Disclaimer: I still don't own the Hunger Games...
I blink and rub my eyes, wiping any remnants of sleep from them. Everything is at peace. The sun is just rising and there are quiet sounds of bugs flying around and birds chirping. I gently shake Glitch awake. Instantly she jumps into striking position, knife at the ready. A glint in her eyes shows one that is completely awake, not one that has just risen. It scares me how quickly she accomplished that task. I wonder if she learned to master the ability to control adrenaline. Or maybe she was just more afraid then she let on to be.
Once Glitch sees no one is attacking her, she relaxes. She plops onto the branch, with her legs dangling off the side, and puts her knife in a leather holder around her belt. I watch as she does this. There are eight others there as well. I guess I was right when I thought that she was going after the set of knives. I wonder how quickly she could stick one of those in me…
She looks up once the knife is back in its place. "Good morning, Glynn." She says in a pleasant tone, as if yesterday's events have not even fazed her.
"Morning, what are we going to do today then?" I guess Glitch will be making all the plans from now until we split. I flinch at the thought of separation, Glitch hasn't hurt me yet, and she has helped me a lot. I was almost regretting when that time would come.
"Um…You want to be offensive, or defensive?" I wonder where she learned that terminology. No one told me I had options, except the one in which I could live or die. But that was sort of forced, so even that choice wasn't really an option.
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" I say as I try my hardest not to sound too naive.
"You want to kill, or keep from being killed?" Um…well, keeping from dying sounds pretty nice to me, and we were already doing that. I also didn't want to face murder so soon after yesterday. I needed time to recover my conscience.
"Keeping from being killed seems good to me." I answer blandly.
"Yeah, sounds good to me too. Ok, so I know that you have water, a knife, and those bow and arrows in you pack. Aside from that, what else do you have?" I hesitate. What happens if I tell her, she shoves me off the branch, and takes all of my supplies? She could have done that yesterday, but she didn't. So, what do I have to lose? Oh yeah, all I have to lose is my life, so why not?
I recollect everything I have in my mind for a few seconds before answering. "I have iodine, dried fruit, some cloth, uncooked alligator meat, and a first aid kit. I'm not that sure what is in the first aid kit. I haven't had the need to check. What do you have in your pack?" I need to make sure we were on the same level of knowledge.
Glitch doesn't hesitate before answering me. "I have several water bottles, sent to me by my sponsor, some fruits that I have found in the trees, an extra set of clothes and a sleeping bag. Oh, and my knives, but I think you already knew that. I have nine if you need one." The other information registered, but only one question stuck into my mind: She has a sponsor? I knew she would get one, but I didn't realize how unfair it would seem to me.
"I don't need a knife. I like the one I already have. You have sponsors?" I ask with a hint of a whine to my voice. I knew I didn't have sponsors. I haven't gotten a gift that floats down with a silver parachute. No one wanted to help a little girl who didn't even have the slightest chance of winning. Not fair…
Glitch looks at me pityingly. She knows what the answer will be, but she asks the question anyway, "Yeah, you don't?" I shake my head. "Don't worry, you will get some, you already have three kills to your name, even though you're twelve, and there are only nine tributes left." Those kills are mine? I didn't think I would get credit. What about the girl killed by the alligator, who gets points for her death? I hear two cannon fires. My inhumane logic about the credit for killing was disrupted.
Glitch and I jump into super sensitivity mode. Who died? "Make that count seven tributes." I say grimily, with my bow raised, ready for attack at any moment. Glitch as two of her knives, one in each hand.
"I wonder who that was…I didn't hear a scream, so, they probably weren't near. Either that or they were killed quickly. I doubt Careers would do that. They like dramatic shows, to make sure the Capitol is enjoying what they are seeing. So I think it's safe to stay up here." How does she know what the Careers like? Then again, they seemed to be the type to take part in torture.
I release my grip on my bow, and set it to my side, not completely ready to release it entirely. Glitch returned her knives to their holder, now that she has assured herself that there is nothing to be alarmed about.
Glitch looks around the forest one more time, just to assure that there were no threats in our area. She then reaches into her backpack and takes out two, ripe oranges. She tosses one to me. I reach up to grab it as a natural reflex just before it starts to tumble to the ground. "Don't bother peeling of the outer shell; it won't kill you and you need all the energy you can get." I nod. I didn't know you were supposed to peel the shell. I've never had an orange before. They were considered treats in District 9. I may have had a decent life, but I didn't get to have treats like that.
I sniff the fruit before I taste it. I have this weird thing in my mind that if something smells bad, it also tastes bad. The sent smells sweet, with a touch of what I had been told is citrus. Satisfied that it isn't smell completely terrible, I take a big bite out of the orange. The outer shell tainted the sweet-sour flavor to it. But it was delicious none the less. I smile in delight, like a little kid with a lollipop.
"What? Never had an orange before?" Glitch says in a joking manor. Her being from District 11, she probably has had oranges plenty of times before.
"No." I say with a blank and innocent face.
Glitch's face is filled with surprise. Then it narrowed into suspicion, almost like she thought I was lying, or trying to play a trick on her. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Really? Not even in the Capitol?"
I shrug. "I only ate food that I was familiar with there." It's partly because I didn't trust the food, and partly because I didn't want to get used to it, and then be thrown into an arena where I would survive on alligator and uncooked bird egg.
Glitch is trying, but not succeeding, to suppress a laugh. "What?" I demand.
"Nothing, you just remind me of my twelve-year-old sister, she is so picky." I decide to ignore the part about me being picky.
"You have a sister?" in the short time that I have known her, I always pictured Glitch as an only child.
"Yeah, she is my only sibling, as of now." As of now? I figure I shouldn't ask…
"Let me guess, her name is Lime." I figured that that would be a joke. Lemons and limes seemed to go together. I was not expecting it to be her real name.
"Wow, how did you know that? You must be really good at guessing games." With that we both crack up laughing. You could probably hear us from a mile around. Once we realized this, we each clamped a hand over the others mouth, which made us laugh even harder. We sat there on that tree branch, for close to twenty minutes, quietly laughing, and eating our oranges.
By some miracle, we were able to stop laughing once we finished eating, and regain the serious mood that we had before. I would miss the joking manner. "So, while we are on the subject of names, you want to tell me how you know the names of the Careers?" That question had pounded in the back of my mind, demanding not to rest until it had an answer.
She looks at me startled. "Oh. There isn't much of a story. On the first day of training they saw me throwing knives. They introduced themselves. They said that they were going to team up; they thought that I had skill, and that they would like me to join with them. They said that they were going to take out the weaker ones first. Put on a nice little show to keep those at the Capitol entertained. I refused their offer. Demetri asked me why. I told him that I had already formed an alliance. Then he asked with whom. I said that it was none of his business. That's was right before I asked if you wanted to pair up with me." Interesting. I wonder who else they asked. I also wonder who else refused there offers.
"You could have teamed up with anyone though, so why me?" She could have teamed up with anyone, she had skill, both with weapons and with survival. There were tons of tributes that were stronger, and had much more skill than me. Why the scrawny little twelve-year-old that could barely hold a weapon?
"I could tell that your mentor didn't tell you any strategy, you looked clueless standing there, you were one of the tributes the Careers would count as weak, and I wanted to help you. And maybe, you remind me of my sister. I don't want you to get hurt. I would feel as if it were my fault. Also, you proved to be good with weapons. And very smart." She looked at me guiltily. I have a feeling she wasn't telling me the whole story.
"Oh. Wait, were you lying when you said that your mentor wasn't paying attention to you?" That would explain why she did amazing on her interview. But then I remember what Tannor said about the mentor refusing to train her.
"No. I had a strategy planed out before I even boarded the train, though." Wow, I hadn't even thought past the Opening Ceremony on the train. I hadn't even managed to get my head past the fact that I was not coming back then.
"Did you have to change your strategy once you teamed up with me?" I ask, guilt seeming to seep into my voice as I did so.
"Yeah." She answered in a disappointed tone. My shoulders slouched. Now I felt as if I messed with her chances of survival. What would have happened if she just teamed with Tannor?
"What about Tannor? What's his story?" Her features darkened. I got scared, I thought that maybe she might lose her temper and throw me off the tree. I prepared to run in my head. The adrenaline forming around my body would be enough to give me a head start.
She didn't make a move to push me off the branch though. "Didn't I tell you not to ask?" Her tone was tinted with anger, but she was trying to cover it.
I tried to explain. I didn't want her to tell the story so much now as I wanted her to not be mad at me for the rest of the day, "Yeah bu-" She cut me off.
"Then don't ask. Come on we wasted about four hours; we could be more than a mile away from here by now." Ok. So I guess Tannor is a touchy subject. She picks up her pack. I pick up mine. We both stand up. She takes out her knife and ready's it to throw.
"Take out your bow and follow me. If you see potential food; shoot it. If you see a tribute; shoot them. If you see a threat; shoot it. We will retrieve the arrows afterwards. You really don't want to lose them. You only have twelve." Glitch's almost ever present grin has faded at this point. Her features were matured by stress. I felt as if I were just an annoying kid that was tagging along.
I nod in agreement, to let her know that I understood. The commands had brought fear seeping into me. We started through the trees; I kept scanning for threats or prey. We saw some birds around five' o clock. They were the same birds that I stole eggs from before. I was only able to shoot down one. It was kind of small though. Glitch told me not to worry, that I would get better with practice. She seemed to have lightened up once we started moving, almost as if the trees calmed her.
Glitch cleaned out the bird of all meat with one of her knives and started a fire with two rocks that she had found when we had climbed out of the trees to retrieve the bird. That's where we we're now. On the ground, away from the safety of the trees, I was pacing around uncomfortably. She took a piece of bark, placed the strips of meat on them and started to cook. "What if someone sees the fire?" I ask urgently, scanning the woods for signs of intruders.
"The sun is still up. It's not giving off smoke. You would have to have heat vision to spot this fire." With that, her grin returns. My head bends down in embarrassment Maybe my ignorance amuses her.
I hear an alligator thrash in the distance. My slouched head rises up as I remember what I had needed to do on the second day. "Oh, that reminds me," I reach into my backpack and pull out the alligator meat "Can we cook this too? It's alligator. I got it the second day in the arena." Glitch's face lights up.
"Yeah, we can, if it hasn't gone bad. I hear it taste like chicken." She lets out a laugh. I stare at her as if she was insane. She noticed my look. "It's an inside joke between me and Lime." She started laughing. I smiled, I don't know the reason why, but Glitch's laugh seems to be contagious. I hand over the alligator and she gives me the strips of the bird. I take one to eat. I wrap the rest in my cloth. As she cooks the alligator, I munch on the bird. Once she finishes, she gives me the strips I wrap that in the cloth as well, then we ascend into the trees again.
We keep moving for about two hours after, then we settle in a tree much like the one we were in last night. I noticed the air was cooler then it was before. It was dark outside, so maybe that was the explanation for the lower temperature. Glitch offered me her sleeping bag. She said that we could both fit in it, and that it was a special material that reflected body heat. I took her offer. The only problem was that both of us couldn't fit in it, so she said that we would alternate nights using it. I would have it tonight, and Glitch would have it tomorrow. So on like that. Right after that issue was settled, the Capitol's symbol was shined into the sky.
The anthem started to play. "Ready to see who died this morning?" Glitch asked nervously. Something about the tone of her voice told me that she did not want to know.
My breathing is heavy. "Yeah, who do you think it is?" I thought back to Blake. I haven't talked to him since we were in the training center. Even then it was only to ask me to pass the salt.
"Hopefully, someone we don't know." I turned my head to the side to look at her.
"Wait, don't we want it to be someone we don't know? That way we don't have to kill them?" Glitch looks at me and met my eyes, her expression was in such a way as if I just told her to jump out of the tree. Then her face softens, once she realizes my logic.
"I guess…but if we don't win, it would benefit our families most if they win." I had a feeling she was talking about Tannor, not Blake. I don't have time to assure her that one of us would definitely win. When I say one of us, I mean Glitch. But the faces flash before I can tell her.
The faces were those of the girl from District 7, and the girl from District 8. They must have teamed up, and were ambushed, or simultaneously destroyed each other, since their cannons fired at practically the same time. Glitch lets out a sigh of relief, then catches herself.
"It's Glisten and Stella. Glisten was District 7, and Stella was District 8. They decided to team up on the first day. They offered me to join their team. They, unlike the Careers, were really nice. It is a shame that they died. I knew they would have to, but it is still sad. You would have liked them." She looked down grimly.
"You get a lot of offers to join teams." Glitch laughs. "Do you know who is left now?" Glitch pauses for a moment, closes her eyes and starts to count on her fingers.
"There's Demetri, Alec, and Allia. Um…me, you, Blake, and Tannor, that's seven. There is one more. I can't remember." I could. I remember. On the first day at the training center I had been fascinated by their hair. I didn't know hair could be red. I had never seen TV in color before I came to the capitol, and no one had red hair in District 9.
"It's the boy tribute from District 5. I remember because he had red hair. I haven't seen him in the sky yet."
"Oh, yeah, how could I forget Mason?" She laughed. I'm seriously starting to wonder if she knows everybody's name. "On the first day, remember how I was wearing white?" I nod. "Mason mistook me for an Avox. He walked up to me and was like 'Can you go up to my room and give this to my mentor, level 5' and he handed me a slip of paper. So I said 'I'm not an Avox' and his face grew as red as his hair. He was stuttering 'uh…uh…sorry….uh…it's just…uh…you're wearing white, and…uh…' once I saw the conversation was going nowhere, I stopped him. 'It's ok, really. Here's your paper.' And then, he just walked away. He didn't even make eye contact with me after that. He was so embarrassed, and stuttered so much." She let out another laugh once she finished, and I joined her this time, now knowing what was so funny.
Once our laughter faded into the night, I asked the one part of the story I didn't understand. "What's an Avox?" I had seen people walking around in all white; they never talked to me though. I hadn't paid them much mind.
Glitch looked at me like I was stupid. "Avox: traitor to the country. They work as servants, and they have their tongue cut out so they can't talk." I nod in understanding. The idea of someone cutting out my tongue disturbed me. Glitch turns over and goes to sleep. I soon follow.
Once again, I dream of falling. I was really getting tired of this dream by know. I was, once again, watching this time. I could make out that it was a teenage girl falling, but that was it. Once again, I woke when the cannon fired, after the figure landed on their neck. It was completely silent. I could only barely hear the harmonic sound of bugs. The sun was just rising. Glitch wasn't beside me though.
Yay! I finally wrote a chapter longer than two thousand words! *Beaming with self-accomplishment* Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and do tell what you think. Thanks for reading :D