There was absolutely no time to think. I had to get away from here. People were running around, grabbing stuff and fighting. I took a deep breath, focused on one point at the far-away forest and started running like I never did before. I didn't look at the others, I just ran. My life literally depended on it. I forgot about Lisa and Annie. I would worry later about the lack of supplies. I passed a back pack, but I didn't take it. I could hear the sound of the fight, but all I could do was hope that my friends wouldn't die. I quickly looked around if no one was following me to the opposite side of the field, but it seemed like I was the only one who got the idea of hiding there and not the closer woods. It was a relief. I would have more time to find a suitable place to hide.
I was exhausted when I reached the edge of the forest and I jumped into the bushes to hide. I picked a good one – there were no sharp things and no berries. I heard there some berry was deadly if the juice touched your skin. So eating berries wasn't a good idea, I had no idea which were edible and not. I was also a terrible hunter, so what was I going to eat?
I became sick by the thought of the hunger and thirst I would suffer the following days, but now it was all about not being followed. I was right, no one entered the forest at this side.
I was surprised to see that I could follow the bloodbath from here. The distance wasn't far enough to hide the terrible things that happened there. Many would probably go insane witnessing such things. It was terrible indeed, but I could handle it.
I was looking for people I knew, but all I could see was Mason, who stood in the middle of the fights in front of the big Cornucopia. He was circulating around the stuff he had gathered so far. He seemed to feel completely safe while other tributes ran around. What was going on?
Suddenly I saw Poppy, who appeared with a sword in her hands. I realized I was completely unarmed, I would be unable to defend myself if attacked. It felt like I was naked.
One of the younger tributes ran to Mason with an axe and threw himself on him. He slammed the axe in Masons chest. I held my breath…and nothing happened. No blood, no wound. The tribute, however, seemed to have broken his arm. Mason smiled, grabbed a sword out of nowhere and stabbed him.
My mouth fell open, partly because the sight of the stabbing was very unsanitary and partly because…nothing happened to Mason. Why did he survive the axe? He didn't seem harmed at all. Was he immune to weapons? My theory was confirmed by a dark haired girl who stabbed him in the back but also failed to hurt him. She was dead within seconds, though.
So this was their protection. Was it a suit or something, body armour? Poppy would have one too. This was bad. They couldn't die for three full days. How long would it take for them to kill twenty others so they would be in the final twelve? I buried my face in my hands. I had to sit down for a second.
When I got op again, I suddenly spotted Annie, who ran through the fighting tributes with a backpack. She seemed to handle it very well. I held my breath once when some giant tried to attack her, but she escaped without much effort. I couldn't see Lisa anywhere, but I just hoped she wasn't one of the corpses who laid in the grass around the Cornucopia. When the fights were over, they would fire cannons for every fallen tribute and I heard somewhere we would see their portraits too.
It would probably be over soon, because there were only few moving people left. Poppy and Mason fought as wild animals, slammed skulls and gathered supplies. It was sad to see her. I couldn't trust her anymore.
And then it was over. The last person who wasn't Poppy or Mason ran into the forest with a few supplies and I realized I survived the bloodbath. I really did. I had nothing, but I was alive. I sat down in the bush and waited for the cannon to fire.
I counted them. Nine times. Nine people left the earth. Only eleven more to go before we would reach the final twelve. The portraits appeared, I could see them in the sky. The first one was a boy from District 7, which meant we all survived: me, Annie, Lisa and Poppy. It was a huge relief. His friend survived, because the next one was a girl from District 13. Then one of the three from District 15. It was weird, we were still with four and the second best District had only two left. Two girls from District 18 followed, I believe one of them was called Petra. Then the young boy from 21 who had a high training score. Next was Jiska, a girl from 22 who irritated everyone in the training Center by showing her average skills with a bow. She was over the top and she was the first one whose death wasn't important to me. Next were two boys from 32. They were the last ones. It was sad seeing all those faces.
I knew I was safe for a limited amount of time. Others would arrive at this side of the forest soon enough. I had to move, I was at the edge of the forest. I glanced at Poppy and Mason for the last time. They were going to stay at the Cornucopia, because Mason was struggling with some parts of a tent.
The running I just did caused a pain in my tummy and when it was gone, I decided to leave the place I was. The forest was beautiful, green and the light fell through the leafs. It had to be around twelve, but the sun was nowhere. The sky was grey and cloudy. I was used to that, because the weather in District 4 was often like this. It was not cold and not hot, so that was also a good thing. The Gamemakers were probably in a soft mood. The temperatures in the arenas in Panem were usually horrible – or freezing, or desert-like hot.
I stood up from the bush, made sure Mason and Poppy were unable to see me and walked away. I had to find water. I had no idea where, I had to walk around a bit.
It turned out to be harder than it seemed. The forest was full of hidden things that would make you trip and my hands soon became very dirty because I fell a lot. Luckily I wasn't hurt at all. I pushed a big branch out of my way, but when I released it, it hit me in the stomach. I screamed because I shook, but then realized I was an siren for other tributes so I held my mouth shut. It hurt like crazy. I lifted my shirt up to see the damage. There was a long, red mark on my belly. I felt tears coming up.
Come on, Indiana! I spoke to myself. You cry because you are hurt by a branch? Are you going to cry too when you are mortally wounded by someone else, or drowning, or burning?
I knew I was going to experience worse things than this. I mean, I was going to die in a couple of days. I had to be strong. Maybe someone would sponsor me. I imagined Chase, who was probably sitting in a room watching me, being ashamed because I was being a pussy.
He was right. A week ago Gabriella had deep cuts on this place. I trembled and continued my way, watching my back. Water was the most important now.
It was hard to imagine that this was District 15, and people were living maybe a hundred kilometers away from here. These people would be cheering for Emmerick, the big boy, and his friend. The third one from District 15 died at the bloodbath.
Where were Annie and Lisa? Annie would surely survive for a couple of days, but would Lisa? She was nothing but smart. She was physically weak, and maybe she had just like me no supplies.
Suddenly I heard a long scream in the distance, but there was no cannon. I became nervous and walked on. Should I be happy because an innocent was life was spared or that I still had twenty rivals left until the final twelve? I stared at the ground at hoped it wasn't one of my friends. I had to shudder when I thought about huge bears, or hungry wolves.
The forest became silent again and I continued my search for water.
New chapter probably tomorrow!