She hears the steady breathing of her two companions beside her. Lowering her hand along her back, she feels the cool, clammy skin of her sleeping friend. Grace gingerly lays down on the hard ground beside her partner; feeling every twinge and shiver that shakes Darcy's slight frame. Nothing in her sixteen years had prepared her for this. I'm the lucky one, she reminds herself. Then she reminds herself not to forget about Darcy and Robb; who were easily as miserable as she is tonight.
The three teens had almost died today.
Thinking about that afternoon brought the memories, fresh and raw flooding into Grace's mind. Her breathing quickened as she remembers.
"Get twelve!"
Someone snarled, right by Grace's head. Grace had turned then; her eyes automatically seeking the thirteen year old girl from District Twelve. The girl stood at only 5 feet, four inches. She looked scrawny. Darcy's skin was the color of milk; her dark brown hair a stark contrast against her slim shoulders. Darcy had licked her lips; crouched on the grass in front of Cornucopia.
"Don't know why you're even trying."
She recalled the sweet, minty scent on the breath of the beautiful blonde girl who had spoken. Glitter of District One was the very image of strength and beauty. Classical thin, slightly upturned nose. Perfectly spaces eyes, slightly upturned at the corners and they were the color of sparkling sapphires. Grace had the absurd idea of a chiseled statue of Glitter in a square somewhere, admired by school children. Glitter was statuesque with that haughty, disdainful expression as she looked down at Darcy, her pretty features contorted by hate. Hate had blossomed in Grace's own heart as she watched Glitter's hands tighten around her sword as she approached Darcy. The nails were decorated with sparkling blue polish; set with rhinestone flowers.
The two tributes of District Eight had bull rushed Glitter; knocking the pretty girl onto the ground. Garreth weighed as much as the muscular girl from one. Grace gave up an inch in height and perhaps thirty pounds of muscle to the girl who was a year older than she. Glitter's perfect blonde hair spilled onto the ground. Seeing the hair in the dirt had filled Grace with a sense of euphoria. She'd resisted Garreth's pull on her arm, kicking out at the girl while she was down.
How absurd, Grace had thought; kicking dirt into Glitter's face. She felt the satisfaction as Glitter spat and coughed, rolling on her back. Glitter's athletic recovery had felt like a knife to Grace's heart. Darcy and Robb had shouted 'Run!" to them and bolted for the greenery.
Grace and Garreth had taken off running, abandoning any pretense of fighting. The shouts of angry young men had sounded as she and Garreth had plunged into the hot; moist green tree line surrounding Cornucopia. Grace had looked away, looked forward at Darcy's small back. The girl was so small; the ferns seemed to swallow her up when she jumped into them.
Behind Grace, Garreth had screamed once.
"Garreth?"
Grace turned and jumped back the way she had come, towards Garreth. She jarred her shoulder against a spiky tree, grasping its rough bark for balance. Her foot had snared on a long, fuzzy vine. Grace kicked at it, having the irrational fear that it was trying to pull her down to the jungle floor. Grace came free, falling backwards with the force of the exertion and the sudden freedom from the vine.
Grace sits up on the warm dirt and surveys the jungle. The air is warm around her, uncomfortably warm. A bead of sweat drips down her forehead. The dampness makes her shirt cling to her body. Grace rubs her hands on her pant leg, brushing off the dirt. Garreth does not appear behind her as Grace expected. She had seen him moments before... had he tripped?
Grace went to a knee, scanning the ground for Garreth's body. The ground was moist and spongy. As she moves; her foot steps spring back up. The dark haired girl walked over ferns in the direction that she'd last seen Garreth.
"Garreth, come on -"
The sun glinted off of a gold encrusted bracer that brushed a fern aside a mere two feet from the path that Grace's alliance had taken. Grace had thrown herself to the floor and held her breath. Glitter and Max stepped into the greenery, standing side by side. Glitter held a delicate but serious looking hand axe. Max wielded a broad axe that looked as big as Grace's head. The king and queen of the careers had those disdainful expressions as they scanned the area. Grace closed her eyes. Her ribs ached; fighting for air. The moist jungle had fallen silent.
Grace risked a breath and looked up. A green snake slithered over the fern immediately in front of her, a bare three inches from her hand. Grace delicately pulled her arms back and rolled to the left. Once on her belly, she crab walked behind a squat palm. She'd watched for several breaths; scanning the jungle for Garreth. The two careers had walked away from Grace, stopping to look up the curved trees topped with spiky leaves. One dropped to a knee, whispered "Blood".
The qaurry emitted a sharp shriek when Max grabbed her forearm and hauled her to her feet. The blonde from District six, Grace thinks. What was her name?
"No more Olivias." Glitter stated coldly, impaling the girl even as Max immobilized her. Max discarded the girl impassively. Grace stares into the girl's face, unable to swallow. The girl was lying on her side, her breath coming in quick, halting gasps. Her sharp scream stuck in the Jungle; making a lump rise in Grace's throat. Grace had not responded for her cry for help. Grace remained still as the careers watched the girl die...
Grace's eyes close tight against the memory; trying to force it away. Grace found herself shivering uncontrollably, recalling the startling blue of the girl's eyes. Like a bluebird that she had glimpsed on television; once. It seemed so far away. After a very long time, Grace's chocolate brown eyes slid shut and she drifted off to sleep.