Chapter Twenty-One: Requiescat in pace

BOOM.

Ten tributes left. Cana looked at her nervously as he opened his mouth. Maize simply pressed her index finger to her lips in the universal sign for 'QUIET,' that scream sounded too close for comfort. Rocus laughter could be heard below them as this year's Career Pack trumped through the foliage without care.

"Did you see his face!" the District 1 boy crowed, making the others burst out into laughter once more.

"Oh no! Please don't! Ahhhh!" the female from 2 mocked.

Laughter wafted up to their ears from below as the tributes continued on their blood-lust filled trek. This year the Career Pack only contained the tributes from 1 and 2, Maize had overheard the cruel jeers and pain-filled promises that they would bestow upon the District 4 tributes if they encountered them. In the recesses of her mind, she hoped that the bloodthirsty Pack wouldn't catch Cresta or her younger District partner. Maize and Cana were silent, hidden in the canopies of the trees, and even after the Career Pack was long gone they stayed silent. It wasn't until Cana kissed his palm before making a fist and rubbed it gingerly on his chest over his heart that Maize felt tears burn behind her eyes. Maize copied her District partner.

(It was a way that members from their District expressed their grief for fallen family members, and it was something that they did during the cremation process. A last 'kiss' goodbye before promising to guard them in their hearts).

"Cana..." she whispered, her voice choked up, "It's my fault someone died in the bloodbath."

Her confession felt heavy and liberating all at once.

"You made it here." Cana spoke back softly, "You kept your promise. Thank you."

She simply nodded. It didn't really help alleviate much of the guilt, a teenager dead, but it made her feel better that Cana was relieved to have her by him. Maize breathed in deeply. Cana was the most important person to her now and until the Games ended or she died. Whatever came first.

"We have to find water, don't we?" Cana whispered.

Maize nodded, "We'll have to look for animal tracks in the morning. There has to be a stream somewhere down here below the dam for wildlife to survive."

The younger teen simply nodded, "Are we bunking here for the night?"

"Yeah." she whispered back, "We'll leave at dawn."

Morning came faster than Maize would have wanted. She and Cana had taken turns sleeping throughout the night, neither one fully trusting their environment and the other tributes roaming around in the dark. It didn't help that two more cannons went off during the night (eight tributes left, six not including herself and Cana) before three of the Career Pack members trudged underneath their tree and back towards the Cornucopia. It looked like one them had fallen. They were even more bloodthirsty now. Plus the Death Recap that started when evening first set in hadn't done anything to ease their nerves either.

(Cresta and her district partner had still been alive then. Maize wouldn't know anything until the next recap).

The tributes from 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 died either during the bloodbath or soon after. All that life. Just gone. Maize internally prayed for them and their families. That left the Career Pack (minus their one missing member), the tributes from 4 or from 10 (she wasn't sure which since the cannon went off that morning which meant one the tributes from the two Districts had passed during the night).

The moment Maize had spotted the artificial sunrise on the horizon of the arena she had gently shaken Cana awake. They had had carefully put away the goods they'd used during the night (the thermal blankets had definitely come in handy the night before when the temperature had dropped), before untying themselves from the tree, storing the rope away for later use, and carefully climbing down. The moment that they touched ground Maize was quickly scanning their surroundings while Cana looked for animal tracks on the forest floor. Maize allowed herself to be tugged by her District partner when he spotted a trail, but kept herself from relaxing, grasping the large knife she'd found in her pack tightly in her hand.

Cana had found a rabbit's trail that led to the small animal's burrow, but not water, much to the boy's disappointment. Maize, on the other hand, was pleased with his find either way when she found the rabbit's defenseless sleeping babies inside. Food was food. She quickly snapped the necks of the baby rabbits while Cana guarded her back (he was rather squeamish about it, and Maize wasn't... it wasn't the first time she had to snap the neck of animal for food, images of the rare chickens her mother instructed her to kill for dinner dancing in her memories). They weren't going to eat the rabbits now. Instead she stashed two of the rabbits into Cana's pack and one in her own before pulling out some of the jerky and dried fruit.

They would eat a portion of their supplies as they walked through the forest in search for water. Maize did not want to start a fire so close to where the cornucopia was. They'd been walking for around an hour when they heard the first signs of life other than them. Maize had quietly, at least she hoped she was considering how hard her heart was pounding behind her chest, dragged a compliant Cana behind a tree as a delirious looking Annie Cresta stumbled out of the foliage.

Alone.

The teen looked nothing like she had before the Games started. Her face was blank, but her eyes were manic and crazed. Blood was splattered on her face and clothes, but Annie didn't really seem to notice it as she walked without meaning. Maize pressed her eyes closed for a moment as grief for Cresta's younger District partner, the small thirteen-year-old with blond hair and a bright smile, flashed through her mind. Cana gripped his own knife, looking ready to strike the girl himself out of fear. Maize was quick to press a gentle hand on his forearm and lower the knife before shaking her head at his questioning look.

Annie Cresta wasn't a danger to them.

"Waverly. Waverly's lost. Gotta find..." the female tribute for 4 mumbled under her breath as she continued to stumble away from them.

The girl had already been lost to the Hunger Games.

Words Around: 1,076

Edited: February 8th, 2020