I can't decide whether we need to be wandering around or not. On one hand, we're not going to be able to sniff out any of the others if we don't move. On the other, they might not find us if everyone's moving around.
And then there's the issue of traps. I have a feeling the vanishing stream isn't the only trick the Gamemakers have pulled in this arena, and this part of the forest is so dark I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch another one before we stumble into it.
Maybe we ought to at least find somewhere a little less crowded, though. If we fill up the plastic container with water, we should be able to walk aways and set up shelter there. It's definitely still daylight, so we could always come back this way later.
Exhaling, I look downstream. We've moved away from where we started, but I can still see a hint of blood on the rocks over there. The water hasn't quite washed it away yet, although enough is gone to make me think we showed up here not long after the actual incident.
Not long after someone died...
I rub my forehead and look over to Maya. She's currently dipping her feet in the stream, the cuffs of her pants soaking since she didn't roll them up. In the sunlight—where she's sitting across the bank—these outfits get pretty hot, though, so I can't blame her.
"Maya?" I watch her look up. "Do you want to find someplace a little less dark and try to set up a camp?"
She blinks. "But it's barely even afternoon. And you're the one who said we should find a place with water!"
"Haha..." I lean back. "That's true, but the important part is that we know where the water is. We can always come back to it. And... it won't hurt getting started early. Less of a chance we'll run out of time in the middle of building, right?"
"Yeah." She grins. "Or we could do something really fancy! Make a big log cabin, with windows, and a table, and a swimming pool—with a water slide—" I honestly can't tell whether she's being serious or not—"and then a big, tall flag so everybody could find us..." She pauses, letting her hands drop to her sides. "Okay, maybe not everybody. But how can we make sure only the nice tributes see our flag? Should there be a secret password? Did we ever make a secret password?"
"I think you're going a little overboard with this..."
She pouts. "Oh, fine. We can just build a normal shelter. But first, I'm hungry. Can I have some more salami?"
"You just had some!"
"Duh! That's why I'm asking for 'more.'"
Sweating, I sigh and peel the wrap off the salami. Cutting off one slice, I hand it over. The smell tempts me to take another sliver myself, but I feel like we should save this. How long does it last, though, in this heat?
"Nick! That's barely even a piece!"
I wave the floppy salami at her. "But you admit that it is a piece."
She puffs out her cheeks. "Okay, fine."
She takes it, and I start to arrange our things. There's enough room in the bag for the salami, although I just strap the knife pouch to my belt. That leaves the plastic container empty, so I lean upstream and dip it under the surface. This is going to get pretty heavy... At least the lid will keep water from sloshing out.
Still munching on the meat, Maya scoots back and lifts her feet out of the water. She glances at her socks and shoes as I set the full container down next to me.
"Hey, Nick, come over here first, will you?"
"Uh..." Why do I have a bad feeling about this? "Sure."
With a little maneuvering, I manage to get our supplies across, and then I hop over.
"Okay, stand there," Maya says, spinning herself around without letting her heels touch the ground. She dries her feet on the bottom of my pants before turning around to put her socks on. "There! Now I won't have wet socks, and you'll be a little cooler."
"Um... thanks."
By the time we have a decent pile of debris covering our shelter, I'm pretty much ready to call it a day. My nails are caked in grit, we've gone through the whole container of water, and my back aches. Maya's still bouncing around a little bit, but she is sitting down and looking a little droopy-eyed.
"I guess..." I sigh. "...we should probably head back to the stream one more time before we try to sleep. There's still plenty of daylight to see us there, at least."
"Okay." She pushes herself up and stretches. After a moment of deliberation, she stows the bedroll inside the shelter and puts the shoulder bag in afterwards. "No reason to carry everything, right?"
One arm akimbo, I look over the shelter. As far as color, it blends in, but it's no well-disguised stick-and-box trap. I tried to get away from signs of animals, though, so we should be okay...
"Yeah. We'll just keep the container and the salami."
She claps her hands together. "Ooh, it's starting to sound like a picnic!"
I laugh. "Sure, a picnic. We'll need dinner soon, anyway."
I go ahead and throw a leafy branch over the shelter's entrance, just in case, and lead the way back.
We're about halfway there when another deep boom goes through the arena.
Both of us stop, but no one comments. Maya holds her hand over her mouth for a second, looking down, while I make sure nothing threatening is coming in on us. Our silence lasts for a moment before our feet start crunching on the grass again.
...I can't believe this is happening... How many cannons have fired now? Four? Five? Already? I... I feel faint...
We still make it to the stream, both of us rinsing our hands and getting a few drinks before we break out the salami. Our little picnic isn't so enjoyable with another cannon blast hanging over our heads, but we at least chat a little about the shelter before we get our water and walk back.
Sunset comes and goes surprisingly quickly. I see the Capitol seal in the sky before any stars come out.
Maya, shivering, scoots closer to me as the first face appears. I register the headband before anything else. Jack Hammer, District 4. He's dead. I just saw him yesterday, though, talking about his sure victory... Just yesterday...
The next face is even more familiar. Only the slightest quirk in the corners of his mouth, Dustin stares down at us.
With a cry, Maya jumps to her feet, as if getting that much closer to the sky could help her see a little better, or see someone else's face.
No... This... isn't right...
I stare numbly at the display overhead as his face disappears. Two more, right...? So, the District 11 tributes...
But the next face isn't Frank's or Cindy's.
I can't stay seated. "Objection!"
But the face doesn't flicker out of sight in response.
No. No no no. This... No...
Choking, Maya wobbles where she stands, and I shakily put an arm across her shoulders. As if that can do any good for either of us when...
Maya's crying pretty loudly by the time the two from District 11 have come and gone. I try not to make too much noise myself as the anthem fades away.
Five dead today. I guess there were that many cannon blasts... Now that I think harder about it...
Stepping back in front of our shelter, we manage to sit down without utterly collapsing. I'm not sure how.
Five of us are dead. Jack Hammer. Dustin Prince. Will Powers. Cindy Stone. Frank Sahwit.
This is unbelievable... I can't... How...
I sit slumped, running my free hand through my hair repeatedly. Maya, leaning on me heavily, peers at the ground and sobs.
Am I supposed to say anything? Am I supposed to do anything? If so, what?
Dustin and WP, and three others, dead... How do I react? Just sit here and cry? Make Maya hide in the shelter as I look for the murderers? Give eulogies? Worry? Mourn? Focus on surviving the night?
Although it takes a while before I can stop just blankly staring at the sky, the last option sticks. Once Maya quiets down enough to listen, I pull away from her.
"Go inside," I start, my voice full of cracks. "Try to get some sleep. I'll stay on watch for a while."
"H-how am I supposed to sleep?" She tries to look angry, but she's still crying. "WP was up there! W-who would have killed him? H-he was never going to hurt anyone! He..." She rubs her eyes. "A-and what about Penny, and Maggey, and..."
"I know." Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I put my arm around her again. "It's not... not right, but... We can't really do much when it's this dark. Maybe we won't be able to sleep after this, but... we should at least try to rest." I swallow. "We might figure some things out come morning."
Still teary, Maya stays silent for a while, but, when I nudge her, she nods and crawls into the shelter. I snap my jacket closed and try to pay attention to the woods around me.