Sydni screams, Rachelle closes her eyes and flinches, Togru's eyebrows rise slightly, and I blink and jump backwards. A cannon fires. Marilee's headless body is still in a sitting position. It slowly falls forward and slumps over her tied-up legs. I feel hands on my shoulder and arm. "Get up Lucas, get up!" Sydni drags me away from the bloodied corpse. Rachelle crouches over the lake, grumbling to herself and cleaning her bloodstained jacket in the water. Togru, despite having blood all over him, goes back to his rock and sits. "Now we know what happens," he says. Sydni goes over next to Rachelle and starts cleaning off her jacket as well. I sit where Sydni dropped me and watch the hovercraft pick up Marilee's dead body. As the body is lifted into the belly of the flying ship, it slips out of the claws a bit. The claws catch it by the legs, and blood pours out of the holes from the explosion like a fountain. I turn away from the scene, trying my best to keep from throwing up.
"So what do we do now?" asks Sydni. "I say we go get more supplies from the Cornucopia," Rachelle responds. She pulls her soaked jacket out of the water and lays it on a rock. "Two of us should go, and two of us should stay here, to protect our base. How about the girls stay?" Rachelle says. Sydni and I look at each other, and then look at Rachelle and Togru. Rachelle is about a head taller than Sydni, and a lot more muscular. Togru is smaller than I am, but he's proven himself a fighter with his training score of 10. Despite me getting a 9, I don't feel like risking it. If Sydni and I are separated, and one of us dies, the other wouldn't have a good chance of living either. "I say we all go," I respond. "Look, there's three huge bloodstains over on the grass. No smart tribute would get near this place. Let's think for a second. Five tributes have died only two hours into the Games, and there was no bloodbath at the beginning of the Games. Everyone's probably hiding out in the forest over there." We all look over at the tall trees lining the horizon. "I agree," says Sydni. "If we go to the Cornucopia and get more supplies, we could kill anyone who's stupid enough to come here." Rachelle looks at Togru, and then quickly snaps her head back to us and says, "Fine." Sydni shoots me a wary look. I turn to Rachelle and smile, trying to hide my distrust. She smiles back, and says, "Ok, let's move!" Sydni tries to walk up next to me and say something, but I subtly wave her away. Not now, it's too dangerous.
We reach the Cornucopia after an hour. The tributes from 6 are scrounging around through the piles of weapons and supplies, trying to find things that are useful. The girl from 6 looks up and sees us approaching. She jumps up and runs past her partner back into the forest screaming, "Careers! Careers! Run!" Her partner looks up from his collection of weapons. He tries to get up from his knees, but he's unusually fat and it takes him a while. Rachelle, who had started to rush the ungainly boy, goes into hysterics and slumps over laughing, with her hands on her knees. The boy finally gets up and clumsily tries to run. He trips over a rock and falls to the ground, actually bouncing a few times before he comes to a rest. This is too much for Togru. He also starts laughing at the poor boy. Rachelle finally catches her breath and pulls out a knife. She stumbles towards the boy, still giggling, and prepares to stab the boy where he lies sprawled on the ground. Suddenly, just as Rachelle is about to make the fatal thrust, Sydni runs at her and tackles her to the ground. The knife flies out of her hand. Sydni jumps off the stunned Rachelle and turns to the terrified boy. "Just go," she says. The boy gets up and runs screaming into the forest. Rachelle jumps up and brushes the dirt off her jacket. Some blood remains on it, and dirt clumps stick to the dried patches. "What was that for? We could have killed another two tributes!" Sydni shyly puts her hands behind her back and puts her head down. "I don't know what I was…it seemed like…" "Like too many people have died?" Rachelle sneers. "Like there's been enough fighting for the day?" Sydni nods. Rachelle steps forward and shoves her over. I step forward in protest. Rachelle grabs her knife and points it at me. "Back off! Remember where we are." She pokes me with the knife with each word to drive home the point. I smack her hand away. Things are disintegrating quickly. Togru pulls out his bow and loads an arrow, pointing it towards the ground. Sydni clambers to her feet and wipes blood from her split-open forehead. She grabs a curved sword from the boy's pile of weapons that he left and twirls it in her right hand. With her other hand, she tosses me a spear. I catch it and point it at Rachelle. It's a standoff.
For a moment, no one moves. Then Togru aims his arrow at my head. Sydni spins and pulls her sword back to strike at Togru. Rachelle responds by aiming her knife at the back of Sydni's head. And I keep my spear leveled at Rachelle. More silence. Sydni finally speaks up. "That's enough." She drops her sword. Rachelle looks at her, and then slowly drops her arm holding the knife, without letting go of the blade. I drop the spear on the ground. Togru continues to point the arrow at me. I try to move to my left to get out of his range, but he follows me. "Togru, stop it," says Sydni. Togru's eyes are locked on mine. I try to move out of his path of fire, but he follows me again. "Togru, STOP!" yells Sydni. "No," he replies. "No, it's his turn to die now." I instinctively drop as Togru lets the arrow fly. It brushes through my thick curly hair and flies past my head. Rachelle watches with a surprisingly calm face as Togru loads another arrow. Suddenly, the curved sword slices through Togru's bow, snapping it in half. "I said STOP IT!" screams Sydni. Togru drops his quiver of arrows, and approaches Sydni guiltily. He stops about a foot from her. "I'm sorry," he croons. Then he grabs her by her hair and, lifting her off the ground, throws her brutishly into the side of the horn. She hits it with a smack and sinks down to the ground, moaning. She's out cold. I'm moving before I even realize I'm moving. Togru turns just in time for his face to meet my fist. He stumbles backward before recovering his footing. I rush at him again, and he grabs my fist in his hand. I swing my other arm and he catches that too. We grapple with each other like animals before I knee him in the chest. He lets go of my right fist to grab his chest and wince in pain. I swing at him again and hit him in the cheek. He spins comically and falls to the ground. "You made a mistake attacking me!" I yell. Wiping the blood from his face, Togru grins. "I take it the alliance is over? That's a shame." I take a step towards him before the cannon fires. Before I even realize what's happened, my collar starts beeping.