Disclaimer: James patterson still uses a pencil and paper, did you know? I dont so :P
I really love getting reviews so oce again thanks to hahahahahaHAHAnotfunny (sorry, I know it was short, this one's a bit longer :)), RuneSabre (I love you, you do make me laugh! ), Trinity The Crazy (Thanks! Means a lot) and sk8erchick124 (thanks for the ideas, much appreciated). This one's for you :D
To be honest, I've never been squeamish about death. I've seen enough of it in my time to know it's inevitable- starvation, HIV, pneumonia, all common in the seam. However, I'd never been the reason those people were dead. I was always the one trying to heal them back to health.
As I slept on my tree that night, images of the seven victims of todays catastrophe haunted my dreams. I'd been running on adrenaline since I entered the cornucopia but now, it felt like a heavy weight had been dropped onto my stomach. I shot up from my restless sleep, bending over the branch I was on and dry heaved. My whole gut contracted in painful spasms, trying desperately to eject something but it seems my stomach was empty and the guilt it was trying to dislodge was stuck with me. Note to self; eat.
Soon, i slumped back against the trunk of my tree after my body had finished ejecting the last of nothing. For the first time, I noticed my mouth was painful dry. When was the last time I had a drink? I looked up at the horizon to see the sun was no where near rising, it must only be around midnight. Yet, it felt like I had been in the arena for days. I mustn't have drunk anything after this morning.
Knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep, i tried desperately to think of a game plan but my mind still wouldn't function properly. It was probably from lack of food or drink, making that my first priority. The night was chilly but wrapped up in my sleeping bag, I was surprisingly warm, I could wrap it around my shoulders to keep me warm while I hunted. Gabbing onto the edges of the sleeping bag, I slowly squirmed out of it's grasp. I went to grab the branch that I knew sat above me in hopes of pulling myself up. However, my hand only made contact with thin air. I looked up to see where the branch was when I realized I could hardly see my hand in front of me, which meant there was no way I would be able to hunt, I would be blind.
I sat back down on my tree, contenting myself with fiddling with the contents of my bag. I had already closely inspected the throwing stars and since I slept in the sleeping bag, I deemed it was safe. The belt of knives still stood as a permanent fixture around my waist so I took the time to inspect the gas mask. I removed it form the bag having taken it off from around my neck when it got too uncomfortable to sleep in. I slipped it over my head and cautiously placed it on my face. And screamed.
I urgently placed a hand over my mouth and managed to stifle the shriek. Just to check, I removed the gas mask from my head to find that it was still pitch black outside and I couldn't see anything. However, when i placed the mask back over my eyes, the forest around me was displayed in crystal-clear vision. That wasn't the part that scared me, though. Ten yards in front of me, a cloudy fog was slowly spreading across the forest bed. It seemed to stem from the same direction the cornucopia was in. Without the mask on, it was undetectable however this didn't indicate whether it was harmful or not. Then, just behind the weird grabby-thingy-tree, a squirrel slumped from its home in the tree and fell to the floor.
The fog kept approaching.
I scrambled backwards on my branch and pressed my back fearfully against the trunk of the tree, cornered. The fog crept towards me. Now that it had founds it's prey, it seemed to move with exaggerated slowness. Then, the front of the mist swallowed me, I froze.
But nothing happened. I looked to the squirrel, assuming that it might just be animals affected. The assumed dead squirrels stomach moved up and down slowly. It was alive! Probably in a severely comatose state but, alive non the less. That's when it hit me! Back in my Mother's apothecary shop, we had a small tank of Gas used to set patients to sleep. Usually, it was odor and colorless but you could taste the sweetness and numbness slightly on your tongue. Desflurane or something. Timidly, I removed my mask, making sure to hold my breath. I stuck my tongue out for mere seconds before it started to go numb and I recognized the sickly sweet smell of knock out gas.
My tongue retreated into my mouth and I replaced the gas mask, taking a big breath. I wondered if any of the other tributes managed to notice the gas or if I'm the only tribute awake. I imagine Bridget from six might have noticed as she was training to be a doctor, the common career choice in six. However, I doubt she managed to pick up any items worth of value at the cornucopia. I ruled her out. A few of the careers probably managed to get hold of a gas mask but I doubt they worked it out in time. It was only by sheer luck and boredom that I did. I very well may be the only tribute conscious at this moment in time.
I swung from branch to branch, positioning myself above where the squirrel lay. I steered clear of the weird tree, that for all intents and purposes and because it sounds better than having to think of an actual name for it, I'm going to call Steve. I threw a branch down to the ground and waited half a minute. When Steve made no move to swallow it, i swung down from the tree and landed with a muted thud. Quickly, I sliced the squirrel's throat with a knife before skinning and de-boning it and then cutting it into five chunks.
Given the fact that I was probably the only conscious tribute in the arena, I made a small fire pit from dead branches, careful not to put on any leaves or anything damp that might cause smoke. With my knife and a large stick, I managed to ignite the fire. I roasted the entire squirrel over the fire. To make it last longer, I wrapped it up in the skin, pinning the small package together with two ribs from the squirrel; one at either end. I put the package into my pack.
After a small internal debate, I left the fire going in the hopes that a tribute might come along and get swallowed by my good friend Steve. I had figured out that Steve sat at the north end of a circle of trees and as I continued on foot towards a water source, I noted three more Steve-a-like's who I dubbed Sally, Sam and Salvatore (okay, so I know very few 'S' names but I liked it!).
The sun started rising and when I heard bird song, I removed my gas mask. I ate a piece of the well-done meat and continued onwards to try and find water. Every now and then, I threw a rock out in front of me to check I wasn't in any danger of being swallowed. The meat left a bad taste in my mouth, lord knows how I managed to ruin meat over a fire. I found a few mint leaves and chewed on them but i knew what I really needed was water. And fast.
I wandered aimlessly in the forest for hours before I heard it.
A small rustle to my left alerted me to movement only twenty feet away. I yanked my knife out from my belt and hurled it at the noise. Only for Fang to catch it.
'What the hell?' I hissed at him.
'I... err...' He stumbled. I grabbed another knife and raised it in warning to him. '
Were you following me?' I questioned.
'Checking in.' I didn't have time to ask what Fang meant by that before three men jumped out of the bush.
Within seconds a fist came flying at my cheek, causing me to drop my knife and jerk to the right. I spun around, going with the flow and delivered a round house kick to Jerk one's stomach only to come face to face with Ari.
'If it isn't little Maxi!' He sneered. I delivered a fast punch to his chin and he jumped back. I took the opportunity to look at Fang to see him facing off against the other two. Both of the tributes I recognized from nine's chariot. For now, I'm going to call them goonie one and goonie two. I kicked my leg out, connecting it with the girl's neck. She dropped to the floor, unconscious. Fang gave me a grateful look before turning to face Goonie two (goonie one is the girl because we're just better!). I turned my back to Fang and backed up until we were back to back. Ari charged at me but i flew out my leg, knocking his breath out of him as he fell to the floor. I shoved my foot down on his neck, ready to snap it.
This was around the point my subconscious showed me pictures of the two kids I killed yesterday. My mind also compared thepictures of the boy to Gazzy. In height and build, they were the same. I looked back down at Ari and his face morphed into that of Iggy's. Goonie one was still on the floor and Fang had two in a headlock. I sighed and removed my boot from Ari's neck.
'Scram' Ari looked at me incredulously for a few seconds before grabbing Goonie one's leg and hauling her over his shoulder. Fang released Goonie two and the pack scrambled. I picked up my knife off the floor and turned to Fang.