circus | finnick odair

upper hand

a/n: the majority of the remaining chapters will be in Penn's POV. if it changes, I'll make note of it :)

Pennia's POV

"What the hell," I hear Issac say, squinting his eyes. "Is that another cornucopia?"

"I think so," Bentley says, taking a few steps forward. "Let's go!"

"What if someone is in it?" I hear Chase say, rolling up his sleeves.

"I guess we'll find out," I say, getting a better grip on my spear before beginning the journey to the other silver block.

I keep my eyes trained to the ground; after what the Careers did in Katniss' first games, I knew I needed to pay more attention.

Bentley and I were now at the front of our formation, Chase and Prim in the middle with Issac and Bray behind them.

We all had our weapons, our swords, daggers, knives, and bows, ready for the Careers.

The desert was flat, no mountains like the tundra and no foliage like the forest. There was no place for shade and no place for water.

My throat itched at the thought of water; we hadn't used a drop of our water. I looked back at my friends, seeing Chase and Prim drinking their waters.

"Prim, Chase!" I hiss, glaring at her. "You can't drink your water so quickly!"

"Why? It's hot and there has to be some in the cornucopia." Chase says, capping his canteen.

"Who knows what lies in that death trap, there could be anything. Mutts, tributes, or nothing at all." Issac says from behind them, his back to us as he watches for others.

Prim frowns, putting hers back into her backpack before shuffling forward, clearly miserable.

"Cheer up P, you're not dead." Bentley says, smiling at Prim with his white but slightly crooked teeth.

I see Prim roll her eyes, a small smile fighting to appear. I turn back to the cornucopia, seeing we have about 500 feet left until we reach the back.

This cornucopia is smaller than the one in the tundra, the metal is covered in dust while the other one was covered in ice.

I feel the heat, slowly but surely, cooling. The suns setting and we have yet to find a permanent resting spot. I quicken my pace, not wanting to be trapped in the open desert.

Day one, almost complete. And I'm not dead. I think as we come to the back of the cornucopia.

I nod to the others before pressing my ear against the grainy side. Inside, I hear nothing. Pulling away, I take off my backpack and hand it to Chase.

"I'm going in, if I die, you run." I whisper, loud enough for them to hear before slowly making my way to the mouth.

"Penn!" Prim whispers, taking a step after me.

"What?" I say, looking back at her. I see her eyes are wet, her hands are shaking.

"I love you," she says as a tear drips down her cheek.

I nod my head, tapping my heart before resuming my quest to the mouth. Once I reach it, I let out a shaky breath before peering around the corner.

I scoop a handful of sand from the ground below me and toss it in, bracing myself for an explosion. Nothing happens so I take a step in, seeing unused sleeping bags and other camping supplies.

I take another step in and feel a cool breeze, instantly relaxing my rigid frame. I pull a knife out from my belt and make my way to the back of the room, checking every nook and cranny.

I look around and jump, hoping that my friends were far enough away if it exploded. When it didn't, I exited the cornucopia and flagged my friends in.

"Air conditioning?" Bray says, setting her bow down on the table.

"Apparently," Issac says, taking a look around for himself.

"What do these buttons do?" Chase says, running his fingers along a button at the front.

"Don't push it!" I yell, pulling him away from the buttons. "Are you trying to kill us all?"

"It says 'Close Door' on the one though!" He says, fighting against my grip on his arms.

I keep an iron grip on Chase, knowing that button could and probably would kill us.

"We're all gonna die anyways so why not?" I hear Bentley say, and before anyone could stop him, he pushed the button.

The front of the cornucopia slid shut, the lights inside turned on and the wall illuminated with the Capitol's emblem.

I let go of Chase, trying to find a way to turn off the screen but a video comes up, halting my actions.

On screen are the Careers, they're at the other cornucopia. They left over supplies are neatly organized outside of the building. There's a large fire burning at the opening, the tributes furiously shivering.

"Spy cam?" Issac says, plopping down on the ground.

"Guess so," I say, grabbing the remote from the ground. It's small, with only a few buttons.

I shrug my shoudlers, pressing one of the buttons. The picture of the Careers disappears and is replaced with security cameras that give us a 365 degrees view around the cornucopia.

"We are staying here," Bray says, setting her stuff down and laying on one of the cots.

"Obviously, we have the upper hand." Bentley says, ruffling his sister's hair.

"Might as well," I say, relaxing into a cot. But before I can fall asleep, the anthem begins to play.

I see Issac push a button, causing the door to open, and run out. We all follow him, our eyes trained on the sky.

I see the pictures of the fallen tributes flash on the sky. No tributes from D1, D2, or D3 had died and only the female tribute from D4 had.

After that, I went back inside, not caring, nor wanting, to know who else had died.

There were five Careers and six of us, that makes eleven already. Eleven tributes had died in the blood bath, the most I ever remember seeing.

So that means that there are only two or three non-careers left, and that terrified me.

Taking a seat on my bed, I hear Issac say that him and Prim will take the first watch. I lay down, allowing my body to once again relax.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep but when I did, my dream man was the first thing I saw.

~~~

Filler chappie but oh whale

-M