Sorry! I meant to update yesterday, but I got distracted by a boy and a movie.
A small black parachute with a green number floats down. Savvy grabs the parachute and opens the little black box, finding a single item inside. A blueberry. Her brows furrow for a moment as she recalls the code she and Johanna made, then she whips around and sees Buck standing a few feet from them, dark hair nearly covering his eyes, a long shiny sword with a little dried blood on the end in his hand.
Savvy grins before leaping towards him as the dance between two warriors begins. Both manage a few nicks but manage to stay wary enough to know when to dodge. The remainder of the careers stand in a circle around him, enthralled by the battle and waiting for a signal of distress from the blonde bouncing around inside.
A faint whistling permeates the air around them, barely louder than a whisper and unheard over the sound of the fighting tributes. An arrow pierces the shoulder of the blonde.
I jump out my seat as the rest of the careers surround her and look around them. Buck just escapes through the distracted careers and careens through the busy streets. Unable to find the source of the arrow, which happens to be on a rooftop four houses away, they turn to Savvy and attempt to attend to her wound.
At the sight of the blood pooling onto the pavestones, the "villagers" leap into action. Their eyes glow red, their nails lengthen to points, their teeth sharpen, and they smile viciously. The careers soon realize that the villagers are no longer normal as the mutts close in on them.
Cobra, the career from four, lifts Savage onto his shoulder and runs through the mass of bodies enclosing them towards their camp. When he reaches the cornucopia, he throws her on top before climbing up next to her. He pulls the rest of the careers up as they arrive and they wait out the attack .
I check the price of capitol medicine for deep injuries and realize I need more sponsor points. I pick up my phone as Cobra takes the arrow imbedded in Savvy's shoulder and breaks the shaft as close to her skin as he can.
"Hello, this Kismet…"
"Kismet? It's Eve. Can you use my paycheck to sponsor Savvy? Please?"
"Ugh. Eve, why are you making me do more work? I already work hard enough to get men in your door."
"Please Kismet. It's urgent."
"Fine. Your money will be in the account in a few." A dial tone rings in my ear as he hangs up and I watch the number on the screen intently. When it rockets upwards, I realize I'm still a few short. I could sit here and wait to see if any sponsor points come in; I could go find sponsors and leave my station unattended, leaving room for disaster; or I could call Johanna, who's sleeping, and ask her to watch the screen while I get more sponsors.
I figure I shouldn't wake Johanna because she'll be sleeping, so that leaves me with leaving my station to go find sponsors or waiting until money comes in. What if the option I choose gets her killed? I look around hoping to find an answer, but answers don't magically pop out at you. I look at her vitals and see that they're ok, but she's steadily losing blood and I know she could die if I don't get something soon.
I make a decision to run to the reception area to hunt down sponsors, and start running for the door when I realize I have another option. I run back to my desk and pick up the phone.
"Hello this is…"
"Mom! I need you to do something for me. I need a few more dollars for Savvy. Please could you sell some of Savvy's old axes or something. I can't let her die mom! I can't!"
She murmurs a response and hangs up the phone to grab what she can and head to the market. It's district seven, someone should need a new axe, and Savvy hates axes anyway. I wait staring at the screen, watching her blood pool onto the cornucopia and flow off of it onto the street where the mutts are licking it off of the metal structure and the pavestones.
The number goes up a little and I finally have enough to get medicine, then it goes up a little more, and a little more. How much is mom selling? I hurry and purchase the medicine so mom can realize that I've got enough money and stops selling stuff before I come home to an empty house.
The parachute falls down towards the waiting careers and Cobra grabs the thing while it's still in midair and opens the box hurriedly. He grabs the small tube of medicine, rips off the cap, reads the instructions, and pulls the rest of the arrow from her shoulder. She screams and curses him as blood pours more rapidly from her wound, until the medicine is inserted into the gaping hole and the healing process begins.
The blood eventually stops flowing and careers relax a little. They almost lost two of their number in one day. Once the blood on the cornucopia and ground has either been licked off or dried in the sun, the mutts leave, once again harmless villagers, and the careers hop down from their perch.
Savvy's pain is still evident as she moves her arm, but she continues forth with the rest of the careers.
"We need to find water," Carnage motions around them, "I haven't seen any sources yet. And all the water bottles in the cornucopia are empty."