I'll try and get another update out this week, but no promises. Oh how I love exams so much. NOT. Please tell me what you think and enjoy.

Chapter 20

Day 4/5

Elodie's POV (D2F)

Day 4

I rip a piece of corn off a plant and start munching off it. All I ate yesterday was corn because while the arena is providing my with free food, I might as well take it and preserve the food from the cornucopia for as long as possible. I used to love corn, but now I'm sick to death of it. I sit down once I've finished the corn and get my salve out. Someone slashed my legs at the bloodbath. They weren't too bad so I was fine, but I was sponsored some slave that will stop any infection.

Once I'm done I lay down carefully, so unless you came right next to me, you wouldn't see me sleeping amongst the corn. I close my eyes and when I open them it's midday. The sun's hot on my back, so I put my jacket on to reflect heat and I take a sip of water. I got four packs at the cornucopia so I have quite a bit of gear. The first two bags only had medical supplies and water in, but they're pretty useful. I've been rationing the water though, I don't want to die of dehydration. One bag contained just food which has been very helpful because I haven't been able to hunt because of the biomes the arena's been so far. My last bag has been pretty useful so far though. It has a load of survival stuff and a syringe with red liquid. I have no idea what it actually does though. I injected myself with it, but nothing really happened. I might find out what it does later though.

I put my sword down by my hand to grab it at a moment's notice. On the first day I sorted through all my packs. I knew it would be awkward to keep carrying four packs around with me so I organised them. I managed to fit almost everything into one pack, mainly due to the fact that they don't fill the packs up to the top. I was left with three or four small cans that I couldn't fit in, so I just ate them first. I also keep the pack near me to grab that too.

When I wake it is nearing dusk. I've slept for hours. It'll give me a lot of strength to hunt tributes. I sit up and eat a couple of bits of corn and watch as the seal comes up. There were no deaths today. The action has really died down since the bloodbath, the game makers will probably add a twist soon if nothing happens before morning. I gather my stuff and walk on, munching on a piece of corn as I go.

I pick up someone's trail at about midnight. I end up stepping in their puke. It's pretty gross and I have to wipe it off my shoes onto a nearby plant. Great. No I stink of someone else's vomit. At least I know someone's been here. Soon I also find a flattened area of plants and not long after that a few eaten corn cobs. I must be getting close. Right then, the arena changes.

Lily's POV (D9F)

I should've known not to drink the water, but I was so thirsty. I've been getting major cramps all day. I haven't been able to walk very far. I'm really dehydrated too. Since yesterday evening I've been getting really bad diarrhoea. Unless by some miracle I get loads of sponsors, I'm going to die now. Well maybe not now, but soon. No one died today. I curl up and sleep.

I awake the next morning even thirstier than last night. I don't have long to live. I hope my parents aren't watching.

Callum's POV (D5M)

The arena starts to shift just as I am picking some bits of corn. I can't see properly. There's water all around me. I can see a hazy light above me and I kick out to reach it. Black spots fill my vision. I can't breathe. I'm drowning. Then I make it up. I take a huge gulp of fresh air. It feels so good. Somehow I still managed to keep hold of the trident and pack, and even more weirdly, the corn I was just picking. I got at the cornucopia. I tread water slowly, taking in my surroundings. I can't see the cornucopia, but in the general direction of it there is an island. That must be where it is. Dotted around are several islands. The nearest is about 300 meters away. I start swimming slowly towards it. It's pretty hard with the trident in my hand, but I have to keep it, it's my only weapon. If I don't have it and I'm attacked, I'm completely defenceless.

I reach the island, and collapse on the beach, coughing. I hope the stuff in my pack isn't ruined from the water. My chances of survival are going to go down to almost 0 if that happens. I open it up. The jumper in it is soaking, but I can dry it off, so it doesn't really matter. My sleeping bag is also soaking, which is a bit more annoying, but I can cope with it, I'll just have to find somewhere in the sun to dry it off, but without being too exposed. The knife blades were bundled up in the sleeping bag, so they're fine. The rope is just wet, but it's also fine. I just hope the salty sea water didn't get into my bottle of water. Not that there's much left. I unscrew the lid and sniff it. It doesn't taste salty, but to be sure, I dip my pinkie finger in it and lick it. It's safe to drink. Good. I put all my stuff back in the bag and pick up my trident. It's only morning, but I need to find a water source somewhere or I'll have run out of water by this evening. I start examining the corn I picked next.

It's pretty wet, and may well be very salty, but I have no other food. I dry it off and take a tentative bite. It is slightly salty, but it's way better than nothing. I eat the rest of it and then put the other three bits in my bag for later. I don't want to eat it all now, I'll get thirsty quicker from the salt if I do.

I start looking around for a way off the beach. I seem to only have two options. I don't like either of them. The first one is to swim around the island and find a way. The second is to climb up the sheer cliff face. I don't want to swim around the island. It's not a good idea for a number of reasons. I'm not a particularly good swimmer, it's awkward to swim with all my gear and there's no guarantee that I'll find somewhere anyway.

That leaves climbing the cliff. I don't like it much more than the first option, but it's slightly better. I'll have to go slowly and carefully. I tuck my trident in my back and zip it so it just sticks out the top. I'll need both hands if I'm to have any chance of survival. I pull myself up onto the first crevice.

I eventually make it. I lay on the side of the cliff, my arms drained from the long climb. I sit and pant, before getting back up and looking for water and food.

Isla's POV (D4F)

The sound of the canon wakes me. In the darkness the cornfield around me shifts into the new arena. It's light again. There's water swirling around my ankles. It's quite soothing though. I look around. The whole arena is made up of sea and desert islands. I was lucky, I ended up on the beach of an island, some people will be struggling to make it to an island now. This new arena will make it hard for me to hunt and kill other tributes. Unless they happen to be on my island of course. Then it'll be easy. Unless they're an exceptionally good swimmer, they won't be able to get off the island until the arena shifts, and with me on this island, it'll probably be their death the arena's shifting for.

I decide, for now, just to go hunting for food. My stores are running low, and I don't want something like starvation to kill me. Anthony would have never let starvation kill him. He'd find some way, somehow. I take my trident and stand in the shallows, watching for fish to come swimming past. There doesn't seem to be much so I wade further into the warm salty water. Here I'm in my element. I see one and jab down quickly. I pull it out and grab the fish off it. I'll collect a couple more and then start a fire to cook them. The smoke may attract tributes to kill as well.

I'm just about to head back to shore with my three large fish a little while later when a ginormous wave comes out of nowhere and completely soaks me. Great. Then I see what caused it. A shark. It's not any normal shark though. It's a shark mutt. Instead of teeth it has sharp daggers, whirring in its mouth. A red beam shoots towards me, I duck, but it singes the top of my hair. Great, it has laser eyes too. I ready my trident as it opens its mouth and swims towards me. I chuck it, and it lodges itself right in the middle of the mouth. It doesn't stop the shark though. I back off a bit while taking my bow out and aiming. Twang! There's a small spark. That's one laser eye down. Twang! I just miss the other eye as it moves closer. I notch another arrow. Twang! The other eye's down.

It's getting closer. I run up the beach. Surely it can't follow me up onto the sand. It'll get beached. The game makers seriously must hate me though because as it swims towards me, it morphs into a giant crab, its pincers as sharp as my sword. It scuttles sideways across the wet sand towards me. It's now to close for the bow to be of use, so I chuck it to the side to pick up later. I only have a sword, throwing knives and an axe left now. I pull the sword off my back and approach it carefully. If I'm careful, I should be able to kill it easily. Crabs can only walk sideways. I swing my sword up and chop one of its legs off and duck as the pincer swings towards me. I dodge out of the way, as it comes towards me, stumbling. I bring my sword crashing down on the pincer, but it must be armoured or something because it bounces straight off it. I need to find its weakness.

I dart back to the exposed belly of the crab and slash my sword across. Red blood spurts out onto my face, but I carry on and jab it again, and it finally rolls over in the sand, unmoving. I wipe the warm blood off and clean my hands in the deep blue sea, it turns slightly red and I go back to the beach to cook my fish.

I start to walk over the island to find other tributes. I munch on a warm piece of fish as I go. It's actually pretty nice, despite it being slightly overdone. I walk over the perimeter of the island, I haven't seen anyone at all. I did see a few footprints on a beach on the other side of the island though. They wander around a little, but then head over to the cliff. They must have climbed up it. I look around for any signs that they fell and dragged themselves over to a sheltered area. But there's nothing. The way down here was pretty hidden so they probably didn't find it. I head back up and start looking at the area where they climbed up the cliff. The grass is a bit flattened but there's no other signs. At least I know there's at least one other person on this island.

I'll hunt them tomorrow though, I need to sleep for a while now. Well, I probably could hunt for a few more hours, but I want to have as much energy as possible for when I find other tributes. Or in case they send another mutt after me.

Hecate's POV (D8M)

I decide to take a break from watching the cornucopia. I need to hunt for food, and I can't get to the food in the cornucopia because they've set traps up. I so wish I hadn't given them a chance to get away. Now I have to hunt them down, I don't even know who they are, I'm guessing if they're allying and hunting people down though, they're careers and have set a base up at the cornucopia. It certainly looks like someone's here, but since I've found it last night, I haven't seen anyone.

I was glad that I was near to it when the arena shifted a little after I found it last night though. It meant I was on an island, some people will have lost all the gear they had to the sea. I head down to the sandy beach and wade into the sea. I quickly jab my spear down when I see a fish swim past, but I'm too slow and it swims off unscathed.

Beep! Beep! Beep! I look up and a parachute is floating down to me.

Figured you'd need cheering up. The audience are loving you. Try to take them down while they're asleep, you won't win otherwise. Don't eat it all at once and concentrate on getting back alive

~T

I remove the note, and sitting below it, is about twenty bits of chicken legs and bones. They're warm and smell spicy. I walk back up the beach and sit behind a rock by the cliff and pick one up with my fingers and take a huge bite. It's delicious. They're coated in an amazing sticky barbeque sauce. My fingers get slightly greasy eating them, but it's edible food so I'm not complaining. I take a another bite and it's just as good as the first one. I only eat two though, I need to reserve them.

Then I head back up to the cornucopia to watch for the tributes staying there. I sit, hidden in a small bush, watching the entrance. I fall asleep at some point. It's a warm day and it's stuffy in the bush. When I wake its dusk. Soon the Capitol seal comes up followed by the picture of the girl from 9. I sit up and eat another chicken wing and sip some water. Someone darts into my view suddenly. They run to the cornucopia and start crawling under and ducking under the traps.

I crawl out of the bush and ready my spear to attack. Maybe I can get my revenge now. They killed Helena when she was defenceless, now I have to kill them. Helena's last words echo in my ear as I get to the cornucopia entrance.

"Don't go after them Hecate. Just win for me. Win and then live a good life. I'll see you again." She whispered.

"No." I said "Come on Helena, you'll be sponsored some medicine, just hang on." She smiled, and put her hand onto my cheek and stroked it.

"You're so handsome. I love you, remember that." She said, then closed her eyes. Her chest was still moving very slowly, I bent down and kissed her one last time as the canon went.

I have to get my revenge, Helena didn't deserve to die.

Deaths:

11th: Lily (D9F) – Cholera from dirty water