Chapter 6: Game On


Sixty seconds. That's how long they were required to stand on their metal circles before the sound of a gong released them. Step off before the minute was up, and land mines would blow your legs off. Sixty seconds to take in the ring of tributes all equidistant from the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn shaped like a cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which was at least twenty feet high, spilling over with things that would give them life in the arena. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. Strewn around the Cornucopia were other supplies, their value decreased the farther they were from the horn. But there in the mouth, she could see all sorts of goodies, like a tent pack that would protect from almost any sort of weather. If she had the guts to go in and fight for it against the other twenty-three tributes. Which she had been instructed not to do.

They were on a flat, open stretch of ground. A clearing of white snow. The clearing was in some kind of valley or canyon with massive red rock walls rising up all around to frame a peppered sea of green and white. Behind the tributes across from her, Tansy could see a waterfall cutting through the wall of red rock in the distance and a winding river. The river curved around to her right. Behind her, more river. They must be in the curve of a bend. To her left, sparse woods. That was where Mags and Finnick would want her to go. Immediately. That was where she needed to be. That was where she knew Pepper and Root would run, even though she couldn't see them because the Cornucopia blocked her view.

But it was tempting, so tempting when she saw the bounty waiting there before her. And she knew that if she didn't get it, someone else would. That the Careers who survived the bloodbath would divide up most of these life-sustaining spoils. The cold bite in the air could turn deadly at night without a source of warmth. Lighting a fire would draw too much unwanted attention. She thought she should at least attempt to grab a blanket roll. Something caught her eye. There, resting on the mound of blanket rolls, was a silver sword, already drawn, just waiting to be engaged.

Tansy was fast. She could sprint faster than any of the girls in her school although Mari and two other girls could beat her in long distance races. But that forty-yard length, that was what she was built for. She knew she could get a blanket roll, She knew she could reach it first, but then the question was how quickly could she get out of there? She had seen the monstrous boy from 2 wield a sword during training and she knew he would go for it. He was deadly with a blade. One misstep, and he could get there before her. And he wasn't the only one she had to worry about. With the weather like this, everyone would want a blanket. Some of the larger tributes could probably take her down with their own fists.

She knew the minute must have been almost up and she would have to decide what her strategy would be. There was a green backpack fifteen yards away that could hold anything. But it was bulging, stuffed full. She knew she could get it. The blanket roll was precarious maybe. She found herself positioning her feet to run, not away into the woods but toward the pile, toward the backpack. Suddenly she noticed Sean, three tributes to her right, a fair distance, but close enough so she can see that he's looking at her and making a kill sign.

And then the gong rang out. Despite the threat, Tansy instantly sprang forward and sprinted for the backpack. The pickings were so sparse, there was nothing in between.

Her hand had just closed around one of the straps when something sailed through the air in front of her, and she felt something warm and wet splatter onto her face. On instinct she touched a hand to the sticky liquid and pulled it away. There was something red on the tips of her fingers. Blood. She had expected that. She had not expected to see Sean's lifeless blue eyes staring up at her from the severed head lying in the snow before her. It was his blood.

Tansy's mouth opened in a silent scream. She staggered back, horrified and repulsed, and fell. She quickly rolled over, slung the backpack over her shoulder, and scrambled up into a run, clutching the bag's straps to make sure it didn't fall. She didn't dare look back. She realized she could hear Pepper yelling at her from the edge of the woods and sprinted toward her friend's voice. Too much Adrenaline was shooting through Tansy to stop. She crashed through the tree line and kept going. Pepper and Root were immediately at her side. Pepper was clutching a loaf of bread and Root had a bunched up sheet of plastic. They had to keep moving. They had to put as much distance between them and the others as possible.

Before they lost sight of the clearing completely, Tansy risked a quick glance over her shoulder. About a dozen or so tributes were hacking away at one another at the horn. Several lay dead already on the ground. Those who had taken flight were disappearing into the trees like them. There was a loud splash. Someone was in the river. That was a bad move. The water must be freezing. Tansy, Pepper, and Root kept running until the woods had hidden them from the other tributes. The snow became deeper as they moved farther away from the Cornucopia. They slowed to a steady jog, maintained that pace until the trees were close enough together for them to climb from one to the next without touching the ground.

They scrambled up a tree and paused just long enough for to Root to stuff the plastic sheet in his sleeve and Pepper to wedge the loaf of bread inside her jacket before they kept going. For the next few hours they moved from tree to tree like squirrels to remain out of sight and avoid leaving prints in the snow. The cottonwoods began to mix with birches and pines and evergreens. They picked leaves and moss as they went, stuffing them in their pockets and sleeves to use for insulation against the cold. They paused only occasionally to make sure they weren't being pursued and to collect pinecones, so they could eat the nuts later.

They could go for a long time. They knew that from their days in the orchards together. Their days of gorging themselves had paid off. They had staying power even though they were all short on sleep. Their next concern was water. They could eat the snow if they had to, but kept a sharp eye out for another source, because a liquid body of water could mean fish and aquatic plants. No luck.

It was late afternoon when they began to hear the cannons. Each shot represented a dead tribute. The fighting must have finally stopped at the Cornucopia. They never collected the bloodbath bodies until the killers had dispersed. On the opening day, they didn't even fire the cannons until the initial fighting was over because it was too hard to keep track of the fatalities. Tansy and her friends allowed themselves to pause, panting as they counted the shots. One… two… three… on and on until they reach ten. Ten dead in all. Fourteen left to play. Tansy's fingernails scraped at Sean's dried blood on her face. She couldn't believe he was dead. Tansy felt sick. Watching the Games on a screen was bad enough, but experiencing the carnage up close and personal was so much worse than. Sean may not have been her favorite person, but his death had been so brutal… Maybe it was better this way. He would have killed her if given the chance and it saved her the unpleasant task of killing him. She wondered who else had lasted through the day. They would know in a few hours. When they projected the dead's images in the sky for the rest of them to see.

It suddenly hit their group of three how exhausted they were. They decided to take a break under the big evergreen they were perched in and ate some snow to rehydrate while they had at look at what was inside the backpack together. They needed to go through it anyway before night fell. See what they had to work with. Their hands were burning from the cold, so some gloves would be nice. As Tansy unhooked the straps, she could feel it was sturdily made. It was a good color, a nice, dull green that blended well with most trees. She flipped open the flap. Root and Pepper watched as Tansy carefully laid out the provisions. One thin black sleeping bag that reflected body heat. A pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of waterproof matches. A roll of cord. A collapsible shovel—that could be used as a weapon as well as tool. A half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that was empty. A pair of gloves.

Tansy, Pepper, and Root stared with longing at that last item. Three pairs of stiff, aching hands. One set of gloves. Root tried to sign that he thought they should draw lots to decide who got them, so that it would be fair, but the girls insisted he take them, because he needed his hands and fingers to communicate. Instead, the girls removed their extra layer of socks and put them on their hands. They stuffed the socks on their hands and feet with leaves and moss to make them warmer. They were hungry, but they didn't want to break into their precious stores of crackers and beef yet. So they ate the bread, which was bound to expire faster. Since the pinecones had been green, despite the heavy snow on the ground, they tried digging with the shovel a bit to see if there might be something green under there. Jack pot. They found patches of miner's lettuce and chickweed right under their tree. At one point, they spun around in alarm when they saw movement out the corners of their eyes, thinking they might have to defend themselves, but it was just a rabbit darting back to its burrow. They were glad to see it. If there was one rabbit, there could be hundreds just waiting to be snared.

Twilight was beginning to close in, so they decided they might as well settle down for the night where they were. Since they had already started digging, they made a snow pit around the evergreen's trunk for shelter. They took turns digging and keeping lookout for danger. Looking closer at the sides of the shovel's blade, they realized one had been sharped so that it could be used to slice like a knife and the other had small serrations like a saw. They used the shovel's blades to cut boughs from another evergreen to pad the ground of their small snow pit and bent the lower boughs of their tree to cover the top and hide them without being too obvious. It was surprisingly warm inside their pit with the insulation of the snow and boughs. And if they needed more food, they could eat the inner bark on the trunk and chew on some of its sap without having to go back out into the cold. They made sure to smooth out the snow and erase all signs of their presence outside the pit.

By the time they were finished, night creatures were coming out. They could hear the occasional hoot or howl, their first clue that they would be competing with natural predators for the rabbits. As to whether they would be viewed as a source of food, it was too soon to tell. There could be any number of animals on the prowl for a two-legged meal.

But right now, they decided to make their fellow tributes a priority. They were sure many would try to continue hunting through the night. Those who fought it out at the Cornucopia would have food, an abundance of water from the river, torches or flashlights, and weapons they were itching to use. The three friends could only hope they were out of range.

They knew food would go fast out there, so they were tempted to set a snare for the rabbit. But it was risky to be setting traps. If anyone saw it, they would know another human was nearby and the last thing they wanted was to draw attention to themselves while they were hiding in a pit with only one weapon between them. The three of them settled in for the evening, sat huddled up against each other with their knees to their chests and their backs against the trunk with the sleeping bag unzipped and wrapped around the tree of them with the plastic sheet under them to keep their seats dry. They pulled their hoods on as well and cinched them so they wouldn't fall off in their sleep. As night fell, the air cooled quickly. Despite the risk she took in getting the backpack, Tansy knew it was the right choice. The sleeping bag, radiating back and preserving their body heat, would be invaluable. She was sure there were several other tributes whose biggest concern right now was how to stay warm whereas she, Pepper, and Root might actually be able to get a few hours of sleep.

Night had just come when she and Pepper heard the anthem that proceeded the death recap. They nudged Root and motioned for him to look up. Through the boughs, they could see the seal of the Capitol, which appeared to be floating in the sky. They were actually viewing a screen, and enormous one that was transported by one of their disappearing hovercraft. The anthem faded out and the sky went dark for a moment. At home, they would be watching full coverage of each and every killing, but that was thought to give an unfair advantage to the living tributes. For instance, if Tansy got her hands on a spear and used it to kill someone, her secret would be revealed to all. No, here in the arena, all they saw were the same photographs they showed when they televised their training scores. Simple headshots. But now instead of scores they posted only district numbers. Tansy took a deep breath as the faces of the ten dead tributes began and Root ticked them off one by one on his gloved fingers.

The first to appear was the eccentric boy from District 3. That meant that the Career Tributes from 1 and 2 had all survived. No surprise there. Next was Sean. Pepper and Root leaned their heads against hers and rubbed her arms under their covers to comfort her. Tansy may not have liked Sean very much, but witnessing his early death had been a gruesome shock. Both tributes from District 5. They girl from 6. The boy from 7… Tansy wasn't too surprised the small and sassy girl managed to survive. The girl from 8. The boy from 9. The girl from 10. The boy from 12… the limping girl must have made it. That was it. The Capitol seal was back with a final musical flourish. Then darkness and the sounds of the forest resumed.

Ten dead. Only one day and already nearly half of them had been eliminated. Tansy, Pepper, and Root tried to work out who was left. Four Careers. The girl from 3. The boy from 6. The girl from 7. The boy from 8. The girl from 9. The boy from 10. The girl from 12. That made fourteen of them. But their numbers were bound to drop along with the temperature. Tansy and her friends were lucky enough to have the heat of three bodies to share, and the Careers no doubt had the Cornucopia and most of the supplies. They had probably formed a pack, too. Anyone on their own, without shelter, would most likely die from exposure by morning. Even in their pit with their combined warmth, Tansy, Pepper, and Root were tempted to light a fire. But they knew that was a bad idea while the other tributes were on the prowl. Instead, they set shifts. One person would stay awake while the others slept. Then they would wake the others and they would all wiggle around a bit and massage their limbs, hands, and feet to keep their blood flowing. Then the next person would keep watch while the others slept, and so on.

Finnick didn't allow himself to relax until the last Career fell asleep. He and Mags had been on edge ever since they saw Tansy dart for that backpack against their instructions. She had narrowly missed being hit by an arrow fired by the boy from 1 a knife thrown by the girl from 2 as she ran away. But considering the climate in the arena, it had been a risk worth taking. According to Templesmith, the temperature was expected to drop to thirty degrees below freezing. It was a shame about Sean. But at least now Tansy wouldn't have to worry about him coming after her. The moment Slate, the boy from 2, got his hands on the sword, it was over. When heads started flying, it didn't take long for the remaining tributes to scatter. The boy from 6 had made an unfortunate decision to try to cross the river while the others ran for the woods and ended up with a knife in his back. Without dry clothes or a blanket, he probably would have gotten frostbite or died of hypothermia anyway. He had been tempted to send Tansy some gloves when he saw her hands, but Mags reminded him they had agreed not to send her food or anything else she could provide for herself. He was proud of Tansy. She was a lot more resourceful in the wild than he had been at her age.

Back in the arena, the group of three hiding in the snow pit managed to get through the whole night without encountering any danger. Tansy had the last watch. The sky was still dark, but she could see the first signs of dawn approaching. Just as dawn began to break and bird song filled the air, Pepper and Root were startled awake by the boom of a cannon. Suddenly, the birds fell silent. It was so eerie, they couldn't help poking their heads out of the pit just enough to see what could have caused it. Ten yards to their left, a hovercraft materialized. A set of large metal teeth dropped down. Slowly, gently, the body of the dead tribute was lifted into the hovercraft. It was too far for them to tell who. Then the hovercraft vanished. The birds resumed their song.

They waited, strained their eyes and ears for any signs of danger. Nothing. The only thing stirring was the birds. When they were certain the coast was clear, they packed up their gear, crawled out of their pit. They found the rabbit's burrow, circled it until they found all the exits, and worked together to flush it out. The moment it tried to flee, Root's hands closed around its soft body. While he held it down, Tansy trussed it up so they could take it with them. They planned to keep it alive until they had proper a knife to skin it with. They kept walking for a while, stopping every now and then to forage. They filled their pockets with wild spinach, elderberries, biscuitroot and burdock roots, bindweed. They paused to hydrate and ate some snow and the spinach. They gave a little to the rabbit. Then they filled the water bottle with snow.

They weren't wandering around randomly. They stopped when they reached a large outcrop of red rock to search for stones that could be used to make some primitive weapons. The best rocks for making knives were usually found in rivers, but that was too near the Careers. They were lucky. The lighter bands in the red stone was actually chert, and they found two decent sized chunks of it, which they chipped into rough blades. There was also a heavy red stone the size of a fist.

Then they found a cottonwood tree with some straight branches. They sawed one long branch off to make a spear shaft. A short piece to make a knife handle. A medium piece to make a hammer handle. They still needed two more ingredients before they could finish their new weapons, so Tansy wrapped one of the stone blades with cord for a temporary handle.

They gathered wood and made a Dakota fire hole behind the cover of the outcrop. They were very careful not to add anything that would smoke. They snapped the rabbit's neck, laid it out on the flattest rock, skinned it, and gutted it for cooking using the stone knife. But first, they removed the sinew and laid it out in the sun to dry. While Pepper cooked the rabbit, stuffed with elderberries and cleaned biscuitroot and burdock roots, Tansy and Root collected the inner bark of the cottonwood tree and a pine and added it to their stores.

The rabbit was delicious. The roots were soft and tender from being steamed inside its body. After their meal, Tansy checked the sinew. It hadn't finished drying yet, so they enjoyed the fire for a little longer.

When the sinew was dry, she used the roundest stone they could find to pound the sinew into thinner fibers. While she did that, Root used the bladed shovel to make cuts in the cottonwood they collected for weapon handles. Then he and Pepper took the shovel and collected dried pinesap from an injured tree. Tansy chewed on the sinew fibers a little to soften them and wrapped them around the blades and the sticks to secure them in place. She laid them out to dry in the sun. Then she scraped the inside of the rabbit's skull clean and scrubbed it with snow. She warmed her hands while Pepper hooked a stick through its empty eye socket. Root used another stick to retrieve some of the softwood charcoal from the fire. He ground it into a fine powder and they used the skull as a little pot to melt the pinesap over the fire. When the sap was liquid, they added the charcoal powder. They stirred the mixture with a stick until the charcoal was distributed evenly to make pine pitch. Then they used a leaf to spread the pitch carefully over the sinew. Once the pitch dried, they would have a completed knife, spear, and hammer. They may not hold up in a direct clash against metal weapons, but they would at least work on animals and they were better than nothing. They used the hammer on the pinecones and harvested the seeds, pocketing them for later.

Since they had made a lot of noise, they figured they should move on. They put out the fire and filled the bottle with more snow. They all tensed and ducked for cover at the sound of another cannon. They waited, held their breath, listened for the silence that preceded the arrival of a hovercraft. The birds kept singing and twittering away. After a few minutes, they realized the death must have happened farther away. They exhaled the breaths they were holding and prepared to move on.

Making the weapons had taken most of the day, so they tucked their weapons away and took to the trees again. It was a bit awkward for Tansy with the spear, but she managed. They could tell it would be another freezing night, so they began looking for another good spot for a snow pit.

They found a lovely evergreen and finished making their shelter just before twilight. They used the last of the light to forage again and retrieved three eggs from a nest they had found on their way. They erased all signs of their presence on the way back and settled in for the evening with a meal of eggs, tree bark, bindweed, and miner's lettuce. They treated the melted snow in their water bottle, drank it, and refilled it with more snow from the side of their pit.

Night fell and they heard the anthem that preceded the death recap again. They peaked between the boughs and waited to see who the cannon they heard earlier had been for. The girl from 3. The boy from 6. Again, Tansy, Pepper, and Root counted who was left. Four Careers. The girl from 7. The boy from 8. The girl from 9. The boy from 10. The girl from 12. There were twelve of them now. They set watches again. The second night proved just as uneventful as the first. Their little group of three was grateful for that. The Gamemakers were not.

The sun had just begun to rise when Tansy found herself being shaken awake by Root and Pepper. She was startled when she saw why. Deer, rabbits, birds, every animal in the woods seemed to be fleeing in the same direction all at once. That was never a good sign. Animals only acted like that during a disaster. They immediately grabbed their weapons and gear, and scrambled out of the pit, stuffing their stuff back in the bag as they ran from some unseen danger. Whatever it was, they weren't about to wait around to find out.

A cannon. Tansy, Pepper, and Root looked around, making sure they were all still together. They were. All present and accounted for. It wasn't for one of them.

They followed the animals, leaping over fallen logs and red rocks breaking through the snow. They heard creaking and cracking sounds and risked a quick glance over their shoulders. Their eyes widened in fear. They started sprinting with all their might. Everything behind them was frozen solid, coated in a layer of ice and frost. An injured deer, now dead, was still poised mid-run. Falling behind meant death. They could feel an icy chill on their backs through the jackets. They pushed themselves until their legs burned and every muscle screamed. When Pepper stumbled, Tansy and Root grabbed her and swung her back onto her feet without a pause. They didn't stop until a minute or so after the animals had. They stood there, waiting, panting, gasping for air. The backs of their jackets were dusted with frost. They had made it, but only just. They watched the animals disperse. Many of them went back the way they had come. The danger had passed.

Tansy, Pepper, and Root took a moment to collect themselves and hydrate. They realized they had come dangerously close to the river. They could see it sparkling in the sunlight through the trees. But they were a still a fair distance away from the Cornucopia. They were reluctant to return to the frozen part of the woods after such a narrow escape, so they only retreated a little further into the woods and followed the river downstream to put a more comfortable distance between them and the Careers. They were tired and their pace was slow, but they made sure to keep quiet. Their muscles were sore, and they didn't have the strength to climb.

They spent the rest of the day foraging and trying to recover without staying in one place for too long. As they walked, Tansy noticed the river didn't appear to be that deep. It was very shallow after the beaver dam. They collected a whole cluster of cattails, elderberries, and sorrel. They moved deeper into the woods. They stopped and ate a lunch of pine nuts, cattail stocks, and sorrel.

They couldn't make themselves go on, so they decided to turn in early and made a snow pit around the first evergreen they found. They were so exhausted, they all dropped off as soon as they were tucked in.

When he saw the shape they were in, Finnick sprang into action. It was obvious Tansy and her friends had pushed their bodies to the limit escaping that cold snap. If she couldn't run or fight, she was dead. While Mags selected the best remedy for fatigue and muscle pain from the gift menu, he went out to secure funding.

Something awoke Tansy. First, she realized it was darker. They had slept till twilight. Then she heard the voices. Tansy tensed. Quickly and quietly she roused Root and Pepper in case they needed to fight or flee.

"The tracks stop here." It sounded like the girl from 1.

"Damn!" the boy from 2 cursed, kicking a nearby tree. "Why does this keep happening?"

"Yeah, how hard can it be to find one person?" asked the girl from 2. "I want to hurry up and kill her already." It sounded like they were looking for someone specific.

"It's not just one person, it's three," said the boy from 1.

"Whatever," said the boy from 2. He stopped a foot away from their pit. "That other guy from 4 was so easy to kill, I thought we'd have got her by now."

Tansy's blood ran cold. Her. They were looking for her. No, they were hunting her.

The girl from 2 laughed. "Yeah, remember the look on his face when you turned on him? That was priceless! I can't believe he thought we'd let him join us."

"Right?" the boy from 1 agreed.

"It was a good idea to kill off anyone with a ten," said the girl from 1. "If that little girl can give us this much trouble, can you imagine how hard that guy would've been to deal with?"

"Don't give her so much credit," the boy from 2 said. "Ugh! Come on, she's not worth it. Let's head back to base. It's too cold to hunt at night."

Tansy, Pepper, and Root waited with batted breath and didn't relax until their voices had faded from earshot. Even then they didn't dare use their own.

Tansy removed the socks on her hands and signed, "They were looking for me. I should leave. I'm putting you in danger."

Pepper ripped off her socks, too, while Root signed several hurried objections. "Don't be stupid," Pepper signed. "We're in no more danger than anyone else in these games. You remember the day we got the scars on our backs, Tansy? You didn't abandon us then and we're not going to abandon you now."

"That's right!" Root signed in agreement.

"You guys… You're the best," Tansy signed, deeply touched. The three friends wrapped their arms around each other in a tight hug.

Since they hadn't had anything to eat or drink since noon, they ate the elderberries and some bark from their tree. Then they drank all their water and refilled it with more snow.

They peered through the boughs concealing their shelter when they heard the anthem play. It was the girl from 12 today. They wondered if it was the Careers or the ice that got her. Four Careers. The girl from 7. The boy from 8. The girl from 9. The boy from 10. There were eleven of them left now.

They set watches and tried to get some more sleep.

Once again, Tansy found herself being shaken awake at dawn. But unlike the last surprise, this one proved to be pleasant. A silver parachute with a tube attached to it had fallen right on top of their pit while she was asleep. It was their first gift from a sponsor. They were all painfully stiff, so moving was difficult. But when they had retrieved the gift and opened the tube, they saw that it was some kind of ointment. The smell was pungent and they figured it must be some kind of medicine. Any kind of medicine was expensive, so it must have been sent by Finnick and Mags. Tansy tested the ointment by rolling up her sleeve and rubbing a patch of it on her arm. The relief was instant. She had to stifle a moan of pleasure. It was as if all the pain in that part of her arm had been erased.

"Thank you!" Tansy said softly, hoping her mentors and sponsors could hear and see how grateful she was for the gift.

They checked to make sure it was safe to come out and scrambled clumsily from the pit so they could have more room.

Despite the cold, all three of them stripped down to their underwear and rubbed themselves and each other down with ointment until it had been completely absorbed by the skin. Applying the ointment erased not only their pain but their fatigue. They pulled their clothes back on, completely refreshed and rejuvenated. There was still some left in the tube, so they put it in the backpack. Tansy felt so good, she did a cartwheel.

With renewed energy and determination, their group of three went foraging for breakfast. They were perched in a tree, eating elderberries and eggs, when they realized the air felt warmer than usual. This trend continued as they moved on.

At first, they thought it might have been because the medicine had improved their circulation, but then they noticed the snow in their water bottle was melting faster. The weather was warming up. That was good. But it was also bad. If all the snow on the ground melted, their primary source of water would be gone. Since they hadn't found any other sources that just left the river, which was dangerous because the Careers seemed to be sticking close to it. Then Tansy had an idea.

Maybe there was another source of water on the other side of the valley. They could wait for the cover of night, then take off their shoes and socks, roll up their pants, and cross the river. The water would still be freezing but if they did it now, before the river swelled with water from the melted snow, they could cross without getting more than their feet wet. And if they could avoid being seen, it would give them a period of grace before the Careers realized what they had done.

Pepper and Root agreed, and they made a plan. They spent the first half of the day foraging, eating and collecting as much food as possible, since they didn't know what they would find on the other side. Hydrated more often and kept the water bottle filled to the top. After lunch, they very cautiously made their way back to the beaver dam, traveling through the trees.

They reached their destination near twilight. They waited in the trees near the edge for darkness to fall and for the Careers to leave the Cornucopia. Then Tansy, Pepper, and Root silently slipped down to the ground. They removed their socks and shoes, rolled up their pants, and crossed the snow into the water. Both were so cold it was painful, but they grit their tear and bore it, moving through the water as quietly as possible.

The minute they reached the opposite bank of the river, they hopped past the edge of the trees, dried their feet off as best they could, and pulled their socks back on. They sat there for a few minutes, rubbing the warmth back into their feet, before putting their shoes back on. Then they climbed and traveled through the trees again, just in case the Careers discovered their tracks in the snow on the other side and put two and two together.

A cannon. The Careers were still hunting on the other side.

Since the snow was melting and it wasn't as cold that night, they focused on finding a water source rather than sleep. They drank their water as needed until they were on their last bottle of snow. It was heating up rapidly.

Snow turned to mud. By dawn, they were beginning to worry. Until they spotted the sheep tracks. Where there were animals, there was bound to be water. They followed the tracks all the way to what had appeared to be a solid wall of red rock from a distance. Up close they could now see it was the entrance to a hidden canyon. This seemed promising, so they continued to follow the tracks through a winding passage. What they found was a beautiful emerald pool surrounded by big-horned sheep, various plants, and a solitary tree. A source for water and food rolled into one.

Before the animals noticed them, Tansy reached for her weapon and speared a ram in the side. The other sheep were startled and took off deeper into the canyon. But they would be back, eventually.

Finnick smiled as he watched her on the screen. He had been concerned when Tansy said she wanted to ally with Pepper and Root, but so far it seemed to be working in her favor. Tansy had good friends. He dreaded what would happen if it came down to the three of them, but for now he was just glad she wasn't alone against the Career pack.