The sun was nearly setting, and Leah, granted her stubborn nature, refused to admit she was utterly lost. Taking advantage of her slender figure, she climbed as high in the trees as she could manage - but she couldn't see anything. Just thick forest to her left, and the hills much further to her right. There was no sign of Mollie - Leah cringed at the thought - or anyone for that matter.
She'd assumed the game makers would cover the lakes, ponds, rivers, etcetera from the air, as they always did. It was useless to observe in the trees any longer than necessary. But they also meant protection - there were seventeen other tributes up and willing to kill her on the ground.
Leah had no supplies, and nothing but her immense will power and extreme urge to kill Mollie. Leah wasn't scared of it; everybody else was. The area where her sponsors waited remained a desolate wasteland.
Leah climbed out of the tree and planted her feet amongst the dry brown dirt. It stirred as she walked along. The forest made no noise besides the thump of her footprints, the beat of her heart. And there it was. The most subtle twig snap in the history of Leah's experiences of observing. But she was on edge. Anticipating this twig meant her sudden death, she dropped to the ground and began shuffling along. She heard no other noises. This is stupid, she thought to herself. What a coward she was being, hiding from the world. She would have to face death sometime anyways; it was inevitable. And she wouldn't be afraid when she did.
Yet, after a solid ten minutes of eerie solitude, Leah began to run in the direction of the heart of the forest. She'd find Mollie eventually.
Sissy Mallat had just woken from a disturbing dream.: Cormac was dead; everyone she knew in here was dead. And she was the last person living. She was the victor, but in her dream, winning was a twisted way of saying, "Congrads, you get to spend the rest of your life alone, but at least you're still living. " What an odd night.
A cold sweat had broke out of her forehead when Cormac shook her back to consciousness. "Sissy," he called her name. She'd fallen asleep a mere few hours ago, she could tell by the Sun's position in the sky. It was nearly sunset, but there was ample light for visuals and enough heat to keep a balanced temperature.
"Sorry to wake you up," he apologized.
"Don't be," she smiled. He couldn't help but stare at the cute little indents on her cheeks. He touched her long black hair, tucking it behind her ear.
She sighed and frowned, erasing that gorgeous sweet smile. She wanted to come right out and say what she truly felt, but it was harder than it seemed. Sissy was naturally shy and caring. The caring was good, but the shyness could put a damper on things in the long run.
"I haven't slept a whole day, have I?" she asked, trying to lighten the heavy mood.
"Not at all," Cormac's hand flew to the back of his neck. He continued. "I don't know if this is too much to ask you. I mean, you just had a baby and you have a pretty serious cut…"
"We need to get going," she agreed, half of her materials already packed up.
"Just a little further. Survey the land, check for any signs of water. And we want to be sure we're listening tonight. Let's see who's died, and who's still our competition, eh," he nudged her, and they laughed. Neither really meant it, but hey. If it meant sponsors.
Blake had been pacing back and forth for half an hour while the sun began to set.
"Someone might be watching us. We need to camouflage. Sleep in a tree, by the roots."
Blake scratched at his poison ivy swellings. "Damn plant," he cursed. "Look Mollie, did Ethan really love you? Or is it one of those controlling relationship kind of things? Where he deludes you into thinking you love him?"
A gust of wind escaped Mollie's mouth as she blew the strands of hair out of her face and avoided an answer. Odds were Ethan was watching right now, probably being interviewed after Blake mentioned him, and Mollie didn't want to admit the truth to him, and all of Panem as well. Truth was, though, she knew it would come to this. Accepting Blake's offer and running to the woods with him had it's negatives, which consisted of the unpleasant discussing of love and Ethan. Avoiding the subject further, she stressed their necessity to camouflage themselves. "We're so close to the Cornucopia. And whatever we risk, we're gambling our lives on it. So cover yourself with dirt."
Blake did as he was told, his face forming an expression of amusement as he observed Mollie settle into the base of a tree for the night. He copied her movements, snuggling right up beside her. "For warmth," he grinned, winking.
"Now tell me about Ethan," he whispered as night fell. So quietly that he could barely hear himself, he pressed his lips to her ear and added "The Capitol is watching. Make this a good answer for me and them," he nodded sternly once, knowing she knew that he wanted the truth, but he most likely wasn't going to hear it.
Mollie swallowed. This was it. It was Ethan or Blake. Though technically she might never see Ethan again, she liked to believe there was a chance of her waking up tomorrow in his arms. She shook her head out of that daze. No matter what Blake thought, Mollie loved Ethan. But the Capitol didn't want to hear that, and she needed Blake on her side as well as the fact that he would much rather live a lie than die knowing the truth at this point.
"Ethan took me in a long while back. He cared for me, was always there for me and was always my best friend. Eventually we fell in love, always being together and relying on one another. His parents weren't really involved with us, and I'm sure this might be the first they're hearing of this. But I thought it was love. It was love. It is love. And now I'm here, with you, and I don't know what to think," she turned to him, dramatically enough to suggest the lie.
He played along. "But now I've met you and every time I see your eyes my heart stops beating. And I think you two are only destined to be friends. Because deluded love is when you think you love someone only because they're nice to you. If me and him were compared, side by side, and you'd never met either of us before, who would you chose to spend the rest of your life with?" He smiled, as real as he could manage. A serious question had turned into a play on the Capitol's heartstrings.
This was the breaking point. Mollie had to remain truthful to herself now, or give into the capitol in hopes of making it out alive. "Oh Blake!" she threw her arms around him. She really had no other option, did she? "I'd pick you in a heartbeat, because I'd live and learn that you were kind and funny and sweet, and I'd realize this was true love!" She sounded overly happy. Mollie wondered what Ethan thought of this - did he realize it was all just a mind game?
They continued talking about their newly admitted love into the night. Moments before the cannon would sound, a parachute rained down, landing strategically between them. Blake opened it.
"It's some sort of cream?" He asked.
"It treats poison ivy!" Mollie grinned. And that's how you work the Capitol,she thought.
Into the night, their faces were blackened, but their voices carried on like songs straight from the souls of nature. On the contrary, their voices were also played on every television screen in the country. Little did the viewers know that all was fake. That the entire concept of the Hunger Games was a simple phony.
I desperately appreciate the patience. I'm prone to waiting a few weeks, then updating a few times in the same week. You can always choose to not put up with me if I'm too much of a bother. I appreciate every one of your comments. They mean the world to me! Sorry this is kind of short. Note on my last chapter…: it was brought to my attention that I made a little mistake. I was talking about Misson's Dad who saw Wisconsin. I meant to say he visited the region current day that was recently Wisconsin, to give a general location. Sorry for any confusion. The Careers and the group of girls and other individuals will all be in the next chapter. Hope you liked it! Thanks for being super patient!