Chapter 29- Shore Seawind
"We've got water and we've got food, so what's the next step, Ocean Boy?" Aggie asks in a sarcastic tone. We found a waterfall late last night, so now our water bottles are filled, and our generous sponsors made a midnight feast on the beach a possibility.
"Now we go and find ourselves some tributes," I say, looking at my alliance. Now that Cloak is dead, ripped apart by the shark that he should have come onto land to avoid, I'm the undisputed leader of this alliance.
"Sounds like an excellent plan to me," Dominicus says, running his thumb across the blade of his knife, testing its sharpness. I can guarantee that if it's Capitol made, it's sharp. "Which way are we going?"
"Keep along the coastline," I say, trying to map out the arena in my head. "There's bound to be some tributes on the beaches, and if there's not, then we go into the trees. Start with the beaches first, though."
Aggie seems to resent me being the leader more than the others; she's the one I'm going to have to keep an eye on. Dominicus as well, to a point, and Tiara's not on the top of my highest threat list currently. And as for Kelpie- it's all I can do to keep Aggie from murdering her right here and now.
"Get everything back in the packs then," I say, picking up my own pack and slinging it over my shoulder with one hand, grabbing my trident with the other. I can feel Da's pride at me having become the leader. He always called me a leader when I was younger, and now I'm fulfilling his expectations. It feels good.
How Ma and the girls and Thalassa feel about me being the leader of the elite murderers, I don't know; I'll deal with that when I get out of here.
"Kelpie, come on, put your stuff in your pack," I say, nudging her with my toe. She's been completely out of it since last night; I think Cloak's death really drove her over the edge. For what feels like the thousandth time, I curse Aria Combstar for not volunteering.
Aggie shoots Kelpie a look of pure loathing. "She's practically dead now; let me finish the job."
"If you do that, then we're running at an ally a day, Aggie. Let's not and say we did," I say, stepping in front of Kelpie. I hope Mags is happy, because Aggie certainly is not.
"She's worse than no ally, but go off. I'll deal with her at some point," Aggie says, slinging her own pack over her shoulder. "We're leaving, so get up!"
Kelpie stands up, with a glassy eyed expression on her face. Whatever strength she managed to pull together in the Capitol is clearly gone; she's dead weight and it would probably be better to kill her now. I'm actually in agreement with Aggie on that one. But two things hold me back: Mags, and I don't want to face the wrath of the Agans at home. Killing your own district partner is taboo in any district, I think.
"So, we're going this way?" Tiara says, pointing along the coastline to her right with her sword.
"That's the way," I say.
"Lead the way then, Ocean Boy," Aggie says, shooting another loathing look at Kelpie before falling into line behind me.
I'm hoping we find another water source somewhere along here, because the waterfall is the only one I've seen so far into the Games. Our water bottles are full right now, but with five people drinking in this heat, they'll be empty by mid-afternoon. There's something about this place that makes the air feel heavy and moist, but sucks the water out of you at the same time.
"Who are we looking for anyway?" Tiara asks, walking faster to catch up to me.
"I don't care. Any tribute will do. There's five of us and likely only one of them, so we'll outnumber whoever we find."
"I hope it's the District 3 girl; the one who kept watching us throughout Training," Aggie says behind me.
"We know; you've said it a hundred times," Tiara says.
"Don't have to be rude about it," Aggie says, grumbling then falling silent. Speaking of silent; Kelpie hasn't said a word all day. The others are ignoring her for now, but she's trailing along behind us at a distance, and I'm not sure what the worse outcome would be for her: get killed by one of us, or be left behind to get killed by something else in the jungle. She'd better keep up.
"Can we stop; I'm dying," Tiara says, slowing down and pulling her back pack off.
"I can kill you quicker if you're dying," Aggie says cheerfully.
"Save that for the others," I say. "Drink some water, but ration it. Don't know when we'll get more."
"Who made you the leader, Ocean Boy?" Dominicus says, drinking from his own water bottle.
I smile. "The shark."
"Very clever," Aggie says, smiling a mirthless smile. "We've seen nobody yet; when do we start our hike through the woods?"
"Once the island starts to curve around. Then we go through."
"It's always curving. We've been walking on a curve the whole time," Tiara says.
"It's an island; there's going to be an end to it, and then we'll turn and go into the forest. Of course it's going to curve," I say.
"Whatever; I just want to kill somebody," Aggie says, capping her water bottle and throwing it back into her pack. "Let's keep going."
The sun is hot overhead, and periodically we stop to put more sunblock on each other and drink water. I love seeing the ocean on my left; it's a constant reminder of home, and it makes me feel happy. Even while I'm consciously hunting down another kid to kill. Anything to get home.
"Help Kelpie with her sunblock," I say to Tiara. She rolls her eyes.
"If she wants it, she can put it on herself."
"Tiara, please?"
Tiara huffs, but she does haphazardly slather sunblock on Kelpie's face. My district partner just stares ahead. She's gone, far gone.
"Are we going or what?" Aggie says impatiently. I'm about to start off again, when I see movement in the trees. Brown jacket moving. Tribute.
"We've got some action," I say, pointing the figure out.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tiara says, stuffing the sunblock in her backpack and grabbing her sword in her right hand. I don't wait to see if Kelpie's following along before we leap from the beach into the forest and take off after the tribute, whoever it is.
They're quick, and I can't see who it is at a distance. Aggie's practically vaulting over logs, Dominicus fast on her heels. Once or twice I see the tribute look back at us, but keep running. We're faster, though.
"Give me a knife," Aggie says to Dominicus, holding out her hand as she straddles a fallen log.
"You don't want to have fun with them?" Dominicus asks, pulling a blade out and handing it to her.
"Oh, I will. I just want to slow them down." Aggie leaps off the log and starts running even faster than she was before. I watch her aim, and throw the knife; it hits the tribute's leg and they go down hard.
Aggie crow laughs and skips over to where the tribute is lying. Dominicus, Tiara, and I join her in a minute, and stand above the tribute, who's moaning on the rainforest floor. It's the skinny bookworm from District 7, the boy who asked if he could bring a book into the arena. There's no book in sight, so I guess that got rejected.
"Why hello, Kiril," Aggie says, crouching down beside him. "You're not looking too good, are you?"
"Please," he says, feeling for the knife that's still embedded in his leg.
"Oh, you want that out? Okay." Aggie yanks the blade out and Kiril screams; the echo bouncing off the trees.
"So, who wants him?" Tiara asks, looking down at the writhing boy. He's younger than I am, and I feel some pity for him. I can't save him, but I pity him.
"I don't care," I say, leaning on my trident. "I already got two kills. Who hasn't gotten any yet?"
"Dominicus," Tiara says immediately. "I took out the boy from 10, and Aggie got the girl. Dominicus hasn't gotten a kill yet."
"Fine, you take him," Aggie says reluctantly, wiping the blood from the knife onto Kiril's pants. He's still moaning and crying a little; not the best sight. I doubt the Capitol wants this to go on for ages; it's not good sport when the victim's this weak.
"Right, Dominicus, do it fast," I say.
"Why fast?"
"Because he's a kid."
"If he's old enough to get reaped, he's old enough to die," Dominicus says. There's something dangerous in his eyes that lets me know I shouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him.
"Obviously, but don't make this one drawn out. Kill him quick and let's keep going."
"Quit arguing and just stick him, or I'll do it," Tiara says. Dominicus and I keep looking at each other until he gives.
"Fine." Kiril, knowing his end is near, tries to crawl away backwards, but Aggie puts a boot on his injured leg, making him scream again. I don't watch as Dominicus slits his throat, but I hear the cannon fire, and that's good enough for me.
"What's wrong, Ocean Boy?" Aggie asks in a sing song voice. "Not a fan of blood? Maybe a little squeamish?"
"I've had enough of it for now. After Cloak," I say. Aggie's face pales a little at the reminder of the gruesome death our ally suffered.
"Fine. Let's get out of here before the body starts to smell," she says, stomping away towards the beach again.
"Where's Kelpie?" I ask, realizing that we're missing an ally.
"Who cares?" Tiara says. "If she's gone, then I don't have to deal with her anymore."
"I'm not leaving anyone behind. We're going back to look for her," I say, following Aggie out of the jungle.
"You and that girl! Just let her go!" Tiara moans, coming along behind me.
"No!" I say, rounding on her. "I don't leave anyone behind until the cannon fires, do you understand me? Kelpie is part of this alliance, and until she's dead, she comes along with us."
"I don't get why you're so attached to the girl," Aggie says from up ahead. "Just kill her and be done with it."
"She's my district partner. Would you kill Dominicus?"
"Yes," she says without hesitation. "No offense, Dommie."
"No offense taken; I'd kill you too," Dominicus says, smiling.
"I'm not killing Kelpie, not yet. So let's go back and find her." My tone must sound final, because they don't complain anymore as we make our way out of the jungle and back to the beach.
It's fairly easy to find Kelpie; after retracing our journey along the beach, I see her standing at the edge of the water, just looking out at the horizon.
"Kelpie, Kelpie we need to go now. Come on with us," I say, grabbing her hand. The others stand a distance away, talking amongst themselves. "Come with me, Kelpie."
"I want to go home," she says suddenly, the first words I've heard her spoken all day. "I don't want to be here anymore."
"Okay, so come with us and we'll try to get you home, okay?" She's not going home; she's never going to go home, but I have to at least try to humor her. What else can I do?
"Home's that way," Kelpie says, pointing out at the horizon. She could be right for all I know, but more likely it's a simulation. The horizon isn't real.
"No, Kelpie. Come on, we have to go."
"What's going on with your girlfriend?" Aggie yells at us. "Is she coming or not?"
I grab Kelpie's hand and try to pull her along, but she's surprisingly strong and stays firm.
"Let me go, Shore. I'm going home." She's not the same Kelpie I was in Training with, and she's not the same Kelpie Agan from at home. That girl's gone and has been replaced with a shell of her former self. Kelpie Agan is gone. I let her hand go and it drops to her side.
"Where are you going, 4?" Aggie says, coming to stand next to me. "What's with her?"
"I don't know," I admit. Before I can stop her, Kelpie walks forward into the surf, each step taking her deeper and deeper into the water. I start to go after her, but Aggie holds my arm back.
"Let her go, Shore," she says, sounding surprisingly gentle. Kelpie takes step after determined step forward, until the water comes to her chest and she begins to swim. And all we can do is watch as Kelpie Agan swims out as far as she can, then disappears beneath the waves.
The cannon fires a few minutes later.