One Chance Ch 10

[PRIMS POV]

My eyes flickered all around the arena as the seconds passed by. Forest. Field. Cornucopia. Hills. No water in sight. Tributes. Peeta was six tributes from me, and Rue even further. They both knew what they were doing. They were bracing themselves to run. I still couldn't move my feet. I swear I could hear Katniss' voice in my head. "Move your feet, Prim. Do something, Prim. If you don't run, they'll get you, Prim. Damn it, move!"

5...4...3...

I managed to move in the opposite direction, facing the woods. The movement in itself was easier than the concept of moving, somehow. Movement meant I was being hunted. Being hunted meant the games had begun.

2...1...

The gong rang out.

The games having begun means that I could be dead any minute now.

I stood on the pedestal too long. Most likely because of Haymitch's warning. This was a really bad time to misjudge the length of sixty seconds.

Once my brain and body caught up to each other, I was running. All the planning I had done was forgotten, forgotten and left somewhere back on the pedestal that I was doing my best to distance myself from. I kept running. When I reached the trees, I tripped and ran into a heavy body. We stumbled backwards and both were on our feet in an instant.

She was in fact not a heavy body, but I can imagine that our speed did not do us any favors in the collision. She was the girl from one of the middle districts. Maybe five or six, I couldn't be sure just yet. We looked at each other with wild, scared eyes, wondering who would make the first move. Neither of us had weapons yet, so it would be hand-to-hand combat. I wasn't prepared for this. Her desperate eyes told me she wasn't either.

"I never saw you." I said, shaking the memory out of my head.

"Me neither." She breathed out, and we both made a run for it in opposite directions. My heart was racing. I doubt I would be that lucky with any other tribute.

I wasn't as agile as Katniss, so I was surprised when I managed to run through the woods with only two or three more falls. When I saw a tree that looked simple enough to climb, I climbed as high as I could and rested on one of the thicker limbs at the top. I hadn't noticed until then how hard I had been breathing.

[Rue's POV]

When the gong rang out, I took off. The only time I could remember ever running that fast was when my father got in trouble with the peacekeepers. I had been so scared and distracted that something would happen to him that I had left home late for the field. I ran the entire mile and a half to the field, and I was just eight years old at the time. The only reason they didn't shoot me on the spot was because they needed me so much. If only I had that luck in the arena.

As soon as I reached the trees, I climbed one. Now I was in my territory, and nobody was going to catch me now. I doubted there was anyone in this arena who was that good at tree climbing. My district partner, Thresh, although he works in the field like I do, he is too big to climb anything. He was no threat in the trees. I jumped from tree to tree like a squirrel. Tributes ran through the trees below me, but I paid no attention to them. At first. I heard voices below in the midst of jumping trees and stop to focus on them. I could distinguish the girl from five looking terrified at her opponent. They separated and ran apart.

It took me a moment to recognize the girl as my ally. I began to track her when I did. When she climbed a tree, a jumped to the tree next to hers, and then to her tree. She didn't even notice. I was better than I thought.

[Peeta's POV]

My brain registered my surroundings slowly as they changed.

Gong. Running. Bloodbath behind me. Prim and Rue! Dammit, where are they? Gone. In the trees, hidden. Hidden from them. Good. Hidden from me. Bad. Trees surround me now. Twigs. Leaves. Moss. Dirt. Blood. Lots of blood. How many have died? Prim and Rue? Dammit, where are they? The running stopped. I listened. Screaming voices. Far away. Male voices. Not Prim. Not Rue.

[Prim's POV]

My breathing had calmed, although my heart was still racing. I had more adrenaline pumping through me than I could handle. I was getting dizzy. I closed my eyes but that made it worse. I needed something to focus on to still myself.

"Psst." My head whirled around searching for the noise.

"Psst." It was in a different area now, confusing me. My tree swayed just barely as if the wind had picked up.

"Up here!" I looked straight up to see Rue smiling. She was laying stomach down on a branch above mine.

"How did you get up there?" I whispered.

"I'm good with trees." She proved it by swinging herself off her branch with one arm and gracefully landing on the end of my branch. The tree swayed again and the leaves rustled as her feet touched the branch.

"Wow. Impressive."

"Thanks." Rue said in a small voice. "Do you know where Peeta is gonna be?"

"Nope. I suppose we should have planned a meeting place or something."

"It's not like we knew what the arena would be like anyway. We should just be happy we have trees. I feel safer when I have trees around me." Rue gripped the tree branch and set herself down in a sitting position.

"So...now what?" I asked.

"Now we wait. Peeta's coming right?"

"Yes. I'm sure he is. He wouldn't leave us, trust me." I'm playing the brother-sister bond, but I know Peeta enough to know that this is one hundred percent true.

[Peeta's POV]

My breathing was rapid. How could it not be? I was running for my life now. In all the time that I had spent training, I had thought of Prim, and Prim's life. But now, running through the woods, I unexpectedly found myself being utterly terrified for my own life. It was selfish, and I needed to snap out of it.

I had no chance of finding Prim or Rue right now. They were probably already together because they are obviously a lot smarter than I am. I've seen Rue in the training center. She's a born climber, which means they are probably in a tree. My eyes flit upwards, looking through the trees for figures.

Not a good idea.

I was flat on my face before I could register what had happened. A sharp pain ran through my leg as it landed on a particularly sharp fallen branch. My hands reached my leg and I held it, as if that would do anything. I had to move, I knew I had to move, but how could I?

I grabbed at the rocks on the ground for support, but they slipped and scattered around me before I could put all of my weight on them, causing myself to fall back down again. This time, I reached for the tree for support and managed to stand for a moment. Leaning against the tree, I took a deep breath and began to walk. I hugged the trees now for support, but I could feel all hope disappearing from me as I began to realize the situation I was in.

I had an injured leg, meaning I couldn't run. Prim and Rue could have been anywhere in this arena, up in a tree that I had no hope of climbing with my hurt leg, and if any tribute showed up right now, I would have no defense.

And now I was having a panic attack. Eagerly limping in fear now, I could hear my pathetic whimpering. I couldn't imagine what Katniss was thinking now. This pathetic boy was supposed to be her sister's protector? I shook my head in an apology that I hoped she received.

A sharp pain sprung out on my forehead and I looked down at my feet. It was a branch from a tree, and I doubt it was a coincidence. Someone had thrown this at me. Someone was nearby.

I felt a rock hit my back and my head whirled around the forest ceiling. This was where I was going to die. They were mocking me. Probably the careers.

"Psst! Peeta!" Prim's soft voice pulled my gaze to one of the higher branches of the tree. Next to her sat Rue, who was swinging her feet cheerfully.

"Prim!" I whispered. "Prim, oh thank God..."

"Get up here." She motioned to the tree, but I shook my head.

"I hurt my leg. I can't climb." Prim and Rue both moved at the same time, moving down the tree gracefully.

"Let me see. My Mom is a healer, I can help." She pushed me to sit down against the tree. I pulled up my pant leg up to the knee. "Is it permanent?"

"Doesn't look like it." She shook her head as she looked over the skin. "It's a sharp pain, isn't it?"

"Yes. What does that mean?" I shut my eyes when she pressed on a nerve.

"It'll be fine, you put too much pressure on your bone when you fell. I assume you fell, right?"

I nodded.

"It should be gone in a few hours." Her small hands massaged my leg and it began to feel better.

"Thank you. We have to move though. We need shelter."

"You can't climb right now. Can you move though? We could sleep in a bush if we can find one."

I nodded and stood up. Walking was a bit easier now, but I was relieved when we found a place where we could rest.

Rue finally spoke up, "That's good over there." She wriggled in between the bushes and I was surprised that she actually disappeared when her movement stopped. Prim followed suit, and before long we were all laying next to each other in the bushes, keeping warm with our closeness.

The cannons began to fire. Each of us counted in our head and when it was over, Prim whispered, "12."

"Yep..." I mumbled.

"Let the Games begin..." Rue whispered before turning to face me while she slept.

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