Chapter 11 – The Beast
It was 10am on day 4. The group are trudging through the ever deepening snow looking for a better spot to make camp. It had been snowing heavily all night and now it was still snowing lightly. The group were not properly prepared for these conditions as they did not have the right cloths for it. They were still all wearing the cloths they had started the games with which wasn't enough to survive in these conditions. The weather was getting to the group members as they were shivering as they walked. The cold also pierced the various wounds they had obtained over the course of the games. Samuel was walking in front as he was still the most determined to survive at this point, Alisa was not far behind him and Jake and Will were at the back.
"What we gonna do about this weather" Muttered Samuel under the cold
"We will just have to hope we get a sponsor who will send us winter cloths" Said Alisa unconvincingly
"And who's gonna do that? We can't just sit around and wait for that to happen, unless you want us to freeze to death." Replied Samuel more aggressively
"Just shut up and let's find a good place to rest for the night" Alisa snapped
"Whatever" answered Samuel
Will began to cough heavily at the back
"You alright?" Asked Jake
"Yeah…yeah it's just erm….just the weather" Will lied
Just as he finished his sentence he coughed again
"Don't worry about me" he said
The sun was beginning to settle already and it was getting colder. The group had found a more secure hiding place, they created a fire quickly. Sacrificing their secrecy for warmth.
"There's only 6 other tributes out there, if they want to fight, bring it" said Samuel
The group was now huddled around the fire
"Fucking wolves" said Samuel
"Could have been worse" said Jake
"Remember 10 years ago when they used mutant chipmunks" he said
At this the group laughed except Will who was now lying on the ground with his head against a rock half asleep muttering a name to himself
"Newt…Newt…Newt…Kathy" he said to himself
"Who's Newt?" asked Jake
"His brother….he died" Answered Alisa
"I think the blood loss is getting to him…making him hallucinate" she said
There was a pause of silence after this
"Do you miss anyone from home" Asked Jake
"Mostly my little sister" said Alisa
"Our parents died in an accident when she was only a baby, I've cared for her ever since" she said
"If I don't make it back….I don't know what will happen to her" She said sadly
"I would give anything to see her again" she said
It then hit Jake that only one of them could make it back. Should he let Alisa win? How could he deprive a little girl of her big sister especially as she lost her parents as well.
"I don't miss no one" Samuel buttered in
"Actually I don't even know if my parents are aware I entered The Hunger Games, ive been living on my own as long as I can remember…Surviving off the agriculture of District 11" he said
"Well, I guess I do miss the girls of District 11" he said jokingly
The other two laughed at this
"What about you Jake?" asked Samuel
"Oh…I…errr. Well I guess I do miss my family. I was raised in a typical District 8 household. Textiles was all that mattered" replied Jake
"I remember now" said Samuel
"You volunteered in the place of that other kid. I saw it on tv" continued Samuel
"Was he your brother or something?" asked Samuel
"No it's not like that" Jake responded
"Then what is it?"
"I was escaping" replied Jake
Jake then had a flashback of the night before the reaping's and the fight he had with his dad. He remembered hitting his dad on the head with a nearby hammer in self-defence, the blow that killed him and the look on his mums face when she saw what had happened
"We have to get you out of here" said Jakes mum frantically
"How? What do we do?" asked Jake
"Volunteer tomorrow, at the games. By the time they notice he's missing you'll already be in the games" replied Jakes mum
Flashback ends
Jake was now lying awake in the middle of the night even though it was Samuels shift to watch. Jake saw Samuels eyes closing and then opening again, trying to stay awake.
"Don't drift off" said Jake
"Its ok…I'm not going to sleep" murmured Samuel
Although he was wrong and they both eventually fell to sleep. Will was still muttering his brother and Kathy's name in his sleep when suddenly he sat up in a hurry. He was now hallucinating. In the distance he saw his brother standing there, Will stood up and walked towards the hallucination. No one else noticing as they were all asleep. Will walked further and further into the woods until he reached his brother. Suddenly he noticed it wasn't his brother but Frank however it was too late.
"Hi there" said Frank as he drew his sword.
The next morning Jake, Samuel and Alisa were awoken by an earthshakingly loud roar that resembled a bear.
"What was that!?" exclaimed Jake as they stood up.
