Day Seven

Rosemary

Kyler really was a blessing. As they roamed the arena, he spoke mindlessly about a lot of stuff and Rosemary stayed quiet and listened intently. She learned a lot about him within the first seventy-two hours of their allegiance. He was the oldest child; if he hadn't volunteered for the Games, he would have gone to the training school for Peacekeepers; he used to be pretty popular in school but after his sister died, he and his friends fell out; he thought that grape juice was better than apple juice; he thought about the other districts a lot, and what the people who lived in them were like, and he really liked math.

"Math?" she had asked him, almost in disbelief. Had she ever met a person who enjoyed math? She was excellent at all types of math, yet even she didn't like it much.

"I don't like open-ended answers," he explained. "At least equations have firm, final answers."

"So does science," Rosemary understood his appreciation, having the same one for science being her favorite subject. "And there are way more types of science than math."

Kyler laughed at her and poked her right cheek. "If you're trying to make science sound better than math, you're going to fail, nerd."

"You're a nerd."

"A hot one at least," Kyler winked at her; Rosemary's cheeks flushed and she looked away with a shake of her head. He chuckled under his breath like he always did when he flustered her. He didn't do it to be mean, but rather to control his own feelings fluttering around in his chest.

"That's science, you know," Rosemary recovered more quickly than in the beginning, getting used to his banter. "High levels of dopamine go off when you see someone attractive."

"Dopamine?"

"It's a chemical released in your brain that allows you to feel motivated, be attracted to something, or feel pleasured." she rattled off a definition she kept stored somewhere in her brain.

"Like adrenaline?"

"Sort of, I guess."

It was a blessing getting to know Kyler, but also a curse. Rosemary found herself liking him. Confusion with her sexuality aside, she was in the Hunger Games. Nothing would come out of her relationship with Kyler, but they could still be friends and allies. That's when the curse came in; they were probably both going to die and the odds were really not in their favor. Maybe in the afterlife they spoke to each other about, they'd be able to try out a real friendship, but while in the arena, they had each other and they couldn't exactly label it anymore than that.

It was comfortable being in an alliance with Kyler. At first, she thought that it would be rather one-sided, with him protecting her more than she could help him. It didn't turn out that way; Kyler was horrible with getting food and without her, Rosemary was sure he would have starved within the third or fourth day of the Games. He had also almost swallowed poison berries on two separate occasions and was not good at recognizing edible plants that Rosemary picked to show him. He was very much the more physical of the two, but he strove to help her with the throwing knives he picked up for her. Being taught by Kyler how to throw a knife was infinitely easier than learning from Haymitch.

Probably because Kyler was actually patient with her. With Haymitch, learning anything was an endless cycle of nerves, impatience, annoyance, and finally someone would quit and return five minutes later to start the whole thing again.

Rosemary was still not good at throwing knives at the direct target, but she was getting in the vicinity. If she was going to throw a knife at a person, it would probably hit them, just not where it was aimed...

Rye would honestly be thrilled.

It had been a week in the arena, and Rosemary still hadn't found Rye. It was, frankly, concerning that she hadn't come across her brother yet, and though she enjoyed Kyler and his company, this was not how the plan for the Games was supposed to go. Both she and Rye had hoped they'd be together immediately and from there survive, whether that meant by killing the other Tributes or hiding out.

Now nothing made sense and even small parts of their plan couldn't be salvaged.

"We'll find him," Kyler told her seriously. With spending so much time together, he had picked up on when she was thinking about Rye and his absence. "We know he's not dead and we've walked half of the arena already, so the odds are–"

"Never in our favor?" Rosemary huffed.

Kyler grinned softly. "Well, you're not wrong, princess."

"Maybe if I stare into the sky and talk about how awesome Haymitch is, he'll give me something," she sighed, staring up at the sunny sky. She had figured out that the sun was somehow real in the arena, but not the stars or the moon, which was kind of bizarre and she really didn't have the time to break that down and work it out.

"You can try."

Rosemary sighed, watching as he shrugged, and then looked back up to the sky. "Haymitch, if you can hear me, you're the best ever. Other Mentors could not even compare to what you bring to the table. Who else knows where to get the best shot in the Capitol, huh?"

Kyler started laughing. "And here I was, thinking that you were going to talk about his actual Mentoring skills."

"With Haymitch?" she grinned at him. "No way, that's not how he works."

Rosemary knew that Haymitch had seen her plead and try to appease him because within the next second, like they had planned on such perfect timing, a silver parachute came floating down to her, soft tune disappearing in the light breeze of the day.

"I should never doubt you...or Haymitch, I guess."

Rosemary grinned and caught the parachute. There was a box attached to it and when she opened it, she found a small compass. When she turned it around in her fingers, she saw a rye leaf etched into the smooth metal back. This would help her find her brother.

Haymitch was a genius.

"Never underestimate Haymitch Abernathy," Rosemary held up the compass and watched as the arrowhead whirled around for a second before setting toward the northeast. "All right, let's find Rye."

-

It took no longer than three hours to find Rye. The only trouble is that when they found him, they found Xavier standing over his unconscious body, large fingers prodding at Rye's forehead. She didn't know exactly what happened, because one second Rosemary was standing, looking at her brother in awe, and then she was jumping at Xavier, a knife curled in her fist, trying to stab him for touching her brother.

Unfortunately, she only got a few feet away from Xavier when Kyler grabbed her around the waist.

"Kyler!"

"Take a second to look around you," Kyler whispered, the words warm against her ear. Rosemary did, her brown eyes observing the scene.

They had a camp set up and Rye was situated under a propped tarp that was camouflaged with snow, pine needles, and small branches. There was a bite on his arm that looked inflamed but on the mend, a water-proof blanket tightly tucked in around Rye's body, and a piece of fabric, clearly ripped from the bottom of their long-sleeved shirts, was wrapped around his head.

"He's got a fever," Xavier didn't look bothered by Rosemary's outburst at all and nodded when she quietly apologized. "Your Mentor sent some meds and it helps for a while, but then it comes back. There must be a specific ant-venom needed to help."

Rosemary shrugged off Kyler's faded grip and knelt down by Rye. He was terrifyingly pale and when she touched his cheeks, normally ruddy with warmth, they were clammy, leaning more toward the warm side. She popped back up to her feet and started shifting around snow in the area, looking for herbs she could use for medicine.

"What bit him?" Kyler asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the siblings.

"Some kind of muttation," Xavier reported. "It looked like a racoon but it had huge wings."

Kyler grimaced. "Sick."

Rosemary gasped in excitement when she saw the small purple flower that held the cure to Rye's fever. Well, it would help the medicine that Haymitch sent at least. She plucked the petals from multiple stems and went back to the boys. Using the handle of one of her knives and a smooth piece of bark, she muddled the petals until it made a gritty paste, then added a tiny amount of water.

"What exactly is that?" Kyler asked her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Echinacea," with one hand, Rosemary gripped Rye's chin and forced his mouth open. With her other, she tipped the piece of bark over Rye's mouth so the mixture could drip in. Rye's reflexes were still working well, as he immediately swallowed. "It should help the medicine that Haymitch sent. Worst case scenario, it's a natural treatment for fever."

She wiped the excess of petal paste off on the legs of her jumpsuit and stood back on her feet. She glanced at her brother, then Kyler, and then finally Xavier. "So, you hungry?"

-

Night Seven

Rye

The smell of rabbit meat woke Rye up. His eyes felt heavy, like he'd been asleep for a decade but the smell of the meat was so damn good. He wanted to eat and his viciously growling stomach agreed with him.

"Look, he's waking up," he heard a somewhat familiar voice say a couple of feet away from him. It wasn't Rose and it wasn't Xavier and had he had any energy at all that wasn't dedicated to opening his eyes, Rye would have lunged in defense.

"Shut up, Kyler," came Rosemary's voice right next to him, almost too close. "Rye? Rye, are you waking up?"

Rye smacked his lips together, tasting a hint of florals. Weird. "Mmm," he groaned, trying to get his voice to work. "I guess."

Rosemary's arms slipped around him and soon he was gripped into the tightest–and only–hug since he had last seen her. He returned the gesture as much as he strength allowed and when he opened his eyes to look at his baby sister, he gasped.

She had lost weight, the white of her jumpsuit was dirty and there were several cuts within the fabric. There was a healing bruise on her eye, a cut on her forehead and just under her jaw, both of them scabbed over. He was sure he looked nothing like a princess, either, but she looked like a wreck.

"You look horrible."

"Yeah, he's back," Rosemary let go of him, a smile on her face despite the dryness of her tone. "How are you feeling?"

"Weak," Rye looked toward Xavier and saw that Kyler from Two was standing with him. "Your ally?"

"Our ally," Rosemary corrected him with a roll of her eyes. He could tell that she was comfortable with both Kyler and Xavier. That meant she must have been with them for a while.

He sat up suddenly and then closed his eyes, dizzy. "How long was I out?"

Rosemary and Kyler turned to Xavier, who twisted his lips thoughtfully. "Two days? Maybe? They got here this morning."

This morning? It was getting dark out now.

Understanding dawned on him, Rosemary hadn't found him and Xavier and then Kyler just came along randomly. Like he and Xavier, Rosemary and Kyler had been in an alliance for more than a couple of days.

"Are you okay?" Rye asked Rosemary, worriedly. Obviously she had been into some sort of trouble, but it didn't look like anything too bad.

Rosemary smiled. "You're the one who has a raging fever and you're asking me if I'm okay?" she shook her head. "Yes, I'm okay, Dad. Now, do you think your stomach could handle something to eat? Are you hungry?"

"The rabbit," Rye groaned happily, his hand on his unbitten arm weakly pressed against his stomach. "I'm starving."

Kyler stepped forward and handed him a warm rabbit leg, recently seared. "You guys didn't build a fire this dark out, did you?"

"It was almost two hours ago," Xavier reported, sitting down in his spot now that Rye was awake and they were all somewhat relaxed. He ate some of his own rabbit. "Plus we walked about a mile to start the fire."

"Good."

Rye dug into the rabbit and groaned when the juicy meat filled his mouth. It was the best meal he had in ages, even if Rosemary did force him to eat some dandelion greens with it. His stomach felt satiated for the first time since being in the Hunger Games and he owed it to his sister, since it was clear to him that Kyler from Two couldn't hunt, and really, neither could he or Xavier.

"Thanks for the food, Rosie," Rye said once he finished his food. He shivered lightly and burrowed back underneath the blanket tucked around him. He somehow felt weaker and he knew the longer he kept awake, he would get worse.

"Here," Xavier held out a syringe of liquid medicine. Rye opened his mouth and he squirted it in there. "Haymitch sent it, along with some bread and soup, but I ate it while you were out."

Rye nodded, grimacing at the taste of the meds. "Honestly, that's valid." he turned to Rosemary, curious. "What's been going on?"

Rosemary gave him a full run-down on what had been happening with her since the beginning of the Games. Starting with Biff and Cain in the bloodbath, mentioning her dehydration that lasted for days until Kyler found her, to Shimmer and then finally, finding them. Rye was relieved to hear that she hadn't killed anyone; he knew she couldn't take it. She was strong but not that strong, and she had already faced so much violence in her life. She wouldn't be able to handle it. Thankfully, Kyler had been there to protect her from Shimmer, and while her dehydration was very concerning and she was probably on death's door before Kyler showed up, at least she was still alive. She got through it and she survived without him.

Just like he knew she would if he didn't end up making it out of the arena. It seemed likely with how sick he was.

Rye rested for a while as Xavier caught Rose and Kyler up on what happened while they had been in an alliance. He didn't have enough energy to tell Rose about the girl from Six, but he would later.

He cleared his throat, chest feeling uncomfortable, and coughed into his hand. A trickle of blood came out and landed in his palm. Rosemary, who had looked his way as soon as he started to hack, gasped lightly when she saw the crimson mucus on his skin.

"The venom must be getting further into your bloodstream," Rose put the back of her hand on Rye's forehead and winced when she felt the heat radiating off of him. "I don't think the medicine is working anymore."

"What about that echinacea stuff you gave him?" Kyler asked. He had stood up when Rye had coughed and was now hovering nervously over Rosemary, a frown on his face.

"I can give him more but I doubt it will work," there was a hysterical twinge in Rosemary's voice that gave away how scared she was to all three men. Rye grabbed her hand and squeezed it as tightly as he could, but all that seemed to do was remind her how weak he was.

"He needs the anti-venom," Xavier muttered. He looked around their area really quickly and then glanced at Kyler. "Did you spend any time with the Careers before you split off to find Rosemary?"

Kyler nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Did you notice any medical supplies at the Cornucopia?"

Kyler's eyes widened in realization. "Yes, actually! I remember because they were in a bright red tub that we had to go through because some kid bit Biff pretty hard. I guess that was Cain."

"Do you know if there was anti-venom in the tub?" Rosemary asked, hand still curled around Rye's. "It would have been a small bottle, maybe even a vial."

"There were a couple of containers like that, but I couldn't tell you if it was anti-venom or not," Kyler admitted. He gripped his chin for a moment before nodding determinedly. "I can go back there and get it."

Rosemary shook her head immediately. "And you'll die, Kyler."

"And you won't get to bring the anti-venom back if you're dead, dude," Xavier added. "If we go to the Cornucopia, we need to make a plan."

"That should be fun," Rye laughed weakly. "A plan made up by a genius who can't fight, a fighter who's too sick to fight, a lumberjack, and a Career. It sounds like the start of a joke."

Kyler and Xavier shot him amused smiles accompanied by a few chuckles, but Rosemary rolled her eyes. "That's not even funny, Rye. If you're going to make jokes whilst on your deathbed, you need to at least be funny."

Rye laughed and coughed up more blood, causing Rose's small smile to flit away.

"So, a plan," he brought back up the subject, hoping that would stop her from worrying too much. Who was he kidding, though? This was his sister and Rose was nothing but a worrier. He was just glad that she had on those leather gloves to protect her skin from her clenched fingers.

"We set up a distraction to get the Careers away from the Cornucopia," Xavier said first. "Kyler, anything you think would work better?"

"That first night with the fire, we went hunting for it," Kyler said. "But by now, they'll know it's a trick."

"What if we light more than one fire?" Rosemary spoke up. "Tomorrow we can set up three fires, at least a mile apart. Someone will light the first fire after the anthem plays and then get a head start on the third fire. Meanwhile, whoever is going to the Cornucopia can light the second fire on the way down."

"By the time the Careers are at the third fire, we could have gotten the stuff and left the Cornucopia already," Kyler concluded, pointing at her in agreement. "Good, yes, I think this could work."

"While we're down there, we should do something to destroy the rest of their supplies," Rye whispered.

"A fourth fire down at the Cornucopia, maybe?" Rosemary pondered. "I could dig up one of the landmines and try to re-activate it. I've read how to do it. But that could also take way too long and we won't have that time. Plus, an explosion would get their immediate attention. If it was another fire, it would take longer for them to notice..."

Rye shook his head as much as he could, smiling at his sister's rambling. It was nothing he hadn't seen before, but it was for sure something that Xavier and Kyler hadn't seen. Xavier just looked intrigued by her, and Kyler looked...

Oh, my stars, Rye groaned to himself.

Kyler looked smitten with Rosemary.

Seriously? In the middle of the fucking Hunger Games?! Rye wished he could kick Kyler's ass but he didn't have the strength to stand, let alone beat up a Career Tribute. The only solace he had was that Rosemary didn't seem to pay too much attention to Kyler, other than that conversation they had on the roof that first night of training, anyway.

"I think a fourth fire would probably be the best option," Xavier finally said after Rosemary kept going back and forth, undecided. "So, who's going where?"

Rye didn't say anything, as he was sure that his part of the plan was to keep hidden and alive. It was unfortunate, however, when Kyler volunteered himself for the Cornucopia and Rosemary agreed to go with him. He wasn't sure he trusted Kyler with his sister, but he did trust her and she was still alive even after a couple of days with the dude.

"I'm a pretty fast runner," Xavier nodded. "I'll light the first and third fire. You guys will do the second and fourth?"

Rosemary nodded and exchanged a look with Kyler. "Sounds like a plan."