I wake as the morning light starts to filter through the leaves of the trees. I look over to my companions that are still sleeping on their branch. Sky's head is hanging onto his chest, and Ivy's head is leaned back against the tree, mouth hanging open. Seeing them like this really reminds me how young they are. How young all of us are. Even District 12's Victor is young.
Is it even worth it to make it out of here? You either die in the arena or leave it a murderer.
I pack up my things and whistle a few times. Ivy snaps awake and looks around. She finally sees that it was me making the noise and smiles at me. She elbows Sky, who slowly wakes. He yawns a little and stretches his arms. Ivy smacks his arm that has almost touched her nose. I smile, thinking about how Birch and I bicker.
"Is it time to go?" Ivy whispers to me.
"I think we should go." I respond.
They pack up their things as I pull out some of the berries that I picked yesterday. Once we are all on the ground, I hand them each a small handful of berries. We eat in silence and continue walking.
We walk in silence, and every time I stop, the other two do the same, giving me time to listen. I haven't heard anything yet. As we walk, the ground begins to get firmer and less wet. The grass changes slowly and is now a very bright, vibrant green.
The kids stay close behind me as we walk past the last tree in the swampy section of the arena. What lays beyond brings me to a halt. The grass along the rolling meadow is the most brilliant shade of green I have ever seen. There are butterflies flittering around and landing on the blossoms of vividly colored flowers. The few small trees that dotted the landscape were speckled with very prominent flowers in a range of colors.
I look around, first because I am stunned by the beauty and brightness of the scene, and then because I am thinking about what fresh hell this meadow will bring. Will these insects leave us alone, or will they attack? How many mutations will be out here waiting for us to stumble into their dwelling?
I look around and find the river that had been small, slow, and sludgy in the swamp was now wide and moving at full speed, its water an even more breathtakingly intense blue than it was in the wooded area.
"Let's head toward the river." I say, pointing to the water. "Watch where you step and around us. We are out in the open."
"Why don't we go back? Don't you want to be in the woods?" Sky asked me.
"Yes, but I am not going back through the swamp. That was hard, and what if we ran into someone in there. We can't run through the mud."
"Let's just get through here as fast as we can." Ivy says. I nod and let out a deep breath and take a step forward.
We walk slowly at first, watching out for any animals or bugs that may mean us harm. "Sky, you know bugs. Do you know what any of these are?" I ask him.
"I don't recognize any of these." He stops and looks at a beetle that is resting on a leaf of one of the small trees. "The colors are similar to ones that were in my book back home, but the markings are different."
"Probably mutts, then. Steer clear of them." I tell the kids. They each nod and we continue to the river.
Once we make it to the river, I open my canteen, which is remarkably close to empty, and start lowering it to the water. I pause and stare at the water for a moment. This water is too blue. It's unnatural.
"Don't fill your canteen here." I tell Ivy as she is unscrewing the cap on her canteen.
Her eyes snap to mine. "Why?"
"I don't trust this water." I recap my canteen and see as she does the same, trusting me. "How much do you have left?"
"Almost nothing. Maybe two swallows." She looks at me with wide eyes.
"Okay. Make it last. If we can just get past the meadow, maybe the water will look normal again." I tell her. She nods and we start walking away.
As we take a few steps, a parachute comes floating down right in front of us. I look around it to make sure I'm not sticking my hand in front of a mutt before retrieving the gift. I detach and stow the parachute in my bag like I did its predecessors and look at the tin. It has a 7 and a 12 etched into it's top. I open the container to see 3 bottles of water. The bottles are just cheap plastic, but the water is invaluable.
I close my eyes and throw my head back, "Oh, thank you, Haymitch!" I hand each of the others their water and take my own. "Go easy with it. This is all we have right now." They each take a small sip and hand me the bottles to store in my bag. I must be doing something right. That is yet another gift.
We make it to another little tree as we walk toward a mountain that can be seen in the distance. We stop in the shade of the tree for a moment, getting out of the sun, when the sound of a cannon blast rocks through the sky, making all of us jump.
Then, Ivy lets out a high-pitched scream and begins slapping her arm.
"Hey!" I say, urgent but quiet, as I dart to her. I see on her hand is a smashed purple beetle, and on her arm is a raised, red bump.
She has tears in her eyes as she looks at me. "Sorry. It bit me. Hurt really bad." She looks back to her arm and then to the beetle. "Sky, do you know this one?"
Sky walks over and looks at the bug. "No. It doesn't even look similar to any that I know of. Bugs aren't usually a bright color like that."
She looks back at me, her eyes starting to water even more. "Hey. Calm. Maybe it just hurt like crazy and will swell. Nothing to be afraid of." Yet.
She nods, wiping the carcass of the beetle off of her hand with her pants. I pull out the bottle of ethyl alcohol that came with the fire-starting kit and pour a little down her arm where the bug had bitten her. I also take the parachute from one of the sponsor's gift's out of my bag and wet it with the alcohol. I wrap the parachute around the bite on her arm and tie it on. "That is about the best I can do. I don't have anything else."
She nods. "Let's just get out of here."
Sky and I nod, and we all start walking. We can see the mountain in the distance, but we cannot see where the land changes into something more natural looking. Sky and I pull our jackets tight to dissuade any more bugs from biting, and I notice that the further we walk, the more labored Ivy looks.
Her face is red, she has broken a sweat. Neither Sky nor I seem to be overly warm, even with our jackets pulled tight. I am beginning to worry that the bug was, in fact, poisonous.
We continue walking. I offer the others some food from my pack. Ivy declines. Our pace slows since we are out in the sun. Sky and I are starting to fatigue, and Ivy looks like she is using all of her strength just to stand up right.
She points in the distance, and I halt and look. "Smoke." She rasps. I look all around, and I don't see anything.
"There is nothing there. Where do you see it?"
"It's right there!" She almost yells.
My eyes widen at the sound she is making. She will draw them right to us. "Well, it looks out of the way from where we are going. We will just avoid it." I say, hoping to keep her quiet.
She looks at me, her eyes narrowed, before nodding and continuing to walk.
There are only a few hours left of today, and I can see that we are coming near where the next part of the arena starts. The grass has started to fade back to a more normal color. The trees have started to look larger, and there were fewer vibrant flowers and radioactive looking insects.
I am thinking of where I can go to find some more meat; a rabbit or even a squirrel, when I hear a sharp inhale behind me. I whip around just in time to see Ivy, who is now a red, sweating mess, launch herself at Sky. She swings the knife that I had given her and slices him in the stomach. He is on the ground, eyes wide, pleading with her. "Ivy, it's me! It's Sky!"
She doesn't seem to hear him and continues to gouge at his face with her nails, and then she swings the knife again, and it cuts deeply into his arm and across his chest as he tried to block her assault.
It is at this point that I am brought out of my shock. I quickly flick my wrist, sending the knife that I always have in my hand flying. It buries itself in her neck.
Ivy freezes and falls sideways. Her body starts convulsing before it stills, and she is laying on her back beside Sky, eyes unmoving, staring at the bright blue sky, my black knife sticking out from the side of her neck. Her cannon fires.
I run to Sky and kneel beside him. He is shaking, and his eyes snap to me once I am beside him. "It's bad, huh?" He asks me.
"Not so bad. You just might be the one to make it home." I tell him.
He smiles. "You think so?"
"I know so."
"I can't wait to see Birch again. And my parents." I chuckle.
"They will be very excited to see you." I feel the tears welling in my eyes. "What is the first thing you'll do when you get home?"
"I am going to hug my mom." He smiles at me. "Then, I am going to go see Birch. Hopefully, she doesn't want to talk about the Games."
"I'm sure she will respect your wishes." I tell him.
The blood is rushing from his arm and chest, and his shirt is soaked from his abdominal wound. "I'm cold." He isn't looking at me anymore and is staring at the sky.
"Try to rest." I almost sob as I talk to him.
His eyes are unfocused on the sky, staring blankly off into nothingness. I am holding his hand and I feel the grip tighten on my hand and his head whips over and his eyes are burning into mine. "You have to make it home. Go home. Tell everyone I love them."
"I will." I promise.
He smiles at me, a little blood pooling in the corners of his mouth. "Good." His hand relaxes and his face drops, his eyes lifeless and staring.
I then let myself cry. I cry and cry, I vaguely register the fire of the second cannon and then I start moving. Still crying, I lay his body flat and rest his hands on his chest. I do my best to clean him up and once I am done, he looks relatively peaceful. Then, I move on to Ivy.
Ivy is laying on her side, blank eyes staring at Sky beside her. I pull the knife from her neck and wipe the blood off before putting it back in its pocket. I also take the knife that had fallen from her hand and wipe Sky's blood off from it and place it in my pack. Then, I get to work on cleaning her and positioning her next to Sky.
Once I am done, I stand at their feet. Their bodies are perfectly aligned. They are about the same height, and their arms are resting on their stomachs. I cry again for a moment, blow them each a kiss, and walk on toward the mountain.
I don't pay as much attention as I should, and I hear a shout. There is someone running toward me. They are flailing their arms.
They are shouting something, but I can't focus on that. All I can see is the giant pink bird that is chasing her. I quickly run behind a large tree and hide. I peek out to see the giant bird land on top of the girl from 5. She is quickly impaled by the bird's long, slender beak.
A cannon fires, and the bird flies off into the sky. I eventually come out of hiding and walk on toward the mountain. I walk past the girl's body, not sparing a glance down. I have seen enough death. I don't want to see any more.
But I know I will have to kill at least one more time if I am going to go home.
After walking for another hour, I am well out of the meadow. Things look more natural here, and there are no signs of odd bugs or giant birds. I walk until I see the river. I slowly make my way to it and begin to fill my canteen.
When I lower my canteen into the water, I notice how caked in blood I am. I do my best to wash my hands and face. The clothes will have to wait.
I killed a rabbit on my way to the river, cleaned it and am now building a fire. The sky is dark enough now that the smoke won't be seen, but it is still light enough that the flames won't be as visible as they would be in the middle of the night.
Once my rabbit is cooked, I eat it all. I might as well. There aren't many left. I will be facing off with the others soon. The Gamemakers will see to that.
As I am finishing off my dinner, another parachute floats down and lands at my feet. I stare at it for a moment before picking it up and detaching the parachute. It gets stowed in my pack, and I open the container.
Within is a small cake. I can see that there is frosting on the cake. A small note is enclosed in this gift. I pick up the card and printed on it is "A thank you gift from District 7. -H"
I eat the cake, tears in my eyes.
I rise and stamp out my fire. Once it is sufficiently buried, I begin walking again. I find a tree and begin to climb. I take the sleeping bag out and stuff all of my belongings in it. I wriggle my way into the bag and use my belt to strap myself to the limb.
I tuck my arms around my chest and into the sleeping bag as much as I dare. I still need to be ready for a quick reaction in case anything goes wrong.
The seal glows in the sky, and the anthem begins. The first picture is the girl from 3. That must have been the cannon that went off when Ivy got bit. Then comes the girl from 5, who was skewered by the pink bird. The next picture is Ivy, her eyes alight and mischievous in the starry sky. After that is my sister's friend. Sky looks timid in his picture. But there is a kindness in his face.
I cry again, sobbing as quietly as I can as the anthem plays out. Once it is quiet again, my crying lessens, and I am finally able to relax into my tree and I begin to nod off.
That is when the top of the mountain blew, startling me and every living creature in the arena.