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chapter 10

After my encounter with Tigerlily's group, my arms and feet hurt tremendously. Zunti had asked me what had happened to my face where Tigerlily had hit me, but I had ignored the question. Zunti and I had made camp so she could help my wounds. And that's when it started to snow. Now, this was a few hours ago and the water never helped.

The snow fluttered down on us, just as Zunti was finished with binding my wounds. The first flake landed on my forehead, where it burned. Have your hands ever been really cold and you put them under hot water, only for them to feel like they were colder than before? That's what this was like. Except ten times worse. The snow felt like it was burning cold through my forehead. Zunti took my arms and slung them around her shoulders, standing me upright and helping me walk. We ran through the trees, doing our best to avoid the snow. The cannon fired about five times during the snowfall, and one of them would have been for me if we hadn't figured out the cure. And yet...

Zunti raced through the forest, all the while carrying me on her back. The snow burned into our skin, slowing us down. I caught sight of a boy with green hair running through the trees, apparently not seeing us. Dracon seemed unfazed by the snow, and I figured out why; he had a sort of protection from it. And that's when I noticed. The pocket watch. It was hanging from his pocket, emitting a faint glow. Zunti stopped. She slipped on the ice at the Cornucopia. She had fallen on a weaker area, and the ice started to crack. I couldn't save her. She fell through the ice, disappearing into the frothy water. I wanted to scream her name, but Dracon would have overheard and came to kill me. Instead, I jumped in after her.

The water seemed to heal the burning sensation all through my body. I don't know how, but it sort of cured my burns. I swam through, searching for Zunti. I thought she would be okay, but then I remembered; she couldn't swim. I told her I would teach her someday, but now I know that day will never come. I caught sight of her floating around. I swam to her as quickly as I could, hooked her arms in mine, and swam her to the surface.

The cannon fired. 

* * *

"I don't want to let her go!" I yell at the hovercraft that came to pick up Zunti's body. "Let me join her!!!"

The hovercraft, of course, doesn't answer. I was too late, too late to save her. Zunti's black hair sways in the wind from the hovercraft's propellers. I fall to my knees, both from despair and from the fact that my feet still throbbed from the daggers.

"Need help?" says a voice from behind me. I turn around and see a girl about thirteen, with fiery red hair and blue eyes.

"You're-" I start to say.

"Sunnca Bright, at your service." The girl takes a bow. "I'm pretty sure we have a common enemy."

"Water? Snow? Tigerlily?"

"No. Dracon Hema. He's set his heart on winning this, but we want to stop him."

"We?" one more person steps into the light from behind the trees. Tryla Xnathro appears, weapons in her dirty hands.

"We want you on our team," says Tryla. "You know your stuff."

"I-" I'm interrupted with the music of the Capitol, announcing dead tributes.

District one: Mandolyn Evensong

District two: Candace Muncio

District four: Zunti Trinto and Serca Demonga

District six: Zerow Bright

District eight: Carlo Denario

District ten: Cante Dornn

District eleven: Setta Coralynno

Seeing Zunti's face again hurt. And seeing Carlo Denario up there made me feel a twinge of guilt. Tryla places a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"No one blames you for her death," she says. "It's the gamemaker's fault she fell into the water, not yours."

"But I was too late."

"Here, I'll go hunting with you," Tryla offers, and I nod.

"I'll go to the Cornucopia to collect some water," says Sunnca.

Tryla and I hunt in silence. We catch some sort of weird bird for a sort of dinner, and I don't realize how hungry I am until the bird is roasting over a fire and my mouth is watering. I bite into the bird, juice running down my chin. The water tastes sweet. I almost refused it because of what happened to Zunti, but my body thought otherwise. When I fall asleep, I actually feel safe.