Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games...or anything that is associated to it, such as titles, characters, and whatever else is said in the copy rite.
I was starting to wonder why the Careers haven't split yet. I was also starting to wonder why they kept arguing. It was getting pretty annoying. Also, how did they make it into this half of the arena so fast? They must have been running. Or I was in a different tree than I was yesterday, and was closer to the mangrove side. I look above, no Trackerjacker nest was looming over me. The branches look relatively the same as the one yesterday. So I figure they must have been running.
I reminded myself that they were right below me, and could spot me at any moment. I thought back to what Glitch said about the unfortunate color of our clothes. Stupid Gamemakers. At least I didn't have my jacket around my waist. The blue was harder to spot then the red. I slowly slid out of my sleeping bag, this time the reason is to make sure that I don't make any noise. My breathing was heavy because of all the anxiety. I shoved the sleeping bag into my backpack, as quickly and quietly as possible. I zipped up my jacket, concealing the last of the visible red. I readied my bow. Once all that was accomplished, I realized that they haven't even noticed my position yet. At least, I don't think they had. They were too busy yelling at each other.
From what I could tell, Demetri was arguing against Allia and Alec. Demetri had his axe, Allia had two viciously curled knives, and Alec had a sword. It looked like Demetri and Alec were injured. I wonder how. Maybe they attacked each other and were going to split up now. Why wasn't Allia injured?
I shift my position into one that I can easily move from. In the process, I looked straight down. Their backpacks were leaning against the base of my tree. I wanted to move to another branch in the tree, I couldn't shoot them well from my own, and all they had to do was look up and they would spot me. I feared that moving to a different branch would make too much noise, therefore signaling my location. All I could do is watch, and hope they are too self-absorbed in their argument to look up. At least they were yelling loud enough for me to hear.
"We can't split yet; there are still too many! You saw what happened yesterday!" So, Demetri wanted to stay together. I wonder if they ran into another tribute; that would explain the injuries. It didn't explain why Allia wasn't injured. It disproved my theory of them destroying each other. A disappointment, I rather liked that idea. I guess there is still hope that that is the case though.
Alec shook his head in disapproval. He wanted to split. "We have to; staying together is what made us get ambushed yesterday. We will give each other two days to get as far away as possible. Then everything will be fair game." So they got ambushed. Someone took my idea. So they must have run away…and that is why they made it to my portion of the arena. Ok, so I was in the same tree.
Demetri looked mad for a second, but I think that was only a cover from what his emotion really was, fear. "We can do that once there are three other tributes left. The only reason we didn't get killed yesterday was because there was three of us, and only one of him!" There was a sound of desperation in Demetri's voice. It almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost, but not quite.
I think Alec rolled his eyes, because the statement that followed had a sarcastic sound to it. "Yes, but who were the ones fighting, and who was the one trying to run away?" I would laugh at the fact of Demetri running away from a fight. But Allia wasn't injured, so you would think she was the one that was trying to run away.
Demetri sputtered his contradiction to Alec's accusation. "That stupid red head could have set up an ambush with another tribute! I was looking for more of them!" That a boy, Mason, trick those stupid Careers!
"Yes, because he had a whole army of accomplices!" Alec said, sarcasm still present in his voice. This argument was starting to get entertaining. It was funny to watch the Careers fight, that is, if I didn't know they could kill me so easily.
"How could I have known? It's better to be safe than sorry, you would have done the same thing, if you weren't attacked first!" Demetri was losing this argument. He had the same desperate plea that was present yesterday right before they burned the supplies.
"If you helped, we would have been able to kill the red head! Instead he escaped! To make it worse, he escaped uninjured!" Alec spat out the word 'uninjured' almost like he was disgusted of its presence. Good job, Mason, way to tick off the Careers. Then it occurred to me, Mason wasn't hurt. He was actually doing pretty well, if I do say so myself.
"Even if I helped that still would have happened! The boy is skilled with a sword; even though you won't admit it." I agree Mason does have skill, more than them at least. Demetri is making a comeback. Maybe they will stay together. I personally hope they split. If they do, then they can kill each other.
"Maybe so, but we wouldn't have even been found if you weren't making so much noise!" Alec's tone was rising. I could tell he was getting more and more irritated with Demetri. He was struggling to keep his temper in check. I wonder why Allia wasn't saying anything. She was just standing there, watching the show unfold. Sort of like me, I think silently in my head.
Demetri gestured to Allia. "I wouldn't be making so much noise if your ugly, stupid girlfriend didn't just carry her own freaking pack! And maybe she could have fought!" Ouch, that's got to hurt. So that is why Allia is uninjured. She didn't even fight. And Alec is getting in Demetri's face. Allia, moved forward to stab him with one of her daggers, Alec held her back. She was thrashing in his arms. Alec shoved her behind him, so he could face Demetri directly.
Alec's face was flushed with rage. "She is not my girlfriend! And don't insult her like that!" Yeah, stick to the truth why don't you. I saw the way you were looking at her yesterday. And why else would you defend her?
Demetri's look was snide. "If she isn't your girlfriend, then why do you always defend her? I bet the only reason you want to split up is so you can meet up with her afterwards, then finish me off. I'll enjoy killing her when the time comes! Just to see the look on your face!" Demetri let out an unnatural laugh that freaked me out. That was not the smartest thing to say, especially if you want to keep an alliance.
Alec lunged. Only there was no one to hold him back. Allia could have, but I don't think she wanted to. He had his sword raised. He brought it down on Demetri's neck in a single sweeping motion. The sword slid through it like it was made of butter. Demetri didn't even have time to raise his arm in defense. His body fell to the ground, shortly followed by his head. The cannon fired. I couldn't tell which had more blood coming from it, his head or his body. "I'll just finish you now." Said Alec, or at least I think he said that. It was kind of muffled because he wasn't talking as loud.
I covered my hand over my mouth, to keep my gasp from escaping. I couldn't believe what I just saw. Well, I could, I just didn't believe it happened right below me. One of the Careers had destroyed the other. I wish that Glitch had seen that, but then at the same time I'm glad that she hadn't. Alec took one pack and threw it to Allia, then he took another and put it on his shoulders. Alec took Allia's hand and led her away. I knew that I had to follow. I lifted my pack higher onto my shoulders, making sure that it wasn't going to fall off and began to follow them, as silently and quickly as I could. They weren't talking, so I didn't need to get close enough to listen.
Everything went silent; I stopped in my tracks, and didn't move a muscle. I had been counting on the noise of the forest to quiet all of my movement. I knew the hovercraft had come to retrieve Demetri's body. All I heard was my heavy breathing. I started counting my breaths…one…two…three. I think it left when I was at twenty-one. Soon after it left, the birds reclaimed their song, and the bugs started to buzz. I moved through the trees quickly now, scanning the ground for Allia and Alec. I had lost them when I had to stop.
After a few minutes, I feared that I had lost them for good. I was about to return back to the original tree, and start over. Then I spotted them sitting on a fallen log, weapons beside them, ready to use at a moment's notice. For once, I'm grateful for the audacious colors of the tribute clothing. I hop over to the tree near where they rested. Demetri doesn't have a head, says that voice in the back of my mind.
They were talking to each other in regular tones; I couldn't make out any of the words though, due to the fact I was fifty feet up in a cypress tree. They were by one of those trees with the branches that were really thick. The type that you can easily climb down. I make my way over to that tree and climb down dangerously close to where they were resting. All they had to do was look behind them and they would see my face staring at them. So I guess that it is a good thing they weren't expecting me.
"-don't need him. He was just holding us back." Alec said, oblivious to the fact that I was eavesdropping on his conversation. Holding them back from what? Killing the other tributes? Because I thought they were doing a pretty good job of that.
"Yeah, he just wanted to stay with us because he couldn't hunt. He needed the food. He probably doesn't have any sponsors. It's a good thing you came to your senses and killed him." Came to your senses? He killed him in defense of her, and she only acknowledged that as coming to your senses? This girl is insane.
Alec nods in agreement to that. "So, do you think we should split once there are three players left?" There he is, taking Demetri's idea.
"That would be smart. So we are counting the little girl as a tribute?" Alec nodded. I really wanted to strangle this girl. "You were going to let him have his way, if he hadn't insulted me?" Maybe she did care that human males were attracted to her.
"I don't like it when people insult you, Allia. I would have let him have his way if he didn't." Alright, so Alec had a heart, and was somewhat sensitive. Allia was an emotionless, cold-blooded killer thing. I'm not exactly sure if something as evil as that would qualify as a human. Then again, I'm starting to believe that human nature itself is evil. I wonder what that would make me then.
"You shouldn't care about me, maybe if you were in a different Game, and you were the victor of that. But you're not. There is only one Victor per Game. You are going to die though, so I guess I'll allow your obsession." Yeah, she is definitely not human. If a boy was defending me, I would let him. She said Alec had an obsession…I wonder if she was exaggerating.
"Fine. We should get moving." I couldn't tell by his tone if he was hurt by Allia's comment. It was plain, showing no emotion. He was either: mad, sad, or annoyed. They picked up their weapons and packs, and disappear into the forest. Once they were out of hearing range, I walked out of the tree. I didn't think that they would head back.
I stepped down to the moist, vegetation covered ground. I felt unsteady on the ground. I put my arrow back into my pack, and my bow back around my shoulder. I walked forward a bit; I tripped over a root that jutted out in front of a puddle. I caught myself from falling by grabbing onto a strand of moss with my left arm, but my right got submerged in the puddle. I got up as quickly as I could, but water had already soaked into the bandage.
I remembered what Mason had said. I wasn't in the water longer than a minute. I wasn't sure if the fact that water had soaked through the bandage would count in the time. I didn't want to take off the bandage though; I had extra gauze from my first aid kit to wrap my arm in, but I didn't trust my medical skill. I decided to leave it on. What was the worst that could happen? So I took my cloth from my back pack and used the edge of it to soak up as much of the water as possible. My arm felt weird, and it was tingling. I didn't know if it was supposed to do that.
Once I convince myself that I can't take away any more water, I moved back to the tree I was hiding in when I was eavesdropping on Allia and Alec's conversation, and went into the taller braches. I didn't want to go back to the one that I was at before. I didn't want to sleep at the site of a murder. I also didn't want to sleep in the site where a murder was discussed. I had a felling it would give me nightmares. Not like it wouldn't once I move. You simply can't forget someone dying.
I climbed into the upper branches of the tree and set off to find one just like it. After three hours of wandering, I finally found one that was perfect. It was better than all of the trees I had slept in before. There were three branches interlaced, making an almost cradle-like bed. It was sixty feet off of the ground, almost anyone could climb the tree if they tried hard enough, but they wouldn't have any reason to. The branches that led to my spot would probably only support someone of my weight. The tree branches guarded me from other's wandering eyes.
I laid my sleeping bag which I placed in the crevasse created by the interlocked braches. I fit in perfectly, like it was made especially for me…I jutted out of the sleeping bag, and examined the branches around my head. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that there was no danger, and laid back down. I had thought that since it was perfect, the Gamemakers must have made it, and put in something that could cause me misery.
The sun was starting to fall over the horizon. Trees blocked the actual sunset, but I could see the soft, pink glow that topped the marsh. It reminded me of the way the fire reflected on the cornucopia. It reminded me of the tree-blocked sunsets at home. I didn't notice that I was crying until I had a stream of water running down my face. I lifted my hand to wipe away the water.
The sky darkens as the sun disappears. The Capitol's symbol flashes in the sky, along with the playing of the anthem. I see the non-decapitated picture of Demetri shown into the sky, smiling as if he was still alive, and he never had to take part in the games. Another death, curtsey of the Games. I try to look away before the scene of his death replays in my head I'm too late. The last image in my head before I get to sleep is that of Demetri's head falling to the ground.
It was no surprise what I dreamed of that night. I was sitting on the ground, execution style, with Allia and Alec in front of me. I was at the Cornucopia. Alec was in the background, pacing, watching the forest. Allia had her knives raised, the same ones that she had held today. "Let's remove the skin from that pretty little face of yours." Alec let out a muffled laugh behind her. She raised her knives and started to cut the skin away from the rest of my body. It was an excruciatingly painful process, like having your fingernail ripped off, only a whole lot worse. Once finished she let out a shrill laugh. She wiped her knives on my shirt, the red of the blood not making any effect on the red shirt. They ran back into the woods as if nothing had happened.
They left me lying there, scarcely breathing, and unable to move. Blood was flowing out of me, since there wasn't any skin left to hold it in. My muscles were twitching in a creepy fashion. I blacked out. The cannon fired. I woke with a start. My hands flew to my face, relieved to find that my skin was still there. Then another horror became imminent to me. One of my bandages had fallen off my arm. I didn't think it was supposed to be swollen that much. I also didn't think it was supposed to be that shade of green. And I was almost positive it wasn't supposed to have a yellow liquid dripping from it.
School starts today! Yay! Not. So, as of today, I won't be able to post as much. But don't worry, as Mark Twain has stated, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." So while I learn the difference between the directrix and focus of a parabola, enjoy this chapter. Please review, I appreciate reading what people have to say.