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Disclaimer: This is a FANfic, clearly we're fans not Suzanne Collins the hunger games universe belongs to her not us (however much we wish otherwise).
~The Lonely Geek and Cct0331
Chapter 35
Day 6 in the arena
Orrick "Ric" Jamieson's POV (District 11 male)
I finally relent and open up the packet of crackers. Yesterday all I ate were berries I had when the arena changed, but now the crackers are my only food source. Despite my urge to shove as many crackers down my throat as quickly as possible, I restrain myself, only allowing myself two. I nibble slowly as I walk. I need to make them last. My only hope of not dying of starvation is for someone to die and the arena changing.
I keep on walking, on and on an on, my only guide the arrow in the sky. The only thing that keeps me going through the cold and hunger is the thought of Bloom. I can almost picture her grey eyes and her soft laugh. And Addy. I can just picture Addy coaxing Bloom into eating something. She's a really picky eater. Maybe if I can get a kill to bring her to the Capitol, she'd get less funny. The food there's good. It's the thought of giving Addy and Bloom a better life that keeps me going. I have to do it, for them.
I stumble over some small shrub that is the only plant that can grow in this cold hell. It takes all my strength to pick myself and carry on. That's how I'm going to get through this. Step by step. Step by step. Step by step.
Maisie Bismarck's POV (District 11 female)
Shivering, I lay next to Delilah's icy cold body. Even if our tent wasn't so small that we have to lie squished to each other, we would do it anyway now, to preserve body heat. As soon as I'm next to her, she wraps her arms around me.
"Do you want a poem to go to sleep to?" I ask her. It's become a kind of a tradition between us. Before we go to sleep we lay next to each other and I recite a poem. It's kind of comforting.
"Yes," Delilah whispers. "Please." I pause for a moment trying to think of one.
"When you startle awake in the dark morning
heart pounding breathing fast
sitting bolt upright staring into
dark whirlpool black hole
feeling its suction
Get out of bed
knock at the door of your nearest friend
ask to lie down ask to be held
Listen while whispered words
turn the hole into deep night sky
stars close together
winter moon rising over white fields
nearby wren rustling dry leaves
distant owl echoing
two people walking up the road laughing
Let your soul laugh
let your heart sigh out
that long held breath so hollow in your stomach
so swollen in your throat
Already light is returning pairs of wings
lift softly off your eyelids one by one
each feathered edge clearer between you
and the pearl veil of day
You have nothing to do but live." It seemed like an appropriate one for our situation. I just hope we will live through these games.
"Thanks," Delilah whispers after a pause. "Goodnight Maisie."
"Goodnight Delilah," I reply, and as I begin to dose off I feel almost safe. Well as safe as I can feel while freezing in the middle of night in the hunger games.
Zable Keenhorn's POV (District 12 female)
I keep on walking, even through the night. I'll try and rest in the morning. I can't stop moving now. I'm petrified that the temperature will drop so much at night that if I don't keep moving, then I'll die. It's too risky to sleep at night, not until the arena changes again. Of course sleeping in the day has its risks too. If someone sees me while they're making their way across the arena, I'm likely to be dead. I just have to hope that it doesn't happen though. I'm quite a light sleeper, so I'd like to think that I'd wake up if there was someone nearby and depending on whether I could get a clear shot with my blow dart, I'd either kill them, or run like hell.
I look up at the sky. It looks like a full moon and the sky is clear so that I can see the small pinpricks of light from far off stars. It'd be quite beautiful; if it weren't for the fact that it's so cold that I can see my breath and I've got hardly any food left. I just hope someone else is killed by this terrain quicker than me. Or maybe the person who sponsored me before will take pity on me again and sponsor me some more food, or perhaps a sleeping bag. Anything that could save me. I'd take anything at this point.
Kellan Bronz's POV (District 1 male)
The tension in our group rises with each degree that the temperature in this new arena drops. "The girl from 8 got away!" Gabrielle huffed, "Wasn't someone supposed to stay with her?" at these words she glares menacingly at Darius.
"Gabrielle, you have to calm down" Port tries to mollify her, "We were focused on catching Lucina, and we did."
"Only for that COW to steal the kill from me!" She shrieks, points at Darius, and kicks a shrub. We'd headed back to the place we left our bags, a bit confused because the arena spun and all the landmarks we noticed on the chase after Lucina were gone. Eventually we stumbled across the bags where we left them. It became immediately obvious that Vicuna had dug through our bags. Thankfully, she didn't see a need to take the weapons, but lots of the food and some other minor supplies were gone.
Darius and I leave Port to the task of calming Gabrielle while we sort through the bags and re-arrange the supplies. Our food supply has been reduced considerably, but we still have enough for a few days. Hopefully the arena changes soon or we find some animals in this desolate tundra.
If this mood and temperature persists, our group might break much sooner than necessary.
Port Tidello's POV (District 4 male)
Gabrielle seriously needs to have as much chill as this weather. We can't afford more deaths. Our strength is in numbers and we're already two very strong tributes down. Darius and Kellan are no help, so I'm left to try to mollify her on my own. At this point, it seems like I'm the only one who still wants to keep our pack together. I really hope Gabrielle doesn't become one of those insane tributes who never recover from the arena. That would be nearly impossible to deal with. I'm on the brink of ripping out my hair.
At least we're better off than most tributes in terms of keeping warm and having enough food to last a few days. After that, who knows what'll happen because I haven't seen any signs of life except these small shrubs Gabrielle seems so fond of kicking. Darius sets a small fire and we all huddle around it. The nights in a tundra seem so much longer than the nights in the jungle were. I heat up some water and pour it into the packet of mush for dinner. The sun already set three hours ago, but we don't care because we hardly sleep anyway.
"We should probably adjust our overnight watch schedule now that Lucina isn't here anymore," I recommend.
"Good idea!" Kellan speaks for the first time in a while. "I can take first shift."
"Great" I respond. I've become the default leader since the 'incident'. It used to be Gabrielle and Kellan, but now they are barely speaking, so I've been coordinating our march in the direction of the arrow. That's the one consistent thing about the arena; the bright red arrow and the seemingly endless terrain to cover.
Lena Grey's POV (District 5 female)
I've never wished for someone's death before, but at this point unless someone else dies and the arena changes, I will probably die. Last night I nearly froze to death. I can't even start a fire for fear that the career tributes would find me and then I'd be dead for sure. Yesterday I tried to cover as much land as possible but I can't stop shivering and I've slipped so many times on the frozen soil. In addition, my food supply is nearly out and I can't hunt because the tundra is void of animals.
Last night I tried to eat some of the leaves off the shrubs, but I couldn't get any substance out of the leaves. I sucked on them and chewed them as I walked, but it did nothing to stop the pangs of hunger in my stomach.