Alliances

Santana Sanchez P.O.V.

I walked off the platform when the gong sounded, knowing I was in no danger, being a Career and all. I just waited quietly for the bloodbath to end. It was terrible this time, only one death in the first 60 seconds! Boo, I dislike. If I were a viewer, I would've turned off the TV by now. But, that's just my opinion.

All the tributes cleared out and went their separate ways while I cleaned up my choice of weapons with the Careers. What to choose? There were just so many! I took a sword, a backpack with a sleeping bag, a pair of socks, and 2 knives, and a pouch of throwing knives. There were still other supplies that I would build a contraption to keep safe for the Careers.

We all met up in the center. "Now we're going to go around, state your name, age, gender, and district," said the boy from District 1. "I'll start. Jamal Savis, 15, male, 1."

"Zane Burwell. 15. Male. District 2."

"Zove Zibron. 17. Male. District 4."

"Luna Sohma. 12 and a half. Female. District 4."

"Lattie Meyen. 17. Female. District 6."

"Santana Sanchez. 12. Female. District 3."

"Great," Jamal started. "Now that that's over, let's go hunting for murder." He had a devilish look to him, and he looked actually excited to go kill. I wasn't but I had to act like it. We walked down a hill and spotted two tributes in the distance. They disappeared and we kept talking.

"We don't have that many Careers this year," Zane stated. "It only seems like it because of the girls from 3 and 6."

"Yeah, we should try and get the girls from 1 and 2, where did they take off to?" Zove asked.

"Didn't see-" Zane started but didn't finish because at that point the two girls jumped out of the tree and landed in front of us.

"What do you want?" she asked rudely.

"We want you two, you girls could be a big help to the Careers, and would have a better chance of making it," Jamal told them.

"Like we'd ally with you," the girl said yet again, rudely.

"Get 'em!" Zane yelled and they charged on them. The girl from 1 tried to shoot a dart gun, and it flew past my ear. Just then, Jamal slit the girl from 2's front, neck to belly button, spilling her organs over the snow. Zane let out a terrified scream and chopped off Jamal's head with an ax. The girl snuck off while we watched Zane mourn over Rae (I found out her name when he was crying). And we (being Zove and Lattie) carried Zane back to the camp.

Continued in Luna Sohma's P.O.V.

Dear Diary,

I snuck this notebook into the Games and I am secretly writing in it. Zove made some contraption to clear a patch of snow for camp. He is actually pretty cool. I'm thinking of running off and starting our own alliance together. But later. These Careers are very serious about their murders and it's kind of scaring me. Anyway, I'm supposed to be looking out, so I have to go. Write back later.

~Luna Sohma, soon to be dead

I slipped my diary into my backpack including a sleeping pouch and a knife, and climbed about forty feet up in a tree. I could see camp from here. It looked cool; there were sleeping bags inside of a circle surrounded by an electric fence that Santana created out of wire and rocks. It was actually pretty amazing. I turned my attention to the other side and almost cried. The ground continued sloping for thousands of feet; I could see ground, barely, from here. We needed to find a way down there. I climbed to the ground as fast as possible and ran over to where camp was. "You guys! Hey, I just found something out. We are on a mountain! It's huge, and we need to get to the ground!"

"Umm, how are we supposed to do that?" Santana asked, like she was so smart.

"The mountain slopes downward until it reaches the ground. We need to get down there, it might take a while but then again, don't the whole Games?" I asked them.

"She's right," Zove stood up for me. "Let's pack up camp and head out." He looked at me and I mouthed the words "thank you."

Back to Colton's P.O.V.

As we trudged down the side of the hill, we could see people, far, far away. "We need to be safe," Lexi said smartly as she saw me eying them. She pointed toward a tree and we climbed up to the top of it to spy. They walked by the tree and took a seat about ten yards away.

"We need alliances," one of the boys said. I think it was the boy from 10.

"Seriously, those two from 11 don't look so bad," the boy from 7 stated to him.

"You're right, we should find them." We didn't want to hassle them so we quietly climbed down and stepped in front of them.

"Hi," Lexi said bubbly as the boys were in shock.

"We'd like to be in an alliance with you. We need all the help we can get," I told them.

"O-ok," the boy from 7 stuttered.

"Let's start with names," I announced. "I'm Colton, I am 14 years old and I am from District 11. This is my sister, Lexi. She is 13 and also from District 11. And you are?"

"Uhh," the boy from 10 started, "I'm Garrett and I'm 12. From District 10."

"And I'm Jason, also 12, and from District 7."

"Great!" and we all decided to see what else everyone had. Garrett seemed fascinated with my knives so I gave them to him. Jason was brave enough to go straight for the Cornucopia and it was worth it. He got a big backpack with tons of supplies. It had a sleeping bag, three throwing knives, an 8 inch sword, 3 water bottles, a small box of dried fruits and vegetables, and 2 pairs of socks. "Wow, you hit the jackpot didn't you?" I asked him excitedly.

"Well yea, but got this in the process." He lifted up his shirt, reluctantly as it was so cold, and turned around. It showed a big gash in his back from his shoulder blade to the middle of his ribs.

"Oh my gosh! You need help! And like, now!" Lexi screamed. She hated being around blood and wounds, another reason why she shouldn't be in the Games. Then a little parachute floated gently in front of us. I went and picked it up.

They all gathered around me to see what was inside. It was a needle filled with some clear liquid, a bottle of alcohol, and a little baggie of little cotton pads. "Thank you," I whispered up to the sky. It had to be District 6. But why? We aren't allied with any of them? I, since I was apparently the bravest, stuck the needle into Jason's back and injected the medication. Then we (being me and Garrett) poured alcohol on pads and rubbed his wound. He let out moans of pain every once in a while, but other than that was very good. Lexi was over by a tree, "breathing."

We set up camp in a tree, or more likely tried, and took turns keeping lookout. I went first because I was the oldest and I got the most sleep last night. Apparently they all were up all night tossing and turning; worrying about the Games. I sat in a tree listening, watching, wondering who or what would come here, and slowly drifted off…

LINA CATAGORSKI'S P.O.V.

I sat on a low branch, waiting for someone to kill me. I didn't want to win, to have to sit and suffer knowing I lived out of all these innocent people… No one should have to go through this. It's cruel and unusual. Especially for kids! Ugh, "I hate the Capitol!" I yelled. Just then I heard a scuffle over behind a bush. Or a tree, some green plant… Anyway, I saw a bit of dark brown hair behind the plant thing. I jumped off the low branch, breaking off part of it for a weapon I didn't have. "Come out, now!" I screamed and the boy from District 9 stood straight up, arms gesturing surrender. "What do you want?"

"I was just looking for an ally," he started. "My name's Hark Lutz. I'm 14, and from District 9."

"Sure, I'll be your ally," I said putting down my "weapon". We went through what he got, since I didn't have anything. He had a small backpack with a pouch of different nuts, a water pouch, and a pair of gloves. He also had a small knife he took out of someone's back. "Let's see," I started. "How many do we have left?" I started counting off on my fingers.

"Well there's the boy from 1, the girl from 2, and the guy from 5," he said. "That makes three."

"Wow, and it's been like an hour. Usually there are more dead tributes in ten minutes! I guess we just got lucky, being in a friendly game."

"Ha," he let out a fake laugh. "A friendly game, not even in your dreams."

But he couldn't be more wrong. When I fell asleep that night (we set up a camp in a cave we found, he was keeping lookout) I dreamed of a beautiful arena. It was a beautiful island, surrounded by calm waters. The sunset was shining across the island, glimmering of the wet trees. All the tributes were helping each other, never going to die. But since no one was dying, the Games weren't ending. Everyone was struggling to find food, and water, and they were all dying. They were going crazy, and one of them went on a rampage. They ate all of the other tributes then threw them up and made a cake. I woke up with sweat on my face, teeth chattering, body shaking. I guess it was my turn to keep lookout anyway because Hark was exhausted. I sat with my feet dangling thousands of feet in the air, knowing tomorrow will lead more horrors.

DAREON DAVIS'S P.O.V.

I sat perched on a branch, ready to let my arrow enter somebody's heart at necessary, though not wanting to. I would compromise with them, ally maybe. Then Delia and the girl from 10 walk by. They see me and stop. "Shouldn't you be hiding in a better spot?" Delia asked me.

"Naah, just waiting for someone to ally with; mission complete." She smiled at me and told me to hop down. I didn't want to jump so I climbed. "So you want to ally with me?"

"Of course! We've been looking for you. This is Aileen by the way. Aileen Vaan, she's from District 10."

Aileen and I talked for a little bit and we all set off to find a camping spot. "So only three people died today? That should be a record," Aileen said as we trooped down a slope.

"That's true. But maybe it's a good thing," I suggested.

"Doubt it. All it means for us is a longer time in the arena. For the audience, well that's a different story. And for the Capitol, a whole different universe," Delia said all matter-of-factly. I'm glad she finally found me. She was a good friend to me. Always has been, and won't always be. One of us, if not both of us, is not making it out of here to be good friends again.

"Do you want to win?" I interrupted Aileen and Delia's conversation.

"Umm," Delia started. "I-I don't know. I mean, yeah, it would be nice to win but, that would mean losing you."

Did Delia have a crush on me? I found out soon after because she walked up to me and kissed me. Whoa. "I've always loved you, Dareon. Haven't you noticed? The gifts, the flirting? Nothing? Well it doesn't matter now because both of us are going to die. Unless we both get out, like during the 74th Games. I doubt we can get that lucky but we're either dying together, or living together. No questions asked, now let's go."

"Well, that was dramatic," Aileen whispered to me as Delia walked off. And I would never forget that day, as long as I shall live, or not live.

ERIC GLASSE'S P.O.V.

As we walked down a path sloping (we being me, Kalm Pines, and Angie), we were silent. This was an awkward alliance. I think the only reason we are all allied is because we all want to keep to ourselves, all we really want is someone to help defend us. Nobody wants to die in this arena. All we all want is to survive, but there's a 1 in 24% chance, and I doubt it's me. We didn't feel like asking questions, because we didn't feel like answering. We didn't feel like talking because nobody wants to listen. We didn't want to stop, because nobody wants to die.

We were all in search of one thing: a camp. We didn't have much; Angie had a water bottle and a hand held knife with no handle. Kalm and I didn't have anything except the clothes we were wearing. What were the under clothes for anyway? Extra warmth? I didn't know but eventually it would be useful. Finally, Kalm points out a little ditch and we all run to it. We find a hole big enough to fit us in it and we crawled in. Down under was a little hut. It had enough room for all of us to sleep in, and we could even stand up. This was perfect, no one would find us. We just needed some sticks and leaves to build a door. Angie volunteered and stepped out into the cold to grab some stuff for a door. Next thing I knew, Kalm and I heard a loud scream and a cannon fire. "Oh, no," were the first two words I had said that day. And they were right now.

A large body fell through our hole and it was holding a long blade. I gulped. It was the boy from District 2. He swung the large blade left and right, trying to hit something. It was then that I realized he had been blinded. His eyes were shut, with probably nothing behind the lids, and there was blood gushing from them. "Stop," I told him. "I want to help you."

"Why would you want to help me? I killed that girl out there, wasn't she in your alliance?" he asked.

"Because you're in pain. And you don't deserve it, now come here." He obeyed and walked over to me. I looked at his eyes, they were seriously bad. They would need a true doctor's help. Just then a little parachute fell through our supposed door. In it was a little basket that had cloth and some medical liquid he remembered as Maincidine. It was a clear liquid that looked like water and clean up blood. It also healed bruises and scars. He dabbed a bit on the cloth and cleaned the blood off of his face.

"Thank you," said the boy from 2 and he left.

"Wow," was all Kalm had to say.