Filed To Story: Sunrise on the Reaping Book PDF Free
I’m worried that the districts have a low opinion of me for abandoning the Newcomers. Trying to save Lou Lou might’ve helped. And if I blow up the arena, I guess I’ll be welcome back in 12 again. Not that going home is a possibility. Still, I want Sid to be able to hold his head up, not be ashamed of me forever.
Since I’ve made camp near my berm, there’s no point in traveling anywhere. Nothing to do but wait for Ampert to arrive with his token fuse and the District 9 sunflower explosive. I’m pretty worn out from Days 1 and 2 of the Games, so I just hang out in my hammock, keeping an eye out for butterflies. By early afternoon, I begin to get restless. We should have worked up a better rendezvous plan. The woods are deep and wide; we could easily miss each other. Far north could still be miles away. Something to remember when I get down in that tunnel. I may still have a long way to go before I reach the tank.
I decide to go look for Ampert.
As I pack up my supplies, carefully wrapping my goblet in the hammock, I come upon the binoculars and try them out. That inspires me to climb higher and get a better sense of the lay of the land. Near the tippy-top of the tree, which towers over most, I can see a great distance. I’m again struck by the beauty of the place, the idyllic woods, the uniform sweep of meadow, the snowcapped peak which now sits under the arch of a shimmering rainbow. I judge the mountain to be about five or six miles away. That’s where the rest of the kids are presumably hunting one another down. So different from here, where I’m purely up against the Gamemakers. The sea of trees continues behind me, but seems to narrow to a point in the distance. It’s impossible to tell exactly how far away that is, since everything starts to look a little blurry. Does that indicate it’s the end of the arena?
I twist back around to view the meadow again and catch sight of a bit of electric blue near the Cornucopia moving toward the woods. Ampert? Worried I will miss him among the trees, I climb down and head for the meadow, hoping to intercept him. Along the way, I cut small, discreet notches in the bases of trees with my knife, leaving markers for my return. Backtracking takes me farther from my target, but I’ll need Ampert with me, one way or the other.
When I reach the tree line, I climb onto a rock and survey the meadow through my binoculars. It’s Ampert, all right, about a mile away, tromping toward me. The expression on his face, so grim and sad, forged by the last few horrific days, reminds me that I’ve had it easier than most. Around his neck I spy two sunflower tokens, one stained with blood. At least he’s been spared watching his own district mates’ deaths, since none have appeared in the sky. I bet he hasn’t had much to eat and I’ll need him on his toes for the tank bombing. . . . Should I make some sandwiches?
Wait a minute. . . . Once again, what am I doing? Why has the rascal, after running away from the Newcomers, caught sight of Ampert and returned to the edge of the woods? This is different from Lou Lou; she found me. My behavior sure seems suspicious. Like I’ve been waiting for him the whole time. I don’t think this will matter to the audience, but what are the Gamemakers going to make of it? I told them I was only out for myself. What could have drawn me back to Ampert? The answer can’t be explosives. What would extend my survival? I’ve got my own food and water and charcoal tablets and weapons – what can Ampert offer me?
The one thing I don’t have much of is information. I know who’s dead . . . but who killed them and how? What weapons arm the Careers? Have they discovered anything to eat and drink in here that isn’t poisonous? Except for Lou Lou, I’ve been alone, and she wasn’t exactly a wealth of information.
Okay, then. This rascal wants an update.
Cocky. Out for myself. Sarcastic. Nice to the other Newcomers. I’m channeling all these things so I can present a consistent character to the audience, but when Ampert arrives, he throws his arms around me and I just hug him back and say, “Hey, buddy.” I’m surprised by how small he feels, because he’s such a take-charge kind of kid. But he’s only about Sid’s size and plenty scared. Even the brightest brain can’t think its way out of being trapped in the arena.
“The Newcomers need you back,” he says. “They sent me to find you.”
Good. That’s why the Gamemakers will think he’s here.
“We talked about this. My scoring a one makes me dangerous to be around,” I say for the audience’s benefit. I don’t want my gifts to dry up because I’m shirking my Newcomer duties. Also, Sid needs to hear my motive for ditching them.
“Lou Lou ran off. Then we saw her in the sky.”
“Case in point,” I say, stepping back from him. “She found me, and she’s dead now. We didn’t see the poison flowers coming.”
“Those are poisonous, too?” he asks.
“At least the bee balm. The gas plants came in handy when I needed to barbeque some butterfly mutts. The Gamemakers sent those after me. You hungry?” He nods vigorously. “How about a trade? Some lunch for a mountain update?”
I spread out a big picnic on the rock: rolls, cheese, eggs, apples, and a wineglass of grape juice for him. I don’t interrupt as he wolfs the food down, pretty sure he hasn’t eaten much in here. He doesn’t even have a pack of supplies, just an ax in his belt and a sunhat made of leaves. When he finishes, he wipes his mouth and sighs. “I wish I could’ve shared that with the others. The Careers got most of the food.”
“How are you guys holding up?” I ask.
“It’s tough. We’ve lost seventeen now. All but Lou Lou at the bloodbath.”
“Nobody got poisoned?”
“Oh, several of us did. But Wellie figured out about everything being poisonous almost immediately. And Hull’s pack had a big bottle of the syrup antidote. None of us died from poison.”
“Syrup? I had these.” I pull out the tablets and show him. “Else I’d be gone, too.”
“Must’ve been bad. No one to look after you.”
I shrug. Then I have to ask. “Wyatt?”
Ampert reaches into his pocket and passes me Wyatt’s token. “Panache killed him. And five others. With a sword. Maritte’s wicked with the trident. Silka used an ax, it’s sharp as a razor, and I saw . . .” His voice chokes off.
“I get the picture. Maysilee’s okay, though, right?”
“I don’t know. She got separated from us during the bloodbath. Haven’t seen her in the sky, though. I’m guessing she’s still on the mountain, same as the rest of the Newcomers. We’ve been trying to stick together, like we planned. The Careers followed us there.”
A despicable thought crosses my mind, that Maysilee has somehow joined up with the Careers. Then I remember how combative she was with Silka from the first encounter and feel ashamed of myself. I examine the necklace she wove to securely carry Wyatt’s scrip coin. She spent most of her training hours helping the Newcomers display their tokens with pride, when she could have been learning skills to protect herself. Whatever else she may be, Maysilee Donner is not a turncoat.
I tell Ampert, “Wherever she is, she’s making trouble for the Careers. You can count on that.” When I hook Wyatt’s token around my neck, it’s like having both him and Maysilee with me.
For a while, Ampert and I just sit there, letting the breeze cool us, staring at the ridiculously pretty, flower-scented meadow, listening to the songbirds. I pour another glass of juice, which we pass between us. Every sense is being catered to, every element designed to soothe. We’re cocooned in soft pleasures as we face our deaths.
“So you won’t come back?” Ampert asks.
“It wouldn’t help. I’m a mutt magnet. And clearly no judge of flowers.”
“Can you show me around the woods at least? We need to get off that mountain, but no one knows if it’s worse here.”
“If that’s what you want. But I can’t promise to keep you safe from the Gamemakers.”
Ampert laughs a bit. “What a funny thing to say. Who could?”
When we finish the juice, I lead him into the woods. My giving him the tour is the perfect cover story, really. Not that he gets much information besides “Watch out for the stream – it’s poisonous. And the fruit. And those flowers over there, too.” Basically, I could’ve just said everything’s poisonous and left it at that. But I play the guide. I show him the berms with the bee balm and the gas plants, saving the butterfly bush for last. “This here’s where the butterflies went. The ones I didn’t burn to a crisp.”
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