October lay on her back, watching the stars twinkle above the arena. They were so innocent. The stars never changed. No matter what happened below them, they twinkled on, constant silver specks that watched everything without judgment.
Stupid stars.
She stuck her hands up and studied them. After the bloodbath had ended, October had helped to move the bodies out of the clearing so that they would be taken by the hovercraft. Afterwards, her loosely named allies had gone to rinse their hands in the lake that Yuki had spotted between the trees. October had declined going with them. Instead she let the blood dry on her hands. It then flaked off, leaving a delicious red stain behind.
Thea and Ash had fallen to her axe earlier that day. She could have also gotten Darryl, but Levi had finished him off before she could get to him. She had taken too long killing Ash after Darryl chickened out when that idiot redhead had shoved Ash into his sword. On top of it, she'd let the redhead get away. That weakling should have died in the bloodbath. It would have been better for him.
In addition to her arena outfit—a white, long-sleeved turtleneck made out of a polyester material paired with a hooded fleece vest of the same color, insulated gray sweatpants, and white sheepskin boots lined with fur—October had also taken a black parka from the cornucopia. It was much cooler now than it had been at the start of the Games, but she hadn't put it on yet. She was using it as a pillow. October sat up and pulled the jacket onto her lap. From the secret inside pocket, she pulled out her token: a smooth gray stone carved in the shape of a perfect, five-point star.
She'd had the stone as long as she could remember. The people at the orphanage told her they found it with her. October never knew who gave it to her. Had it been a family member? A family friend? A stranger? She wasn't much for sentiment, but she kept the stone. She had it in her pocket wherever she went, out of habit more than out of necessity.
The Capitol anthem began to play, startling October. She shoved the stone back into its pocket and zipped it shut, lying back down on her pillow. One by one, the pictures of the tributes that had died that day appeared in the night sky. First to appear is the girl from District 1, Ciara Westbrook. October narrowed her eyes, thinking. She could clearly recall Ciara leaving the bloodbath. Had there been canon fire since then?
Ah, yes. She remembered now. Levi and Cedar had been arguing so loudly she almost didn't hear it.
October was glad Ciara was dead. It wasn't that she was a threat, it was that she was so helpless and bratty that it almost would have felt wrong to kill her. Stupid girl, rejecting a volunteer. October had watched her get reaped. Ciara overestimated herself greatly. She was cocky and idiotic and dead.
The next to appear was Conner Doherty, Ciara's District partner. District 1 is out of the Games on the first night. That's strange, October mused. She remembered moving Conner's body. After him was Ash Kamau, the oblivious thirteen-year-old from District 4. Another should-be Career gone. Then came both tributes from District 5, Natalia Domani and Darryl Duboise. October snorted. Natalia was supposed to be in her alliance, and she went and died in the bloodbath. How sad. The overweight one from District 6, Constance Wyman, followed Darryl's picture. Everyone had seen that one coming. The girl couldn't run to save her life, literally. Last was October's first kill of the Games, Thea.
Shouts arose from behind her, in the cornucopia, and October sighed. Not only was the Career pack made of tributes from typically quiet Districts, but they were doing an awful job of being a functional bunch. October could practically hear Panem resting their faces in their hands and shaking their heads at the four Careers' stupidity.
Movement to October's right startled her, and she faced a moment of panic in which she regretted not having a weapon with her. She tensed her muscles and prepared to spring up and fight the old school way when she noticed that it was Yuki that was beside her. The dark-haired girl sat down, holding out a roll and a handful of beef jerky. "Here," she offered.
October accepted the food, realizing how hungry she was. She had eaten a massive breakfast, but that was several hours ago, and it felt like longer. She sank her teeth into the roll, tearing away a chunk of the fluffy bread and chewing it ravenously. Yuki looked away in mild disgust. October snorted. With her mouth still full, she asked, "Levi and Cedar are fighting again?"
Yuki nodded, still not looking at October and her dreadful manners. "They're going to have to shut up and live with each other until we wipe out a few more tributes or it won't work. Then they can kill each other, I don't care." She stared straight ahead, her gray-blue eyes unfocused and unemotional.
"Kill each other now, later, what does it matter?" October asked, devouring a strip of beef jerky. "Only one of us can win anyway. Their bickering is annoying is all."
"We'll have a higher success rate if we can keep together longer."
"But we'll have a success rate no matter what. Have you seen the other tributes?"
"Whatever," Yuki spat.
October smiled to herself, eating in silence as Levi and Cedar's argument drew to a close. After a few minutes, Levi's voice raised again. "We need to move supplies around so we can sleep in the cornucopia. Help us out, you two."
Finishing the last bite of her roll, October got to her feet. She picked up her parka and put it on without zipping it up. It was a little nippy, but it wasn't that bad. She walked over to the cornucopia, where Levi and Cedar stood, observing the supplies. "What's our game plan?" October asked coolly.
Levi shrugged. "Several options," he grunted.
Cedar spoke up. "We can either arrange them inside or build some kind of pile of them outside. It's not rocket science."
"Will there be space for all of us in there if we leave them?" October inquired.
"Doubt it," Levi responded.
"So we move them out. We can organize them as we go, keeping them close together and close to us."
The other three nodded, and they got to work, speaking little. Slowly, weapons and jackets and supplies were all sorted. They opted to keep the food inside, where it would be safer. If they kept that from getting stolen, they could focus more on winning rather than on hunting. Near the end of their cleaning, Yuki found a water purifier buried in one of the packs, and Cedar was sent to the lake to fill it up.
"I could get killed!" the twelve-year-old from District 12 protested.
"Take this," Levi said, tossing Cedar an unsheathed knife with a little grin. Cedar yelped and leapt out of the way just in time. He fixed his gaze on Levi, his eyes burning. Levi simply smiled and pointed at the lake.
"Asshole," Cedar muttered, apparently too tired to start another fight. He left the knife stuck in the ground, instead picking up his bloodied mace from the bloodbath. He hiked it over his shoulder and headed towards the water.
"Watch out for muttations!" Levi called brightly.
Yuki turned away and rummaged through the piles for a moment. "We have seven flashlights," she pointed out.
"Oops."
Yuki sighed. "You two need to start getting along if this is going to work."
"No one asked you to be in our alliance."
"I am not the bad guy," Yuki shot back. Her voice was getting quieter and quieter, colder and colder. "We are the Careers and we have a shot at winning if we just—"
"Yuki, Yuki, Yuki," Levi chided. "There is no 'we' in the Hunger Games. There can be only one victor."
"Ultimately, yes, but wiping out the weaklings will be faster if we work together."
October sighed. "Will you two stop it?" Levi and Yuki looked at her, as though they had forgotten that she was there. "You sound like an old married couple."
It was dark, but October could swear she saw Yuki blush in the moonlight.
"We need a strategy and we need sleep. We're small for a Career pack, and we're from lesser-known Districts. The Capitol is laughing at us because we don't know how to behave ourselves and how to be victors. We need to show them that our neglected Districts aren't so weak."
"So what's the plan?"
October smiled a little. This little alliance almost felt like training for her real plans: win the Games and overthrow the Capitol. "Simple," she told Levi in a matter-of-fact manner. "We put our heads together like civil people and compile our knowledge of what direction tributes escaped in. We then take day trips out to find them, but return back here whenever we can in order to secure our supplies. However, at this stage in the Games I highly doubt tributes will be inclined to come back here."
Levi nodded. He opened his mouth to speak when a rustling sound started up in the bushes. The three all turned to look at it. Levi reached for a dagger in his belt, holding it out in front of him. They all held their breath in embarrassingly frightened silence until they saw Cedar walking towards them. Levi sheathed his weapon.
"I got the stupid water," Cedar said angrily.
"Thanks," Levi said with a curt nod. The corners of Yuki's mouth twitched upwards.
"Well, we should get to bed," October said, clapping her hands. "In you go."
"I'll stay out here," Yuki said quickly.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Someone needs to keep watch."
October narrowed her eyes. Levi stepped in quickly. "Wake us when you want to trade out."
"Please don't," Cedar chimed in.
"I'll be fine," Yuki assured the trio.