Chapter 50- Terra Coppersmith

That's another cannon, which makes what, six? Seven? It's just as bad as the bloodbath. There's only four of us left now, which means the end is getting closer and closer. I have no idea who my other three opponents are, but I hope they take each other out by the time I get over to the Cornucopia in the morning. Somebody's alive over there; I can see smoke from a fire.

I don't think I can stay here at the mountain all night, though. It feels haunted, now that Fletcher is gone. I haven't really been alone in the arena since the first night, and I'm scared. I don't like to be on my own.

Iry and Deecey won't be at school today, not with me being in the top four. They probably won't make them go to work either. Last days come before work or school.

Well, I know they'll be glued to the screens, as well as all of District 8 and the whole of Panem too. They're looking for a show. I wonder how the media has spun my story so far; they must have had a lovely time with me and Fletcher. So now it's just me, and three others. The betting in the Capitol must be going crazy right about now.

I think it's time to move on. I should be closer to the Cornucopia for tomorrow anyway. Damn, I just realized they must have taken Fletcher's pack with the second water bottle when they took him up. I need to focus on Fletcher like he wasn't anyone important, just for now. I need to get through tonight and tomorrow, and then I can break down. I don't want to do that for the cameras, and especially not for Iry and Deecey.

I wonder what Deecey makes of it.

Right, there's no point in staying and ruminating over it. I need to go. The snow has stopped completely, which is excellent, but it's really deep. As in, knee deep. I'll be wading through snow for the rest of the day. Thank goodness for the gloves; everything else is still freezing, though. I need better shelter than what I've got here.

I start out, plowing through the snow. A good thing that I discover is that the Careers made a big, floundering trail when they left earlier, which makes it easier to walk. I'm not going to follow their path all the way to the Cornucopia, though. A few miles to the left, there's some dark rocks that seem to form a cave. I think I'll go there for the night. It's a bit out of the way, but it's much closer than the Cornucopia.

The sun comes out for the walk, which is nice. I keep my bow loaded at all times, just in case a tribute appears. Unlikely, though. I can see everything in the white. It's hard to believe that yesterday this was a burning desert. I almost regret not exploring more of the arena, but I'm also content to just have stayed at the mountain mostly. The night by the tribute and the day with the lion remind me that I made the right choice in the end to stay close to the rocks.

Fletcher's dead. It's hitting me now, like a sandbag to the stomach. He's dead. He's not going to be waiting for me at the caves, or at the Cornucopia, or in the Capitol. He's been taken away and sent home already, in a plain pine box. Like all the other tributes who have returned to District 8 over the years. He's gone, and I'm still here. I could have died too, but he protected me. Even though he could have won himself.

All I feel is guilt for running away while he stayed to fight. I should have ignored his words, stayed by his side to fight the Careers.

And then what, Terra? Final four then, and it would have been him and me, and we swore we wouldn't kill each other. The Gamemakers would throw us to some mutts, and in the end one of us would be dead anyway. It's not fair, but there's no room for fairness in the arena.

Knowing that doesn't dull the pain, though.

Breaking a path is exhausting and takes most of the day, even though the caves are close by. I don't know why I didn't see them before; maybe because they were too open and offered little concealment. Concealment doesn't really matter now; I can take out anyone who comes near me. I'll have to.

I peek around the corner of the rocks once I reach them. I don't doubt something or someone is inside. It makes me nervous. I don't think I'll sleep inside there, actually; something feels off to me. The outside walls of the cave seem sturdy enough, though, so I climb up the side and make my camp on the roof.

The light is still good, so I settle myself on the rocks covered with snow and look over the rest of the arena. It's huge and largely empty. There's the river, the forest on the other side of the arena altogether. I wonder where the others are. Are they all Careers at the Cornucopia? Whoever is there still has their fire going. If it's three Careers, I don't have a chance. They've been training since they were kids; I learned how to shoot a bow last week.

As far as Games go, these have been relatively short. Day 5. I've seen others go for weeks at a time, only dragging out the agony at home. Now that I'm here with lots of time to think, I really allow myself to consider the possibility that I might go home, back to Iry. Back to fame and fortune, and a life without work. What on earth would I do with myself? I can't go back to school now. What am I supposed to do?

I'll figure that out once I get home. First things first, I need to survive three more tributes before I get out of this stupid arena.

The snow is deep up here too, so I dig down and make a sort of den for myself. It's small, but I think it will hold some warmth for tonight. And some sort of concealment, too, just in case I need it. For my supper, I take out the bread and rip chunks of it off; I finish the last of my water, so I fill the bottle with snow and put it close to me to melt.

Slowly, the sun sets over the bleak landscape. The sky is painted with orange tonight, orange and pink streaks. Postumius would love it. If I get out of here, I'll have to put up with him again. It's enough to make me want to walk straight into the Cornucopia unarmed and beg them to shoot me.

It grows colder, like I thought it would, so I dive down into my tiny snow cave. It offers some protection, but it's going to be a cold night. And there's no Fletcher by my side to keep me warm.

The colors in the sky fade, leaving only a jet black behind. In the distance, I can see the light of a campfire, presumably at the Cornucopia. Enjoy your last fire, I think.

The Capitol anthem blares and the seal lights up the sky. This is it; this is when I see the dead and figure out the living.

The seal fades briefly, then the faces begin to appear. Both from 1, which surprises me. The girl seemed pretty dimwitted in the Capitol, and I'm sure if she hadn't been a Career she would have died the first day. So that's two Careers down.

The next is the girl from 5, Alyss. That means the last two Careers, the girl from 2 and the girl from 4 are alive. They must be at the fire by the Cornucopia. After Alyss, it's the fourteen-year old from 6, Dove. The one who sang at her interview. I feel sorry for her, because her brother was in the sky yesterday. And she was really young too.

After Dove it's Fletcher, and I didn't anticipate how painful it would be seeing his face in the sky. I have to clench my teeth to stop myself from crying; his picture is the same one they used to show us our scores. He looks like he did in Training; confident, cheeky, and calm.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, a tear running down my cheek. "I'm sorry, Fletcher."

His picture fades too soon and is replaced by the boy from 9, who I don't really care about, and then the boy from 12. The seal appears again, the anthem does its final note, and the sky goes dark.

So that's who my opponents are. The two girl Careers, and by process of elimination, I figure out the fourth is Kouza from 5.

It grows steadily colder, but I stay fairly warm in my snow cave. I know this is the last night, and tomorrow I will be in the Capitol.

I hope.