Everyone sleeps in that morning except me. I feel like such shit right now, after that dream I had of Elijah and all the stuff that's going on.
The next day I walk to the stream with Cutter and we hold our canteens. When we get to the stream and run to the water, Cutter and I exchange a glance. Somebody put mud in the stream! Not just a little mud, either, a lot of it. And all of the edge along the opposite side is dug up, which means it must be one person: Boeh.
I hate that girl. Like, I honestly hate that girl.
"Gross," Cutter groans, "It's all mucky…"
"Uh, Cutter?" I say quietly.
"Huh?"
I look over at him and he looks uncomfortable at the expression of horror that I must be wearing. He looks concerned and asks quietly, "Nate… Are you alright?"
"There's not just mud in this water…" I whisper.
Cutter cups his hands and pours out the mix of liquids and when he pours it out, the water is tinted red.
He looks horrified, green eyes filling with horror and tears. He flings the water off his hands and screams, in tears. "OH MY GOD!"
It's either Birch's or Mitt's. Whichever one Boeh decided to collect. Maybe it's even Axis's, you never know.
"THERE'S FUCKING BLOOD IN THE WATER!" Cutter practically sobs. "I HAVE BLOOD ON MY HANDS!"
I take the blonde boy by the shoulders and shake him, cutting him out from his hysterical fit, "CUTTER! Get a hold of yourself!"
He looks at me miserably, but eventually nods.
"We'll have to find a new water source," he says quietly.
I pull the little bottle from my pocket, deciding to trust it to at least Cutter. "Do you think that's why Platinum sent me this?" I ask quietly.
He takes the bottle from me, hands shaking, "Do they really have a substance that can dissolve blood?" he asks.
"I…I dunno…" I whisper.
I take the dropper with shaking hands, and put a drop in Cutter's palm. And, to both of our amazement, the liquid dissolves the blood in his palm and leaves a cup of crystal clear water in his hand.
We exchange a glance of surprise.
"It's amazing," Cutter whispers, voice sounding heavy, "That they can make things like this. Nate, do you realize…?" his voice goes through a decrescendo before he trails off.
"Realize what?" I ask quietly.
"If they can make things like this… Things that are so advanced like this… That nobody in the Districts have even heard of… What else do you think they've invented that we don't know about? It might be terrible. They might have so much stuff we'll never get because we're ignorant."
I fill the canteens and put drops of the substance into it. "I can't think like that. Not right now."
He provides a small nod and we shake up our canteens before going back to the others.
"Hey, Cutter. Don't tell anyone about that purifying thing, alright? Just in case I decide to become a little… Manipulative… With the alliance."
"Nate, don't manipulate Priscilla. Please."
"Wasn't planning on it," I say quietly.
We arrive back at base before he has the chance to ask who I was thinking about.
"You guys took forever!" Azure whines, "And it's hot!"
She is right. It's gotten considerably hotter in the day since we got here. And yet, it seems to be getting even colder at night. Either it's just an illusion by the hotter days, or the Capitol's really messed up. I think it's the second one, to be honest.
"Come on," Melanie says, "Let's just get going!"
Today, we've decided we're going to take our sleeping bags and blankets. We're getting nowhere just going back every night, and we can camp out at night with sleeping bags. We make sure to stay fairly close to the stream but not so close we can see it well. Hopefully Boeh didn't infect the whole stream, but at least we have purifying substances. Anyways, our backpacks are all slightly heavier today.
Azure lags all morning long, complaining that the blanket along with extra food and her supplies are way too heavy and she's only a little girl and we're being big jerks to her. When she says stuff like this Priscilla makes funny faces and we all stifle laughter. We venture until I feel so exhausted my eyes can't stay open and we collapse for lunch. I don't eat a lot and curl up in a little ball, deciding to give my eyes a slight rest.
I feel like fucking shit. My head is pounding and my eyes can barely stay open. It's hot and I hate it.
I zone off into a daydream.
"Ready to talk to me again?" I ask out loud. He appears in front of me, slightly transparent. "Yes," he says quietly.
"Why are you mad at me!?"
"Because you're being reckless," he says. He always was the voice of reason.
"So maybe I am."
"I think you're cranky because you don't have apple juice," he says with a grin.
I glare at him, "Damn you Crowly."
He smiles, "You can't be mad at me. You're physically unable to."
"Shut up, I know." I glare at him anyways.
"So, you're sicky-wicky, are you?"
"Yes." I scowl. "I haven't had a good night of sleep for weeks."
He winces, "Sorry. I know it's part my fault. I just can't stop talking to you, though."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't want you to."
There's a pause. "Think about these conversations. They really do mean something, Nate."
"I know they do…" There's a long pause and then he nods and suddenly I hear Cutter. "Nate! Nate!" Priscilla claps in front of my face and I snap awake. Crap, I actually fell asleep!
"You're cute sleeping, volunteer," Azure says, sounding a lot happier than she did before.
"Gee Nate, I'm sorry. We never knew you were so exhausted," Priscilla says.
"My own fault," I mutter sleepily, "Let's get up and go, I'll be fine."
They all look hesitant. I get up first and soon they all stand up. We start walking again and soon I feel fairly awake. The others look a little worried for a while, but then they all just shrug it off, I suppose.
A little later into the afternoon, we run into a big cluster of grass that is flattened. It's obviously been stepped on by other tributes. The question is, who? Definitely more than one, which means that another alliance is out there that isn't ours.
Upon closer examination, we notice that some of the grass is stained in various shades of red and brown. We all squat down to examine it, and soon Priscilla murmurs what we were all thinking. "Blood. And a lot of it. I think somebody died here."
"Obviously more than one tribute was trampling on that grass," I tell them. "So I wonder what the hell happened."
"Don't we all?" Melanie sighs.
"Let's keep going. If we're really lucky, we might find clues, or even tributes."
We walk just a little while longer, but soon our traveling is interrupted by beeping. I see a tiny silver thing floating in the distance, going to another tribute. Another thing soon comes that way, in another silver blur.
"God, whoever's there must be on a roll."
My stomach churns.
What if it's Cliff? What if it's-
"Guys, we're getting one too!" Melanie says, pointing to the sky. I look up and sure enough, that's where the beeping we heard was coming from.
"Yay!" Azure gushes.
Even Priscilla grins. Melanie, being the tallest of our alliance, jumps up and grabs the parachute, pulling it down with her and placing it on the ground. "Well, come on!" she says, "Let's see what's inside!"
We sit in a circle around it and somehow, my hand goes to the lid and they let me open up the sponsor parachute. I look inside and pull out the object inside curiously. God, it's a little heavy.
Priscilla bursts out into mad giggles, so bad that she lies on the ground and rolls around. Azure giggles and snorts loudly, while Melanie and Cutter burst out laughing, but slightly quieter.
Yes, that's right.
It's apple juice.
Priscilla giggles loudly and almost hyperventilates, "APPLE JUICE! NATE GOT APPLE JUICE! OH MY- OH MY GOD- OH MY FUCKING GOD!" I think that by the end of it, she's crying.
I hate to say, but I was really thirsty and I'm actually more than ecstatic to see Apple juice there for me. I barely care that I'm probably getting laughed at by the whole nation.
While my allies are laughing, I pull out a piece of paper that is the sponsor note.
Thought you'd want this Cupcake. Enjoy. Drink from the carton right away for dibsies. –Platinum
I do exactly as the note says, putting it in the pocket of jacket with the other one from him and making a statement to drink from the jug.
Ah. I love apple juice so much.
My alliance bursts into another fit of giggles and soon the sun sets and we decide that we're stuck here for the night. Azure and Melanie go to refill canteens and Cutter, Priscilla and I go hunting. We never did find a fire pit so we can't have meat tonight but we had a lot of jerky and crackers, and it's almost the same. (No it isn't. I change my mind. I really like meat.)
Soon, the anthem plays and one single face shines in the sky. The District 5 girl, Volt, which means that District 5 will officially not have a Victor this year. I feel extremely awake from the apple juice's sugar rush, but my alliance doesn't let me keep watch because I fell asleep at lunch. I sit in bed, awake and miserable, wanting nothing more than to just finally go to sleep. Melanie, who's the first to be on watch, hums quietly to herself. I move just a little closer and listen to her, and it helps. My eyes finally close for the night and I go to sleep, wondering if Melanie's going to make me go on watch later tonight.