Three days have passed since me and Monty meet up with Calyptus. No one has died since. The snow that had started only grew stronger. It has not stopped snowing in those three days, and now as we walk through the woods, it looks like a blizzard. There must be at least twelve inches of snow already piled up on the ground. I wonder what the plan was. Did the Gamemakers want us all to die from exposure? Surely this isn't entertaining for the people of the Capitol.
All the snow on the ground makes it hard to walk, we also leave behind a trail of footprints. I fear that someone is going to follow us because of it. I have barely slept since we arrived in the arena six days ago. I always insist on taking the first watch at night. We had to find a new place to stay, the cave that me and Monty had found was now buried in snow. We've taken to climbing trees to get out of the snow. We use the piece of plastic that I grabbed when the Games started to cover us at night. It does little it keep us warm but at least it keeps the snow from falling on us.
Calyptus did not grab a backpack from the cornucopia, so me and her share my sleeping bag, and Monty uses his. It helps but we still wake up freezing in the morning. The three of us huddle together at night to try to stay warm.
We have not ran into anyone in three days and I know by now that the citizens are getting antsy They want to see action, not this. I remember one year during a down time like this, the Gamemakers send a flood of water. That year the Games were all in caves with blood thirsty bats, and the water that flooded the caves was meant to send the people to the middle. Some drowned, but the victor of that year hung from the ceiling to survive the flood.
I doubt they will flood us, but they will most likely do something. Maybe this snowstorm is part of it. I was happy about the snow at first, it had been a while since I had seen snow, but now I am tired of it. I have had enough snow for a lifetime. I am unbearably cold and it is hard to find food. All of the plants are dead, the animals are hiding. Our crackers and dried fruit have all been eaten. We haven't had a sponsor gift of food. We haven't even had a sponsor gift at all. I haven't since the first time in the cave. I wish someone would send us food.
Water is easy to come by now. We get the snow and build a fire to melt it. The only problem with this is the water freezes back. When we got to take a drink the water has completely frozen and we only have ice. The odds of survival seem a lot slimmer.
I'm betting that the Careers who pillaged the cornucopia have all that they need to survive this. I'm sure they have plenty of food, a water bottle that doesn't freeze, and a place to sleep warmly.
My stomach rumbles as we try to find our way around. We decided that our best bet would be going back to the cornucopia in search of anything that the Careers didn't see good enough for them. For anything, they might have left behind. We are hoping that they are on the hunt and not there when we arrive. The gray sky overhead casts darkness over us. The snow comes down in a hurry, fluttering by all around us. Our hair is covered in snow, the same as our clothes. I hope that in some way that it will help conceal us. That it might provide us cover, to make us blend in.
The only sounds is the sound of the snow crunching beneath our feet. I try not to step as hard into the snow, hoping that if the footprint doesn't go deep then people will think they are old and not follow them. We make sure to step in each other's footprints, so if anyone does follow then they will only think it is one person rather than three. We would have the advantage then, if it isn't the careers. They tend to travel in a pack, which is why I found it odd that Blaze was alone.
The sun was just beginning to rise, providing a little bit of warmth. Calyptus thought it would be a good idea to travel just before dawn, in hopes that no one will be up yet. Monty and I agreed. We still had a while to go before we reach the cornucopia. I had ran for hours on the first day, we are far from it.
We travel quietly, none of us knowing what to say. We walk for hours silently listening to the world around us. All of us on guard, thick tension hangs in the air, we all know something is about to go down. We can feel it.
The sight of the meadow covered in snow with the cornucopia in the middle does little to relieve my nerves. I know that we have to do this, but I have a bad feeling about it like it's a trap. We hide in the tree line in sight of the goods. Waiting to see if there was anyone there if there was one we could take them, but all of them and we would be out of luck. Minutes pass by and there is no sign of life, we are in the clear. Still, we be cautious, we don't run towards the cornucopia, we slowly step towards it. I have an arrow nocked just in case, Calyputs has the sword that I gave her out, even Monty has his knife ready to attack. None of us trust that no one is here.
My fingers linger on the string of the bow ready to pull in back, my breath comes out steady. Heavy breathing is easy to hear, I have to close my eyes to calm myself down. I can't let myself think about what might happen, how I might be dead in a few moments. If I did, then I would be a nervous wreck. Instead, I focus on the possibility of food. I am starving.
My eyes quickly scan the good from the cornucopia, I see all kinds of weapons. Knives, axes, machetes, tridents, and spears. If I were good at any of these weapons I would take them, just so that no one else can get them. But I was terrible at all of them in training. And we didn't come here for weapons, we came in search of food. The snow doesn't let up as we dig through the pile of useful items. Another sleeping bag catches my eye and I quickly shove it into my backpack. Now we will have a sleeping bag for each of us. Monty picks up a small bag of dried fruit and puts it in his bag. At least we have a little bit.
I push the stack of weapons to the ground and look underneath them, but come up with nothing. Worry begins to settle in me. What if we don't find anything? Starvation is a slow and painful death, I would much rather someone kill me. I glance over at Calyptus and Monty hoping that they might have gotten something. "Find anything?" I ask as I walk over to them.
Both of them shake their head, "Nope, there's nothing here." Calyptus says and all of us share a look of hopelessness. Without food, we won't survive. Surely the people in the Capitol know that, surely one of us has a sponsor out there that is willing to give us food. Why haven't they?
Movement behind Calyptus catches my eye and I lean over to get a better look at what it is. I am shocked to see Ash from District 4 eating a piece of meat. It is as if he is taunting us. Bragging that he has food and we don't. Calyptus and Monty follow my eyes and see him as well. "Let's get him." She says.
I look over at her, "He's a Career."
She shrugs her shoulder, never taking her eyes off of him, "We have him outnumbered." She seems so confident that we can do it so I find myself nodding, agreeing along with her. Monty looks at us nervously. He clearly doesn't like this plan. Honestly, neither did I, but it was our best shot.
Following Calyptus' lead, the three of us headed towards him as he walked up the mountain. It wasn't a steep climb, but with all the snow we had to be careful where we stepped. Some parts were slippery. It seems like Ash was the only one around. There was only one set of footprints leading up the mountain. That gave me some hope but then a horrible thought occurred to me. They could be walking in each other footprints so that we won't know that all of the Careers are here. Giving us a false sense of security, letting us let our guard down. I suddenly was agreeing with Monty, this is a bad plan. They are going to ambush us as soon as we are on top of the mountain.
The air got colder the higher we went. Though our jackets did a lot to keep us warm I wished I had something heavier on. I was freezing. But having on a heavier coat would make it harder to run, so in a way, I was glad that we only had these jackets.
The wind howled around us, blowing the snow in our faces. I put the hood of my jacket up over my head to try and block the wind and the snow. Monty and Calyptus doing the same. I pulled an arrow out of the quiver, knowing that I will need it in a moment. I secure it onto the bow and have my fingers on the string, ready to pull in back. If this was an ambush then I would not go down without a fight, hopefully taking one or two of them with me.
As we neared the top of the mountain I could see the supplies that were scattered around. This would be perfect for us, if we could get it we could survive. There were all kinds of food, bread, fruits, dried meat, fresh meat, and even soup it looks like. It appears that they have some very generous sponsors. I stare at all the food, dividing it up in my mind. There would be enough for all three of us for the rest of the Games if it doesn't go for another week. It has already been six days and only half of us are dead, it might go one for another week. But still, that amount of food would help get back into the fight, it would help us survive.
Calyptus draws her sword, drawing my attention away from the pile of food. I follow where she is looking and I quickly take a step back. All of the remaining Careers are here, both from 1, the girl from 2, and both from 4. It was a trap and we walked right into it. My heart hammers within my chests as I try to gather my options. If I run back down the hill, they will have the advantage, the higher ground. If I fight them, I might take a couple down but then I will surely go down as well.
I step in front of Monty not wanting him to be a part of this. The girl from 2 glares at me, does she know that I killed Blaze? Then the tributes from 1 step closer to us, "We've been following you for days. That's a nice trick you got by the way. Stepping in each other's footprints. We picked that up as well, thanks to you." The boy from 1, Falcon I think his name was, taunting us.
I watch in horror as the girl from 1 takes a knife out and holds it in her hands then she fake throws it at me. I flinch away and they all laugh at me. If they were going to kill me, I wish they would do it already instead of humiliating me. My fingers tightening on the string, debating on whether or not I should pull it back. If I did, they would all gang up on me and I definitely would not stand a chance.
Ash notices my intentions and is quick to remind me that we are outnumbered. "You see, we don't like you. All this food is actually yours. We stole the parachutes before you even noticed them, the people in the Capitol seem to love you and we don't like that." He pulls out his spear and readies it in his hands to throw.
I close my eyes for a moment trying to calm my nerves. "Okay, so you don't like me. The feeling is mutual, but let them go." I say and then gesture with my hands to Monty and Calyptus.
The Careers laughed at my suggestion, "Why would we do that?" The girl from 2 asked. "If we let them go then we will just have to track them back down."
I watched as the girl from 1 twisted in the knives in her hands, while the boy from her district fiddled with his sword. I turned to look at the tributes from 4, they seemed to not have weapons in their hands, but I still didn't trust them. The girl from two held a spear in her hands. "Well, what are you waiting for then?" I asked them hoping that I sounded more confident than I felt.
The girl from 4 looked at me with a sinister smirk, "Nothing now," she spoke, and then I saw a knife fly my way. I quickly dodged and looked over at the girl from 1, getting ready to pull back the string of my bow. Just as I was about to shoot the bow the boy from 4 threw a spear, he must have had it hidden behind him, hitting my bow, knocking it out of my hands. Seeing that I was not weaponless, the tributes from 4 rushed me.
Calyputs tried to get them but they were trained for this, they dodged with ease and disarmed her just as quickly. Monty stood frozen in his spot Ash pushed me to the ground, pinning me down with a knife that he had. I quickly gather my options, I had no weapon and he did, They have trained their entire life for this and I haven't. There was no way that this would end in my favor.
The girl from his district whispered in his ear, something that I couldn't hear, and he smiled down at me. He retracted his knife and grabbed a hold of my hair, yanking me up. I quickly turned to Monty and Calyptus, "Run!" I yelled at them. Monty stared at me with fear in his eye, "Monty, run."
The other Careers covered my view from my friends and Ash dragged me over to the edge of the cliff. He let go of my hair, instead, he grabbed the jacket. He pushed me over the edge, the only thing keeping me from falling was his grip on my jacket. I looked up at him with fear in my eyes, I hope my mom wasn't watching at this moment. I don't want her to see me die. My heart starts beating faster than it already was. I look away from their faces, I didn't want their faces to be the last thing that I saw before I died. Instead, I look up at the sky, the snow falling down, the sun shining behind the clouds, the cold wind blowing around me.
I hear Ash say something and then I felt his grip let go of me. The feeling of being weightless overwhelms me as I fall to my death. I keep on staring at the sky knowing that the cameras are most likely on me. The sound of a cannon sounds in the air and I quickly snap back to reality, it couldn't have been for me, I am still alive right now. Fear courses through me as I think of Monty and Calyptus. Then I feel the impact of the ground below me.