I suddenly realize what he's talking about. There are footsteps coming our way. "Let's get out of here," I say getting to my feet. Every part of me aches. "I need the backpack."
I make my way to the tree. And start climbing it. I can't. My leg is aching and my hand isn't getting a grip. I fall down. Lucas tries this time. He has more luck. He unties the rope and throws down the backpack as well as the rope. I wrap the rope up and put it back in the backpack while Lucas comes back down. We walk deeper into the forest. We can't run. My leg wouldn't handle it. We end up at a little river. I sit down and wash my bloodstained body. The water around me turns red in a matter of seconds. I sit back down on the rock and Lucas examines my leg.
"What happened?" he asks.
I explain everything. The girl not giving up. Suddenly I hear the canons that symbolize a tributes death. 1, 2, 3, 4. Four tributes dead.
"Wow, usually there's like heaps of tributes dead at the start," I say.
"Yeah, this is going to be an interesting Hunger Games," Lucas replies. "If there aren't many deaths at the start it usually gets interesting."
"Do you think Nick's alright?"
"I hope so."
We're silent for the rest of the afternoon, thinking about how we're going to survive.
"I think we should find a safer place to stay," Lucas suggests. I can tell something has made him stir.
"What makes you think that?" I ask curiously.
"I just have a funny feeling about this place. I don't know what it is."
I look at the river. The current is moving towards the right but the blood is moving towards the left. The blood has been hanging around us all afternoon.
"That's strange," I say. "The current's moving one way but the bloods moving the other way."
He gets up startled. "Come on, we have to go," he says helping me to my feet. My body still aches from the fight before.
We start walking away from the river. It starts to get dark.
"That wasn't normal," he says. "Nothing like that could've possibly happened."
"It could have been planned by the game makers..." I start saying but I'm cut off by Lucas.
"To alert someone."
"What! Haven't we gone through enough for one day?"
"I told you, when there aren't many deaths at the start, that means the games get more interesting.
We should be safe in a tree. We could also try and find out what's going on around us while we're up there. Are you alright to climb?"
"I'll try."
Once we're certain that we're far from the river we find a tree. I start climbing it. The gash on my hand starts to bleed again. I jump back down. Lucas tears part of the bottom of his trousers off. He uses the knife to help him. Then he wraps the material around my hand. It acts as a bandage. It should hopefully stop some of the bleeding. I start to climb the tree again. I get to the second branch and wait for Lucas to start climbing. We keep climbing higher and higher.
The sound of a canon startles me. It isn't too dark so I scan the area around me. Suddenly I see four figures. One of them is lying dead on the ground. I look at the other figures which appear to be fighting. There's something about one of them. He looks familiar. It can't be. It can't be Nick.