Chapter Five

Lana

The forest is so close, I know they won't come as far as that. All mutts have their own territories, I'm sure the caves are the rats' territory. I'm gasping, out of breath but a smile is warming my face. Yes! I'm going to make it! Then I hear the sound of something launching itself through the air and something heavy lands on my back. I stumble and that's all it takes for the pack to catch up to me. I trip and fall to the ground as rat after rat leaps onto my body. I scream as I feel the giant rodents sink their teeth into me. My struggling gets weaker as my life slowly bleeds out of me.

Brianna

I hear another cannon boom and pause for a second. How many are left now? 12? I have to speed up. There's no way of knowing where District 7 are and I really have to find them before the Careers find me.

It takes me another hour to find them, crouched next to a small pond and drinking. Then they sit up and the girl-Dekka I hear her District partner call her-unwinds a bandage from her arm. She coats it with a layer of some kind medicine and binds it again. I stay hidden in the foliage and try to think of a way to introduce myself without getting an axe in the head. I sigh, I'll just have to give it a try. I stand up and walk slowly into the clearing. They don't notice me until Dekka turns my way. Her eyes widen and she raises her axe.

'Sam', she barks and prepares to let her axe fly.

'Wait!' I drop my throwing knife and hold my hands up in front of me in a gesture of peace. 'I didn't come to attack you, I want us to be allies.'

Dekka's eyes have narrowed into unbelieving slits, but Sam seems willing to listen.

'You're the girl from Eleven, right? The one who got a nine in training?'

'Yeah, I'm Brianna-' I say but Dekka interupts.

'Nine? How did you get a nine?'

'Like this', I say. I pick up my knife slowly from the ground so Dekka doesn't have an excuse to attack me and turn to face a tree about ten metres away on the opposite side of the clearing. I take careful aim, inhale, exhale and release. The knife flies straight and true and hits the tree. I turn to the two, hiding a smirk. Dekka looks grudgingly impressed and Sam says 'Dekka and I need to talk, we won't be a minute'.

'Okay', I say as the two talk quietly. I make my over to the tree and carefully pull the knife out of it. The blade is thankfully undamaged and I slip it into my belt. I turn around to see that they're done talking.

'We've decided we want to team up', Sam says.

'But if you so much as look like you're going to pull something-', Dekka leaves the threat unsaid and I nod somberly.

Yes! I think inwardly. I've got allies!

Diana

By the end of the day I'm regretting my choice of leaving the forest. The hot sun pounds down on my unprotected back and neck, my mouth is parched and my feet are dragging. I know I'll never make it back to the forest without water, but so far I've seen none. The sky is cloudless, so no chance of rain and so far no gifts from Sponsors, if I even have any. I see a tall cactus in front of me and I stop a minute to rest in the shade. Suddenly I remember something I read years ago. Cacti store water inside them! I jump to my feet, my energy returning. I don't have a knife, but will a sharp rock do? I search the ground until I find one suitable for hacking open a cactus and go to the plant. Carefully avoiding the needles-thankfully I had small hands- I stick the pointy end of the rock into the cactus as deep as it will go and then pull it side ways. But, instead of water, hundreds of tiny beetles begin to pour from inside the the cactus. With a shriek, I leap back and try to shake loose the ones that have gotten onto my arm. But they hang on tight. I feel little needle like pricks up my arms and the beetles begin to disappear. It takes me a moment to realize that they have burrowed into my flesh. I lose it then. I run, screaming, as more and more pour out of the cactus. I go sprawling on the ground and the bugs swarm over me, under my skin, into my eyes, nose, mouth, ears and I keep screaming until the end.

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