Soli Deo gloria

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Hunger Games or Disney. Here is the point of view of Milo!

Pretty soon our fish is cooked and we strip the skeleton free of its meat and once we're done eating, we throw the bones into the river. If we left the bones laying around, pretty soon we'd attract some unwelcome visitors.

The fire crackles and we all sit back. I wipe at my glasses (darn thing won't stay clean) and putting them on, say, "So, now that we've found water, what's the game plan?"

"We need to somehow figure out how to store this water in order for us to be able to carry it," says Eric. I nod. We're going to always have to stay near water, and this is the only place we've seen all day. I highly doubt that we want to stay tied down to this river, for how can we attack tributes if all we do is stay within walking distance of here?

We all sit for a few minutes, thinking. Obviously, we're going to need something waterproof. I look around, and all the things I can see that are waterproof are all the leaves. I look over at Belle, seeing if she has thought of something, and then I find something.

"I have an idea," I say, and I take off my jacket, laying it on the ground. It's a dark blue and soft on the inside, almost like it's a jacket covered with waterproof material. I smile as I lay the jacket flat on the ground. "I'm going to cut off the material on the outside of my jacket and I'm going to use it to line the inside of Eric's bag," I say, pointing to the bag sitting next to him. "We can use our pockets to hold the crackers, string and hooks, and then we'll always have water."

I look up and everyone nods, though Belle leans forward and says, "Will you be able to use the rest of your jacket—"

"As a jacket? Sure, why not?" I take out my knife and carefully peel away the material from my jacket. I ask for Eric to hand me the bag. He does, and I see the things that were in it are out beside him as I grab the bag. "Hey, can we spare a bit of string?" I say, and Eric hands me some.

I give him a thank you nod and grab a twig and whittle into it with my knife to make a needle. Hopefully, it'll be sharp enough to work. My colleagues start to gather more wood as Ariel gets more water ready to drink.

I manage to make a well enough needle and start to sew the material into the bag.

"Do you know how to sew?" asks Ariel, and I nod as I bite my lip as I slip my string through a hole, which is too small.

"It's something I've picked up over the years," I say as I tug the string through. I start to make several holes that all line up at the very top so that if I make too big of a hole, water won't leak through it.

They nod, though Eric throws me a weird look, and they gather leaves as I work on the bag. As I work on my monotonous work, I start thinking about how the day's gone so far.

I have to admit, I don't think I'll last long in the arena. I'm just glad that I didn't get killed at the very beginning at the cornucopia. My eyes look away from my work for a moment and I watch my fellow tributes start to assemble their beds. I never thought that I'd even be in an alliance, never mind one with two Careers in it. They're the bigger, stronger tributes in the Hunger Games, and are known to be huge arrogant kids.

However, Ariel and Eric, they're neither. They're a bit bigger than us, that's for sure, but they're not huge, or arrogant for that matter. They have a twinge, but theirs is nothing like the usual Careers. I wonder how the other Careers are doing at the cornucopia. The boy from 2 is gone, but I saw 1 partner with the girl from 2 and a couple of other redheaded boys from other random districts, not something I suspected they'd do.

Still, I never thought that me, a nerdy kid from 3, would partner with Careers and other tributes. Go figure.

I finish with the bag and bite off the string as the others finish with their beds.

"How's it look?" asks Ariel, approaching me.

"I think it might work," I say as Eilonwy grabs one of the water bowls and carefully pours its contents into the bag. Eric and Belle look over their shoulders and we all watch.

"It works," says Belle, impressed, after a moment.

Eric nods and Eilonwy and Ariel race to get the rest of the water; it was nice fine to drink, doctored with the iodine Ariel had added to it. They quickly pour the water into the bag I hold; soon my hands are shaking. "That's enough," I say, and I zip up the bag and carefully hand it to a sitting down Eric, who's on his bed of leaves.

Eilonwy pats a tall pile of leaves. "These are for you," she says kindly from her own bed, where she's on her stomach, clutching leaves to her chest like a makeshift pillow.

"Thanks," I say, a little surprised. Nobody in District 3 really pays attention to me, or my weird ideas, which are different from those that the Capitol gives us to perform. To have someone recognize something I came up with on my own and be nice to me is weird, but very nice.

I take the leaves and lay out my own bed, careful to overlap over the damp ground, for I really don't want to sleep on the ground. I take off my glasses as Eric says, "I'll take the first watch."

"I'll take the next," says Belle from her own bed. "You need sleep, too."

"I'll take after her," says Ariel quickly.

"Then Milo and I shall sleep in peace," says Eilonwy teasingly.

I nod and lay down on my leaf bed, my glasses attached to my tank, my hands under my head so that they form a pillow for my head. "Hey," I say, looking up at the dark sky, an occasional bird passing my vision, "night, you guys."

"Good night, Milo," says Eilonwy, and the others murmur their goodnights.

I look at the sky, and I wonder if there are going to be any stars tonight when my eyes close and I fall asleep.

I wake up, sitting up quickly as a loud scream of panic rings through the jungle.

"What the heck?" I say quickly as I fumble for my glasses. I unclasp them from my shirt and look around. Everyone is on their groggy feet as Ariel screams, "Mutts!"

All of our heads whip around to see the animals she points to. They're coming from where we had come yesterday, all yellow-looking long, sleek cats with black spots, all running quickly at us.

"Leopards," I say before we all bolt, following the river.

The rush of the water fills my ears as I run, as fast as I can, trying to get away from the leopards. I've never been good at running. It's just not in me. I can run, of course, but not for long distances. I spend too much time inside, and now's not one of the only times I regret that fact.

My feet pound against the ground and I hear the sound of the leopards, all surprisingly quiet as their feet hit the ground. They look similar to cheetahs, their way faster relatives native to this faraway ancient continent called Africa, but they look different.

I pant and I wonder if the Gamemakers know my weakness, which is obviously running. I hear Eilonwy and Belle pass me, their breathing hard and fast, and I dig in deep to try to run faster. I won't let myself get attacked by these things. They're not even real leopards. They're mutts; they're made by the Capitol. They're real in the sense they can cause real pain and real destruction, but they aren't real.

That's the last thing I think before I feel something grab me by the ankle and drag me down. I let out a yelp and I feel more and more of them sink their yellow teeth into my flesh.

My legs, my booted feet, and now since I'm on the ground, my back, my shoulders, my arms, my hands, and . . . my neck. Pain spreads everywhere, becomes the only thing I feel.

With a crunch . . . everything goes black.

He's gone. Surprise ending, R.I.P. Milo. I'M SO SORRY.

Thankies for reading, and please, let me know what you think!