Chapter 6
Wow, looking good I think. The tent blends in with the surroundings well and I cant help but grin with pride; I even got to impress the viewers with some more skills I showed off during the refurbishment. Combat and agility is not my strength so I rely on other things like intelligence and creativity to make me look impressive. Knot-tying and camouflaging is what I mainly worked on in the training centre with a bit of plant education. I remember trying to learn knife skills but I stopped after a while, and earlier today is when I tried to use them for the first time, during my mortifying turkey ambush. The embarrassing moment is what lead me to up sticks and move my tent to an area where it would blend in, because I was out in the open last night.
I stare at the leaves and rocks covering the tent and decide it's time for a makeover. Oh yeh! Just kidding, only Capitol civilians need themselves and others to look their best when dying or in pain. But hey, It could gain me some SPONSORS!
I walk over to the various patches of mud spread out between the trees near my tent. The sweet scent of berries float into my nose and fill my senses with euphoria. As I stick my hands into the brown mess called mud I sit down cross-legged. My fingertips slide in and coat themselves with the mud and I grab a few dark Moni berries and ooze out the juice into my fingers. This motion reminds me of home in District 5, working in the labs and manufacturing all sorts of fake berries from delicious to poisonous. After a rub together my hands and fingers transform into a thick shade of dark red. Dark and sexy, I love it (ahem, I mean the Capitol will, of course) .Running my fingers through my ginger clumps of hair I get a ping of excitement in my chest. I have never been a girl into make-up and fashion (well, we don't have that much of it in District 5) but right now I cant wait for the result. I go through the strands of hair and coat them all in the dark red mixture then rubbing my roots. After my hair is coated with the dye I take a break Its time for a stock check, cue the sarcastic "Yay!" sound effect.
When I reach my hair its dry and hard so I rub it around and make it flexible. A tad of water and more rubbing does the job because from what I can see, from the mushed berries and the mud, my hair is dyed a dark red. Twirling it around my finger for a while and swishing my head makes me realise how much I like it. Its dark, evil red shows me in a different light. I smile wyly and think of how much the Capitol will love it.
The Capitol, the bloodthirsty, deluded and twisted Capitol. I dislike to entertain them and give them pleasure but it could keep me alive. During training I almost turned numb to their sadistic wishes, their manipulation and their selfishness . I almost forgot how their caring and sympathetic attitude was all just to humiliate us and make us seem our best before we rip each other to shreds. The Capitol will never seem inspirational or admirable to me but the civilians live a perfect, happy life , only at the expense of others. If only we could all live that life but without this 'game' they like to play.
Suddenly a parachute drops at my knees and I pounce at the metal case, trying to conceal my anticipation. As I see the round plastic object in front of me, I laugh with happiness. I stare at the conicle shape and pick it up to see the criss-cross net pattern at the bottom of it. A filter! Just what I need. Struggling for water wasnt a problem but the danger of dehydration was on the horizon, I just need to find a source.
Its about midday when I start searching for water and I know there must be a stream nearby from the wet mud clinging to my feet. Looking around in all directions, I scan for some water, maybe I need to get up high I think. The rope from my backpack calls my name and I whip it out while I look for a high tree. Carefully searching, I turn my mental radar on. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to find a big tree, but it takes a decent IQ to find a tree thats climbable. Stiff and broad, A tall and heavily branched tree catches my eye and I casually walk up to it. After a few minutes of expertise knot tying I have my own knot that works as a rope lever to hoist myself up there.
There! Yes! Sparking in the Sun the blue pond glistens and dances like an angel as I look from high up in the tree. So I need to remember that the– Shit! A sharp pain in my foot jolts through me and I kick my legs in shock. My legs slam against the tree trunk holding me high in the air and catapult my body through tangled branches and into the air.
