Day 10- The Games (Day 3)

I am not woken by cannon fire during the night and wake the next morning, aching but still alive and as well as can be expected.

I eat some more berries from my pack full of them, before heading warily into the town, armed only with a thin tree branch and a metal cog and bolt. No-one else is at the warehouse yet though, at least not showing themselves, and I hide my staff- it won't fit where I'm going, before heading to a hiding place I found yesterday. I hope I'm correct in thinking the supplies will be dropped through a hole in the roof of the warehouse, the floor under which I can clearly see from my position in a ventilation shaft. I start to get very uncomfortable as I wait for hours. I start to hear voices, but can't make out who is here, and then eventually the supplies appear, air-dropped into the corner of the warehouse.

I don't move though- I'd be walking into an ambush for sure. Indeed, moments later, Jade, Perrin and Shayla stride into the room. Varro and Cleo must have stayed to guard the Cornucopia.

"Anything useful?" Jade asks, as Perrin starts to go through the pile of supplies.

Shayla stands guard, her bow drawn. Perrin has a spear, and Jade, I'm horrified to see, has her shuriken. They must have been a sponsor gift, and a very expensive one at that, even at this early stage in the games. Each of them also have sheathed knives at their belts.

"Nothing we haven't already got," says Perrin. "Nothing worth weighing ourselves down with. No flint or extra matches that I can see."

Any response Jade might have had is cut off by Shayla's cry. "Out there!"

For a terrifying second I freeze, but she's pointing out of the main doors. Jade is off like a shot, and seconds later I hear a cannon. Walking back in Jade wipes one of her shuriken clean on her jacket. I'm desperately hoping that it wasn't Tamla or Fern she killed, but can't move to see.

My curiosity is satisfied however, as Perrin asks as she returns. "Who was it?"

"The big oaf from ten," she replies. Perrin just nods.

So it was Carson. I again find myself feeling a horrible guilt at the relief that it wasn't Tamla or Fern, before Perrin's voice jolts me back to the situation at hand.

"Should we burn it?" he asks.

Crap. I hadn't considered that. I can see plenty of food, clothes, backpacks…all of which would go up in smoke. There are weapons though…they couldn't burn those.

Jade has the same thought. "We can't burn the weapons. We'll take them and scatter them as we walk, they'll be much harder for anyone to find like that. Don't waste too many matches on the rest." She pauses in thought for a moment. "Burn the sleeping bags and the tent. That'll make a decent fire. Then you can chuck the other stuff on it.

Perrin nods and they start on their plan. I'm starting to get incredibly uncomfortable but don't dare shift even a little. They jam all the weapons into their packs, before piling the rest of the stuff into a bonfire and lighting it. They leave in good spirits, leaving me alone in the warehouse.

I don't dare leave for a while, in case they come back, but eventually I am brave enough to venture down. The fire is burning well, but not brilliantly. I go outside and grab a handful of snow, chucking it on the fire. I repeat this for ages, grabbing items from the fire whenever I see something not engulfed in flames. As I do this another cannon fires, presumably someone tried to get something from the Cornucopia only to find Varro and Cleo waiting for them.

The careers are totally in control at the moment, I might actually be the best-placed to threaten them, if I can find one of the weapons they dropped. But still, there are five of them. Perhaps my best hope is Jade getting impatient and killing more of them off before the rest of us are eliminated. I still don't know how I'd beat her though, I can't think of anything in here that will kill her.

With the fire still not out I give up, and go through what I've obtained. There's plenty that's useable. I pull to one side a backpack that's not too badly charred and stuff it with some burnt but not totally inedible bread, dried meat and fruit and vegetables. Before I can continue I hear a noise. I look to the doorway and see Jeremiah. The tall black boy from district eleven who scored a ten during training, and I wanted as an ally.

We both strike defensive poses upon seeing each other, but he stays back and I decide to try and talk to him.

"I'm not armed," I say.

"Neither am I," he replies.

"I don't want to fight you. There's plenty of stuff here for both of us."

He seems wary of me, but approaches. "How do I know you aren't going to stab me in the back while I look?" he asks.

"I'll stand right over the other side?" I offer with a shrug.

He grunts what I assume is an agreement and I take my pack and stand as far away as I can. He spends a few minutes gathering supplies, before getting up and making to leave.

"We could be allies?" I call after him.

"Sorry," he says. "I can't afford to be that trusting. See ya around."

And with that he's gone. I smile to myself. It would have been nice to have him as an ally, but seeing as he doesn't want that I managed to keep one very important piece of information from him. He doesn't know that there were weapons here, so he'll probably avoid the trail the careers' footprints will have left. Whereas I'm going to follow it and hopefully get myself a weapon.

I continue to pilfer the supplies, and by the time I leave my inventory comprises a rucksack, bread, fruit, vegetables, dried meat, a coat, some knee high boots which should keep the snow off my feet, and two empty water bottles; one reserved for water and one containing my berries, to stop them getting squashed. I still have my slightly sharp bit of metal, cog and bolt, and retrieve my staff. My curtain is still better for tying myself to trees than any of the weak frayed and burnt rope I find, and with the tent and sleeping bags burnt beyond use I head out to follow the careers' trail for weapons.

I'm also hopeful that my resourcefulness will have impressed potential sponsors, though I'm sure my lack of desire to fight Jeremiah won't have helped. I don't have to venture too far beyond the tree I stayed at before I find a discarded knife. Brilliant! Carrying on a little further I find another before deciding to turn back. I want to get back to my tree by nightfall, and the careers will have taken the better weapons, by which I mean swords, further.

Heading back to the tree I realise I have made the right decision, as I know nightfall is getting close by the familiar tune of the anthem playing, followed shortly by Carson's image in the sky, and then that of Zianna, the girl from six. I'm soon back at the same tree as the night before however, and clamber up.

As if my day hadn't gone well enough, after settling back in the tree, I receive not one but two sponsor gifts. Two! It's all I can do not to cheer as I see the silver parachutes falling to me. The first holds a staff. I send Woof silent thanks, he must have told sponsors to send me that, as I've not shown that my branch is anything more than a walking stick. I discard it and feel the new weapon in my hands. It's beautifully weighted and very sturdy. I use my knife to cut the parachute strings and use a couple to tie my staff to a branch, before stashing the rest in my pack and opening the second gift. It's some dried fruit and fresh meat. Fresh meat! It's more than I had hoped for my entire time in the arena as far as food was concerned. I pack the dried fruit, swapping it for the fresh stuff I obtained at the feast, and eat a meal of meat and fruit that sounds simple but is the best thing I've ever tasted right now. Tomorrow I'll head back to the river and fill up my water bottle, then I guess I'll try and find Tamla and Fern. I tie myself secure and fall to sleep very happy, considering I'm in the Hunger Games.