The Hunger Games

16

Madzie had decided to trust him wholeheartedly. He knew that because the second the anthem finished she snuggled up against him and fell asleep. It wasn't as though Alec did have any doubts about this alliance.

If she had wanted him dead, all she would have had to do was disappear from that tree without warning him about the tracker jacker nest. Needless to say, the two of them couldn't win the Games, but since the odds were still against one of them surviving, he managed to ignore the thought of him or Madzie dying at some point.

Besides, he was distracted by his latest idea about the Careers and their supplies. Somehow, Madzie and he had to find a way to destroy their food. He was pretty sure feeding themselves would be a tremendous struggle.

Traditionally, the Career tributes' strategy was to get hold of all the food early on and work from there. The years they hadn't protected it well, such as the ones where a pack of reptiles had destroyed it, or a Gamemakers' flood had washed it away, those had been the years when other tributes had won the Games.

It was an advantage people from Alec or Madzie's districts had: they knew how to handle hunger. The Careers had never had to suffer through that, so they couldn't manage without food.

He was too exhausted to begin any detailed plan, though. His wounds were recovering, his mind was still a bit foggy from the venom and the warmth of Madzie at his side, her head cradled on his shoulder, had given him a sense of security.

He realized, for the first time, how very lonely he had been in the arena. How recomforting the presence of another human being could be. He gave in to the drowsiness, his last thought being that tomorrow, the tables would turn. Tomorrow, it would be the Careers that would have to watch their backs.

The boom of a cannon jolted him awake. The sky was streaked with light, the birds already loud. Madzie was on the branch across of him, her hands cupping something. They waited, listening for more shots, but there weren't any.

"Who do you think it was?" He couldn't help thinking of Maia.

"I don't know, it could have been any of the others. I guess we'll know tonight."

"Who's left, again?" Alec asked.

"The boy from District 1. Both tributes from 2. The boy from 3. Alaric and me and you and Maia." Madzie listed, "That's eight. Wait, and the boy from 10, the one with the bad leg. He makes nine."

There was someone else, but neither of them remembered who it was.

"I wonder how this last one died." Madzie whispered.

"No telling. But it's good for us. A death should hold the crowd for a bit. Maybe we'll have time to do something before the Gamemakers decide things have been moving too slowly." He said, "What's in your hands?"

"Breakfast." She was holding two big eggs on her hands.

"What kind are those?"

"Not sure. Some kind of waterbird, I found them by the stream."

It would be nice to cook them, but neither of them wanted to risk a fire. His guess was that the tribute who had died had been victim of the Careers, which meant that they were recovered and back in the Games.

They each sucked out the insides of the eggs, ate a rabbit leg and some berries. It was a good breakfast anywhere.

"Ready for today?"

"For what?" Madzie asked, but by the way she bounced up you could tell she was up for whatever he was about to propose.

"Today we'll take out the Careers' food."