Day 3:
All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
None of life's strings can last
So, I must be on my way
And face another day
I'm not used to running on so little sleep.
But I haven't been able to close my eyes at all. Heck, I'm not sure if I can't sleep or if I don't want to. There's this creepy feeling that someone is watching me. I haven't seen anyone since yesterday. I don't want to see anyone. I still can't believe what I've done.
Yeah, whatever. So you're not innocent. There's plenty of other tributes in here who've done worse things. It's not like that was your intention or you actually got your hands dirty. You harmed nobody. You were just trying to stay alive.
I know. I do want to live. But I still feel so guilty...
What more could you have done?
The strip of dried meat sticks to the mouth of my mouth; I wrap up what's left of it and stash it in my bag, which is starting to get heavy. But that's a good thing. I have food at water. I lick my lips and realize just how dry my throat is. The hot arena air certainly isn't helping either.
But I must be on my way. If I'm gonna try and avoid everyone else, the least I can do is make some attempt to be interesting by going somewhere else. Hopefully the Gamemakers think I deserve a little rest after all that happened yesterday.
I am so tired. Maybe I should be resting instead. No, I can't risk it. It's gonna be fine. There are worse problems in the arena than exhaustion. Like...maybe getting stabbed in the chest, or having a spear thrown at me...my throat getting cut open...even burning to death in one of those lava pools. I shudder. Why did I think of those things?
Beep.
Another sponsor gift. Judging by the fact it takes four parachutes to carry this one, I've got something big coming. It has to be for me. I'm all alone.
Unless...
Nope. I am not going to think about it. I hurry over to the sponsor gift. It's a basket of tomatoes. Ugh, gross. By themselves, tomatoes are gross, they're just so squishy and messy. If this was a big tub of tomato sauce, I wouldn't mind. But why tomatoes?
Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. Food is food. Unfortunately, this gift didn't come with a note. And unless I lug it around with both of my hands, it's staying put. Do I really have to take this basket with me? I guess I could set up a camp here.
I drag the basket over to a nearby rock formation and duck behind it. I can hide out here. As long as I'm careful, I should have a good view of any approaching tributes. Then I can try and shoot them...or maybe run...I came so close to almost getting a spear shoved through me last time. Way too close. It's not worth anything.
The biggest problem with my location is that I'm not covered enough. But hopefully, I can make this work. I just have to keep an eye out and hope nobody notices me.
Then I see someone approaching.
I crouch low, then load an arrow into my bow. My hands are shaking and I can't get it right. Finally, it locks in with a little snap. But I can't shoot it very well while crouching so I stand up and duck behind the rocks. Please don't notice me, whoever you are.
A girl about my age finally comes into view, wearing a dirtied white uniform. I see the sword in her hands as I point the arrow straight at her. I hope she can't see how nervous I am. Oh God, I really don't want to do this...
"Don't shoot!"
She freezes up and throws her hands up in the air. "Don't shoot me, please!"
Two thoughts run through my head. The first one being oh, I really need to kill her now. The second one is I can't do this. The second thought wins out and I lower my bow.
She breathes loudly and sighs. "Oh thank goodness. You're nothing like them."
"Who's them?"
"Don't worry about it. Um...you're from 10, right? I'm Opal."
"Vera-Ryanna," I take the arrow from the bow and shove it back into my quiver. "I had a nasty run-in with your district partner yesterday."
"Yeah right, He's harmless. I could easily kill him if I wanted!" Opal waves her hands around as she talks, and that means waving her sword around too. Please don't stab me...
"Um yeah...okay...tomato?"
"I'd love one!" Opal bites into it like it's an apple. The loud squish makes me cringe. She licks her lips too, smacking them together. Ugh. I briefly consider loading my bow again. But that would be pretty petty of me, wouldn't it?
Opal finishes off her snack. "Man, that's good! And they're so fresh too! Come on, they're yours, are they not?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Oh, that's too bad." She shrugs.
There's something off about the cheerfulness of Opal's voice, the way she smiles at me. She seems harmless enough, but that means nothing. I get a strange knot in my stomach that's telling me to leave, to get out of here while I still can.
I start to walk away.
"Hey, if you're not going to eat these, can I take them? Oh, you also don't mind if I have your bow too? I've always wanted to try it out."
"What? No! I need it!" I try to pick up my pace, but Opal grabs onto the bow and tries to tug it out of my hands.
"Give it to me!" she screams as I pull back. But my hands are too sweaty and she's clearly stronger than me. I can feel the bow slipping away. Opal lunges at me and I swing my quiver around, trying to smack her in the face. But she grabs it as well, as both my bow and arrows are tossed to the side. My back burns from where the quiver strap cut into it.
Then I feel something a sharp pain across my stomach.
My orange shirt, already dirty from a few days of sleeping on the ground, has a large red stain going across it. Opal's sword hangs beside her, with a little bit of blood on it. My blood. The pain practically explodes and I clutch at myself before it can tear me apart. It hurts. It hurts so bad.
Opal's boot comes flying into my gut, which just makes things worse. I can barely catch myself and the impact of the ground just makes things worse. Come on VR, get up and fight! Get up and catch her...she's leaving now...she has your bow...your arrows...you could get them back...
There's an ugly taste in my mouth as I spit out a wad of blood, which just hangs over my lips, dripping onto the rock. I've never felt anything like this. Why does it hurt so much? When will it stop hurting? I can't move, it pains me too much.
I'm going to die. Here. Alone. While everyone in Panem watches.
Tears sting my eyes and slip down my cheeks, the saltiness mixing with the taste of blood. I don't want to die. I should never have trusted her. I was so stupid! What didn't I shoot her when I had the chance!? Why did I let her live!? Why...
I want to close my eyes. I don't bother fighting this feeling. Everything is dark now...so black...
The last thing I notice is the quiet bubbling of lava.
