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.
