Chapter 13: Tangled Grass and The Human-Sun

Day 2 of the Games, 8:30 a.m. :

"I know that we just agreed to comb the arena from top to bottom in a zigzag pattern, but I've been thinking, maybe we should narrow down our search." said Lisa.

Amanda looked at her with curiosity.

"What do you mean?" asked Amanda.

"I think we should focus our search on the more desirable areas of the arena." said Lisa, "That is where we will find the most Tributes. And I mean, think about it, it might be one thing in previous years with the District kids who are used to harsh conditions. But we are all spoiled Capitol raise kids of rich men. Now we might have reluctantly decided to stay in the arctic forest, but I think most of our competition will stay out of less desirable places. We focus our search in those places and we have a more likely chance of finding them."

They all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"I agree." said Hector, "But I think they will think the same as us, so if we stick to the less desirable areas, and come at them from the less desirable areas, it is the last thing they will ever expect."

Amanda shook her head really fast as though trying to shake off a bee.

"This is all just too confusing." said Amanda, "Let's just stick to combing the arena in a zigzag pattern."

And then they were off.

Amanda and her allies had scoured several islands in the last 16 hours. And had not found another tribute. They quickly realized that each and every island was unique from all of the others in many different ways. One island was apparently a very tall mountain which Blaze had insisted that they climb up to the summit. When they reached the summit and looked around they could clearly see that the arena appeared to be a network of many islands, and that each island was completely square. Blaze estimated that each island was a square kilometer. Unfortunately he could not tell exactly how many islands there were for they seem to go on for miles in every direction. Another island had been a square kilometer of just plain flat green grass, no cover whatsoever. It made them be right out in the open, easily visible. Another island was a sweltering hot desert. Another island was a tropical jungle where they had encountered a hungry lion, which attacked them almost immediately, but Amanda had jumped to the side at the last second and slashed its neck with her sword, and it died quickly. They were very lucky. They indulged in a feast of fresh lion meat that they cooked over a fire.

11:59 pm arena time, island F11:

Now they were on an island that appeared to be a ghost town of old-fashioned buildings. They settled in a basement of a nondescript building. When 12:00 midnight hit, the anthem started playing, and then there was the face of Randy Bing in the sky. They then went to sleep three at a time, one always staying up to stand watch. And they waited until morning to see what more surprises the arena would provide for them.

Six days later…

Caesar Flickerman's News Studio, 7:00 PM arena time, 8 days into the Games:

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Caesar, "we are now on day 8 of this year's Hunger Games and the living Tributes continue to stand at 13. There has still not been a death for the past six days. I have been instructed to say to you the viewers, that the Gamemakers are well aware that some of you are getting bored, however, the Gamemakers are under orders from President Paylor to allow this year's Tributes to feel out the arena. The tributes continue to be spread out across the arena far, and thin, and evenly spaced apart. However, from this point on, as time passes, the tributes will slowly be driven inward towards the middle of the arena. In the next 15 minutes the 40 outside edge islands of the arena, which are columns 'A' and 'K', and rows '1' and '11' will sink into the sea. And for every passing day until the end of this year's Games, three more islands will sink into the sea until all that is left is the center island F6.

"Now, it seems that the tributes have shown an innate ability to survive. No Tribute has died of disease, dehydration, or hunger, which is making this year's Games much more interesting in spite of the lack of deaths in the past six days, I think I will say that the entire month's worth of training has paid off. As always, we will continue to give frequent updates as the Games progress.

"Now, my next guest that I will be inviting onto the stage here with me, the daughter-in-law of President Snow, and mother of Hunger Games Tribute, Amanda Snow. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for, Elizarrella Snow!"

And Amanda Snow's mother came onto the stage and shook Caesar Flickerman's hand.

"Welcome Mrs. Snow, welcome," said Caesar, "it is good to see you."

"Thank you Caesar. Thank you for having me here today." said Elizarrella Snow.

"So, I can only imagine that you are feeling pretty nervous about your daughter right now, with her being in the Hunger Games and all." said Caesar.

"Only as nervous as any mother would be about their child being in the Games." said Elizarrella, "I mean, she could die at any moment."

"Well, don't write your daughter off yet," said Caesar, "your daughter is one of the favorites to win."

"Yes I know." said Elizarrella, "I was scared when I saw her run for the supplies at the cornucopia when the Games started."

"I assume her mentor Katniss Everdeen told her not to go for the supplies?" asked Caesar.

"And so did I," said Elizarrella, "but my daughter is a teenage brat, she's never really done what she's told."

"Well some teenagers can be like that." said Caesar, "My next question for you is, what were Amanda's last words to you before she went into the arena?"

Elizarrella Snow paused for a moment with a look of worry and sadness.

"She told me not to worry, and she promised me that she was going to win."

There were quiet, and pleasant sounds of approval from the live audience there in the TV studio.

"And has she ever broken a promise to you before?" asked Caesar encouragingly.

The orange skinned woman with white hair smiled with ironic humor.

"All the time." said Amanda Snow's mother.

Everyone else laughed as well.

"Well, let us hope she keeps this on then." said Caesar, "But we are not here to ask you about your daughter. We are here because our viewers want to know about your life, they want to know about you. So, my first question is..."?

He asked her a number of different questions for about 7 minutes. Then it was time for the arena's outer islands to sink, and everyone watched to see how the Tributes on the outer islands handled themselves with the challenge.

Amanda and her allies were on island A5, heading for island A4. Island A5 was flat grassland. The grass was over 4 feet tall, and some of it was grain and wheat, so the were eating as they searched for Tributes. Amanda was in the lead, chopping the grass in front of them in their path with her sword as they went.

"This is getting boring." said Lisa, "Not a sighting of a Tribute for days."

"Patience." said Amanda, "The Gamemakers will drive us towards each other soon."

Then they saw a package hanging from a silver parachute in front of them. It was floating down in their direction. Amanda grabbed it and opened it.

It appeared to be a large sheet of folded rubber-like plastic, attached to a small metal air tight sealed bottle with a pull-string. Tied to it by a length of strong thread were what appeared to be small oars in several detachable pieces.

"This is an inflatable raft, I think." said Amanda.

"Why would a sponsor send us an inflatable raft?" asked Lisa.

"Maybe it's a message?" said Hector. "As the people on the outside watch the television, maybe they know something that we don't? Trying to warn us of something?"

They shrugged their shoulders and stuck the bulky thing through the shoulder straps of the backpack that Blaze was wearing, and they moved on.

Suddenly, they were trudging through ankle deep muddy water at the base of the stems of the tall grass.

"Umm...guys?" said Blaze in a voice of confusion. "Did we just walk into a bog?"

But before anyone could answer, the muddy water was rising at a rate of a foot per minute.

"I think the Gamemakers are bringing on a flood!" said Hector in a panic.

"That direction." said Lisa, pointing east while looking at her compass. "The nearest island is that way."

They ran as fast as they could to the east. But then the ground began to shake and a twenty foot tidal wave was coming right at them.

The water was up to their waists.

"Everyone, take a deep breath and get under the water! Trust me!" shouted Blaze.

The other three didn't argue or think about it, they just followed his lead. They filled their lungs, held their breaths, and dived underwater.

The tidal wave hit. Amanda, Lisa, and Hector, quickly realized why Blaze told them to dive; had the tidal wave hit them while they were above water they might have been hurt, but by getting under the water, the wave washing over them was softened. But they were now under several feet of water, and the current was buffeting them back an forth, keeping them from surfacing.

Amanda, Blaze, and Hector, held on to each other, but got separated from Lisa. 55 seconds later their heads came above the water and they took in oxygen in one huge gasp.

The water was still choppy, but the tidal waves had stopped. Hector pulled the inflatable raft out from between Blaze's shoulder blades and yanked out the pull-string on the air-tight metal bottle. With a popping-hiss sound, the raft inflated to it's full capacity. They all got in the boat.

"Where's Lisa?" asked Amanda in desperation.

"She's still under water." said Blaze.

What Blaze, Hector, and Amanda didn't know, was that Lisa had gotten her leg tangled up in the tall grass when they all dived under to avoid the wave. The current took her team away from her and she couldn't get her leg free. She panicked, she couldn't think straight. In her panic, by mistake she let most of the air out of her lungs, and then foolishly inhaled nothing but seawater, burning the back of the inside of her nostrils. She became light headed, and disoriented. She only just then thought of her knife. She pulled it from her breast pocket, but her hand shook, and her fingers were so jittery than she dropped it and couldn't find it again. She couldn't do it. She wasn't gonna make it. She got weaker. She struggled more feebly against the roots and stems of the tall grass that tangled her leg, until she had no strength left, and struggled no more. Her entire body relaxed, and she then fell unconscious. Several more minutes passed, and as her body became more and more oxygen deprived, the heart of the banana yellow girl who's color was meant to brighten up a room, beat no more.

Amanda did not think about it. She just took off her backpack, jumped into the water, and begin to paddle herself to the bottom. The water was mercy, visibility was low. She searched around and found nothing. After 40 seconds she came up for air and then went back down for another look. She did this five times until she reluctantly resigned to the inevitable that her friend was not coming back.

She climbed back into the inflatable boat and cried, unashamed of the fact that she was crying on television, though she wondered where the hidden camera could possibly be out here in open water, but she knew from similar situations in the Hunger Games previous years that somehow the Gamemakers pull it off.

'BOOM!' went the cannon.

And through her crying and tears pouring down her face that was already wet with seawater, Amanda Snow said to Lisa Derrick in prayer, "I will miss you, my friend!"

Author's Note: At first I thought it would be unnessisary for the whole story, but I decided to give Amanda's mother a name. As for Lisa's untimely death, I felt that for the sake of both the Hunger Games and this fan-fic, I would have to kill off the protagonist's allies eventually. Please review.