Genevieve Odair

19. Watery Depths

Genny woke to discover it was almost dusk, exactly when she had wanted to wake. Her throat feeling as raw as sandpaper, she quickly took out her canteen, allowing herself to drink half the two-quart container before stowing it away again. She didn't want to have to find out what having no water felt like. Although her stomach was growling, she did not allow herself to eat any of her food. Instead, she untyed the rope, climbing as high as she dared in the tree before sitting down again, wrapping her arms around the trunk and tying herself to it to wait out the next round of death.

Just as she situated herself, the anthem began to play, revealing to her the deaths from the previous day and night. A shot of pain went through her chest as she saw the face of the girl. She was from District 7, as she had thought. Then, the girl from District 8, followed by a large boy from 10, the one she assumed Augustus Braun had been referring to. Once the music stopped and the projection went away, Genny forced herself back to the task at hand, listening for the sounds from the previous night.

To her surprise, however, the night was strangely quiet, devoid of the sound of screams or cannons. She supposed that meant the other remaining eight tributes had figured out the trick of the gamemakers. She sipped down the rest of her half-fill canteen as she waited for the night to end. Occasionally, she could hear the sounds of footsteps or a rustle in the brush, but nothing more. Once, she thought she heard the sound of something rubbery against bark, but she brushed it off as no more noise followed it.

She had already begun to feel sleepy again when the morning of the third day came and the islands began to shift again. Once they had settled, she climbed down the tree, deciding her first move would be to refill her now empty canteen, even though her other one was still full. She had just determined that the island with water was still about where it had been before when a scream reached her ears, but it was very faint, coming to her as though from a great distance.

Genny cautiously climbed again, looking out to spot the source of it. However, as the scream was not followed by another nor did a cannon go off, she quickly went into the water, diving deep and swimming most of the way without coming up. As she did so, she only allowed part of her head to emerge, looking for any trouble. She could hear and see nothing out of the ordinary, however, and quickly went under again, making it the rest of the way to the island before checking again.

Then, as quickly as possible, she refilled her water. The moment she had stowed it in her pack, however, the distinct sound of a twig snapping caused her head to snap up. Genny screamed, stumbling back into the creek for standing there, weapons in hand, were all four of the Career Tributes.

"Good to see you, Odair," one of the girls said, a poisonous smirk on her lips.

Without wasting a second, Genny broke into a run, sprinting through the forest as fast as she could, trying to ignore the shouts following her. They were gaining on her, coming faster and faster until she was almost sure they were on her heels. A knife shot past her, burying itself into the bark of a tree. A few more weapons whizzed past her, but as she quickly broke into a thicket, she avoided the worst of them. Making for the only hope she had, she dashed for the water, diving the moment possible and kicking as hard as she could. Over the pounding of blood in her ears, she could not hear anything, swimming furiously until she felt something solid beneath her.

Feeling her way, she moved as far as she could around the island before she felt her lungs would burst. Forcing herself to emerge slowly, she gasped for breath, dragging herself onto the shore as she began throwing up everything in her gut. She was trembling so badly that she couldn't even think of trying to climb. The terror that had so consumed her was still thrumming in her heart.

Her breathing had finally steadied when footsteps reached her ears. Walking toward her were two tributes, one rather large and muscular while the other was smaller, although no doubt at least as strong as her. They both held knives, the larger one also bearing a sword. Genny slowly forced her way to her feet, her grip on the trident tightening as her other hand drew one of the knives.

She remained still as they came closer and closer until finally, she could see them glance at each other in confusion, surprised that she was neither attacking nor fleeing.

There was only another moment of hesitation before with a cry, they both sprang at her at once. Without a moment's hesitation, Genny's hand bearing the knife flung out as her other arm twisted, blocking the sword from making contact. The smaller boy instantly collapsed, dropping his knife and reaching up toward where the knife was sticking out of his throat, already gushing gallons of blood.

Grabbing hold of the trident with both hands, Genny slammed the blade away, dropping into a defensive stance before moving to block his next strike toward her side. Spinning the trident in hand, she swung, aiming for his head before he too blocked, knocking the weapon away. Genny took a step back, watching him carefully as the cannon for the other boy sounded. She didn't want to have to deal another killing strike today, but she knew there was little choice in the matter. It was, after all, kill or be killed.

As he lunged again, she twisted, allowing him to surge past her, losing his balance and falling to the ground. Before she could decide whether to strike or not, he kicked at her legs, knocking her to the ground before lunging at her again, both hands wrapped around his knife. Genny screamed, pressing the rod of the trident against his wrists to keep the blade from her body. She let out a cry of exertion, pressing against his weight as he tried again, and harder, to drive the blade into her.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she fought against his weight. She was going to die. She knew that now. She wasn't strong enough to block him. Then, just as the thought occurred to her, her strength gave out, sending the trident back toward her chest. Genny screamed, curling into herself as she waited, expecting at any moment to feel the blade pierce her skin, but it never came.

Shaking, Genny opened her eyes, looking around for the source of her salvation only to see that the boy she'd been fighting with had his face pressed into the water, struggling vainly under Caspian's hold. Genny released a harsh breath, letting her head fall against the sand again. Her body ached and now that her fear was beginning to ebb away, she became aware of many more pains around her body. There was a cut on her right arm where one of the Careers must have grazed her as well as a few cuts the boy had managed to inflict, including one across her cheek.

After another cannon went off, Genny opened her eyes to see Caspian standing over her, offering her a hand. Shakily, Genny took it, surprised by how gently he helped her to her feet.

"Are you all right?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Yeah," he said. "You?"

"Just some cuts," she said shakily, pressing her palms into her eyes.

At that very moment, something caught her eye, a glimmering something above her. Looking up, Genny was surprised to see something floating down to her, held by a silver parachute.

"A sponsor gift," Genny said in surprise. "For you or me?"

"I haven't gotten anything," Caspian retorted.

"Neither have I," Genny admitted, reaching up to catch it as it fell.

Opening the small tub's lid, she found it was filled with some kind of paste. Bringing it up to her nose to smell it, she found it had no real scent at all.

"Probably for your injuries," Caspian said. Then, glancing up and down the beach, he said, "That's two, Odair."

Looking back up at him, she said, "Thank you. You didn't have to..."

Saying nothing, Caspian disappeared into the woods.

Screwing the cap back on, Genny also went into the depths of the woods, finding for herself a high tree before she began to climb, unsteadily at first, but soon she was high enough that she could secure herself in place. Then, she opened the tub again, taking out a small part of the paste and pressing it into the cut on her arm. She hissed slightly as it burned against her skin, but the next moment, it began to numb, silencing the pain. Next, she treated her other cuts, the one on her cheek, another at her side, and the final, very shallow one, on her chest where she assumed the knife must have briefly pressed into her before Caspian ripped him off.