Dying is easy, living is harder

Part 14

The screen switches back to the morning where the Careers have found out that they've been robbed and betrayed.

"I can't believe she did that," Amity looked mournfully at the smoke of their fire from last night.

"Believe it, blondie!" Sadie snarled. "That little whore is a traitor! When I get my hands on her..." she throws her axe into the tree where it's thrown so harshly that it sticks there.

"As long as you can't find her, I wouldn't count on that," Astrid muttered. And you better stay far away from the wicked bitch of the West, Annie.

"Maybe don't start ruining the blades of our weapons before we can actually use them," Percy cooly stated.

"Don't start with me, Four," she growled, yanking her axe out of the tree. Sadie stalked towards him, axe raised in his direction. "How do we know you aren't in cahoots with her!"

Percy placed his hand on his sword as he put it across his knees as if he had no worries in the world but his alert eyes said another story. "If I was in on this with her, I would have left last night."

Maximus moved to Sadie's side. "He's right. If I was him, I'd be long gone. It'd be suicide to stay. If he was in on it, he wouldn't be here right now."

The Careers finally simmered down enough to split the water supply equally for the rest of the day and then they estimated that they'd run out by the end of the day. So they needed to make a plan to somehow gather more water.

That's when they heard the chime of a parachute. Astrid scowled. Here comes the cavalry. She doesn't want to say just let them die, but she wasn't feeling much pity for them after watching them take pleasure in killing for the past two days.

Dulce rushed to open it, smiling as he took out a water bottle. Then his smile dropped and he shook it.

"It's empty," he told the others.

"What," Sadie scowled. "Of all the useless..." She muttered under her breath.

The twins started laughing.

"Their mentors are really kicking them when they're down," Ruffnut snorted.

"Did they not have enough sponsor money for the water inside," Tiffnut smiled mockingly.

"Cashmere wouldn't just send us something useless," Amity defended her mentor.

He looked at her and then at the bottle as if to say pretty sure she did.

Amity started looking inside the cylinder for a message like the one Annie got but nothing.

Astrid smiled. Nothing but an insult and a waste of money.

"She wouldn't give us an empty water bottle if she was trying to punish us, she'd send an insulting message too." The other Careers started looking a bit uncertain. "She's trying to send a message," she faltered before exclaiming, "Of course, there's another water supply that we haven't found!"

From there, they deduced that the only place that they haven't scavenged — the cliff — must be where the water is held.

"Can they do that?" Snotlout asked. "Isn't it cheating?"

"Yes, she can," Ollana said. "Cashmere didn't send a note giving away information about the arena. She simply sent them a gift that she was always allowed to send and they figured it out. It's about time someone from the Careers figures out about the dam."

The camera left the Careers just as they started making their way to the other side of the arena for Annie who, Caesar says, has been alternating walking and jogging all night long to get far away from the Careers in case they wake up.

She could be seen struggling to climb up a large tree. Astrid winced as she fell for the second time. Annie was always the worst at climbing trees when they were kids, she thought fondly.

Claudius Templesmith's voice could be heard explaining exactly where the tributes are in distance from each other on a map of the arena.

"As you can see, Annie Cresta walked all the way to the other side of the arena to the forest area. It would take a whole day just for her former allies to reach her general area if they knew where she was, that is," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "But just to get to the cliffs, the Careers will need to walk through the forest. There might just be a reunion for the ages between the former allies!"

"Shit luck," Gobber winced.

"They're really loud, Annie will know if they're nearby and be able to hide," Astrid comforted.

The rest of the day was much less exciting which was a welcome break after the first two days.

The only thing interesting to happen was the reveal that Grayson had been spying on the Careers and had decided to simply follow them from a distance. His mentor when being interviewed by Caesar had praised the move saying that this way he'll know where they are at all times. The mentor from District Two, Enobaria, called it a bad call because the moment they find him, he'll be ripped to shreds. She said it all with a bloodthirsty smile that reminded Astrid of her tribute.

The cameras would switch between Annie making a home for herself in her tree hidden from view, the careers sniping at each other as they traiked their way to the cliff and Grayson following out of sight. The boy from District Three and his ally the girl from District Seven also got much more time on the air as they talked about their homes and what they would say to their families if they returned, gaining much sympathy from Capitol viewers. Just like a real reality show, Astrid mused. They had realized on the second day that there was a dam but got tired a lot easier. While they had a head start on the Careers, they hadn't got there as fast as they could've.

Sometimes, the camera would wander to the girl from District Eight who had made her way to the cliff on the first day and has been enjoying a steady water supply but since she hasn't been doing anything interesting other than hiding, she wasn't shown much.

It wasn't hard to see that the dam was meant to draw them together and it was working like a charm. They were all going to the same area or were already there and if they saw each other, it would become another Bloodbath.

Astrid was just happy that Annie wasn't going to the cliffs like the others. She stayed in her tree with her six water bottles and didn't waste them. If she plays her cards right, they can last at least seven days.

Nobody died on Day Three.

Astrid wondered why she didn't feel happy about that.