Chapter 19: Stories and Foreboding
We all watched from the stump as a hovercraft lowered its huge, silver claw and lifted the lifeless body of Jonathon from the rocky slope in front of us. Everyone was numb from the experience of waking up to find him dead and then having to drag him out of the hollow to a space away from our stump so that the game makers could get him.
''Did anyone even hear the canon?,'' asked Lemongrass flatly as she stared onward.
''No,'' I answered. ''I didn't wake up at all.'' Andrew nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Lemongrass turned to me with wide eyes full of fear.
''Shae, what if the other tributes saw all the smoke and are coming here?''
I considered the idea in surprise. It was almost guaranteed. I couldn't believe the thought hadn't already occurred to me.
''They could find us soon,'' Andrew said grimly. He swiveled the blade of his sword in consideration. Lemongrass had given it to him after dragging away Jonathon, saying that she would rather use the knives.
I softly rubbed my nose, still feeling some of the bruise Amber had given me with her boot. Hawk and Sanara were still alive too, and the thought of the alliance finding us made my stomach twist.
''How many are left?,'' Lemongrass asked quietly.
''Four,'' Andrew and I said simultaneously. We glanced at each other and smiled.
''Three are careers, and one is from your district,'' I said, looking at Lemongrass.
''Oh. Kitty. I forgot about him,'' she said thoughtfully.
''I don't remember anyone named Kitty,'' said Andrew.
''It's his nickname. Everyone at school calls him that because he's afraid of water, like a cat. His real name is Jeff Onslaw though,'' Lemongrass explained. ''He specializes in traps, so if we see him, don't chase him.''
''Noted,'' said Andrew.
''Lemongrass, what did you do after the bloodbath?,'' I asked curiously.
''Ah, what was that, like a week ago?,'' she said, putting on a thinking face. ''I ran away and spent the first day hiding in tree so that no one could find me, or at least surprise me. I left the next morning though because I had to find water, and that took almost all day. Before the storm, I could only find one stream, and it was low and muddy, but I drank it. Then I found a cave and slept in it.'' Lemongrass' eyes then grew wide. ''But then, the next morning, the careers almost found me. They had nearly gotten to my cave when I heard someone attack them, and while they were distracted I ran away. I was so scared that I don't know how long I ran for, or where I went, and I just climbed up a tree and slept that night. Well, I tried to sleep, at least. Evan from District 11 came in the middle of the night and slept right under me without knowing it, and that's how we became allies,'' Lemongrass shrugged. ''He knew how to find so many plants, which was really good, because I was starving. So then we wandered around until the big storm. That's when we ran into Jonathon. We had been trying to find shelter as fast as we could when we stumbled into this big rock overhang. Jonathon surprised us, but Evan took him out before he could hurt us. Then Jonathon saw who we were and asked to join our group, and here I am. You guys already know the rest,'' Lemongrass ended her story and sighed. ''It feels like I've been away from home for forever.''
''I know what you mean,'' Andrew said.
''What about you, Shae? How did you get away?,'' Lemongrass asked.
''Well, I didn't initially. They captured me for four days, and then Andrew rescued me during the storm,'' I said.
''Really?,'' Lemongrass said in disbelief. ''I can't believe they didn't kill you. I've never heard of anything like that happening in the Hunger Games.''
''I know. Trust me, they wanted to kill me, but Onyx wouldn't let them. When Amber killed him, she tied me up and left me to die.''
''Wow, Amber killed him? I thought they were a thing or something,'' said Lemongrass.
''They were,'' said Andrew. Lemongrass raised an eyebrow.
''So yeah. After that, we came here, and the rest is history,'' I finished. ''But wait,'' I said, a thought occurring to me that should've a long time ago, ''Andrew, what did you do while I was with the careers?''
''I was close by in the woods. I couldn't find you during the bloodbath, so I ran to cover to wait it out, and then I saw you tied to the pine tree,'' Andrew said. ''I wanted to run out and help you so many times, but they would've seen me or heard me before I made it. I'm sorry I took so long.''
''No, don't be. You never had a good chance until the storm. Anyway, we're both still here, so I guess it worked out,'' I said, taking his hand and smiling.
''True,'' he said, pausing a moment before he spoke again. ''I think we should probably go. If the careers are on their way here, this hollow is too exposed and too close to where the fire happened.''
''You're right,'' said Lemongrass. ''I can carry the food, I still have a pouch that Jonathon picked up during the bloodbath that had the dried fruit in it.'' She pulled out a good sized baggy from her jacket and began packing our small stock of plants into it.
''Ill get the sleeping back,'' I said, letting go of Andrew's hand to roll it up.
''You sure?,'' Andrew asked.
''Yup.''
We cleared out the hollow and got ready to leave, making sure to cover any tracks and scuffles with a pine bough. Then we started walking through the forest in a direction we guessed was parallel to the cornucopia. No one spoke a word while we trekked as quietly as we could through the undergrowth, alert and on guard for any nasty surprised. The morning was bright and hot and we were all sweating. Birds flitted through the trees, chirping madly at one another as they raced over us. The leaves rustled softly and cast patterns over the forest floor. We had left the coniferous part of the woods behind.
Now as we continued on in single file with Andrew in the lead, I felt a shiver of foreboding pass though me, despite the heat. Somehow I had a feeling that things were far to peaceful for this late in the games. It was day eight and still seven tributes remained. This was going to come to a head, and soon. I hated not knowing what to expect.
Around mid afternoon we found a small shelter under a large, fallen tree and decided to stay there. We spent the rest of the daylight hours camouflaging it and digging it out to make enough room for everyone. Then we ate the rest of the plants and settled down, planning to forage the next day.
I couldn't fall asleep for a long time, and simply stared at the stars above us through the scrappy canopy of dead twigs. then I turned to Andrew.
''Hey, are you still awake?,'' I whispered, not wanting to disturb Lemongrass.
''Yeah,'' he said, turning to face me.
I stared at him for a second. ''I'm scared. I can't get rid of this bad feeling that something's going to happen that I can't fix, that I won't be able to do anything about. Like if someone hurt Lemongrass or you…'''
''Don't worry about that. You don't know what'll happen,'' he said assuringly.
''That's what scares me.''
''I know. It scares me too. Just… stay close,'' he said, wrapping his hand around mine and leaning his head against me. I relaxed, feeling just a bit less scared-to-death.
