[22] - Rochelle
The Fallen Tributes pass quickly. The girl from Six is first - that must be Janea, the other boy's partner. The boy from Seven is after her, and then it's over. Five pairs are gone now, and seven remain.
I pull on my night clothes, expecting another long night. I think I'll have Mandy take the first watch, and she can wake me up halfway through the night.
"You two get some rest," Zinnia says, and I have to look at her to confirm that she's not joking. "You look exhausted. I'll wake you both up for the second watch."
Mandy glances at me before shrugging, laying on her back, and closing her eyes. I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes - I can't believe how naive this girl can be. Zinnia's up to something, I just know it.
"Thanks," I call, mimicking Mandy and laying down.
All I can hear is the whistling of the wind above me. I slowly shift my head to face the girls; I crack my eyes open, but they aren't talking to each other yet. They must be waiting for us to fall asleep; I know Princess wouldn't stay up with Zinnia if there wasn't a good reason.
As I lie on the desert sand, it feels like time has frozen. I wait for what feels like over an hour, waiting for the girls to talk, but they say nothing. Feeling somewhat stupid, I finally give up. I've wasted precious sleep now, all for nothing. It doesn't take long for me to drift into a dreamless sleep.
I'm startled awake by voices nearby. I instinctively move my arm to prop myself up and see what's happening, but the sound of voices makes me freeze.
"I just think-" Zinnia says, her voice hushed, but Princess cuts her off.
"Shh!" Princess says urgently. "She's awake!"
The girls are clearly talking about something behind my back; I have to convince them that I'm asleep. As convincingly as I can, I breathe in deeply through my nose and shift my leg into a new position before breathing deeply in and out, mimicking Mandy's breathing next to me.
"You're paranoid," Zinnia says after a few agonizing seconds of silence. "You know my idea is good, Princess. Stop trying to protect him; only one of us can win this."
"If you lay a hand on her, I will kill you," Princess mutters, so quietly that I can barely hear. "August is far more valuable than some orphan from the slums of District Eight."
"That may be true," Zinnia sighs. "But that makes him all the more dangerous."
"It's not happening," Princess says with finality in her tone. "Also, if you're trying to kill her, I should be able to kill the other one, but you won't let me, will you?"
"I couldn't care less what happens to Mandy," Zinnia says frankly. "You go right ahead. Look at it this way, Princess: Say that I kill Rochelle and you kill Mandy. They're not going to defend themselves, it would be easy. Tell me, when that's all over, which competitors are left in here? Who else do we have to compete with to be the Victor?"
Zinnia's met with silence; Princess doesn't say a word; just like me, I'm sure she gets Zinnia's point. With August and Pollux out of the way, either Princess or Zinnia will certainly win the Games.
"We've been searching for these boys for three days," Zinnia continues. "For what? To help us fight the other tributes? They're going to run out of water and die soon anyway. I'm telling you, Princess, the time to make a big move is now. We'd go down in history."
Again, Zinnia's met with silence. My heart is racing now - I have to be prepared to run at any moment. I hate to admit it, but my life is now in Princess' hands.
"Don't touch the girls," Princess says, almost whispering. "At least for now. We need to keep them close until the right time."
The girls return to silence once again, but my mind is spinning. What I've just overheard could mean my demise in this Arena. Finally, after three days, these girls have realized just how valuable Mandy and I are. Temptation is taking over Zinnia's mind, and it's only a matter of time before Princess succumbs to it, too. There's no doubt about it; if Mandy and I stay with these girls, one of them will survive the Games as the Victor. The temptation of knocking out the boys is too much for the girls to resist.
I hear someone moving nearby, and I clench my fists to stop myself from panicking. If the other girls know what I overheard, they'll kill me for sure.
"Rochelle," a voice nearby calls, and I'm finally able to open my eyes. It's Zinnia.
"You can take the next watch, okay?" the other girl says, and I just nod as she turns to sit next to Princess.
What am I going to do? One thing's for sure - I can't stay here with Zinnia and Princess. One question still remains, though: what do I do with Mandy?
If I leave Mandy here with the other girls, there's no doubt in my mind that she'll be dead tomorrow. Zinnia and Princess clearly have no reservations about killing her, it's me that's making Princess hesitate.
It'll definitely be easier for me to find August without Mandy attached to my hip - she's young and still immature, and she definitely wouldn't help me defend myself from any of the other tributes. She does offer one thing, though: bargaining power. If Mandy's by my side, I have total control over Pollux. His life is in my hands, and I can end it at any moment. That's an extremely important tool, and it might be one that I'll need later. If having Mandy nearby gives me control over such a powerful tribute, why should I leave that tool in the hands of Zinnia or Princess?
I glance over to the other girls - it looks like they're finally asleep. It's not even that late - I don't think they really took watch for that long before they woke us up.
I shake Mandy awake, putting a finger to my lips as she opens her eyes. She quickly sits up, her eyes wide.
"Mandy, remember when we promised to look out for one another, no matter what?" I whisper as quietly as I can. Mandy nods, her eyes darting around for anything dangerous.
"I overheard Zinnia and Princess talking just now," I whisper, and I tell Mandy everything. I do change the story a bit - I don't tell her about Princess' refusal to kill me - but everything else is true. When I'm done, Mandy looks like she's about to vomit.
"We need to get out of here, Mandy," I tell her, grabbing her trembling hands. "It's the only way we can stay alive. We need to find August and Pollux before anybody else gets their hands on us."
"We can't, Rochelle," Mandy says, speaking for the first time as tears well up in her eyes. "Zinnia and Princess are protecting us right now. If we run into the other tributes without them, they'll kill us! And you saw Princess' sponsor gift yesterday - without the Careers, we won't get anything like that."
I sigh; how naive can this girl get? She's fully convinced that Zinnia and Princess have her best intentions at heart.
"It's a risk we have to take, Mandy," I assure her. "If we stay here, we will die. At least we have a chance of surviving this way."
Mandy puts her hands over her face. I use the opportunity to roll my eyes - if Mandy takes any more convincing, I might have to just leave her behind.
"Let's go," I say, pulling on her arm, and she lets me pull her to her feet.
Luckily, the Careers left almost all of their supplies with Mandy and me to carry. Zinnia has her own bag, but she sleeps next to it, so I'm not going to risk taking it. I shoulder two of Princess' bags and motion for Mandy to do the same.
"We should leave some for them," Mandy whispers. "It's not nice for us to take everything."
"They can figure it out," I whisper back, irritated. Now is not the time to be nice. "I'm sure sponsors will send them stuff."
Mandy hesitates, but she finally picks up the bags at her feet. Relieved, I look around to make sure we're not missing anything.
My eyes land on Princess' sleeping body. A part of me wants to strike now - it would be so easy to just stab Princess in her sleep and get it over with. I know I can't, though - I can't win a fight against Zinnia if she woke up. Princess will have to be disposed of later.
"Come on," I whisper to Mandy, turning toward the expanse of desert ahead of us. We have to get as far from here as we can before the sun rises, and then we need to find the boys. At this point, it's our only hope of survival.