Day 14- The Games (Day 7)

I'm very reluctant to get down from my tree when I wake the next morning. The combination of the white bear mutt and my injured arm make me want to stay safely in the tree, but I'd only run out of food and water. As I suspected no-one's sent me anything for my arm either. Great.

Despite my lack of motivation I clamber down from the tree, dropping the last few metres after slipping. I land heavily, but don't appear to have suffered anything worse than bruises.

I try to keep my wits about me as I walk, looking for any sign of water, the other tributes, or the bear mutt. I also realise that no-one died yesterday and the gamemakers won't let it go for too long without anyone dying without intervening in some way.

I can do nothing more but walk on for now however. I stop to have a little bit of my supplies for lunch, when suddenly everything happens at once.

The first thing I hear is a roar than can only be the bear mutt, which chills me to the bone. As I start to run in the opposite direction a high-pitched scream pierces the forest, followed seconds later by a cannon booming. That can't have been a coincidence I think as I run, before suddenly realising that climbing into a tree might be a safer move right now. I spot a climbable one, and safely up it when suddenly I notice a green light flashing on the trunk. Glancing around I notice it on several other trees too. Deciding it's unlikely to be anything good I quickly climb down, and before I'm quite at the bottom I realise I was right to leave in a hurry. A hissing noise draws my attention upwards, and I see a thick green smoke issuing from the branches. For a second I think I'm safe below it, but the stream doesn't relent and the gas, coming from trees all around me, starts to sink to the ground.

Jumping out of the tree from as high as I dare, conscious that the bear is still nearby, I pull some cloth from my bag as I run, holding it over my mouth and nose as the gas starts to surround me. Despite the cloth I can feel my nostrils burning and start to cough heavily. My eyes are burning too, I can barely see where I'm going…then, without warning, I'm out of the cloud. I continue to run, filling my lungs with gulps of clean air as I do so, when I suddenly see water through the trees. If possible I run even faster, towards what looks like a large pond or small lake, when suddenly something hits my ankles and sends me face first into the dirt. I roll over to defend myself, but I'm too slow. An elbow slams into my throat, knocking the breath from me. I prepare to die, but when nothing has happened after a few seconds I open my eyes to see Fern looking down at me, soaking wet, a stone raised in her hand, ready to smash into my skull.

But she is frozen in mid-strike, mouth in a perfect 'o'. "That offer of an alliance still on?" she asks warily, still holding the rock.

I nod, unable to quite recover my breath enough to speak yet. Her suspicious eyes soften and she gets off me, dropping the stone as she does so.

"You okay?" she asks, not sounding overly concerned, but at least offering me a hand to help me to my feet.

"Give me a sec," I say, massaging my throat. "That water safe to drink?" I ask, pointing at the lake.

"Yeah," she replies, and even as the word's leaving her mouth I hurry to the shore and drink up.

"No sign of the gas?" I ask when I've finished drinking.

"What gas?"

"That's good enough," I say. "They released some sort of gas from the trees," I explain, "that's why I was running."

"Do you reckon that was the cannon?" she asks, "Someone get caught by it?"

I shake my head. "That was the bear I think."

"Bear?"

"You've not seen it? Some giant white bear mutation is roaming around. Maybe more than one."

"I guess that was that roar," she says. "Let's hope the water doesn't draw it here."

I nod weakly, returning to massaging my throat. "Are you alright?" Fern asks again, "I'm sorry about attacking you, I didn't realise it was you until…"

"Until you were halfway through the killing blow," I cough. "Well thanks for stopping eventually. And I'll be okay thanks," I add, "you got me bloody hard though, you're stronger than you look."

She shrugs. "I don't know you have to be strong for an elbow in the throat to hurt."

"Have you been staying by this lake then?" I ask. "Or wandering around?"

"Wandering around a bit," she replies, "but I've been coming back here to sleep every night. That tree there-" she points, "-is really easy to climb and pretty high."

"You managed to stay up without tying yourself in?" I ask.

She nods. "The branches are pretty thick up higher."

"You got any supplies?" I ask.

"No," she says. "Where'd you get all yours?"

"The feast," I explain, the careers came and burned it all but I managed to recover some stuff…My staff!" I suddenly exclaim.

"What?"

"My staff!" I say, aggravated. "I left it behind when I was running from the gas!"

"You can make another one," she suggests. "Rory!" I'm already striding back the direction I came from. "Rory!" she calls again, chasing after me. "The bear was that way and-"

She stops as we come into view of the wall of gas, stationary in front of us. "It's like it has a defined area…" Fern says.

"Whatever," I snap, "I've lost my staff. And I can't just make a new one. It was a sponsor gift, it was perfectly weighted and everything."

"Sorry," she says, deciding not to press the subject further. "So what have you got," she says as we return to the lake, gesturing to my backpack.

"Just food mainly," I say, "not too much left now. A couple of water bottles, some bits of metal, some cloth."

When she doesn't reply I sit down against a tree, suddenly realising how exhausted I am. Fern drops down next to me. "Final nine then," she says grimly. "You seen who all the deaths are?"

I nod. "So you know about Tamla then?" Fern asks cautiously.

"I was with her," I say quietly, feeling a lump building in my throat.

"I'm sorry," she replies. After a brief silence she asks what I know she's thinking. "What happened?"

"Shayla shot her with an arrow," I say simply.

"She's dead too," comments Fern.

"I know," I say. "I killed her." This seems to genuinely shock Fern, judging by her expression. "I broke her neck with my staff and paralyzed her, then sat there while she died because I'm too much of a coward to do the decent thing and put her out of her misery."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," she whispers. "Killing someone isn't easy. And it shouldn't be."

"You seen anyone else?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"I've had a couple of close shaves with the careers," she says, "but I've managed to get up trees both times. And I saw the little girl from 10 too-"

"Amelia," I interject.

She nods. "Anyway, I saw her and she didn't see me, but I just left her alone. I couldn't do anything to her, she's only a kid."

"I wonder if it was her the bear killed," I muse.

"It could have been anyone."

"No," I say, "I heard someone scream and it was definitely a girl."

"Hopefully it was the girl from one," Fern says. "She scares me."

"Jade."

"Have you learnt everyone's names?" she asks.

"I couldn't help it really," I say. "I just remember things like that. But yeah, she is terrifying."

"I wonder how the boy from her district died in the bloodbath…" Fern says.

"He didn't exactly," I say. "Jade killed him as all the careers gathered after it. I saw from the edge of the forest. And when I killed Shayla she was already injured, I bet Jade turned on her too."

"Well hopefully all the careers finish each other off fighting each other," says Fern bitterly.

We talk for a while after that, sat by the lake. I offer Fern some of my food and one of my water bottles, though we keep it in my pack, and teach her the names of the remaining tributes. We each tell the other in more detail what we've done during the games, and I show her my infected arm, which she seems very worried about.

Eventually the anthem plays, and we look up to see little Amelia's face staring back at us. I look at Fern to say we should get into a tree, but my words stick in my throat as I see tears streaming down her face.

Partly because she looks like she needs it, and partly because I do, I pull her into a hug. When I let go a few minutes later, after she's stopped crying, I reach into rucksack and pull out the two strips of curtain and offer her one. "Here," I say, "use this to tie yourself into the tree."

"Thanks," she mutters, before starting to get a handhold on the trunk.

"Fern," I say, causing her to turn back to me.

"Yeah?"

"Can I trust you?"

"I think you need to decide that Rory," she says, looking a little hurt.

I sigh to myself. She's right, she's hardly going to admit it if she's planning to kill me in my sleep. But she'd have just killed me earlier, surely, if she wanted to get rid of me…

"Hey," I say, as she's turned away again.

"What?" she says sharply, before her glare fades when she sees the knife in my hand, held out to her.

"Take it," I say. "I don't need two."

She does so. "Thank you," she says quietly. I nod at her, but we don't say another word until we are both secured in the tree.

"Do you hear that?" I hear Fern whisper, just as I'm starting to head towards sleep.

I don't, so instead of replying I listen carefully, but all I can hear is the wind. I'm about to say so when I hear it. "There!" hisses Fern.

"I hear it," I say. "Sounds like the bear."

"Are we safe up here?" Fern asks.

"I don't know," I whisper back. "Probably best be quiet."

She nods in acknowledgement, and a minute or so later we see the muttation, walking right under our tree. It heads to the lake to drink, and we are not able to even consider sleep until it has left, a good hour or so later.