Part 25

                                    

                                          

"🅷🅾🆆  the hell did we end up here again?" Estella and Aries are currently hiding in the trees. After spending a good night, the wounds have almost completely healed. As Estella expected, Aries's burns left a scary big scar that reached to his shoulder right down his arm on his right.
Estella attained higher on the tree while Aries stayed two branches down, climbing wasn't his best part. Katniss rests against the tree trunk, her seared calf dangling off the branch. Below, the Careers sleep, Peeta too was there.
"Shh. You said we could help her. And that's what we are doing." / "Well, I regret what I said. We could be spending a good relaxing afternoon together." Estella glare below her at her partner to which Aries nourishes both his hand in surrender. Something flickering overhauled both their attention, just two trees right next to them is Rue.
Estella's eyes grew in relief at seeing how safe and fine she was, it still bothered her that Petea left her only and rejoined the Career but seeing her fine told her that that male wasn't as bad as he put out. Scanning down, particularly at the Career, as Aries beacons Rue to come closer to them.
Just as Rue reaches them, Katniss has already woken up from her slumber, her bright red leg that used to resemble Aries's arm caught Estella's consciousness. She took out the medicine container they received from the sponsor. "You're going to give her that?" she turns to glance down at him, who shrugs his shoulder. Meanwhile, Estella frowns at him, "She's injured."
"Well, she isn't the only one." Aries still doesn't like Katniss and it's explicating obviously. In fact, he rather give the medicine to Cato than Katniss, which just showcases how much he dislikes the girl. Estella swivels her eyes, Rue feeling uncomfortable between the two, it seemed like witnessing her parent's argument in front of her.
She took a small scanty twig and threw it right close to Katniss to gain her awareness of them. Estella gestures to the container, motioning a fake throw, telling Katniss to get ready. With her signal, Estella aimed carefully and tenderly throwing it easily into Katniss's open palm. While 'The Girl On Fire,' busies herself with the healing, Estella turns her attention to Rue and Aries. "What's the plan?"
"Well here's my proposal. You get your pretty ass away from here and enjoy presumably our last day on earth in this stupid arena." Estella let out a sigh at Aries who nods his head simultaneously with his every word, feeling proud at his idea. Moving to Rue, "Please tell me you have a better one."
Rue and Estella begin their thinking while Aries keeps watching the Career, observing that some of them are steering in their sleep. "Lucky bastards," he mumbles his jealousy at seeing their slumber.
A silent moment, two girls, staring at one another that was until Rue perks up at an idea. Climbing up a branch to be next to Estella, she silently points a single finger, the universal gesture for: 'Look up, over your head.'
Both Estella and Katniss look up. And there it is, right above Katniss, hanging from a tall branch: a wasps' nest. Big, round, the size of a beachball. "Those are Tracker-Jackers. Two or three stings can be fatal. She could die."
"Have some fate for her, won't ya?" Aries sticks his tongue childishly at Estella who does in return while Rue endures her chuckle. They watch as Katniss slowly gets the hint of what she should do, "Took her time, didn't she." Both girls ignore the pouty Aries for the lack of recognition he is getting, eyes merely on Katniss.
They watch as Katniss puts that knife back in her teeth, and climbs even higher. Agonizing, but she does it. Soon reaches the sky-high branch supporting the nest, able now to hear the low, throaty buzz emanating from it. The branch is thin. Katniss takes the knife from her teeth and makes a quiet cut on it.
Gingerly. Silently. Then another.
Aries groans, knowing this might take a day with Katniss's pace even if she tries to be silent about the Career. She would easily be caught too at any moment when they start waking up. Estella knew that too while Rue remained too focused on Katniss as encouragement. Estella looks around them, "You got a bow and arrow?"
"No, love. If I did it would've been pretty obvious." Estella sighed. She didn't want to waste her throwing knife on a wasp's nest but that doesn't seem to be the chase. Cursing down at Glimmer who now seized her bow and arrow from the last time they encounter.
Aries softly taps Estella's feet to get her attention from blanking out, he gestures below them seeing Peeta and Cato now clearly awake. "She got to move faster." Rue panicked seeing them awake, Estella took out 2 knives instantly as Rue mentioned for Katniss to migrate somewhat away.
Katniss too started dreading this which wasn't nourishing as she started sawing too roughly to wake a few wasps. A tracker-jacker angrily pops from the nest. It's huge, with a golden torso. Flying right at Katniss, and lands on Katniss's knee. A stabbing pain as it stings her. Another flies at her and stings her in the neck.
Katniss is about to block it out and keeps sawing - arms pumping, getting woozy. Estella focused on her aim, the first knife had been thrown directly into the branch. The knife slashed out a huge slab making the branch nearly sawed off and damp low from the weight of the nest.
Yell from Cato as he wakes up his group. Aries signals for Rue to come towards him, hiding her behind his broad body, ready to leave for in case the Career spots them, knowing Estella won't miss the last knife and drama will uproar soon.
The second knife Estella threw did the trick. You can hear a loud clear snap and in slow motion, the wasp's nest flew just in time as Cato fled from the scene. "Go! Go!" Estella softly yells as they escape to a better hideout too.
The nest hits Earth and explodes open, tracker-jackers bursting out, enraged. That fast, they are a deadly swarm, stinging anything that moves. Peeta gets to his feet and starts yelling, "To the lake! To the lake!" The sound is awful to anyone's ears, buzzing mixed with screams.
The Careers run blindly, chased by the swarm, each stung repeatedly as they flee. Peeta too, legs pumping. But Glimmer is caught in her sleeping bags, quickly enveloped in a cloud of wasps. Overwhelmed. Glimmer shrieks and tries to swat the wasps with that bow she took from Estella, taking dozens of stings; then she falls.
Her body begins to spasm, twitching madly. Then, death. The Tracker-Jackers depart. And an odd silence returned.