Almost on instinct, the tributes dash toward the Cornucopia. My feet itch to join them, but the tiny voice in my head reminds me of Finnick's instructions. "No Cornucopia," I mutter to myself. "Get away. Don't die. Run." I wince when I see the first blood being spilt.
It's a girl.
I think she's from Eight, but I can't tell from where I am. I wish I had gotten to know the tributes better.
All I can do is stand, frozen in horror, not far from my platform. That's when I see Davis running toward me. He's covered in blood.
My heart leaps when I see the bag in his hands. "What are you doing, you idiot?" he yells at me, "Let's get out of here!" My legs won't move. I'm rooted to the ground. Come on, come on! I scream silently.
Davis narrowly avoids a knife as he snatches my hand and jerks me along behind him.
"What about Monika?" I gasp out.
"No time to worry about that, Annie! We have to move away from the bloodshed first!" I stumble blindly after him while he leads the way. Right now, I don't care if he's leading me to my death. As long as there's someone to guide me, I'll manage. I just don't want to be alone.
I don't hear any cannons, but that's only because the cannons go off after the initial bloodshed's over, so it's easier to count the losses.
Davis drags me on in the direction of the forest.
"Where are you going? The dam, go for the dam!" I protest.
"Are you crazy?" Davis snorts. "The dam is in the opposite direction! No way in hell I'm going back to the Cornucopia!"
Grudgingly, I realize that he's right. If we were to head to for the dam, then we'd have to cut directly through the path of the Cornucopia. The voices have faded, but I can still imagine the fighting and the deaths...
Together, we run as fast and as far away as we could. Finally, I can't run anymore, and collapse onto the ground. Davis notices that I've stopped, and turns and joins me. "Just a little further," he coaxes. "The forest's the thickest there—" he gestures to his right— "and it'll be easier for us to hide should we come across any of the Careers."
"You—go—on—" I gasp out between breaths. "I'll—just...stay—here and die a slow, painful death."
I can almost picture Finnick scolding me for giving up so easily. I must go on!
"I'm not going anywhere without you," Davis insists stubbornly. As he speaks, he wipes off some of the blood from his arms. "We're not very far from the Cornucopia. It won't be long before the other tributes find us."
"Fine," I agree with a sigh. "But, first things first. Are you...hurt?"
"Am I hurt? No. This isn't my blood," Davis reassures me. "Don't worry about me. Let's find a place and settle down while there's still enough light."
It must still be pretty early, I think. After all, the Games began at ten in the morning, and it's barely been an hour since it started.
A cannon goes off.
And another.
Then another.
It's like that nightmare I had. Only more real.
"Only six?" Davis mutters quietly. I can't tell whether he's talking to himself, or to me, too. "Usually there's more. Guess it wasn't as bad this time. Annie...? Are you all right?"
The cannons. I can't stop shaking.
Is Ellie coming to kill me?
I open my mouth and scream.
"Annie! Oi, Annie! Snap out of it!" Davis raises his voice.
I struggle for air, but I take a breath and scream some more.
Davis looks around wildly for a moment, pushes me against a tree, and abruptly presses his lips onto mine.
Almost at once, he releases me. "Don't make me do that again," he growls. "You have to pull yourself together, Annie. I don't know why you scream like that, but if you're going to scream every time you hear a cannon, no doubt we'll be the next ones the cannons are for."
"Ellie's coming," I rasp. I bury my face in my hands. "No cannons! I don't want to die!"
"Snap out of it!" Davis repeats. "Oh, Finnick, what am I supposed to do? More importantly, why'd you leave me with someone so..."
What does help me snap out of it is a small voice stammering, "A-Annie?"
"Monika!" I exclaim in surprise. "When'd you get here?"
She shifts her feet. "I...heard you screaming."
I blink at her. "Oh..."
Davis looks from Monika to me, clears his throat, and says gruffly, "Well, now that we're all here, let's go. Since a certain someone was determined to find you first." He's taken over as our trio's leader. Not that I minded, because there's no way I can make any sensible decisions in the arena.
Davis takes the lead once again while Monika and I follow close behind. Monika's carrying a bag, too, and that makes me feel uncomfortable—I'm the only one not carrying a bag. "How did you get a bag?" I ask Monika, genuinely curious. See, Finnick? If someone like Monika can make it out of the Cornucopia alive, then I might have a chance, too!
She beams at me. "I'm very fast," she says.
"That's...great," I manage. Unfortunately, I am not very fast. So, never mind about me getting anything at the Cornucopia.
So far so good. We haven't walked into any traps.
"Do you have any earplugs in that bag?" Davis calls back to Monika.
"Why do you need earplugs?" I ask, "So I won't be able to hear the cannons? That's brilliant!"
"No; so I won't have to hear you screaming all the time," Davis responds, smirking a little. He reminds me too much of Finnick.
I let out a roar of rage and lunge myself at him. How dare he make fun of me? Then I remember Monika, who's staring at us both with wide eyes. I stop, and pretend that I had held up my hand to scratch my head. As I readjust myself at the last moment, I trip over a rock and stumble forward. If Davis wasn't there to catch me, I would've embarrassed myself on the first day in the arena, and no doubt I won't be getting any sponsors anytime soon.
After another few minutes of uneventful walking, Davis decides to stop.
"Finally!" I exclaim.
"I'll scout around for water, and you and Monika stay and make sure there aren't any...things nearby," he instructs us.
"I still say we should go back to the dam," I say. "There's got to be water there."
Davis just scowls at me before he carefully heads in one direction, dropping his bag beside me as he left. "Who died and made you leader?" I can't help muttering, despite the fact that no one died, and he made himself leader.
Monika giggles quietly. "I think he likes you," she says at my questioning glance.
I don't have the heart to answer her, because there's no way I can answer that question. Do I like Davis? As a friend, perhaps. Besides, he only kissed me to calm me down, even though that plan didn't work. It's the thought that counts.
Instead, I take the bag that Davis has left behind and inspect its contents. The first equipment I find is rope. Loads and loads of it. But it's not the sturdy kind that's used for fishing nets or traps. It's thin and easily breakable. "Great, useless rope," I say.
Next, I find an empty bottle. That's helpful. Very.
"Any luck?" I ask Monika.
"Cat food," she says, holding up a can. I wrinkle my nose. Why on earth would there be canned cat food?
"That's lovely," I comment. "We can use it as our last resort."
Monika lets out a cute little laugh.
"What are we going to do about lunch?" Davis reappears next to us.
I pick up the can of cat food and wave it at him. "Here, kitty, kitty."
Davis makes a face at me, and I burst out laughing. Monika joins in.
"Really, you two?" He grumbles.
I can't help it. If we're laughing like this, we won't have to die, right? Why? Why must we all die? What have we done to deserve this?
If we laugh like this, it helps me take my mind off other things—
Things like dying. And Finnick Odair.
Mostly just dying.
Disclaimer: The Hunger Games belongs to the amazing Suzanne Collins.
Arena day 1 (part 1)! (The ending's a little abrupt..)
And if I do start a Finnick POV, it won't be for a while. I have to finish this (and some of my other fanfics) first. But reviews help. *hinthint.