The Fifty Fifth Annual Hunger Games

The Fifth Day

Rosilee willed her racing heart to calm itself as she took a deep breath, standing just inside the tree line by the cornucopia. She could see the three career district boys bickering outside as two of the girls sat just inside, discussing something she couldn't make out. She recognized one of them as Lily but couldn't make out who the other was. She spared one last glance at Jasper's grim face before stepping out of the tree line.
They didn't notice her at first so she got a bit further and held up her hands, showing she was unarmed. "Um..." she cleared her throat. "Excuse me!" she waved her hands, raising her voice slightly. That got their attention. The five tributes all looked up at her, shock and confusion flooding their faces. "I'm unarmed! I need help! Can I talk to Levie?"
Levie stood and exited the cornucopia, glancing at Caster. He locked eyes with her, not sure what to do. He had never seen anything like this before.
Prosper stood, grabbing his sword. "She's basically begging for us to kill her." He took a step in her direction but Lyssa grabbed his arm.
"I'll talk to her." Levie decided, already walking toward her. Caster fumbled for a spear, not sure where all of this was leading and followed her.
Rosilee smiled at Levie as she approached, but noticing Caster behind her, armed and headed in her direction, made her eyes widen and she took a reflexive step back.
Levie noticed her change in expression and turned around to stop Caster where he stood. "I'll be fine. She's just a twelve, remember."
He nodded reluctantly but stayed alert.
She finished closing the gap between them, but didn't get too close. "Rosilee, right? What do you need? It must be pretty bad if you were willing to come here," she chuckled, but truly knew it must be serious.
"One of my teammates, the boy from 8, his leg is injured. It's terribly infected and we fear he'll die. One of our allies was already killed and we're running out of options. We were hoping... maybe you'd still be willing to take us as allies?" Rosilee explained the situation, the words on her lips flowing despite the desperate prayers in her thoughts.
Levie raised her eyebrows. She was surprised at how much she was willing to risk for the life of her competitor. She had nothing to gain by helping him, especially if he was that injured. But it was almost inspiring "I'd have to talk with the rest of my teammates..."
"I understand," Rosilee sighed, knowing she lost. "Thank you for listening. And you know, not instantly killing me. But we'd owe you a lot if you helped. We already do honestly..." She was trying to stop herself from rambling, but all of it was true.
"Stay here. Let me just talk to Caster real quick." She gestured to the boy behind her and the twelve girl nodded, not sure what other options she had.
Levie jogged back to where Caster stood. "She says one of her teammates is dead and another is badly injured. They need our help."
"Are you serious? And you want to?" He retorted.
"Think of what this will do for sponsors! We'd get so many pity gifts. And our supplies are starting to run low."
The boy sighed. She had a point, none of them were the best at scavenging for food, and fish wouldn't last them forever. "We at least need to wait until Chanel and Jack get back."
"Well there they are!" She smiled, waving at Chanel from across the clearing.
"Is that the girl from twelve?" Chanel nudged Jack, pointing them out. When she saw Levie gesturing to her, she ran up. "What is she doing here?"
"She says her allies need help. The boy from eight has an infected injury," She explained.
"Let's do it! That's so exciting!" Chanel piped up, grinning and giving a little wave to Rosilee from over Levie's shoulder.
"We kind of need to talk to the rest of the group," Caster pointed out, frustrated with their impulsiveness. There are so many ways this could go bad.
But it was too late, Chanel was already approaching Rosilee, a smile on her face. The twelve girl hesitated before giving her a small smile back. "We'd love to help you!" She exclaimed as she walked forward. "Is your boyfriend here too?" She scanned the trees. "We'll help you!" she called in his direction despite not seeing him.
"Chanel you can't just make that kind of decision on your own!" Caster called, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
"Too late!" she called back. "Do you need help getting the rest of your group here?"