We let go of each other and start walking deeper into the rainforest. We talk and talk and sometimes even laugh. It soon becomes late afternoon and we sit down on a mossy rock. Suddenly we hear one of the game maker's voices.
"Most of you are starving and hungry. We have decided to be generous and offer you food at the Cornucopia tomorrow."
"We have to go," I say. "We'll either die of hunger or die when we're fighting for food. But if we fight for food we could still live."
"Ok, we have to try," Lucas agrees.
We rest for a bit and then get up and start walking back to the cornucopia. It will take the rest of today and most of tonight to get there if we're lucky.
"How many are left?" I ask.
"Twelve," Lucas replies.
We keep walking. Hours pass and I soon realize that we need a plan, a good one if we want to survive.
"What's our plan?" I ask, starting the subject.
"I think one of us should run when the coast is clear and grab some food then run back," Lucas says.
"The other can be ready to fight if someone comes after the runner."
"That's a really good idea," I reply. "Although, there is a downside. What if someone comes from in front to attack?"
"We can both be armed with weapons," Lucas says. "What role do you want to take?"
"I'm not sure," I say. "Running is definitely not safe, but fighting an attacker isn't very nice either. Can I think about it?"
Lucas nods. He's so supportive. I start to think of all the possible outcomes. If I run, Ruby could be waiting for me and easily attack me from any angle. She's amazing with knives. But she might not have knives. Maybe she does, I'm pretty sure I saw her holding one when she came after me. If she doesn't that would be good. Then there's the district 1 girl, Emily. She scares me and obviously wants to kill me. She pulled me into a trap. It's likely that she and Ruby haven't split up yet. They could easily kill me. But then Lucas would attack them. But he wouldn't be able to handle both of them at the same time. I'd have to fight too. The district 5 girl might want another fight too. Those fights with her were long and painful, but I survived. Then there's everyone else.
If I was the attacker I would have to fight. I don't want to fight. Especially when the stronger tributes are still alive. Maybe I should run. I'll sprint and be as quick as I possibly can. Hopefully I'll get away.
"I'll run," I say after a while.
"Just, just be careful," Lucas stutters.
His voice is wobbly. I stop and place my hand on his shoulder.
"It'll all go fine," I say reassuringly. "We've won fights before. We might end up with some injuries but we can't starve to death, can we?"
I try to keep my voice steady and show none of the emotion I actually feel. Scared, terrified, anxious, upset and heartbroken. All of these things can't even describe how I feel. I try and keep thinking positive things but it's so hard.
Lucas starts quickening his pace. It's starting to get dark and we need to get to the cornucopia by tomorrow morning.
"What weapons will we each take?" I ask. I don't want to leave everything so that we decide closer to the time. That time I will need to focus and get ready to run.
"You work best with the bow and arrow and you've had that pocket knife for ages. You've used that well. Take them," Lucas instructs me. "I'll take my sword and I have a knife too so we'll be fine."
We keep walking. It gets darker and darker until the sky is pitch black. It feels like we've been walking for a couple of hours throughout the night. We push through the pain in our legs. We have to get there. Occasionally we sit and rest but that's usually for about a minute or two. Most of my wounds have healed but the cut on my hand from Lucas still stings. I suddenly realize that he is limping. I try and figure out why.
"Lucas, why are you limping?" I ask, finally giving up of guessing.
"I sprained my ankle, it'll be fine," he replies.
I must have been so caught up in everything else that I didn't even notice. I suddenly feel very guilty.
We keep walking. It's pitch black and we have to feel our way through the rainforest.
"The trees have changed," Lucas says. "That's good. When we first entered the rainforest the trees were like this. We should be there in a couple of hours."
More walking. I feel like I've taken thousands and thousands, even millions of steps today. It's better than fighting though. Lucas tries to quicken the pace again. He's determined. I don't blame him. We really need to get food. The thought of food makes my throat feel dry. And water. I need water too. I start to get worried though. What could happen? We could be killed. I try and think of this in a positive way. Without food we would die slowly. When fighting we could die quickly, but very painfully.
Hours pass and we still aren't there. It must be just after midnight. My eyes are closing and I struggle to stay awake. I have to. When we get there we might get some sleep. That's my incentive. I start to imagine all the people back at home watching me. Lil will probably be proud. My mums friend might be proud too. It makes me realize that I should be proud. I've made it this far. And I can keep going. I'm not going to let fear stop me. I have to do whatever I can to live. To live and win. To return home to Lil, to my lovely sister Lil. I miss her. Suddenly Lucas stops and I accidentally bump into him.
"What's wrong?" I whisper.
"The trees are gone," he whispers back.
Suddenly I see something shiny. I feel the ground. I feel grass, delicate and moist.
"I think we've made it" I whisper again, full of excitement.
Lucas flings his arms around me and we jump up and down. Then we contain ourselves and hurry back into the rainforest, still keeping the cornucopia insight. We then continue our excitement. We sit down and whisper to each other.
"You should get some sleep," Lucas suggests.
I tell him to wake me when he wants to sleep. Then I curl into a ball, up against him. I close my eyes and in an instant I'm asleep.