When the sun rises, Quaid and I exit the cave. We know today is the day our peace treaty ends with Camilla and Devin. Staying in the same place for too long will obviously end in bloodshed. We decide to scout out the arena and find more food. Our meat and dried fruit supply is running low, and we need more food if we are going to survive. I grabbed half of the sponsored knives and a bag with fruit. Quaid picked his spears and a bag of cold meat.
As we walked, I tied my hair up out of my eyes. Daddy always told me that you could see your target better without hair in your face. Twigs snapped under our boots and leaves crunched under the pressure. We kept walking, unsure of where we were going. A conversation didn't take place; it might scare away any animals we came across.
A brown rabbit crossed our path. I stopped Quaid and threw my knife at the creature. Right in the eye. I ran over, grabbed my reward, and took my knife out of his skull. These knives are amazingly useful. Despite their golden color and flashy handle bars, they can slice through anything it passes through. That is something I never would have received at home. I placed the carcass in my back pack. I'll cook him up when we get back in the cave.
Today wasn't as exciting as most days in the Games. Back home, when I watch the Hunger Games, I was actually amazed on how the tributes did. We watched Katniss and Peeta's Games multiple times. The Capitol has sent out discs of past Hunger Games to each district, making them be sold in stores. Obviously, Districts 1, 2, and 4 were always replacing their copies. At my house, we have every Hunger Games ever to take place. I remember the first victor, Torren Lancer from District 6. He won by walking around at night and slicing everyone's throats or stabbing them in the chest while they slept. His tactic wasn't as good as Annabelle's, though.
"Welcome back to the coverage of the Seventh Quarter Quell, Panem. I am your host, Dusk Shine."
"And Chal Sherwood."
"Day seven in the arena and eight tributes left to fend for themselves. I have to say, Chal, these Games are going by quite quickly."
"And right you are, dear Dusk. These tributes seem more than eager to kill as many of their competitors as they can so they can leave the arena. It's only been a week and over half of the tributes are dead."
"Let's run through who are left. Flitter from District One. She's been tied a tree for two days..."
As spot a lone chicken, I notice Quaid's muscles ripple as his spear lodges itself into the chicken's body. "Not bad, Quaid. I would have hit him in the eye, but we'll still fry him anyway."
"Thanks, Jada." He says as he retrieves his spear and his meat.
"Another tribute from District One. Quaid. He's still working with his assigned partner, Jada. I'm surprised at this, Dusk. Most of the tributes left their partners for dead."
"But, you have to take into account that Camilla from District Two also stuck with her partner. What are Quaid and Jada doing?"
"They appear to be hunting. And in the right direction, I might add. No one has found the main water source yet..."
We are still walking when my foot steps in moist moss. "Quaid!" I yell in a hushed voice. "Feel this with your foot." He does what I tell him and places his foot in the moss.
"It's moist." He observes. "We must be getting closer to a water source."
We use our feet to track where the water is coming from. The landscape dips just slightly as the volume of water increases. Water is reaching my ankles before I realize what we have found. A lake and a source for water.
"Jada! We found it!" he yells as he picks me off of the ground.
"Now, Camilla and Devin is an unlikely pair to be working together. What are they doing, Chal?"
"They appear to be walking about, talking and looking for victims. They are heading in the complete opposite direction that Quaid and Jada. Tell me if I am wrong, but did those two alliances have a treaty of some sort to not kill each other?"
"Yes, but that was three days ago. If they want to kill each other, one of the alliances need to turn around."
We are soaked to the bone. Quaid and I decided to have fun while we are in the arena. We kept our shouts and yelps to a minimum level to make sure we weren't heard. The lake is the deepest in the middle and I can't swim that far. Quaid kept pulling me towards the area where I might drown.
"I won't let you drown. I promise." He says, holding out his hand.
"You better not." I reply while taking his hand. He holds me above the water, making sure I don't go down. He is about a foot taller than me and, when he is holding me above the water, I am about his same height. I couldn't believe I was swimming in a death arena. I was having fun here.
"What are Malloy and Hollis up to, Dusk Shine?"
"They appear to be walking towards the far west of the arena. Malloy and Hollis seem to be a good pair besides Quaid and Jada."
"I agree. They seem to work well together, like Quaid and Jada. They haven't split since the Games began, and they seem to have a hearty supply of food."
"However, tributes with a great supply will have to guard that with their lives. Wait, what are they doing?"
"Quaid." I say when we are sitting with our bare feet dipping in the clear water. "I had fun today." I look into his deep emerald eyes.
"I did too, Jada." He says, scooting closer to me. "You know, my friends and I always joked that the arena would only hold death. I never knew it could have held fun like I had with you."
My cheeks flushed as he placed his hand on mine. His hands were soft like a baby. I couldn't help but notice the water reflecting in his eyes. They look like green water pools. I scooted closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. This is the place, where I love you.
"Now, District Eleven's Carly lasted longer than we thought. She is working by herself, but she has enough food and resources to scrape by."
"For being thirteen, she is definitely being so careful with the items she got from the Cornucopia."
"Now, Dusk. Which pair do you think will win?"
"Chal. You know that I can't do that. But, despite that, I believe Quaid and Jada will come out victorious. They are in a rhythm and it's to a point where they might win the Games as a pair and a romantic couple."
"I agree with you there, but I believe that Camilla and Devin will take the title as victors."
"Why?"
"Well, Camilla is native to District Two. Two has the most victors in history. More than half of the victors are native to District Two. She seems very competent with swords and any weapon given to her. Devin, only receiving a seven in training, depends on Camilla. They just might win this thing."
As I looked into Quaid's eyes, he leaned closer to me. His lips touched mine and locked into a kiss. The only place where I could love this boy was in a death match. Quaid's kisses were light as a butterfly's wings. I let go of him against my wishes and let my head fall on his chest.
We gathered as much water as we could and found our way back to our cave. Water was sloshing in our boots and jacket pockets as we traced our steps.
"I can't believe we found the water source!" I say, setting our stuff down on the floor of the cave. "We'll be set until the Games end!"
"I agree with you there." The sun was now gone and no cannons fired. We roasted our meat and fed on it. The grease from the meat coated our fingers and chins as we dug in.
When the anthem started, I dropped my meat. Quaid giggled as he picked it up. No faces appeared. I'm glad that the number as deaths has gone down. I couldn't stand seeing that many faces in the sky in one day. I wonder what the tributes were thinking during the Second Quarter Quell.
The anthem finished and we faced each other. "I wish I didn't have to kill anymore tributes." I say.
"I know what you mean." Quaid replies. "But, your sponsors gave you golden knives for a reason. And that reason isn't killing chickens and rabbits."
"If you were given a sponsor gift, would you..." Beep! Beep! Beep! A silver casing floated from the sky and fell onto Quaid's lap. Each year the sponsor gifts get better and better at the aim and where they fall. One year, a sponsor gift hit the tribute's head. That gave me and Jace a laugh.
Quaid opened that casing and found a perfectly cooked turkey and a few spare spear heads in a separate bag. The spear heads were sharp with extra spikes on them. The turkey landed in my lap, with grease dripping from it.
"You got a sponsor!" I exclaim.
"These spear heads look deadly." Quaid says, fear flicker in his eyes. "How much pain will these inflict on my victims?"
"I'm not sure." I reply, holding the grease covered turkey towards his face. "Wanna chow down on your sponsor turkey?"
"You know the way to my heart." He kisses my cheek and takes the turkey.
"Dusk, did you see that? Quaid received his first sponsor gift. That turkey looks delicious and those spears do look deadly."
"Yes. I do believe they are. And Quaid and Jada are in a romantic relationship. He's sharing his gift with her. What are they going to do when they must go their separate ways during the Victory Tour?"
"Are you implying that they will win?"
"I'm just saying. Both the tributes can win if they are still a pair. What are they going to do?"
"I'm not sure, Dusk Shine. Thank you for tuning in, Panem. Day seven down and no deaths today. What will day eight hold? Who knows? Tune in tomorrow and you'll see. I'm Chal Sherwood."
"And I'm Dusk Shine."
"And thank you for watching the Seventh Quarter Quell. Good night!"