The morning of the third day, Chantho finds herself hungry beyond compare. She had only managed to grab a knife and a jacket when she escaped from the Cornucopia. The only thing she's consumed since then has been a few twigs, leaves, and water. Although she can produce her own supply of internal milk, she still needs outside nutrients to make enough to sustain her. Not to mention she is exhausted.
The weather seems to be colder than the first and second days. Chantho was thankful for her jacket, without which, she'd surely freeze. She in the south, by the river, having travelled for two days to get there, not knowing what she'll find.
At the same time, Jack is thundering through the forest. Someone is chasing him. He isn't used to being scared of death. In fact, he has a hard time comprehending his impending doom, even as it races towards him.
Running for dear life, Jack comes to the river. He doesn't stop running but attempts to jump over it. He splashes down a third of the way through, and shudders as the icy current grips him. Hi takes a ragged breath, and plunges himself under the water. He kicks about under the water, lost, unsure which way is up and which is death.
The cold grips at his chest, and his lungs threaten to burst. He approaches the other bank steadily, and is within feet of safety, when something grabs his ankle, pulling him further into the water. The crazy things that the Oods have produced for the games, killer eels must have been on the list. He fumbles underwater for his laser blaster, gripping it as well as he can with frozen fingers. He manages to find the trigger, and shoots blindly into the water. Instantly, his leg is released, and he swims, as fast as he can, upward.
He doesn't make it to the other side before he blacks out.
Meanwhile, Amy and Ten are back at the Cornucopia. They'd spent the first day travelling away from it, and the second travelling back. After all, everyone will have cleared out by now. A river runs to the south of the Cornucopia, and a mountain rises to the west. In the north, only ice fields. Even so, the odds were that nobody would be at the Cornucopia, but extra supplies would be.
They found, in the night, after the fruitless announcement, two full packs of food, a case of first aid supplies, a bow and sheath of arrows, a shield, three think blankets, an umbrella, a backpack containing a shovel, a length of rope, and a large hammer, a sword, a sleeping bag, and a gun with extra ammo.
"Ten," calls Amy from inside the giant golden funnel, as she fiddles with the knot on a health-pack, "Get back here. Don't wander off."
He begrudgingly walks back from where he stood at the end of the clearing. "Oh, alright then, Amy."
"Eleven always calls me 'Pond,'" she says.
"Well, I suppose I'm not Eleven, am I?"
With a smile, Amy replies, "No, I suppose you're not." After a brief moment, Amy continues, "Now, how long are we going to stay here?"
"Well," says Ten, putting on a pair of glasses which he found in one of the supply containers, "We stay together until there are five tributes left. Then we're on our own."
"Right," she agrees. "I don't want it to come down to the two of us. I couldn't kill you. Not ever."
With a nod, Ten confirms, "Neither could I. We're a team, you and I!"
Amy agrees wholeheartedly, then says, "But, Ten, I don't get it. Why would the Daleks need to have these games? Why don't they just exterminate us, if they have the ability?"
Ten thinks for a moment, and then replies, "You know… That's a fair question. Dalek's have always been a strange race. Maybe they've just taken an… evolutionary stride?"
Amy nods, though both her and Ten are lost in contemplation.
Slowly, Amy's thoughts slip to her husband…
He and Reinette are at the base of the mountain, its eastern side. They make slow progress, circling around and around, not travelling, just wandering.
"Honestly, Rory!" says the French aristocrat, "Can't we stop and rest?"
"No. People could be out there, hunting us down right now. We keep moving until we find shelter."
"Nobody is out there right now! Look! We've been wandering for days, and we haven't run into a single person! We're safe."
Rory turns to face his friend. "Look at this." He produces a gun from his belt. It was his first gift from his mentor in the arena, sent to both Reinette and Rory, when they came away from the Cornucopia with nothing but food packs. When it arrived twenty minutes earlier, in a box sent down with a little silver parachute, Rory and Reinette were very grateful, but didn't think too much about it.
"Yes? That's our gun."
"Commander Strax didn't have to send us a gun," explained Rory. "I think it's a message. A warning. We need to be careful." He hands the gun to Reinette, "Stay safe. We keep moving." He turned back to lead the way.
"Rory, I can tell you, there is nobody out there! We are completely alone at present. No one is about to kill us."
However, as she says that, her last words are cut off by a small cry from her. Rory turns around to see Reinette, a look of horror, shock, and pain on her face. Then, she falls forward, an arrow sticking up in her back. A cannon blasts through the air.
Rory, alarmed, falls to the ground beside Reinette. He checks her pulse, and the stillness confirms with the cannon that she is dead. He hears a rustling sound, and looks up. Through the trees, he sees the emotionless face of Leo Jones.
"I'm sorry," says Leo, as he emerges from the trees, "But I've got a family to care for. I've got to win this. For them." Before Rory can reach for the gun, or even say anything, Leo raises his bow, and an arrow soars through Rory's skull. Another cannon blast is heard.
That night, Rory and Reinette are shown dead on the image in the air.
When Amy looks out to see his face, illuminated in the sky, she is silent. Completely silent. Then she cries out. She runs from the mouth of the Cornucopia, into the clearing, shouting at the sky.
Ten races out after her, and tries to restrain her.
"Rory! No! Not Rory!" she calls, tears streaming down her face, struggling against Ten.
"Amy," He says, dragging her backwards, "Please you've got to listen to me!"
"Get off me!"
"It's going to be okay, Amy!"
"What do you mean it's okay? He's dead! He's gone! No!" Amy shrieks again.
Ten forces Amy to face him. "Amy, in your honor. He died so you could you live. You know he did. Don't let him die in vain." Amy continues to scream. "Amy! Please, don't let this kill you. That'll only give the Daleks more power over you, and I won't allow you to do that. Here's what you do: This makes you stronger, it makes you fight harder! Fight for Rory, Amy. Fight!"
Amy gives up her struggle at last. She collapses against Ten and cries quietly into his shoulder, the only realities in her life are Ten's firm hold on her, and her husband's death.
When she is all cried out, she gave Ten one last hug, then walks into the Cornucopia. Because she knows she won't let the Daleks get away with his murder. This makes her stronger. It makes her fight harder. But against who?
River and Eleven stare at the sky, numb to Rory's death. They each had seen so much death in their lives (much of it, their own doing) that the games didn't seem as effective. But, a thought does rise in River's head.
"Eleven," she says, "Did my parents already… have me? By this time, I mean."
"Yes, River. All that's been done," After a pause, he continues "Not that it matters to the Daleks."
"What do you mean?" asks River, taking a bite out of the cooked lizard that she'd hunted earlier in the day.
"The Daleks have broken time, River."
She stops herself before taking another bite, confused at Eleven's revelation. "Broken time?"
"They've ripped me, and Nine and Ten, out of our own timelines. The same timeline. But the thing is… we're really three different people."
"How so? What has happened?"
"The Daleks happened. They've split, stitched, unwound and undone time so much, that, if one of those past versions of myself were to die, I would stay the same. If your parents were to die before you were born, you'd stay the same, because of how much damage has been done to the universe. Even this arena is a parallel dimension, all its own. This is a place where Time makes no sense. All for these 'Doctor Games.'"
"More like 'The Impossible Games' if you ask me," River replies.
"They've taken people out of time, and space, and history. They've even brought people back from the dead. This is all wrong, River. All wrong."
"But what can we do about it, Sweetie? We're helpless here."
Eleven sat down next to her, and picked up his share of the cooked lizard. "We'll figure something out. At least, we'll try. I promise we will."