Chapter Eight
Knowing they could not live on dried meat, Ruth, Lukas and Till elected to spend the morning foraging for food. They had all spent time at the edible plants station at the Training Centre, where they had been taught how to recognise what was safe to eat. But they had also been warned not to eat anything unless they were absolutely certain it wasn't poisonous and to be especially careful of berries and fungi; with that in mind, they made sure to avoid anything suspect. Till proved invaluable when it came to finding stuff that was edible; coming from District 11, she had been taught to recognise different plants from an early age. In fact, that was how she had earned her nine in her private session, by showing the Gamemakers a variety of wild plants that could be eaten safely. She had even used the plants to prepare a makeshift meal. With her help, Ruth and Lukas were able to gather several berries which grew on bushes scattered throughout the arena, as well as a handful of roots.
Towards mid-morning, they stopped and ate some of what they had gathered. It was a fine, sunny day and, sitting in the middle of the vast grassland that was this year's arena, they could almost forget that they were tributes in the Hunger Games. Almost, but not quite - they all knew the Career pack of Xanadu, Jet, Juno, Gaius, Marina and Shaun was out there somewhere, hunting for the other tributes. Someone had already been caught by the pack and none of the three allies wanted to be the next. None of them wanted to have their faces projected into the sky tonight. So they kept constant watch, alert not only for the sounds of their fellow tributes (especially the Careers) but for wild animals and any traps the Gamemakers may have rigged. No-one in the Capitol liked it when the Games became too dull, meaning more than a couple of days without any fatalities, so traps were set up to give the audience a little action and, maybe, drive the tributes together.
However, Ruth and the others encountered none of the other tributes all day, though they knew that could not last. Sooner or later, something would happen which would force them into a confrontation with the Careers, a confrontation none of them expected to win, though they were all determined not to go down without a fight. For that reason, they all kept a tight grip on their weapons, ready to use them if necessary.
At nightfall, they made camp in a clump of long grass. Not the most ideal spot, especially in a Hunger Games arena, but there were no trees nearby. They ate some more of the berries they had gathered that morning and watched as, accompanied by the strains of the national anthem, the Capitol seal appeared in the sky, closely followed by the face of Jennie from District 5. "Guess she's the one the Careers killed this morning," said Lukas, as Jennie's image faded from view, taking with it any hopes District 5 might have had of winning these Games. There had been no other deaths today.
The third day in the arena was much like the second, except Ruth and the others were not woken by a cannon announcing the death of one of their fellow tributes. That, however, did not ease their concerns. Quite the reverse, in fact, since they all knew that, unless the people in the Capitol saw some action soon, the Gamemakers would take steps to ensure that they did. And that could only mean bad news for the thirteen youngsters in the arena.
This morning, however, Ruth and Till had other things on their minds. Both their flasks of water were running dangerously low, a fact which wasn't helped by the fact that they were both sharing their water with Lukas. But, as the only place where he would be likely to find a flask of his own was at the Careers' camp, which was certain to be heavily guarded, there was no other option. Even so, it did not take a genius to know that this situation could not continue; the water had to be replenished - and soon.
"We'd better keep an eye out," said Ruth, as they started out. "There's got to be a pond or a stream here somewhere." The trouble was, where did they start looking? She tried to recall what she and the other tributes had been taught at the Training Centre about finding water. As they were in a grassland, there were plenty of herds of grazing animals around, though none of them seemed to be moving in the purposeful way which indicated that they were heading for water. So all she and the others could do was start walking and hope that the direction they took would lead them to somewhere she and Till could refill their flasks. If they failed to find anything, all three of them would be dead from dehydration within a few days.
In order to conserve supplies, they used what little water they had as sparingly as they could, restricting themselves to one mouthful each at midday and another in the afternoon. But, even though Lukas drank from a different flask each time, this still depleted the water and, by sunset, both flasks were almost empty. They made camp under a large tree and ate some of the berries they had gathered the previous day; none of them wanted to drink the last of the water, but at least the juice from the berries helped to quench their thirst. But, like the water, the berries were running out fast and there was no telling when they would be able to obtain more.
In the meantime, they watched as the Capitol seal was projected into the sky. However, there had been no fatalities today, so none of their fellow tributes appeared.
It was just as the seal faded that Ruth noticed something floating to the ground. That something was a silver parachute and, as she went to pick it up, she noticed something attached to it: a basket woven out of straw. There was no doubt in her mind that it was a gift from a sponsor and that it had come from District 9; straw was an inevitable by-product of the grain industry and, as the Capitol had no use for it, no-one objected if the people of 9 kept it for themselves. This, in turn, meant many of them had developed a talent for weaving straw baskets, though the attempts Ruth had made had met with only limited success. Before she and the others set off on their foraging expedition yesterday, she had tried to make a basket using the grasses which grew in the arena, but had ended up having to scrap her work. As a result, the three of them had not been able to gather as many berries as they would have liked.
"What is it?" Till asked, seeing, even in the fading light, that Ruth was removing something from a silver parachute.
Ruth showed her the basket. "I think Thalia sent it," she explained. "She must have seen how I messed up that one I tried to make yesterday." As Ruth's mentor, Thalia had the final say in which of the gifts purchased by her sponsors were sent to the arena and, seeing Ruth's less-than-successful attempts at basket-making, she must have decided to allow this gift through. It was the first gift from a sponsor any of the three allies had received.
"Thalia?" asked Till, examining the basket. It looked as though it would be useful for future foraging expeditions and she wondered how much it had cost. Probably more than most people in District 11 earned in six months - no doubt several inhabitants of District 9 had contributed towards buying this one basket.
"My mentor," replied Ruth. "A young woman with a patch over her left eye."
"Yes, I know who you mean," said Till. While the Games were on, the Capitol didn't just broadcast what was happening in the arena. Often, there were glimpses behind the scenes, including regular interviews with the mentors, especially as the Games neared their climax. And, with her eyepatch, Thalia was instantly recognisible, though she did not like to discuss the fight in which she had lost her eye. Indeed, very few of the victors were willing to relive their experiences in the arena and most of those who were came from the Career districts.
"Pity we can't get any sponsors to buy us a map - it might tell us where to find water," Lukas commented. But, of course, no map was forthcoming; the complete layout of the arena was a secret known only to the Gamemakers.
By mid-morning on day four, the water Ruth and Till had obtained at the Cornucopia was all gone, making the search for a lake or a stream even more urgent. And, since they only had a handful of berries left and they had, so far, not dared risk a fire to cook the roots they had gathered, the three tributes were forced to nibble on their strips of dried meat for sustenance. But this only made them even more thirsty and they thought longingly of the Training Centre, where they could get any drink they liked literally on tap. Ruth's favourite had been lemonade in a tall glass filled with crushed ice. Now, however, they must search for even that most vital of liquids - water.
For the first time, Ruth was beginning to appreciate just why the Hunger Games were called the Hunger Games. Being from one of District 9's better-off families, she had always been able to count on getting a good meal even before she went to the Capitol. For many people in all but the wealthiest districts, however, life was a constant struggle to find enough to eat. Some became so desperate that they were actually prepared to break the law in order to obtain extra food, even though the penalties for doing so could be severe. Once, Till's brother, Ferdy, had been caught stealing peas from the fields in District 11 and eating them straight out of the pods; for this, he had received a public flogging which left him confined to bed for a week. He had been eight years old.
But Ruth had never known such hardship until now. She may not have been as pampered as the Careers, but she had never had to wonder where her next meal was coming from, had never had to resort to obtaining food by illegal means. And, unlike so many other youngsters, including Lukas and Till, she had never had to take out tesserae in order to obtain extra grain and oil. But she told herself that she must not give up. If she did, if she showed any sign of weakness, people would think she was a lost cause, not worth sponsoring. So she tried to ignore how hungry and thirsty she was becoming and pressed on in the desperate search for water.
It was late afternoon when the three tributes heard voices coming from somewhere to their left; two people were heading their way, talking loudly. There was little doubt in Ruth's mind that these people were two of the Careers, though she could not yet tell which two. What she did know, however, was that no tributes from outside the Career pack would be so noisy, unless they wanted to bring the tributes from Districts 1, 2 and 4 down on them. Speaking of which . . .
"Quick! Get out of sight!" she whispered to Lukas and Till. The three of them ducked into the long grass, just as Xanadu and Marina walked past. Both female Careers were armed to the teeth. Xanadu had her crossbow and a pouch of bolts, plus a knife tucked into her belt in case she had to fight at close quarters, while Marina had a three-pronged trident, a weapon often favoured by tributes from District 4. But the weapons were not what caught Ruth's attention; the thing that did was the three fish Marina was carrying in a net slung over her shoulder. And she could clearly hear Xanadu congratulating her fellow Career on her catch.
As Xanadu and Marina disappeared from view, Ruth thought over what she had just seen and heard. There was no doubt that they had been fishing - after all, Marina did come from District 4 - even though the Careers must surely have more than enough supplies back at their camp. Once the other tributes had either fled from or died in the bloodbath, the ones from Districts 1, 2 and 4 would have had their pick of the items in the Cornucopia. Unless something happened to their supplies, Career tributes did not normally have to live off the land, which was another thing which often gave them an advantage over the others. But, Ruth guessed, Marina had been unable to resist the lure of freshly caught fish.
Ruth gasped as she realised the implications. The fact that Xanadu and Marina had been fishing meant there must be a source of water somewhere in the direction they had come from. And water was what she, Lukas and Till needed right now. They had no way of knowing how far they must travel in order to reach it, but, unless it rained soon, this looked like being their best chance. Of course, if the Careers knew about it, it was also risky, but the fact remained that none of them could last more than a few days without water.
Ruth and the others set off in the direction Xanadu and Marina had come from. It was easy to follow the trail, since the two girls had made no effort to cover their tracks, as evidenced by the trampled grass all around. Ruth frowned to herself; either Xanadu and Marina were, for all the combat training they had received, completely ignorant of basic survival techniques or, in their arrogance, they thought they had nothing to fear from the other tributes. Since they were Careers, however, she suspected it was the latter. Whatever the reason, it meant they had left a trail which led right to the nearest source of water.
The sun was getting low in the sky when Ruth, Lukas and Till reached a small lake. Since at least two of the Careers had already been here, they carefully checked the shore for any booby traps; it would be just like the Careers to rig something up to keep the other tributes from getting at the water in the lake. "I think it's safe," Till whispered after a while. She opened her pack and took out her empty flask, before making her way to the water's edge.
"OK, but be careful," said Ruth. Then, remembering something, she quickly joined her ally and took out the iodine tablets she carried in her own pack. "You'll need these to purify it," she added, recalling one of the lessons in survival she had been taught at the Training Centre. Water obtained at the Cornucopia was invariably safe to drink, but you could never be too careful with other sources. Therefore, it was always advisible to purify water obtained from lakes or streams before you drank it.
"I'll keep watch," offered Lukas, reasoning that, since he had no flask to refill, it was the best thing he could do. He pulled out his knife and stood scanning the surrounding area for signs of any approaching Careers. Not that he would stand much chance, especially if all six of them decided to show up . . .
Just as Till was crouching down to refill her flask, Ruth saw a spear flying towards her ally. "Look out!" she shouted, pulling Till away seconds before the spear caused the District 11 girl to become the twelfth tribute to fall in these Games. Glancing up, Ruth and Till saw Shaun running towards them, having already blindsided Lukas, readying another spear; from the look in his eyes, Ruth knew he was determined to make sure this one found its target. Well, not if she could help it! She quickly sized up the situation - Shaun was too strong for her to fight at close quarters, but she might be able to take him out from a distance. But with what? She only had her sword . . .
Just then, however, she glimpsed the spear Shaun had thrown moments earlier floating on the surface of the lake, caught in a bed of reeds. She quickly fished it out and, before he could cast his second spear, hurled his first straight at him. More by luck than judgement - Ruth had practised spear-throwing at the Training Centre, but had never aimed at a moving target before - the spear caught Shaun right in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. All thought that he was a human being with friends and family back in District 4 left her; the only thing she knew was that she had to make certain he was dead. She slowly advanced on him with her sword drawn and, standing over his prone body, thrust her blade deep into his heart.
The sound of the cannon signalling Shaun's death brought Ruth to her senses and she looked down at the lifeless boy, her hands shaking. She had just taken a human life; the sword she held was stained with blood, blood which, moments before, had been flowing through the youth who lay dead at her feet. Breathing heavily and trying not to look at the body of her victim, she made her way back towards the lake; she still had to refill her flask.
Just then, Lukas came running over to see what was happening. "I heard the cannon and thought . . ." he began, relieved to see that the two girls were safe. "What happened?" he asked, pointing to Shaun's body. This was, he realised, the first fatality among the Career pack and it looked as though one of his two allies was responsible. But where had that spear he could see sticking out of Shaun's stomach come from?
"He threw a spear at us," Ruth said, without any emotion in her voice. "Till and me. I threw it back at him and finished him off with my sword." She did not elaborate any further and joined Till at the water's edge to refill her flask. Trying not to think of what she had just done, she added an iodine tablet to the water in her flask, replaced the cap and sat back to wait for it to purify.
In the meantime, Lukas used his knife to cut off the pack Shaun had been wearing; the District 4 boy had no use for it now. Then, he, Ruth and Till withdrew a few yards to allow the Gamemakers to collect the body.
It was too late in the day to look for another campsite and, since the Careers knew about this lake, it was too risky to spend the night next to it. So Ruth, Lukas and Till made camp in the thicket of bushes where they had hidden while Shaun's body was removed from the arena. The anthem played and the seal appeared in the sky, followed by Shaun's picture. To her surprise, Ruth found that she could look at it without emotion, as though Shaun was just another tribute who had died in the Games, as though she had not been directly responsible for his death. This worried her slightly, but she told herself that, if she hadn't thrown that spear, it might well be herself and Till whose images were being projected. Kill or be killed . . .
She thought about the remaining five Careers. They too would have seen the death recap and would know one of their number was dead, though they would have no way of knowing who, or what, had killed him. All the same, she decided, it would not be safe to stay here too long. Tomorrow, she, Lukas and Till would have to try and put as much distance as possible between themselves and the Career pack.
