Chapter 10: Day Two
Ash – Still in the Tree
I wake up to the sounds of groaning.
"I'm so hungry!" I hear Seaweed complain.
"You were on watch, why didn't you catch something," Jo hisses at him.
"Well, I was too busy keeping watch!" Seaweed says, fire burning in his eyes.
"It doesn't take that much concentration to watch nothing!" Jo almost screams in his face.
Through this, I had been making my way down the tree. I hit the ground then look up and say quietly, "Instead of arguing, why don't we do something about it. Come on."
They both look down at me. Jo starts making her way down.
Jo hits the ground next to me a minute later and we start walking in opposite directions.
"Hey!" Seaweed shouts, still in the tree. "What about me!?"
"I'm hungry and I'm not going to waste five minutes waiting for you to drag your ass out of that tree!" Jo says under her breathe, still on the look-out for food.
"We can't spend all day waiting for you to climb out of a tree, we're getting a head start," I say to him, trying not to laugh at Jo.
She glances at me and gives me a smile, then we continue our search for game trails or bushes.
When we hear a thud and a poorly suppressed groan, Jo states, "Finally! Took you long enough. Let's go find the river or head back to the lake. I don't see any animal trails out here."
I catch up to Jo just as Seaweed does and we follow her. I believe she knows where water is.
As we are walking, I spot a bush up ahead that I believe is a bush that contains edible berries. I change my direction so I'm heading to the bush. When Jo sees me out of the corner of her eye, she stops and looks at me. Seaweed bumps into her back and an "Oomph" escapes him and he looks up and looks at me.
I crouch down when I reach the bush and find the precious berries that I recognize from home.
I pluck one off the bush and pop it into my mouth.
"Wait!" Jo screams, taking off towards me.
I swallow and ask, "What?"
She slows down to a walk and says, concern lacing her voice, "That could've been poisonous."
"Well, I guess we'll know soon, huh?" Seaweed says from where he had ran into Jo.
"That would be cruel if they made these sweet berries from home poisonous," I speculate. I reach down, plucking more from the branch. "If they are, they what's the harm in eating more?" I say popping a handful more.
"Wait – what?" Jo says, really confused now.
"If I'm as good as dead, what is the harm in enjoying it?" I reply cheekily and eat a few more, liking the flavor of home.
I glance at Seaweed and his stink eye doesn't go unnoticed.
I take off my backpack and clear out a pocket and start filling it with berries, popping more into my mouth as I do.
Jo and Seaweed don't move until I'm done. I zip up the pocket, grab the last couple attainable berries and stand up.
Jo gives me one last fleeting look, then turns around and makes her way back to Seaweed and we take off again, following Jo.
I finish the berries in my hand. I wipe my hands on my trousers.
Water would be great right about now. I think. Water. When was the last time I drank water?
I think about voicing my thoughts and open my mouth, but then I hear the rushing of water. Seaweed whispers, "Water," then takes off towards it.
"Don't drink any without purifying it!" Jo shouts as she takes off after him.
They both plunge into the water, diving under. I stop a few feet short and sit, staring at the water for a second.
I take in our surroundings as I listen to them splashing.
"Ash!" I hear Jo say just over the noise of the river, "There's water purifying packets in my backpack. Fill a bottle with water and pour in everything in the packet."
I get up and walk to her backpack and open it. I follow her instructions and sit back down. After about a minute, Jo comes out of the water. She plops down next to me and sighs.
"Man, I missed the water," she says a little breathily.
"Uh, we were at the water yesterday…" I trail off with a laugh. Then I realize that the water is where Coley died, and my smile fades.
Jo, not looking at my face, chuckles and replies, "Well yeah. but when you live in District Four you get used to seeing the water all the time. The beach is literally in our back yard and I don't think I've gone a single day in my life without going for a swim at least once."
I look down at her and smile, happy that she's happy.
She sits up and says, "Well I think we gave this water enough time to sit!" She grabs the bottle and chugs down the entire thing without taking a breath. I gape at her.
She looks over at me and laughs. "Watch it! You don't want to catch flies!" She laughs again, closing my mouth for me before she takes off to the water to fill her bottle again.
We all take turns waiting for our turn to drink water.
Once Jo and Seaweed are relatively dried off, I hear Seaweed's stomach growl.
He grins and stands up. "Well, I don't know about you but I think I'm going to catch myself a fish dinner," he says and strides to the water with his sword.
I look over at Jo to see her grinning kind of creepily at me. "Have you ever fished, Ash?"
"Nope," I answer.
"Come on, it's not as hard as climbing trees," she says standing up.
Apparently it is, because I would take to climbing a tree over fishing any day.
Josie – The Arena, where else would we be?
I'm not sure what I heard first – the cannon or the howling of wolves.
"What the hell is that?" Seaweed says, jumping to his feet, the remains of the fish we were eating in his hand.
"The fire," Ash says, moving to scuff sand onto our small fire. I make for the river, water bottle in hand but he stops me with a breathless, "No. Use sand, water produces smoke." I nod and help him put out our cooking fire while Seaweed keeps a nervous look-out.
"Those damn mutts have killed at least three people," he hisses at us, eyes darting from tree to tree.
"They could have died by careers," I say.
"Howling," Seaweed says sourly. He doesn't elaborate. He's gotten nastier and edgier the more time we spend in the arena. I'm tempted to ditch him, but a deals a deal and I've known Seaweed my whole life. Granted, he's never, never acted like this before.
"How do you know it's mutts?" asks Ash.
Seaweed glares at him; "Howling."
Ash spares a glance at him, and then continues gathering our things.
I roll my eyes when neither of the boys are looking. I'm fed up with whatever this is – macho-ism or something. The howling gets louder and we run away from the river.
"Hey," I ask after a few minutes of simply putting as much distance between us and the howls as possible. "Are we going anywhere specific? Or are we just wandering around?"
"I was following you," Ash says.
"I was following Twelve," Seaweed says.
"I was just running," I protest.
"So keep running," Seaweed mutters.
"What?" I demand.
"Nothing?"
"If you can't dish it out…" I begin.
"Let's head for the mountain," Ash interrupts.
"Mountain?" Seaweed makes a face.
"Why?" I ask.
Ash shrugs, a bit uncomfortable with the question, "Up high, we can see more things…maybe more food…and I don't think anyone is up there. Think about it; wouldn't the careers stay near the Cornucopia?"
I shrug, looking at Seaweed. "Good enough for me," I say.
Seaweed nods.
Turns out to be a very stupid idea.
Finnick – Game Room
I groan. "So you're just going to climb the mountain all day," I mutter to myself.
"What the hell are they doing?" Haymitch complains.
I shrug. "Beats me."
Haymitch takes a swig of whatever is in his bottle and mutters something about people from Four lacking intelligence. I ignore him. I take out a small notebook from my pocket and start flipping through the pages.
"What's that?" I jump and glare at the person who had snuck up on me.
"Mind your own business, Johan
Undaunted, she grabs my hand and pulls it down so that she can get a good look. She whistles in appreciation; "That's a lot of money."
"Not enough," I reply, pulling my arm free.
She snorts. "Not enough for what? Getting something illegal in?"
I'm silent and her eyes widen, she lowers her voice. "What are you trying to get Josephine?"
I look around. Almost everyone else is watching the TVs or talking. Haymitch is drinking. A few people – their tributes already dead – are missing.
"I want to get her a harpoon," I whisper to Johanna.
Johanna nods, thoughtful. "Not a normal weapon…but I think you have enough."
With my three latest night escapades I almost do but…
"I can pay for the harpoon itself – the mechanism used to shoot – but I need money for the shafts…"
"How much?" asks Haymitch suddenly. Both Johanna and I jump a bit – we hadn't realized he was listening.
The figure is barely out of my mouth before Haymitch hands me a stack of bank-notes. I'm too surprised to do anything but stare at the papers in my hand.
Johanna swears under her breath.
Haymitch looks from her to me, slightly offended. "I know how to root for the winner."
He walks away, calling for more liquor.
"Okay, Odair," Johanna says, turning back to me. "Now what?"
I sigh. "Now," I say, pocketing the money, "I get money to bribe the game makers."
I'm gone all day – Johanna for some unknown reason has decided to help me. I've just shaken hands with the last Capitol aristocracy, promising her my time tonight, when Johanna comes running to find me.
"Jo and her allies," she gasps out. I start running and Johanna shouts after me. "They're up the mountain but Eight and Ten ganged up with the careers. It's another ambush!"
Josie – Up the Damn Mountain
Four of them against three of us. It's almost fair, but just unfair enough to put us at a disadvantage. I'm fighting the boy from One; His sword and the spear in my hands clashing nosily. I know that he's stronger, and we're too close for me to simply throw my weapon. Ash is fighting two kids; all of them using swords. Seaweed and another boy are wrestling on the ground, weapons forgotten.
One is stronger than me, and my arms are getting tired. Every stroke comes closer to my body.
Then, an explosion, like if a mountain had collapsed on itself…or exploded.
I look up and see the red-fire and black-ash filling the air.
I've read this in book; the mountain has blown its top, a volcano has exploded.
I let out a yell, and my fear lends me extra strength.
I push back hard enough for One to step back and trip on a rock.
Then, I turn and run.
"Volcano!" I think I'm shouting. "Run!"
I hear Seaweed swear, and Ash is suddenly behind me. Everyone, hunted and hunters running together from the fire.
I hear the roar of the waterfall and I run towards it. Why the hell did we climb this mountain in the first place!? The time it would take us to get down is the time it would take us to burn alive – the fire is approaching. Not quite lava, not quite fire, something strange that the game-makers designed to torture us.
One, Two and their two followers veer off to run down the steep slope but I run straight.
"Where the hell are we going?" Seaweed shouts at me. I save my breath and run straight towards the roar of the waterfall.
"Jo?" Ash gasps. "Jo, this is insane!"
"Legs together and arms crossed," I shout at him. Maybe it's insane, but the careers have trapped themselves in the valley full of fire. I hate fire with a passion – I'm not falling down the mountain to die. If I die like this, if I can't die fighting, I'm dying in the water.
Seaweed and I speed up as we approach the waterfall, Ash falls behind but doesn't leave.
I run until I reach the edge, and then I jump.
Falling is the closest I'll ever get to flying, I think. I fall through the air that is now full of cinders and ash and the sweet spray from the waterfall. I fly, my arms and legs out to slow my fall.
The adrenaline doesn't leave much room for thought.
Automatically, I go into a dive as the water draws near and I slip into the water with barely a ripple.
Thank God, It's deep enough.
Yet my feet scrap the bottom as I spin in the current that almost immediately slackens. This waterfall ends in a deep, calm pool.
I come up and notice that the volcano's fire is retreating, the sky is dark with ash.
Ash.
I look for him. He surfaces several feet away, spluttering and gasping. He flounders over to a rock and latches on, his shoulders shaking as he coughs up water. Seaweed, much more gracefully, appears next to me. We both tread water as we watch the fire in the sky recede - some game maker somewhere has turned off the switch.
Three cannons sound. There are only five people left in the arena.
I turn to Seaweed with a smile.
"We made it!"
He looks at me, and his face looks as if it were made of stone. A chill goes down my spine.
"I made it," he tells me. And then he dives under the water and grabs my ankle, forcing me deep under the water.
First, I'm surprised. Then, I'm angry.
If I choose to die by water, then it's okay. Almost appropriate. If someone else tries to kill me in my element, that's a grave insult.
And if the person trying to drown me is someone who helped me when I was first learning how to swim as a child...how dare he! How dare he!
Seaweed, we were children together.
But as his hands tighten around my chest, trying to force me to swallow water, all bounds of childhood disappears. I kick him hard in his man-parts and he cringes. I struggle to the surface and take a deep breath before we are once again locked together, wrestling in the water. Neither of us have weapons after our jump off the falls. It's a battle to see who has more strength, who can hold their breath longer. He's stronger, but I'm the diver of the two. We're spinning; I'm wiggling out of his grip and he grabs me again. His hands are around my neck, trying to get a good enough grip to break it. I reach out and poke my sharp nails into his eyes. The world is filled with bubbles as he howls in pain and we surface, still struggling. I can't get free. I wonder if I'm going to die.
No, not like this.
Suddenly, Seaweed let's go. I dive under and swim away, kicking him hard in the stomach to push him back. I surface, coughing and rubbing my swollen neck. I instantly see why he let go; Ash hit him hard around the head. Now the boys are fighting.
It's clear that Seaweed is the better swimmer, but Ash is stronger from days spent in the mines of District Twelve. Luckily, when I kicked Seaweed the fight moved to shallow water but I don't know how long Ash can last. I start searching the shore, frantically looking for a weapon.
"Run, Jo!" Ash gasps out. "Run!"
"Shut up and fight!" I shout back.
A weapon, a big rock, anything! But there are only small stones. I pick up a sharp one and prepare to help Ash when a hear something: a metallic beeping noise.
"Finnick," I breathe. I search the sky desperately and see the parachute drifting down. I wade in the water and get to the package as soon as it's my height.
The fight's intensifying behind me. I fumble with the latch on the metal container and throw open the lid.
Thank God, Finnick. You remembered.
I grab, load, turn and point. Seaweed has Ash underwater, his back towards me.
I fire.
Seaweed jerks as the harpoon goes right through his heart. I yank back on the string. No different than a fish. He falls backwards into the water as I calmly unhook the wire and hold my gift in my hands. Ash struggles to the surface and gasps for air. He shakily stands - the water goes up to his knees only, but with Seaweed on top of him, it was enough to drown him.
My instinct is to drop the harpoon, but my neck still hurts from a childhood friend trying to kill me. So instead, I load it again and hold it ready. Not pointing at Ash, but ready to fire if need be.
The cannon sounds.
Ash looks at me through a grim smile, "The two of us and the two careers. You're going to win."
"You could still win, too," I say evenly. My hand tightens on my new weapon.
Is this a trap?
Ash shakes his head. "No, I'm not leaving the arena."
I just stare.
He gazes back steadily. There is no hesitation in his dark eyes. "If the arena was good enough for my best friend to die, then it's good enough for me."
"What about your family?" I demand. "You have little siblings, right?"
"They have each other," he replies. "But you and Finnick only have each other. Your brother can't watch your back in here, the least I can do is watch it for him." He smiles sadly. "I like to think that if the roles were reversed, he'd do the same."
My breath catches and he looks at me without seeing me, seeing his sister.
"You would've like Coley. You guys would've been friends," he says simply.
I lower the harpoon. Oh God, Ash, why did I meet you in the arena? Why did I meet you only to watch you did slowly after your sister died? To watch you decide to die for the capital's entertainment?
"Don't follow me, please," I say softly. I'm trying not to cry. "Right now, we're even. Don't make me have a debt I can never repay."
He shook his head. "I'm following you until the end."
"Ash..."
"I won't hurt you," he promises simply.
I know, I think. I imagine all those people watching their TVs. I imagine Snow watching us with a cold calculating look. I'm already an Odair, and Ash is from Twelve. I know that we've been pegged as troublemakers. I'm going to win for you, Snow. To show you what happens when you try to hurt us like this. You can't mess with my brother, you can't mess with me, you can't mess with Ash...you can't mess with any of us. Someday, someday soon, someone's going to mock you in front of the world.