The stream snaked into the lake, the water flowing into the bigger pool, splashing softly, reminding Annie of the various sounds of water from the ocean back home.
She was speechless, amazed by the grandiosity of the lake. Still, it wasn't as good as home. The waters were darker, hiding who knows what kinds of creatures and surprises promised by the Capitol when her name was called.
"I missed it so much." Whispered Meris by her side. "The water. I know we've had it by our side all these days, but it's nothing like a hole filled until the top with it. Deep, large. It's never as good as home though, is it?"
Annie nodded, knowing what he meant. It'd never be good as their home because you could see what was behind it, a huge wall holding back more water, locking them in there. At their home, the horizon was nothing but sky, a promising endless ocean that could take them to new places.
Annie suddenly started running to the shore, Meris laughing and running just a few meters behind her. She dropped her pack by the rocks that surrounded the lake, and sat by them, taking off her shoes and diving her feet inside the water. It wasn't by far the safest thing to do. What if the water was toxic? What if it was full of germs or piranhas? The truth was Annie didn't really care. She missed being able to fit more than just a hand inside the water.
Meris sat by her, putting his feet by the side of hers. He sighed, and she sighed along, her vision stuck on the water on the other side of the glass. She couldn't spot any sign of life, though the water was crystal clear.
"I wanna stay here Meris." She said, turning to look at him, his blue eyes connecting with her sea-green ones. Somehow they seemed brighter than before. "I don't care if it's too exposed or anything. There are probably a lot of tributes around the stream area by now, and here is just as safe, if not more, than where we were before."
"Okay, Annie. I want to stay here too." He said, smiling. Meris softly grabbed Annie's hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. She wasn't bothered by that. They both came from the same place, they both knew how each other felt. Annie saw that as nothing but an act of friendship and reassurance. She gripped his hand, and he gripped hers back.
"I wish we could actually just be in a boat in the middle of this lake," Annie said, more for herself than Meris, but he was silently listening. "You know, just living in it? We could try fishing whatever swims in this lake. Nobody would be able to reach us."
"Annie…" Meris said, thoughtfully.
"I know it's not possible, but…"
"Annie." He repeated.
"I know, you don't need to tell me." She insisted, knowing Meris would reprimand her for wishing those things when they would not happen.
"Annie!" He snapped, turning his face to hers, shocking her with the sudden alteration of voice.
"What?" She asked, surprised, feeling frozen by his penetrating eyes.
"Give me your pack," he said, simply.
Confused, Annie reached for her pack, passing it to Meris. He opened it, his hands searching through the few things it carried. Finally, he took out the yellow square of plastic. Meris started fiddling with it, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Oh, that is just a stupid piece of crap. It does nothing." Annie explained, waving her hand.
"No, Annie. Look." He said, stretching his arm and pointing with his finger at a small white ring over the yellow plastic. Meris got up to his feet.
"Step back."
Annie was surprised, but got up too and got a few meters away.
Meris grabbed the ring carefully between two fingers, and pulled it. In less than two seconds, the square unfolded and filled with air and in 5 seconds a yellow plastic boat, large enough to fit the two of them only.
"Woah," whispered Annie, walking to the boat and running her hand along the smooth surface. "How would you find that out?"
"My cousin back home was a lifeguard. He took me to his watching spot once in the beach, and it was full of those so they could quickly go into open sea to save someone. It's not the best boat for navigation, made of plastic and all, it's really fragile. But it's the best we've got."
Annie laughed, happiness filling her. She would navigate, just like she used to do back home!
She looked up at Meris, but he was already looking at her, a grin plastered on his face, too. Filled with joy, she ran to him and tackled the boy into a hug, relieved for having the possibility of being at a place she knew. He smelled like sweat and dirt, and Annie was sure she did too. But just hugging him was enough. It gave her a feeling of safety and she was finally sure she had a friend.
When they let go of each other after a minute, Annie said.
"We only need an oar and we're done. It must be easy to do one."
She and Meris searched for the thinnest tree they could find inside the forest close to the shore. It didn't take more than half an hour to find one. Meris cut it down with the knife, and Annie carved it so it'd have the format of an oak.
"We're done." She said, happily.
Meris and Annie entered the small boat, with only enough space for them and their bags. They pushed the boat into the water, the soft splashing sound like music to Annie's ears. Meris started rowing to anywhere, as far from the shore as possible.
For an hour, he and Annie switched rowing, until they ended up far enough from land, but still farther from the glass barrier. The sky was orange tinted and the sun making its way down, giving space to the stars and the moon.
It wasn't typical to navigate during the night in District 4, and Annie only did it once. She remembered it was her 6th birthday, and her father had taken her to the open sea, in his humble little boat. Peacekeepers were watching them, as always, but it didn't matter. The sense of freedom was refreshing and new. They stood up until late, though she didn't know the hours exactly, just laying on the wet wooden floor of the boat and staring at the stars and the moon. The same moon over her head right now, 9 years later. Oh, how much had things changed…
Meris took out of the pack the last piece of breast from the deer, still eatable. They shared it, taking gulps of water from the lake, just as sweet as the one from the stream. They hadn't seen any life swimming by them yet, though.
When Annie was so tired she wasn't able to keep her eyes open, she asked Meris to keep watch for a few hours, though there was no way someone would find them, or even see them in the darkness. It took some time until she fell asleep though. She was unable to keep thoughts of Mira away, her blood on her pants, the earring resting inside her pocket feeling heavier.
"Annie." She heard Meris call hours later. The sun was almost up already, the first rays of light from the morning reflecting on the dark water.
"Meris?" Annie called for him, her eyes blinking. She sat up properly and looked at him. He was rowing, and his face was pale, his dark hair messy.
"Is everything okay? Why are you rowing?" She asked, confused. Her eyes gazed around but nothing seemed to have changed. She could also see the shore from far away, getting closer with each row.
"I don't think it's safe here, Annie." He said, his voice weak. "I don't know what kind of creatures habits those waters, but they don't look good at all. I've seen a huge fish swim by a few times already and I really, really think we should get back to the shore."
Annie nodded repeatedly, searching the water but spotting nothing. "Okay, okay. How long have you been rowing?"
"Half an hour now." Meris said, absently. He seemed so desperate it was starting to freak Annie out.
"Do you want me to…?" Annie started saying, but she was interrupted by an enormous fish leaping out of the water meters away. It must've been around 15 meters long on length, the body covered in huge silver scales, thorns as big as Annie following the spine. It was obviously a muttation, created by the Capitol for what they liked: destruction.
"Shit." She whispered, and Meris started rowing faster, panting. Unable to help in any other way, Annie dunked her hands into the water and started rowing with them, which didn't help much but was the least she could do.
"Annie, I'm scared," Meris whispered quietly. Annie looked at his frightened, frightened face, and saw him for what he was: a child, only 14 years old, so young. With friends and family and a history back home. A history that had so much probability of ending before the proper end.
"I know." Was all she could say. There was no need in comforting him. She had no idea if it'd be okay, and he wasn't dumb to pretend he thought it would. There was no point in lying.
Looking behind Meris, Annie could see the huge shadow of the previous fish mutt approaching.
"Meris… Meris!" She yelled. He kept rowing though, not daring to look behind his shoulder. Five meters, four meters, three, two. "MERIS!"
Meris focused on her face and looked into her eyes with so much feeling. She could see the fear in them so clearly it hit like a bullet in the chest.
That was it, and a second after it was an explosion of water. She felt the pressure of the fish's head under them. It flung the boat into the air, and Annie wanted to scream so bad she couldn't tell if there even was sound or if she was just paralyzed with fear, her mouth wide open. She was flying, nothing to hold on to, not even Meris.
Because there he was, flying like her, shocked, tears flying from his eyes into empty air. Their bodies went up, and now they were falling back down into the water, and they wouldn't survive the impact unless they assumed the position Annie learned in her district: curl up into a ball then stretch arms forward and legs backward, falling vertically.
Meris had his arms and legs outstretched though, and before he could assume the right position, before he could do anything but look at Annie, the fish mutt jumped from his right and closed its huge sharp teeth around his head, and even though the sound of splashing and crashing water was so loud, Annie swore she could hear the flesh ripping, the bone breaking, Meris' yell of pain as his head was tore away from his body.
Then all the noise ceased, leaving Annie in an intense, horrifying silence. It was as if all the sound had been sucked from the world, like she was falling into nothingness. She was underwater, but it felt much worse.
Even through the dark water, Annie could see the fish mutt swimming a few meters away from her, and it did the worst thing possible: it spit Meris' head.
His eyes were dead open, his mouth too, his dark hair intact and moving slightly with the movement of the water.
Annie wanted to scream. She wanted to scream and scream until there was no voice left, until her vocal chords ripped and she went mute. His head floating just in the middle of her vision would be stuck in her memory forever, she knew. Despite the bright smiles she saw him give her, the warmth of his hug, the feeling of safety just from having him as company. All that resumed into his floating head.
Annie boosted herself up to surface, and as soon as she got out she felt the tears streaming down her cheeks into the treacherous water. She swam and swam, following the thin line of the shore. Her whole body ached, her heart felt pierced, her head spanned, and yet she did what she was best at: swam.
It felt like days, weeks had gone by when she grabbed the rocks and pulled herself up. She felt Meris' blood weighing her clothes, dripping from her hair, inside her shoes and forever and ever staining her skin.
Annie dropped down on her belly, and when she passed out, it felt like drowning.