Chapter 11- A Good Friend

When I wake up, my leg is throbbing but there's a wet cloth pressed to it. Confused, I sit up and examine the room. It doesn't look any different, except for the figure crouched in the corner. They haven't seen me wake up yet and I make sure my knife is close at hand incase I need it. The person turns and sees me awake, their eyes are the clearest blue I've every seen and they have long, blonde, plaited hair. Rosemary.

"Rosemary?" I ask, "What are you doing here?"

She shrugs, "I found you, last night. You were asleep but your bandage was covered in blood so I changed it for you."

"Thanks, are you alone?" Rosemary crawls over and hands me a piece of Beef Jerky from her backpack, "No, Marlon's trying to find something to eat but I don't know what he expects to find."

"He coming back?"

"Yes, he's worried about you. Sorry about Marina." She takes my hand and give it a small squeeze.

Marlon arrives back later with a small supply of water he found on a pond in a small field. He pours some onto my wound and tucks his flask into his belt before handing Rosemary her filled flask and putting mine into my bag.

"Thank, Marlon." I manage a small smile.

"Do you wanna stick with us for a while?" He asks, "At least until your leg gets better."

"Please, if you don't mind."

We eat our beef jerky in silence and then Rosemary packs our bags.

"Better get going, don't want to stay anywhere for too long."

I agree and Marlon helps me to my feet. It's surprisingly easy to walk but it's raining outside so heavily that we can barely see five feet ahead of us. We don't know where we're going and are put on edge by the canon sounding twice. The rain soon stops and we come to a stop in the street.

"Did you know Marina very well?" Rosemary asks, squeezing her hair to get the rain water out.

"Not really, I only met her after the Reaping but she was a good friend."

"Will you miss her?"

"Rose." Marlon gives her a warning look.

"I don't mind," I say, "Yeah, I will. I really will."

"Well, I'm very sorry." Rosemary says.

"There they are!" Comes a shout.

We turn and see three of the Careers running our way. Cynthia, Jacobi- also from 1- and Jerome- the boy from 2. Rosemary seems rooted to the spot and all I can do is stare at them. They're more heavily armed than us but Marlon has reacted.

"Come on!" He grabs Rosemary's hand and Rosemary grabs mine.

We run like this, in a chain of three, our feet hitting the pavement like a heart hammering against a ribcage. The Careers are shouting at us but I can't hear them. However, one comment sinks in.

"You'll see you're pathetic little girlfriend soon, 8!" It's Jacobi who's calling after me.

I try to stop but Rosemary tugs my hand, forcing me to carry on.

"Bastard!" I yell as we round a corner.

Marlon stops and so do we.

"Marlon, what are you doing?" Rosemary questions, "You'll get us killed!"

"You too go ahead," He then turns to me, "I'll get that son of a bitch."

We are reluctant at first but Marlon runs towards the Careers and I pull Rosemary forward. Marlon has leapt on Jacobi but Cynthia and Jerome are still running at us. We run for what seems like years until we lose The Careers. I desperately try to find somewhere to hide where people are unlikely to find us.

"Come on." I guide Rosemary to the curb, she's shaking with worry for her District partner. Her friend. Our fried.

There is small opening against the curb with a metal cover. I struggle to remove it and when I do, the stench is overpowering so the sewers are obviously down there. I help Rosemary down before I join her and replace the cover.

"I'll keep a look out for Marlon, so he knows where we are." I lean against the metal ladder that leads to the surface.

Rosemary is sitting on the ground, despite the mud and filth ridden water down there. "He'll be okay, right?" She asks and her eyes shine with hope.

"Of course he will." I say.

But then, the canon sounds.