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Now let's make a drastic change for our little career alliance, shall we?

Night 5 - Speeding Things up

The whole day I've been on higher alert than usual. But so far my actions of the last night haven't shown any consequences for us. Unfortunately, it's been another bloodless day, no entertainment for the Capitol.

Of course, the others didn't notice there was food missing, I am the one to sort things and structure them. They can't even keep an overview of the competition. So far, they haven't noticed the knives. That's what I was more worried about.

But everyone already has their weapons and nothing was destroyed or lost so far so there is no need for replacement.

There's no watch for me tonight, but my sleep is still light. I always think about what happened yesterday and what might happen because of it. And apparently, my fear was justified. It must be way past midnight when I'm woken by screams.

Immediately, I jump out of my sleeping bag but the enemy is not human. Marlon is desperately shaking everyone awake. The nice cave with the peaceful lake is not so peaceful anymore. A huge amount of water has broken through the wall above the cave and now it's rolling towards our camp fast.

Before I can think of anything I grab Marlon's arm and cry out, "Run! Run!" Now the others are getting up too.

Running away from water is like running away from the wind - you simply can't outrun it. Before I know, I feel a force in my back. It presses me down to the ground, kicking the air right out of my lungs.

I try to open my eyes but there's water everywhere. Desperately I try to take control of where I'm going. It feels like being ripped apart, there's no consistent tide. One second I am dragged up, but before I reach the surface I'm pulled back down.

I CAN'T BREATHE

I'm pulled up again and through my blurry vision, I see something that's not water, some kind of stick - a tree branch! With every ounce of strength I have, I reach up and cling to it, literally for dear life.

It hurts. My arms feel like they'll be torn off of my body if I keep holding on. I feel like a doll, being tossed around and ripped apart by a higher force. Horrified by that thought, I try to hold on tighter, but I know I can't do it much longer.

My body refuses to hold my breathe any longer and I gasp, but there is only water coming, a bit calmer around me now.

Finally, the water level sinks again and I stay back up. Air. It burns in my lungs and makes me cough uncontrollably, getting rid of the water I've already inhaled, but I don't care. This is everything I need right now.

I stay like this, clinging to this tree-branch until the water below me calms down, and slowly it all gets carried away by the two rivers into the forest. Exhausted I let go of the lifesaving tree-branch, my arms too heavy and too worn out to hold on, I fall to the ground - the impact stealing my breath once again.

As I'm laying in the dirt gasping for air I hear steps. In a panic I reach for my knives, pulling one of those that are still there out. I can't move a lot, but at least I have a weapon. Soon I find out, I don't need it. I hear Marlon's voice, "Valeria... it's okay, you're alive."

He crouches down beside me so I can see him. He's soaked from head to toe, no surprises, we probably all are. After a few more seconds I manage to breathe at a regular pace again and carefully sit up. "We need to... move."

He looks at me confused. "Move?"

I nod, but my head hurts and I immediately regret it. "Yes, away from here. Somebody might have seen... the wave and use it to kill us."

He sighs and helps me stand up. "Yes... especially since our alliance is now much smaller."

It hits me only now. I didn't hear cannon shots when I was underwater, but maybe the others weren't as lucky as I.

When I first stand everything is still a little blurry but I soon manage to start walking. I look around for someone else and eventually I see Rex at the very back of the Cornucopia. He is shaking off a rope - he must have used it to stay put and not get carried away by the wave.

I can't see the others though. Marlon and I make our ways over to Rex who looks at the two of us. "Where is everyone?"

I have a vague idea about that and hesitantly say, "Let's look... inside the Cornucopia. There is no way of escaping if the water traps you in there."

He sees the logic behind that too so we walk over to the other side. The sight that presents itself is a horrible one. At the very back, between wood, broken boxes, and weapons there are two bodies.

Closer to the opening on his back, Arius lies unmoving. If he hadn't drowned, the spear buried in his abdomen would have killed him anyway. Further in the back, there is one of the girls' back facing us. I recognize the copper hair and draw the conclusion that it must be Emerald.

We all stare at first then Marlon stutters, "But I... I heard three cannon shots."

Breeze and Tina are missing. I look down. "Probably one got... carried away. Most likely Tina, she can't swim."

Rex leans on the edge of the Cornucopia. "Where's Breeze then?"

I sigh and look at him. "I don't know... I didn't even hear the cannons."

Rex rolls his eyes and looks at Marlon before looking back at me. "This is not working. I'm out. I'm not going to kill you losers now, but don't count on it when I see you next time."

We watch in silence as he stomps over to the supplies that haven't been washed away by the water. He stuffs some food into a backpack, along with some other stuff, and ties an ax to it with a rope. With sword in hand and without saying another word he leaves.

I look after him briefly before addressing Marlon again, "Okay, we need to do that too. Come on."

I can see that the kid is still pretty shaken up but he does what I told him. We both grab a backpack and put the rest of the food inside. Most of it has been washed away; only a few cans are left. The bread is all mushy and not edible anymore.

I remove some of the wood to unveil three sleeping bags that have been weighed down and therefore saved from being taken.

He looks at them undecided but I force one of the wet sacks on him. "We will dry those and they'll be of use. Just put it in the bag."

I follow Rex's example and tie a rope around the bag when it's closed. That way it doesn't use up any space.

At last, I gather some of the knives, and Marlon grabs a spear.

One last look back at Arius, who had proclaimed that we were the kings - now dead and not so much of a king anymore. My eyes dart over to Emerald, the girl who had fought so hard at that reaping to get into the Games - to avenge her sister, now dead without ever seeing one of the tributes from 7 in the arena. And with that, we leave the Cornucopia behind.

The sun is starting to rise as we reach the treeline. We need to find a small clearing to dry off. That's the focus right now.

After about ten minutes we reach a clearing with a chestnut-tree spreading its branches wide - perfect to hang stuff up. I stop and look at Marlon. "Are you comfortable with staying here until everything is dry?"

He nods. "Sure... I wouldn't know what else to do, so... yeah."

We start unpacking our stuff, hanging the backpacks and sleeping bags up to dry, same with the jackets. Luckily for us, the sun is already reaching this clearing and it's getting warm. I feel like I'm freezing. The water that's still soaking our clothes is cooling down in the wind, making everything stick to the skin in an uncomfortable way.

But soon it will be dry again. I sit down on a green-patch and Marlon does the same. I start to open my hair so it can dry properly and brush through it carefully with my fingers.

We are worn out and wet but that's not too bad. We are alive.

Marlon is pale, probably still processing what just happened. I sigh and say, "How did you even hear the cannon go off? Are you superhuman?"

He cracks a small smile and shakes his head. "No... I'm swimming every day and ever since I remember. So I knew how to stay on top and quickly found somewhere to hold onto."

I look from him up at the sky. "And... did you see where Breeze was?"

"Not really... I saw her running right behind us but then the water hit us and I lost sight of her. She's most likely safe, though. She's a better swimmer than I am, I guess."

I nod and don't respond again. Career-pack cut in half, alliance cut in little pieces. Arius is dead and I'm a traitor - great perspective for District 2. Enobaria probably hates me for being fucking stupid.

And just as I'm sure I'll never get a sponsor gift again, a not at all small package lands near our feet.

Marlon quickly stands up and carries it over to me. Both the numbers 2 and 4 are attached to it, so it's for both of us. Marlon unties the rope and two towels, as well as hot soup, are revealed. My happiness over this is indescribable.

So there is still someone out there who likes me after all of this. We quickly wrap the towels around ourselves and start eating the soup. If there's a heaven I'm pretty sure this is the feeling it gives you.

The whole time we are sitting in the sun to dry I feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles. Maybe Rex did decide to come to look for us to eliminate us as competition after all - or maybe Breeze is looking for Marlon and they somehow decide to kill me. We don't talk for what's probably an hour.

Marlon notices I'm tense and tries to calm me down. "Hey... I'm pretty sure Rex needs to dry his stuff too. And everyone else hasn't shown up for days. Why would they find us now?"

I inhale sharply at that statement and it breaks my heart, but I need to tell him. "I... That's not quite right. I ran into Cypress the night before the flood."

Marlon stares at me. "What do you mean? Why didn't you wake us up if he was near the camp?"

I bite down on my bottom lip and just shake my head. "I couldn't..."

He is now even more confused. "Why couldn't you? Did he threaten you?"

I shake my head and there is a pause. Then I say, "Do you remember the night before the Games? When we ran into each other in the tribute center?"

He nods lightly, "Yes?"

I lean back and stare into the cloudless sky. "We had this conversation about a thing that might hypothetically happen. And now imagine it to be not that hypothetical at all..."

Marlon exhales audibly and runs a hand through his hair. He stares at me as he speaks "Are you fucking kidding me? You realize that this probably happened because you let him go, right?!"

Of course I knew, but being called out for it is a hard blow. "I know... I'm so so sorry. But I didn't think this through."

Marlon gets up and walks over to the tree. "Yeah, you probably should have. Now we're weakened, our alliance is broken up... Before it was 7 of us vs. 6 of them, now it's us 2 vs. 8 others, one of them being fucking Rex!"

Slowly I sit up again and turn to face him. "You are right about everything... I should have died in the flood because it's my fault. If you don't want to deal with me - kill me now."

Marlon rolls his eyes as he checks the sleeping bags. "Don't be an idiot now! Didn't you listen to what I said? You are the only alliance I have left. I need you. If I meet Breeze again, she'll probably kill me straight away, was pissed at me from the very start."

I look at him confused. "Why would she be pissed at you from the start? I didn't notice..."

Marlon sighs and leans against the tree. "No, she didn't really show it. Not even our mentors noticed it. But she told me on the train she was not up for helping me out in any way - that she had already made plans with the guy who was supposed to be here and is now angry he didn't volunteer."

"But how is him being an idiot your fault?" I cross my legs to sit more comfortably.

Marlon shrugs and looks down. "I don't know... the whole thing didn't exactly make it easier. I'm not ready for all of this here and nobody seems to get it! Not my parents when they said goodbye to me... they told me to be brave and win! Not my mentors... especially not them! Finnick expects me to be super cool and tough and charming and a great fighter - like him. But I am not him."

I wait until he's finished and smile. "I don't know about that... you're holding up pretty good in my opinion. You survived over half of the field already."

At that fact, he calms down a bit. "You really think I could win?"

I nod. "Yeah, why not? If that water thing had lasted longer you would have survived Rex and me over there... and you're pretty good with weapons already."

Marlon smiles at my words. I sigh and add, "But you deserve a better ally than the dumb bitch who betrayed her alliance..."

At that, he laughs softly. "It was a shitty alliance in the first place, anyway... I'm pretty sure it would have only taken about two more days and Rex would have killed us all in our sleep. This is for the best."

I feel like changing the subject so I say, "Hey... do you know how to do hair?"

Marlon raises an eyebrow. "Why? Can't you make a ponytail or something yourself?"

I grin. "No, I do... but without a mirror, it's not going to look as good as if you do it."

He pushes himself away from the tree and walks over to me again. "Okay... but I like... did a braid only once when my mom was really sick and insisted I do her hair before calling an ambulance."

At that comment I laugh and say, "Yeah... that's good enough for me. I can tell you what you need to do."

It takes longer than if I just did it myself, but I'm glad I lifted Marlon's spirits (and my own) a bit by letting him reinstate my braid. Soon after that, the sleeping bags are dry (as it gets pretty hot during the day) and we repack our backpacks.

We use the rest of the day to explore this part of the forest a bit more. In the evening we share a can of food and wait for the fallen tributes to show up in the sky. Finally, the booming anthem is played and Emerald's picture appears first, then Arius and lastly Tina. Breeze is still alive, we know for sure now.

For our sleeping situation, I briefly consider doing it like Katniss and climbing a tree but ultimately we decide on staying on the ground. We find a pretty big pine with thick branches that go down far enough to hide what's under it from plain sight. That's where we unpack our bags.

I know it's risky to not have one of us stay up and watch but I'd rather have us be somewhat well-rested than wait for a danger that might not even come. My limbs still hurt like hell and I'm sure Marlon is in pain too - we need this now. So we go to sleep and hope for the best.