My Games: Johanna Mason

Chapter 5

DAY 4

'No, Five, I don't think she is awake yet.'

I woke up suddenly to the sound of a teenage girl's voice. My eyes weren't completely open, but I could distinguish two figures leaning over me, one of which was the girl, the other the person called 'Five.'

'She could be an asset to us. Cyprus is her district partner after all.' The person called Five made some hand gestures and pointed to me.

'Training score of three or not, she will join our alliance! It doesn't matter how weak she is. That is what we are about, anyway. That is why Noel decided to make this alliance on the first night. To show them - you don't have to be a career to make an alliance or to stand a chance of winning! Careers have won for the last nine years consecutive. We are going to change that - whether it be you, me, Noel, Cyprus, or her!'

'Excuse me?' I bolted upright much to the surprise of the girl. She fell back in shock. Five, who I could now tell was a tall, dark male, looked as if he knew I was awake all along. I cocked my head. Better watch out for that one. I remember him receiving a six in training, which made him stood out from the sea of fives this year. He was from District Five, hence his nickname, and from what I could already tell, was mute.

'Did you just say that you wanted me to be part of an alliance?' I asked the girl gently, seeing she was afraid.

'Yes... but you don't have to,' she said weakly. I tried to smile as if she wasn't an idiot.

'Of course, of course!' I rushed over to hug her. She was stiff and unsure of what to do, but eventually her arms went around my back. 'Name's Johanna. I'm from 7.' I reached out to the girl for a handshake. 'Satina. I'm from 8,' the girl replied, shaking loosely.

'That's Five. He can't really talk, but he can use hand signs.' I looked over at the boy. He was surely eighteen, like me. Satina probably looked somewhere between fourteen and sixteen. 'Did you say Cyprus was also part of the alliance?' Satina nodded fiercely in response. I pretended to look relieved. I can't lie though - I really did feel more relaxed now that I knew where Cyprus was.

'So is Noel.' Satina added. 'They'll be back soon. They went to collect water from the river.'

I nodded. 'Wait... is the river where you guys found me? Because the last I remember, I was collecting water from the river and then I blacked out.' I left out the part about tripping and hitting the tree. That was embarrassing, even if I am considered the weakest tribute remaining.

Satina shrugged. 'You'll have to ask Five. He and Cyprus were the ones that found you. Cyprus insisted on bringing you back. We tried to wake you, but it didn't work.'

I turned to Five, and he answered using strange hand gestures I didn't understand. After he was done, Satina translated, 'he said that they found you unconscious at the winter edge of the river. They couldn't leave you there, because you could have easily been found, so they brought you back. There was a small gash on your forehead, but it is bandaged and fixed now.'

I instinctively touched my forehead. There was a bandage on it. 'So you have been in here with him for three days and you understand all that?'

Satina shook her head. 'At home in 8, my cousin is deaf and mute. He lives with us because both of his parents are dead. Sign language is the only way I can communicate with him.'

'So is Five deaf as well?'

'No.'

I nodded. Slowly I began to survey my surroundings. The three of us were in a small camp. There were backpacks, a pathetically small first aid kit, and rolled up sleeping bags. We were surrounded by the thick, snow-capped trees of the winter section. Suddenly we heard footsteps approach us. Cyprus and Noel emerged between two trees, each carrying three litre cartons full of water.

'What took you guys so long?' Satina grabbed a carton from Noel. 'You were gone for almost an hour.'

Cyprus shrugged. 'We thought we saw careers.' As he said it, he gazed deep into my eyes. Suddenly I ran up to him and hugged him tightly. He seemed surprised, so I whispered the plan in his ears.

I greeted Noel and offered my condolences about the death of his partner Lana and took some water to drink. I also offered everyone the water I had.

'Is the snow edible?' I asked. 'No,' Cyprus answered. 'I had diarrhea and nausea for an entire day after having a mouthful. That was when Noel, Satina and Five found me.'

After some eating and drinking and an hour or two of silence, I thought of a plan. My plan would ensure a massacre within the next few days, and it would be almost certain that I would come out alive.

'You guys created this alliance to defy the careers, right?' Noel, Satina and Five all looked up at me. 'Then why don't we strike back at them? Show them that we are not completely weak and helpless. If we separate them into just two groups, we outnumber them. Three groups, even better. I think we have the power and the resources to render them powerless, if not make a stand by giving them a taste of hopelessness. Give them a taste of revenge.'

For a few seconds, nobody said anything. Then, Noel whispered, 'what do you propose?'

I huddled the four of them in together and told them my plan.