Chapter Text
Trapped: Voltaea
“And you just sent him out there on his own?!” Sarah’s face shifts from panic to rage. Even in the darkness, Voltaea can see that much- But why is she mad at ME about this?!
“I sent him out?! This was HIS plan!” ‘Voltaea! Volume!’ She started it! She lowers her voice - “And it's not like we've heard any cannons- there's no reason to freak out about it-”
“Yeah? And you'd be calmer if I sent Coulomb off without any help!?” Sarah doesn't adjust her tone at all - If anything she just keeps getting louder-
“But why would we do that? He's already more useful here, that doesn't make any sense?”
“That’s not the point-” every time her ally speaks, the ringing in Voltaea’s ear gets louder again - Is that ever going to stop!? Alara’s voice sings out over the noise - ‘It was quite a big explosion, darling, give it time-’ I don’t have time!
“The point is that he’s fine! And we have work to do if we’re going to-” The drone hits the ground behind her with a heavy thud as they both crane their heads to look - How did I miss that one?! ‘Because you need that girl to shut her mouth-’ Voltaea stomps over and drops to a crouch, pulling the package open- “It looks like food. Not good food, but food-” She holds up a clear plastic container full of hard-textured, chunky-looking bars - They kind of remind me of the oat bars my mother used to pack for school… those were awful. I hope the Capitol makes better ones.
Sarah snatches the box from her hands and breaks a piece off one of the bars, shoving it into her mouth before Voltaea can get a word in edgewise - “Yeah- these are shit. But they’re food.” The way her ally smacks her lips together between every chew makes her want to pull her hair out. Thankfully, Sarah swallows before she speaks again- “So, we have food solved, and the kid’s fine up top. Now you’re gonna take me after Bashir since you decided without asking ANYONE else-”
“That’s the exact opposite of what he wants us to do! You realize we could put him in MORE danger if we go out there yelling after him!?” Voltaea tries to reason with her, but she’s not having it-
“Fuck that! We agreed to stick together! That was the whole-”
“You know I could hear you guys from like a mile away.” Bashir grumbles as he starts to haul himself up over the fence. The metal edge of the too-long goggles on his face clatter against the chainlink, so he pulls them off and shoves them into his pack.
Even he can’t climb that thing quietly. It takes less than a second for her to chime in - Of course, she’s just… here now. Or I’m here. Thinking about her. Yeah. That’s all. - ‘So you’ll hear your enemies coming, what’s the problem?’ - Everyone knows where we are, that’s not going to make us any less noticeable - ‘Perhaps that’s to your advantage. Remember what you’re good at.’ - Traps. - ‘Good girl.’
“You scared the shit out of me! What the fuck was so important that you had to go off like that?!” Sarah flings her arms around the boy just as he drops to the ground, stiffening at the touch- He looks rattled. ‘Shaking like a stim tremor, gods, what happened out there?’
“I- Sarah can you let go-” Bashir squirms under her grip-
“Sorry, yeah-” She lets her arms drop and stands - “But seriously, what the fuck?!”
It’s not her he looks at, it’s Voltaea - “He’s not dead. That boy you hit.” He shakes his head violently, like he’s trying to dislodge the thought - “It’s his alliance that’s over there, what’s left of them anyway. I managed to grab this, they’re pretty… distracted right now.” Bashir pulls a backpack off his shoulders and hands it to Sarah - “I don’t know what’s in it though.”
I don’t care what’s in the bag - ‘She stole that one right out of your hands, darling, what are you going to do about it?’ - “What do you mean he’s not dead? Like is he up and walking, or…”
“It’s… it’s really, really bad.” His voice wavers, even Sarah has stopped rummaging through the pack to listen - “He’s just… there’s this sound he keeps making… I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s horrible. His sister and one of the girls had whole piles of first aid stuff from the Cornucopia they were trying to use, but it didn’t seem to be doing much…” Bashir trails off, gathering himself, then - “The others were all arguing about it when I got there, that’s how I managed to slip by and grab something… but it was…”
“That sounds horrible…” Sarah sounds almost sick- ‘Oh, NOW it’s horrible? Who left him there, hm?’
Alara is right. “You should have let me kill him.”
Her look of fury is near-instant, whirling around and shouting - “Fuck you, I should have-”
But before she can finish, Bashir shouts back - “She’s right!” Oh? I am, aren’t I? - ‘Even he knows it.’ “He would have been better off! You didn’t see him! It was-”
Voltaea can hear the tears in the boy’s voice now, but her thoughts wander away from the conversation - Whatever he saw, it bothered him - ‘You have a much stronger fortitude when it comes to this sort of thing than your allies do, my love.’ - What does that mean? - ‘Well, you’re carrying around a dead girl’s ear in your pocket like it’s nothing, aren’t you?’ - SHIT! She slips her hand into her pocket - a sickly, clammy piece of flesh brushes against her own and she yanks it back out just as quickly. ‘Are you going to get rid of it?’ - I… wh… where do I put it? They’ll notice, won’t they? - ‘Hmm… perhaps it’s best to hold onto that for now, then. Just put it back out of mind! You have something much more fun in there, after all.’ Her fingertips brush against the handkerchief in her other pocket, feeling the stiff edge of the wrapper of one of her patches sewn just under the silk. ‘Still there?’ - Yes, thank the gods - ‘Good girl, you’ve earned one.’ - Now? It’s not time for another dose yet, is it? - ‘Do you have any idea what time it is?’ - No? - ‘Then it could very well be time for another dose, couldn’t it?’ - I…
“Hey!” Bashir snaps his fingers right in Voltaea’s face and she jerks backward, thoughts suddenly scattered- “Are you even listening?!”
“I’m… no… look-” Voltaea scrunches her face in thought - “We can’t go around picking and choosing who’s okay to kill. That’s not how this works-”
“I get it! Okay!” Sarah throws up her arms, frustrated - “I just. Fuck- I knew we’d have to fight the careers, right? And I was ready for that! And then I saw that kid…” She’s the one fighting tears now - “It felt wrong. Like we weren’t… doing a good thing, like he didn’t deserve to-”
“Do WE deserve to die?! No! Nobody here does, but someone has to!” Bashir takes the words out of Voltaea’s mouth - I… can’t believe he’s backing me up on this? Against her? “And you don’t understand, that other kid- he’s not going to survive this! Now he’s just dying slower, and worse!”
“You don’t have to keep saying it!” ‘Well… he’s done quite a good job of shaming her, hasn’t he?’ It sure looks like it.
“Fine! But you both have to promise me something, right now - ESPECIALLY you, Sarah!” Bashir is the loudest she’s ever seen him - And deadly serious, it seems - “If there comes a time when I get hurt like that? You HAVE to let me die. I don’t want that, whatever the fuck that was-” He shudders, “No. If I’m dying, make sure it’s quick. If my mom has to see me like that…”
“I… okay.” Sarah slumps her shoulders, defeated. “I promise.”
“Can you guys make me the same promise?” Coulomb drops to the bottom of the ladder, calling out to them - “I don’t want my family to see me… well, like that, either.”
Voltaea turns to him - He somehow looks even smaller now. As he approaches, she can see that he’s soaked to the bone from the exertion and humidity, face grim - I can’t let him suffer any longer than he has to. - ‘You could just kill him now, I suppose-’ - Gods, Alara! No! That’s not what I meant… - ‘Wouldn’t it be kinder than keeping him around? You know he isn’t making it out of here, don’t you, darling?’ - I… maybe, but I need allies right now. - ‘Fair point. Later then. You could slit his throat while he sleeps with those knives I sent you! That would be quick.’ - The boy Cymbria dropped that way was still twitching when we ran out, I wouldn’t call that quick. - ‘Can you really afford to be so picky? You’re a little short on options, if you hadn’t noticed…’ - I’m thinking!!! - ‘Well think faster, he’s almost here.’
Voltaea doesn’t know how she’ll keep it - Not yet, anyway - all she knows is that when she looks into his sad, terrified eyes, is that she has to make sure. I wouldn’t want my sister to die in pain. It has to happen the right way. - “If it comes to it… I’ll make sure it’s quick. I promise.”
Coulomb hugs her and she returns it with a squeeze twice as hard - “Thanks.”
“I guess I should probably ask too…” Sarah’s voice is shockingly quiet - ‘So she is capable!’ - “And apologize.” she adds, grimly. “I fucked up.”
“It sucks to be here. I get it. We just have to do what we have to do from now on.” Bashir punches her arm, playfully, which seems to shake her out of her sadness somewhat - “And I won’t let you die slow. But you’re kinda big, so it might take me a minute to take you down if it comes to it.”
“Thanks.. Wait, hey! You’re not gonna try and kill me are you?” - Sarah gives him an incredulous look-
“I was kidding! Come on-” - Bashir’s voice fades as the one in her head comes to the forefront - ‘You’re not entertaining this as an option for yourself, are you?’ - Of course not. I’m not planning to die.
“What about you, V?” Coulomb pipes up beside her. What do I even say to that? - ‘I don’t know darling! Children aren’t exactly my forte, now are they?’
After a long pause, Voltaea decides to avoid the subject altogether - “We need to start setting this place up for the night. A place to sleep, traps - someone needs to go through that bag Bashir brought back, and then-”
“Oh, I set some of that up while you guys were gone, actually. The place to sleep, anyway- you should climb up and see!” See! Useful. ‘Mhm.’
Sarah claps Voltaea on the shoulder from behind, and says “Don’t worry Sparky, we’ll make sure you go quick.” Her tone sounds friendly - ‘That sounds like a threat. Nobody threatens my girl like that!’ - It’s fine, I mean… that’s what we were all talking about - ‘She’s a menace, darling, don’t let her fuck this up for us!’
“Thanks.” Voltaea mutters under her breath, and lets the loud protesting in her head fade into the background of ringing and static. The group follows Coulomb up the ladder to the platform - “You did all this yourself?!” Voltaea exclaims as they climb onto the platform, now entirely surrounded by a web of ropes covered by a roof of plastic sheeting. He even tried to cushion the floor - the metal grate is covered in several layers of damp cardboard pressed together - Not the cleanest, but it’ll be better than sleeping on solid metal.
“I thought it would keep the rain out if we get some - it feels like it might rain.” He points down at the small outbuilding at the foot of the tower - “I went in to see if there was anything useful and all I found was a whole bunch of trash. But I used that to make most of this!”
“We couldn’t have been gone more than an hour or two…” Sarah tugs at one of the ropes and it barely gives - It’s built solid, for a tent made of trash.
“Two hours and thirty-eight minutes, from when you climbed the fence the first time to the second.” Coulomb taps his watch. “I timed you. Bashir, you took about fourteen more to get back.”
Voltaea blurts out - “What time is it? Like, how long since we started?” I’ve been dying to know - ‘So have I.’ - Well, you’re me, so.
“The bloodbath started at 11 AM exactly, and it’s almost 5 now…” Six hours. That’s it?!?
Voltaea’s heart sinks - It’s only been six hours. How long is this going to take?! - ‘You could make the world move a little faster, you know.’ - It’s not time yet! - ‘Who says?’ - You did! Before I left! You told me one per day, that’s it! - A warm cackle rings out behind her eardrum - ‘I said that? You mean Alara said that. Darling, you have to make up your mind. Am I you, or am I me?’ - Don’t… ask me things like that. It’s not time yet… so be quiet!
“Oh, shit, I thought it had been way more than that…” Sarah says, dejected - Okay, so I’m not the only one. “So what do we do, then? They’ll still play the anthem at some point, right? Usually it’s at night, but… well-” She gestures at the endless dark around them.
“Until then, I’m going back down. I want to make coming near this place as dangerous as possible before anyone even thinks about sleep.” Voltaea makes for the ladder.
“I’ll help-” Bashir volunteers all-too-quickly, ‘He’s got a killer instinct.’ - I’m pretty sure he’s just scared. - ‘That can be the same thing, depending on the person.’
“Me too-” Coulomb, to her surprise, strips the goggles off his head and hands them to Sarah - “Can you keep watch this time?”
Sarah seems… relieved. Voltaea watches the tension visibly leave the girl’s shoulders - “You got it, buddy.” She fumbles with the goggles, giving up after a few seconds and plopping herself onto the floor so Coulomb can help her put them on properly. “Ahhhh! It just feels so good to see again!” Damnit, I should have kept watch - ‘You’re the expert, my love, you’re needed elsewhere.’ - “I’ll yell for you guys if I see anything, alright?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll hear you.” Voltaea mutters under her breath as she starts her descent, the sound lost to the wind and clattering metal. When they reach the bottom, she finally feels herself relax - ‘Just focus on this for a while, darling. Forget about all the trouble with that girl. You’re not going to let her misguided moral compass get in the way of greatness, are you?’ - That’s not what was bothering me. - ‘You can stop lying to me, you know. It’s not like you can hide when I’m in your head.’ - Fine. I’m happy to have some time away… and a puzzle to solve.
///
It takes them close to three hours, by Coulomb’s watch, for the group to set up enough of a defensive perimeter that Voltaea almost feels like it might be safe to rest. Just for a few minutes- not that I’m tired- ‘Of course you’d be less tired if you’d listened to me earlier-’ I told you already, I’m not falling for that! The real you wouldn’t like it, and I’ve already messed up enough… A sharp gasp follows a crackle of sparks bursting to life somewhere off to her left, and nearly sends her shooting out of her skin - “What the-”
“Sorry-” Bashir whispers just loud enough to overcome the wind- “I think this one is broken.” He gestures to the car battery on the ground, smoke wafting from the top.
“Just back away from it. That looks like it might burn if you look at it the wrong way, or worse-” Voltaea waves him over and he almost trips over himself in his rush to get away from the half-finished trap he’d been working on.
Coulomb pokes his head out from the back of a nearby box truck- “Should I see if I can find another one? I think we’ve looked at all the cars on this block, but if someone wants to go with me we could-”
Voltaea cuts him off- The last thing I want to do is go back out there. “No, it’s been hours now- we should go back up to eat soon. Finish looking through that truck while we wrap up with this snare, will you?” He gives her a thumbs up and ducks back inside - Not that we’ve found much useful besides the parts so far… ‘I know where you could find all sorts of useful things, you know.’ Ugh. I know. ‘So… are you planning to let that knowledge go to waste, or are you going to ask him to help?’
“Nobody saw you at the Cornucopia this afternoon, right?” Voltaea hits Bashir with the question as soon as she’s sure the other boy is out of earshot.
He shakes his head- “No… but I did take that bag- they might notice that’s missing.” There’s a pause, before he says- “I doubt they will though- everything was pretty much right where it was during the bloodbath, I don’t think they’d gone through it all yet.”
“Good. I need you to go back tomorrow.” She’d meant to phrase it as a question- ‘I wouldn’t have.’ That’s the problem. Bashir gives her a confused look. “They’re the biggest group left besides us, right?” He thinks for a moment, then nods. “Then they’re our biggest threat. And they have things we want. So…”
Now he’s looking at her like she’s crazy- “If you think I’m going to go over there and try to take one of them out on my own-”
“Gods, no, nothing like that! This is just… spying. I want to know if they’re still busy with that boy or if they have an actual plan. I’ll keep Sarah busy looking for some of the others with me. I’m sure I can sell her on it if I say I want to know where the careers are hiding out.” Voltaea isn’t nearly as sure as she claims to be that Sarah will listen to her- ‘But don’t ever let them see your confidence waver, darling.’
“You want to make a move on them yourself, then? I mean, that’s where this is headed, right?” He asks bluntly and she nods- “Okay. I’m in. But just to spy- whatever else you have planned is on you. And you have to keep Sarah off my back.”
“Deal.” ‘Do you actually have a plan?’ Sort of… not really… I’m working on it, okay? That’s why I need him to watch for a while.
“I mean it- if she asks, this was all your plan, and you keep her from coming after me.” His voice is suddenly very serious.
Voltaea is taken aback - “Are you afraid of her?”
“No. She’s big, and annoying sometimes, but she’s nice.” He shrugs, “Right now I need her alive and not running off doing something stupid like trying to stage a rescue.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep her occupied.”‘Right now. Hah. At some point, that boy knows he won’t need her anymore. I told you, killer instinct-’ Shut up. ‘And I’m sure at some point even sooner, he won’t need you. What happens then? Are you ready to-’ Shut UP! Voltaea drowns out the sickly-sweet sound of Alara’s voice in her ear in a wave of static, honing her focus on the snare in her hands.
They finish the last touches on the snare just as Coulomb hops down onto the pavement, dragging a long, thin, rubber hose out of the truck behind him - “I found this!” He calls out, too loudly, though he clearly realizes that himself and drops his voice to a whisper - “I don’t know what we’ll use it for, but it’s strong.”
“Extra rope?” Bashir suggests, already on his way over to help carry it back to their camp - I have no idea, but I need to sit down. ‘Or you could-’ Don’t!
Voltaea takes the lead, the other two following single file as she weaves, steps, and ducks through the maze of electrified wires, deadfalls, and snares they’d set in the wreckage around them. Already she’s spotted gaps she hadn’t meant to leave, places for an observant attacker to avoid her traps- ‘If you’d just wake yourself up a bit, you could come back down here and-’ Please, stop- But she pushes the thought aside, jumping across a last tripwire between herself and the fence.
The tension with Sarah from earlier seems to have been forgotten in their absence - “Oh gods, it was so boring! All there was to do was watch you guys - nobody else has come anywhere near this place! At one point I thought I saw a deer or something and I almost yelled out, but it was gone so fast that I didn’t bother. I might have imagined it, even- I dunno-” she carries on with absent chatter about how dull guard duty had been, but Voltaea can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief - Boring is good. Boring means they’re not coming after us. ‘Boring makes for terrible television, darling. It can’t stay that way for long.’
Dinner, compared to what she’d grown accustomed to over the last week, should have been a sad affair - but I’ve never been so happy to eat a protein bar, gods! The bag Bashir had stolen had a container of mixed nuts they share alongside the rations real Alara had sent earlier - I still can’t believe we have so many sponsors! ‘Well, that’s because we’re famous, darling!’ Oh… right… I didn’t exactly earn this… ‘I mean. Does anyone really?’ I-
Voltaea doesn’t have time to work out how she feels about that before the familiar, hateful tune of the anthem starts blaring from somewhere far above- “Coulomb! What time is it??” I’ve been waiting for this. She taps her fingers impatiently as the boy squints at his wristwatch.
“It’s about nine-thirty.”
“Do they always do it at the same time?” Sarah asks through a mouthful of ration bar.
“Usually, give or take a few minutes.” When the first face lights up, a hush falls over the group. Pitch-black clouds churn and swirl across the entire sky- They’re using smog? That’s why it’s so dark? ‘More fog than smog, judging by how damp it is out here. Gods, I don’t know how you stand it! Your hair must be a mess!’ Voltaea moves to check on her bun, but stops before she feels the extent of the damage- Later. I need to know who’s left. Marcelus looks surreal, his picture warping and wobbling at odd angles as the clouds shift behind the projection.
None of the others come as much of a surprise- The only real contenders out were Mako and Marcelus. The boy from three- not much bigger than Coulomb- both tributes from Six - They weren’t going to be much of a threat anyway. Her heart sinks when eight doesn’t make an appearance - They’re both still alive. I guess I didn’t hear a cannon, I just hoped… ugh. She does note, however, that they’re down two members. The boys from Nine and Twelve are the last two in the slideshow - Less competition is less competition. ‘Less isn’t none, don’t get complacent.’ I’m not. ‘Keep yourself sharp.’ I am. ‘Then why aren’t you-’ Oh for fucks sake, knock it o-
The siren screams through the darkness- Voltaea’s hands clap over her ears- “What is that sound?!” There’s no answer from the others- they’re just as rattled. Her heart th-thumps into her throat, off-beat, too loud. As quickly as it had come to life, the siren falls silent.
There’s no time for relief, because for the first time since that morning, Voltaea is suddenly bathed in blazing light- “What the fuck?!” Sarah calls out, pulling the night-vision goggles up onto her forehead and rubbing at her eyes.
“It’s a hovercraft! They’re shining spotlights at us-” Coulomb leaps to his feet - “and everyone else too, you guys, look!”
She can see the outline of the craft against the clouds above them, spotlights scattered across the bottom aiming wildly across the arena - four pointed directly at their position on the tower’s lower platform. ‘Those aren’t the ones you need to be worried about, my love. I’d be more concerned about the two across the street-’ What?! Voltaea whips her head back around until she sees what Alara had- Or I saw it. I saw this? No, I missed this. How did I miss this?! Two spotlights shining directly at the half-collapsed building they’d walked past on their way here this morning, pointing at the second floor- “Someone’s nearby.” Voltaea hisses under her breath, squinting against the too-bright light to see if she can catch a glimpse of who it is through one of the shattered windows - I can’t see anything! Fuck, I’d just gotten used to the dark, now this?!?
“Shit, who!?” Sarah fumbles around for one of her axes- At least she’s ready.
“Whoever it is, they’re moving-” Just move somewhere I can see you, just for a second- The spotlights angle towards the center of the building, then downward- then- “Shit, they’re moving away from us!”
“Isn’t that good?” Coulomb asks, confused.
“Good? We don’t know who that was! Did they know we were here? Were they following us? How am I going to answer that now? We could have had them trapped, if they’d come any closer to us-” Frustration drips into her voice- Breathe. ‘Fuck that, escalate!’ Breathe. Voltaea takes a sharp, deep breath through her nose. “I’m sorry. I just don’t like the idea of someone out there following us. Though… I guess if they’re just going to shine spotlights right at everyone, there’s no point in trying to-” The lights click off overhead, plunging the world around her into darkness once again. She almost screams- it’s going to take me another twelve hours just to see right again! Damnit!
“If you’re worried we could take shifts keeping watch tonight, so someone’s always up with the goggles?” Sarah suggests - How can I trust her to keep us safe when she can’t even bring herself to let me kill someone? ‘You can’t. Only you can keep you alive at the end of the day.’
“I’ll take first watch.” Voltaea holds her hands out for the goggles, Sarah still struggling to take them all the way off of her head. ‘Good girl. Just don’t bother waking them up for the second watch if you can’t trust them. What if your stalkers come back? You wouldn’t want to be caught off guard, would you?’ Fuck… but I’m so tired… ‘We can fix that, you know. You have everything you need in your pocket.’ But… ‘What if they come back? Hm? Don’t you want to stay sharp?’ I…
She doesn’t answer not-Alara. Instead, she slips her hand into the pocket of her cargo pants, panicking slightly until her fingertips brush against quilted silk- Thank the gods, still here. A quick glance at her companions tells her not a one of them is paying attention- they’re still too busy reeling from the shock of the exposure and bickering about watch rotations to notice pulling out one of the throwing knives Alara had sent her earlier. ‘See, that version of me wanted you to succeed too. She wouldn’t want you to hold yourself back.’ I guess… I guess not. ‘Just don’t let anyone in on our little secret. Wouldn’t want the Capitol to know we’re cheats.’
Voltaea takes off her jacket, throwing it over her head and knees like a tent- I look ridiculous, but the cameras won’t catch what I’m doing under here. ‘You hope.’ I hope. It’s even harder to see what she’s doing under here- not even the faint glow of the obstruction light at the top of the tower shines through. On feel, she pulls out the handkerchief and feels out the edge of one of the patches under the fabric. She uses the knife to open the quilted square, careful not to slice through the packaging or into the other still-secured patches. Hands shaking, it takes her longer than usual to get the wrapper open - but she manages, and presses the patch into a clear spot on her upper chest that she wipes with the sleeve of the jacket.
“Hey, Sparky- you ready for these or are you gonna hide in there all night?” Sarah’s voice makes her jump- she pulls the jacket off her head and shakes off the nerves.
“Yeah, give me those-” Voltaea snags the goggles from her hands. By the time she gets them adjusted properly, her whole body feels alive again. I can focus, I can see, I can stay awake, I can keep us safe, I can- ‘You can do anything, darling. That’s what I keep telling you.’