I wake early and begin to walk before first light. I chew on some of the lamb as I leave the fields behind. The area between the districts is smaller today; I approach the boundary fence just as the sun peaks over the horizon. My heart jumps when I see the tall grain swaying in the fields, but as I draw closer I find that they are covered with tiny black spots and many have an unhealthy salmon-coloured tint. I decide to keep walking for a little while in the hopes that its height will conceal me while I walk.
I spend the first hour wading through the fields; I search for water as I walk. My water bottle bares just a few drops so I ignore my thirst and save them for later. I check on my shoulder wound and find that the bleeding has finally stopped but the skin around the area has turned a concerning shade of green.
The air is thick and hot today; my muscles are weakened by the lack of food so soon I have to force legs to keep moving. That's why it takes me so long to realise that the grain is still swaying around me when I kneel to retie my boot. I hear the low growl and begin to run as fast as my aching legs will allow. I can't tell which way I am running, everything looks the same here. Whatever makes the noise continues to follow me, just behind my heels.
Eventually I come to the boundary between two fields and climb the large oak three which provides the first shade I have seen in hours. The creature reveals its self, snapping at my ankles until I manage to climb clumsily high enough to avoid it. Its snarling jaw and short, thick legs scratch at the bark, but eventually gives up and wanders back into the wheat. I make a mental note to stick to the dirt roads from now on.
I climb up to the highest branches so I can see what is to come. I decide to wait until the sun passes its apex and the afternoon begins to cool before I restart my journey. I wonder where Eli is now; if he is better off without me. I have proven myself to be dangerous to him, reckless and murderous. My plan to protect his was naive and stupid; if I had stayed away from him he might have had the best chance of winning this thing. After the hayloft they will have figured out that I care for him, I have put him in more danger than necessary. I begin to wonder where Ezra is, but remove him from my thoughts. It is foolish to become attached.
I'm just about to begin to climb down when I hear the sound of voices, at least two female and one male. Tributes. They become visible within minutes, two of whom I recognise and a girl I do not. The blonde girl is named Fleur; she was in our defence classes. The boy's name is Landon, his long dark hair and large eyes make him look much younger than his seventeen years.
They rest at the bottom of the tree; I try not to let myself breathe in case they hear me. "You two rest, I'll keep watch. We can walk through the night if you sleep now." says Landon in a gentle voice. I'm going to lose valuable time if they sleep but there's no way to escape without being caught.
The little girl rests her back against the trunk and closes her eyes so I settle back down to wait them out. I have only been sitting for a short time when Fleur opens her eyes. She and Landon rise to their feet, he takes something out from his backpack. It glints in the sun, reflecting a beam right at me. Fleur raises her finger to her lips and crouches down beside the girl, gently covering her mouth with one hard. She barely has time to open her eyes as the knife is plunged into her. I try not to cry out in outrage. I consider climbing down to confront them then realise how stupid the thought is.
I expect them to move on right away, but the first think they do is tear the backpack from the girl's limp body. She's not even dead yet, her eyes flicker weakly. They drive hungrily into it the moment it leaves her back. They empty out the contents, scattering the packets in the dirt. They divide them up, tearing open the packaging and thrusting the contents into their mouths. It has finally happened; the others have grown so desperate that they are ready to kill. I wonder how many more they will kill before the games are out.
"We should have stayed in that other place; at least there was somewhere to sleep. Let's go back" says the Landon.
"I've told you, we can't go back. It's not there anymore, don't you listen?" say Fleur.
"I thought you were just saying that for the girl. How could something that big just disappear?" he asks.
"The Gamemakers can do whatever they like. They're drawing us closer together, that way we can only move forward. If she'd just shared we could have let her live a little longer. She was a good shot." she says. The boy looks nervous, but the girl shows no remorse. Perhaps she will be the first to turn off her humanity.
They move away from the body eventually, taking her items with them. I wait for the cannon fire but it does not come. Of course, I must move away from the body. If I do not then they will become suspicious and return.
I climb down as quickly as I can and reach for my backpack, but it is gone. Of course, I put it down to tie my boot before the beast came. Luckily I still have three remaining throwing knives in my belt, but everything else is lost. I clench my jaw in anger and bend down to check the body for anything I can use. Fleur and Landon were clumsy; they didn't check any other part of her.
She has finally gone; my boots squelch in the pool of blood. In her pocket I find some clean white bandages and a small bag of dried plums. Everything else is so blood-soaked that it is useless. It would take more effort to remove them than they're worth.
I jump back across the body, turning back to close her eyes with my fingers. Now she looks like she could be sleeping. But she isn't. I hear the cannon shot just as I find myself back on the dirt road.
The walk to the boundary of the next district is a short one, I arrive late afternoon. It's an urban place, a severe change from the open land which I have experienced over the last few days. As far as I can see there are factories, their huddled masses cast the entire district into darkness. The lack of sun makes me nervous, I wish that I could pass right through but I don't have the energy to walk through the night.
I take this chance to check on my wound. I'm surprised to find that it still has not begun to heal, it weeps a yellowish liquid. I need to do something about it, but I'm not sure what. "I could really use some help here, Katniss." I whisper to myself. I don't know if she is listening or even if I have sponsors at all. I haven't been paying too much attention to the pain, too many things hurt to isolate it while I walked. Now that I'm aware of it I can't think of anything else.
I decide to use the last few hours of light to look for useful objects in the buildings. I recognise them from Katniss's propos last year; I imagine her standing on the rooftop in her mockingjay suit while the bombs rained down. The bodies that lay broken and helpless lain down on the ground. The living left decaying among the dead.
The smell of fumes makes my eyes water. My throat is now so dry that I struggle to swallow and every muscle in my body aches. I can't imagine living here among the tiny tenements and gloomy, dirty buildings.
In the third I search I find a collection of rags laid out on the floor as if somebody had been sleeping there recently. I will make sure to be careful tonight; if previous districts are disappearing then the others can't be more than a day ahead of me. There has to be at least some tributes nearby.
I know that there won't be any food here, eight is one of the poorest district and produces textiles. I will have to go hungry again tonight and hope that the next bears some sanctuary.
I walk until sunset, trying to get as far through the district as I can. I want to be able to leave before midday, earlier if possible. I can't stand it here, at least in ten and eleven I had the blue sky to keep me going. Here the thick mixture of smoke and fog blocks out much of the sky.
I wait outside a smaller factory until the capitol seal shows and the anthem begins. The only face to show today is the little girl who was killed by Fleur and Landon today. She trusted them, but the hunger has finally caught up with them. The games have finally begun.