Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games nor anything by Margaret Carty.
A/n: I'm in a bit of a rush to go off and revise so shall just say, I hope you enjoy!
7) The Nice Thing About Teamwork is That You Always Have Others On Your Side
I know I should be nervous and upset but I'm so tired that I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. In one way, this makes sense because there's nothing I can do now and sleep can only be good for me. But maybe it just hasn't hit me yet that I'm going into the arena.
I'm woken up early by Iunia who's happily telling me that it's a new, exciting day and am I ready for the next challenge. I make an attempt at nodding which seems to satisfy her: she hands me a dress and when I've put it on, takes me to the roof where a hovercraft picks me up.
In the hovercraft, a woman jabs me with a needle; the tracker, she says, so that they can always tell where I am. I guess there are parts of the arena which cameras can't cover and nor can microphones. I wonder if anyone's ever managed to destroy any of that equipment before. Maybe I should try it when I'm there. But since I'll be facing enough of a challenge as it is, without seriously annoying the Gamemakers, I decide just to be normal. Or, at least, not as weird as people usually think I am (it's not as weird as I am because there's no real definition of normal so how can I be weird when no one can be normal? Surely we're all weird?)
Finally, I'm taken to a small cavern and left with Iunia. The room is pretty bare with just a table, some chairs, a circle where I'm supposed to stand and a package. Iunia tuts about how gloomy it looks in here. The gloominess of the room is the least of my problems but it's definitely not making me feel better. Nerves are beginning to hit me now. What if I get killed straight away?
The answer comes to me as soon as I think it. If I get killed straight away then there's not a lot I can do about it. So I should probably not worry about that. Worry more about avoiding that.
"Let's see what we've got then," Iunia says and opens the package. Inside, there are some sturdy boots with a strong grip. Long, thick brown pants. A burgundy tunic and a water-proof coat. Even the socks are quite thick. Iunia comments that they all look quite ugly as she dresses me in them and then, after I ask, suggests that I must be going somewhere cold. Well, that's helpful. Anywhere could be cold! OK, I guess a jungle or a desert wouldn't be but it's not exactly narrowed my options down significantly. But I don't say any of this because I don't think Iunia knows any more than she said. And shouting never helped anyone.
She hands me Menna's little necklace and I quietly loop it around my neck. I have to win, to prove to her that not everyone she cares about will die. Not that I know if she cares about me but now that she's convinced I'll stay alive, I feel obliged to do so. If I die...
I order myself not to think about it. Thinking about the "what ifs" is stupid. You'll just be there for hours and have nothing to show for it. It's better to focus on the now and will bes.
Once I'm dressed, Iunia ties my hair back into a plait and then talks non-stop about how I'll be fine and how these Games are sure to be exciting. I nod every so often to give the appearance of keeping up but I stopped listening after about five minutes. Instead, I try to analyse my plan. Use the sixty seconds to locate Mattis and survey the area. When the gong goes, run as fast as I can from the Cornucopia, meet up with Mattis and both of us should find water. It'd probably be helpful if we could pick up some items but it's better to have no items and be alive than to have loads and die.
A voice in the room tells me that I have one minute left. I get up and walk onto the plate. Iunia looks at me.
"Thanks for everything," I say.
"You were brilliant," she answers cheerfully and the worrying thing is, I don't think she's lying. "I hope you have fun in the Games. Remember: energy."
For some people, "Games" is clearly not seen as a misnomer.
"I'll remember that. Bye, Iunia."
"Bye, Anfisa."
The pod encloses around me and I feel myself going up. I barely have time to take stock of my surroundings when a loud voice makes me jump.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Sixty-seventh Hunger Games!"
I begin to look around. We're in a grassy clearing. In front of me is a rocky slope heading upwards. To my right, the clearing continues towards some kind of rock face. To my left, the clearing slopes gently downwards. Around me are small items – notably, a water bottle and a knife are nearby. Mattis is standing four people away on my right.
I'm just turning my head to look behind me when the gong sounds. It takes a few seconds for my brain to process this but my legs have already started moving and when I catch up with reality, I've scooped up a knife and the small, empty water bottle and am charging towards Mattis. He sees me, seems to snap out of his stupor and runs as well. Without commenting, we head to the area which was behind us, which I see leads upwards. Around me, I can hear shouts and, suddenly, a scream. I start to look behind but stop myself.
Mattis gasps and out of the corner of my eye, I see him turn his head so that he faces forward. He looks a bit sick.
"What happened?" I gasp, despite myself.
"You don't want to know," he shouts back. We don't say a word until we reach the top of the slope. To the right is some kind of woods and we instantly run that way. Anything to ensure we're as far away from everyone else as possible. I see someone who may be the girl from District 6 running in the opposite direction.
After about half an hour, we've settled to a light jog and we're both tired. We've basically been running aimlessly and now we have to face up to facts. We're in the Games and there are twenty-two other people who want to kill us. We have a knife and a water bottle between us, both of poor quality. And we need to somehow survive without killing each other.
I have to admit, my chances are not looking good. But then, they've never been good so I shouldn't complain.
We keep jogging and only stop after another half-hour has passed. We can see the end of the trees but we haven't found any water yet. Nor have we seen any tributes. But I'm glad for the break because we seriously need a plan.
"We need a plan," I say. He nods, his face pale. I peer at him. "Are you alright?"
He jumps. "What? Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Definitely f-"
"What's wrong?" He looks away. "Mattis, tell me," I order. Still nothing. "If you're in shock then I'll just have to leave you because a shocked partner is worse than no partner at all."
The bluntness of my words startles me as well as him. I know what I said is true but we haven't been in any situations yet so I shouldn't be talking about leaving already. I'm not even sure where those words came from. I feel awful but I can't take it back now. This is why the wisest people tend to be the quietest. They already know not to speak unless they know how it will be received.
"Uh, it was, uh ... the, er, the bloodbath," he stammers. I nod and sit down. He sits down next to me. "I just looked, to see if anyone was following us and ... and ..." He closes his eyes. "She killed him. She, she, she just got her axe and s-s-swung it at him. At, at, his neck. And his head was ... it was..." he trails off but I get the picture. He closes his eyes. I don't know what to say. I've never been good in sensitive situations generally and I've never had to comfort someone after they've seen a complete stranger decapitated.
It's as I think this that I also begin to feel a bit sick. I must have seen this victim. Trained with him and heard his interview. This person is probably like us – just wanting to go back home. And it's not even "is" now. I can't make this fact register in my head.
For the first time, I look at Mattis and wonder how I'd feel if I saw him die. If I had to kill him, even. I'm not very good at imagining because I prefer to focus on reality but when I think about him lying somewhere, dead, I feel a sudden loss. And that's just imagination.
"Come on," I say after a few more minutes. "It's ... we'll just have to try and hide from everyone. Not think about it." He still says nothing. "Look, the trees continue that way so if we keep going, we might find water and it'll be harder to spot us." He nods. I stand up and he does as well. But he still looks stunned. "Mattis," I say as we begin to jog, "tell me more about your girlfriend."
To be honest, I'm not amazingly interested in her but it's one of only two topics I can think of which might get him out of his stupor. I'm right. He begins to chatter animatedly about her, only stopping to draw breath. This is a stupid idea because we're making ourselves clear to anyone nearby. But I haven't heard the tell-tale cannons which mean the bloodbath at the Cornucopia has finished so I decide that the risk is minimal. Better to have him chattering and moving than silent and becoming a sitting duck.
Vaguely, I question the wiseness of us teaming up. But then, I'm only thinking this because I'm annoyed at how much I have to calm him down. If we're apart, it's got to be harder to survive in the arena. The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side and, in the Games, that means one less person trying to kill you (at the moment). Besides, I can't say I've been reacting well. A few hours in and I told Mattis off for being shocked at someone's death. Maybe we just react in different ways.
After a while, he's silent as he starts to pant more. That's when the cannons begin to fire. Without meaning to, we stop. I start to count.
"Nine," I say at the end.
"Thirteen more people out there," he answers. Then we keep going. I don't want to voice the fact that all thirteen will want to kill us. Nor does he. Instead, I look at the sun and decide that it's been about three hours. The Games started at about midday. We have a three hour headstart on most people and we still don't know where we're going or how we're going to survive.
But at least we're alive.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It's getting dark when we find a small stream, running down the mountainside.
We left the woods on an upward slope about an hour ago and found that we've headed onto a narrow mountain path with steep slopes going up and down. As far as we can tell, this entire arena is a series of mountains and hills. It doesn't seem to stop at the top (though we haven't travelled uphill much) and we can't see it ending at the bottom. Instead, there are sharp dips, clearings and wooded areas as well as caves in the actual mountain. The wind is starting to bite and I have a feeling it's going to get colder. But at least we've finally found water. Oleander won't have given up on us yet.
Our first instinct is to drink from it and fill up the bottles but then I remember being told in survival skills not to drink water unless we know it's clean. I'm not sure how dirty a stream can get – surely it's only still water which is really dangerous – but Mattis says that he doesn't want to die already. I don't want a hysterical district partner (or, at least, a stuttering one) so I agree to boil it.
This is when we remember that we don't have any way to do it.
After a few minutes of bickering, Mattis suggests making a fire and boiling the water in the bottle without setting the bottle on fire. The difficulty will be doing it so that the fire can't be seen – we're currently halfway up a slope and can probably be seen from a distance away. The problem is that wherever we go, a fire will be seen, fire being one of those things that has an annoying tendency to glow. We debate this a bit more and finally decide that our options are:
1) Just drink the water and risk dying.
2) Boil the water and risk dying.
3) Leave it until morning and try to ignore our thirst.
Unsurprisingly, we decide on option three. Whatever thirst is, it isn't the same as dying. Although if we are now killed, I will be really annoyed that I didn't get the chance to have a drink first. (Though if I'm dead, I will presumably be too dead to be annoyed about much anyway. Except the fact that I'll be dead).
We decide to follow the stream downhill until it becomes too dark to see much. Just as we make this decision, the anthem begins to play. Automatically, I look to the sky to see who has died.
The tributes from District 3 appear first. I find myself breathing a sigh of relief as I realise that Gloss is still alive. The girl from District 7 is next, then the boy from 8, the girl from 9, the boys from 10 and 11 and, finally, both from District 12. I recognise all of their faces, even though I didn't know them at all. It feels weird to think about that so I decide to pretend it's just another Hunger Games where we watch and don't pay attention. Like it's got no relevance in our lives.
"It was the boy from 8," Mattis whispers.
"What?" I snap my head to look at him.
"The boy from 8. The girl from 4 was the one who k-k-killed him."
His teeth are beginning to chatter. Clearly he hasn't forgotten the sight of him dying. I hope we don't end up having to kill anyone because I have a feeling he'll be worse than useless. Although I don't know how I would be because I've never seen anyone die in real life. Not so brutally anyway. But the point is, Mattis and violence obviously don't mix.
"We should avoid her then," I comment. He stares at me. This wasn't the right thing to say then. "At least it was quick. And it wasn't us."
"Anfisa, how can you care so little?" he asks
"I do care," I reply. "But if we start panicking now, we're dead. One of us has to be the rational one."
He doesn't say anything so we sit in silence for a few more minutes. I suggest sleep although I'm not sure where since we have no sleeping bag. We're in some long grass but there isn't much cover. I've lost track of where we came from. This may mean that it's harder for people to follow us. Or we're just incompetent and it's a straight walk from the Cornucopia. I don't worry about it because there's not a lot we can do now.
I suggest that Mattis sleep first. Being awake will just make him hysterical. He accepts this without argument and settles down. I grab the knife and try to think of an effective place to stand. There isn't a good spot so I pace around instead. It's a useless exercise - I can't see anything - but I suppose I can listen.
After a while, I hear Mattis' soft snores. It's a struggle not to fall asleep myself. I become increasingly paranoid as the night goes on and my neck soon begins to hurt from my constantly turning it to face imaginary foes. When it's time to wake up Mattis, I'm relieved. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the grass.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Mattis wakes me up after the sun has completely risen. Numbly, we go to the stream, put some water in the bottle and make a fire. As we hoped, it's harder to see the flames or the smoke. As soon as it's boiled, we take it off the fire and drink for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours. Mattis spots some berries nearby which we identify as safe so we eat them. It's not exactly a solid meal but it does stop us from dying which is clearly a positive. Besides, we're both used to being hungry. We just have to keep finding food and water.
After a few minutes discussion, we head downstream. I feel drained and Mattis doesn't look much better. I poured water on myself at the stream but it didn't wake me up: it just made me wet. Considering the cold wind, I can see it was a bad idea. I clasp my arms, trying to conserve body heat.
As we walk, the day warms up. Neither of us is talking or even paying much attention so it's more by luck than by skill that I realise we're heading for a sheer drop. We must have found some kind of boundary or area we're not meant to go into. The only option is to walk back up.
The hike back up takes most of the day and we end up camping where we started off. No one has been killed. I don't know whether to feel relieved about this or not.
On the morning of the third day, we decide to walk out of the grassy dip and onto the rock path. I'm beginning to feel edgy. Over twenty-four hours without a death. The Gamemakers will want to do something, and soon. If they can't inspire some kind of horrible fight, they might take it out on one of the quieter tributes i.e. me and Mattis. I force myself to remain calm. Being jumpy will just make everything more dangerous.
After a while, the path becomes narrower. When I look to my right, I realise we're above a forest or some group of trees. Neither of us has been paying much attention to direction but we think we're at least a day's hike away from the Cornucopia – we're just not sure which direction. But hopefully the toughest tributes are near the Cornucopia with their food. And not around the corner, about to kill us.
Mattis jumps across a small gap in the path. I jump as well but as I do, I hear a rumble and see him frantically grab the stone wall behind him.
People say that in situations where you know something bad is going to happen, time seems to stand still. They're wrong. Time moves at the exact same speed and you experience it at the exact same speed. I don't float in the air for many seconds as the ground beneath me shakes. I quickly fall and lose my footing instead, giving me enough time to shriek.
"Anfisa!" Mattis yells as I clutch the path desperately.
"Mattis!" I shout back. I kick my legs, trying to get a grasp on the ledge. It shakes in response. My fingers tighten on the rock. I look over. If Mattis keeps moving about ten metres, the path widens and there's an opening which could be a cave. He'd be safe.
"Hang on!" he yells. Before I can comment, he lets go of the wall and starts to move towards me but the ground shakes even more violently. He scrambles backwards. I feel skin on my fingers break. I'm terrified. There are no other words for it. I'm going to die unless Mattis pulls me up.
I see him let go of the wall again.
"Be careful!" I shout.
He nods and tries to move forward but as soon as he does, the ground shakes viciously and he's slammed back into the wall. He shakes his head and tries again. The same result. One of my hands slips.
"Anfisa!" he yells. His face is a picture of dread and worry. "I ... I can't ... I can't get there! I won't make it." My heart stops for a second. He shakes his head.
My other hand slips.
"Mattis!" I scream.
"Anfisa!" I catch a glimpse of him lurching forward but then it's gone and I'm hitting things and falling and-