ODDS

allies

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓮 that came back to me was my hearing. It was odd, I had never fully been focused on a single sense with this kind of intensity. It made my mind dizzy. Everything seemed so much louder than it normally was, like the volume had been cranked up to a hundred. The ringing only made it worse.

"Good lord, Alana. What on earth were you doing?"

The voice was deep and soothing. If it weren't for the sudden pain in my shoulder, I would have wondered who the owner of the voice was. They could have been ready to kill me, but I had no sense of the urgency, due to the ever-so-growing pain of the stab wound. It felt like fire and ice, mixing together to create the worst pain ever. I forced my eyes open, but quickly shut them due to the brightness of light reflecting off of the sand.

Sand?

My eyes snapped open again, studying the new setting in which I'd found myself in. The snowy mountain storm had been replaced entirely with sand dunes and cacti every few yards. My brain swirled with questions, all fighting hard to be answered. Where was I? Was I dreaming?

I tried moving from my position, on my stomach laying over some sort of cloth to protect my face from inhaling sand. Feeling my wound intensify in pain stopped this action. Instead, I laid there, hoping that I was at least safe from anyone who could have taken advantage of my weakened state.

That's when I saw him.

"What happened to your shoulder?" Sander sat there, looking through a sort of makeshift backpack.

Though a little disoriented, I answered his question. "Opal."

Sander nodded, not looking up from whatever it was he was doing. Supplies littered the floor. A rope. Some canteens. An extra jacket.

"Where are we?"

This got Sander's attention. He had a certain expression to his face. Dumbfounded, maybe. I couldn't tell. Maybe that was due to the loss of blood. Finally, he spoke up.

"That has got to be the dumbest question I've ever been asked."

Noticing my still confused face, his features softened as he put his hand up to my forehead. He gave a sigh and continued looking through his things.

"You lost a lot of blood before I found you a little after midnight. That was after the arena changed. You might have a fever."

I looked at him from my position on the ground. It made sense that I was feverish. I was probably a little delusional, too. Losing all of that blood had taken its toll on me. It was a good thing Sander had found me when he had.

"How long was I out?"

"Twenty four hours, give or take."

"How many tributes?"

Sander stiffened at this question. I noticed the muscles in his back tensed. His movements faltered as he finished packing his things into the backpack. He must have taken a few of those lives. Knowing Sander, even with the small amount of time we spent together, he was incredibly guilty for it. I wondered what Tora was thinking back home as she watched her brother. What were his parents thinking? What was my family thinking?

"The bloodbath wasn't really much of a bloodbath this year. Two died. There have been three canons so far today."

Only five tributes had died? Usually the bloodbath alone killed seven or eight tributes. Within the first day, many times, only half of the tributes would be alive. But only five tributes had died? With the games going on like this, we would never get out.

"How did you get that?" Sander asked as he pointed to my shoulder. I sat up slowly, feeling the effects of the wound slowly wear off, only leaving me mildly dizzy and extremely thirsty. I pulled the jacket from off of my body and tossed it to the ground beside me. I tried pulling my hair out of my face, but the wound on my back prevented me from doing so. My wrist was aching again, probably from the fall with Opal. I wished I didn't sprain it to begin with.

"Opal threw a knife at me. Then pushed me down a mountain." Sander nodded, grabbing one of the canteens and handing it to me. I took it gratefully and poured the cool water down my throat. At least one problem was solved.

"What happened to the snowstorm?"

"I told you. The arena changed. It happened about an hour before I found you. That might be why you were out for so long."

"The arena changing made me stay passed out?"

Sander smirked. "The temperature change. In heat, people are more likely to pass out, or in your case, stay passed out. You might feel dizzy for a couple of days while you get your strength back."

I nodded at this as Sander passed over a bulky cloth. I took it, unwrapping it to find some form of meat. I looked at him, a questioning glance on my face. Sander looked at me, laughing a bit.

"Don't ask what it was. You don't want to know."

I scrunched my nose, looking back to the sad pile of meat. My stomach suddenly had no appetite. I pushed it away, taking another swig of water from the canteen. Sander pushed it back towards me.

"If you want to go home, you have to eat, Alana."

I looked at him, immediately thinking of Morgan. He would have said the same thing. He would have said the same thing if he were planning on getting me out. I studied Sander's face as he focused on a bit of rope, playing with it. A frown formed on my lips.

"You won't sacrifice yourself for me." I told him. This gained his attention, and I could tell that he was apprehensive about the conversation I was starting.

"Alana-"

"No, Sander." I interrupted. "We aren't trading lives. If you die, I go home. If I die, you go home. That's the way this is going to work, got it?"

Sander just stared, a bit shocked at my outburst. We weren't trading lives, it was as simple as that. District Four would get a victor this year, no matter which one of us it was. After awhile, Sander nodded. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I looked down to the meat before me. Wincing, I brought it up to my mouth.

Sander peered over again, subtly. I gagged, making a face full of disgust. He laughed, grabbing a piece for himself.

"Come on, it's not that bad." He managed between his laughs.

"Not that bad? You do remember that roast our first night in the Capitol, don't you? You want to tell me that this is not that bad?"

He only laughed in response.