Chapter 13

I sprint back into our base camp. Kalliope is pacing back and forth, Caleb is kneeling down near Flame.

Caleb nags on me. "Violet! Where were you? What took so long? Never mind, toss me the rock."

I do, and he catches it in his left hand. He gets the bowl full of green leaves and grinds them with the rock. Within five minutes, the leaves are a goopy, thick substance that's a forest green color. He scoops some in his hand and rubs it in and around Flame's wound.

"This should fix you up. You're lucky it didn't hit a vein or anything like that. Otherwise, you would have been dead hours ago."

"How do you know all this?" I ask incredulously.

"We're District Eleven," Caleb says. "Agriculture." He rips some cloth off of his shirt. "Sorry, Luna," he says out loud.

"Luna's his stylist," explains Kalliope.

He wraps the cloth around Flame's shoulder. "There."

"Thanks," Flame says. "To all of you."

"I really should be thanking you, Hart," I say. "You saved my life back there."

"You're welcome." Flame smiles.

"Hey Caleb," Kalliope says. "Can you fix my chin?"

"Kalliope, you're thirteen. You're old enough to do it yourself."

"Oh the irony," I interrupt dryly. "You're telling a thirteen-year-old girl to do something herself and yet," I gesture to Flame. "you're caring for an eighteen-year-old."

Kalliope giggles and Flame laughs. Caleb shakes his head and grins. "Okay, you got me," he says. "Come here, sis." Kalliope comes over and Caleb rubs the stuff on her chin.

"So, Violet, why did you take so long?" Kalliope asks.

"Hey, stop talking," Caleb says. "I'm trying to fix you here."

"I, uh, saw the Careers. They killed the girl from Nine."

"In front of you?" Caleb's jaw drops. "They didn't see you, did they?"

"No, I was in a bush."

"Wait, start from the beginning." Flame says, his voice low.

As I explain, I watch each of their expressions change from curiosity, to horror, then to fear. Especially Caleb.

"So what you're saying is," he speaks in a low tone. "is that they're after me."

"Yes."

"So what do we do?" Kalliope asks in a small voice.

"We keep moving," Flame replies. "Starting tomorrow."

Caleb nods. Kalliope scoots closer to me and I put my arm around her. In a non-creepy way, of course.

I look at the sky. The sun is going down. "Let's eat."

We only have half a can of beef. After a brief argument, we decide to eat two slices and split them four ways just for the first day. Then Kalliope takes my canteen and pours its contents into hers. "So the canteen's filled about seventy-five percent and the Games usually go on for, like, a week. How should we split this up?"

"How about two sips each?" Flame suggests. "And it can't last more than three seconds."

We all agree to Flame's plan, then we drink the water. It feels so good...

The arena rings with the anthem. We all look up in the sky. Electra Embers appears first. Then Daniel Jones of Five. Alexandria Sandstorm of Six. Gabriella Tannar of Eight. Both Nathan Hawkley and Xia Fields of Nine. Both Peter Martinez and Ophelie Walker of Ten. Melody Kane of Twelve. And finally Evangeline Harr of Thirteen. The anthem plays, then it's silent.

"Okay, let's go to sleep. I'll watch," Flame volunteers.

"No, you need your rest. You'll feel a lot better in the morning if you do," Caleb says. "I'll watch."

"Okay." Flame goes over to a bush and curls up behind it.

Caleb sits down on a log and Kalliope gathers some moss. I climb up into a tree and make myself comfy on a big branch. I close my eyes and think.

So I survived the first day, and Bethany and Matthew did, too. Thank God. I knew they would, because they're Careers, but you never know. They could have ended up like Electra or Xia. Or Melody.

Melody. So I really did kill that girl. I can't believe how I just killed her in cold blood. Well, I guess I had a reason, she hurt Flame. But still... Three words echo in my head as I go to sleep.

I'm a murderer.

Two chapters in two days! Hope you like that! :D So that's the end of Day 1. Day 2 will be up later this week. I don't want to reveal too much, but let's just say there's another close call...

Song for Chapter: Night Watch (Live) by Tegan and Sara

~LDD