Hey, I made some changes to this chapter. Nothing major so you don't need to re read it. Just wanted to let you all know that the girl that Tzarro killed was from District 3. I forgot to mention that. Haha that's all. Please Review!

Chapter 10

We walked back to camp in near silence. NEAR silence. Everyone except for Adonnis was too dejected to talk. But Adonnis was so infuriated by our failure to catch the boy that he wouldn't shut up, surely scaring away any tributes we would have encountered.

Nobody felt like telling him off, so we dealt with it all the way back to camp. Finally, just as the first rays of sun were peaking over the horizon, we made it back to camp. We met the very welcome sight of Undin working over the fire with a pan containing much needed and wanted food.

The food tasted like heaven. Even though it was just two packs of dried fruit boiled with water and some sugar and poured over pieces of bread, it tasted like a feast. We soon devoured the fruit and two whole loaves of bread.

We unanimously agreed that one huge nap was in order, but we didn't agree on who should be keeping watch. Finally, we decided on the picking pieces of grass strategy. I was extremely relieved to find a short piece in my hand, and actually enjoyed seeing the look on Adonnis's face when he drew the long straw – he had annoyed me on the way back, and karma is not a very nice lady…

Sleep came so easily, it felt like I was wandering into a deep cave where nobody would find me. A deep, black, cave. Celibacy was blissful, as was the lack of something to do. And because it was blissful, it had to end sooner or later.

I was shaken awake at what I imagined was mid-day as the sun was directly overhead. Adonnis had decided that I should take the next watch, increasing my dislike of him. I knew that he probably just picked one of the three people who hadn't taken watch yet, and it was also likely that he didn't want to pick Lyliss because she was his biggest ally and because most people would bet on Bane in a fight if either of them had the mind to kill the other.

I took up the mantle of guard, sitting on the collapsible camping chair we had found in our supplies. We had decided to go through them as a group tonight, but I decided to take a peek before we got to them as a group.

The stuff on the surface was all generic: weapons, survival kits, medical supplies. The stuff on the bottom was what was gathered near the cornucopia, thus it was more likely to be valuable.

I started excavating a small hole on the right side. Every time I encountered a backpack, I opened it and peeked at its contents. I rarely found anything that could not already be found elsewhere in the pile; however, I did find a few things that seemed to be unique.

In one pack, I found a garrote – a small wire with two pieces of wood at either end. I could tell by the dark sheen on the wire of the garrote that it was made of some high quality metal from the capitol. That could possibly mean that it was good for more than strangling someone to death. I stuffed it in my pocket, and moved on.

The next item I found was a bottle of purple poison – or at least I assumed it was poison. The skull and cross bones symbol on the bottle accompanied by the words "do not drink" seemed to make that clear enough. The vial was tiny, about the length and width of a golf tee. Clearly, this was only enough poison to take down one person.

The final item I found was a small book entitled Edible Plants. It was especially useful because along with pictures of what the plant looked like, it also told the reader during which season the plant could be found. And as there were four seasons here, surely I could find edible plants in all of them.

These things could be very valuable if I kept them to myself. I didn't want the rest of the group to know that I had them, so I selected a small brown backpack, put it's contents elsewhere, and put my garrote, poison, and book inside.

When I was sure that they were all sleeping, I took the pack and concealed it in a bush a couple of feet into the summer section. I picked that particular bush for two reasons: The first was that the brown leaves matched the color of the pack very closely, and it would be hard to spot from a distance. The second was that the bush was small enough that a tribute wasn't likely to use it for a hiding spot.

I was only leery that someone might have seen me hiding the pack there. That being said, I decided to check on it in a couple of hours to make sure that it was still there.

When I returned to camp I saw that Lyliss had gotten up and she seemed to be suspicious of why I had left my post. "Why did you leave?" she asked.

"I had to go to the bathroom," I told her vaguely, avoiding eye contact. I had been told before that I was a bad liar, and this might well be the most dangerous lie I had ever told – If she knew I was hiding choice supplies so that I could use them later in the game, she'd probably try to kill me.

"Why didn't you just pee here?" she asked. Still, she seemed determined to catch my eye. Still, I refused to look at her, busying myself putting more tinder into the fire.

"I didn't pee, and I didn't want the camp to be stinking." I said. She stopped asking questions, but I could see that she was still unsure.

I wasn't sure I liked Lyliss. I'm sure we would have been friends outside of the games, but we were in the games. She and I were just too much alike: strikingly beautiful, smart, and lethal. Surely, there was a certain type of Capitol person that wanted to sponsor a beautiful, smart, and lethal tribute, but half of them were likely sponsoring Lyliss instead. If she were out of the picture, that would send more sponsors towards me.

She must have been thinking the same thing. I thought that she might be a big threat because she had a solid reason to kill me. The boys were keeping me around because I got the highest score, but that wouldn't last long. Maybe it would just be better if I left now.

We set about making dinner for us and the boys. We found a package of dehydrated hamburger patties. We poured water over them and let them sit under a large shield to block out air, and after five minutes, we had five moist, uncooked hamburger patties.

Lyliss set about frying them over the fire in the same shield made into a makeshift frying pan. I was sent to look for water in the pile. I found a large jug, and brought it back over to Lyliss. I was then given the daunting task of getting the boys up.

This had to be done carefully because all three of them slept with weapons in their hands. If I got too close, their reflexes could turn out to be deadly; therefore, I decided that I had to wake them from a distance. I found a large rock, and I chucked it as hard as I could at the Cornucopia.

The resulting sound was tremendous. In less than two seconds, all three boys were up on their feet, weapons poised to strike the nonexistent attacker. "Supper time," I said casually, rolling my eyes at the baffled expressions all three of them wore.

We piled around the cooking food, the fumed entrancing us. We hadn't had real food since the start of the games yesterday. We were all so hungry, we ended up eating the patties right out of the pan. The resulting burns were minimal, but still, somebody's mentor sent a small tub of medicine that, when smeared on the burns, created instant relief.

After dinner, we drew straws to see who was going to keep watch. I was extremely disappointed to see the long straw in my hand. I would be keeping watch for the second shift in one day. The good thing was that it would allow me to sleep all day tomorrow.

Before they left to go weed out tributes, we went through the supplies. We found some things we hadn't before, like a compass that always pointed towards the cornucopia and five packages of vegetable seeds that could grow their plants in one day.

The hunting party set off with weapons and packs of supplies that will keep them alive for one day max in the wild. I think it is stupid of them to carry it with them at all for all the good it will do them, but I don't say anything. Naïve opponents were more welcome than cunning ones, even if they were my allies.

Once again, they plunged into the depths of the summer section. It was a clear choice – we were still sure that there were tributes inside. We had seen Tzarro yesterday, and had heard no cannon that could signal his demise.

The group had been gone for about ten minutes when the anthem started and the screen high above the arena displayed the deaths that day. Nobody had been killed except for the District 3 girl Tzarro had killed last night.

I remembered last year how the announcers had spoken of the need of devices to drive tributes together. The lack of carnage at some points in Blythe's games had been considered boring by the capitol, and they couldn't have people lose interest. I hoped they wouldn't be employing those devices this year.

When the anthem was over, I donned the pair of night-vision glasses and took up watch. It was dull work, but at least I was here with food, water, and anything else I needed.

The thought of supplies brought me up short. I still needed to check that the hiding spot for my pack was safe. Timidly, I walked into the forest and relocated the bush. The pack was there, undisturbed. This put my stomach at ease, and I returned to my place guarding the supplies.

Most of the night passes without event. I hear no cannons. The only sound is the constant sound of rain coming from the spring section. Finally, I see the first lights peeking over the tops of the trees. But at the same time, I hear a new noise.

It comes from the fall section. It sounds like two pairs of footfalls. One is sluggish, like someone dragging their feet. The second it quieter, almost quiet enough that I can't hear it. I probably wouldn't have been able to hear it if they weren't in the fall section.

In the faint dawn light, the glasses were rendered useless, even detrimental. I threw them aside and faced the two boys who stepped out from the red and yellow trees. I vaguely remember them from training. I was sure that the smaller boy with dark brown hair was from District 7. He looked about 15. He had a gash across his face and looked stick thin.

The second boy, too, looked thin. He seemed to be the stronger of the too though. He had short blonde hair, so short it looked only like a thin yellow cap on his head. He didn't seem as worn as the other boy, and, though it was hard to tell with both of them as skinny as they were, but he looked to be a lot more muscular. I would wager he was about 17.

I took in their weapons next. The small boy held a mace which looked too heavy for him. He also had two knives stuck in his belt. The older held a double sided axe, and he also had a hammer buckled to his side.

They probably hadn't found anything to eat in their section, and were possibly trying to switch to a different section, or maybe had intended to confront me to vie for our plethora of supplies and food. Either way, they were now my enemies, and I now had to kill them.

I waited for them to make the first move. I had to see what I was up against. Currently unarmed except for a pair of throwing knives, I had no choice but to wait. If they turned and ran, I would pursue them with a bow and quiver of arrows. If they advanced, I would throw some spears, then pick up a sword or something. I would prefer that they ran.

But unfortunately, they took a few steps towards me.

Haha cliff hanger! Oh well, next chapter is already finished. I decided it was too long for a single chapter after the whole fight, so the entirety of this fight composes the next chapter. Please Review!!! I hope you like the fight scene even though the chapter is so short.

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