At this point in the story, the POV will switch to the girl from 10. All other switches will be made clear through horizontal rulers like the one below.
We finally got him out of the tree. It took lots of tributes, and a lot of time, but we were able to figure out how to drop him onto different branches until we got him to the ground. Xavier and Quinn from 3 ran to get Flora and Flax back at the Cornucopia, and now we're all back at the tree. "We should tie him up before he wakes up," says Flora, who has become our unofficial leader in the alliance. Someone comes up with some rope from their backpack, and in a few minutes, he's secured. The boy from 7, Kent, is tasked with pulling him back to the Cornucopia. We all begin the hour-long trip back to our base at the golden horn. About halfway through, he wakes up. "Wha…what's going on?" He's groggy from the blow Kent gave him up in the tree. Kent stops pulling him. I run over to the boy's body and kneel down. He looks at me through glazed eyes. "Ssshh…everything's ok. You're safe," I say. Before he can get out a word, a stick slams down on his forehead and he's out again. "Kent!" I exclaim. "What?" he responds. "He's gonna die eventually!" With that, Kent picks up the rope and starts dragging the boy's body across the grass again. I follow behind them silently. "Cheer up," says Brion, my partner who walks next to me. "We got the boy! We're safe now." I turn to face him. "No we're not. If I die and they kill him, you take his place. Apparently no one but me has thought that far ahead yet." Brion's eyes widen in realization, and his face gains a somber expression. "So what do we do?" he asks. "Simple," I reply softly. "We're leaving tonight."
The boy woke up as soon as we reached the Cornucopia. I was able to convince Kent and Flora not to knock him out again and instead to put him in the Cornucopia itself. Flora begins to assign people guard duty. I silently pray that she assigns Brion and me to a night shift. Kai and Trey from 5 are given the first shift. They pick up their weapons and move to either side of the dark opening of the horn. Inside, the boy can be heard screaming, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!" Flora groans loudly. "Kent, go knock him out, please." Before Kent stands up, I protest. "No! If you knock him out again he'll just be more upset when he wakes up, and he'll yell more. Just leave him alone, and he'll stop." Flora smirks. "Well then, for your sake I hope he does shut up. You get the night shift. All night." "Yes!" I scream in my head as I feign a sigh of disappointment. Next to me, Brion smiles but quickly drops his head down. Flora turns away from us to talk to Flax, her partner. Flax is tall, lanky, and quiet. He only talks to Flora. I don't trust either of them, even if the other tributes do. I nudge Brion. "Let's gather food and supplies. Don't look too obvious. Only take enough to keep us supplied for a few days." Brion nods and goes off to pack a backpack. I start to make one of my own. I grab a small sword and jam the hilt into my backpack so that the sharp blade sticks out. Then I go to grab some foodstuffs from the food pile.
"Gamemakers haven't done much yet." I jump at the voice and spin around. "Oh, hi Eve," I say to the sickly girl from 9. Eve's face is stoic, almost dead. "The tributes from 1 are still out there too," she says through her pale lips. "I hope I'm not the first to go." Eve then goes into a fit of coughs and has to sit down. I scoot over to her. "What did you say you have again?" I ask. "Cancer. Lung cancer," she responds. "It's treatable with the Capitol's medicine, but we can't afford medication for it at home." She coughs again. "The doctors gave me about six months to live, so being here only makes the end come faster. That's why I volunteered, you know?" She starts coughing once again, and has to catch her breath before she continues. "If I somehow win the Games, I'll have enough money for treatment." I smile at the young girl, all the while thinking in the back of my head how she'll get no pity from the other tributes, especially Flora and the tributes from 1. Eve looks at me with sunken eyes and says, "So, Brion killed the boy from 4. How'd that happen?" I look away from her for a moment, recollecting. "We were the only tributes to hang around the horn after the tributes scattered. The girl from 8 ran after Flora and Flax, but they were too fast. Apparently, somewhere in between them and the Cornucopia, she changed plans and started back. She ran into the boy from 4, and chased him towards us. We were scavenging for supplies when we heard them coming. The boy broke through the forest and turned around when he heard her scream. That's when she died, somewhere in the trees. The boy turned and saw us. Then he started making fun of us! Talking about how ugly I was and how stupid and short my partner looked. Fate would have it that as he walked towards us, he would trip over a rock and break his ankle. He started screaming and rolling around on the ground in pain. Then Brion snapped. He grabbed a sword, ran over, and beheaded him before I could even stop him." I turn back to Eve, whose mouth hangs open. "Wow," she says finally before she starts coughing again. Poor girl. "Why don't you go lie down for a while?" I say. "You need to be ready for when the Gamemakers strike." Eve nods and gets up. She wanders off, murmuring to herself about wanting a blanket. I finish packing and find Brion, who has already prepared his things. "Let's get some rest," I say. "We'll need all our energy tonight."