-Part Seven – First Day-
The group had been walking for a few hours, the landscape had changed slightly. There had been a few conversations, most about their districts. But for a majority of the walk, they were quiet.
Alfred, who was walking a few meters in front of the group, stopped walking. "Look at this!" He shouted to the tributes, pointing his gun over the small hill he was standing on.
"What is it?" Matthew asked.
"It better be food." Gilbert said, sighing.
"You can't be hungry already…" Ludwig replied, looking over at Gilbert.
"This is a nice change in scenery." Arthur commented, looking over the landscape. Down a short slope was a lake. There were two wooden docks on each side of the water and there seemed to be supplies on them. To the left of the group, there was a dense forest and a lighter grove of trees to their right.
"We still have the problem of finding a place to camp." Kiku said. "Although this could be a useful resource."
"Could be?" Denmark asked. "What's easier than fishing?"
"Well, I see some stuff on the docks. Could be useful." Matthew announced. "Let's head down there." He began stepping down hill carefully, using his shotgun for support.
"I'm thinking that the forest over there could be a great place to stay." Antonio suggested, beginning his descent down the hill. "If there's a clearing. We'll probably just be sleeping on the ground. Which is okay, if you think about it. No one should expect anything comfortable here in the arena. We should stay near the lake, but not next to it. Wild animals are attracted to water sources, I should know. In my district I once saw a big herd of deer near a small stream. And I never see deer in my district."
"…you talk a lot." Lovino observed, glaring at Antonio.
"Yeah, I guess I do."
"Looks like nothing interesting here. Although I guess the wire could be useful." Alfred announced, poking at the small pile of stuff on the dock with his gun.
"Random supplies found in the arena?" Arthur questioned. "Next we're going to find a limitless supply of food.
"There's nothing wrong with help from the gamemakers…although I've never noticed them doing this before." Yao noted.
"It's good that we found this lake, it will certainly be helpful. But first we need to focus on finding an area to camp." Matthew announced. "I suppose it would be easier to split up into small groups or go alone to explore."
Arthur was walking through the shady grove of trees, supposedly looking for a place to camp. He was, somewhat. Mostly he was just walking and admiring the nature. He was restricted to his district with guards and electric fences bordering the forest.
He looked up from the ground and noticed something glimmering ahead of him at the base of a tree. He walked over to it and kneeled down. He wiped the dirt away and picked up something that appeared to be a shotgun bullet.
"So that's the plan…" Arthur whispered to himself, rolling the bullet around in his hand. He smiled lightly and pocketed the key component to his weapon. At least, he hoped it would work for his gun.
He continued searching the ground and found four more bullets hidden underneath the thin layers of dirt and leaves.
"Hey Arthur, did you find anything?"
Arthur jumped up and turned to see Alfred. "Oh…nothing yet. I just thought I saw something on the ground…" He replied, trailing off at the end.
"Well, everyone else has decided on a camp. It's just a clearing, nothing special." Alfred paused. "Matt wants everyone back so we can decide on jobs for everyone."
Arthur nodded. "Sounds like a good idea." He began walking, making sure he kept his hand over his pocket. "So, what does he mean by jobs? Like, who goes to find food?"
"Yeah, stuff like that."
"This should be interesting. We're limited with our weapons…guns and fishing poles."
"That makes this more fun. If we have all the regular weapons like the knives and arrows…I think it would lead to someone killing someone."
"Intentional or accident?" Arthur asked, looking curiously at Alfred.
"There's not much you can do with just a gun and some fishing stuff. The gun sdon't even have ammo!" Alfred paused. "In the districts we didn't have any weapons if we got mad at someone. In the games, they do."
"Weapons or not, getting into a disagreement here is dangerous. Just having this group is. Someone might get paranoid and kill Matthew. He's the one who proposed this idea and he's the closest we have to a leader."
"This is…a nice spot." Arthur said, looking around the area. It was a simple clearing in the forest. Small streaks of sunlight shone down, though most of the sky was blocked by the branches of the lofty trees. The ground was covered with scattered leaves and small patches of grass.
"It's good enough." Matthew said. "Now, I suppose we should decide on what we're going to do." A few tributes nodded, the rest waited for him to continue. "We should work together in groups…for safety reasons. I've seen the wildlife claim a few tributes. As for our weapons, we can simply use our guns despite having no ammo. Traps would be useful, if anyone knows any."
"I do!" Alfred said, raising his hand. "I learned a few back in the training area…I probably still remember them. "
"Okay, that's good. Does anyone else know some?" Matthew asked.
"I know a few…not many." Ivan answered. "They are from my district. Food wasn't always plentiful there and the forest wasn't protected too heavily."
"Good. Alfred and Ivan will work together in trapping. Now, we have fishing supplies. Denmark is an obvious choice." Matthew remarked motioning towards Denmark. He nodded in reply. "Who else has experience fishing?"
Yao smiled and replied, "I've done a bit of fishing. In my district once or twice…I'll work with Denmark."
"Okay then, Denmark and Yao are working together. Next…we need someone with experience with plants. Such as, which ones are safe."
"I had some training in my district and in the training center." Francis said.
"Can you tell if a plant is poisonous or not?" Ludwig asked.
"Yeah. I just don't know every plant."
"Okay, that's good." Matthew noted. "And I'll team up with him. I went to the training center and I've been taught quite a few things by my family. So, Francis and I are working together. Now…we need someone who can make things. Specifically weapons and a fire"
"I believe I could be able to craft some weapons…" Kiku said after a bit of silence.
"And I've made a few things in my district. I can also start a fire from only a few pieces of wood and some leaves." Arthur explained.
"Okay then, Arthur and Kiku are working together." Matthew stated. "Now…we could use someone who could explore the arena and bring back anything useful."
"I don't mind walking far distances and I don't have too many other talents." Antonio replied.
"Yeah, I can't really do anything without any weapons." Gilbert admitted. "I'll join you."
"Gilbert and Antonio will be working together. Now...it looks like Ludwig and Lovino are working together." Matthew said, looking at the remaining tributes. "Can you cook?"
"I can. I usually did some baking in my district…" Lovino said.
"Well, I suppose I can. I'm not bad at cooking." Ludwig replied.
"Well, the groups are settled." Matthew announced. "It's getting late…we can start tomorrow then. For now…we can just get used to our camp."
"Sounds good!" Alfred yelled as he walked to the edge of the clearing and began looking around.
"I think we should eat. I found a loaf of bread in the cornucopia." Ludwig said, holding up the bag.
"Okay, pass out the bread. It should be good enough for tonight." Matthew decided before walking away to find a place to sleep.