Chapter 24- Shore Seawind
"Is that one really dead?" Tiara asks, pointing to the motionless body of the girl from 5.
"Guess we'll find out when the cannons go," Dominicus says, rifling through the supplies in the Cornucopia.
"Got anything good in there?" Aggie asks, slinging her knife down into the sand and sitting down beside it on the beach.
"Plenty." Dominicus throws a flashlight over his shoulder; it hits the beach and sticks, light side up.
"Don't break all the supplies," Cloak says, pacing in front of the Cornucopia.
"Seven down?" I ask, counting the bodies that are strewn over the beach and floating in the water. I see the boy from 5 who I killed myself, lying in a patch of red sand. Behind me, Aggie laughs her crow laugh.
"Everyone showed up, didn't they?" she says. "Even the twelve-year-old. You'd think they'd run, but no."
"Worked well for us, didn't it?" Cloak says.
"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting the idiots to come over and join us," Tiara says. "District 6's got more guts than I thought."
"We'll see his guts before long," Aggie says, kicking at the District 6 girl who Cloak killed with a sword. Her eyes stare upwards into the relentless white sun.
"What's the plan then?" Tiara asks, sitting down in the mouth of the Cornucopia.
"We stay here, obviously. We've got the supplies and we have to defend it," Dominicus says, coming out of the Cornucopia juggling bottles of something.
"Look at you; I didn't know you had a secret talent," Tiara says, catching one of the bottles as Dominicus throws it to her. "What's this?"
"I've got lots of secrets," Dominicus says, "And it's sunblock. With the sun like this, we'll burn in no time."
"The boy's got sense," Aggie says, grabbing the bottle from Tiara and pouring a generous amount into her hand.
"The boy? We've known each other our whole lives, and I'm older than you, Agrippina," Dominicus says, poking Aggie in the back of the head. She crow laughs again.
"We're going to need water," I say, surveying the arena. We're currently on a small island, but I have a feeling all the action is going to be across the way. That's where all the other tributes disappeared to, after all.
"Of course you're going to say that, Ocean Boy," Aggie says, smearing sunblock over her face. Before I can explain myself, the cannons go off; seven in total.
"Guess they're all dead then," Cloak says.
"They're dead, and we need water so that we don't end up like them," I say.
"We're surrounded by water," Tiara says.
"It's salt water; we can't drink salt water." I go over and test the water for myself. "See? Salt."
"It most certainly is sea salt," Dominicus says, making Aggie laugh again.
"Cloak, what do we do?" Tiara asks, looking to her district partner. Everyone goes quiet, waiting to hear his answer. This is the moment where either Cloak or I become the leader, and I don't know what will happen when the choice is made. I tense, ready to strike if necessary.
Cloak looks between me, Tiara, and the island. "We go and find water on the island," he says. That's settled it; he's not ready to take me yet. One of us is going to be leader at some point, but right now it's not important. The important thing is finding water; that was Mags's last instruction to me, and I'm going to follow through.
"So we're just going to leave all this great gear here?" Dominicus asks.
"Take as much as we can carry with us. Think about it," Aggie says, picking her knife up, "Who are we going to kill over here?"
"Her," Cloak says, pointing with his spear point to Kelpie, who's sitting as far away from us as possible, dipping her feet in the water. I'd almost forgotten she was there.
"Not yet," I say. "Let's get through the first day with all of us together. Then we figure out what to do with her later."
"You like her, don't you?" Aggie says in a mocking tone. "She your girlfriend?"
"I'm engaged, Aggie. I've got a girl waiting for me at home; I definitely do not like Kelpie," I tell her. Aggie smirks and looks away from me, back to Kelpie who's closed her eyes. She didn't kill anyone in the bloodbath; just hid until it was over. I don't blame the others for wanting to eliminate her quickly, but I want to keep my promise to Mags and make sure Kelpie goes out quietly. Aggie won't do it quietly, that's for sure.
"Let's get packing then," Cloak says. "Pull out some bags and we'll put as much stuff as we can in them."
Dominicus slings bags out at us; I catch mine easily but Tiara's hits her in the face. "Will you watch where you're throwing things?"
"Whatever," Dominicus says. Tiara glares at his back, but doesn't say anything else. As Dominicus throws supplies out into the sand, we pick them up and sort through what we want and don't want. In my pack I put a flashlight, matches, a first aid kit, two water bottles, sunscreen, a rope, a pair of gloves, a light green raincoat, and a pair of sunglasses. When Dominicus starts handing out the food, I take a pack of beef jerky, a bag of nuts, and a bag of dried fruit.
"Kelpie, are you coming?" I call; she jumps like I woke her up.
"Where are we going?" she asks, pulling her socks and boots back on.
"Mainland," I say, pointing to the larger island covered in trees, surrounded by a beach similar to ours. Obviously, it's not a true mainland, but it's close enough for what we have here.
"Why can't we stay here?" Kelpie looks down at the bodies on the beach and immediately closes her eyes again. "We can be safe in the Cornucopia."
"We need water. And the other tributes are over on the island."
"I want to stay here." Kelpie sounds close to tears again, and if she does that, she's gone.
"They'll kill you if you stay here. Come on, let's go." I wonder what my family is thinking about all this so far. I've killed two tributes; the boy from 5 and the boy from 12; how do they feel about that? I'll do anything to get me home, and none of us have gotten injured so far. I've got a good chance. Besides, the arena is half water; it was made for me.
"You two done chatting?" Aggie says, strapping her pack on her back.
"Yes," I say, then to Kelpie, "Grab a bag and throw some supplies in it. Just do it." Kelpie looks at me, finally opening her eyes, then slowly takes a pack from the beach and half-heartedly throws some random supplies into it.
"Got a weapon, Shore?" Cloak asks. He's holding a gold colored sword that's as long as his arm.
"Yes," I say, grabbing a trident from the Cornucopia in one hand, and a knife I stick into my pack with the other. Aggie's holding a knife and an axe; Tiara has a sword as well; Dominicus has a selection of knives, and Kelpie's reluctantly grabbing a knife from the beach.
"Across the ocean then," Cloak says, like he's conquering a distant land, and walks into the shallow water. I move to follow him, but Kelpie grabs my arm and shakes her head, pointing at a shadow that seems to move quickly through the water.
"Hold it," I say. "Stop, come back here, Cloak."
"You're not the leader here, Shore," Cloak says, turning to face me. The rest of the alliance is still standing on the beach, and I don't think Kelpie's the only one to have noticed the shadow.
"Get out of the water, you idiot!" Aggie says. "Listen to us."
"Don't you tell me what to do either!" Cloak stands his ground, holding his sword aloft. Kelpie's closed her eyes and sunk down to the beach, covering her ears.
"Get out!" I shout, backing further up the beach; the others follow my suit; Tiara's mouth is hanging open as she tracks the shadow.
Cloak opens his mouth to argue again, but what comes out is a scream as the large grey shark attacks him.