Chapter Eight
Katniss' POV
Why did I tell her that? She is heading up to the arena and, well she will be so distracted. I just hope she puts this out of her mind until she finds a safe place. I watch the metal plate go up. When I can't see her anymore, I grab a seat and stare paitently at the television screen. They should be showing the program any minute now. Capitol Anthem. There we go! The program is up and running! I see Anne, she is looking so pale and nervous. Peeta is walking in the room with Josie and Matthew.
"Have they stepped off the plate?" Peeta asks me.
"No, not yet. But I might've distracted Anne..." I say carefully.
"What did you do?"
"I...I told her we were sisters."
"You did what?" I motion the kids out so we could talk, but that's when Haymitch enters. We drop the coversation but still keep eye contact.
Anne's POV
What did Katniss just tell me? Did the bell just ring? I am so shaken up that I have no clue of what is going on. When I look at Liam, the gong sounds. I run to the Corncopia and spot a nice metal tridon. I run towards it and grab it. I head to the woods and make it to a cave just as the bigger tributes from District 13 run past. I am not teaming up with anyone at this point. I mean, who could I trust? After the District 13 tributes pass, I head around the corner to snag some nice squirrels and some juicy berries. That's when a silver parachute drops down from the sky. I open it up with ease and see it's a basket for carrying food. There is also a letter. I toss the letter in the muddy puddle beside me and put the food in the basket. When I start to stand back up from picking berries, an arrow hits the tree right above me. I don't turn around. I run.
I ran through the deep parts of the woods, dodging arrows as I went. I took sharp turns, left and right but whoever it was was still on my trail. I run even faster. I trip a few times but I still make it. I ran in a circle and hid behind a tree, the person with the arrows ran past and I went up behind their back and stabbed my tridon in his neck. The person with the arrows was a boy from District 2. I don't leave until I hear the cannon shot. That's when I pull out my tridon and whatever weapon the boy may have. I gather the items and head deeper into the woods.
"Come on Anne. You can do this." I say as I am staring up a big, tall tree. I start to climb and when I reach the top, I hear footsteps. Someone has stopped in front of my tree. I quickly whip out the arrows I took from the boy from District 2. I shoot an arrow into his lower back. When he falls to the ground, I jump down and finish him off. That's when two more cannons sound. We started with 24 tributes and now we have 21 left. It's getting darker now so I head up the tree to sleep for a few hours. I look up at the sky to see who didn't make it tonight. It was the boy from 2, the girl from 6, and a girl from 13. I continue to try to sleep, but I keep having nightmares.
As morning aroses, I remember a quote that kind of relates to the Games. The quote says:
"Society is held together by our need; we bind it together with legend, myth, coercion, fearing that without it we will be hurled into that void, within which, like the earth before the Word was spoken, the foundations of society are hidden." - James Baldwin
That quote makes me think of how the Capitol's doings are so well hidden and covered. Everyone thinks the Capitol helps us when all along they think we are just a piece in their games. I hear the cannon fire 6 more times. The numbers are dropping like flies. There must be a fight at the Corncopia. I don't take any chances since there are 15 tributes left. I make do with the food, clothes, and weapons I have. I don't bother to know who died today. As long as I am alive, that's all that matters. I just realize that I need water. My throat is dry and my tongue is thick. I run through the woods and find no water.
I see mosquitoes. If there are mosquitoes then there is water around. I get to looking. I look behind every tree and bush. At the last bush I looked at, I found a small pond. I whisper up at the sky for a cantene. Suddenly, a silver parachute floats down beside me. I quickly open it to fill it up with water. I add the water filter in the water to clean it. Once it's clean, I drink the whole thing. I fill it back up for later. I hear another cannon. I move quickly, when I hear someone scream. It sounds like Jane. I run, and run, and run. I hear the scream from above me. I look up and see a Jabberjay. The Capitol is finding a way to torture me.
