Cannel Cohle is a hillbilly philosopher. (gloomanddoom) wrote in colosseum, @ 2014-02-04 20:35:00 |
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Zap hadn’t been certain of how he’d felt about alliances, but while running from the bloodbath, heart beating up into his throat, lungs gasping for air, each breath more ragged than the last, it had occurred to him then and there that he was really, really glad that he would not be alone in this. Three potential allies that could stand to gain something from his being alive - and vice versa - meant that that was three less people who would be trying to kill him, at least until the going got even tougher. At least, he hoped that would be how it would work out. For all he knew, they would stab him in the back the first chance they got, although Patsy and Reaper did not seem to Zap like the type. Luckily, their two districts would be evenly numbered - if everyone made it out of the Cornucopia alive, they’d each have at least one familiar person to watch their backs. The minimal planning he’d done with Five before arriving here had mostly consisted of heading to higher ground and meeting there, but the further he ran, the more he’d realised there wasn’t really anywhere convenient to scout the area from. Just when he was about to loudly and breathlessly declare that that plan had been shit, he spotted the roller coaster. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but it was giant and steel and industrial-looking, which to him seemed like a beacon from home. Was this a sign of what was to come? “Thank you, Gamemakers! Thank you!” he said aloud, even if he wasn’t exactly sure what the object was that he was thanking them for. A large metal thing was far more familiar to him than anything in nature, however, and he immediately set to climbing the structure’s scaffolding to a high - and hopefully difficult for less nimble tributes to get to - spot. It was there that he waited for some sign of Patsy, Reaper, and Maxima. Unfortunately, only two out of three of them would eventually be spotted. His hopeful look faltered when he realised that the blonde girl accompanying Reaper was the other boy’s district partner, not Zap’s own. Nonetheless, he began his descent, although he stopped just short of giving up his height advantage completely. “Hey - so, we’re cool, then?” he asked them from his perch several metres up. He just wanted to make sure they hadn’t changed their minds somewhere between normal civilisation and running for their lives. Reaper wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the concept of alliances either, but much like Zap the thought of having more people on his side felt even better after the bloodbath. And seeing that it was a more industrial arena, having people from a district like 5 was even more appealing. Perhaps with all four of them together, they had a chance of making it closer to the end than was customary for their districts. By the time they happened upon Zap, the two tributes from District 9 had been carefully making their way through the arena in hopes of finding their alliance partners. Reaper had been near suggesting that they give up the search for the day when he heard a voice coming from above them. Confused, he looked upward to where Zap was located. “Hey Zap,” he answered as he glanced over at Patsy. “Yeah. We’re cool.” Neither Reaper or Patsy could know it, but she had much the same thoughts as Reaper when it came to having someone from District Five on their side in this area. Besides Zap seemed smart and friendly enough, without being too obnoxious and most importantly, when it (or if) it ever came down to it, Patsy was pretty sure either her or Reaper could take either of them in a fight. But hopefully it wouldn’t come down to that. “Yeah we’re good,” Patsy echoed. “You okay up there? Get anything good?” Zap tried not to look too obviously relieved by their assurances. He climbed down a bit more, then leapt down into the grass beside them. He looked from Reaper to Patsy and back again, attempting to guess at what had happened to them before their arrival here. “I’m fine. I grabbed some jerky and a canteen. No weapons though.” he said, hoping they wouldn’t be too disappointed in him for missing out on one out of three. “What about you guys? Were you hurt at all?” “I got hit in the head.” Lifting his arm, he pointed to the left side of his hand and when Zap got closer he would be able to see the dried blood still caked to his face. “I have a canteen full of water though and a small knife. Patsy and I are hoping maybe we can find more weapons around this place. Like bricks or something.” “I didn’t get hurt. I ran and got out of there pretty quick, although I did get some jerky, too,” Patsy explained. “Yeah bricks or anything heavy to throw at people would be really great! But I think we should try to get Reaper cleaned up too if we can.” Zap looked concerned at the mention of a head injury and leaned in closer to inspect the wound. “Ouch, that sucks.” he said, wrinkling his nose at it. “I agree with Patsy, we should probably get that looked after before we do anything else. Luckily, we’ve got water for it. What did you get hit with? It looks like it’s stopped bleeding, at least. Do you want to sit down or something, and we can clean it up?” It was unfortunate that they had an injury this soon into the Game, but at least it didn’t appear to be an immediately life-threatening one. “Yeah, bricks sound like a good idea. This thing here seems rickety. I bet we could break some stuff off and use it if we wanted to.” Zap said with a nod. “No offense, but there’s not much we can do besides washing it off and we don’t even have any extra water. Something tells me even if there is a first aid stand, it isn’t open for business now.” Even if it was open, it probably wasn’t a place they wanted to go since the Gamemakers would no doubt put something awful in it. “Yeah. Breaking stuff sounds good.” Only then did Reaper realize there were only three people in the party. “Where’s Maxima?” “I know, but if we find other water somewhere, then we’ll stop and fix it up, okay? Otherwise, I’ll try not to worry about it,” Patsy emphasized the word “try”. She wasn’t at all unused to people getting hurt especially in her line of work, but with survival being the most important thing and with the time she’d spent at the first aid training station, she couldn’t help worrying. But then someone mentioned breaking things and she perked up. “Oh yeah, let’s break things!” she said enthusiastically. She hadn’t realized until Reaper mentioned her name that Maxima was indeed, nowhere to be seen. If Reaper and Patsy thought the wound was fine, Zap was not going to protest. At the mention of Maxima’s name, Zap bit his lip but tried not to betray his concern. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to start thinking the worst right now. He had to remain upbeat, perky, valuable - especially if there was the possibility that he was going to be the odd man out here now. “I haven’t seen her,” he said matter-of-factly, attempting to sound neutral rather than concerned or callous. “Let’s break some stuff!” He turned and headed back toward the platform. It was far better to focus on something new than to dwell on something he was not capable of changing. Considering neither Patsy nor he had seen her either, Reaper didn’t get the feeling that the Cornucopia had gone as well for Maxima as it had for the rest of their little group. They wouldn’t know for awhile though, at least not until the anthem played that night and the faces of the dead tributes were projected across the night sky. It was the only way they would know whether they should keep looking or go on with trying to survive the arena. “Fucking break some stuff!” If anything, maybe they would get a few things to beat in some Career faces. “Hmm,” Patsy said softly, a little concerned that Maxima hadn’t been found yet. But it was still early and there wasn’t much point in worrying too much. Then again if something really awful had happened… well Patsy wasn’t going think about that yet. It was much more fun to think about breaking things and getting some of her anger out on an inanimate object. “Fuck yeah!” she echoed. |