Arboren's face is all scratched up, her hair is a mess, and it looks as if she hasn't slept or ate for days. She probably hasn't. She is sitting on the ground under a tree and looking at her left leg. She moves the fabric of her black pants, and I gasp. There is a line of red cutting across her thigh.
"Hey, Arboren, I got some bandages if you want some. Found them in the backpack I picked up." A girl with straight, dark hair and hazel eyes squats next to Arboren and holds out a roll of white cloth. She must be the District Eight tribute.
"Thanks." Arboren takes a length of bandage gratefully and begins to wrap them around her leg. She has to rip her pants even further to get the bandages to go all the way around.
"Arboren, Velour?" a worried voice calls from off the screen. "I think they're coming this way." It's Securis. And "they" must be the Careers. Arboren quickly jumps up, but winces as she puts weight on her injured leg.
"We should get out of here," says Velour, the dark-haired girl. They start walking through the woods. The area in which they are traveling through isn't at all like the woods of District Seven. The trees are small and sparsely placed, and high grasses and flowering weeds grow in between them making it hard to walk fast. The trees don't provide any sort of cover.
"Down!" whisper-yells Velour with such authority that both Arboren and Securis immediately obey and fall into the grass. As soon as the three of them hit the ground, they completely disappear—the tall grasses that had impeded their walking are able to make them invisible!
And it is the Careers. Jubilant after their third kill, the four strongest tributes don't even realize that they are walking by three unarmed tributes lying in the grass. Ayden, the boy from District Three is whistling an odd tune, and Emberlynn and Bryant are walking arm-in-arm. And they all keep walking right past Arboren, Securis, and Velour!
About five minutes after the Careers had passed through, the grass moves, and Arboren's head pops up. Then comes Securis, and then Velour.
"Aren't you glad I made you team up with Velour?" Arboren asks Securis.
"Hm."
Arboren turns to Velour. "That's his way of saying yes!" They both laugh.
But I interpret that differently. I don't think Securis originally wanted to form an alliance with Velour. Does he not trust her? I don't. There's something in her smile and laugh that doesn't seem that trustworthy.
"Velour, was that your stomach I just heard?" says Arboren.
"Yeah," Velour admits, "there was no food in my pack, only medical supplies.
Securis starts digging around in the pocket of his jacket and pulls out a package of dried fruit. "I picked this up on my way from the cornucopia. I thought it would be useful, but it's just food."
"Food is very useful!" compliments Velour. She takes the package, opens it, and equally divides the fruit among the three of them. They spend awhile eating, and before I know it, it's almost dinnertime. I have to get back home fast. I don't want to leave Arboren with Velour because I don't trust her. But then I realize that there would be nothing I could do anyway, because I'm just watching everything on TV. I hope Arboren makes it through the night.