.
Masterpost
Their eyes connect. The pain dissipates for a few seconds.
"Hey!"
Two boys are running towards them. The boys from 7 and 11.
"It's OK, we lost them." The taller, mockingjay-haired boy looks over his shoulder. "For now."
Rian winces.
"Here." Cassadee removes her jacket. The leather of Rian's boot is bleeding from where the trap cut right through it. She folds her jacket lengthwise and wraps it around the wounded area.
"Now they can't find us." Any minute now, John and Hayley will pick up the blood trail. Rian puts his arm around Cass' shoulders, raising his injured leg and leaning against her like a crutch. "Let's go."
About an hour later they find shelter, a cave beside a smaller stream. It's cool and damp inside, and sunlight beams into the darkness from the mouth of the cave.
Cass ties her jacket around Rian's leg like a tourniquet. Rian removes his boot and turns to look at Alex. "You're from 11, right?"
"Yeah."
"I saw that other girl last night, what was her name again?"
"Taylor."
"Yeah. I found out she died... and I'm sorry."
"Thanks."
Rian puts his arm around Alex, strong and comforting. "Who else is left?"
"John and Hayley," Jack counts on his long fingers. "The girl from 2, what's-her-name... Sierra. Both of the tributes from 4. The guy with the red hair from 9. And then us. That makes ten."
"Nine," Cassadee corrects. "One of them died last night, I heard the cannon."
"So what's gonna happen if we're the only ones still alive?" Rian asks.
"Alex wins," Jack says automatically.
"No."
Everyone looks at Alex. He swallows before saying, "Cassadee wins."
Cass can only smile sadly. Alex was obviously brought up well.
"Watch closely." Jack fits the bowstring into the notch on the end of the arrow. He tightly closes one eye and draws the bow with two long, calloused fingers. Alex loves how focused the taller boy looks like this, the intensity radiating from his body.
Jack snaps his fingers out. The arrow hits the rabbit right in the eye.
"You try." Jack is holding the bow and quiver out towards Alex.
The shorter boy's fingers suddenly feel incredibly clumsy and blunt as he tries to fit another arrow to the bowstring. It takes him five attempts to fit the string into the notch.
It's not long before another rabbit comes hopping along. Alex doesn't even bother trying to hit it straight through the eyes, but he hits anyway. He turns and grins and Jack laughs nervously. He'd hit on the first try.
And that's when the cannon fires.
Jack and Alex left the cave two hours ago to go hunting. Cass leans against Rian in one corner. He's solid as a rock; he could have been carved from the mountains of District 12.
"I'm happy you're OK," is all he says.
"Thanks."
Neither of them knows what makes them tilt their heads so their lips connect in an X shape. Rian opens his mouth so their tongues collide. Cass slips her hands under the hem of his shirt, pressing her thumbs below his navel. He sinks deeper into the kiss, making sounds that rumble like thunder in his chest.
She traces patterns on his hips and abdomen, her fingers catching on his nipples as she moves up to his chest. She's taking in everything from his earthy solidity to the rumbling inside him to the way that even his breathing seems to have the same well-practiced rhythm as his drumming in their school band.
The cannon startles them apart.
Just then, Jack and Alex return. Alex is holding a couple of rabbits. Jack exhales and lowers his bow. "We thought that was you at first."
"We thought it was you."
The roast rabbit actually tastes amazing. "This is better than, like, anything from the Capitol."
"Better than the chocolate muffins?" Cass smiles at Alex mischievously.
"No."
Only two faces fill the sky that night. The girl from 4 and the boy from 9.
Jack and Alex use their backpacks as pillows. On the other side of the cave, Cass sleeps with her head against Rian's chest.
The chestnut-haired boy thinks about their little alliance. About his crush on Jack, and the way Rian looks at Cass. About Jack's skill at archery and Rian's strength. He's afraid that one of them will betray the others.
Jack turns so he's facing him. "You asleep?"
"No."
"Here." Jack reaches into his pocket and pulls out his iPod. "I sneaked it in."
"Jack, they're gonna kill us." Alex fits one earphone into his right ear. "Literally."
Hello there, the angel from my nightmare
The shadow in the background of the morgue
The unsuspecting victim, of darkness in the valley
We can live like Jack and Sally if we want
Where you can always find me
And we'll have Halloween on Christmas
And in the night we'll wish this never ends
We'll wish this never ends.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"You think the arena is haunted?"
"Haunted...?" Jack's slightly wet-cement voice cracks.
"By all the tributes that died here?"
Where are you, and I'm so sorry
I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight
I need somebody and always
This sick strange darkness comes creeping on so haunting every time
And as I stared, I counted
The webs from all the spiders
Catching things and eating their insides
Like indecision to call you
And hear your voice of treason
Will you come home and stop this pain tonight
Stop this pain tonight...
"Actually, I hope it is," Jack finally replies.
"You hope it is?"
"Like, they didn't really die here."
It's still dark when Alex wakes up, needing to pee. Jack's body is warm against his, his heart beating softly in his ear, as he clutches the chestnut-haired boy to his chest like a living pillow. He slips out of the cave and relieves himself under a tree next to the stream.
When he looks up, he notices a shadow standing farther downstream. A small girl with wavy, shoulder-length hair.
"Tay?"
She disappears.
By sunrise, Rian's skin is hot and shiny with sweat. The area around the wounds on his leg is red and puffy. He's half-asleep, wincing in pain at his every move.
They had learned during training that 20 percent of tributes die from infections. That's what happened to the last guy from 12, Cass remembers. And now it's happening again.
She can hear Jack and Alex stirring awake. " 'S goin' on?" asks the taller boy, sleepily.
"I think his leg is infected, Jack. This is - "
"Attention, tributes!" William Beckett cuts her off. "It has come to our attention that some of you need help. Desperately."
"At noon, there will be a feast at the Cornucopia as a sign of our generosity," adds Adam Siska.
"May the odds be ever in your favor," the Butcher finishes.
The four tributes turn to look at each other, their hearts racing.
Alex breaks the silence. "I'll go."
"No." Jack stands up. "We'll all go." Obviously the Capitol is trying to pull them in, start a fight. "If we go down, we go down together."
Alex hesitates, but nods. Cass bends down and tightens the tourniquet around Rian's leg.
District 4 Juliet Simms