This chapter took me hours. I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review! And to all reviewers and readers: I love you guys! I really enjoy writing the story :) All characters belong to Suzanne Collins except for you know who by now. :p
She did not hear anything. She did not hear the strangled cries of tributes who were being killed, she did not hear any footsteps, she did not even hear Eden yelling at her. All Effie could focus on was getting to the Cornucopia. She ran and ran until she was out of breath. As she finally reached the Cornucopia she grabbed one of the backpacks and a few knives to attach to her belt later. "Effie, watch out!" she turned around. One of the tributes was running up to her with a spear and threw it. Effie let out a scream and dove to the ground. The spear touched her cheek just barely and created a small cut under her eye. She looked up. The tribute was lying on the ground, dead. His neck was bent in a sickening way. "That was a close one, Eff. I told you not to run to the Cornucopia." Eden said. She stood up quickly, trembling with fear. "You killed the poor man!" "He was trying to kill you. I had no choice!" His face was red with anger and the veins in his neck were swollen, like they were about to explode.
"Don't stand there. Run!" Eden grabbed her arm and pulled her with him. Effie ran as fast as her legs could carry her and she looked around, trying to find her allies among the fighting tributes. Lucius was gone and she didn't see Octavia either. Where was Flavius? Then Octavia appeared behind them with a backpack in her arms. "Octavia, have you seen Flavius?" Effie yelled. Octavia closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. "Eden, can we stop for a second?" Eden turned around to take a quick look at the Cornucopia. He nodded; they were on a safe distance from the bloodbath. They stopped, trying to catch their breath. "Octavia." Effie tried again, panting heavily, and grabbed her by the arms. "What-" "He's dead! Alright?!" Effie's eyes widened. "I saw it happening right in front of me. The knife was in his chest before I knew it." Octavia placed a hand on her forehead and removed strands of hair from her face. Effie was about to answer when she heard the cannon. And another one. And another one. Five cannon sounds for five dead tributes, Flavius among them.
Effie felt tears well up in her eyes and pulled Octavia in for a hug. Octavia started sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry." Effie whispered. A few minutes later she let go and Octavia wiped the tears from her eyes. She took a deep breath and fanned her face with her hands. "We should go into the woods, where we'll be safe." she said. Eden nodded in agreement. Effie put her arm around Octavia's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her as they walked into the woods. It smelled of pine. Effie smiled softly. It reminded her of Katniss. The girl was practically in love with the woods. They walked for about thirty minutes before settling down. "This looks like a great place to stay, doesn't it?" Eden said. "It does." Effie answered and sat down, careful not to touch any poisonous plants. "Now let's take a look at what we have in our backpacks." She opened hers: One bottle of water, a rope and a blanket. Then Octavia opened her backpack: A compass, a bandage and a piece of bread.
"That's good." Octavia commented. "Now let's make ourselfs a fire to keep warm." "No!" Effie said sternly. "They might be able to locate us if we do that. We should use the blanket to keep us warm instead." Eden grinned. "Smart thinking, little one. Did Haymitch teach you that?" Effie shrugged and put her things in the backpack. "I picked up some of his advice in previous years, you know, when he was mentoring." Of course, Haymitch had neglected their tributes almost every year. But when he did give advice, it was good. As the three of them shared the bottle of water, Effie heard something in the bushes. Her head shot up. She signalled the others to stay quiet as she grabbed a small knife from her belt and stepped back.
Suddenly Lucius appeared, swatting away some flies, he had nothing but a spear in his hand. "Lucius! You scared us to death!" Octavia yelled angrily. Lucius shot an angry glare her way and then turned to look at Effie. "Darling, great to see you alive!" She rolled her eyes at him. He walked up to her with open arms, as if to hug her, when Eden stepped in front of Effie. "Don't even think about touching her, freak." "Eden, don't." Effie pushed him aside gently. Lucius smiled broadly and stepped in to hug her again. Effie shook her head but gave him a quick hug anyway. "You missed that, didn't you?" Lucius whispered in her ear. Effie pushed him away. "Don't go too far, now." Then she looked at Eden. "We should rest here. It's getting dark so we should take shifts. I will take first watch." "No you're not." Eden protested. "I will take it." Always the protective brother, Effie thought. It was annoying sometimes, but also kind of adorable. "Sure thing. Then I'll take second watch."
Effie woke up to the anthem of Panem. Her eyes shot up at the sky. Trees? She was trying to remember where she was. There were pictures in the sky. Fallen tributes. Of course; she was in the arena. Effie counted the pictures. The picture of Flavius caught her off guard for a second. Seven, eight, nine. Nine tributes dead. Fifteen tributes left. She didn't remember seeing the picture of Felix. That calmed her down a little. She was glad that they had survived the first day.
So was Haymitch. His eyes had been glued to the television since the countdown. "Haymitch, you probably should go to bed now." Katniss yawned. "You look exhausted." Haymitch didn't answer. Katniss sighed deeply and sat down next to him. His eyelids were drooping. She noticed he hadn't had a drink since he had gone to the launching room to say goodbye to Effie. That was new. "Hey, are you alright?" She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine kid, go to bed." Katniss took a deep breath and reached for the remote. Then she turned off the television. "What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled and tried to steal the remote from her. "Don't worry, Haymitch. They're safe!" -for now. "Effie almost got killed in the bloodbath!" "Yeah! But she lives!" Katniss yelled out. The tone of her own voice startled her. She calmed down. "I'm sorry. But you need to understand that she'll manage. She survived the bloodbath and the rest of the first day and that proves a lot." Haymitch nodded. "Alright, but I'm sleeping on the sofa." Katniss stood up and walked off. "As you wish. Good night, Haymitch." "Night." he lay down and stared at the black television screen. He had always thought she deserved this. That 'uptight bitch from the Capitol'. He regretted saying that somehow. Now he wanted nothing more than to get her back in his arms safely. Whining about his manners and drinking habits, walking around the house in his giant T-shirts, burning the eggs she wanted to fry for breakfast, crawling in bed with him after she had had another nightmare. He missed her, that was for sure. "Good night, Effie." he whispered to the television screen. Effie had made him way too mellow, he thought before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.