Mama. Can you help me in here. What's wrong?

I want to take a shower before we go shopping and can't figure how to turn it on. There's a lot of buttons.

Wow, there are a lot of buttons. They don't do anything simple in the Capitol, do they.

Let's see what this one does. TOO HOT, TOO HOT! Okay, we know that's temperature.

Stand back, I'm trying this one. Oh, that's interesting. It determines the nozzles that spray. I don't understand nozzles in the floor spraying up, but okay.

And it seems this one is for pressure. What are these? NO, NO, NO, yuk. That's for scent. I smell like a rose. It's too strong. Get it off me. Okay. NO, wrong button. Now I'm tinted yellow.

Oh relax. Yellow is your favorite color honey.

Chapter 11

The Bag Trick

I leave Kizzy's body where it is and start to walk away. The hovercraft arrives to take away the bodies.

I'm still very sore from the previous fight. I need to rest in safety. I have water and food so I don't have to forage. What I need is rest. I need to find a tree I can climb. And hope I can make it up with my injuries.

I don't know which way to walk to avoid contact with any tributes. Addi is chasing the two Fours and Boy Nine. That leaves the pair, Boy Seven and Boy Eight. I have an idea where they are but I can't be for sure. I'll walk for the rest of the day and find someplace to hide at nightfall.

My breathing is becoming labored. Between the heat, the humidity and the injury I'm tiring quickly. I hear somebody. I freeze. I hide behind a tree and get down. I now hear voices. Two boys talking. It's probably Boy Seven and Eight. They come into view. They're bickering about food and water. That's good. They're not operating well together.

Unfortunately they are not leaving the area. I sit down, keep under cover and decide to wait them out. Man they are a whiny pair. "Let me have something to eat." "No get your own." "Come on, I'm hungry." "Ask your mentor for help." "Hey. I'm hungry. Send me something." And loud. If Addi wasn't chasing the alliance they'd be here right now planning to kill them. Beep. Beep. Beep. Oh, someone's getting a gift. I look over and I see the parachute. It lands close to them. They both go for it. Those idiots, they're arguing again. "Gimme some of that." "No. You wouldn't share before." Geez, they sound like an old married couple.

One of them gets up and takes off. The other one chases after him. Thanks for taking off. Now I can relax.

Oh crap it's dark. I zoned out. Dammit. Well at least I'm still safe. I better start climbing and get off the ground. I locate a climbable tree and start. Oh boy it's painful. I struggle to keep going. I struggle even more not to make any noise. I reach a good place to sleep and tie myself in. Time to sleep.

I must have had a good nap when I zoned out because I'm not falling asleep. Maybe it's better. There's a full moon and a clear night. I might be seen. Even all the way up here.

I hear someone walking towards me. They're loud and snapping every stick they can find. It must be one of those two dolts from before. It's worse, it's both of them. They're still bickering. Yak, yak, yak. I wish they'd shut up, they're giving me a headache. Finally they shut up and sit. One of them goes to sleep and the other one keeps guard. I take out my notebook and start writing notes. It'll help me focus.

Dear Mama, I just no scratch that out, I wish I no not good either, if only no. Oh what am I doing, I'll see her soon and tell her myself. I'll take her and we'll move into my new house. I'll be such a celebrity my father wouldn't dare object or cause trouble for us. We'll be free.

Dawn is approaching. I have to have a plan. I look down and they're still there but both are asleep. Um, what to do. I untie myself and stand on the branch and lean over the next one and look straight down at them. One's against the tree with his pack beside him, the other is sleeping under a bush. I tie the fish hooks on the end of my rope and tie some weight on the end of the rope and start lowering. It's a distance down but luckily there is not a breeze to sway the rope. Half way there and on target. Three quarters, a little sway but still on target. Almost there. I'm at the level of the pack. Now to grab the strap. The breeze comes and swings the rope. Oh no it taps him in the head. He doesn't react. He's sound asleep. I try again. I think I have it, up we go.

I start to raise it, slowly. I lean out to keep it away from the tree so it doesn't get caught. SNAP. Damn, I'm too far out on the branch. I inch my way back and look down. No reaction from them. Good, a little more. Got it.

I coil up the rope. Gather up all my stuff and take cover in the tree. And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Oh, when are these two idiots going to wake up. Geez, I have to pee.

I need to get them up. I look through the bag and find something. I toss it at the one under the bush. It makes some noise when it hits the ground. That's better. Now one of them is rustling. The one against the tree. He looks around for his bag. "Hey where's my bag?" No answer. He kicks him.

"What'd you do that for?" I can't tell which one is Seven or Eight.

"Where's my bag?"

"I don't know. You should have kept an eye on it better."

"You SOB you were supposed to watch. You fell asleep. Someone stole it."

"That's stupid. If someone was here to steal it they would have killed us."

"That's right. You probably took my stuff. Let me see your stuff." They start to argue when he spots something on the ground where his comrade was sleeping. "What's this?"

"I don't know. What is it?"

"It's my penknife. Right where you were sleeping."

"That don't prove nothing." That's the last of their argument, they start to fight.

They are throwing punches at each other but not really connecting. If I weren't injured I could have taken them both at the same time. They separate and pull out their knives. Neither of them know how to fight with knives. One of them will get lucky though. And as luck would have it one did. One of the boys collapses and the other one backs off. There isn't a cannon so he's not dead. The one still standing walks over to the one on the ground and he's about to finish him off when the cannon goes off. He's dead. They other boy stumbles over to his former comrades bag and picks it up. He stumbles off. I think he got injured. It was Eight that survived.

I get out of the tree and walk away. The hovercraft will arrive soon. And they pick up the boy. I start to walk away. I walk away but I'm not sure which way to go. I don't have any idea where anyone is located. I know which way Boy Eight went but none of the others. I decide to go uphill and towards the water source. I need to be cautious. I'm injured and not completely focused. The good news is that some of the others are also injured. Also, Addi is still alive. She is a wild girl right now. She wants revenge and she doesn't care whether she lives or dies.

On the way to water I forage. Collecting berries and other edible plants. I'm hungry because eating just rabbit food is not enough. I'm reluctant to start a fire to eat meat but I think I must. Instead of going to the brook I start to travel to the stream and fish.

It's a slow walk to the stream and when I get there I get down and observe it first. I don't see any movement so I approach. I refill my water bottles and put them back in my bag and wait for them to purify.

I dig for worms and put them on the hook and set the lines in the water. I retreat back into the trees and wait. My mind drifts into thinking of home. My mom. Eleanor. School. Track.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The parachute drops right next to me. I open it up and see a bottle with pills. They're painkillers. These pills probably cost all the sponsor money up to this point. I don't think I can expect anything else from my mentors. I mouth "Thanks" in the air. Maybe a camera picked it up. My water has been purified and I take a pill.

I look over. I think I have a catch. Better two fish. They're small but it will be enough. I may not have ever butchered an animal but I've cleaned and gutted plenty of fish. The fish we get from the market are always whole.

After the fish are clean I start a fire. It is almost dusk. The best time to start a fire. The smoke and the flames are less apt to be seen at this time. I put the meat on a stick and put it over the fire. Keeping an eye out for my competitors.

When the fish are cooked I cover the fire with dirt. I take off and eat on the way. I travel about two hundred yards and sit and rest. Between eating and the painkillers I start to feel much better and my spirits are lifted.

I hear a person walking. I look over and see Girl Four near the fire. Where are her compatriots? Boy Four and Boy Nine. I haven't heard a canon. They are here somewhere. Maybe in hiding. If I go after the girl I might be ambushed. I sit and observe.

I was right, the other two come out of the woods and join Girl Four. I see the other two boys. They have neither a trident or a spear. One might have a knife and the other a homemade staff. This is good. They don't have their weapons of choice.

They wander around looking and start to walk. Uphill. Right towards me.