Sorry for the late update, I was lazy and didn't feel like writing. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural nor The Hunger Games. All rights belong to Erik Kripke and Suzanne Collins.
Title is from the song Polaroid from Imagine Dragons. (Just another thing I don't own.)
See the end of the chapter for more notes.
Just before dawn, Katniss wakes him, saying it's their turn to take watch. By the time Dean is up, Katniss is already bowing over Jo, about to shake her awake. "Let her sleep." Dean protests, shuffling out of the sand and picking up his trident. "She's tired."
Katniss looks at him warily for a second, before giving in to her tiredness and nodding. Both she and Peeta lie next to Jo, and Dean is reminded of a familiar couple as them, Sam and Jess. The familiarity between the four of them is hurtful. Dean shakes the thoughts away, instead standing up and making himself useful. While the others sleep, Dean walks towards the trees to pick grass, with that grass he waves baskets thick enough to hold water. It was something that he learned from her mother before the Games. She was a fisher, and sometimes the fishermen had to catch the fish alive, to make it look more appealing to the people in the Capitol. After he is done with the baskets, he starts to search the water for any animal he can eat. Soon enough he finds small crabs crawling over the wet sand. The water is refreshing against his itchy arms and he takes extra care picking the thickest crabs. Once he has filled one third of a basket, he starts to smash the crabs against a stone. His stomach begins to ache as soon as he sees the red meat of the crabs. He all but shoves the meat in his mouth, and that only leaves him hungry for more. The last day he had eaten a good meal seems far away in the shining morning sun.
The sun is already mid way up the sky when Katniss shuffles towards him over the sand.
"They're better fresh," he says, ripping a chunk of flesh from the shell and popping it in his mouth.
Katniss hesitates for one moment before sitting next to him in the sand, her face is bloody and the scabs are scratched open. Katniss notices it too, frowning down at her nails.
"You know, if you scratch, you bring infection." Dean teases her, coping the words she told them the day before.
"That's what they say." Katniss answers, washing her hands in the salty water. Then she sits up and sighs. "I'm going to wake Peeta and Johanna up."
While Katniss is busy waking the others up, Dean looks around the sand absently scratching his face, trying to decide which is worse, pain or itching.
By the time the others are awake and done eating, the arena seems to be awake too. A huge wave crashes over the large trees into the water surrounding the cornucopia. Dean frowns at the water that almost reaches his feet, ebbing away and taking the empty crab shells with it.
"I think we should leave the beach." Jo says carefully, repositioning herself on the sand.
Katniss looks doubtful, but Peeta nods in agreement.
Dean turns to the path of jungle where the poison had almost killed them yesterday, their struggle still visible as ghosts in the sand.
"Where do you wanna go then?" Dean asks, waving his hands around the trees.
Jo frowns as she looks around the arena. "Let's go somewhere there," she suggests, pointing towards the high trees across from them, just a couple of parts before the part of jungle which the high wave came from.
"Why?" Katniss asks, and Dean can hear the suspiciousness in her voice.
"Because staying here on this beach isn't save," Jo begins to explain, "and I'm not sure if we should expect the mist today there-" she points her thumb towards the trees behind them- "but better safe than sorry, right?" She waits for the others to agree, and when they do, she goes on further, "and the wave just hit the jungle there-" her finger points towards the trees that are slightly bend – "which hopefully means that the jungle there would stay calm for a while, so I suggest going there, because that seems to be the safest thing to do at the moment." She finishes, raising her eyebrow at the others.
The only one that seems to be hesitating is Katniss, but after a pointed look from Dean that dares her to argue, she too agrees.
By the time they take off, lighting has hit a tree not far away from them. They hurry up after that, the only thing they do to not let behind any clues that they were there is pushing the last crab shells into the water.
The sun is now at its highest, leaving them sweating and more itchy than ever. But still, they walk on, soon slashing their way through the vines of the jungle.
In the jungle they take a break, sitting on the mossy ground and slowly waiting for their breath to even out. It doesn't take long and soon Jo is standing up again to use the tap to get some water. When all their thirst is gone, they sit back against the trees, debating whether they should walk on, or setting up a camp for the rest of the day.
It is already starting to become darker, but the warmth still hangs in the air. It's then that the symbol of the Capitol fills up the sky, and the tunes of the anthem blare over the quiet jungle. It doesn't take long this time, the only one that died today was Ashe. Dean keeps his eyes on Jo the entire time, waiting for his friend to have any sort of reaction on the photo of the Ashe. She doesn't, and neither does Dean. Yesterday they might have been forgiven of the grief that they both showed, but today, they have to be over it. the audience don't want their favorite victors to mourn the loss of someone the public had already forgotten. That's how it works in the games, and Dean and Jo both know that.
The silence after it is awkward, from his right he can see Katniss and Peeta trade eye glances, both at loss for what to do.
It's then that Dean thinks he can hear the sound of muffled footsteps on the mossy ground. "Please tell me I was the only one that heard that." Dean whispers, his hand gripping his trident.
Katniss shakes her hand and stands up quietly, her bow already ready. The rest of them follow suit, Peeta might have been a bit loud, but who could blame him with his leg.
The sound of growling sets them all on the point of their feet. Shifting around to look for a possible beast. Dean tries his best to pin-point the exact place of the growling, but it seems to happen all around them, leaving him wondering if it might be more than one beast. His eyes search the dark jungle around them, his trident ready in his hand. He isn't prepared for the actually beast as he finds it. His stomach drops as he takes in the huge black dog with bloodshot eyes. It's covered in wounds, some of which are still bleeding, it's mouth is also drenched in blood. The whiteness of its teeth standing out against the dark color of blood. Dean is even less prepared when more dogs appear. "Son of a bitch." He breaths, alarming the others of the presence of the beasts. Peeta, who was standing just to the right of Dean, stumbles away in shock. That seems to activate the beasts to attack. With harsh growls they launch themselves at the group, who scramble away in a hurry. Soon all of them are, yet again, running away from one of the surprises the arena throws at them.
I have to be honest to you, I'm really not happy how this chapter turned out. /sigh/
It's also very boring, so sorry for that. The next chapter is going to be more exciting, and it might have Cas in it, might not? I'm not sure yet.
We're already on the end of the second day by now, so that's something.
Oh and thank you guys for over the 800 views, I was so happy when I saw that! And Thank you if you took the time to favourite, follow or review the story! It means a lot to me.
Also a warning for the next chapter: It's probably going to contain blood and death. But you know, its the hunger games mixed with Supernatural, so what were you expecting, really?
Bye! Hopefully I'll see you next time with a better chapter than todays. /glares at writing skills./