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Rue has decided to trust me wholeheartedly I know this because as soon as the antheainst s about her, as I take no particular precautions If she&039;d wanted me dead, all she would have had to do was disappear fro out the tracker jacker nest Needling me, at the very back of my mind, is the obvious Both of us can&039;t win these Gaainst either of us surviving, I ht
Besides, I&039;m distracted by my latest idea about the Careers and their supplies Somehow Rue and I must find a way to destroy their food I&039;le Traditionally, the Career tributes&039; strategy is to get hold of all the food early on and work from there The years when they have not protected it well - one year a pack of hideous reptiles destroyed it, another a Gamemakers&039; flood washed it away - those are usually the years that tributes from other districts have won That the Careers have been better red growing up is actually to their disadvantage, because they don&039;t kno to be hungry Not the way Rue and I do
But I&039;ht My wounds recovering, y from the venom, and the wariven me a sense of security I realize, for the first time, how very lonely I&039;ve been in the arena How coive in tothat tomorrow the tables will turn Tomorrow, it&039;s the Careers ill have to watch their backs
The boom of the cannon jolts ht, the birds already chattering Rue perches in a branch across fro for more shots, but there aren&039;t any
"Who do you think that was?" I can&039;t help thinking of Peeta
"I don&039;t know It could have been any of the others," says Rue "I guess we&039;ll know tonight"
"Who&039;s left again?" I ask
"The boy from District One Both tributes from Two The boy from Three Thresh and ht Wait, and the boy fro He makes nine"
There&039;s someone else, but neither of us can remember who it is
"I wonder how that last one died," says Rue
"No telling But it&039;s good for us A death should hold the crowd for a bit Maybe we&039;ll have tis have beentoo slowly," I say "What&039;s in your hands?"
"Breakfast," says Rue She holds thes
"What kind are those?" I ask
"Not sure There&039;s a marshy area over that way Some kind of waterbird," she says
It&039;d be nice to cook theuess is the tribute who died today was a victih to be back in the Ga and soood breakfast anywhere
"Ready to do it?" I say, pulling on my pack
"Do what?" says Rue, but by the way she bounces up, you can tell she&039;s up for whatever I propose
"Today we take out the Careers&039; food," I say
"Really? How?" You can see the glint of excitement in her eyes In this way, she&039;s exactly the opposite of Prim for whom adventures are an ordeal
"No idea Coure out a plan while we hunt," I say
We don&039;t getevery scrap of information I can out of Rue about the Careers&039; base She&039;s only been in to spy on them briefly, but she&039;s observant They have set up their camp beside the lake Their supply stash is about thirty yards away During the day, they&039;ve been leaving another tribute, the boy from District 3, to watch over the supplies
"The boy fro with theot stung, too, when they drew the tracker jackers in by the lake," says Rue "I guess they agreed to let hi"
"What weapons does he have?" I ask
"Not ht be able to hold a few of us off with that, but Thresh could kill him easily," says Rue
"And the food&039;s just out in the open?" I say She nods "Soht about that whole setup"
"I know But I couldn&039;t tell what exactly," says Rue "Katniss, even if you could get to the food, hoould you get rid of it?"
"Burn it Dump it in the lake Soak it in fuel" I poke Rue in the belly, just like I would Priles "Don&039;t worry, I&039;ll think of so theather berries and greens, we devise a strategy in hushed voices And I come to know Rue, the oldest of six kids, fiercely protective of her siblings, who gives her rations to the younger ones, who forages in the meadows in a district where the Peacekeepers are far less obliging than ours Rue, hen you ask her what she loves s, "Music"
"Music?" I say In our world, I rank music somewhere between hair ribbons and rainbows in terives you a tip about the weather "You have a lot of ti at home At work, too That&039;s why I love your pin," she says, pointing to the otten about
"You have jays?" I ask
"Oh, yes I have a few that areback and forth for hours They carry es for me," she says
"What do you hest, so I&039; ti I do," says Rue She opens her s a little four-note run in a sweet, clear voice "And the jays spread it around the orchard That&039;s how everyone knows to knock off," she continues "They can be dangerous though, if you get too near their nests But you can&039;t blame them for that"