A Snake's Game

Day 3 - Allies

The night was calm and eerily silent as the last cannon boomed in the sky, revealing the fallen tributes. As it faded away, a frost formed, and the temperature dropped drastically. Everyone struggled to remain warm while attempting to create a fire.

A group of five walked through the thick trees as it began to snow. They didn't have warm enough clothes for this weather and tracked their footprints in the snow.

Night fell and the temperature dropped even more.

"Let's just start a fire here, Shashi."

"I can't feel my toes!" A built woman complained as she kicked around some snow.

"I can't feel my fingers!" A man with a similar build complained over her and slipped on some sleet in the snow. He let out a short yelp before he managed to catch himself and stand upright.

"I can't feel my body! Beat that!"

"I can't even feel-"

"Would you two stop?" A smaller girl asked, clearly annoyed with the two one-upping each other. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "We're all cold, suck it up and keep walking or we're leaving y'all behind."

"Layla, ease up, we can sleep here for the night."

She turned around to a young man as he set a hand on her shoulder.

"Nacho, Rollie, we need you two to start the fire. Jun can help you set up."

Rollie looked at her brother and smiled. "First to get the most firewood and bring it back, wins!"

Her brother smiled back and they ran into the trees, snapping just about every branch in the process.

Jun rolled her eyes and muttered, "Idiots." before walking after them to help them set up.

"Shashi, I don't think we-"

"It's alright Layla, we can stop here for the night, make a fire, and be gone by morning."

Layla sighed and sat down on a fallen tree trunk and pulled her knees up to her chest to stay warm just as Nacho and Rollie came crashing through the bush behind and snow fell on her.

"I won!"

"No I did!"

"I was here first! Ask Layla!"

Layla, shaking off the snow, looked up and glared at them both.

Jun casually walked behind her and dropped several branches of firewood in front of Layla. "If looks could kill, you two would be long dead by now."

Nacho and Rollie looked at Jun, confused as Layla said nothing but looked at Shashi with annoyance.

He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes and stood up, shaking the snow off her. "Let's just set up for the night, I'm cold and tired, and would rather hunt in the morning."

Shashi smiled and looked at Nacho and Rollie, "You two can start a fire. The rest of us are setting up. I'll take the first shift tonight."

*****

A young man rushed through the woods, panting lightly and jumping over fallen branches to avoid stumbling. He turned around to see the man chasing him, then jumped over a fallen tree. He grunted when he landed incorrectly, but despite the pain in his ankle, he continued running. He didn't have any weapons, so all he could do was run, which he was becoming tired of. He just knew he had to run. Faster.

The man pulled out his knives, hurling a few at him.

His eyes widened and he stumbled a bit as one grazed his cheek but he didn't dare to stop. He heard movement in the trees as if something was following them from above. He glanced back quickly and saw two figures following as they jumped through the trees. He felt panic fill his heart as he ran faster, even though he was limping now from his twisted ankle. He heard fighting begin behind him but he didn't dare to look back as he kept going knowing that the other two would go out of their way to find and kill him.

The two people attacked the man and knocked him dead before looking for the injured victim.

"At least he's gone. He won't torture the others anymore." The young woman growled and glanced at the young man beside her who scanned the area.

"I know we are supposed to kill each other...but I feel there is still a code of honor we need to follow." She said as she looked at the dead man. "Sandocal was in it to make everyone suffer, his mind was clouded with how he wanted to win, controlled or not, he needed to get out of the arena." She muttered bitterly then turned to go after the injured victim, but the young man gripped her arm to stop her.

"Let me go, Cisco." She grumbled.

"Leave him alone, Echo. He's frightened and injured." He said and she shrugged him off angrily before glaring at him.

"I know, fool! He was hurt, we need to help him! What did you think I was going to do?"

Cisco stayed quiet and Echo rolled her eyes before she turned, "Which direction did he run?" she mumbled and quickly took off.

*****

They found him by the river, washing his face and filling a canister with water.

Echo stopped close to the end of the tree line and held out her arm to stop Cisco from walking by her.

"Well, we found him." Cisco mumbled, "I guess we should go now, he doesn't appear to be injured-"

"Wait!" Cisco turned to leave as Echo grabbed his arm and dragged him behind her. "His ankle was injured when he was running and I doubt he knows how to fix it. I can easily. I just want to help him Cisco."

Cisco sighed as he looked at the man by the river as he limped farther away from them, probably without noticing they were even there in the first place. "But we're not here to make friends, you know this."

"You're my friend."

"For now."

Echo turned back into the trees and ran alongside the injured man, Cisco following after her.

"Don't scare him, he thinks we're the enemy...just...be friendly."

Echo nodded and stepped out of the cover from the trees, Cisco followed.

The man looked at them and backed away, scared. "Please...I don't want to-"

"We aren't going to kill you." Echo cut him off.

"We just want to help...and get someone out of these stupid games." Cisco told him.

He looked at the two with uncertainty and winced as he attempted to step back again.

"I'm Echo by the way and that's Cisco...you're the guy from district 12 right?" she stepped forward and gestured at his ankle, "I'm not the best with medical care but I know a sprained ankle when I see one...Please, trust us."

He looked at them and recognized them from training. Cisco was strong and Echo was smart and knew a lot about plants but could he trust them? They weren't from the upper districts, that's better than nothing.

"Uh...I'm Tony Toretto..."