For Survival's Sake

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters. The character of Wiress intrigued me… it made me wonder as to the circumstances under which she survived her first Hunger Games.

As darkness fell, the anthem of Panem started playing. Wiress looked up to the sky, and wondered who would be doing the same. Who was left? After the boy from District 7 had died, there had been no other cannons that day, and Wiress had not encountered any other tributes. Or food. Or water.

The boy from District 1. The girl from District 1, too? The girl from 2, and the boy from 4. So, Artec, the boy from my district, is still alive! Good for him! Both tributes from 5, the girl from 6, the boy from 7. The boy from 9, the girl from 10, both tributes from 11, and the girl from 12.

Thirteen tributes… dead on the first day. The usual alliance between 1, 2 and 4 seemed to be sorely depleted this year. Wiress had to agree with Athens on that point… how in the world did that happen? How much of what she heard was rumour? Was the girl from District 7 really as dangerous as they said?

You'll be fine if you don't get caught. Not if… you won't get caught. Period. And if you do get caught, just run. It saved you before… it's your best chance of saving yourself in future situations.

She steeled herself to make her way out into the darkness.

Hours crawled by, time dragged on as Wiress stealthily, fearfully made her way through the pitch black; only the Cornucopia was visible in the faint starlight.

A loss of 15 to 25 percent of body water is fatal. Symptoms include thirst (check on that one), headaches (check), general discomfort (more likely a symptom of being in the Games), confusion, unexplained tiredness, even seizures.

She knew that two strong, allied tributes were also making their way towards the Cornucopia. She had strong reason to believe that one skilled tribute was currently guarding the Cornucopia. Only the Gamemakers knew for sure what other dangers lurked in the darkness.

But Wiress did know the symptoms of dehydration, and she knew that it was a nasty way to die. For her, that was motivation enough to risk leaving the oasis at night. Besides, who knew what dangers lurked in there?

She crept forward, mentally listing medical facts and effects, and willing herself to get over her habit of muttering out loud. That would be a good way of giving away her position…

… or of missing something important. She froze, her eyes darting to her left. She didn't even dare turn her head.

A scraping noise. Something moving against the rock. What was it? Expected fauna for this habitat - small mammals, lizards, birds of prey… currently low danger factor. Bobcats… would they attack a human? Categorize as medium danger factor. Spiders. Snakes. Scorpions. All problematic… high danger factor…

"Damned rocks, I just stubbed my toe on one."

"Shut up!" Athens hissed.

Tributes… very high danger factor. She fought the urge to hold her breath, and willed herself to breathe evenly and silently. She had no idea how close she was to danger. Her ears strained in the darkness; she could just barely hear the soles of their shoes scraping over the rocks. That was precisely the reason why she had decided to remove her shoes before sneaking through the desert. True, she had a couple of painful moments when she stepped on rocks, but at least she wasn't making any noise.

The sounds of shoes disappeared, and Wiress waited, silently cursing her bad luck. She had hoped to make her way there before the careers could go through with their plan. Now, she had to decide whether to carry on and hope for the best, or chalk this up as a lost cause. She sat for some minutes in silent contemplation.

Suddenly, a scream in the darkness. But, oddly enough, the cannon didn't go off. A voice in the darkness shouted "Come on! We gotta go!" Wiress heard swift, metallic scraping, and the sound of rapid footsteps.

And they were getting closer.

"Idiot!" Athens hissed. "You absolute, goddamned idiot!"

"Something bit me! Something bit my hand!"

"And now she's awake and probably has her weapons ready."

"Something bit me, what if I'm poisoned?!"

"Just run!"

They came too close for comfort, but still they ran right by Wiress' frozen, crouched body. Either they didn't see her, or couldn't be bothered to stop and kill her. Either way, she was grateful they just passed her by.

Bitten? Hopefully it is poisonous. But that does mean extra caution is required. Possible biting culprit - snake, or spider. That particular creature was probably scared away by the commotion. Visibility greatly reduced… chances of seeing such a creature is almost nil. I'll have to listen more carefully…

Wiress liked her odds against one tribute… even though the other girl would probably be on alert. She resolved to go for the Cornucopia, anyways.

She crept ever forward in the darkness… until finally she could see her goal. For some reason, the area of the Cornucopia seemed to be softly lit, as was the oasis. That was probably a stylistic choice on the part of the Gamemakers… so that the audience would have at least something to look at in the night hours. Wiress saw the shadowy figure of a tall person, slightly pacing by the mouth of the Cornucopia. Making rounds. As she paced towards the closer edge, Wiress could see the metallic glint of weapons in each hand.

But the figure made no move to attack, and gave no sign that she saw anything amiss. More time passed… Wiress had no way of judging how long she had been waiting in the dark. But she had to make her move soon, before the sun started rising and she lost the cover of darkness.

More time passed… the figure abandoned their vigil and went into the Cornucopia. More time passed… and Wiress heard soft, steady snoring. She smiled, and snuck forward. Fear, thirst and adrenaline were keeping her awake … that and the fact that she had managed to take a nap earlier in the day. It only seemed prudent to prepare for her night time venture.

As slow and as agonising as the process was, Wiress knew it would be more than worth the effort if she managed to grab something worthwhile. Some water… some food… perhaps some fruit. The higher water content in a juicy fruit would help both with hydration and with hunger. Finally, she reached the pile of supplies. In the dim glow of the light, she noticed bags with round objects in them. They couldn't be weapons… perhaps it was food of some sort? She gratefully reached a hand out to the bag…

The whisper of metal and the whisper of the voice were almost simultaneous. "You're sneaky." The cool point of a blade pressed into the back of Wiress' neck. "But not sneaky enough."

"Please," she gasped, as tears ran down her face. "Please… I'm sorry. I'm not here to hurt you… I just…" her voice died in her throat.

"You're just here to steal from me," the girl coolly replied. "What about your friends? What were they here for?"

Wiress tried to answer, coughed to clear her throat. A sob escaped her lips. "Not my friends. The tributes from 2 and 4. I saw them in the oasis earlier… I hid from them. They killed the boy from your district."

"Well, someone had to do it eventually, I guess." Wiress was shocked by the girl's indifference. "So what were you planning to do with 2 and 4?"

"I wasn't!" Wiress protested. "I swear! I just heard them planning to come here and fight you… I heard them say you were alone here. I haven't found food or water… I just thought I might be able to get something here. I mean… "

"… you thought you wouldn't get caught." The girl stood silent for a moment, looking down at her sobbing, shuddering prey. "But you've got a point, Three. I'm alone. And as a few people have guessed, that makes my position here… vulnerable."

"I'm sorry," Wiress gasped.

"I'll bet you are. I'll tell you what, Three. What do you say to forming an alliance of our own?"

Wiress was shocked into silence. "Wuh…"

"You're not a fighter, but you've got brains. I need another set of ears and eyes, and I'd rather that person be someone who's smart. You can run, so you're not as hopeless as some of the other tributes."

"It's a better option than dying," Wiress replied with a nervous laugh.

The girl from 7 snorted. "Nah, you misunderstand me. This isn't a join-me-or-die ultimatum. Though that would probably be the smarter thing to do. But, call me crazy, that doesn't sound like a good basis for starting an alliance."

"Then what do you mean?" Wiress felt the blade being removed from the back of her neck. The girl reached over her, grabbed a round object out of the bag Wiress had been reaching for. With her sword, she cut the object in half.

"Get off your knees, and have a seat." The girl sat down and handed Wiress the sliced object. It was an orange! Wiressly quickly bit into its sweet, juicy flesh.

"If you join with me," the girl continued, "I give you my word that I won't kill you unless it gets to just you and me. Better than that… I give you my word that I'll do everything I can, short of getting myself killed, to keep you alive with me. And the only thing I ask in return is that you promise me the same as I've just promised you. The alternative…" she paused for effect. "… well, the alternative is that you go back the way you came, into the darkness… alone. With no food, no water, no supplies… no allies. Nothing but the bits of fruit you now have in your belly. Well… and with a warning that if I catch you again, I will kill you."

Wiress swallowed the food in her mouth, wiped juice from her chin and licked her fingers. "Well, that does sound like the best chance of survival."

"And the best deal you'll get from anyone here."

"… but… why form an alliance with me? Why not just arrange an alliance with the careers before the games?" Wiress still thought this was too good to be true.

The girl chuckled wryly. "Team up with the careers… yeah. Right. I can't stand them. And when the alliance turns in on itself, how well do you think I'd do then?"

"Oh… true."

Aspen stood up and dusted off her pants. "First reason: opportunity. You're the first tribute I've encountered who wasn't trying to straight-out kill me. Second reason: I've watched you during the preliminaries. You've got some good qualities. And, last but not least," she picked up her sword and started walking away, "if you decided to turn on me, I'm pretty damned sure I could take you out."

Wiress couldn't argue with any of those points. "Well, reason four; I've had a chance to sleep this afternoon. I'm not tired. If you want to rest, I can keep an eye out for danger." She felt her ally move closer, and the hilt of a sword was pressed into her hand.

"Sounds like a good deal to me." The girl yawned and stretched. "Wake me up when you need to sleep. Keep that sword in your hand… let's hope you don't need to use it tonight. And if anyone comes along… scream. I'll come to save you."