The 83rd Hunger Games: District 4; Chapter 11
Wow, are we on chapter 11 already? That's amazing. Thanks so much everyone that has stayed with this story and supported it. So I decided to thank you properly by giving you a little surprise at the end of this story. You'll have to wait till then to find out though, sorry about that. Anyway, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games that is Suzanne Collins. Just Elyce's story came from my mind.
Chapter 11
Everyone is up within my 2 watch hours. "I'm going to get those berries," I announce.
"I'll come with you," says Zack. I open my mouth to object, even though I want him to come, but he interrupts. "And there's no getting out of it, you need protection."
I roll my eyes but smile on the inside. "Whatever, let's just go." Zack and I start into the woods. He has his sword and I have a knife hidden in my boot. You never know, he might want to kill me. It's only about a mile to the raspberry bushes.
"You really did look beautiful the night of the interviews," says Zack suddenly.
I look over and smile at him. "I know."
He laughs. "Wow, full of yourself much?"
"I was just kidding but thanks."
"How about a thank you kiss?" Zack asks with a smirk. I lean over and kiss his cheek. "I meant here," he says, tapping his lips.
"Really?" I say sarcastically. "Well like I said last night, I like to keep you waiting."
"You know you're cute when you sleep," says Zack.
"Oh I see what you're trying to do. Just so you know flattery won't get you that kiss either."
"I'm only saying the truth. And what will?"
I step closer, bring my arms up to his shoulders and stand on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. "Just keep doing what you're doing."
Zack grabs the small of my back, pulling me flat against him. "Can I speed it up a little?"
"Sure," I almost purr in his ear. I pull away and Zack takes my hand, intertwining our fingers. We walk in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
Then I see the tiniest hint of movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head and see a pair of big, brown eyes. Suddenly they disappear, just like that. I decide to ignore it. My mind is probably playing tricks on me.
Zack and I reach the berry bushes. I kneel down and begin to strip the branches of their berries. My hands are quickly covered in the red juice. I grin and wave them at Zack.
"You know I've always considered red to be the sexiest color," he says with a smirk. He picks up a bag and sits down next to me to help. Suddenly I feel something cold and wet on my cheek. "Don't move," says Zack. "You'll mess it up." I wait for a minute for him to finish the painting. "There, it's done."
"Well what is it?" I ask.
"A fish." I smile. "Hey I'll be back in a minute," says Zack, standing up.
"Where are you going?"
"To take a piss."
"Nice."
"You're the one that wanted to know." I hear trees rustling and branches snapping. The sound slowly fades away as he gets farther from me. But quite quickly it's back. Though this time it's a bit quieter. I know it's not Zack. I take the bag of berries we've filled and duck down under a thicket of bushes off to the side. Less than a minute later a small girl with short red hair who can't be more than 12 years old emerges from the trees. The remaining District 3 tribute judging by her yellow jacket.
She turns around in a circle, her eyes scanning the area for predators. She doesn't see me. Wait, I know those eyes, they're the big sparkling brown ones I saw in the woods when we were walking. The girl sits down and starts picking berries and putting them in her jacket pockets. This is bad, Zack will be back soon and then the girl and I will both be in trouble.
On a whim I step out of my hiding spot and tap the shoulder of her yellow jacket. The District 3 girl jumps. The look of horror on her face is…indescribable. She looks gaunt, on the verge of starvation. No 12-year-old should ever have to face death. But I am good; I will not kill this innocent little girl.
"Go!" I whisper. "Get out of here District 3! I won't kill you but District 1 will when he gets back!"
The girl scrambles up to her feet. "I-I, thank you!" She quickly scampers away.
"I'll leave some berries for you!" I say as loud as I dare. I fall to the ground, trying to look like I haven't moved since Zack left. He returns a second later.
"Hey babe," he says, taking a seat next to me. Zack helps me fill a few more bags of berries. When he's not looking I stash one of the bags under the bush for the District 3 girl like I promised. Not killing her might have cost me sponsors but I don't care.
Zack and I keep up a conversation about nothing in particular. We decide to go back to the camp when we have 6 bags full. Well 7 if you count the one I hid for the little girl. There's one for each of us Careers.
We walk back to camp hand in hand like before. For lunch we eat berries, crackers and however much water we want cause hey, we're by a freaking massive lake. All of us sit away from the camp, close to the water on the beach. We eat our food on sleeping bags so sand won't get on it. Together we laugh at stories, jokes and opinions on useless stuff. It's amazing how we can almost completely forget that we have to kill each other.
After lunch Larkin and Fawn decide to go hunting for both tributes and animals. All we have for meat is that rabbit Kyle killed yesterday and some beef strips we found in the Cornucopia. I stay back with Kyle, Lane and Zack.
A few hours later we hear a cannon. Minutes after, Larkin and Fawn come back from their hunt. "We heard the cannon. Did you get someone?" asks Zack immediately.
"No, just some animals," says Fawn, holding up a fist clutching some furry wildlife by the tail.
"Well who do you think the cannon was for then?" asks Lane.
"You think I know?" says Larkin sarcastically, sitting down to skin the kills. "Besides its getting dark which means it's close to night so we'll find out soon enough."
"The more important question is how they died," says Fawn.
"I don't think it's early enough for starvation. Maybe dehydration," says Larkin.
"Could've been a fight," points out Kyle.
"Yeah but the outer districts don't usually fight much," counters Zack. We eat a dinner of all meat and more water. The Capitol anthem starts to play and we all stare up at the sky. While everyone is looking at the seal Zack slips his hand into mine. I turn my head and smile at him. He smiles in return.
The District 3 girl's face appears in the sky. The little one with the stunning brown eyes. The one with the short red hair. The one that looked so frightened when she saw me. The one that was grateful when I spared her life. The one I left the berries under the bush for. The one who looked on the brink of starvation. The one who is now dead.
We all settle into our sleeping bags. Zack takes the first watch. "Elyce, are you still awake?" he asks while doing my hair.
"Yeah, why?"
"Can you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
He bends down over me so the cameras won't hear. Our noses are almost touching and we are shielded from view by his messy brown hair. "Promise me that you will kiss me. I know one of us will die and I don't want to go without kissing you," whispers Zack.
I look deep into his blue eyes. He searches my green-grey ones for an answer. "Of course," I whisper back. Zack smiles and kisses my forehead, looking a little relieved. "Goodnight Elyce."
"Goodnight Zack." I close my eyes and try to get some sleep but my head is filled with thoughts of the girl that I didn't even know the name of.
Is it possible she died because of me? Like Larkin said: it's too early for starvation but maybe the girl was so dehydrated she just dropped dead. Maybe she needed the juice from those berries to make it to a place where she could get water. Or maybe it was a fight.
I have an idea. On my watch while everyone else is sleeping I'll go check and see if the bag of berries is still there. With that plan in mind I finally fall asleep.
"Elyce, get up, it's your watch," says Lane hours later. I roll out of Zack's arms and the sleeping bag. I lie against a tree and watch Lane fall asleep. I wait for 10 more minutes then walk through our Career camp, making sure no one is awake. They're all sleeping, perfect.
I take my bow, arrows and the small knife still in my boot. Quickly I walk to the raspberry bushes, knowing I don't have much time. I lift up the branches and peer underneath. The bag of berries is sitting right where I left it. So the girl didn't get them. That means I could have killed her. I try to ignore the guilt that washes over me like a huge wave. I just think to myself that it's the Capitol's fault and they killed her.
I pick up the berries, eating some while I walk back to camp. When I get back I see someone is up, sitting down with their back leaning on a tree. I stand frozen. What the hell am I supposed to do? Go over and ask why they're not sleeping? No, then they'd just ask why I wasn't on watch. Maybe if I'm lucky they'll fall asleep.
"Hello Elyce," says the figure by the tree. It's Lane.
"Hello Lane."
"Come here," he says. I walk over and sit next to him. "So where did you escape off to?"
"Um…to use the bathroom," I lie.
Lane laughs lightly. "Yeah sure. You don't have to lie to me anyway. I won't tell anyone you left."
"Thanks. Want some berries?" I ask.
"Sure." He reaches in the bag and pulls out a handful. "But will you tell me what you were really doing?"
I debate it in my mind. "It's a long story." I stare out at the orange and pink chasing the stars out of the sky.
"Oh. Do you miss District 4?"
"Yeah, of course I do. I miss my family and my friends and District 4 all together."
"Me too. Most of all I miss hunting for 'treasures' on the beach with my littlest cousin."
"Treasures?" I ask, confused.
I see Lane smile. "Yeah like shells and rocks, sand dollars, crab claws and fish bones. You know…treasures."
I smile too. Lane looks at me and slowly, very slowly, he closes the gap between our lips. I kiss him back for a few seconds then realize what I'm doing and pull away.
"No," I say. "I-I can't, I'm sorry. Maybe in another life, maybe if things were different but not here, not now." That's part of the reason why I can't be with Lane. The other is Zack. I feel like I'm betraying him. But I won't tell that to Lane.
"It's alright," says Lane. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have done that."
"It's not your fault." I brush back his dark brown hair and kiss his cheek. It kills me on the inside to see Lane's green eyes filled with sadness. If anyone deserves to win I think it should be him, he's sweet and kind. He can go back to District 4 and find a girl nicer than me. He needs someone nicer. At that moment Kyle wakes up, followed by Fawn and the day starts.
Oh my gosh I almost cried writing the Lane and Elyce scene! It's just so sad! I know this chapter was kind of sucky but please review or favorite or whatever. And the next chapter has a fight scene between 2 of the Careers! See if you can guess who. Thanks for reading!