I wake up again too early and see Evertt standing over me shaking my shoulders. Today the Hunger Games start. Evertt helps me out of bed; it takes me a long time, considering that my mind was full of the memory of Nick kissing me, and the taste of his lips still on mine.
The prep team comes in after I get up from the bed. They mainly come to say goodbye, Evertt will stay with me until I got up to the arena. Avia comes up to me and hugs me.
"Oh, Hailey, good luck" she is tearing up and I'm not sure why, we barley new each other. It is sad though that people are saying goodbye to me. Right here is when it finally sinks in, I could die today, and Nick could die today. Thinking of Nick slows me down a bit.
The prep team leaves and Evertt put me in the arena uniform. It reminds me of the hunting jacket I always back home, so I like it and I feel comfortable in it. Evertt is putting my hair in a braid, when he is finished he pulls something from his pocket, it's the mockingjay pin. He clips in onto my jacket.
We walk to the elevator; it's just Evertt and I. I don't see mom dad, or even Nick, which I can't figure out if I am glad he isn't here or sad. We go in the elevator and down to a very deep floor that I have never been too.
We walk out and I immediately see mom and dad sitting on a bench. Evertt walks into a room nearby. Mom has tears in her eyes, the first I've seen since we got here. Mom flings herself into my arms. Her hug is warm, I never want to let go, because I know she never wants me to leave. She lets go though, letting dad hug me, he pats and rubs my back in the hug. I am going to miss this, I think to myself.
"I love you Hailey." He says so meaningfully he is looking around my eyes, like he wanted to know if I understood him. This could be the last hug and last, 'I love you' Mom looks at me "I love you." She says. Mom hugs me again, but I don't mind.
"Hailey just do me a favor; don't join the battle at the cornucopia, run. I don't care what you do after that, just clear out." I nod my head. It was clear mom didn't want me to die during the cornucopia, but she really wanted me to win. She wanted me to try my best; it makes me feel bad that I won't be trying my best.
I won't stay for the battle though; the six of us in our alliance had made a plan days ago during lunch one day. We grab a bag and we run. We run towards an abandoned water spot and wait, we would find each other eventually.
Mom and dad leave hand in hand after I tell them I love them too, trying to avoid getting tears in my eyes. I sit down on the bench mom and dad was sitting in, looking down a hallway. Then I see a figure walking down the hallway, its Nick. He comes closer down the hall and he is looking at me cautiously.
"Hailey…I'm so sorry for last night." He says to me. I was sorry too, but then I think of his soft lips on mine, and then I'm glad it happened.
"No, it's not that I didn't want to…" I don't want Nick to think I don't have any interest in him at all, because I do have feelings for him. "If we were in a different situation, I would… love to be with you." My heart is beating fast, because this is the first time I am saying my feelings about Nick for the first time out loud. Nick gives me one of his famous dimple smiles.
"You remember the plan?" He asks me, how I could forget something so important. I nod my head yes.
"Don't stay long at the cornucopia. Ok?" I tell Nick what my mom told me, because just like mom didn't want to me to die, I didn't want Nick to die. He nods at me looking me in the eye, then I go into his arms, I don't think he expected it. I stay there for a long time hugging him. My head is against his chest since I am shorter than him. I can't help but wonder if there was no Hunger Games, how he and I would stay in each other's arms forever. We could have grown old together, have our own children, like mom and dad did. We could live in District 12 and hunt together and laugh at the same stupid joke for hours. But there is no chance for that, and I don't want to waste time thinking about it. And honestly thinking about makes me want to cry.
Evertt comes back and I let go of Nick. He looks at me before walking away to his room where Cherisa is. I look at every step he takes, it hurts watching him walk away from me knowing this could possibly be the last time I see Nick alive. I wish I could turn my mind off sometimes, because the things I think our terrible.
Evertt pulls me in a room where there are lots of gray cabinets. There is a man standing over a sink wearing a white coat, he holds a syringe. I flinch when I see the long needle. "It's just your tracking device." I look at him with a confused face. "So we know where you are at all times." He tells me to stand still. The needle gives me a sharp stab of pain, but then it's over.
We leave going into another room that has the pad I will be launched off from. I look at it, picturing myself standing on it. I'm about to go into the arena, I realize. I've said goodbye to everyone, but I still feel like I can't go up. I wish Haymitch was here, I could get some wisdom from him. But then maybe it's better off he isn't, he would know my intentions for wanting to save Nick. He knows things like that. He probably knows now and is trying his best not to tell Will and let him think I will do everything to win. He knows I wouldn't listen, he would know I'm just as stubborn as my mom.
"Are you ready?" I hear Evertt behind me. There is nothing funny about what he says nor is the situation but I laugh nervously.
"Like I could be." I answer back. He smiles at me. He leads me to the pad I need to stand on. He pats my shoulders gently and whispers "Good Luck Hailey Mellark." I look at him until the pad springs upward and then I see darkness instead. At first I feel claustrophobic but in less than 10 seconds I am up in the arena surrounded by my fellow tributes.
The arena immediately reminds me of the 74th Hunger games. We are surrounded by trees, they're everywhere. The only difference I can spot is I can hear running water. That's good, water won't be hard to find. I look to my left and I see Nick. He is standing looking forward like the other tributes are, so I look towards the cornucopia like everyone else.
"Ladies and Gentlemen let the 76th Hunger Games begin!" the announcer bellows this and my heart drops. We have to stand on the platform for 60 seconds. It's the longest 60 seconds in my life, I catch myself looking at Nick again but this time he is looking back. He nods his head at me and gives me a wink. He looks away glancing at the cornucopia, looking at all the weapons.
The gong sounds and we all start running. I'm running faster than ever so I am towards the front, with the careers. As I am coming closer to it I notice a knife, there is a lot of knifes but this one is different. It's a nice medium length. It looks sharp and I can tell that it is a good knife. I want it. It was put there for me or Nick, we were the best at knives and this knife was for people who knew what they were doing.
I grab the first backpack I see and fling it over my shoulder, I have no clue what is in it, and I'm just hoping it is something useful. I'm close to the knife, so I think I can do it. There is an abundance of Cannon fires. The canons remind me of watching the 74th Hunger Games. I'm arm's length away from it. I extend my arm but when I turn my head I see the girl from district 2, Ella running towards me. With that I snap my hand back and run. I promised my mom I wouldn't die here, and I won't. I run towards the first opening I see in the trees. I don't run that far because I didn't see Nick run from the scene and I want to see what was going on.
I climb up on a tree, so high I am above all the others. I have a perfect view of the cornucopia, I try to not look at the dead tributes which there is a lot of, there's a lot of blood too. My eyes go straight to the cornucopia; there are less dead bodies over there. My eyes are moving fast with the panic of the possibility that Nick could be dead. But I see him right away he is running towards some weapons, he looks determined. He said he wouldn't stay for long. He said he wouldn't. I feel like yelling from my tree "Get out!" that wouldn't do much though.
He grabs something from the pile of weapons, but I'm too far away to see what it is. I am screaming in my head at him to run, it's only a matter of time before Andric, who is fighting the girl from District 7. Andric stabs the girl with his long sword; she falls to the ground followed by a canon. Andric of course notices Nick standing by the cornucopia. Nick was ready to run, but Andric was fast and grabs him. I am debating jumping from the tree and killing Andric, which is stupid, I am no match for Andric, especially without a weapon.
Nick tries to get away, but Andric strikes his sword at him. I am shaking, I am so nervous. Nick puts his hand up in front of his face. Andric's sword cuts through his hand. Nick lets out a yell and blood is forming from his hand quickly. Andric is about to stab Nick through the chest, I can tell. I have to look away, I can't see this. After I don't hear a canon I get curious and I look up. By some sort of miracle Nick got away from Andric. He is run towards the same opening I ran into. He is coming towards my tree. I am so full of relief.
I grab my backpack and hop from the tree right before Nick gets to me. He is clutching his hand and I see the blood gushing out of it. He sees me and his eyes lighten up immediately, it reminds me of how I felt when I saw him running from Andric. I have no time to fix his hand now, I hear yelling coming from behind us. I grab his good hand and pull him from behind me. I listen for the waves of water. I hear it but it is distant. But after a little more running, I hear it even closer, we can make it. I'm dodging trees, and I know I am running too fast for Nick but I can't stop running now.
We reach a small area with a small creek. I know if we keep going we would reach an ocean-like beach setting. But we couldn't risk going any father. I see a Tree log, and I order Nick to sit. He listens to me, but he won't stop touching his cut. I take my backpack off my shoulders to see what is in it. It's a first aid kit, which is good for right now, clothes and a pocket knife.
I go through my first aid kid, finding a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I pour some on a cloth so I can clean Nick's cut. It's weird that I know how to heal, the only time I would learn is when Grandma, mom's mother, would come down from her district to visit. She used to tell me that I had a good gift like her and Aunt Prim. I never really got to use it because the only time I thought about it is when she was there with me. I wonder if she is watching the games. Does she see me using healing skills?
"It might sting." I say softly to Nick. I know it will sting, but that's what people say when they feel bad. I dab the little piece of cloth on the cut. Nick breathes in sharply making a hissing noise come out of his mouth. I knew it would hurt him. I get more cloth from my first aid kit and wrap it around his hand. I tie it tightly around him.
Nick takes his backpack that he has and opens it. He takes something out of his bag and he extends his good hand.
"Here." He says smiling. I look down at his hand to see the Knife, the sharp one that I wanted. That's what he took, that's what caused him to get his hand cut. I look at him for a long time.
"No, you got it, it's yours." I push his hand away careful not to touch the knife's sharp edge.
"You wanted it, I got it for you." I thought telling him that I didn't want to have a relationship would make him flirt less but I was wrong. He got the knife for me because he saw me go towards it. He basically risked his life for me, already. Making sure he lived was going to be hard.
I laugh softy to cover up my shakiness. We still weren't sure of our alliances memebers whereabouts I just remembered. I take the knife because he was right, I did want it.
Nick goes through the rest of his backpack, taking out a first aid kit, a pocket knife, and bread. Now to think about it I was actually hungry. Nick was hungry too so we decided to share one little slice of bread, so we can save more for later. I take little bites making it last. I think about crying when eat this piece of bread but who knows if Nick could see. I think about crying because the bread reminds me of back home and dad's bread. It's like I am sitting at the dinner table surrounded by the people I love enjoying life.
After some time sitting on the log together I hear rustling from behind us and my first instinct is to stand up and turn. I hold up the knife Nick got me, I had it rested next to me on the log. But when something emerges from the bushes, it's nothing scary, its Kyler. His eyes are red, like he has been crying; he looks distraught, like he is lost in his own body.
We look at him and he is breathing heavy. He looks like he is about to cry or scream, I notice on his back is a bag of spears, maybe ten of them. I am about to ask him what's wrong when his voice cracks when he says.
"Clor-Clora is dead." Hearing his tangled words was probably more painful than it was to watch her die. My face goes into shock. "She saved my life." He says, I tell him to sit down on the log while he tells me what happened.
"I wanted the spears, that's how I got such a good score, I'm good at spears." He is staring into my eyes with an empty glare. "I ran towards them but the boy from District one, the fast one, he ran to me and pushed me to the ground. He was aiming his bow at me. Clora had the spears on her shoulder and she…she ran in front of me. She yelled 'Run!' but I stood there. The guy pieced her with his arrow." He stopped relaxing as I patted his shoulder. Nick pats his other shoulder too. "She landed in my arms. And the guy wanted his arrow back so I grabbed the spears she got for me and I ran." He is breathing heavily again.
"Shh… Kyler relax." I hug him. I can't tell if he wanted to, but I felt like he needed one, he was only a little boy.
We are going to stay here, so we set up places where to sleep, though I doubt Kyler will sleep at all he sets up in a tree and me and Nick, (Not on purpose) set up next to each other with our head rested on the log.
When it gets dark out and the day ends, the anthem plays over the arena for fallen tributes that will never make it back to their families in their districts. There were ten deaths. All the careers were still alive, and so were Jace and Keanan. I feel relieved when I don't see their faces up on the screen. When they show Clora's light-skinned face I have to fight not to cry. It's easy for me to deny that Clora's death was real, but to Kyler and Clora's family it was impossible. They saw it happen; they saw that arrow pierce her chest. Kyler's face of fear frightens me even more than I already was.
Seeing Kyler with a smile before this was so rare, now I know I lost a part of Kyler, because seeing a person die isn't something you can get over quickly, especially when you're twelve. If he ever does smile, it will be a long time before you see his youthful smile. He sits in his tree looking straight at the water. Like he was replaying the scene in his mind over and over again.
I feel like I need to take care of Kyler, for Clora, but I look down at the asleep boy next to me on the ground. He is sleeping on top of his clothed wounded hand. I have to stare at Nick's face for a while to remember Nick is my priority not Kyler.