Sorry update took so long, sometimes it feels like summer is busier than school. anyway, thanks for the reviews and hopefully this turns out better than first chapter.
I am running through a forest towards a lake with a pack of killers. Never in all my life did it ever occur to me that I would be able to truthfully say that. It's moments like this in the games that make me wish I were back at the bakery, I'd rather deal with my hateful mother than these unpredictable serial killers. Then again, my mother is pretty unpredictable as well. Even with the overwhelming pine smell, my nose picks up the scent of smoke. Something's not right.
As we get closer to the lake, I spot Katniss in the water. Her beautiful eyes are closed, and she looks exhausted. Something is definitely not right. Please wake up! Come on Katniss! Get up! My mind only screams what my lips cannot. At the speed we're moving, the Careers will soon have her at hand. I will die defending her, this is my heart's resolute. If she doesn't make it, then neither do I.
Suddenly Katniss's eyes snap open, and before you can say "Effie's wig", she is up out of the lake and sprinting to the underbrush. "After her!" Cato commands, and the chase begins. The deeper we get into the forest, the more difficult it is to breathe. Most of us have begun to cough and gasp for breath. "Close in on her!" Cato's voice rasps out. We are gaining on her, we will have her soon.
Katniss must know this too. She changes direction, and quicker than anyone I have ever seen, scurries up a super tall tree. Even though her face shows agony, she makes it twenty feet up before the whole group reaches the bottom of the tree's trunk. We are all out of breath, tired by the chase and impure air. We study each other for an instant, and then Katniss breaks the silence.
"So, how's everything with you guys?" She asks happily and smiling. Well, that's a first. The Careers jerk back as if slapped by an invisible hand. I feel the corners of my mouth start to turn up. I have to force a frown. Cato comes to his senses first,
"Well enough. And yourself?" He calls up, clearly ticked off.
"Oh, it's been a bit warm for my taste." She casually responds, gesturing one arm to refer to the smoke and awful burning smell. My heart starts pumping so loud I can feel it in my head. The girl of my dreams is so brave. She is so close to a most likely gruesome death, and yet she act (convincingly) that everything is perfectly fine. That the Careers are no threat to her and that the huge burn on her calf is a mere scratch.
"The air is better up here. Why don't you come up?" Katniss challenges.
Cato's expression turns pure evil, "I think I will."
"Here take this, Cato" Glimmer says offering him a sheath of arrows and a silver bow. As far as I know that is the only bow in the arena. It's a good thing it's not in Katniss's hands now, otherwise, we'd all be dead meat. Oh great. Katniss is trying to meet my eyes, I can feel her glare boring into me. I keep my head down and pretend to polish my knife.
"No. I can do a better job with my sword." Cato answers pushing pass Glimmer. He unsheathes his sword, the tip of the blade catching the sun's light like it's trying to imitate me. I am a little surprised to see Cato start climbing the tree. He must weigh, well, a whole lot! Not counting all the extra weapons he has strapped onto himself. It takes a while, but he finally scales a portion of the tree. By then, Katniss has ventured up a little higher. Cato grabs a branch above his head with both of his hands. Big and stupid. I hear a crack, then the branch brakes off and it comes tumbling to the ground along with Cato. A tumor goes through the earth when Cato hits the ground. The dumber they are the harder they fall. The odds are certainly not in my favor. Not only has Cato managed not to crush anyone on his impact, but he also didn't even get his skull cracked. He is as hard headed, as he is hard hearted. Cato recovers from his fall and curses up a storm.
"Humph! Anything boys can do, girls can do better." Glimmer boasts, flipping her hair in Cato's face. She pulls herself up to the lowest tree branch and begins to climb. In this one case, I hope Glimmer's statement is true. Because that would mean that she would be able to do the one thing that Cato couldn't. Break her neck when she falls! Katniss has now made it up more than three-fourths up the tree. Glimmer reaches about halfway when we hear the cracking of wood.
"You owe me that knife." I hear Clove whisper to Marvel, and am surprised to see him actually hand it to her. The odds must really not be in my favor. Unfortunately, Glimmer has enough working brain cells to stop ascending and start descending. Her next idea isn't the grandest though. Once she's back on the ground, Glimmer proceeds to fire arrows at Katniss.
There are exactly three things wrong with that.
One, Glimmer's aim is worse than Haymitch's breath. Two, that weapon belongs to Katniss (Glimmer is probably at the top of Katniss's kill list right now). Three, one of the arrows just got stuck within Katniss's reach, and she is now waving it over our heads. Finally, Glimmer sees that she has made the situation worse than it already was and decides to stop trying to kill Katniss.
Cato motions everyone to huddle up. The pack is beyond angry, I can literally feel the hatred radiating off of them.
"She made us look like fools!" A red-faced Cato loudly whispers. Nope, you did that on your own. "I want her dead, and I want her dead now!" He viciously whispers, nostrils flaring.
"We can always cut down the tree, or cause it to tip over." Clove says pointing to an axe.
The boy from district three speaks up, "Maybe we can lure her a little closer to the ground?" The girl from district four nods her head, "Yes, and when she's in range, Marvel can throw his spear and pierce her body." I can barely stand casually doing nothing while they all talk about ways to kill her.
"Why don't we just set the tree on fire?" Marvel suddenly suggests, "It will be ironic if fire ends up killing her." He chuckles. "Let's see how cocky she can be while the world watches her burn." Blood rises to my face, I desperately try to restrain myself from killing him.
I've managed to keep my cool this whole time, but this last comment is all that I can take. Without really thinking I say, "Oh, let her stay up there." All the attention turns to me and all the Careers give me looks that range from puzzled to suspicious. Oh, snap. I realize how defensive my tone was. I have to say something to assure them I'm on their side. "It's not like she can go anywhere, right?" I say as if it is common sense. "We can deal with her in the morning. We need to rest or someone as puny as that girl from eleven will be able to take us out." I say calmly in my bread seller's voice. Believe it or not, but getting people to buy bread is not that easy, you need to have personality. Which, luckily I have. Too bad I can't talk other tributes to death. I can see them debating within themselves, and picking to sleep rather than hunt. We are going to be the laughing stock of Panem tonight, and no one wants to make it worse.
Cato confirms my suggestion, acting as if it was his idea, "Alright, we rest for a few hours and kill her tomorrow." Over my dead body. "Glimmer take first watch." Cato orders. I want to point out how ridiculous he looked when he fell off the tree, and that we need a more dignified leader, but I am way to tired. Also, I need to think of a plan to save Katniss before the Careers wake up tomorrow. I lay my head over a flat-ish rock and try to get comfortable, when suddenly, an idea pops into my mind. The bomb the boy from district three made! The explosion's estimated radius isn't that wide, but it has enough power to takeout all of these cold-blooded killers! I start to become concerned about how easy it is for me to think about killing other teenagers who are just like me. No, not like me. They would kill in a heartbeat. Look how they just stood around discussing how to kill Katniss. They are murders, what I'm doing is… self-defense. I push my worries and doubts out of my mind, and focus on saving Katniss. The bomb is timed, so if we plant it in the middle of the sleeping pack and get a safe distance away from it, we won't have to worry about a good number of tributes anymore. I will try and signal to Katniss what I am going to do, after I swipe the bomb. I'm pretty sure that she knows I would never betray my district or her, and that I am only pretending to be part of the Capital's lapdogs group.
I stare up at the sky, and actually feel happy. Okay maybe not happy, but peaceful. I have a plan- a smart plan if I do say so myself- and there is a small chance that Katniss and I will get through this. I close my eyes and let sleep over take me.
Okay not sure if i will add anymore, rest is pretty self explanatory. Please R&R