The sun sets and I tuck myself away in the blanket. I fall into a dreamless sleep. I wake up at night and go to take watch while Marcus sleeps. I clean my sword and knives until morning. The sun rises and Marcus wakes. Before he can even say anything, a cannon goes off. Then another. Then another.
I know we're in for another surprise.
I grab my sword and Marcus has his gun. I have two knives, so I toss him one. I see two birds fly overhead, and they land a mere twenty feet from us. It's no ordinary bird. It has the appearance of a hawk, but twice the size with razor sharp talons. My first reaction is to run. I grab Marcus's hand and we take off.
The birds start to fly after us, and we can barely outrun them. I feel Marcus jerk back and hear him cry out in pain. One bird lands in front of me. I immediately stop. Marcus and I stand back to back. I take my sword and slice through the bird, but another one takes it's place. Another cannon goes off.
"There could be hundreds of these things!" I yell to Marcus. He takes his gun and shoots the one in front of him, but it's quickly replaced too. The bird lunges at me, and I swing my sword, cutting it in half. Another bird replaces it. We fight off the birds, but they are replaced each time.
"This isn't working! They're just going to keep being replaced by other birds!" Marcus yells. I pause for a minute.
"I have an idea!" I yell to Marcus, and I take off to our spot, grabbing our supplies. I quickly come back, and pull the matches out of my pack. I strike one and throw it on the ground.
The grasses immediately catch on fire, and soon an inferno of flames is in front of me. The bird's wing in front of me catches fire, until the whole bird is on fire, squawking, falling to the ground.
I grab Marcus and take off in the other direction. No birds pursue us, and many squawking sounds come from the grasses. Looks like my plan worked. We run, with flames quickly coming up behind us, until we make it to the meadow.
I don't want to stop there, so we keep running until we make it to the beach. I check to make sure nothing is pursuing us. All I see is the field on fire, billowing black smoke. I turn my attention to Marcus, who has six bleeding cuts down his back from the bird. The cuts run from his shoulder blade to the middle of his back. His shirt is ripped from the birds talons.
"Marcus, you're bleeding badly. We need to get you fixed up." I say. I pull his shirt off over his head, careful not to hurt him. The cut isn't deep and I wipe the blood away with the spare socks. I can see the cuts better. Straight, clean cuts. I remember that salt water is good for wounds. At least, I think it is. I decide to take the risk.
"Marcus, I need you to get in the water. It may sting a little, but it will help your wounds heal." I say. He gets up and gets in. I step in behind him, slowly pouring the water on his back.
"This doesn't feel too good." He says.
"I know, but salt water is good for cleaning wounds." I say. He nods and I keep pouring salt water on his back. I finish and we go back to the sand. I lay the blanket down and Warp him in bandage. I start under his left arm and go over his right shoulder, and continue wrapping until his cuts are completely covered.
"Well there's some good news. We only have 3 other competitors left." I say.
I catch some fish with my sword and start a fire to cook them. We have enough water to last us about two days, but we will have to find some soon.
We eat fish and what's left of the pond roots and onions.
"Tomorrow, we have to find water. I think we should go back to the creek." I say.
"Okay." Is all he says. I kiss his cheek.
"Were going home soon." I say, and then I lay down on the blanket. I wake up at about midnight, and Marcus immediately lies down. He lies on his stomach, not wanting to irritate the cuts on his back. I go and sit by him, watching the sea waves gently crash on the shore.
The sun starts rising and turns the water an orange color. I watch the sun take its place high in the sky, and then I decide to wake Marcus.
I lay on my stomach in front of him, placing my head right in front of his. I shake him and his eyes flutter open. He looks over and jumps up. I put my face in my hands, trying to silence the laughter, but some still escapes.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I say, trying to sound sorry, but I'm still laughing. He is suppressing a smile.
When I finish laughing I suggest we pack up and go to the creek. He agrees and I stuff everything but our weapons in my backpack. I sling it over my shoulders and we leave. We pass the Cornucopia, and I find a loaf of bread lying by it. I think it's a trap, so I don't pick it up. As we are walking, I try to think of who's left.
I know Jake is still alive, because I have been keeping a close eye out for his face in the sky. I can't think of the other two, until I see her come out of the woods in front of us. She has light blonde hair and brown eyes. She sees us, and before we can react, she dashes back into the woods.
"Should we go after her?" I ask Marcus.
He shakes his head.
"No, let someone else find her."
We continue on to the creek. It takes almost the entire day to make it back to the creek. My water container is completely empty, and we save Evan's water bottle, which is still mostly full.
When we reach the creek, we find nothing. The creek is bone dry.
"What happened?" I ask. Before Marcus can answer, the national anthem blares through the arena. Then a voice booms out.
"Hello and congratulations to the remaining five tributes. My name is Fredrick Swill. I would like to invite you to a feast, where we will have something each one of you needs. We have drained all water from the arena, so we would highly recommend your attendance. It will be held at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard before rejecting." Then the anthem plays again. I look at Marcus.
"This is going to be a blood bath." I say.
"We can't go. It's not worth it." He says.
"Marcus, we won't last very long with this much water." I say, holding up the water bottle.
"Who knows how much longer we will be in here. We need it." I say. He starts to object, then stops himself.
"Its risky, but I guess you're right. We need to make a plan." He says. I nod.
We decide to get as close to the cornucopia as possible and camp in a tree. We walk until its midnight, and we are almost to the Cornucopia, so we find a tree and climb up. It's concealed by a cluster of other trees, so it's perfect. Marcus takes first watch, and I tell him to wake me two hours before sun rise, so he can get some sleep. That gives me about four hours of sleep.
When he wakes me, I watch. I haven't seen a sign of any other tributes. About three hours later, the sun begins to rise. I wake Marcus.
"Ok, you guard me while I go in and grab enough water." I say. I empty my pack, tying everything up in the blanket, and hang it high in the tree to retrieve later. I will need my pack to put enough water in. We find a large bush by the Cornucopia, and we wait.
