So I figured out the fate of all of the tributes today. No, I'm not telling you. You'll have to keep reading xD Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, your support and advice means a lot to me
This is a lovely piece of artwork made by ~BertMel - www. deviantart download/ 299492127 /xyris _quentin_by_bertmel -d4yb5lr. png (take out all the spaces!)
Also, can I just give a thank you to Tom, my lovely boyfriend, for putting up with me pestering you to read this story 3
I'm also sorry that this chapter took so long! I've had lots of exams, but I've finished school now so it's all good :D
Zeph's P.O.V
I wake up early, dawn only just breaking through the horizon, my teeth chattering ever so slightly. I'm in the same position I was laid in whilst thinking about things last night. Things to do with the Games, and my fate within them. I realise that my hands are quite numb, which makes un-clasping them from one another difficult. It's apparent to me that the weather is a lot cooler today, more so than the thick humidity we all endured yesterday. Not exactly cold, like the heavily snowed-in winters we get in Three, but cool, like the Gamemakers are trying to climatize us to the cold weather that will most likely ensue. I've had an inkling that the weather is purposefully being changed from day to day, every year the arena has a certain 'quirk' and I guess this is ours.
I look over at Xyris, checking to see if she wasn't murdered during the night. I can practically hear Priya's approval, the way she will be nodding at the cameras in appreciation. Those very cameras developed in our hometown, which produce detailed thermal images and can see through the thin tent canapé.
It's one of the many things that infuriate me about Panem. The way the Capitol takes what we labour for and use it against us. Just to rub it in. Just to say, 'Look at how powerful we are. How we can take your hard work and use it against you.' It's what the rebels fought against. And they didn't win because of the resources the Capitol had, made in the districts no doubt, that overpowered them.
Movement from outside knocks me out of my anti-Capitol thoughts, and I carefully exit the tent, being careful not to disturb the sleeping tribute who is still fast asleep. I am met with a slight, cool breeze, along with Brooke who has woken up and began to pack our belongings. As I step out into the daylight, she nods my way and mumbles a 'good morning' before continuing to hobble around the camp. I notice her face, how pale it is from normal, a mask trying to conceal the pain of her leg. She must have gotten worse during the night.
"...Brooke?" I ask, not wanting to upset her. "I don't think you should be moving about."
"S-since when did you become a doctor?" She retorts, continuing to limp around.
"You're leg is never going to heal if-"
"Oh, give it a rest!" Brooke snaps, her mask evidently cracking. But she doesn't look angry, like I expect. Instead she looks upset, and for the first time like the young girl she is.
She slumps down on the ground, tears forming in her eyes, and clutches her leg.
"I'm going to die." She whispers. I don't want to say 'No, you won't' for pretty obvious reasons, so instead I sit down next to her and awkwardly pat her on the shoulder. I then attempt to change the subject.
"District 4 must get a lot of sunshine," I begin, trying to sound as natural as possible, "You all look sun-tanned."
"We do." She smiles slightly, running blades of grass through her fingers. "We have to spend a lot of time outside. It's cold out at sea, though."
"You've been out at sea?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation going.
"Only once or twice. The crabbing ship my mother works on was short of crew members... so I tagged along..." She trails off, looking down at the floor intensely, and my first instinct is not to pry any further as she must miss home.
"It's not very sunny in Three." I begin, trying to lighten the mood and talking as cheerily as possible. "Not like yesterday, anyway. It's mostly cool, like today. Bit boring, really. But in the winter we get tonnes of snow... Which usually makes the factories close for the day so we don't have to work..." I then trail off too, remembering how relieved I'd feel when I didn't have to slam metal into shape all day. I'd rush home and sit in my workshop, alone as usual since my parents are never around, happily building computer parts for the rest of the day.
"Why are you doing this? " Brooke asks suddenly, her voice pained.
"Doing what?"
"All of this. Fixing my leg up, taking me with you, and finding Xyris. Now you're trying to make me feel better. It's like you-"She is cut off by a clattering noise coming from behind us. I spin around, reaching for my hammer but finding empty space. I panic for a second, until Brooke gasps in delight.
"A parachute!" She grins, pointing at the package that now lay at the bottom of a dis-assembled pile of metal water bottles. I walk over to the gift, smiling at how whoever sent this purposefully interrupted our awkward chat. I unclip the pod from the parachute and take it over to Brooke, who seems eager to be the one to open it. She quickly pulls the lid away to reveal a small tub laid inside.
"It can't be food," She muses, turning the container around in her hands, "it's too small." She opens it up and her nose wrinkles. "Eugh! Smells awful." I peer into the pot to study the contents; a thick, gloopy gel that has the strong, sterile odour of bleach. I ponder what it could be for, but it doesn't take me long.
"Your leg." I say, passing her the container. "It's medicine." Brooke gasps like she did before and sticks her finger into the tub, unravelling her bandaging hastily. She rubs the gel onto her wound and sighs in relief.
"I take it that makes you feel better?" I ask.
"Yep." She smiles, reaching in to add more to her leg. "It's stopping it from hurting."
"Good." I reply. "Might even heal it." She doesn't reply, so we are left awkwardly sat beside each other, me unmoving and Brooke sighing as the pain she's no doubt been trying to hide since the Bloodbath is relieved.
A few minutes pass, and Xyris emerges from the tent, telling us that she didn't expect us to be awake so early.
"I'm an early riser," I tell her, passing her some food. "It's from having to work in the factory, getting up at the crack of dawn." She nods, and sits down on the floor to eat.
A few moments later, she glances over at Brooke, and her eyes widen ever so slightly as she spots the parachute pod laid at her side.
"You got a parachute?" Xyris asks, shocked.
"Yeah," Brooke gleams, showing Xyris the medicine gel. "Even though I thought my mentor would be favouring Kai over me."
I want to tell her that her mentor probably didn't send her the medicine, but I can't bring myself to it. I figured out pretty quick that it was in fact Priya who sent the medicine. It isn't a coincidence that the parachute landed in a way that interrupted mine and Brooke's conversation, just before Brooke was going to reveal to Panem that I am not intending to win the Games. It also isn't a coincidence that the gift itself has left Brooke so happy that she has forgotten all about our chat. Priya did not send this medicine to help Brooke, she has probably lived through enough Games to know that the ones that are badly injured at the Bloodbath usually don't survive, and that Careers that do not stay with the other Careers usually bite off more than they can chew and end up getting killed anyway. No, our mentor, bizarre though it is, has done this to help me, because if the Game-Makers were to find out about our... strategy, they would find a way to kill me off anyway, so that I wouldn't be able to help Xyris survive.
Whoa. I guess I misjudged Priya. She's very cunning, and I can see now why she won the Games.
"ZEPH!" Brooke and Xyris knock me out of my deep thought, making me literally jump.
"Yes?"
"Snap out of it Brains, we need to go." Brooke instructs, handing me a rucksack that they had probably packed when I was thinking. I look around, and the whole camp has been disassembled.
We begin to explore more of the woods, and it is a much more efficient way to move now that Brooke can walk properly. Although she limps a little, she can maintain a quick pace like me and Xyris, and her footing is now almost silent. We travel across the forest, uncertain of where we are going but definitely certain that we need to keep moving. A cannon fires from far away as we venture through the thick greenery, and Brooke comes to the conclusion that the Careers are back in business.
"That makes sense." Xyris nods, her eyes darting around slightly. I notice that her right hand stays close to the hilt of her sword, as if she anticipates an attack at any minute. She is truly on edge. At around midday we find a river, with tall reeds growing on the banking and the delicate smell of wild garlic lingering in the air. Brooke immediately wades into the shallow water, and begins to hunt for fish, leaving me and Xyris sitting next to each other on the lush green incline, where countless of little flowers are peppered around our feet.
I am about to break the silence between the two of us, when I notice in the corner of my eye that Xyris has picked a small flower from the grass and is studying it intensely, running her fingers around the petals of the small white plant.
"It's called a Daisy." I tell her. "I've read about them before, in a book." My mind immediately casts back to a library we have in Three. There are technically three libraries in the whole District, the first and biggest one being more of an industrial archives facility than a real library, which we frequently visited with school, even though the place never changed. It has many books on technology and machinery, but I always felt that the atmosphere was too tense there, as if the people working on the desks were saying 'Why don't you stop reading books on machinery and start actually making it, like the Capitol expects you to?' I could never feel comfortable reading there, so I avoided it as much as I could.
The second library is just as pristine as the first, but it is much smaller. The only books it ever has are about the Capitol, the history of Panem (as the Capitol would want you to know it) or the notable people of the Capitol such as information books about the Presidents, and corny biographies about Caesar Flickerman. I was never interested in the Capitol beyond what we were taught in school, so I rarely visited the place. However, I can always remember that library being very stuffy, even in the Winter when all the other houses were ice cold. Those were the worst times, as Peacekeepers would usually end up beating people out of the building, who had only come there for warmth. And if you were passing by and the Peacekeepers didn't like you, they would chase you down, too.
The third library we have is the one that the daisies have reminded me of. It is by far the most run down of the three we have, residing in a very dilapidated warehouse with crumbly walls, but it is my favourite. Not many people know about it, because of the types of books that they have, and it would get burned to the ground if the Peacekeepers were to come across it so nobody ever speaks of it in public. Some of the books they have there are very old, from before the Rebellion when the Districts had a lot more resources. Some really ancient books, the ones that are very hard to read due to faded lettering and ripped pages, are said to be from the world before Panem, but they are mostly about the different beliefs that the people of that time had so not many people read them. It is the books on survival that the people find the most valuable, and if the library should choose to sell their goods then those books would go for the highest price. But the woman in charge, Neona, an old soul with Rebellion scars down both her arms, is really kind and wise, and says that people have kept these books hidden in attics and basements for so long, the young generation should have the right to enjoy them too.
It is a book on botany that taught me about daisies, and that is why I could recognize the dainty flower held in Xyris' hand so easily.
"We don't get these back home." She muses, twirling it around in her hand. I am about to pick another type of flower, one they call a Dandelion that is just next to her left hand, when a snowflake lands on Xyris' nose and it makes her jump. It begins to snow lightly, the snowflakes falling gracefully. They are the large blob types, ones that you can catch in your hand and it takes a while to melt away. I look over at Brooke, who is enthralled in the weather that must be new to her, coming from a warm seaside part of Panem. She steps slowly out of the water and angles her head up at the sky, grinning in wonder. And in those few, short moments, we all share a common happiness, like when you run downstairs to see a sack full of District winnings the year a Victor is crowned from your District.
But of course, the moment passes, as this is the Hunger Games and the snow begins to get thicker and thicker, quickly forming a snowy carpet on the floor. I stand up and turn to Xyris, who is looking at me as if she was about to say something.
"We should find somewhere sheltered." Brooke says, picking up her rucksack. We all retrieve our packs and hastily leave the beautiful river.
Snow presents a serious problem. Not only does it fall so thick that it is hard to see as far as your hand, but it makes covering your tracks difficult. We blunder through the forest blindly, and it occurs to me that we should be freezing to death in weather like this. But in fact, the temperature doesn't seemed to have changed much since this morning. Which means that the Game-makers don't want to freeze us all, but want to restrict our sight. The question being, why?
We are trekking though a very bushy part of the forest when Xyris strikes up a conversation.
"So tell me more about daisies." I look to her face and see her smile, looking up at me with bright eyes. She usually breaks away eye contact quickly, but in this instance she doesn't look away.
"Nothing much else to say, really." I mumble, whipping my head back forward and away from her gaze. "They grow wild. Not as much as they used to before the Dark Days. I've read that there used to be entire meadows full of them before Panem was created."
"They're quite pretty." Xyris notes, and the conversation fizzles out.
Two cannons fire at almost the same time, from close nearby, startling us. Before I can even come up with a theory as to why they were so close together, I feel a tremor in the ground, which emits a low, rumbling sound. I look up at my two allies; Brooke, who has her trident poised and ready to attack, and Xyris, who is looking about in confusion. Our eyes meet for a second or so, light blue-grey and saturated with fear, neither one of us wanting to turn away, like we are waiting for the other person to explain what is happening.
Then, a giant leopard crashes its way through the trees to our left, and we all rush together in terrified synchronization. We sprint through the trees, practically vaulting over obstacles on the ground and weaving through leaves and twigs that claw at our clothes and hair.
Brooke shouts orders at us like 'LEFT!' or 'OVER HERE!' and we oblige because she's probably been trained for stuff like this countless times.
I whip my head behind us quickly to check if the creature is close, and I see its form barging through the forestry, bending tree trunks with its brute strength. Its teeth and snapping muzzle are caked in blood, a stark contrast of deep red to its pale white fur. Its eyes are entirely black with tiny white pupils, making it obvious that this creature is not natural, it's a Capitol designed muttation.
Brooke takes the lead and begins to climb a large deposit of rocks, and Xyris and I follow. At first, Xyris seems to hang back, like she wants me to start climbing first, but I pick her up and practically throw her at the wall of rock, urging her forwards. When she is a decent amount above me I begin to scramble up after her, hearing the mutt's roars getting closer and louder. It sounds like it's screeching, and I can hear the snapping sound of its jaws opening and shutting, which tells me that the beast is getting very close.
Just as I am reaching the top of the rocks, I feel a slashing claw drag away the rock under my right foot, and for a terrifying second I think that I am going to fall to my death. But out of pure luck I manage to cling onto the top of the rocks and swing my body upwards, just as the mutt's teeth snap close to where my foot had originally been. I am left lying face down on the ice cold snow, panting heavily out of fear and exhaustion from running. The mutt is still screeching for a couple of minutes after we climb out of his reach, but he catches the scent of something else and darts away towards it.
The snow feels like daggers cutting into the side of my face, so I sit up and rub the numbness out of my cheek. I feel someone sit down next to me and I look up, seeing Xyris' concerned face staring down at me. She is just about to speak, but I know what she is going to say already.
"You had to climb up first... because you can't climb... as fast..." I say between breaths. I don't know if this is a true fact or not, but I can't exactly tell her the real reason why.
We sit on top of the rocks for a short while, catching our breath. None of us talk to each other, but I keep on glancing over at Xyris to make sure that she isn't in shock or anything. Another cannon fire blasts out from the area that the mutt ran towards, and I calculate how many people had died today. Four. That means that there is now 8 of us remaining, 3 of them being Careers (that aren't Brooke). There is one person out there, the boy from Twelve, who we don't know the strategy of. The Careers are most likely going to hunt for him, and then for us, but assuming that they don't know of the girl from Six's plans, they could be the first ones to go. We're kind of stuck in the middle, trying to keep away from it all, I guess. A thought crosses my mind, about Brooke turning on us and killing us to join the Careers again, and I realise that it's actually rather dangerous staying with her. But she has so much knowledge of survival that we can't lose her at this point of the Game, so I'm torn between staying with her or not.
I decide that I will wait until tomorrow and see what happens then.