Part 6: the splitting

AN: this'll cover a lot of stuff. warning for violence...there hasn't really been violence in this, I don't think (suspense from The House, yes, and injuries) but this one does have some. And I think I should remind you again: only one can win...and I already know who it'll be. I feel so mean, don't hate me! Anyway as always thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy! please vote and comment too!

Phil's PoV

When I wake up, my mouth is dry and I'm sweating and I have a terrible ache-y feeling in my whole being. As usual, I'm stretched out the long way across Dan, which makes me feel a little better, and he's holding my hand. He snuffles in the sleeping bag, still asleep.

The soft metallic noise of a zipper makes me freeze. With a little difficulty, I manage to prop myself up on my elbows. Adrenaline pumps through my head--the last day (or was it a couple of days...?) have been hazy and I still feel the effects... But anyway, I relax. And I even allow myself a small smile.

"Hey Dan are you--oh my god!" Eva almost falls on me in a hug. "Phil, you're awake! Here, let me--" she feels my forehead. "Your fever's almost gone, but you should still rest... Oh, we were so worried--we--"

"What--" my voice is oddly scratchy and I have to clear my throat softly before I continue. "What happened? Why are you here? No offense, of course--I'm thrilled. But how have you and Dan not killed each other yet?" I laugh gently, and on impulse brush a hand through Dan's dark hair...before freezing and looking warily at Eva. She simply smiles brightly.

"Oh, it's fine. Dan told me."

"Dan told you?" I say in shock.

"Yes! Well, in a way, I suppose... Anyway, I'm so happy for you two." she hugs me again. "But bad circumstances."

I nod sadly. "You can say that again..."

"And to answer your other questions, you had a really bad fever. Do you remember any of it?"

I bite my lip in thought and then shake my head. "Not really...though I do remember feeling poorly beforehand." I shrug. "I didn't think any of it. Was I really badly off?"

"Yes." she says seriously. "So badly that Dan came and found me to help you."

I laugh. "Dan's too stubborn for any of that, Eve." she smiles slightly. "You gotta be joking."

"Ask him yourself when he wakes up. But...do it gently--he was really stressed out because of all this last night."

I nod, and as if on cue, he starts to stir next to me.

"Eva, how's--" his dark eyes settle on me and widen. "Phil!" he hugs me so tightly that the breath is knocked out of me.

"You're okay..." he whispers into my neck. I smile and bury my face in his hair.

"Of course I am. You can't get rid of me that easily..." I whisper, and taking his head in my hands, I crash my lips into his. He threads his fingers through my hair and desperately pulls me closer. And wrapping my legs around him, I'm wishing with all my heart that we were anywhere but the arena (for about the millionth time).

Finally Eva clears her throat, and we pull apart.

I smile and, looking at her, I still manage to lean back and against Dan. "Are we making you uncomfortable?"

She blushes slightly. "Oh. Oh, uh, no. I was just gonna say, er...you wanna be careful..."

"We are careful." Dan murmurs behind me and I know he's smirking so I elbow him. He grunts and rests his chin in my hair, his arms around my waist (sometimes I love being the smaller one). Eva blushes more.

"No--because he could still be a little sick.."

"She's right." I muse to him, just as he says, "I don't care." She rolls her eyes.

"So you didn't tell me," I start, grinning at Eva. "Why you two aren't killing each other? Not that I want you to, of course!" I quickly say as they raise their eyebrows, smirking. "But the last time you two were together...well..."

There's a pause, and then Dan says, "She saved your life, chipmunk. I owe her. I...we've come to a sort of truce. An...alliance, you could say."

I smile. They're both my friends--well, of course Dan is (he's much more than a friend)--but so is Eva. I'm glad of this...of all of this. We can protect each other like this.

"...that's so cute!" Eva giggles. Dan raises his eyebrows coolly.

"Only I can call him that."

"Still cute."

I'm afraid she's going to pinch his cheeks--then I'd burst out laughing and wouldn't be able to stop--but Dan interrupts.

"Okay. Anyway. What's our plan for today?" he looks at me, frowning. "Are you up for traveling?"

I nod and sit up slowly. "I-I think so."

He rubs my back. "We can go slow. But we should keep moving." He looks at Eva. "What do you say? Preference on direction?"

She thinks about it before answering. "Away from The House, obviously. And...what about north?"

I frown. "That's towards the career pack."

She shrugs and bites her lip. "We'll have to face them sooner or later. There's only three members in the pack anyway. " I blink--where'd everyone go...? Dan nudges me.

"Phil, you do know there's only nine of us left, right?"

"I do now." I say, smiling weakly. He wraps an arm around my shoulders comfortingly.

"Don't worry." I nod.

Eva watches us, smiling slightly.

"...we should start moving, guys." she says finally. I nod again, chewing my lip, and Dan grabs my hand to help me up.

x-X-x

"And we're off." I mutter to myself as I fall into step with my companions. Dan slips his hand into mine and squeezes my fingers. I squeeze back gently.

"We stop when you want us to. When you feel tired." he says firmly. I raise my eyebrows.

"Oh, you worry too much." I laugh.

"I worry just the right amount, thank you very much." he huffs, his lips twitching upward. I grin.

"Today's gonna be a good day, I can feel it!" I say happily, the wind fluffing my hair. The forest we're in looks less ominous today even, and with allies and good health, everything is safer.

"Don't jinx us," Eva jokes, nudging me.

Dan swoops in and takes the small backpack from her shoulders. He's already got our (duffel?) bag slung across one arm. She whirls around in surprise, but he just smiles at her. I chuckle and pat her arm.

"Geez, Howell...you'd make a terrible thief." she grins and rolls her good eye.

Something hardens behind his eyes, but he blinks and it's gone. "I'm carrying this for you. I'll carry everything."

"Men..." Eva shakes her head at me. "Always proving everything, huh?"

I nod and take Dan's hand again. It's cool to the touch.

We keep walking, the trees towering above us. It's late morning now. A blackbird caws in the distance; I smile to myself. It reminds me of my birthday... Fallen leaves make crunching noises as we walk.

"Stop for lunch?" Dan says after a while, pulling the pack from his shoulders. "You mind if I open it?" He looks at Eva--it's the one that's hers--and she shakes her head.

"Of course not. We're allies now. I trust you."

He blushes. "Well, if I hadn't asked, then you would've minded."

"No I--"

"Guys!" I say pointedly. They look at me in midsentence, their mouths open, and I raise my eyebrows. "Calm down. We'll eat out of the big pack for lunch, okay?" I look at Eva. She sighs and nods, still looking warily at Dan.

I shake my head. How did they stay at piece long enough to ensure I got better...?

Dan grunts a bit as he sits down, and I lean into him. Eva sits down on my other side, and she puts a hand on my forehead, frowning.

"How are you feeling, Phil?"

"Fine!" I say, smiling gently but feeling slightly exasperated. "Really, guys. I'm fine." I stretch out behind me and lay down on my back happily, before closing my eyes. Ah, peace. This isn't so bad...

A pair of lips press gently against mine, and I kiss him back. He pulls away and helps me sit up. "Here." Dan hands me some jerky and and some dried apple, and then after a pause, he hands Eva the rest of the dried fruit and the beginning of the next pack of crackers.

We're still for a few moments, eating, Dan's hand on my knee. Finally, Eva breaks the silence. "If you guys won...what would you do? Who do you have left at home?"

I feel Dan tense up next to me and I take his hand, rubbing circles with my thumb on his palm. But instead of getting angry he simply says with an odd smile, "I'm not gonna win, Eva."

She returns the smile as my blood runs cold. "I know. Neither am I. Phil will."

"You guys teamed up to make sure I win?" I whisper. "Oddly, I'm not touched..."

Eva shrugs as Dan squeezes my knee slightly. I look at him, and his eyebrows are creased slightly. "You will win, chipmunk." he says in the most serious voice I ever heard.

Eva nods too, her face set. "But who are waiting for you guys at home...?"

Dan tenses up again, so I murmur. "Er--my mum and my big sister. They're cheering me on in District 2."

"Kate?" Dan says suddenly.

I grin and think of my sister: bold, beautiful, kind, and fiercely protective of me. She'd beat anyone up at home if they ever called me a fag... I always had my family's support and love--still do--and I'm so thankful... "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"You talked in your...er, sleep. When you were sick." he smirks slightly.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess." I blush. Dan chuckles and Eva smiles.

"Don't be."

"It's cute!" Eva adds. "We're just glad you're okay." she looks at Dan. "Whatta 'bout you, Dan? Who do you have waiting for you back in Five?"

I brace myself for him to get angry. But to my surprise and relief, it...it doesn't come. Instead, he seems to deflate a bit. "No one."

"...I'm so sorry...I-I didn't--" Eva glances from him to me uncomfortably.

"It's fine." he says coldly. "I don't care anymore. I..." he sighs. "I want him to pay, s'all."

"Him?" Eva asks, forgetting her meekness for a moment. "Wait, but I thought you said--"

"I have no one who I care about in Five. My mum's dead...and my father..." his voice cracks ever so slightly, and he coughs. "Well...he should rot in hell." he pauses and looks at Eva. "Sorry."

She shrugs and smiles sadly. "I'm from Seven. I've heard cussing before."

He clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that isn't holding mine. "Anyway...whatta 'bout you? Who do you have, back in Seven?"

"Oh. She smiles sadly. "My big brother. Alfie." she pauses. "I don't want him to worry or be sad... I know if he could've taken my place, he would've, but..."

"But boys can't take girls' place," I murmur, thinking of Kate.

She nods and bites her lip. "Yes, of course. But he's twenty, so he couldn't have done it anyway."

"I'm sorry." Dan says gruffly. She gives him a small, thin smile.

"Thanks. Phil, when you win--visit him...and tell him I love him, and that it's all right... Okay?"

"I...if I win, then yeah..." I mumble.

"You're gonna win." They both say at the same time. I blink and smile at them gently.

"Okay."

"...we should keep moving." Dan says, his face set, and he stands up and stretches. Then he holds out a hand to me, and when I take it, he gently pulls me to my feet. He does the same for Eva, which makes me smile.

Quickly, we pack our tiny bit of supplies, and after Dan swings the bags up on his shoulders, he looks at me. "Tired?"

I smile and shrug. "I'm...a little, I guess. But I'm..." I don't have a chance to say fine because he takes off his jacket and wraps it around me. I quirk an eyebrow at him, and smile.

"C'mon, Eve," I say instead, and we start walking. Dan's hand slips into mine, and I immediately relax.

We're walking through the forest still. I'm full, and sleepy, and I feel comfortable and safe. Ha, ironic--safe in the Hunger Games. Anyway, I fall into sort of a rhythm and my head almost droops on my chest when chaos erupts all around me, and suddenly I'm shoved to the ground.

After a moment, I know Eva is next to me and that Dan was the one who shoved us. Panis wells up in me--is he okay?!--when I notice the hand, the arm more like it, on my back. I hear him breathing.

"Dan." Eva grunts next to us. "What the hell was that?"

"Someone was there. I could see their weapons--spears." he says grimly, shifting but not really moving. There's an uneasy silence...but we're alive.

"Oh... well, we're okay now." she reaches out, a kind smile playing across her lips, and squeezes my hand. Then she sits up--

--just as the spear enters her chest.

Dan lets out a strangled cry, his face white, and I shoot up from where I'm safe and charge into the woods, in the direction the spear came from.

I find two kids, a boy and a girl, as Eva's cannon fires. BOOM. She's dead now, a tiny voice whispers in the very back of my mind, but I don't seem to hear it. I don't. I don't know why. My heartbeat in my ears and my breathing echoing oddly, I grab the two kids by their hoods--they can't be more than twelve or thirteen--and drag them out into the place we were.

Dan is bent over Eva's body. The spear sticks crudely out of her.

He jerks his head up when he hears me dragging the two murderers.

"Phil! Are you okay?" He stands up, his eyes wide, and his hands bloody and shaking slightly. He must've tried to help her, I think numbly.

"I'm fine." My voice is tough and cold and it honestly almost scares me. He reaches for me, his face still sickly pale, but I don't do anything. He pauses.

"Who-who are they?" he coughs and clears his throat.

I give the ghost of a smile. "They killed Eva." I stare down at them, all the while feeling that weird coldness spread through me (maybe I was still sick...?). "I'm gonna kill them, Dan."

"What? Phil, you--"

I take out my knife and stab the girl. She squeaks and falls in a heap on the ground.

BOOM.

Her ally, the little boy, whirls to face me, his face contorted in rage and grief. I manage to slit his throat, but not before he stabbed weakly at my arm. I shove him viciously away as the cannon fires BOOM once more.

Only then, with Dan staring at me in horror and grief, and blood running down my arm, do I realize what I've done. I just killed two people.

Dan, Kate, Mum...Dad and Eva in Heaven...forgive me.

Dan opens his arms and I fall into them, tears running down my cheeks. He rubs my back, whispering sweet nothings in my ear to comfort me, and I cling to him for dear life.

"Let's get outta here, love," he says finally, taking my hand, and his voice is thick and hoarse from tears. I grip his hand tightly, and we walk away slowly from the grisly scene.

"Wait!" I whisper. Dan pauses.

"Huh?"

"I-I never said goodbye..." I say weakly, and break away from him, back to Eva. I hear him follow me after a moment. I kneel down next to my fallen ally--friend. She was my friend.

"I'm sorry." Fresh tears leak out of my sore blue eyes and I wipe them with the back of my hand. "I'm so sorry, Eve--I-I should've pulled you down and--and kept you safe. I-I'm sorry..." It's all I can say--it's too late now. I bend and kiss her cool forehead, before I stand and feel a gentle hand on my back.

I turn. Dan wraps his arms around me, tears still on his cheeks. I hug him back tightly.

"Ready?" he whispers. I nod, and he takes my hand, and we start to walk away again.

"Phil." he says quietly as we walk, the packs on his shoulders again. I don't answer.

Three people died today.

"Phil..."

And I killed two of them.

"Chipmunk." I realize I'm shaking then, and I try to stop, but he just squeezes my hand. "Listen to me. There's only six people left."

Tbc, of course! It's wrapping up nicely *wipes away a tear* sorry. so sorry... Ahhh, I was reading a Destiel High School AU fic... hey, fans of that, check out "The Yellow Brick Road Sucks". It's amazing, but there's self-harm... I love the fic, but it broke my heart and this didn't help lol... Anyway, comment and vote please...It'll cheer me up to. I'm gonna start Bolding the ANs like this, okay? Oh, I wanna know if you liked this :)

And I'm curious: did you like Eva? Dislike her? Think she was endearing, or annoying? I liked her (sometimes you kill off OCs cuz they're annoying, but I genuinely liked her--I'll use her in another AU) but that's just me. I'm the writer. I wanna know though!

peace out. know that you are loved and you are never alone.