6

Blood and Poison

The Careers this year were stupid. Who tries to threaten the sponsors? The Capitol didn't tolerate manipulation of the rules, so now all we had to do was sit back and see in what way the gamemakers would react. Hopefully Fin wouldn't get caught up in the mess.

They were all sleeping except for that Celeste girl who was sitting against a tree. Finnick looked the roughest of all of them, with his shifty bandages and bruised face, but he was still handsome. And now he was starting to look like the old Finnick because his hair was matting up again. It was midday here, but the arena was just hitting morning. Celeste went to wake up Finnick and the girl named Rye to take the next watch.

The screen went to a boy from District five standing cautiously in front of a girl from District eight. He had sandy blonde hair and hers was silky and black.

"I'm Carson," the boy said.

"Armure."

The boy lowered his homemade spear and held out his hand, "Allies?"

At first I didn't realize why, but then I noticed the pack filled with roots and leaves and realized that the girl knew the secret to the food in the jungle. And from the looks of it, the boy had the power she lacked.

"Allies. For a little while. I'll teach you some food to eat but you have to kill the boy from six, he's been stalking me ever since the Cornucopia."

"Deal," the boy agreed, shaking her hand. I still couldn't wrap my head around how kids could bring themselves to trust each other in the arena. How could they know it wasn't a trap?

The two set up camp and she began showing him how he could tell what was good to eat and what wasn't. It was clear to me that this wasn't a regular rainforest because all the fruits that would typically be there like bananas and coconuts were all gone. Perhaps the gamemakers made it that way so that the tributes would starve?

"This is ginger, and these are cashews. You can eat both of them but careful because ginger is strong. These leaves..."

The screen moved to Marina, tying some knots in a rope under the cover of some large leaves. There was no way of telling exactly where she was or what state she was in. Well enough to tie knots, I guess.

A few of Pearl's friends showed up, laughing at some joke I didn't hear. Pearl greeted them with her charming smile.

"Hey guys, come in. We can watch the games on my screen."

I moved out of their way and darted outside. Peacekeepers were walking around the street, making sure that everyone was getting in their required viewing of the games. I almost ran in to one.

"What are you doing, young lady?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

"I was just...um...going to my friend's house," I stuttered, trying to look anywhere but his eyes, "to watch the Hunger Games."

"Then get moving," he growled, shoving me with his gun. I looked around and saw Finnick's house and ran inside.

"Oh, hello Annie," his mother greeted me in a surprised voice.

"The peacekeepers wanted me off the streets. Can I stay here and watch the games with you?"

The woman nodded and held out a rope net to me.

"I'd be glad for the company. Help me with this while we watch?"

I nodded and slipped my fingers easily into the knotted loops and got to work, staring eagerly at the projection on her wall. I guess the father was out fishing.

The screen flashed to Finnick and Rye, sitting guard over the camp. I saw his mother tense and grip the net tightly.

"We're going to need some more water before the end of the day tomorrow," Rye said in a tight voice. Finnick sighed and kicked the dirt under his foot.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"You don't have to do anything," she answered bitterly, "All I have to do is threaten to cut you to ribbons and-"

She didn't get to finish; a jaguar leapt from the trees and sunk its teeth into her throat. Finnick looked down at her with wide eyes, before standing up and grabbing his backpack. The others woke with a start at the feral growl, but it was too late. The canon fired to signal Rye was dead, and Fin was already taking off deep into the jungle. Celeste screamed in anger and threw a pack against a tree, making the contents explode.

"Oh my," Mrs. Odair whispered. They showed a shot of Finnick running, but something was wrong. It looked like he was bleeding from his wounds again.

"He'll be okay," I assured her, "that jaguar was just to punish that girl for blackmailing the sponsors. They aren't going to hurt Finnick."

"They already have," she responded miserably. I grimaced and watched as the Careers fought off and killed the jaguar with their weapons. The alliance from Five and Eight came back on the screen. Carson was off to the side, scooping a brightly colored frog into a pouch while Armure cooked roots over a fire. They were camped right against the base of the cliffs.

"Okay Armure, you keep cooking I'm going to go set a trap for that boy, okay?"

Armure looked up from her cooking, squinting. Even though it was day, the cover of the trees still made it seem dark.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for more nuts," he answered, nonchalantly. He was able to slip the frog pouch into his pocket, unseen. Then he took to the jungle to 'set more traps'.

"What was that frog?" I asked, mesmerized by its brilliant colors.

"A poison dart frog, possibly even engineered to be more potent by the Capitol. If any of those toxins get into her system, she's a goner."

A few more people came up on the screen. The boy from Three was trying to climb the cliff with a pick and a poorly tied rope. The knot was one we learned as children and not even that well done. His arms and hands were shaking and his forehead was in a full sweat. I suppose he was looking to hide out until more people died.

But he slipped and we watched as his body was tossed around between ledges until he hit the bottom, dead. A canon fired and they showed quick clips of all the living contestants jerking their heads up to the sky, wondering who it was that died. They lingered on the Careers.

"Do you think that was Prettyboy?" Viper asked maliciously, tearing the hide off the dead wild cat. No one answered, but Celeste bent down and picked up his belt with the knives.

"He doesn't have any weapons, except that stupid knife we let him keep for the watch. It's possible. But we won't know until tonight, when that pretty little face of his lights up the sky."

O~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Someone was dead, though I had no idea who. Maybe it was me?

After watching Rye's esophagus be torn from her throat, I ran for the cliffs. Her blood was in my hair and stained into my clothes. But I'm bleeding too, and the exertion wasn't helping. I had only one knife, the fingerless gloves, the pack, the rope and clips, and the blanket. No water, no food, no weapons I knew how to use. Sure, I could gut a fish with a knife, but there was no way I was going to gut anyone here. And I saw no fish.

A boy emerged from the trees just as I collapsed in exhaustion. My vision was so blurry I had no idea who he was, just that he was there.

How small is this damn jungle that I can't get anywhere without running in to another damn person?

He seemed shocked to see me at first, but then held out his spear, ready to kill me. What could I do? I was weak and basically unarmed. My instincts made me reach for my rope. I did, and tied a loop as fast as I could.

Why wasn't he killing me?

I swung the loop at him and caught his neck, yanking him down to the ground. He struggled out of it, but I grabbed his ankle and punched him across the face. His fingers sunk into my cheeks and it hurt so much with all my bruises I had to let him go. He staggered back into the trees, taking my knife and his spear with him.

Shit.

I touched my forehead and my fingers came away wet with blood, and my chest wasn't doing well either. Pain was throbbing through my body so intensely; I had to allow myself a moment of weakness. I squeezed my eyes shut and my fists tight and let all my emotions be conveyed on my face. I didn't care if I looked weak; I needed the endorphins a few tears would give me. My jaw was clenched so tight I was afraid I would break my teeth.

Help. Somebody I need help. I'm losing too much blood...

Then it started to rain. Okay, so it wasn't all bad. Besides it being freezing, I was able to open my mouth and catch some of it on my tongue. I reached into my bag and extracted some of those useless containers and left them open to collect the rain water.

And just as I was about to succumb to sleep, a silver parachute descended from the sky. I struggled to keep my eyes open long enough to see what was inside. Some of my district's bread, and a container of cream I assume was meant for my wounds.

Wow, generous.

I applied some to my forehead first, stopping myself from screaming when it made contact. It burned intensely for five seconds, but then felt cool and tingly and wonderful. I eagerly applied it to my chest and even my bruises, just incase it could do something. What did I know about medicine?

The moss below me seemed a perfect bed, so I let sleep wash over me like the waves back home.

O~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

I watched as the screen panned away from sleeping Finnick to Carson returning to his camp. His lips were bleeding and he was covered in dirt and scratches and his neck was red from Fin's rope. He was panting and sporting his new knife. Armure was waiting apprehensively in the camp, no doubt wondering who was approaching. Carson took some of the blood from his lip and smudged the blade with it, and then bursts through the trees. Armure jumped but relaxed as soon as she saw who it was.

"Is he dead?"

"Yes, didn't you hear that canon?"

He held up the blood-stained knife as proof and Armure's face melted into a serene smile.

"He's a liar!" I exclaimed, pointing at the screen, "The boy who fell down the cliff died, not the District Six boy!"

"It's a clever little plot," Mrs. Odair observed with a nod, "Oh, and look. There's the boy from Six, he's not even close to them. He must have given up the hunt when he saw she made an ally."

Armure was sitting on a log, pulling some nuts and weird little plants off the fire. "I cooked some dinner, if you want it. How's your lip? Did he put up much of a fight?"

Carson shrugged casually, "Nothing I couldn't handle, obviously. Thank you."

He accepted the food and took a bite, nodding his approval.

"Delicious as dirt," he joked. Armure smiled and poked her food with her finger in disinterest. The camera's zoomed in on Carson, a shadow falling over his face.

"I have to thank you for helping me learn all these new plants, it's been a great help."

Armure smiled, "It was an even exchange."

Carson noticed she wasn't eating, "What's wrong? You're not hungry?"

"I am," she answered, "but I just have no appetite for this stuff. It looks disgusting."

The cameras stayed on Carson as he reached down to the leaf pile. Under the cover of the shadows, he took out the frog carefully and wrapped it in the leaves. Then he stuffed a piece of the nut on either side so it looked perfectly normal, appetizing even.

"Try this, it makes it a lot more...palatable."

Armure took the food from him without a second thought and popped it in her mouth. The second she bit down her face twisted up and her hands slapped over her mouth.

"Eughhh!" she screamed, disgusted. I cringed back in my seat and tried not to think about what live frogs must taste like when you bite them. Carson sprang across their food and clamped his hand over her mouth and the other pinching her nose. She was starting up at him in panic, disbelief, and betrayal. Her face was turning red. When he released her, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she started convulsing like she was being electrocuted. The muscles in her neck were straining to breath and saliva started pouring from her mouth.

Please die, please die, please just die.

Her face darkened to a sickening purple shade and she clutched her hands over her heart. Carson grimaced and then turned away, busying himself with mindless work until it was over. Then all at once her body relaxed and lay there, motionlessly. The canon fired once again, and all the survivors were shown looking around, wondering what had happened.

"That was terrible," I remarked, trying to slow my heart. Finnick's mother just nodded grimly and tied a few more knots in the net.

"It was a quicker death then what's been awarded to some."

Carson collected the supplies around the camp, kissed Armure's forehead, and took off into the wild again.

"Run along home now Annie," Mrs. Odair said with a sigh, "it's getting late."

I thanked her for letting me stay and then took off into the streets, hiding in the shadows from the peacekeepers as a leapt house to house.

I wonder if I could survive the games, by hiding in the shadows and then leaping on my enemies?