Day 13- The Games (Day 6)
When I wake the next morning my arm wound is looking nasty, I'm sore from the uncomfortable bed and I still can't shake Tamla or Shayla's faces from my mind. I set off towards the mountain nevertheless however. Trudging grimly on after several hours of uneventful walking I suddenly realise I have made the final ten. There's me. That's one. The career pack of Jade, Varro and Perrin, assuming they are still together make four. Grove, the only other tribute armed as far as I know- 5. Jeremiah, who has supplies from the town feast makes 6, and the final four are all girls- Fern, Cinnamon, Coulette and Amelia. And Fern, at 5 foot 5, is considerably the tallest. I'm impressed at all four of them for making it this far. Unless they have sponsors, and I can't imagine any of them having an awful lot in the way of capitol backing, they will all be pretty much without supplies.
I wander on all day without any sign of anyone else, or anything nasty from the gamemakers. My arm is getting really sore however and when I finally pluck up the courage to look at it, having painfully clambered into another tree, I see that it looks infected. There's not much I can do however, except hope for more sponsor gifts, but I can't imagine those are likely after all the crying I've done. Besides, gifts are already much more expensive than when we started.
I don't have much of an appetite, but know I need to eat so I force down some dried meat, stale bread and a few berries, before belting myself to a branch and trying to sleep. The anthem plays as I sit there, and I realise that the others will only just be finding out that Shayla died, seeing as her cannon didn't go off until after last night's anthem. I can't see the sky however, and am glad for it.
I do eventually manage to drift off, but wake suddenly, with the night still pitch black. I think some sort of noise woke me, but in my just-awake state it's hard to be sure. Until I hear it again. It's the roar of an animal, and it's very close.
Daring to peek down from my perch I see it. The darkness would make it hard to see, except that the mutt below me has shining white fur. It's a sort of bear, and suddenly I remember Tamla telling me that a white bear attacked Cleo when she in turn attacked Tamla. I had barely thought about it since then.
I'm high enough to be out of harm's way for now, I just have to hope that if it notices me that it can't climb trees. Or decide to be really patient and starve me out of the tree. It's a good 12 feet long I reckon and incredibly powerfully built. Thankfully it wanders on, roaring a few more times before I fall back to sleep.