The sun is beating down and I swear that it is hotter than it was yesterday. I hear birds but I don't see any and it seems as though the stream has shrunken since yesterday.
"So, what is our plan?" Alex asks as she pops a berry into her mouth. I look up to face her.
"First we need to find the careers, after that, we can start planning on how to attack them" I reply.
BOOM!
"There goes the first kill of the day" Chip says.
"No, there was one this morning" I reply, "I heard it while I was on watch." This brings up the memory of Micro from last night. In a way I do hope it was her, because that way she is safe from Panem forever.
"Oh, well second death then" Chip says.
"Well, let's pack up and get a move on" Alex says as she pockets some berries. I nod before filling up my canteen and adding a drop of iodine. Chip does the same and we all head out in the direction of the cornucopia.
It is hours until we finally see the edge of the forest. We made markers on the trees, something that only we 5 would recognise, so we can find our way back to the stream.
The air has cooled a lot since this morning and we still have half of the big canteen left. "Why are we going back to the cornucopia?" Oak asks, seeming weary.
"Because, if the careers are going to be anywhere, then they will be at the cornucopia" Alex replies. Oak nods and begins to walk faster with the rest of us. I see the hill that surrounds the crater where it all started.
"Stop" I tell them all. They do and turn to me with questioning faces, "We only need one person to go. If we all do and they are there, we could get caught and then what will we do? We will be dead before we can even form a plan" I say.
"Oak, you go" Alex says. It seems as though she really hates the kid.
"Why me?" Oak asks, trembling a little.
"I agree. Oak is the smallest and he will be the least recognisable" Chip says. He does have a point. It would be pretty damn hard to spot him. I turn to Oak and kneel in front of him.
"I don't want to go" he says.
"I know, but we need to see if they are there. It will be scary, but I promise that if you get caught I will come straight to help" I tell him. He stills looks hesitant but he nods his head.
"OK" he replies. He starts to make his way over and it doesn't take him long. I feel my heart rate pick up as he crawls to the top of the hill. I am so worried for the little guy and I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen.
He looks back at us and stands up he waves his arms and nods his head. Then my eyes widen is horror. I see it as if it is in slow motion. I see the axe fly into his back and he rolls to the bottom of the hill.
"NO!" I shriek before running my fastest towards him. I skid across the dirt on my knees and hold him in my arms. "Fuck" I shout as I see the axe imbedded in his spine. I feel tears rolling down my cheek and everything goes numb.
"M-maple" he stutters. "I am s-s-scared."
"Shh, shh" I tell him. "It will be fine" I whisper.
"P-please win" he says before I see his eyes close. A cannon booms and my world goes quiet. Why? Why did it have to be him? Why did he stand up? He is only a kid and he has been taken from this world. I hear a screaming and it takes a while to realise it is me who is screaming.
I look to the axe and I feel as though a flame ignites in me, melting away the ice that has just frozen my body. I grip the handle and pull it out. I look down at the lifeless 15 year old, lying in his own blood, and a tear drops onto his cheek. "I promise" I whisper before standing up.
"Look what we have here." I look up and see the smirk of Glitz from one. She is soon joined by the other careers, minus the girl from 12. Maybe Alex did kill her.
"Maple!" shouts Alex from behind. But I ignore her. This is her fault. She came up with the idea of sending Oak to see if the careers were there. She killed Oak and I am not about to start listening to her. Instead, I look to Glitz. She was the one who took the axe at the cornucopia. She was the one who took Oak out. She was number one on my list to kill.
"I will end you!" I scream at the top of my lungs to Glitz. She just smirks at this and the other careers do to. You won't be smirking when I chop that pretty little head of your shoulders.
But now isn't the time. We need to escape and plan for our attack, so I do what I know best. I run back towards the forest. I pass Alex, Chip and Thorn on the way and they soon follow me. It doesn't seem as though the careers are chasing us which is weird. They would usually do anything to kill.
I follow the marks on the trees and after two hours of non-stop running I get back to our camp, soon followed by the others. "Maple, I am so sorry" I hear Alex.
"Don't" I mutter as I turn around, "Just don't" I have the urge to just take her out…but I won't. I need her and the others to take down the careers.
"What?" she asks.
"It was you. You have always hated Oak. You were hesitant to let him join us. You were always glaring at him and you turned on him more than once" I shout. I take a step towards her and I see her hand go onto her sword handle. "I bet you were hoping for him to get caught. That must have been the reason why you chose him to go and check on the careers." I feel my body feel with rage and I just want to cut off her fucking head. I grip the handle of my axe and I am doing all I can to not kill this bitch.
I raise it and she pulls out her sword, but I get control and turn and chuck the axe into a nearby tree. I storm away before I actually do kill her. When I wondered what today would bring, I didn't think it would have brought this.
A/N: Oh noooooo! Oak is dead and Maple is blaming it on Alex. It was kind of Alex's fault and she has always had it in for the little kid, but I didn't even see Oak dying then. My fingers were thinking for me at that point. But this could be seen as a positive thing. This way, Maple is prepared to kill. Before, she wasn't sure of herself, but now she is. Oak's death has pushed her to fight, and she will.
Also, the last two chapters, I havnt gotten any reviews. I can kind of understand, with it being christmas an all, but people have been reading them. I am not saying I wont keep uploading once a day (sometimes twice) but it will be nice to log on in the morning and see some reviews for me to read.
So, keep sending them in. Until next time~