Too Clever

Chapter 17

Suddenly, Cato turns around from the lake and walks over to the others, who seem to are awake now. I can't hear what they're saying, but Cato's pointing toward the tree line, a little to the left of where I am. A few moments later, they arm themselves with knives, spears, and swords and begin to slowly, quietly make their way toward the trees. It's as if they're attempting to sneak up on another tribute, which I imagine they probably are. I hastily grab my stuff and move farther to the right so they don't cross paths with me. I move swiftly, but quietly, with a soft tread on the crumbled leaves so as not to give away my position.
In a few minutes, I see four bodies come out of the forest and make their way to the Cornucopia. Cato, Clove, Marvel, and the boy from 3. I think his name is Chase. What in the world could he have said to them to convince them to spare his life? The Careers don't normally team up with tributes from outlying districts.
     The three Careers stand in a clump watching as Chase circles the Cornucopia. It seems like he is closely inspecting the ground near the platforms we started the Games on. After about a half hour of this, Chase holds a discussion with others, and they appear to be nodding their heads in agreement. Cato holds up his hand and interrupts at one point, but I can't make out what he is saying.
     The four of them begin to transfer the supplies from the Cornucopia into a heap on the ground, except for a few the weapons and things they need. All of it is stacked on top of each other, until a few hours later, it takes the shape of a great pyramid. I can't understand how the pyramid of supplies is of any significance, until Chase begins to dig up the ground surrounding it. He carefully digs up certain areas very precisely with a pick axe, forming little piles of dirt sporadically strewn across the ground. But why? Why is digging it up?
Then I realize what Chase has done. He has thought up a way to reactivate the mines that were deactivated the second the gong went off at the beginning of the Games. It's the only thing that can explain why he is digging up the ground right near the platforms.
"Wow..." I whisper in disbelief. No one in the history of the Hunger Games has ever done anything like it. Only someone from 3 could do this, as their in their district's industry is technology and electronics, and this is the kind of stuff they learn in school. Of course, they don't exactly learn how to reactivate mines, but they learn programming and other things along those lines.
So that's why the Careers let him live—so they could use him to create a trap for any tribute who is in need of food or supplies. It's an extremely good and effective idea, and I'm sure Chase is getting a lot of praise in his district at the moment, but once they don't need him anymore, I'll bet the Careers will kill him off before he can even knows what hit him.
I just need to figure out how get past the mines so I can get more food from the Cornucopia, as I am running out of oranges and beef strips. But dusk is settling in, so I'll have to wait for tomorrow to begin formulating a plan.
The Careers leave Chase to guard the pyramid and slowly make their way into the forest to begin their hunting for the night, still a little hazy from the tracker jacker stings. I can still see the swollen bumps on their bodies until they disappear into the foliage. Since Chase is on guard, I can't exactly walk up to pyramid to examine in. I'll need to analyze it from behind the greenery, where it's harder to see me.
     The little mounds of dirt seem to be where he reburied each mine, so that means I would have to avoid stepping on them and jump across, only allowing my feet to touch the original dirt around them all. It's going to be a hard task, but I will have to do it sooner or later; I'm running out of supplies and food quickly.
     I definitely will not carry out my plan today; it's getting dark, and I won't be able to see the piles of dirt as well as I could in broad daylight. I'll just have to wait until the time presents itself. That could be a few days from now, so I'll have really have to conserve my resources, while still keeping myself in somewhat decent shape. That means making sure I drink my water, but only a few sips a day, eating only one orange each day, as I am running out of them, and staying in the shade so as not to have my body wracked with dehydration a second time.
It may be a long shot, but it's really the only chance I have if I am to come out of the arena. There is no other way for me to get a good amount of food unless I get it from the Cornucopia. I'm also going to get the materials I need for a snare, if there are any.
     But for now, all I can do is try to get a good night's sleep.
                       **********
     I awake with a throbbing headache. I put some pressure on my forehead with the palm of my hand and glance up at the sky. Two o'clock! I have to look away because the light hurts my eyes. I've slept much longer than I expected to. It's the first good amount of sleep I've gotten in the arena, and, despite the headache, I feel refreshed and relaxed. That is, until I hear the leaves shuffle somewhere off to my right.
     I quickly gather my stuff, so I will not leave a trail to follow, and hide behind the stump of a giant tree. My heart is beating out of my chest, and I cup a hand over my mouth to muffle the sounds of my rapid breaths. Could it be one of the Careers?
The leaves stop crackling, and I know the other tribute is still a little to my right. I turn around behind the tree and peek around the giant trunk to get a glance of the tribute. She's small, with black hair and big brown eyes. Rue.
She squats down right inside of the tree line, where she can get a good view of Chase and the Careers' camp by the lake. She stays there and observes.
When my breathing finally returns to normal, I slowly take my hand away from my mouth. I don't dare come out from behind the tree and reveal myself; I know Rue probably won't kill me, but but I don't want her knowing where I am. Plus, she might ask to be allies, and that's something I can't afford, especially at this point in the Games. But Rue doesn't stay long. After a few minutes of closely observing Chase, the Careers, and their giant pyramid of supplies, she slowly gets up and heads back the way she came.
I take a deep breath, feel my muscles relax. That could have been much worse. I got lucky that it wasn't a tribute like Cato or Thresh. But the good thing that came out of this is that I now know where I'm going to observe from until I figure out exactly how to get past the mines to the pyramid; Rue found a good spot that conceals her well, but also provides a good view of everything playing out by the Cornucopia.
     So I sit down in that same little spot and think out my plan a little more to prepare myself. The small mounds of dirt are not evenly distributed. Some are spread apart by gaps of about two feet, just enough room for me to have both my feet on, but little more. Some of the heaps are very close together, almost touching. It would probably start a chain reaction if one of them was hit.
     I study it for about three more minutes, and then I realize that there is an intricate pattern between the piles. As I already figured out, some mounds are spread apart, while others are nearly touching. But the piles farther apart form a maze like path, leading to the pyramid of supplies. I don't know if Chase has done this on purpose, so he could memorize it and be able to get to the pyramid if him or the others need something from it, or if it was just part of the design. All I know is that I will soon have to navigate through  that complex labyrinth to survive—and risk my life in doing so.