Chapter 10: Camping
Amanda, Blaze, and Lisa crossed the bridge made of rope and logs. They then tracked through the woods in the direction of the sun. Lisa continued to consult her compass, as they searched. After another half hour of bushwacking, they estimated that they had travelled about one mile from the cornucopia in the direction of the sun, that meant that Hector had to be nearby, if the course that they both took wasn't too far off.
"HECTOR!" Amanda yelled.
"Quiet! They'll hear you." cautioned Lisa.
"We need to regroup." said Amanda.
"And attract the Career Pack right in our direction." argued Lisa.
"I consider that highly unlikely. The Career Pack could be anywhere." said Amanda.
"More likely they are trying to follow us." said Blaze. "You killed David Crane's sister, he probably has revenge on his mind."
"David Crane could be dead too." said Amanda. "He was fighting with Chaz Zoltan when we left. We can't just aimlessly search around for Hector, we need to draw him toward us."
Just then there was a rustling in the bushes next to them and Hector Ardaman poked his head out from behind the bushes.
"Hey guys. I heard your call. I was 100 yards away." said Hector.
"Well, I'm just glad we found you." said Blaze.
"But now that we have given away our position, I think it might be prudent that we move along now." said Lisa.
They handed one of the backpacks to Hector and they moved along.
"Wait." said Hector, "Shouldn't we wait for May Salmon? Isn't she still on her way?"
Blaze, Amanda, and Lisa, then had sad looks on their faces.
"She didn't follow instructions." said Amanda, "She went for the supplies at the cornucopia when the gong sounded."
"She didn't make it." said Blaze.
Hector then had a solemn look on his face.
The pink haired granddaughter of President Snow placed her hand on Hector's shoulder.
"Are you alright Hector?" asked Amanda in a tone of friendly comforting concern.
"She was my cousin." said Hector. "I knew her. I'm just thinking, Who killed her? how did she die? did she suffer?"
Amanda could tell that the details were important to him. He wanted to know what had happened to the distantly related family member that he knew well.
"I wasn't watching the whole thing. I was a little preoccupied at the time." said Amanda. "But it was Giovanni Leon. He buried a hammer in her skull. And as for whether or not she suffered, I'm afraid I don't know, I'm not a doctor or an expert on human anatomy, or the nervous system. I think her brain would've shut down immediately therefore making it a relatively painless death. And if she didn't die instantly, she probably would've had a really bad headache for a few minutes until her heart stopped. Actually if her heart stopped, but her brain kept on working, her brain would have become oxygen deprived which would've produced very pleasant hallucinations with in the pleasure center of the brain before the brain shut down. I'm sorry, I'm just babbling now, I don't know whether or not she suffered."
"I'm sorry to ask these questions Amanda," said Hector, "but now, why did she die? What she die for?"
Amanda knew the answer. They all knew the answer. But to speak it aloud, they thought would make them hypocrites.
"What did all of the Hunger Games tributes die for?" asked Amanda rhetorically, more to her self than anyone in particular. "Do you know how many Hunger Games tributes have died in the Games?" Amanda asked.
"I couldn't even wager a guess." said Blaze.
"Let's count them up," said Amanda, "23 dead tributes, times 74 years, plus 24 because there were twice as many tributes in the Second Quarter Quell, minus 1 because there were two victors in the 74th Games, plus 18 in the Third Quarter Quell, plus the 9 today so far, that's a total of 1752 dead kids that have died in the name of the Games."
Blaze was staring into empty space while squinting his eyes and muttering all the numbers under his breath.
"That's fast math." Blaze said impressed.
"Do you know what they all died for?" asked Amanda.
There was no response.
"Television Entertainment…that is what they died for." Said Amanda in a tone of voice as though she was disgusted with herself. "You know, it's funny, I never really thought about it before now."
Amanda had some things on her mind that she wanted to get out, and she knew that unless something really interesting was going on, her verbal monologue was live on the air. "Whenever I watched the Games, I never watched them to watch the losers die, no. I just wanted to see which one of the 24 would win, that's all. But I was a collaborator because I didn't do anything. I was like any other Capitol citizen, and I loved the tributes, they were celebrities to me. I wanted to know everything about them, I wanted to know about their boring lives, I want to know what their annoying little idiosyncrasies were, I wanted to know what all their silly little interests were. It was gossip and human interest. But I was so naive; they all died for television entertainment. I remember 7 years ago, I was only 8, it was the 70th Games, I was sitting on my grandfather's lap. We were just watching the Games, we did it together every year whenever my grandfather had free time from his Presidential duties. I remember that my grandfather smelled of the wretched stink of perfumed roses. There was the boy from District 2, I remember his name was Hulk Denver, he was 18, and his body was 300 pounds of muscle. He caught sight of a 12-year-old girl from District 7. She tried to run, but he tracked her, and he caught her. He pulled a knife, he held her down with one hand, and then he stabbed her in the leg. He twisted the knife around and then use the knife to dig out a chunk of bloody flesh like a shovel. He did that again and again and again all over her body but only in non-vital areas. The girl screamed the whole time, and you know what Hulk Denver did? He just laughed maniacally the whole time. And you know what I did while I sat on my grandfather's lap and watched?"
Amanda suddenly had a look on her face of the worst self loathing.
"I cheered him on." Amanda said with a look on her face as though she wanted to vomit. "I cheered him on." And then her voice went smooth and even again. "He eventually did kill her of course. But it wasn't until afterwards that something struck me; what if it was me that was in the girl's place? What if it was one of my friends? It then occurred to me that it would be one thing had he just killed her quickly, but he had to draw it out because he thought it was fun. I then realized that Hulk Denver, who was a favorite for winning that year, was not a popular celebrity that I liked, no, he was a bully. He was a coward, and without honor. I then wanted to avenge the girl that he so brutally mutilated before he finally killed her. I didn't want him to win. So I decided to exercise my influence, what little influence I had over my grandfather, I pulled a few strings figuratively speaking. My grandfather adored me, and I had him wrapped around my little finger, I appealed to my grandfather that I wanted Hulk Denver not to win, and that it was just a personal private matter for me. He wasn't suspicious, or asked me any questions, he just affectionately pinched my cheek, and said, 'anything for my little girl'. Grandpa then made a call to the Gamemakers. And Hulk Denver was mysteriously bitten by a king cobra within the hour."
Amanda Snow then suddenly came out of her reverie and turned her attention back to Hector.
"And that is why we are all here, and that is why May Salmon died. It's how we will all die here in the arena. For television entertainment. It's sick. It's barbaric. But right now we have to play the Games, and that's the way the rules work. I'm sorry about your cousin Hector." said Amanda.
Hector took in a deep breath and then sighed.
"Well, maybe it's for the best that we do this without her anyway. That way we don't have to kill her ourselves when we're the last tributes on the field." said Hector.
It was a small consolation but they all felt that Hector was right, when it comes down to it, none of them want to kill any of their own allies.
They trekked through the woods until they came to another river. They tested this one as well. It too was seawater.
"Is this a canal as well?" asked Amanda.
"It must be." said Blaze.
"We're still moving south." said Lisa as she consulted her compass.
They looked up the beach and saw another bridge. They ran in its direction and when they got to the bridge they crossed it. But when I got halfway across the bridge they notice that the air was considerably colder. At first they didn't think about it, but it became more noticeable the closer they got to the other side, the air got colder and colder and colder until they actually noticed that the opposite shore that the bridge was taking them to, everything was covered in a thick layer of frost. When they got to the other side of the bridge, it was freezing. The air was below freezing. Significantly below freezing. Though the sun shone it was as cold as the dead of winter.
"Okay this doesn't seem right," said Blaze, "how warm was the opposite shore over there?"
"I say a standard summer temperature of plus 25 degrees Celsius." said Lisa.
"And how cold is it here now?" asked Blaze.
"I'm not sure, but the air is biting." said Lisa.
Amanda then had an idea. She crossed the bridge back to the opposite shore again and sure enough the air got warmer and then it was as warm as summer. She walked back over to her allies.
"It must be the experimental artificial climate control." said Amanda.
Everyone looked at Amanda with curiosity.
"My grandfather liked to brag to the family around the dinner table about the scientific breakthroughs and achievements that were made by the physicists, and engineers in District 3." said Amanda, "A few years ago, my grandfather told me about a scientific breakthrough in engineering, where the District 3 Technicians in joint operation with Capitol Scientists, had been experimenting with technology on how to artificially emulate both the sun's solar output, and the Earth's geo-magnetic activity, in combination with some crude atmospheric humidity control, they could emulate just about any form of climate within a small space, and even a large area if they had enough equipment."
As everyone exhaled condensation in the cold air they looked at her with interest.
Amanda continued, "He was planning on using the technology to implement a year-round summer in Districts 11 and 9 to increase the output of a near nonstop harvest of vegetables and grain. But before they could implement Phase 2 of the project that was christened 'District Climate Control', there were uprisings in both Districts 11 and 9 about two years ago. That caused the project be suspended and then the whole country went to war, and then after the war the District 13 Officials mathematically calculated that Districts 4, 9, 10, and 11 produced far more than enough food for the entire population year-round and the project currently remains on hold while resources are being diverted to reparations of the country from the war."
"They must be using the experimental climate control technology to make parts of the arena undesirable." said Hector. "For example, who would want to stay here for very long? In fact my first instinct right now would be to go back across the bridge to the warm area."
"It's a standard Gamemaker tactic," said Amanda, "by making parts of the arena undesirable and forcing all of the tributes to head towards only the desirable areas, it forces the tributes to confront each other."
"Well, all of this information is highly fascinating." said Lisa, "But what should we do now?"
"Several of these backpacks we haven't even opened yet," said Blaze, "I think we should assess exactly what supplies we actually have right here right now."
"We're in the open, anyone can see us. We need to find cover. My recommendation is the frozen forest right over there." said Amanda pointing to a densely wooded area that was covered in a thick layer of frost.
"Wait," said Lisa, "shouldn't we go back to the opposite shore where it's warm?"
"For our first night I think we should stay somewhere where the other tributes will not want to follow." said Amanda.
With that Amanda led them into the forest.
They bushwhacked through the icy bushes, and thick branches for another half hour. Amanda was looking for a secluded location where the Career Pack would never find them. And then they heard a beeping sound.
"What is that Beeping sound?" asked Lisa.
Blaze cupped his hand over his ear and closed his eyes and turned slowly on the spot.
"It's in that direction." said Blaze pointing.
They then walked in that direction. The beeping got louder as they got closer. It seemed that the sound was meant draw them towards the source of it. They then came onto a small path that was clearly man-made. They were at the end of the path which apparently just ended right at the trees and bushes so they followed the end of the path to its supposed beginning. It was only a few dozen yards ahead and they then came into a clearing, and in the middle with what looked like a camping fire pit. The beeping then stopped and a hologram of Claudius Temple Smith appeared.
"Congratulations Hunger Games Tribute!" said the hologram. It was clear that this was not a live feed broadcast, this was a recording with a pleasant but rather generic monotone. "You could have stayed in the warm and cozy areas of the arena. For your choice to brave this Arctic forest, you are given this gas fire pit, Compliments of the Gamemakers, as well as a clue to the secrets of the arena. Your clue is, 'As the days and weeks of this year's Hunger Games pass, the arena will become gradually smaller'. Good luck! Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
The hologram then disappeared, and the natural gas burner in the fire pit ignited into a small bonfire. The clearing was then flooded with warmth.
"Everyone," said Blaze, "unpack the bags."
They all settled on the ground near the fire and began to empty the backpacks.
The six backpacks contained a variety of useful items, there were a few full bottles of water, lengths of rope and wire, three sleeping bags, containers of non-perishable food items, as well as containers of perishable food items that would not last long before they go bad, they surmised that the Gamemakers must have put them in the backpacks just before the tributes had been raised up out of the ground. That consisted of their dinner that night as they felt that they should eat the perishables right away. Some of the perishables need to be cooked, but of course they had an excellent fire right in front of them. The surrounding forest was so thick, no one would see their fire without a deliberate search, and even then they would need to bushwhack quite a way to be able to see, also, there will be no signal in the sky of the fire because the natural gas fire was smokeless.
The sun had gone down.
"If are going to hunt down the other tributes in the morning," said Blaze, "we're going to need weapons."
"But where are we going to get weapons?" asked Hector.
Blaze then stood up and disappeared into the forest for about 20 seconds where he then reemerged. Blaze had gone to a shattered boulder that was just behind some trees and she grabbed several rocks with sharp edges and then he picked up off of the forest floor some long and thin, but sturdy branches.
Blaze then stripped the branch of its smaller branches, and and then with one of the sharp edged rocks he began to carve the end of the branch to a sharp point. When he was done, he held the branch out for everyone to inspect.
"A crude, but highly effective homemade wooden spear." he said, "You can kill a man with this just as easily as you can with a sword or knife."
Hector and the two girls looked at the green haired boy with looks of admiration, and being impressed.
"I suspected that making homemade weapons out of forest materials would come in useful." said Blaze.
"The homemade weapon making station," said Amanda, "one of the few stations I didn't go to. It now looks like you're the one who is more prepared than the rest of us."
They then all set to work carving the ends of long sturdy branches to points.
Hours passed. It was nearing midnight, though they didn't know what time it was exactly. They knew that they needed to sleep, but they all wanted to stay up to see what faces would appear in the night sky.
'BOOM!'
The loud sound a cannon came out of the sky without warning.
"Who could that have been for?" asked Lisa.
"No way of knowing." said Hector. "It could have been anybody. Doesn't matter anyway. We are one step closer to winning, now one less opponent to worry about."
It was about 45 minutes later when the anthem started playing and the 10 faces appeared in the sky one at a time.
First they saw the face of Breanna Crane. Then they saw the face of Sherman Griffin. And they saw the face of Neil Jones. Joyce Harrison. Gloria Goldwater. May Salmon. Harley Dillon. Chaz Zoltan. Belinda Rogers. And Clay Randolph.
"Well, that's 10." said Amanda. "There is no way of knowing who the bloodbath nine are, and who the random person was an hour ago. But it doesn't matter either way, now let's all get some sleep."
And with that they got some shut-eye and waited to see what the next day would hold for them.
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(Please keep reading for Chapter 11: Amanda's Gift)