[21] - Rochelle
A/N - The view counter on my stories is still not fixed but it looks like this story is still showing up on FFN properly, so I'll take it for now! Thanks for all the support on this story in the last few chapters :)
Zinnia and Princess get us moving early in the morning; for the first time since we entered the Arena, we're completely out of water, so finding a water source is now our primary concern.
After two hours of searching, we're still empty-handed, and Princess is getting more and more frustrated.
"Let's climb one of the dunes," she calls back to us. "Maybe we'll be able to see something from up there."
It's a steep climb up the dunes, and the sun on our backs doesn't make the ascent any easier. My lungs burn as we climb, and we have to take multiple breaks for me to catch my breath. Despite her small frame, Mandy's still handling the heat well, but dehydration will probably affect her first because of her size.
By the time Mandy and I reach the top of the dune, Zinnia's already spotted something. "Look!" she cries, pointing down the other side of the mound.
I follow Zinnia's finger, expecting to see water, and I'm disappointed. She's pointing to a person; we're so high up, it's hard to see who it is.
I squint a little, and I see now why Zinnia was so excited; it's a boy. The first boy we've seen in here.
"He might know something we don't," Zinnia says. "Let's go!"
Zinnia runs down the dune with leaping strides, and Princess is quick to follow. Mandy and I glance at one another for a moment before following the other girls.
As I run behind the others, I think about Zinnia's excited reaction. He might know something we don't. Does this boy know something about where we can find water, or is Zinnia looking for a different kind of information? This boy is the first boy we've seen in here, and that means he might know something about where the others are.
The boy spots us right before we reach him. As soon as he spots Princess and Zinnia, his legs buckle beneath him and he collapses to the ground before scrambling away from us.
"Help!" Princess calls. "We need your help!"
That seems to make it even worse, as the boy finally finds his feet and begins to run away.
Zinnia looks around, exasperated and out of breath. Suddenly, her eyes light up and she opens her mouth, screaming one word at the boy.
"Janea!"
Like magic, the sound of Zinnia's voice brings the boy to a halt, giving us precious time to get within speaking distance of him. I spot the number 7 on the boy's shoulder.
"We know where Janea is," Zinnia pants to the boy. "Your partner. You want to find her, right?"
The boy nods, dumbfounded to be face-to-face with a Career. He looks shocked to still be alive.
"Let's trade," Princess says, catching onto Zinnia's idea. "If you tell us where we can find water, we'll tell you where to find your friend."
The boy looks around, as if waiting for permission to speak. After a few seconds, it becomes apparent that nobody else is going to speak, and the boy opens his mouth.
"There's an oasis that way," he says, pointing behind him. "About two hours away. I saw it this morning."
Zinnia exhales with relief - finally, luck is on our side; hope is restored.
"Is your Cornucopia that way, too?" Princess says, her eyes eager. "We're trying to find our friends, too."
"It's back there," the boy says, his eyes darting from one of us to the another. I stare at my feet, avoiding the boy's gaze - I know what's about to happen.
"Where's Janea?" the boy asks quietly, his voice almost inaudible. I think he knows the truth.
"She's right there," Zinnia says simply, pointing behind the boy. He turns to look behind him, and then it's over. Zinnia wipes her blade on her leg like nothing's happened, and Mandy and I follow her as two cannon shots fire in the distance.
I glance over to Mandy, and she looks absolutely petrified. She's already been looking pallid from dehydration, but she looks ill now. Her eyes are wide, staring at me as we march behind the other girls.
I reach over, putting my arm over Mandy's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. I didn't realize it until now, but this is the first dead person that Mandy's seen in here. What a privilege - yes, I was the one who killed the girl from Three a few days ago, but she's not the first dead body I've seen in my life and she won't be the last. I think Mandy's only just realized that we're in the Hunger Games; if she plans on staying any longer, she'll have to get used to it.
It's so hard to gauge time in here; the only way to tell is the location of the sun in the sky, but I'm hopeless at following its location. At least we now have some new things to look at; unlike on the other side of the desert, this region of the desert actually has some vegetation, with small, spiky plants scattered around in the sand. Zinnia says that they're called cacti. Even with the addition of the new vegetation, there still doesn't seem to be any water around.
By the time I'm certain two hours have passed, there's still no water in sight. I'm starting to lose hope; it's entirely possible that the boy from Seven was lying just like we were. If that's true, we've wasted a whole day, and we're even closer to death than before.
Just when I'm about to give up hope of finding anything out in the expanse of the desert, Zinnia breaks the silence with a yelp.
"There it is!" she cheers; she sounds even more excited than she did this morning. "Let's go!"
Princess and Zinnia break into an all-out sprint to the oasis, leaving Mandy and me behind to carry their bags. Well, I guess it's really just Princess' bags; Zinnia, fortunately for Mandy and I, decided to carry her own supplies like a Peacekeeper at her academy would.
As Mandy and I arrive at the oasis, we spot a parachute floating down to the other girls. Attached is a plastic case with the number 1 on it. Princess eagerly cracks the casing open to reveal four shiny, metal canteens.
"Perfect!" Princess gasps excitedly. "Two for each of us!"
Finally, Princess pretends to remember that Mandy and I are still here. "You two can use the old ones," she says. "So two for each of you, too!"
How generous. I don't know if that's what her sponsors intended, but I know better than to complain right now. Mandy and I wordlessly fill our canteens in the fresh waters of the oasis and slip them back into our bags.
"Alright, who's carrying the canteens?" Princess says, screwing the caps onto the canisters as she approaches Mandy and me.
Mandy and I just stare at Princess blankly. Does she really expect us to carry her canteens for her? The ones she just got as a sponsor gift?
Princess seems to detect what we're thinking. "I have to keep my hands free to hold my weapons," she says, putting her hands on her hips. "I already told you both."
"I'll take them," I sigh. The canteens look heavy, and I don't want to add any more weight to Mandy's load. Mandy shoots me a grateful glance as Princess turns back to Zinnia.
"Let's stay here for the night," Princess says. "If there are any animals around, they'll come to drink from here. That'll mean food for us."
Zinnia shrugs. "Sure, I don't see a problem with that."
That's all the confirmation I need - I let my heavy bag slide from my shoulders to the ground. Mandy copies my movements before sitting on the sandy ground. It's not long before darkness reclaims the Arena, and the Panem anthem begins once again to announce the dead.