Chaze Unger, District 2
After the anthem played, there was general consensus we should rest before hunting more. While I should be resting, I cannot find the urge to sleep. So instead I pace back and forth, trying to cool myself down.
I can't believe I let that bitch get the better of us. How did I not see that coming? Looking back on it, it seems so obvious. How she acted from the reaping to her interview, there was always something weird about her. I shake my head. Idiot.
I start to think about Brettany back home. I wonder what she makes of the whole situation. I know she is still rooting for me, she still knows I will come home victorious. I just have to kill thirteen more tributes.
I stay on guard for a few more hours before I decide I need rest. While I would much rather stay awake, I cannot be sloppy during the hunt. I nudge Callista awake and she grips her bow tightly.
"Calm down, it's your turn to keep watch." She yawns and stands up, loading her bow with an arrow. I get comfortable in my sleeping bag and let the silence of the arena drift me off into sleep.
When I wake up, the sun is just starting to rise. I sit up and stretch my aching back. God, I can't wait to return home to my own bed.
I notice Majesty is on guard. He nods at me and I roll my sleeping bag back up. Neptune slowly rises from his rest and he nudges Callista awake. He begins to pack three small bags for us to carry during the hunt.
"Alright, here's the deal. I don't plan on stopping our hunt today, not until we physically cannot move anymore. Got it?" No one says anything. "Good. Who wants to stay on guard?" Neptune and Majesty give each other a look before Neptune speaks up.
"I will." I nod at him.
"Good, then its settled. Let's get a move on." I take an apple from our stash and begin to eat it while everyone else prepares themselves. Before long, we are packed up, geared up, and ready to hunt. We make our way towards the forest, keeping our eyes and ears peeled for anything or anyone.
Let the Games begin.
Seriah Jamison, District 10
I sit in the tallest tree I could find, snacking on the leaves. I left the cornucopia with nothing and I'm very much regretting that decision. I had hoped Jeff and I would find each other by this point, but I have yet to find him. For a second, I doubt he is in the forest, but the thought quickly leaves my head. I know he's here somewhere, it's just a matter of determining where.
I jump from my tree to the next tree, keeping my eyes peeled for anyone at all, friend or foe. I repeat this for many minutes, with each jump getting more and more frustrated. Where the hell is he?
That's when I see him. I smile. He lies asleep underneath a pile of foliage. I slowly climb down to the base of the tree.
"Jeff!" I say in a whisper, trying to wake him up without startling him. No luck. I try again.
"Jeff!" I say slightly louder. I see him twitch, but he stays asleep. I pick up a small branch and throw it at him. He jumps up, dagger in hand.
"Hey!" I say again. He looks up at me, holding his hand in front of his eyes to block the sun. I see a smile form on his face and I know its safe for me to climb down.
"Hey kid." He hugs me tight and I do not hesitate to hug back.
We sit at his camp together, not saying much. I finish his water bottle and snack on a squirrel he caught last night. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled it. My mouth started watering immediately. Jeff lets me eat the entire thing, despite my protests.
"I set up another snare, I've probably caught something else." He kept telling me. Regardless, once I finish I am content. We go check on the snare together and like he said, he caught a rabbit. He resets the snare and we return to camp. He makes a small fire, ensuring there isn't much, if any, smoke. He cooks it quickly and puts the fire out.
That's when we hear footsteps. We both stand up quickly, Jeff with a knife in his hand. Was it an animal? Or was it a person?
We crouch low and see three Careers looking around the forest. My heart drops. What are we going to do?
"Climb a tree, get out of here." Jeff says in a whisper. I shake my head.
"I'm not leaving you." He shoots me a look as if to say it wasn't a request, and I nod. He hands me his bag with the empty water bottle and I slowly back up, climbing a tree far enough away to where the Careers don't hear me. I see Jeff backing up as well, trying to avoid them. My heart sinks when I hear one of them shout, "There's a snare set over here, we must be close."
"Spread out!" Another one demands. I jump from tree to tree, trying to keep an eye on Jeff. I refuse to let them do anything to him.
He hides behind a tree as the female Career walks by. I hold my breath and she stops in her tracks. She pulls the string of her bow back and aims it at me in the tree. I duck just in time, the arrow barely missing me.
"Guys! Over here!" She shouts, getting closer to my tree. I start to panic when Jeff jumps out from behind his tree and tackles her. She drops her bow and shouts in pain as he mounts her.
I jump down from the tree and grab the bow as they wrestle on the ground. I put the bow over my body, determined to keep it from the Careers. Jeff raises his dagger up and right before he slams it down, one of the Careers tackles him off of the girl. I stand in fear, unable to do anything, scared shitless.
The third Careers joins the group and stares me right in the eyes. He looks bloodthirsty, and I'm his next target.
I hear a shout from the Career on Jeff and see his knife in the Careers arm. The Career pulls it out and stabs Jeff in the heart. I scream. Jeff turns to face me. He says nothing, but the look in his eyes tell me all I need to know
That's when the other Career bolts towards me. I jump out of the way and begin to sprint as far away from the action as possible. I climb a tree as quickly as possible and stay still, the tears blinding me. I hear three sets of footsteps run past me. I sit in the tree, feeling defeated. The cannon fires and the tears start streaming down my face.
Jeff died in front of me, and I did nothing to stop it.
Layla Stratton, District 5
The cannon firing makes my heart jump. I sit up from a laying position, rubbing my eyes. Holden sits on a rock close by, on lookout.
"Anything exciting happen?" I ask him. He turns to look at me and shakes his head.
"Might have been a Career kill. They're most likely hunting." The thought makes me shudder. I stand up and my stomach grumbles.
"Pass the water bottle?" I ask. He tosses it to me and I catch it. I slowly drink from it, hoping it will distract me from my hunger.
After we rested yesterday, we moved into the grassland, hoping no one would come our way. We are close enough to the lake to refill as needed, but not close enough to where someone could spot us from the lake. The edge of the dome lays next to us, keeping us trapped in the arena. Not necessarily trapped, I saw a door leading outside, but it certainly leaves the illusion of a prison.
"What's the plan?" Holden asks me. My stomach grumbling answers for me.
"We need some kind of weapon, or somewhere to set up a snare." I say. I try to think of more to say, but fall short.
"Want to take shelter in the forest? I'm sure there's plenty of branches we could sharpen into deadly poking sticks." His comment makes me chuckle, but the idea does sound appeasing.
"Sounds good to me." We collect our few belongings and start walking the opposite direction of the lake. I hope once we get enough supplies we can return. I've seen the effects of dehydration too many times in the past, I refuse to let that happen to me.
Along the way, we run across a bush of what appear to be strawberries. Holden picks a few and examines them closely. He takes a bite of one, making my heart jump. But as he finishes the berry, he still stands, so I take some as well. The juice feels refreshing and does a bit to calm my stomach down. We collect more berries from the bush and store them in his bag for safekeeping, then continue our trek to the woods. We reach the edge of the trees and Holden begins to set up the snare. I wait patiently as he finishes, keeping my eyes out for anything or anyone. Once he finishes, we trek a little further into the woods. Eventually, he finds a decent sized rock and two strong sticks. He sits on the ground, a rock in one hand and a branch in the other and begins to sharpen the stick. I sit on the ground next to him, watching him work. I end up staring at his face longer than intentional, and have to pull my eyes away and focus on the forest around us.
After some time, both sticks have been transformed into a decent weapon. Could it kill a person? Probably not. Would it injure them? Absolutely.
We decide to stay in this area for a while and hunt for food. By nightfall, we can return to the lake. Hopefully we stay out of the way of every other tribute. Hopefully.
Lavender Byzantine, District 8
We gather all our belongings and prepare to move towards the lake. After a day of watching, we have determined the Careers are staying camped at the Cornucopia. With that, they always have someone on guard, and none of us want to risk venturing over there.
We have finished off all of our food and water and we are all feeling the effects. We have to stay carful and alert, yet I've felt like we've been sloppy. If another tribute came and attacked us now, they'd have the upper hand.
We move slowly and quickly through the grass, keeping our wits about us. We move past the cornucopia and pray the Careers aren't around us.
We eventually make it to the lake and I breath a sigh of relief. I dip my hands in the water and wash my face off. While the water is warm, it still feels incredible.
I fill up the water bottle and pass it to Samuel to put in some iodine. We patiently wait for the water to purify before we all take turns drinking. We finish two bottles in no time, and fill up a third for later.
With my thirst quenched, I suddenly notice the grumbling in my stomach. I can tell my allies are having the same effect.
"I think its time to hunt." I suggest. Samuel nods.
"Let's." He says, gathering his things. The three of us move quietly throughout the grass, looking for anything that may be edible.
It's not long before we stumble across a bush of berries. I pick one off and take a good look at it. It's a small, round, dark blue berry. Once I realize what it is, I toss it aside.
"I think its nightlock." I say. Demica nods and puts them back as well.
"It's a shame." She says. I couldn't agree more.
We hear a small rustling not far from where we are standing. We all crouch, wondering what could be causing it.
"It's a rabbit." Samuel says, pulling his knife out. I tap his arm.
"Here, let me." He looks confused, but hands me the knife. I slowly inch forward, seeing the outline of the rabbit. I take a few deep breaths before throwing the knife. It hits the rabbit and I smile.
We decide to risk making a small fire to cook the rabbit, and stomp it out once the rabbit is cooked. The food is incredible, nothing compared to the Capitol, but anything will fill my stomach now.
We finish eating and make our way back to the lake to relax a bit. On the way back, we come across another bush of berries. I recognize them as strawberries. As I'm picking them, I realize somebody else has already been here, somebody else has taken a bunch of berries. I let my allies know.
"We'll have to stay alert." Samuel says. Chills run through my body. Nothing is ever easy, is it?
Fodille Earthdrop, District 11
I've been constantly on the move, traveling from the lake to the cornucopia and back to the forest, trying to find the bastard that killed my brother.
Now, I move through the forest, hoping I come across something. I have a feeling the Careers are hunting, only one of them were in the Cornucopia last time I passed it. Plus, there was a cannon fire earlier today. I'm sure whoever it was was a victim of the Careers.
Something catches my eye in the distance and I slowly move towards it. I quickly realize its a snare with a rabbit in it. I walk around the area, trying to determine who it could belong to. Certainly not the Careers. I try to figure out who is left, but no one is coming to mind. I look around before taking the rabbit out. I reset the trap and quickly leave. Hopefully whoever set it up will simply think they didn't catch anything.
I find my way to the grasslands and set up a very small fire. I undercook the rabbit, too fearful someone will see the smoke, before eating all of it. I feel a dryness in my mouth that the rabbit did nothing to satisfy. I shake my head. They don't make it easy on us out here, do they?
Jeff-You were a sweet boy, you were one of my favorite tributes that I've ever created. You will be missed. (If it wasn't clear, Majesty was the one to kill him)
Let me know what you think!