ENTRAPMENT

[Notes: Some of this chapter has been taken from Chapter 16 of Suzanne Collin's masterpiece, The Hunger Games. I do not own any characters unless otherwise stated.]

I published this story three years ago on my old account and have only now decided to update it. This is MY story. I am not stealing it from someone else.

Introduction:

The Cornucopia sat in its original position, but its insides were picked clean. Most of the supplies, held in crates, burlap sacks and plastic bins, were piled neatly in a pyramid in what seemed a questionable distance from the camp. Others sprinkled around the perimeter of the pyramid, almost mimicking the layout of supplies around the Cornucopia at the onset of the Games. A canopy of netting that, aside from discouraging birds, seemed to be useless, but served as a shelter for the pyramid itself.
The whole set up, Katniss believed, was utterly confusing- the netting, the distance, and the presence of the boy from District Three. There was one thing, however, that she was certain of; destroying those supplies was not going to be an easy task.

She crouched down lower behind the brush, trying to get a better look at the piled supplies while still trying to remain invisible. Suddenly, a shout, and she knew that Cato had seen Rue's fire, which she also knew was fuelled by the green wood they had gathered that morning. They needed the fire to be visible, and stay that way until the older girl could blow up the supplies.

She inched her head up slowly, trying to get a better look at the Careers just as an argument broke out. She didn't know what it was over, but if she had to place a guess, she would bet on weapons. She felt disgust creep up on her (stupid, primitive animals), but shook it away so that she could concentrate on what they were shouting about.

"He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his job's done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies." Cato said, full of arrogance, and she watched as he placed his sword vertical to his face and carefully inspected it, looking for any nicks that it may've sustained since its last sharpen. Satisfied when he found none, he placed it behind his back and crossed his arms, waiting for anyone to argue with his authority. They wouldn't.

"What about Lover Boy?" The boy from District One asked with a false sense of esteem. Katniss couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes at the boy, despite the subject at hand. He may have come from a Career District, but he was still not a leader, and he was fooling himself to believe otherwise.

She could practically hear Cato sigh in exasperation. "I keep telling you, forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us." She watched as Cato lightly tapped the side of his leg with the sword, waiting for the others to gather their weapons.

Katniss felt a swell of nausea at the thought of Peeta being out there, badly wounded by Cato's sword. Peeta, the boy with the bread was fighting for his life somewhere out there in the wild. She knew shouldn't care, but she couldn't help caring at least a little...
She shook her head, as if to shake the bad thoughts away, and continued spying on the camp.

"Come on." Cato interrupted as another minor argument broke out between Clove and the boy from District Three. He thrust a spear into the hands of the boy, ending yet another small confrontation, and started toward the direction of the fire. Clove made a face at the young boy and flicked her knife into the air, catching it by its hilt in her small hand, and followed Cato. The boy stumbled over what Katniss assumed was a rock, and then followed the rest of the Careers into the forest, where Cato's words echoed menacingly, "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes."

Somehow, she knew that he wasn't talking about Rue. After all, Rue didn't drop a nest full of tracker jackers on him.

Katniss stayed put for half an hour or so, trying to figure how best to destroy the supplies. She remained crouched behind the brush, moving only when her muscles screamed in protest. She'll try as hard as she can not to disappoint Rue.

The sun burned her face, and she glared up at it- squinted, more like- wishing more than ever that there was at least some cloud cover. Growling under her breath, she shifted backwards. A tiny crunch under her feet alerted her to the fact that she had stepped on a twig, and she felt her face twist to an expression of alarm. She needed to be more careful. Her eyes turned back to the camp and she studied it for the boy carefully. He hadn't heard her, had he? By the looks of things, he hadn't, because she couldn't see him anywhere.

She thanked her lucky stars that he was the one chosen to remain behind; as soon as she figured out how best to destroy the pyramid, everything would be a piece of cake.

She briefly considered flaming arrows -as her advantage was distance- however there was no guarantee that the fire would catch, and then what? She'd lose an arrow, which was definitely something she didn't need to happen in the Games. The thought of being even slightly disadvantaged sent a shiver down her spine, and so she contemplated for a moment longer.

When she found no answers, she decided that she'd have to get in closer and see if she could discover what it was exactly that protected the supplies. She just started to move from her couch when a slight motion from off to the side caught her eye. She snapped back down into position and held her breath, thinking that it's one of the careers coming back. However when she caught sight of bright red hair, she exhaled, knowing that it was only Foxface- and Katniss doubted that the other girl would have the guts to kill anyone.

So she watched her, noticing how the red head stopped for a moment- nearly sniffing the air like the fox she so accurately represented -and then after deeming the coast clear, making a run for it in swift steps. She reached the small circle of supplies in no time, and stopped for a moment to study the ground.

Katniss inched closer to the scene unfolding in front of her, paying apt attention to Foxface, who she now knew was an incredibly smart individual to have entered the Careers camp undetected. But just what was she doing?

She carefully lifted her head and appeared to be counted under her breath. After a moment, the girl sprang into the air and with quick, lithe steps, bounded her way to the base of the pyramid, teetering slightly between hops when she nearly lost her footing. She launched into the air with another bound, over a small barrel, and landed lightly on her tiptoes. Bu she overshoots slightly, and her momentum threw her forward. With a sharp squeal her hands hit the ground below her, but nothing happened. After a brief moment of shock, she regained her feet and continued leaping along until she reached the base of the pyramid where most of the supplies were collected.

Well, it was definitely a booby trap.

Katniss whistled low and considered how complex it actually was. It would be impossible for her to get extremely close to the structure, and so she immediately eliminated that prospect. She definitely wasn't going to be risking her skin that much. However she was comforted by the thought that she still had her arrows, and so could easily work from a distance. No, it wasn't imperative that she get up close.

She watched again silently as the girl filled her pack sparingly with a variety of foods from different containers - crackers, an apple from a burlap sack hanging from the side of a bin, and another food which she guessed was raisins, but couldn't be sure because of the distance. Katniss noticed that she took just enough to sustain herself for a short time, but not enough to arouse suspicion. So Foxface was a scavenger. Katniss filed that small titbit of information away for later use and contemplation, and continued to watch the site.

Foxface stood up after a short while, and practically skipped back -wobbling a tiny bit- to the edge of the supplies where she scampered off into the woods.

Katniss was grinding her teeth in frustration.

Just what was this booby trap? What did it do? What did Foxface know that the Girl on Fire didn't? The other girl had already confirmed what Katniss had only guessed at, but just what sort of trap had the Careers laid down that required such skill to get past? What sort of trap would have so many trigger points? Why did she squeal so much when she landed on the ground? It almost looked like she thought she was... going to... blow...up...

Slowly it began to dawn on Katniss that this was no ordinary trap.

"It's mined." She whispered to herself, and then quickly looked around her to see if anyone had heard. Her answer explained everything- it explained why the Careers were so willing to leave their supplies, Foxface's reaction and the involvement of the boy from District Three.

But just where did they get them? Katniss racked her brain for answers. In the supplies? No, that's not be the sort of weapon that the Gamemakers usually provide the children with, given that they like to see Tributes draw blood personally.

She slowly made her way out of her crouch and from behind the bush, almost tiptoeing her way toward the mines. She crossed over to the round metal plates that lifted the tributes into the arena and marvelled at how intelligent the boy from District Three was to have been able to reactivate them. It was definitely a first in Hunger Game history, and she mentally applauded the boy for getting one up on the Gamemakers.

But what was she going to do? Obviously she couldn't go waltzing in there, trying hopelessly to mimic Foxface's intricate dance around the explosives. That particular means was totally out of the question, unless she suddenly had a desire to commit suicide. As for sending a flaming arrow... well, that idea was laughable now.

She flexed her arm as she contemplated throwing stones, knowing that she had good aim and could most likely set the mines off. But how many would explode? One? That was certainly not enough to blow up the pyramid. But would it set off a chain reaction?
She chewed the inside of her cheek as she mulled it over, thinking of how the boy may have placed the mines in such a way that a single mine wouldn't disturb the others, just make it loud enough so that the Careers would be alerted to having someone in their camp. Or, on the flipside, she thought to herself, a single mine that would serve to protect the supplies by killing the invader.
Even by blowing up one mine, she knew that she'd be signing her own death warrant.

She glanced back up at the woods, toward Rue's fire.

She knew for certain that Careers would have already reached the source of the some, and would now be suspecting some sort of trick. Time was running out.

Katniss concentrated on the supplies, thinking hard of a way to blow the place up. The crates were too heavy to topple over with an arrow, and there wasn't anything dangling that she could shoot at, was there?

She inspected the pyramid again, and when she sighted the burlap sack of apples hanging at the side, she nearly sighed with relief.

All she had to do was shoot the apples and release them from the bag, they would topple out of the sack and land on the sensitive mines, effectively blowing up the rest of the supplies and disadvantaging the careers by a ten-fold. The idea was so simple, she nearly felt like laughing.

She moved into range and took aim.

Her first arrow ripped through the side of the sack near the top, leaving a small split in the burlap. The second widened the split into a gaping hole. She took aim one last time and released, just as an apple teetered out of the hole. The arrow caught the apple and the torn burlap, ripping the bag completely and sending the rest of the apples spilling toward the explosive ground below.

For a moment, everything is frozen in time.

"What have you done?" She heard a fierce growl from behind her and she whipped around, shocked, catching a glimpse of Cato's shining sword as it's thrown to the side, and everything is blown backwards into the air.

Katniss groaned as she felt her muscles shrieking in pain. She could feel her left temple throb, and immediately she knew that she had hit her head quite hard. By the looks of it, she had probably also passed out for a short amount of time.

She also noticed that her left ear was bleeding profusely, something which she was certain about due to the warm trickling sensation that made its way from her ear down her neck and onto the ground where it gently pooled at her cheek.

She then became acutely aware that she couldn't hear. Well, she could hear slightly, but most of what she could hear was drowned out by the buzzing, which she hoped would pass soon.
She took a quick inventory of her body, wriggling her toes in her boots and feeling all of her fingers on her hands. She then moved her elbows, still not opening her eyes, and found that they were quite stiff and painful.

Yes, she had definitely been there awhile.

She rolled her shoulders and her neck, twisted her torso -which felt as if it had been run over by a mining cart heavy with coal- and then moved her legs from side to side, making sure that they hadn't been injured terribly either.

She then started to open her eyes so that she could see exactly where she was and make her way back to Rue.

She felt a stab of dread as she realised that poor Rue was out there all alone in the woods, while she, Katniss, couldn't even make it to the young girl.

She gritted her teeth, with a new found wave of determination, and opened her eyes a crack.

It was dark.

All she could see was darkness and she briefly wondered whether or not she had gone blind, then admonished herself for thinking such a stupid thing; if she were blind, she wouldn't be able to open her eyes at all, and they'd surely be painful.

Had she been passed out for that long? She looked upwards toward what she assumed was the sky in a desperate attempt to find the bright moon. But there was nothing there, and she bit her lip.

Something definitely wasn't right.

Suddenly she heard a groan from the area in front of her, and she stiffened, holding her breath so that she was completely silent. Just what had happened after the explosion? Had someone found her? Was she trapped? Why would she be trapped? Wouldn't the Careers simply kill her and have her out of the way?

A thousand questions flittered through her mind and she dully remembered seeing something shiny just before she was blown away. But what was it? She knew what it was, she knew where she was, and she knew just who was there with her, but for some stupid reason she just couldn't think.

Another groan silenced her thoughts, and she stared at the direction it had come from, feeling confident that the other person couldn't see her in the pitch black of the place that surrounded them.

Timidly, she shifted forward, biting her lip harder to avoid groaning in pain, and moved toward the source of the sound.

Haymitch would be beside himself. Imagining Haymitch screaming at a massive screen like an ape was somewhat humorous too her, and she smiled grudgingly. If the person near her was groaning in pain as well and hadn't made a move at her whilst she was passed out, then just how harmful could they possibly be?

Besides, maybe they had a torch or something.

She moved forward again, knowing that she was close to her enemy, and lightly touched what she assumed was a boot. She felt the other person stiffen and she briefly wondered whether or not this person was capable of harming her. Did they have any weapons on them?

She nudged their boot again and waited for a response.

All she received was a pitiful moan, and so she deemed them safe enough to approach.

"Have-" she croaked. She thirstily licked her lips and started again. "Have you got a torch on you? Matches? Anything that could allow me to see where we are?"

Her voice was feeble and weak, but it carried, and for that, she was thankful.

She listened intently for another moment, and was able to pick up the smallest of voices. It was a deep voice- definitely male -and it was filled labour. He was so obviously in pain that Katniss nearly felt bad for her opponent. Nearly.

"P-pocket." She managed to pick up, and she crawled her way to where she felt his pockets would be. Up his legs- which she felt were thick bands of muscle -and to his mid-torso where she imagined his pockets would be.

She fumbled in the material and found the thin cylinder that she was sure was a torch. In his pocket, she also found a small sharpened knife, which she silently placed on the floor beside their bodies, and a box of matches which she placed next to knife.

Now she floundered with the torch, trying to work out whether or not this torch was something she could turn on by twisting or by simply pushing a button.

After a short moment, she found that the lid was screwable and so proceeded to twist it.

Light suddenly flooded the room.

A shrill scream echoed off the walls and the torch thudded to the ground.

Katniss was at the other side of the room in half a second, still completely in shock at the person who was in the small space with her.

"Y-you." She breathed out, her voice shaking.

Her reaction? Completely understandable.

Especially considering that Cato, the brutal killer, was less than two meters away.