[24] - Rochelle
Dragging Mandy through the Arena feels like carrying a human-sized rag doll, and it's wearing on my nerves quickly. In my years at the orphanage, I've never been one to tolerate emotion, and today Mandy's a jumbled mess of them.
It's the morning now, and I can tell that Mandy's exhaustion is turning her crazy. She hasn't gotten a full night's sleep in three nights, and it's clear that it's doing no good for her mental state.
"Rochelle, we need to go back," Mandy gasps between sobs. Tears are streaming down her face, and her eyes are bloodshot. "It's the only way we can survive in here!"
"We seem to be doing fine so far," I mutter, practically dragging the girl behind me.
"I can't believe it," Mandy whispers to herself. "Why would Princess and Zinnia want to kill me? I haven't done anything to them other than carry their bags and protect them while they sleep! What reason would they have to go after me?"
Finally, I've reached my limit. I let go of Mandy's hand, and she drops like a sandbag to the ground below me with a grunt.
"Listen up and listen good, Mandy," I snap. "It's time to wake up and look around. Coming into this Arena, who were the biggest threats? Who were the biggest competitors?"
Mandy's staring at the ground. For a second, I think that she's ignoring me, but she finally opens her mouth.
"Pollux," she says, almost whispering. "And August."
"Exactly," I fume. "And Damon, probably. Now, if you were someone who wanted to win these Games, and you knew that you couldn't beat Pollux or August or Damon in a fight, what would you do?"
"Try to kill us," Mandy says sulkily, like she's being told off by a stern schoolteacher.
"Thank you. Well, the girl from Three is long gone, so Damon's off the table. That leaves the two of us. You need to realize that you're the biggest target in this Arena, and anybody who gets a chance to stab you in the back, literally, will do it. The only people you can trust in here are me and Pollux because we're the only ones who aren't out to kill you. Got it?"
Mandy just nods; she looks defeated, but at least she's stopped crying. Hopefully, I got to her.
"Speaking of Pollux, let's get going and start looking for the boys," I say, helping Mandy to her feet. She wordlessly follows me as I head out into the desert.
The sun rises over us as we walk, forcing us to strip from our night clothing. I feel a lot lighter on my feet; even though I feel bad about taking out my aggression on Mandy, it felt amazing to release all of my frustrations from the last four days. As the morning progresses, though, I notice that Mandy's condition seems to be worsening. She's walking behind me like a zombie, and she's notably pale despite the intense heat. I pass her a canteen from my bag as we walk, and she stares at it for a moment before slowly unscrewing the lid.
"Humans can only go three days without water in most cases," Mandy says quietly. "I read that somewhere in training."
"Good thing we have enough to last us a while," I sigh, putting the canteen back in my bag. Mandy's making me think, though. Today's our fourth day in here, and I'm sure that not everyone's found the oasis that we found with Zinnia and Princess. It's only a matter of time before our ranks start thinning, and it's possible that most of us could die without any blood being shed.
Sure enough, it's only about an hour before a cannon shot booms in the distance, closely followed by a second boom. The sound of the cannons sends a shiver down my spine - that could have been me, and it could be me any day now. With two more tributes gone, only half of the tributes remain.
I'm still lost in my thoughts when I hear a thud behind me. My heart practically jumps out of my chest as I whirl around, dagger in hand, but the only person behind me is Mandy. She's fallen to her knees; her sweaty hair shields her face from view. With the threat of danger now gone, I rush to Mandy's side.
"I don't feel good," Mandy mumbles as I try to lift her to her feet. "My legs are weak."
"Okay," I say, looking around at our surroundings. "Okay. Uh, let's just..."
My eyes land on the only object nearby: a cactus. I do my best to lift Mandy in my arms, carrying her to the shade of the cactus.
"Here, drink some water," I say, pulling my canteen back out and handing it to Mandy. She's panting, but her breathing is shallow.
"I'm sorry, Rochelle," the girl beneath me says. "I need to rest, I think. I'm exhausted."
"That's okay," I exhale. I can't believe that this is happening to us now, when we need to move as fast as possible. Time is running out to find the boys. "Let's just rest here for today."
"We need to have a plan to find Pollux and August," Mandy says slowly between sips of water. "We can probably set out tonight."
"You should get some sleep tonight," I argue. "Tomorrow we can head out. I think our best bet is to climb the tallest dune we can find and look for the boys from there. It's our best bet."
"That makes sense," Mandy mumbles.
I sit by Mandy's side as she slowly sips water from her canteen. "Here, don't drink too much," I say, lifting the canteen out of her hands. "We have to save some for later."
Mandy looks at me for a moment before laughing a bit. "You're just like my sister," she sighs. "Always overbearing."
"Someone has to be," I respond. I don't really want to talk about this with Mandy - the less I know about her, the better. She will have to die eventually, and I want it to be as painless as possible for both of us.
Mandy doesn't pick up that I'm being distant. "She's about the same age as you, I think," she says. "Acts older than that, though. I guess you have to, where we're from."
"Same with District Eight," I mutter. "Here, I guess you can have a little bit more."
I pass Mandy her canteen to force her to stop talking. I don't want to know about Mandy's sister, or her home, or her life. The more I know about her, the more awful I feel that she'll eventually have to die. Only one tribute makes it out of here alive, we all know that. I don't need to know Mandy, and she doesn't need to know me.
"I never thought I'd miss her, but-"
"Get some sleep, Mandy," I interrupt her. "We have a long day tomorrow."
Mandy stares at me for a second, but she nods and closes her eyes. We don't say anything after that.