Chapter Three: Day Two, Part One
74th Hunger Games Arena
Eleven.
That's how many tributes died on day one. Now, there were only thirteen tributes left. Including us. After our… 'meeting' with "Foxface", we had set up camp as far away as possible from Cornucopia. We checked the bags we both took and found rope, tape, a knife, and small amounts of food.
It was enough for the most part.
But sleeping had been… difficult. When the sun had set, it was pretty obvious none of us wanted to sleep. And the announcement of all those who died didn't help either. Especially when Foxface's 'companion' from District 5 was also declared dead. Primrose and I only spared a glance to the girl who met my eyes briefly but neither of us said anything. We sat in silence, our eyes scanning the forest and each other… Until foolishly, we all fell asleep. Then the next morning, we decided to sit for another few minutes before moving again.
"What's your real name?" Foxface asked quietly.
I had forgotten my real name hadn't been mentioned to the public. I hadn't taken part in the Tribute Parade or Interview. Only the training sessions and scoring. I had only gotten a three but anyone with eyes could tell I had held back as much as possible. And the way Foxface was looking at me, I could tell she was fishing for as much information as possible to determine how to deal with her new unwanted 'companions'.
"What's yours? Or did your parents really name you Foxface?" Her response had been that blank expression she had given us for the past half day. "John Doe." Her response stayed the same. "I mean it. I grew up alone outside District 12. I have no name."
Silence.
"My name is Primrose Everdeen," Primrose said shyly to Foxface.
Silence again.
"Marissa Greene."
More silence.
"That's a bit cliche."
"So is John Doe." I could see the amusement in her eyes too.
"Still better than Foxface." I tried to keep a blank face but a smile broke out. Primrose giggled while Foxface snorted.
But then we heard a sound from a distance. A shout. We stopped talking and I grabbed my sickle. Primrose inched close to my side and I placed an arm around her shoulders. I felt her shaking slightly once again.
Silence.
But I had already remembered where we were again.
"You left your companion."
A statement.
"I did."
A confession. But a pause too. And the amusement from her eyes was gone.
"Do you think I'm a coward?"
Silence again.
"Would it matter if I did?"
More silence. More uncomfortable.
"What would you have done?"
I didn't respond. But after a few more minutes of silence, we packed and continued toward an unknown destination. Hours and hours of walking. Our first bathroom break. More hours and hours of walking. And finally, we stopped to eat. Crackers and dried beef strips. But we decided to stick to crackers for now.
We were in a very small clearing. Foxface laid against a tree while Primrose and I sat a bit away from her against another tree. I decided now was the time to talk to Primrose about our 'companion' and our plan going forward.
"Primrose-"
"Prim."
"What?" I looked at her to see her looking down shyly.
"My mom and sister call me Prim… You can too… If you want…"
Silence.
"Okay. Prim… I understand why you asked me not to do what I was going to do to Foxface. But we can't do that again. Not for everybody. We're trusting her. We're giving her a chance. For now. I don't know what will happen when it gets down to us three. We'll plan for that when we get there. But for now, I need you to understand… I'm going to hurt people. I'm going to hurt a lot of people. All to protect you."
I saw her shaking slightly. I saw tears fall.
"Why…" She whispered.
"Because I promised your mother I would protect you. I promised your mother I would bring you back. I don't know if I can get out of here… But I know I will get you out of here. I'll-"
I felt two small arms around my waist. I looked down to see the small girl sobbing into my chest. I glanced up to see Foxface politely pretending not to notice us but I knew she heard everything I said. I even saw her blink her own eyes repeatedly…
"I'll get you out of here, Prim."
Silence. But her sobbing stopped after a few minutes. Then a whisper.
"Thank you…"
Not for the part I was uncomfortable with.
"Prim…" The small girl moved her head away to look up at me. And I held out a knife. "I need you to take this."
"I-I…" Her eyes widened.
"I know. I know you don't want this. I know you don't want to have to use it. But I need you to do this. And if anyone other than me, Foxface or anyone, tries anything… I need you to use it. I will do everything I can to prevent that… But if I can't… Promise me you will use it." I said firmly. She stared at the knife before slowly, her shaky hands took it from me. Gripping it tightly.
"I promise…" She whispered.
"Good. Keep it hidden though." I tucked the knife away in her cargo pants. "They'll underestimate you. They already have. They already do. But when they close, they'll try to taunt you. Let them. Then you use it. But you use it when you have no other choice. Go for the important areas. Eyes. Neck. Heart. And if you can't. Anywhere. You hit them and you run if you can. And if we get separated, you stay hidden close to a clearing and I'll keep moving until I find you. Okay?"
"Okay, John." She nodded hesitantly.
"Good. Now eat, we'll start walking again soon. Camp elsewhere for the night." I patted her head and let our temporary camp return to silence. I glanced at Foxface again.
Still pretending not to hear anything said between us.
Another chapter just because this will be a short one anyway. Just going to say it now but I imagine the arena to be smaller for this story because I plan for it all to last five days. I'm aware it was eighteen days in the film but that felt like it would go on way too long and viewers would get bored (Look how we are with binge watching). Anyway, next chapter: First encounters, more deaths, and decisions made.
