Yuuto Ito- District Two male
"What's the deal? Why'd we run?"
Kodiak was the first to speak up. We clustered around Bacchus in the tunnel that would have been roomy if there weren't thirteen people in our alliance.
"Four of us died and Welton got shot!" Diamonique said, pointing at Welton, who waved his hand. Really it had just been grazed, but the point remained.
"And six of them died," Bacchus said. "If we'd stayed at the Bloodbath both of us would have been massacred. The way it is now we have the numbers. Now we can plan the battle. The side that plans the battle wins the battle."
I was starting to see where he was going. "And the other alliances are all going to be sniping at them. They're sitting on everything we all want. We have sixty Tributes doing our work for us," I said. The best battle was won without fighting.
"What about weapons? We're just going to sit helpless and do nothing?" Grande asked.
"No, we're going to fight back," Bacchus said. "Tomorrow, probably. It was when I saw the Arena that I got the idea. We're in the colosseum. We'll find everything we need right here."
"They're not going to put weapons everywhere. That's the point of the Bloodbath," Faust said.
"Weapons we can improvise. I'm more interested in shields," Bacchus said. "When we fight back, we're going to have a Roman tank."
Seychelle Devries- District Four female
The aquamarine ring on my finger was like a little piece of home. It still cracked me up that Sascha actually sent it. I couldn't resist taking it as my token. I felt like it would bring me good luck. If I won… hopefully it was more of an "honorary" marriage.
"So for now we set up watch posts and when they start going out to hunt we can organize a raid," Siren was saying.
"They're going to be expecting a raid," Icarus said. We were clustered on the top layer of the colosseum peeking over the stone railing.
"Yeah, but they're going to have to hunt eventually," I said.
"Also true," Icarus said.
"They're going to leave behind enough guards to fend off attackers," Antonia said.
"We'll just have to fight better," Akari said. Her face slowly edged into a grin. "Or smarter."
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
"As much as I hate to say it, attacking might not be the smartest thing. Maybe more of an out-of-court settlement."
"We're going to sue them?" Icarus asked in confusion.
"We're going to walk up and ask for weapons. They're going to be spending all their energy just keeping from getting attacked. We go up and ask for a modest portion of supplies. We're not a big enough threat for them to fear getting overwhelmed. We are big enough to take a lot of competition out for them. They can sit and revel in their riches and we'll do what Careers are supposed to do," Akari said.
"Worth a shot," Siren said. The rest of us concurred.
Just the thought of having a weapon again thrilled me. Fighting was what I was meant to do. Sometimes I didn't even really care who I killed, as long as it wasn't someone innocent. And I had a fiancee to get home to.
Polaris Flasher- District One male
So far, I had a chunk of cement. It wasn't much for a weapon but it was a weapon. I was wandering the chambers under the colosseum searching for food, somewhere safe to sleep, and weapons. It was sort of like a really old castle- tunnels, lots of stark chambers, rock everywhere. Most of the rooms were empty and had no doors. They were more like chambers. Some had piles of rock or other miscellaneous items. Hopefully I'd find one with some useful stuff lying around.
It didn't take long at all. This was a Careers Games, and Careers put on better shows when they were armed. There was a not terribly well-made sword lying on the floor in one of the chambers. It was badly balanced and amateurishly forged, but it was sharp enough to penetrate if I swung it hard. If I could also find a shield I'd be stoked.
In the next room I didn't find a shield. I found a girl.
Eliora whipped around and raised a blunt-looking trident. She backed around to give herself a path out of the room if I came closer. For my own part I brought up my sword defensively.
"You want to fight or what?" Eliora asked, neither challenging nor backing down.
"I'd rather have an ally, really," I said. Eliora relaxed a little and I saw she'd wanted the same thing.
"Yeah. I lost my ally in the Bloodbath," she said.
"Me too," I said. "I've been trying to find some food and water and a room I can barricade.
"Same," Eliora said. She lowered her trident as I lowered my sword, both of us keeping our arms tensed. "You know, the Romans shook hands to prove they weren't holding a weapon."
"Count of three?" I asked. We counted and dropped our weapons as we took a step closer to each other. We put out our hands and shook.
Stormy Gilmore- District Four female
"Okay, what's our haul?"
Karen and Undine and I dumped all the bags we'd collected into a pile on the floor in the first room we'd found with a door. The three of us were sitting with our backs against it hoping the Tributes in the Cornucopia didn't have a battering ram.
My fanny pack, can of peas, sewing kit, multitool, water skin, mini first aid kit, slingshot, and flint-and-steel fire-starting tool, Undine's mace and bottle of multivitamins, and Karen's hunting knife, water bottle, package of dehydrated spaghetti and meatballs and sides, and a vial labeled "poison".
"That's the jackpot," I said, holding up the bottle. "What should we do with it?"
"Let's poison the pack at the Cornucopia!" Karen said eagerly.
"Sounds awesome, but how?" I asked.
Undine took the bottle and read some fine print. "'Internal and external'," she announced.
"So we can coat arrows in it or put it in something," Karen said.
"I think I know which I would prefer," I said. Ideas were already running in my head. I had something of a flair for the dramatic. Professionally I would do things the most expedient and least risky way, but in this case they worked together. I told the others my plan and they excitedly agreed.
I took the skin of water I'd gotten and poured some poison into it. I dropped the skin in an unassuming spot in the room and we left to look for supplies. Like everyone else, and like the person who would find what I left. Best of all, it would work over and over.
Nice little chapter I got up so you'd have something to read and to give a break before anything big happens. The first round of cannons won't come until late at night and more people will have died by then so I waited.