Theo Kasius
Whether or not he meant to, Ash gave the others a huge break. Valerie and Tempest were both wounded, and we'd have to tend to them before we went out hunting. Luckily, Angelo knew about medicine. Unluckily, he was one of the wounded. Karyssa was rifling through our first aid kits fetching whatever he asked for.
"Valerie has two broken ribs, but they're only cracked," Angelo reported in a wheezing voice. He winced as he felt his own chest. "I only have one."
"So what do you need?" Karyssa asked.
"Nothing, actually," Angelo said. "Broken ribs heal on their own. As long as they're not puncturing the lung, there's not much to do other than wash out the wound and bandage it. We can take painkillers if we need and it's best not to engage in much exercise, but I'm pretty sure Valerie won't take that advice," Angelo said.
"What about this?" Valerie said, lifting her leg. "That hurts more than the ribs!"
Angelo examined it. "It's not broken, just really really bruised," he said. "Ideally you wouldn't walk on it for a while."
"Screw that. Gimme an aspirin and let's go," Valerie said to no one's surprise.
As Angelo examined our medical state, I thought about our future strategy. The Arena was hot, hot enough that I was sweating even though we weren't doing anything. Obviously the greatest problem would be getting water. We had plenty, but the others would be looking for it and wouldn't be able to stray far from it. When we found it, we'd find them and be able to decimate them.
Rory Harris
We must have been a sight to everyone watching. Instead of consoling the younger girls, I was the one crying like a baby. Zinnia and Inky were on either side of my trying to cheer me up.
"You couldn't help them. You were keeping Zinnia safe," Inky said.
"I should have kept them safe too," I said. I was the biggest and strongest. I should have been in the Bloodbath making sure Chase and Addie were okay.
"Look at all this stuff you got us," Zinnia said. She held up the plastic bag full of cans I'd grabbed at the Bloodbath. I wanted to lie down and let the Careers get me, but I had to stay strong for Zinnia and Inky. Yeah, strong. I've been doing a great job of that.
It was only in the last few minutes that we'd slowed down enough to talk. We'd been running since the Bloodbath, and the cannons had gone off long ago. Inky and Zinnia were panting, and my chest hurt from my own disordered breathing. I sat down on a pile of rocks and the girls followed.
"You're right. What do we have?" I said. I wanted to act normal, but my face must have still been red and puffy and my voice cracked every other word.
"I got a water bottle and this rope," Inky said.
"That's great. I'm already thirsty," Zinnia said. She'd run straight away, so the rest of our supplies came from me. We spread out the cans.
"There's water in most of these too," Zinnia said. She looked up at the sky and I followed her gaze. The sun was blazing hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. One bottle of water wouldn't last long.
"We should stay in the shade," Inky said. We clustered together in the shadow of the rocks and the temperature dropped suddenly.
"When it's dark we can look for grass," I said. Grass would mean water, and it would be more like home. "Until then I'll sit here in the back in case the Careers come."
The girls didn't say anything as they pressed close to each other, but they knew why I wanted to be in the back. That way they wouldn't see me cry.
Karyssa Evans
"Only six people died in the Bloodbath," Careen said as the cannons went off.
"At least most of us got one," I said.
"Yeah, and you got two," she said. "Good job."
"Yeah..." I said. I didn't want to get caught up in killing like some Careers. It was just the way to win, nothing more. It wasn't the reason to join. I came to win, not kill. And yet, something nagged on even my impassive conscience.
"Hey Careen?" I started.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"You think it's okay I killed that wild kid?" I asked.
"Of course. We're Careers. That's what we do," she said.
"Yeah, but he wasn't a threat. He was barely even functioning, you know?" I asked. She shrugged.
"He was going to die anyway. And I saw what Angelo did. You two made it quick, so he didn't dehydrate or get mauled by a mutt. Really, Angelo killed him. You just shot him in the arm," she said.
"And he died so quick. He didn't even move after he fell," I said.
"Someone had to do it. Thanks for taking one for the team," Careen said.
Diggory was a one-time fluke. It was a mistake on the Gamemakers' part, not mine. He wasn't what the Games were about. You couldn't blame him for the Dark Days when he didn't have the ability to understand them. He'd have wandered about chasing butterflies if they hadn't dragged him into this mess. I didn't make him suffer. I just cleaned up their mess.
Desiree Redwood
When the gong went off, I panicked. Everyone was running everywhere and I didn't know which way led to death and which was safe. If Electra hadn't pulled me away, I would have died. One we were out of earshot of the Cornucopia, my brain started to work again. I noticed Electra struggling to keep up behind me and slowed down.
"Are you better now?" she asked.
"I'm good. Thanks," I said.
"Don't thank me yet. We still have problems," she said. She held up a single bag of batteries. "Here's our supplies."
"Uh-oh," I said. My mouth was already dry and the air was scorching around us. We huddled close to the shadows of the rocks and tried to stay out of the sunlight.
"We need to find water now. The Careers aren't even a worry," she said.
"Right. Water," I said. Having something tangible to focus on held me keep my thoughts clear. "At home, we know the trees grow close to water. We need to find wherever the most plants are," I said. The dirt beneath us had some scrubby grass, but no trees.
"There's probably water underneath us, but digging that far would just tire us out. I can't make anything with just batteries," Electra said. But the batteries weren't what we needed. She had something else I could use.
"Let me see the bag," I said. I shook the batteries out and Electra put them in her pocket. There weren't any trees, but there was one scratchy bush at the bottom of a cliff. I put the bag over a handful of branches and sealed it around them.
"What's that?" Electra asked.
"Trees put out water. That's where some dew comes from. The bag will trap the water," I said.
"Will it be a lot of water?" Electra asked.
"I don't think so, but it better be," I said.