The Career pack was gearing up to go hunting as the hovercraft came in to collect the last body of the bloodbath.
"You want the honors of finishing off Finnick?" Fennel asked Coral
"I want Orna. She's been meddling long enough." Coral said.
"Be careful. We have no idea what she's capable of, and her partner was of no use either." The boy from 2
You killed the boy from 3, Weiss?" Coral asked.
"Yeah, but he didn't give up any pertinent information. Although he did beg for his life, which I thought was kind of funny and hilarious." Weiss answered.
"Orna got away with the girl from 5. We should be wary of the pair. I saw them at the knot tying station." The boy from 1 said.
"You're over reacting Orion. Neither of those two will pose a threat to us. Through if we wanted to finish off Finnick, we could lure him into a trap using the girls." Weiss said.
"Could be fun." Zetta said.
As Zetta finished speaking, the group had walked away to go hunt down the remaining tributes. Unbeknownst to the Careers, there was someone hiding out near the Cornucopia. Well, technically there was someone hiding in the structure as well. That person threw the tarp off of themselves, it was Indigo, and busied herself with rounding up some supplies.
"What's their plan?" Orna asked, as she approached the Cornucopia.
"Coral wants you, but they also kicked around the idea of wanting to use us lure out Finnick." Indigo said.
"That's a dumb idea, but who cares. Get whatever you can carry comfortably, and let's get out of here." Orna said.
The girls picked through the supplies, which were numerous, and then made their way over to the village. Over in the plains, I had washed ashore about a mile from where Cornucopia, and I was beginning to regain consciousness.
I made it! Was my first thought after I escaped from the Cornucopia.
I got away with the necessary weapon, gear, and supplies, but I was injured in the process. I can feel the water lapping against my body, and the throbbing sensation in my shoulder from where I was shot by an arrow. If I had to guess it was…Fennel—the girl from District 1—who had put an arrow in my shoulder. I'm not exactly sure if Fennel was a crack shot, or if she had got lucky with that shot. Not that it matters I need to put something on the wound because even though I can survive any wound doesn't mean that an infection won't kill me. Unless I can survive being infected with any virus or bacterium. In which case President Snow spared no expense in my creation.
I tried sitting upright and see what that does to me. When I don't feel any backlash from my body I decide to rummage through my bag and see what supplies I have. My mouth hits the ground when I see that I have medicine in it, and it's good for fighting off infection. I doubt the Gamemakers had any clue who was going to pick up that pack, but I'm not complaining. I take the medicine straight, almost puking it's nasty tasting, but I keep it down.
I pull the arrow out of my left shoulder and wrap the wound to get the healing process started. I lay out everything that I have to see what I'm working with: a spear, different medicine, chemicals to purify water, and a knife. One look at the water and I can see that it's teeming with life. I break a few branches and prep a fire. I get to work on getting my first meal of the day. I never really thought about it, but I'm probably going to be a need to stay well feed if I'm going to use my newfound abilities to their full extent.
After an hour, my shoulder has stopped throbbing. I pull the bandage off and see that all that is left of my injury is a faded scar, which I could barely see. By tomorrow I'll be fully healed, as if I wasn't shot with an arrow.
My mind is racing with the implications of what just occurred. The districts must be besides themselves, especially 4, with the knowledge that a tribute has the ability to heal any wound and not have said wound effect their mobility as I test my range of motion in my left shoulder. Not exactly how I wanted to the Games to begin with revealing that I have a healing factor out of a child's fantasy.
Snow must be besides himself right now, as well. The tool necessary to keep his power, while consolidating it, is in the Hunger Games. He must be in the Gamemakers' control room reading them the riot act and telling them to do what is necessary to make sure I get out of the arena alive. The thought makes me laugh an unnatural cackle.
"Hey, did you hear that?" a voice asked.
"Yeah, I did, it sounded like a tribute has gone crazy." another voice said.
Both voices are male, and my first victims. I sink into the water and as I grab my spear and prepare to repeat my performance from my training session. Before I submerge completely, I see that it was the boys from both 5 and 6, and they are coming in from the left. I see the blood stain on the shore and realize where I'm going to strike. I take a deep breath and then dove beneath the surface and wait for the pair to get closer. It was a good ten minutes before the pair was in a position for me to strike.
Three hours later the sun had gone down, and the Gamemakers were preparing to show the daily death count. I was wiping my gear off as the first picture was shown: the boy from 3, the boy from 5, the boy from 6, the girl from 10, and both tributes from District 11 and 12. Eight people died today, and many more over the coming days. I was beginning to wonder when Orna and Indigo are going to show when I hear a twig snap. I whirl around readying, my spear incase I have to defend myself, but it was Orna and Indigo.
"Whoa, whoa. Friendlies." Orna said, as she and Indigo stopped in their tracks
"It's practically pitch black, and I've been dogged by the rest of the tributes. To say that I'm on edge would be an understatement." I said.
"Clearly." Indigo said.
"Funny. At least one of still has a sense of humor." I said, cracking a smile.
Indigo gave a genuine smile as Orna asked. "What's the plan?"
"You two keep moving. I'm the one people want to kill, so keeping distance between the three of us is probably a good idea." I said.
"Probably, but if the get us they're definitely coming for you." Orna said.
"You'll dead before they can use you in a trap." I said.
"Why?" Orna asked.
"Coral wants to kill you." Indigo said.
"Still stuck on that I see." Orna said.
"Maybe we should hang out in the coastal plains, or should hang out in the forest area?" Indigo asked.
"That's a question you should answer. I'm going to have my hands full dealing with the rest of the tributes." I said.
I had already gathered a lot of vines before the girls arrived, and I got to work on fashioning a net.
"What are you working on?" Indigo asked.
"He's making a fishing net." Orna said.
"Why?" Indigo asked.
"He can use it to catch fish with or use it to immobilize someone before he kills them. Let's go." Orna said.
Indigo and Orna walked in the direction of the forest as I continue to make my net. My net will allow me to keep one person tied up while I deal with their partners, if they come as a group. I'm not looking forward to what comes tomorrow.
It was pretty quiet for the next couple of days. I've fished for the waters to kept myself well fed, and I've made well use of the net/spear combo as I took out at least three tributes in two days since I last saw Orna and Indigo. The last tribute, the female from 6, that I killed I did so by repeating my maneuver from my training session, except I actually launched out of the water, and I threw the spear with such force I pinned her to the tree.
I watched as the as the tribute slowly died, and I felt a bit of guilt for the surprise attack. Next thing I knew, I heard a group of tributes coming towards us. I look back at the girl and saw that she was dead. I yanked my spear out, and dive into the water. I'm swimming away as the group that was following the girl from 6 finds her dead body. I swim to a patch of reeds before I decided to check on whoever was following the girl.
As my eyes break the surface, I can see that it was the Career pack that was following her. The only question is were the going to kill her or were they just using her as bait to get me to let down my guard. I think I might set a few fires tomorrow and raid the Cornucopia for supplies because mine are getting low. I hear a noise from behind me, almost like a bird call; one that I've heard a lot over the past three days. I dipped my head and turned in the direction of the call. About twenty yards away from me, hiding behind a tree, I saw Orna hiding behind a tree, and she was waving me to coming to her. I dip beneath the surface of the water and swim towards her.
"Where'd he go?" Indigo asked.
"He's a swimmer. He should be here in a moment." Orna said.
"What do you need?" I asked, as my head breaks the surface of the water.
"We got some supplies from the Cornucopia about three hours ago." Indigo said, point to a bag in the bushes behind them.
"How are you doing? More importantly, how's the shoulder?" Orna asked.
"I'm fine, but the shoulder is another matter entirely." I said.
Indigo wasn't paying attention, but Orna gave me a questioning glance.
"Later." I said.
"And we're off." Orna said, and then the girls disappeared into the woods.
I pull myself from the water, to grab the bag of supplies. I give the supplies a once over, and then head to my camp. By the time I reached my camp I saw that my three of my four lines were pulled tightly. I laid the pack on the ground and checked them. And I was rewarded with three fish. I lit the fire by the lines, and then set off. I made a habit of setting fires, at least three, to throw the Careers off my trail. The Careers haven't had much luck with killing people. If I had to guess the Gamemakers will set off one of their many traps to force us into closer proximity again. I wouldn't put past them to have traps in the area where I've been holed up at, but you never know.
I get to the camp where I plan to settle down for the night and pull out the skewers for cooking my dinner. I get the fire started, place my fish on the skewers to cook, and then set them around the fire. As I finished placing the last skewer the Capitol Seal appeared and then anthem started to play. It was time for the daily death count. There were two: the girl from 6 and boy from 10. Even though I kind of lost track of time, at least three days have passed since we entered the arena. To the people watching the Games it's only been two days. Twelve tributes have been killed. So, after three days our numbers have been cut in half.
I think back to when I killed the girl from six, and I feel the pang of guilt return. The people that I've killed before deserved it because they were actively looking for me. If I had to guess the girl was leading the Careers to me. I know I shouldn't feel guilty, but she was probably innocent in matter. I eat my dinner while I'm cleaning my gear After my gear was cleaned, and lines set I pull a makeshift blanket over myself and turn in for the night.
Come morning I'm the beginning to stir when I hear footsteps creeping through the area, as well as footsteps splash through the water.
"Do you see him?" a female voice asked.
Must be the girl from 7. I thought.
"No." a male voice said.
That could be the boy from 7. I was listening to their conversation, and it was quite interesting. They were talking about forging an alliance to counter the Career pack, but it was cut short.
There was an unnatural scream that rang out at that moment. All I know is that it wasn't human, which means that it'll kill me if it catches me. I peak out to see the tributes run for their lives as I see some kind of mutt chase after them. I hear another scream coming from my left, and I turn to see one of the beasts has spotted me. I'm on my feet in a moment, and I grab my net. I look up in time to see the mutt leap into the air. I react fast enough to throw the net and it miraculously opens enough to tangle the mutt up in it. As the mut hits the ground, I've already rounded my gear and packed it into my bag, pocketed my knife, grabbed my spear, and took off running. I dove into the nearest body of water and swam away from the scene.
