Chapter 26
NARRATOR | Corbin Woodward, District 10
TIME | Day 1
TRIBUTES REMAINING | 17
"Hold on, Otto," I mutter, leaning over my wounded ally. He winces as I prod at his leg, and I shudder as I see his injury. His leg has been slashed badly; I don't want to look too far into the gaping hole, but it looks like it's all the way down to the bone.
"I need bandages..." I mutter, but I don't know if that will help anything. Otto's leg is gushing blood, and I can see the color leaving his face.
"Bandages," I call again, raising my hand behind my back. "Bandages!"
I glance back, frustrated, to see Judah staring up at the sky. He looks down at me, startled, before reaching into his bag and pulling out bandages.
"Sorry," he sighs. "Thought I heard something."
I unroll the bandages, making another attempt at prodding Otto's injury.
"Who did this?" I whisper; Otto's eyes flicker down to meet mine.
"Vinny," he hisses. "Corbin, help me, please..."
"I'm doing my best," I reassure him. "I don't know what to do, though. We don't have much other than bandages, and it's bleeding a lot..."
"Velvet can send me something," Otto says, referring to his mentor from District One. "I have sponsors lined up across the Capitol, he told me so."
"Yeah," I think, mulling over the idea. "Maybe if they send something, I can stitch you up..."
Otto seems to perk up at the idea, glancing up to the sky for a falling parachute. "Velvet!" he calls, his voice echoing through the trees around us. "Velvet!"
"Quiet!" Judah hisses, dropping next to me to press his hand against Otto's mouth. "Do you want us to get killed?"
"Velvet needs to save me," Otto says, tears pooling in his eyes. "Judah, I can't feel my leg..."
"Velvet can't send anything, Otto," Judah says, shaking his head impatiently. "Sponsorships don't start until the second day of the Games. There's no way for anyone to send us gifts until tonight."
Judah says this as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, but I had no idea that this was the case. I never talked to my mentor, Wayne, about it, but I also never assumed I would need a sponsor gift so early in the Games. Gifts are meant to help us survive the long weeks that we could be in here, not just the first day.
"We should've grabbed that bracelet," I huff, feeling stupid to have left it at the Bloodbath. My head was so scrambled after everything that happened - that boy from Eleven almost killed me - that I barely thought of the advantage that's been released into the Arena.
I try my best to bandage Otto's wound, but it's no use. Blood gushes from the gash, soaking the bandages almost immediately. I have no idea how to stop the bleeding, and Judah's no help, either.
"Hold on, Otto," I reassure my friend. "It'll be night soon. We'll get something then. Right, Judah?"
"Uh, I think," Judah says, but he doesn't sound sure. "I've never heard of anyone getting something this early in the Games. But it's possible as far as I know."
Otto clings on - I can tell he's trying his best - but he becomes less responsive as the time passes. The blood flow doesn't stop, no matter how many different methods I use, and I eventually have to stop using bandages to save some for later in the Games.
Miraculously, Otto survives until sundown, but by the time the sky turns dark he barely responds to me. The only reason I know he's still alive is that we haven't heard a cannon shot. All I can do is tap my foot nervously and wait for the fallen tributes to appear in the sky, signaling the end of the first day.
My prayers are answered as the sound of the Panem anthem fills the Arena. Two words - THE FALLEN - fill the sky, shining down on us. Beneath me, Otto's pallid face glows in the light.
The words disappear, and Otto's District partner replaces them. Eliza was one of the weakest tributes, so I'm not surprised. I glance down at Otto, but his face doesn't seem to recognize the familiar face. I know they were never close.
Eliza fades away, and I wince in anticipation of the next tribute; I already know it's going to be the boy from Three. The one I killed only a few hours ago. His death was quick - he's practically a child, so he was easy to overpower - but I can't push away the feeling of guilt that I feel from his death. If that boy from Eleven had killed me today, I can't imagine what it would be like for my younger sisters to watch, and I know that boy had a family back home too.
The sky lightens up, and it's not the boy from Three. It's Safira.
Judah gasps next to me, gawking up at his District partner's face. "No way..." he whispers.
I'm shocked to see Safira's face, but I'm even more relieved. I don't know how the other tributes managed to kill her with the years of experience she has under her belt, but I'm glad that she's gone. I don't know if I could've outmatched Safira, and now I don't have to find out.
For some reason, the sight of Safira's face makes me think of Kylie. Both of my allies have lost their District partners, and I'm worried that she could be next... I didn't see her at the Bloodbath, so it's possible that she was taken out early.
Safira disappears, and then the boy from Three appears. I feel sick as a wave of guilt washes over me - that boy is dead because of me.
After the boy from Three disappears, he's replaced by the boy from Five. The one who plummeted to his death. That means that Minna, Kylie's friend, made it out alive somehow. There's a glimpse of hope.
After the boy from Five is the girl from Six. Heather, the girl from Nine, appears next, and I hold my breath as I wait for the last tribute. There were seven cannon shots today, and we've seen six tributes so far.
The girl from Twelve appears, and I let out a sigh of relief. Kylie and I were never close, but she's still from home. If I don't win these Games, she's my next-best hope.
The music and lights seem to pull Otto out of his state, and he groans as he tries to sit up.
"The pain is gone," Otto murmurs, and I look over to see his sheet-white face. All of the blood oozing from his leg must have drained him entirely. "Did Velvet send you something?"
I glance over at my shoulder at Judah, who offers me a hopeless shrug. Now's the time that Velvet should be sending a sponsor gift, but where is the parachute?
Otto looks so vulnerable in this state; I think of my younger sisters, and I nearly vomit. Otto has a family out there... sure, they're Capitol citizens now, but they still care about their son. And now they have to watch him die.
I strain my ears for the pinging sound of an approaching parachute, but my hopes slowly sink as the seconds pass. If Velvet is even allowed to send something, he's clearly decided not to. Maybe he sees the obvious, that Otto is beyond saving.
"Yeah, he sent us something," I reassure Otto, holding the back of his head with my hand. "Just relax, Otto. Everything will be better soon."
Otto lets out a deep breath, exhaling out everything he has left. His body shudders one last time, and then he goes still.
Next to me, Judah stands as a cannon shot fires. "Sixteen left," he mutters. "Let's get out of here. Once the hovercraft comes to pick him up we'll be targets."
Wordlessly, I gather my supplies and follow Judah away from Otto's body. I take one last glance at my ally - truly, the only friend I've made in these Games - and leave him behind.
"Just our luck," Judah sighs gloomily as we walk. "I should've kept an eye on him in the Bloodbath. He was never a good fighter."
"I'll miss him," I agree. "He was a good guy, really. I wasn't expecting that when I first met him."
"He was nice," Judah shrugs. "But he had all those sponsors. The Capitol adored him - I mean, he said his parents were running around campaigning for him and everything. And we didn't get to take advantage of it once."
I swallow my disgust as I follow Judah from the forest. Judah has never claimed to be a good person, and I knew that. I didn't realize how indifferent Judah was towards Otto, though. They trained together for three days, and Otto clearly thought of him as a good friend. Only now do I realize that Judah was using him the whole time for his status.
This whole idea was stupid - I should've never listened to Wayne. I tried my hardest to get into an alliance like he told me to, and look where that got me. Otto is dead, and I'm stuck in the Arena with one of the most dangerous tributes. How long will it be before Judah decides he can't use me anymore and kills me?
"What's that down there?" Judah asks, breaking me from my thoughts. "That glow..."
I follow Judah's finger ahead of us, and I find a peculiar sight. In the distance, a faint beam of blue light rises above the trees. It's hard to spot, but easy to see now that I've noticed it.
"That must be the pinpoint of the sapphire," Judah says, and suddenly the beam makes more sense. It's the same color as the powerful bracelet, after all.
"Should we go for it?" I ask, but I know that there would be no point in searching the Arena tonight. We have no need for the power, and whoever has the sapphire will already be running from the pinpointed location as we speak.
"Let's let them have their power for the night," Judah says with a yawn. "You get some sleep, I'll take first watch."
I try to rest, leaning my head against the trunk of a nearby tree, but I can't let myself slip into unconsciousness. At first, I think it's because of all the death I've faced today. The boy from Three, Otto, and nearly myself as well. After a while, I realize that it's because I'm afraid. I feel like the second I fall asleep, Judah will kill me. He has no reason to keep me alive; I was always closer to Otto than I was to him, and I'm one of the strongest tributes left other than him. Even Safira is out of his way now, so Judah hardly has any competition.
I'll have to keep my guard up from now on. Judah's shown that he's here for strictly business, and if he benefits from getting rid of me, he'll do it. Still, Safira's death has hopefully taught Judah one thing; even with all of her allies, she was still not invisible, and he isn't either. Judah will need me if he wants to win the Games... the question is, do I need him in the same way, or will he be what kills me?
Odds of Victory, End of Day 1
*Note: these odds are recorded at the moment of the Fallen Tributes at the end of each day.
1. Violet Chappelle, District 7 (3-1) (+2)
2. Judah Avellino, District 2 (4-1) (0)
3. Corbin Woodward, District 10 (5-1) (+1)
4. Vinny Fuentes, District 8 (6-1) (+2)
5. Verity MacIntyre, District 5 (6-1) (0)
6. Evelyn Tan, District 4 (8-1) (+4)
7. Eddie James, District 11 (8-1) (0)
8. Easton Rodgers, District 9 (9-1) (+3)
9. Declan Davidson, District 4 (12-1) (+3)
10. Ansel Voltaire, District 7 (12-1) (-2)
11. Ashlyn Ramsay, District 11 (13-1) (+2)
12. Kylie McCook, District 10 (15-1) (+4)
13. Lucas Li, District 6 (18-1) (+5)
14. Minna Feinberg, District 3 (22-1) (+5)
15. Karla Hayes, District 8 (24-1) (+5)
16. Wyatt Aldridge, District 12 (28-1) (-1)
17. Otto Sheffield, District 1 (50-1) (-8)