The First Quarter Quell: A 'The Hunger Games' Spin-Off

A Truce

    "We need to go to the Cornucopia, Koko. We need weapons," I murmur, knowing I would go with or without her permission. "We can't survive out here without them."
    "Okay, but it's not possible with Liv and the Careers still there," she says, walking back towards me. "They are still there, right?"
    I look up over the divot to check, staying low behind the sand in case they're close. "The only pair left is Chris and Liv." I'm not sure where Holly and Levi went, but they must've separated onto different islands because they probably know they can't team up unless they want to face dire consequences. "Do you think they'd try to kill us?" I ask Koko, genuinely wanting her opinion.
    Koko flashes me a look that screams 'obviously.' "Um, hell yes. This is eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. You can never be sure, anyway. We don't know them. They could come after us just to get it over with."
    I know she's right; It's too risky. All of this is too risky. "Well, we have to leave this ditch at some point. Why not try and get resources?" I say, begging for her to go for it.
    She sits there for a second with no response, staring at Chris and Liv, then at me, then back to them. "Ugh, why did I get stuck with you?" she mumbles, finally, giving me the sarcastic go-ahead. "We have to be quick and careful."
    I stand up, looking around again to ensure Chris and Liv don't move. They're far enough away from the Cornonocopia that I can run to it, so I wave for Koko, and we head to the little beat-up shack.
    Despite how good a runner one may be, running on sand is not easy and we're both out of breath when we reach the Cornucopia. I manage to grab a spear, and Koko grabs a sickle. They're the only weapons left... other than a few smaller knives.
    "I only grabbed this because it looks cool. I don't even know what it is," she admits, analyzing the knife.
    "Pretty sure that's a sickle. For farming," I say.  I try to bring a little bit of optimism to our situation, "looks deadly though" I smirk, letting out a small chuckle at the same time.
    "Alright, let's go," Koko says, taking the lead, which surprises me. My weapon is longer, so wouldn't that mean it creates distance between people? Shouldn't I go first? Her weapon is a literal farm tool, and not to mention: has a curled blade. What use is that?
    Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Koko take two steps back, cupping her mouth with her hand. I quickly turn towards her, eyes wide and brows shooting up waiting for some sort of response. "What?" I mouth silently. Though it's not from Koko, the answer comes quicker than expected. My heart begins to pound in my chest, ready to burst. Shit. I hear the sound of shifting sand. Someone's coming. I think to myself, knowing well that Koko's thinking it too.
    A shadow appears on the ground, inching towards us slowly as if the person attached to it had their guard up just like ours. I jump back, readying my spear for defense. The shadow belongs to a familiar face: Sam. She lets out a quick yelp, swinging her sword up in front of her before we have time to react.
    "What the hell, Jay," she says, trying to catch her breath. "I could have hit you." Koko and I, being too stiff to relax, don't respond. "Have you guys been hiding here?"
    "No," Koko snaps out of it, replying snidely and scrunching her brows. "We're getting resources. Weapons."
    Sam nods, her grip loosening on her sword. It's still covered in blood. I can't hide my repulsion to it. It's the blood of a teenage boy. A scared and helpless teenage boy. "They left, you know," Sam says, averting my attention back to her. "You could probably go and be fine. Just not to the island over there," she gestures behind us to the East island (or at least I think it's the East island).
    It's clear she doesn't want to hurt us, so we take the opportunity and make a run for it, fleeing to the island we were in front of before, which I'm sure is the South Island. Sam does the same and runs the opposite way.

    The water's freezing cold. This beach is so far from the Cornucopia. "Keep going, we're almost there," Koko urges, speaking just about every word between a breath.
    She says it a few times more as if it makes a difference. But if we were 'almost there' the last time she said it, why aren't we there yet?
    We finally reach the shore, gasping for any oxygen left in the air. My whole body is sore, but I know that doesn't matter. Not here. Not in this arena. "We need to keep going," my words barely audible as I say them. "We're too exposed here."
    "Uh-huh. One second." I look over to see her sprawled out on the sand, looking up into the sky as if she's dying. She will be dead if she doesn't get up.
    I start walking away, thinking she'll follow once she sees me. But she doesn't even look my way. "Koko!" I yell, a little too loud.
    "Jesus, okay. Stop screaming you're about to get us killed." She replies, looking around her as she stands.
    I roll my eyes away from her. And we'd be dead if we stayed here too. I refrained from saying out loud.
    She finally eases herself up. I wait, impatiently, scanning the area wishing she'd walk a little faster.
    "We should find a place to hide" she suggests as she walks past me. I look at her and nod, now walking beside her.

✶✶✶

    The arena's scary at night. way more than it usually is. The stars are nowhere to be seen, leaving just the moon to light things up. It's funny, I don't think I've ever really looked at the moon until now when I can really see it. It makes me think of past arenas and how they would usually be inside a building. Still a dome, like we're in now, but there was no visible sky. No moon to look at for comfort. This year, since it's the First Quarter Quell, the game makers probably wanted to show off their new technology. Well, not exactly new, just new to the districts. The dome this year is more like a force field, I guess.
    I look over at Koko to see if she's awake. I'm surprised to see her eyes open and looking towards the moon too. "Oh, hey. Didn't think you were up" I say.
    "Yeah, like anyone could sleep in this place," she replies.
    I nod in agreement, tapping my fingers on my knee. "Yeah," I respond, ending the conversation. I lay down, ready to try and get some sleep. There's no way for me to tell what time it is, but it's undoubtedly late.
    I finally get to sleep when I hear the well-known melody that is the Capitol's anthem. I sit up, confused. I don't understand why they're playing it. Is it an announcement? Did something happen? A bright light cuts off my thought process and I look up into the sky to see a hologram of the Capitol Seal. I shake Koko awake, scared of what I'm looking at. "What is this?" I ask her.
    "What?" she asks, slowly noticing the light and looking up into the sky too. "Woah. I have no clue."
    The seal fades away, but the anthem doesn't end. Instead, the face of Violet Dering is shown with her district right underneath her, "Blayne Wraith, District 3."  What is this? 
    "Are they revealing the dead tributes?" Koko asks, her voice noticeably shaky.
    I think about it for a second, but only a second. There's not much to think about. It's not difficult to understand what's going on. "Yea. They are," I confirm.
    The list continues... "Coltan Barrie, Violet Dering, August Bentzen, Nyco Hearst, Ashton Villin, Eden Cabot, and Finnegan Stasny." It ends there, with eight people. "Eight?" I say aloud, directing the question to no one. "Weren't there nine?
    "Mmm, I don't know. Maybe. Who do you think is missing?" 
    I go over the shown tributes again, trying to remember who else may have gone. "It's so late, it's hard to remember," I tell her.
    "Oh! I know. Peyton, right? Levi's ally" Koko reveals, helping me remember.
    "Yeah... does that mean she's still out there?"
     The thought remains in my mind until it's interrupted by the boom of a cannon. Koko and I turn to each other and then back to our surroundings, wondering which tribute could've gone now.

15 Tributes Remain