Chapter 28- Terra Coppersmith

A small rock tumbles past me down the mountain, and I am instantly alert. Where am I? How long have I been asleep? The sun is just newly up in the sky, so not that long.

I've been tucked into a crevice in the rock since last night. When the gong went off yesterday, I was at the back of the Cornucopia. I mean, seriously? Who came up with the idea to put us in a ring around the Cornucopia instead of lining us up in front? It put me at an automatic disadvantage.

But anyway. When the gong rang, I went in, even though I said I wasn't going to. Really, the desert changed my mind. When I got to the front, people were screaming and hacking away at each other, and that little kid from 9 was standing on her pedestal still. Absolutely chaotic. I paused for a moment, watching, then I grabbed a backpack from the side of the Cornucopia, successfully getting ignored by the others. Then I looked for a weapon.

The boy from 11 had a bow and arrows, the only one I could see. Obviously from my training I learned I was good with a bow, and I wanted it. He saw me eyeing him and took off running for the river. Luckily, he was the one with bad lungs, so he couldn't run fast or far.

"Give that to me!" I yelled, running at him. He shot an arrow at me, but he was a really poor shot. Must have been the lungs. He was wheezing when I got there. Without really thinking, I tackled him to the ground and grabbed the weapons from him.

Then, when he tried to come after me, I shot him in the head.

Clear your head, Terra! Somebody's here! Somebody had to have knocked that rock down. Unless, of course, it's an avalanche, but I want to be awake for that too. Silently, I nock an arrow to the bow, waiting for my next victim. It better be a Career, I'm dying to take one of them out.

Another rock tumbles by. Just a natural hazard of hiding in the mountains, I guess. I have no idea how many people are up here, but I'm going to have to come down soon and get water. I'll die within the day without it, it's so dry here. Of course it's dry, it's a desert.

I can hear footsteps now, carefully making their way down towards me. I tense, bow ready. Taking a deep breath, I spring up from my hiding place and aim my weapon at the boy who's standing there.

He throws his hands up in the air and smiles. "Hey, don't shoot that thing at me!"

I lower the bow. "Fletcher, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I thought we were allies. Maybe more," he says, winking and grinning at me. I can't help smiling too, but I wipe it off my face.

"I thought that ended when we dropped in the arena," I say.

"I told you I would come find you; didn't you believe me?" he asks.

"I was half and half. Lower your arms you idiot," I say, stepping up and over a boulder to get to Fletcher. He drops his arms and sticks his hands in his pockets instead.

"Got any weapons?" I ask, examining him.

"Yeah, check out this backpack I got at the Cornucopia," he says, spinning around so I can see it. It's brown, which is good here, and appears sturdy.

"So, allies?" he says, sticking out his hand.

Oh, you're so much more than my ally, I think, but all I do is shake his hand. "Allies. What's the plan, then?"

"I'm getting low on water. Do you have any?" he asks, sitting down by me on a rock. I shake my head. The bottle in my own backpack was dry when I got it. He pulls his backpack off, opens it, and starts rummaging through it, pulling out a metal bottle. "Here, take the last of it. I have an idea where we can get more."

"Aren't you sweet," I say, then drink the last of his water, a good few inches. It makes me feel better as soon as I get it in me.

"So, what do you think of the arena?" Fletcher asks after I return his now empty water bottle to him. Placing it back in his pack, he closes the bag and puts it back on.

"I think I'd prefer it to be a little cooler," I say, leaning back against another rock.

"How come you came up here? I was having a rough time finding you before you tried to shoot me," he says.

"I didn't try to shoot you, I was armed. I prefer being up high to down below. And I wasn't going towards those crazy buildings in the distance," I say. From where we're sitting, you can just make out the dim outlines of the triangular buildings. It's a really big arena this year.

"It's beautiful here if you really look at it," Fletcher says, looking out. From our vantage point I can see a few people wandering around in the distance, but they're miles apart.

"I wonder who they are," I say, pointing.

"We're all pretty spread out, I wonder how they'll drive us together," Fletcher says.

"I'd rather wait to find out. Come on, let's go find some water," I say, getting up.

"What else do you have in that pack?" he asks. I pause. Like an idiot, I had forgotten to go through it last night. It was late when I finally found my hiding place up here, and I just focused on the weapons I got. I only opened it long enough to find the water bottle that turned out to be useless.

"I have no idea," I say, taking it off and putting it on a flattish rock. Out of the pack I take the bottle, water purification tablets, a first aid kit, a flashlight, matches, and sunscreen.

"Brilliant! I only got sunglasses and a compass in mine with the bottle," Fletcher says, picking the flashlight up and looking it over.

"We should get going if we're going to find water before the sun really hits," I say, taking the flashlight from him and throwing it into the pack with the rest of the supplies.

Fletcher and I pick our way down the mountain, me stepping on loose rocks several times and him having to grab my arm. Am I glad he's here? I was half hoping he would come, half hoping he would hide somewhere else where I didn't have to get even more attached to him. Too late, I guess.

"Hey, Terra?" Fletcher asks when we're near the bottom.

"Yeah?"

"Was the last night in the Capitol a one time thing?" he says, grinning like an idiot.

"Not now," I say, pushing him lightly. Just then, a cannon fires. That shocks us into silence. Who was it?

Fletcher breaks the silence. "One step closer to District 8," he says, but he swallows after he says it. We climb the rest of the way down in silence, knowing whoever killed the last person will be out hunting for us next.

"So where's that pond?" I ask at the bottom of the mountain. The sun is getting hotter and my lips are cracking from lack of water.

"Straight ahead of us, that way. A few miles out I'm guessing," he says, pointing into the endless desert. The sand is piled up in dunes, like giant waves on an ocean. I can't see over them, which makes me nervous.

"Madame?" Fletcher asks, offering me his hand. I take it, and together we start climbing the hills, sand slipping under our feet.