Chapter 27:
Haymitch, Peeta, and I don't move from the bar. Haymitch keeps ordering more and more drinks and gets progressively more and more wasted; neither Peeta nor I feel good leaving him alone, especially in light of what he just told us. Peeta puts his arm around me, and we just sit there, making sure Haymitch isn't dead as he loses consciousness on the bar, and keeping our eyes on the TV screen. This is a far more drawn out first day of the Games; I can't decide whether the Gamemakers would agree that this is a good thing or not. There hasn't been a bloody battle, where a third to half of the tributes are taken out in the first couple of hours- two of the three tributes that lost their lives so far did so almost by accident. Nevertheless, it still seems to be shaping up into a pretty gruesome day.
By early afternoon, Stone and Paavo have not only helped pull Silk to safety, but they heeded the shouts from the Career girls, Ruby and Nutmeg, to come help dig them out from their rock walls. The Careers then thoroughly ransacked the Cornucopia, taking any food and water, the big weapons, and some of the survival gear. The five of them instantly decided as a group to set up camp in the Cornucopia itself. Since they were not going to have to camp on the ground, or without a form of shelter, they didn't need a lot of the supplies provided- and let them be for now. Since they couldn't figure out how to turn on the cattle prod, they tossed it aside. They started a fire and ate a hearty lunch, after which they were ready to go on the offensive.
The five of them, each a weapon in hand, begin loudly debating over which tributes to take out first, laughing and jeering. I am taken back to last year's games; shudder at the similarity of it all- with the group of Careers relishing their role as bullies, somehow allowing a District 12 tribute to crash the party. I wonder if any of them actually remember the tape from last year. Then again- Paavo has been nothing short of convincing so far.
Things start to get violent. The group goes after the boy from District 10 first, with all of them dismantling his rock wall together and trapping him on his circle. The boy screams as Silk slashes him with his machete, but thankfully when Stone hits him on the head with a rock he is taken out of his misery, though that doesn't stop the rest of them from each getting a swing in with their respective weapons. I can't bear to watch this part- I bury my face in Peeta's chest.
As this is happening, the cameras occasionally show the reactions of the other tributes, all of whom look petrified. The boy from District 5 wets his pants. The girl from District 9 screams hysterically, after which the Careers all agree that she will become the next target- just to shut her up. Her screaming doesn't stop until she's dead. The Seeder-like tribute from 11 has her eyes closed in prayer, whispering to herself. Ohm just sits there, leaning against his rock wall, makeshift weapon in hand, tears streaming down his cheeks. But he doesn't set his device in motion, or speak up.
Next the Careers go after the boy from District 6, who puts up a fight, quickly punching Stone in the face with enough power to briefly knock him out. But one unarmed tribute is no match for five with weapons, and even with Stone unconscious on the ground for a moment, the other four attack him with earnest, and there is no chance for the District 6 boy to survive. By the time the Careers reach Elena from District 7, she had already jumped from her platform into the snow, trying to control her own fate. But that doesn't stop Ruby from throwing a spear directly into her back. Somehow, there's a camera near where her body lay; they show a close-up of Elena's face. Those wide, innocent eyes, no longer with any life behind them, are absolutely heartbreaking. Elena didn't look like she would have hurt a soul. I drop my head in mourning of another member of the alliance gone.
The Careers move on, and as they start to move rocks, dismantling the rock wall of the next tribute, you can hear a single shout pierce the air. "No!" protests Copper. She doesn't say anything else- she doesn't want to upset the Careers like the girl from District 9. But it's enough for Ohm to hear, and he instantly reacts, sitting up, listening carefully- you can almost hear the wheels turning in his head. But if he's going to save his district partner, than he doesn't have much time to act. He clears his throat and raises his voice.
"No! Take me first!" he yells desperately.
The Careers look over towards his direction, surprised and amused.
"Maybe we'd better listen to him," says Ruby to the others, in a syrupy sweet tone. She raises her voice to yell back to Ohm. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes!" comes the quick reply. "Please- I beg of you." Ruby, intrigued, heads over the wooden path towards Ohm's platform. The rest of the Careers, eager to take their aggression out on someone who is literally asking for it, follow her. They huddle near his rock wall, preparing to remove some of the rocks, when the camera shows Ohm connecting some wires to create a spark, then pitching his apparatus up into the air. He throws himself down to the metal plate and holds on.
The mine explodes before anyone, including Ohm himself, is ready for it- it hasn't even cleared his rock wall, it was only about two-thirds of the way up. The rocks comprising the top of the wall fly outward, hitting Paavo, Stone, and Silk- they boys had all been closest, ready to clear out one of the larger rocks near the side of the wall- and the three of them are knocked to the ground. Silk and Paavo are both knocked unconscious, and a landing boulder pins Stone's forearm to the wooden path. It's oddly ironic. The girls are frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do next, before they head towards Stone to try and free his arm. It is then that the camera moves again to show Copper running towards the Cornucopia.
Since the Careers had already started disassembling Copper's rock wall, she was able to squeeze through with minimal effort. She has almost reached the Cornucopia by the time Ruby and Nutmeg even notice, but they immediately abandon trying to free Stone and take off quickly after her.
It is clear that Copper wants only one thing- the cattle prod, District 3's weapon of choice. Fortunately for her, the Careers didn't hide it or toss it in the snow- it was laying haphazardly next to a bunch of other supplies outside of the Cornucopia that the Careers had deemed unnecessary for use. Ruby and Nutmeg are closing distance on Copper, but not before she reaches the device, hits several buttons simultaneously to turn it on, and takes aim.
The electricity that escapes out of the end hits Ruby and Nutmeg square on the torso, and they fall backward helplessly until they lay flat, convulsing slightly. This particular prod doesn't appear to have quite the voltage to kill. However, Ruby and Nutmeg seem that they will be pretty defenseless for the near future.
Trembling visibly, Copper slowly makes her way towards Ohm's rock wall, towards the male Careers. Almost hesitantly, she reaches out the prod to shock Paavo, Silk, and Stone while they are already incapacitated. The zap! that escapes the prod, combined with the thud of the back of Stone's head hitting the ground, tells me that she has succeeded. Relieved but shaken, she glances over what is left of the rock wall to check in on her district partner. However, once she sees Ohm, who was clearly too close to the explosion to survive, I'm sorry that she did. His body is mutilated, his face utterly unrecognizable. Copper kneels, breaking down into hysterical sobs, choking out her breaths. The arena around her becomes awfully silent.
A couple of minutes later, however, Jack sneaks out from his own rock wall and ventures across the Cornucopia to the other wooden path where Copper sits. He gently taps her shoulder, and she turns around and looks up at him in surprise.
"Look, I know you're upset, but I'm with you and Carrie is too,"- I can only assume that he is referring to Mouseface- "and if we can rescue her now and get some supplies from the Cornucopia, then we stand the greatest chance of getting out of here and meeting up with the rest of them, wherever they are," He gestures vaguely to the remainder of the arena. Clearly he means the rest of the alliance.
Copper nods stiffly. She seems to realize that there will be few opportunities, if any, other than this one to escape the Careers unscathed. Jack helps Copper off of the ground, and the two of them immediately head over to where Mouseface patiently waits for them. The two of them working together, aided by the cattle prod which works as a great tool to knock rocks loose, move enough of the wall to get Mouseface through in a matter of minutes. The three of them have their pick of the Cornucopia, and they take as much as they can realistically haul. But there is no other sled; they have to escape in a much more tedious way- by using the electricity, along with torches, to sublimate the dry ice and free a path on the ground, until they reach a spot several yards away where the snow isn't as deep. Unfortunately, the path that they clear can be followed by anyone else as well. They are simply hopeful that the Careers will be tending to their own injuries for a while before going back out after anyone else.
The camera intermittently checks back to those of the alliance already in the woods- but they're boring, at least right now. Prim, Annella, and Paul walk along, searching for the best places under the tree canopy to make shelter and find food. Along the way, Prim is examining every shrub, fungus, lichen, tree, and berry, collecting numerous ones as they go. My stomach heaves. With how eventful the Cornucopia was today, and probably won't be tomorrow, I have a feeling this is as peaceful as things will be for Prim for a long time.