YouTube Hunger Games

6: Speculations

 Felix's POV

"Two more dead last night." Cry's voice spoke in the distance, and I opened my eyes slowly at his words. I sat up, holding a hand to my head as my back screamed at me, a headache also coming on. I looked at Cry, who glanced at my sudden awakening before continuing to Marzia, handing her a newly filled water bottle. "Two more died last night, names of Smarty and GaLm." I blinked, unsure of what to think about more death so soon. I didn't want it to continue, and I wondered what had happened.

"How do you think they died?" I asked, and Cry only shrugged, filtering more water for himself and pouring it into his bottle.

"Could be anything. The wildlife could be dangerous, could have fallen, died of injuries, found another player. There's a lot that could have happened, in the end just be glad that it wasn't us," he packed up his things, shoving his jacket into my bag as it looked like it would be another warm day out. His emotions were hidden behind his mask, but his mouth was held in a thin line and he grimaced as he placed his knife on his person.

The night before, we had found ourselves a small sheltered area under a group of trees. We almost missed it; if Marzia hadn't tripped and fallen into it, we never would have noticed. The only way in was completely covered in foliage, and we decided it was a good place as any to take a break, especially when a small pond settled near us. Water didn't seem to be too much of a problem in this area, but food was going to be a different story quite soon. If we didn't hunt for our food, we would find ourselves in a bad position.

Instead, Cry seemed optimistic and helped us to our feet. Marzia only shot me a tired glance, and I took her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers. We followed Cry, unsure of whether we were ready to face today. I recalled her putting black paint on my face just before we got in, and I wiped under my eyes where it had been put. Sure enough, it was gone. My brain wandered back in time, even further to when we had first arrived and our only concerns had been what we were going to wear to the formal dinner. Marzia shouldn't be here, in an arena full of death and surrounded by dark thoughts. She wasn't a gamer, of course since she had games up on her channel and I was going thinking it was going to be some friendly, underdeveloped game I let her come along. It was my fault that she was here, but that only furthered my willingness to keep her alive.

I suddenly wondered about Cry. Why was he teaming with us if my only intent was to keep Marzia alive, to make her win? Did he not have ambitions of his own, or rather did he not just care? He seemed like the kind of guy to hold his own in a fight, and I knew that he could make it on his own if he tried, or if he really wanted to. I wondered what his plans were for the rest of this time, surely he had bigger ideas than hanging around us? Yet, these past few days he'd only been helping us, informing us. There had been no indication that he wanted to go or leave us to do his own thing, and as curious as it made me, I said nothing. I had bigger problems, and that was to help Marzia.

"How many players are left?" she asked suddenly, making Cry pause ahead of us. He looked like he was counting, and his mouth moved without making a noise.

"Seven died the first night, two last night. Twenty-four in the beginning. There's fifteen of us left," he concluded after a few seconds, and before moving again he put a hand to his chin. "I wonder if there's a way to check that." Then, he looked down at his bracelet. "Oh, yeah, there is."

"There is?" I asked, frowning and walking forward. Cry nodded, and Marzia joined me as we stood at his side.

"The bracelets are supposed to enhance the character's ability to interact with the environment or whatnot, but last night while I was on watch, I started fucking around with it, and look," he pulled up a small, holographic projection of the player list, and sure enough, only fifteen were alive. "Look at that, cool, huh? I thinks its sweet that they gave the bracelet another function besides just sitting on your wrist for the game itself."