"He loves you, even if you haven't seen it yet."
Gannet's remark the previous night played through Sam's head as the three tributes scaled the canyon's collapsed wall the next day. Storm hardly loved her by any actions she'd seen. Sure, he looked out for her, and looked to protect her from danger – both the situations with the giant scorpion and in the cave had proven that – but what did that mean? For all she knew, he was just trying to cement an alliance and help the person he saw best fit for winning. He was an idealist, not a romantic.
Yet, she had to explore her own feelings. Sam remembered the look he'd given her back before the parade – she hadn't even known his name then. It was clear he saw something interesting. Since then he'd been working with her, trying to gain her favor, establishing the alliance around her. Did he really care about her? Was it some sort of trick? Undeniably he was clever, but did it run deeper?
There was something warm in that protection, as well…
Sam found something funny with dangerous, life-altering situations like the Games. In them, she'd found attachment with people she'd not known, accomplished over very little time. Gannet and Storm had only been in her life for a week and a half. Dallas had only spent a week with her, yet she respected him with every ounce due a victor. She felt as if she knew the people involved in the tournament eagerly awaiting her death more than most people she had known back in District 10. It was strange how it took life-or-death scenarios to do that.
The top of the canyon was noticeably cooler than the floor, subject to stronger constant winds that gusted over the dusty terrain. The sparse eucalyptus trees down in the canyon floor were nonexistent up at the top, exposed to the elements; only sand dust littered the landscape, along with a plethora of red and brown rocks ranging from the omnipresent pebbles and small stones to huge boulders. Everything blended into the same colors; uniformity was the main feature of note. Wherever the Cornucopia and the tree grove Sam had seen at the beginning were, they weren't here.
Sam was glad she had filled the water bottle up before ascending up here, as that was nowhere to be found. Strangely, animal life showed its head up more than down in the canyon. There, fish had been available and small things in the stream, but up here actual things with legs moved about from time to time. District 10 it was not, but seeing the occasional large-eared rabbit of a species Sam couldn't place was comforting. Even the one or two vultures she spotted offered something else alive.
Around high noon, Storm made an important discovery.
"That's not really normal," he said while taking point, turning around a clumped group of boulders. "Sam, you see these things in your district?"
It certainly wasn't normal. The animal carcass was intact and full of functionality, but not close to anything Sam had ever seen. The best she could place was a cross between a steer and a horse, but the unusual hump on its back and the elongated neck spoke of some other foreign creature entirely. A tan hide of short hair spoke of much greater things to get, however. The best part was around the creature's neck – a worn yet thick three-strand white rope that had obviously seen some time.
Camels weren't usual creatures in District 10, but Sam would have no problem finding something to do with the carcass.
"I don't even know what that is," she replied to Storm.
"Can we eat it?" Gannet asked, thinking with her stomach.
"I dunno, but it means we don't have to be cold at night anymore," Sam thought out loud. "Can I have the knife, Gannet? I'm gonna skin it. I can make something out of the rope around its neck, too."
The real prize was the lack of maggots or even carrion-feeders like the vultures. How the beast had managed to stave them off was an anomaly, but it spoke of a fresh death. Sam still had trouble with the thought of killing people, even after she'd racked her kill count up to two tributes, but gutting a dead animal was something she'd seen thousands of times in District 10. Every child back home had toured the slaughterhouses as part of schooling; this was no different than getting a drink of water.
"Skin it?" Gannet sounded worried.
"Yeah," Sam replied, slipping the knife in at the rear. "You just get the knife in like that, and make a big enough cut to get your hand in. It's kinda crude but you can work the hide off-"
She noticed that the other two had gone silent, raising her eyes up to see both of their stares. Gannet in particular looked distressed by Sam's casual demeanor to ripping the skin off the corpse's body – but then again, how often did District 4 kids have to kill big animals? Fish didn't count; they were ugly.
"Um, sorry," Sam said. "Listen, this is gonna take a while to get everything out…Gannet, why don't you and Storm go look around and see if there's anything else we can get near here? If this thing's dead, maybe there's other stuff."
Storm gave a wry smile and shook his head, watching Sam enter her element with the animal carcass. "You are kind of amazing, just going to work like that. But you're gonna be vulnerable to anybody by yourself."
"I'll see them coming. Just leave me the sword-thing," Sam indicated the kukri she'd left on the ground, blushing at Storm's compliment. "You two take the spears."
Gannet gave an uncertain look in Storm's direction, but Sam's two allies grabbed the backpack and left her to her work. Anyone but a citizen of District 10 likely would have found the entire thing disgusting, but Sam stuck her hand into the animal like it a routine job. Underneath the strange skin, it wasn't that different from a dead horse at all. Horse hide was a commodity the Capitol had no use for back in District 10, and the meat from the dead ones was one of the staple foods for those who could afford to pay the ranchers. Not exactly delicious, but protein was protein and anything that staved off starvation was good.
The camel's hairy skin proved a greater adversary to Sam then she originally thought, and it took the better part of an hour for her to strip the carcass from anus to head. She'd already had to throw a rock at a vulture approaching too close, and she figured it wasn't long before she had company through all sorts of unwelcome animal life. When the flies showed up – if they even lived out in this desert – it'd be too late.
Sam's life spent around animals told her of another valuable piece to the camel, however – one she didn't really plan on sharing. It was a risky venture with this unknown creature, but the heart of horses contained more nutrients than any other single piece. It was something that never escaped the tables of the comparatively wealthy of District 10, and it'd keep her going out here in the desert. Fluids, protein, minerals, vitamins – it was a lifesaver.
"Look at you," Sam began talking to herself to keep her company. It wasn't as if any stalking tributes would find her here. "You're on screens around Panem, and you're digging stuff out of this dead animal. That's really kinda gross. You're probably scaring people in District 1, Sammy."
She burrowed the knife in the chest wall of the camel, ripping it open and digging the heart out. Sam lifted up the purple organ to take a look – no real difference from a horse's. The other organs could provide all sorts of nasty diseases, but this one would be safe, if not the best tasting. She took a sniff, closed her eyes and made a face, and took a bite.
"Ugh," she said, quickly swallowing. "The spider was better."
She tossed the heart back onto the carcass after another bite – let the vultures have it.
"I bet Cheyenne's watching right now," Sam smiled to herself, still rambling on. "All like, 'Grr, why are you eating bloody dead horse-cow things, you're a savage, how do I sell you to sponsors when you're acting like an animal? Stupid girl!' At least I don't smoke."
Sam tore a large swath of meat from the loin and took the rope off before backing away to the boulders, dragging the hairy skin along behind her. A vulture appeared as she got to work on the rope, already hungry to begin feasting on the carcass. Sam thanked herself silently for telling Gannet to go do something else; the opened and exposed corpse of the camel was not pretty. It smelled worse.
The rope was a piece of work and a great find – for Sam, it was the best thing she'd discovered in the entire Games so far, with the exceptions of Storm and Gannet. Children of families involved in ranching and breeding learned to work with ropes from the ground up in District 10, using the utilitarian equipment in anything from securing horses to controlling unruly cattle before the onset of a storm. Sam had originally hoped to find a rope to fashion into a basic lariat that could be used as a ranged snare weapon – she'd seen a tribute from District 4 in a prior games who had fashioned a net out of vine and had used it in similar fashion to lethal effectiveness – but the flail of the boy from District 11 had given her a different inspiration.
Three decent-sized rocks and splitting the rope ends gave Sam the beginnings of basic bolas. She'd used them before – not really to any practical effect, but more because of Jake's insistence that she learn something every chance she got. Regardless, anything that could take out a horse or bull's legs at distance would be more than effective against a tribute. Not only did it give Sam ranged punch, but it'd also be useful up close if she lost her kukri somehow. Being unprepared against the Careers would be a fate so unpleasant that she'd make sure it never happened.
"Sam, that's just unsightly," Storm remarked as he and Gannet came back, with Sam finishing her rope weapon. "You left a dead thing in the middle of the desert."
Gannet looked on the verge of vomiting at the sight of the vulture finishing its pickings along the rump of the skinned camel.
"I have a blanket!" Sam exclaimed with a smile, holding up the hide. "It's hairy. And it was dead anyway."
"Doesn't that smell?"
"Well…you smell too."
"Oh-hoa!" Storm laughed. "You can make jokes and blankets. I have this tally going on why I would sponsor you, and it's getting long now."
Gee, Storm, you don't have to make it so obvious. I guess Gannet was right, Sam thought.
"Anyway," she said, trying to make Gannet feel included. "I know it's only the afternoon, but I kinda like this spot with the rocks here."
"So soon?" Storm scratched his head. "We have a lot of daylight left…"
"No, that's a good idea," Gannet spoke up with a stutter. "We found something and I dunno why it was there."
The girl dropped one thing Sam absolutely didn't expect – a full metal water bottle, attached to a silver parachute.
"Um…" Sam tried to make sense of it. Why would they send water? They didn't have a lot, but enough to keep them going for some time. "Did you get sent that?"
"No, it was just…lying there," Gannet said.
"It smells and tastes okay," Storm shrugged. "I figure the owner got offed or missed it. Their loss."
"Let's boil it anyway," Sam suggested, eying the water bottle oddly. It was strange to be just left out there...a trap, maybe? Or really just some tribute being stupid or dead? "Besides, I need a fire to cook some of the meat off that cow-horse thing."
Leftover wood from the canyon floor made up a respectable fire, and Sam wasn't concerned about others finding them up here. She slowly grew to accept Storm's notion; eventually, they'd have to run into someone dangerous, whether that was the Careers or whoever else. There was no going around that, and this open expanse played well into Sam's strengths. Here they'd get a good sight of someone coming and had more than enough room to maneuver; it was just a drier version of the prairie back home, really. Less animals, but still dusty.
The camel tasted bland and stringy, but it was plentiful and filling. Mixed with the remainder of the fish, the three tributes managed to put together one of their more filling suppers. They each had more than enough meat for the following day and the day after, drying out part of the camel meat to keep longer. The carcass had been a bountiful find.
Lying against one of the boulders and frying camel on a skewer made of a rib bone, Sam felt oddly relaxed. Storm had more than enough talk to keep the three going, and with less concern about detection, they could enjoy each other's stories and chatter by the fireside into the early evening.
"I'd only actually seen my mentor – my older mentor who I'm not related to – once before I got Reaped," Storm recollected after the meal. "His name's Haymitch, and he's known by everyone as a drunk. I was actually buying bread from the family that owns the bakery in the town square, people called the Mellarks, when he stumbles in drunk as a skunk. This was about a year ago, so pretty recently, and he hasn't gotten over the habit. Not even close."
"Anyway, Haymitch comes in and starts ranting about someone out to get him and 'his precious,'" Storm continued on, animating the scene with his hands. "Just as I'm about to leave in fear that he'll gore me with the empty bottle he's holding or something, he just passes out. Right there in the bakery shop. Stone drunk."
Sam giggled. "What did you do?"
"I actually got my uncle, since he's also a victor," Storm answered. "He and Mr. Mellark, the baker, had to half-carry, half-drag Haymitch back to his house in the Victor's Village. It was really stupid at the time, but now it's just…still stupid, but really funny."
Right as he finished his tale, an ear-splitting female scream shot over the desert. Storm kicked the fire dead with sand, grabbing his spear as Sam picked the kukri up from the ground. It had been near and very prominent – someone was on the verge of dying, and as the death count hadn't sounded out for the day, it'd doubtless have another face to show.
"It's close," Storm breathed, his back pressed to the boulders that shielded the three from seeing whatever – or whoever – it was. "I'm gonna have a look."
With the rising night concealing his whereabouts against the rocks, Storm stuck his head out over the rock formation. Sam took a glimpse between several of the rocks, and immediately saw trouble.
No doubt the fire had been spotted. Stumbling towards the trio came Kevlar, the girl from District 8 who had been courted as an ally by both Storm and the boy from 7, Ash. She had a bad leg by the look of it – maybe where the scream had come from – and although she was moving as fast as she could go, it was barely more than a trot. It'd never carry her to safety. Walking slowly behind as if to savor their waiting kill came three human forms. Sam barely could make them out in the little light of the evening, but as they drew closer, they were unmistakable.
District 1, 2, and 4 – Fresco, Hadrian, and Cascade.
Careers.