"Corvin! What the hell do you think you're doing?" a familiar voice scolds me.
I sit up awkwardly, feeling slightly disoriented, my ears still full of water. Ivee, the other tribute from my district, has me by the shoulders and is shaking me. Slowly the world comes back into focus. Two other kids, a boy and a girl, are on either side of me, helping me to my feet. I notice another girl standing by the water's edge, looking worried, a burning torch in each hand.
"I - I just wanted to cool off a bit," I mumble awkwardly.
Ivee makes an impatient noise.
"Oh really? From where I was standing, it looked like you were trying to drown yourself. Why would you do something that stupid? And just when we had finally found you, too."
Found me? Does that mean they have been looking for me? Before I get the chance to ask her, Ivee goes ahead and introduces me to her companions in that direct manner of hers.
"Corvin, meet my friends Thaniel and Lace from District 8, and that over there is Pearl. She's from Nine."
She indicates the girl holding the torches. So she is the girl from Caesar's district, the shy one.
"Welcome to the team!" Ivee says, making a sweeping gesture with her arm. I'm not sure if this is real enthusiasm or sarcasm.
"You mean, you want me to join your alliance?"
"Yes of course. None of us are great fighters, so we can use any help we can get. But we have got lots of supplies. We've even got a nice comfy hiding place set up for us. Pearl here likes to call it our club-house," she adds with a grin. "Unless you would rather stay here and take your chances all alone that is, playing in the river...?"
She mockingly raises an eyebrow at me.
"No, I mean sure, I'll join your group."
She flashes a brilliant smile at me that lights up her whole face and brings out her dimples. I never really had noticed this before, but she is quite pretty.
"Excellent! You got any more stuff stashed away here somewhere?"
"Uh, n-no. Just my jacket."
I can't really say what makes me lie. Call it paranoia, or simply a hunch, but for some reason I'm not ready to tell anyone about my cave or the food.
"Traveling light, huh? Alright then. Let's go!"
With that, Ivee takes one of the torches from Pearl and marches off into the jungle. The other three fall in line behind her automatically, and it becomes clear that they have accepted her as their leader. The pair from District 8 walk side by side, leaving it to me and Pearl to bring up the rear. Her large blue eyes study me for a moment. Her hair is cut short like a boy's, which on her looks very cute. She can't be more than fourteen.
#
I am thoroughly impressed when they show me their hide-out. The entrance is very inconspicuous, barely more than a small hole at the base of a large rock formation. It's overgrown with ivy, and I'm sure if I had passed it by accident, I would never have noticed it, not even in broad daylight. The opening is barely wide enough for me to squeeze through, but after a few feet of crawling and wiggling the tunnel opens up into a cavern that is large enough to hold a dozen people. The echoes of our voices ring in the small space. They explain to me in low voices how the roof of the cave has several small holes, just large enough to let in air and some light, but not big enough for an intruder.
And I had thought myself lucky finding that little niche in the cliff wall. This place is so perfect, it was obviously designed by the Gamemakers to be the ideal hiding place. Even if it were discovered, it could easily be defended by one or two people. Anybody crawling in through that tiny hole would be completely at the mercy of whoever is inside.
"However did you find this place?" I ask in awe.
"Ivee found it," Lace volunteers. "She got a parachute with a map that pointed out this place. Isn't it neat?"
I've got to admit, it looks like they have made themselves quite comfortable. Bags and blankets are spread out in the sand of the cave floor, forming four beds. I steal a sideways look at Ivee, wondering why I haven't gotten any parachutes when she apparently did. I guess I should have known she would be more popular with the audience in the Capitol. But getting such detailed inside information about the arena via parachute is unheard of. Our mentors must have bribed one of the Gamemakers, I can't think of any other way this could have happened. I guess I underestimated her.
"It gets pretty hot during the day," Ivee remarks. "But at night it is the safest place you could be. And the coziest too," she adds with a grin.
"Okay everyone, we should grab some shut-eye. We need to be up nice and early to get some more fishing done. Don't take this the wrong way, Corvin, but when we went down to the river we had been hoping to catch something a bit more... appetizing."
Pearl giggles.
The others clear some space for me on the ground and I curl up in the soft white sand, which is still a little warm. I use my jacket for a pillow, partly to keep Caesar's notepad safe, which is still in the pocket.
After a few minutes, the sound of regular breathing informs me that the others have fallen asleep, and I am alone with my thoughts. Only two nights ago, it was Caesar who was sleeping next to me, trusting me, relying on me to keep him safe. I experience a primal sort of comfort in being around other people again, but at the same time I'm wondering whether I will bring bad luck to them, too. I push these thought away and force my eyes shut, but the images of Caesar's gruesome death and the girl's dead body follow me into my dreams.
