Chapter 9:
Brycen's POV:
We woke up in the early morning to go hunt for tributes. We, as in myself and the other Careers. We split into groups and we go into different areas of the arena. Elesa and I go into the forest to the west; Iris and Cress search the mountain; and Sparkle and Glam check the northern forest and near the lake.
Elesa and I walk for about an hour. Then, in the distance, I see the remains of a fire. Which means there is most likely a tribute nearby.
We get our weapons ready and quietly approach the fire. Sure enough, there are two tributes sleeping near it. Some people really are not smart when it comes to playing the games.
I motion Elesa forward to the girl and boy. I'm feeling generous, so she can make the first kill. She walks up to the girl, I think Erika is her name, and looks at her array of knives. She picks a long slender one. She crouches next to the girl and places the knife on her throat. The girl wakes up and starts to let out a scream, but it becomes a gurgle as Elesa swipes the knife across her throat. The boom of the cannon signals her death.
The boy was awakened by the girl's scream, and makes an attempt to run, but I grab him in a headlock. He starts to struggle as I slowly choke him to death.
"What's wrong, little boy?" I begin to taunt. "I guess little Carlos isn't going to make it back to his mommy in District 6." And then I snap his neck.
I drop his body as the second cannon goes off. I start to walk away with Elesa right behind me. Eight down, thirteen more to go, I think. Thirteen more to die before I am crowned victor.
Lauren's POV:
I awake with a start as I hear the cannon go off. I look beside me to make sure Gabriella is still there and safe. She was also awakened by it.
"Who do you think it was?" she asks tentatively.
"I'm not sure. But it was probably the Careers hunting people. Which means we can't stay here for long," I say.
We start to pack up our stuff and I can't help but wonder if it was Kendall. Then another cannon goes off. It was most likely a pair of tributes who were allies. This makes me worry because I know Kendall is probably with Angela. What if it was those two who were killed?
I'm starting to get panicky and I almost scream when Gabriella touches my arm. "Hey are you ok?" she asks. I shake my head no. "You're worried that it was Kendall that was killed, aren't you? Well, I highly doubt that it was him. He seems like he has good survival skills. In fact, he is probably hidden right now, worrying that it was you. So how about we get moving to a new tree? We can check your snares and look for some plants to eat to."
I agree and we jump down from the branches. I check the snares I set the night before, and out of the three snares two had large rabbits in them. "Great, this should last us a couple days," I say. "And I'm sure there's more from where these two came from."
We fill up our containers with water and start to look for some plants, always with a weapon ready. It was a good thing I spent time to learn which plants are edible, because we soon have a large amount of berries and fruit to eat with our rabbits. By time we are done gathering berries, it is midafternoon. So we decide to find another tree.
I find a willow tree and we make camp in its branches, which will be good for concealment. "I'm going to go start a fire to cook the rabbits," I say after I've skinned them. "But I'm going to make it several trees away so if any tributes find it, they won't necessarily find our hiding place."
There are plenty of dry branches, and using a match, I have a fire going in a few minutes. I walk away for a bit, letting it burn and get hot. I set some traps as I walk, hoping I can catch a couple more rabbits. I return to the fire and place the rabbits on a stick and return to the tree while they cook.
We must be a good distance away from the other tributes because no one came near our area because of the fire. So I go back and grab our rabbits when they are done cooking. I cover the fire with dirt since it is getting dark, and a fire will definitely attract tributes during the night.
Gabriella and I settle down into the sleeping bag for the night, each with our own rabbit, and wait for the dead tributes to be shown.
After a little while of quiet, Gabriella speaks up. "You're still worried that Kendall was killed this morning."
Not even a question. I've been with this girl for only a little over a day, and she already knows me well. "Yeah," I say quietly. "But I think I'm going to worry every time I hear a cannon that it is him. I'm just scared for my brother."
She opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted by the anthem being played. The Capitol seal is in the sky. Ok, I think, this is the moment when I find out if he is alive or not.
First, the boy Carlos from 6 is being shown. Then it is the girl Erika from 9. I let out a breath, not realizing that I had been holding my breath. So Kendall is still out there, fighting to stay alive.
We eat a few berries and some fruit, and save the rest of them and the rabbits for breakfast. I get comfy inside the sleeping bag, and so does Gabriella. I fall asleep shortly, feeling very content having a full belly and knowing that Kendall is still alive.
I am running through the woods, trying to chase after the boy. I run out into the clearing and see him on the opposite side. The boy is Kendall I realize, and he is walking with Angela. He is slightly in front of her, so he doesn't see her pull out a knife and raise it. I start to run towards him to stop her, but I can't make it in time. I see her stab Kendall in the back.
I wake up in a jolt, looking around frantically for Kendall. It was just a nightmare, I realize. Gabriella is still sleeping soundly next to me. There are only a few rays of light shining through the trees, so it must be early morning. I decide to let her sleep, since I see no point in moving.
I just lay there, thinking about everyone I care for. Kendall is somewhere in this arena, maybe even fighting for his life at this very moment. James is probably just waking up to get the shop ready for a day of business. No doubt he has the tv on, watching the games, worrying about Kendall and I. Chris is going to be walking up soon, to go to school. He'll be seeing recaps of whatever he misses during lunch. Alessandra will be starting to get things ready for Dorian and Rosalinda, and then probably help James around the shop and watch the games. Then there is Logan, my wonderful stylist, who is probably in the Capitol watching the games, hoping I make it out. And finally, there's Stefan, who is in the control room with the other mentors, collecting money from sponsors and deciding what gifts to give us.
I realize that around an hour has passed, just thinking about my family and friends. I decide to wake up Gabriella so we can start moving. After she is awake, I get down from the tree to look at the snares while she packs up everything. I've caught three more rabbits, so we'll have plenty of food.
We go to the stream and fill up our water containers. We have a small breakfast of the leftover berries and rabbits. Since we have seen no tributes yet, I decide to make a fire by the stream and cook the new rabbits. Gabriella gathers more berries. We spend the day sitting in our tree, talking, and eating food.
Evening has come, and we start to get ready to go to sleep. The sky fades into darkness and the anthem starts playing. No tributes are shown in the sky. No deaths today, I think. The Capitol audience will be starting to get bored. It's likely that the gamemakers will unleash some horrible way of death upon us tomorrow. Anything to bring more excitement to the games.
I decide to go to sleep shortly. There is no way I want to possibly be faced with some horror tomorrow being exhausted.
