I wake early in the morning, shivering. It must have gotten too cold for my body to continue sleeping. But there's no use in wasting time.
I pack my blanket back into my satchel. My stomach aches, but I have no food. I sip some of my water, and watch.
The Careers are gathering up supplies. They pile it into a pyramid, away from the Cornucopia, and cover the whole thing with a net. It could keep animals out, but it has no other apparent use. A scrawny boy kneels in the dirt, pawing at the ground. I'm not close enough to see what he's doing.
A few others put up a canopy of sorts, using stakes at the corners and a light green tarp on the top. They pile sleeping bags and food under it.
The boy moves from one hole he's dug to another. He jabs a hand towards the other one and calls something. He continues to work his way around for the next few hours. The boy stands up, and dusts off his hands. "Hey!" he shouts to his companions, but they ignore him. He walks over to the tent.
He speaks, gesturing with his hands and pointing to the pyramid. They're nodding, and getting up to walk over to the pyramid. I'm positive that I'm not close enough to be noticed, but I'm close enough to hear. "The mines are reactivated. We can still get to the supplies, but if anyone else tries without knowing the path, they'll be blown up. It won't hurt the supplies, though, and the noise will immediately tip us off if someone tries to get in, even though we won't hear their cannon."
They're nodding, looking pleased. And then the blond one speaks up- Glimmer. "Great, but how do we get in?"
He nods. "I'll show you." He moves towards the pile. A few steps forwards, a jump. Two more jumps, three steps. A jump over a barrel, and three more steps. He's at the base. Safe and sound. The boy turns. "I started at that stone. Take three steps, three jumps. Three steps, a jump over that barrel," he points to it, "and step three more times."
"And how are we supposed to remember that?" Cato says.
"You don't have to. Just look for my footprints after the first part."
"But that means that anyone can do it."
"No, some of it is on the grass, so you can't see any prints. You only have to remember the first couple instructions- three steps right, three jumps left. The rest is just following the prints."
They're nodding now, agreeing that he did a good job. The boy returns from the pyramid.
"Nice work, Sam."
The boy from District Three, then. It makes sense that he was able to work with the mines.
But they're back at the tent now, packing up backpacks. Are they leaving? They could pass by me. I scramble from my bush, and go back to the tree I was in earlier.
They don't pass by me. It's all of them leaving the plain now, though- Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, Clove, Sam, and Jillin. Tribute hunting, most likely.
They've left the supplies unguarded in their arrogance. It's odd that they trust Sam enough, but District Three isn't normally part of the alliance. He probably offered to help in exchange for his life. If this fails, they'll kill him.
But I can get to the supplies. Three steps right, three jumps left.
I wait half an hour, enough to ensure that they're gone. Then I strike.
Three steps right from the stone, three jumps left. Then I rely on the footprints, figuring that it's a better way then his jumbled instructions. When I'm safe at the base of the pile, I unzip Chloe's bag, and sift through the supplies. I can't take enough to attract suspicion, but still enough so that I don't have to steal from them every day. That could be risky. I lift up the net in the places where I need to access.
There's an eight pack of pre-filled plastic water bottles, and it's already been ripped open. Three of the bottles are gone, and I take one of the remaining. A package of dried fruit from a crate of fifty. A loaf of bread from a sack. I try not to be greedy, but I'm hungry. I rotate around the pyramid, making sure that I take from different areas. A box of matches, a small sleeping bag from a stack. A first aid kit, a small tin of nuts. There's still so many useful supplies here, but I can't take more. The only thing I need left is weapons.
I open a chest to find knives. Plenty. They're laid out by length, strapped to the soft cushioning. They haven't been touched. Some are serrated, other smooth and straight. I take a serrated one for tool use. If I'm lucky, they'll think Clove took it.
I find a fan, identical to the one I used in the Training Center. The ends are tipped with blades. Perfect.
I have enough now. I close the chest, and my dagger slips out of my bag and falls towards the dirt.
