I'm still working on getting internet for my house but I went to my parents' house just so I could give you this update!
Tabitha Sparks- District Three female (15)
In TV shows people always say "things just got real" when someone gets eliminated. That doesn't really compare to the feeling of going into the Hunger Games with your friends and losing one of them. I was still dreaming about Elle and thinking she'd be there when I woke up and now Richard was gone too. They were together somewhere, I guessed. Our alliance was crossing that final line and one by one we'd appear there with those who came before us, at best leaving one of us behind to stay on this side longer.
Not everyone has friends like that. Richard ran in to save me without a thought. I would have felt really guilty but... Richard wanted me to live. He wanted me to be happy. The best way to honor him was to live my best life. For a few days I wouldn't be able to do that but after that I was going to put my clown nose back on and do every show for him. Every time the curtain rose and I looked out at the crowd I would thank Richard for every one of them.
Irina made a noise of frustration from where she was trying to make a whip a few feet away from me. She'd taken the most flexible stick she could find from one of the teepee logs and tied it with a strip of rawhide she tore from our wall. It was hardly the sleek leather weapon she was used to in the Academy. Over and over she tried to knock a rock off the top of a pile of wood without disturbing any of the sticks. At best she scattered them and at worst she missed.
"This sucks," she said, and there was more venom in her voice than I'd probably ever heard. It didn't take a genius to understand what was going on. Even a little clown could see it. Irina hadn't been able to save Richard just like she hadn't been able to save Elle and Zara. Careers didn't show sadness or fear so all that left her was anger. It would take her a long, long time to take out all her pain on a sad little pile of sticks.
"Maybe we should make another one and see if it works better," Skada suggested.
"It's not even just the whip," Irina muttered. "It's me." She looked down at her hand, awkwardly gripping the whip handle. Her two missing fingers gave her a lopsided grip that let the whip jiggle when she tried to crack it. Some of her shots went wild and despite her hours of practice she still couldn't hit dead center.
"You might have to use a knife instead," Lester said.
"Perfect. Just like everything else," Irina said darkly. She dropped the whip and disappeared into the teepee.
None of us went after her. Different people mourn in different ways. Irina was usually outgoing but this time she needed to be by herself. The rest of us waited outside, swapping stories about Richard and dealing with his death in our more social way. Eventually Irina would be ready to come and join us.
Skada Socket- District Five female (15)
I'd never known a night as dark as in the Arena. We'd managed to build a fire but the teepee's small size meant the fire had to be tiny. Also we had to hand Lester's shirt over the door so the Careers wouldn't see the light. That left us with only a tiny globe of light surrounding a forlorn-looking little fire- the rest of the world was plunged into darkness. Over my head I could see a sprinkling of stars through the roof hole.
"Only ten people left," Lester commented. I could barely make out his face in the dim light.
"And only two Careers," Nene said. "I guess one of us might actually win."
"Hope it's Lester," Tabitha said.
"Nu-uh. Hope it's you," Lester said.
"I'll hope it's Irina since no one said her yet," Nene said.
"Guess that leaves me with you," Irina replied. "But it's not like a chore. I really do hope so."
"Wowwww, counting is hard, I guess," I said. I knew no one had meant to overlook me. Everyone had only thought of the person they were directly speaking to and it was hard to even see me by the firelight. "I'll hope for myself."
"Wow, selfish," Tabitha joked.
"Honestly if we stick together and take out either Talise or Alice it really is our Games to win," Irina said.
"Yeah, but what will we do if it is just us? It'll be like last year," Lester said. I'd been hoping no one would mention it and it seemed like everyone else had, too.
"Put four black rocks and one white one in a bag?" Nene suggested.
"Rap battle," Tabitha said. We all tried to smile, some of us not really trying and instead depending on the darkness to hide their expression. Jokes couldn't solve everything. If our alliance was left alone in the Arena we would have to find a way to cause the deaths of all but one of us. I honestly had no idea how. The only niggling thought I had, and it made me feel like a monster just for thinking it, was that if we did turn on anyone it would be Nene, since she was the newest. But I didn't want to turn on Nene. I'd rather do the rock thing.
A thin wailing howl made us all jump, Irina all the way to her feet. Lester wrapped an arm around Tabitha as she started to breath heavily. Another howl joined the first and an instant later a dozen canine voices were singing some strange melody only they understood. It was hauntingly beautiful but also terrifying. I didn't think the wolves were going to attack the teepee. They hadn't seemed intelligent enough to ignore animal instinct like that. If they did, the rawhide was thick enough that we'd have time to make a plan. I was pretty confident that if they saw the fire they'd clear out.
A dark shape blocked the stars overhead. At first I thought a hovercraft was passing over but I quickly put together that it was a sponsor gift. It landed right by the fire where there was enough light to see it was for Tabitha.
"Hope it's a gun," she said as she opened the rather large package. I smiled a little at the sheer incongruity of Tabitha saying something that tough.
"Zounds. It actually is a gun," she said. She picked up a three-foot-long tube with so little effort I thought something must be wrong. Irina and Nene crowded in around her in amazement as I sat stunned.
"Wait a minute." Tabitha poked at the gun's side. "This is cardboard." She looked down the barrel as Lester reflexively clapped a hand to his chest. "They sent us a cardboard gun."
She looked up.
"Do they think this is a freaking joke?"
Alice Mason- District Two female (17)
The thing about poison is that it's a passive weapon. No shame in that, I just meant that after we poisoned all the water, there wasn't anything to do but wait. It kind of sucked but the most logical thing to do was wait. We could go out hunting for Tributes but in any battle we risked injury or death, no matter how small the opponent. It would be stupid to go looking for a fight and get ourselves killed when we could do absolutely nothing and still eliminate opponents.
Talise restlessly bounced her leg as she sat by me in the general store. I rolled a can lazily between my feet, trying to kill time. No one had died yet but I remembered from my survival classes- though I'd paid little attention- that a human could only live three days without water. And that was in the best-case scenario. Out here where it was hot and we were constantly exerting ourselves I couldn't imagine a full day would go by without someone filling up.
Talise drew a little circle with her foot in the dust on the ground. Her expression wasn't tense but instead just sort of peevish and sour.
"Wanna do something?" I asked.
"Like what?" Talise asked.
"There's probably some cards around here," I said.
"There's gotta be something, anyway," Talise said. She heaved herself to her feet and we started rummaging around the already ransacked store.
"Here's something," I said, holding up a little mesh bag filled with funky caltrop-looking metal things and a rubber ball.
"What is it?" Talise asked.
"'Jacks'," I read the little sheet of paper inside the bag. "Says it's a game."
"I'll try anything at this point," Talise said. She sat back down, her legs splayed lethargically, and I sat next to her.
"I think I've heard of these," I said. "I don't know how to play, though."
"Scatter jacks on floor. Toss ball into the air and attempt to pick up one jack, catching the ball after it bounces only once. If the ball bounces once or if you fail to catch it you have failed the round. The next player takes their turn, making the same attempt. After successfully catching one ball, attempt to grab two on your next turn. The first person to progress to ten jacks is the winner."
"Wow, people really were easy to please back then," Talise said.
"I guess if all you have is some metal bits and a ball you gotta make do," I said. I scattered the jacks and tossed the ball, tossing it pretty high so I had plenty of time. I snatched up a jack but when I went to catch the ball it had arced too far away and hit the cabinet beside us. I chased it down as Talise watched in amusement.
"Wow. Failed right off the bat," she said.
"Okay, Jack Master, let's see you do it," I said.
Talise gave a delicate toss of the ball and scooped up a jack with a flourish. She snagged the ball out of the air after a bounce.
"That's right. Jack Master."