It's too warm. That's the first thing that comes to mind before I've even opened my eyes. I try to kick off the too warm bag and go back to sleep but it's no use. And it's a good thing I don't, because when I open my eyes, I can see the trees around me on fire. I untie the rope around me as quickly as possible, and climb down, showing it back in my bag as I run in the opposite direction of the rapidly approaching fire. I cover my mouth with the sleeve of my jack to avoid inhaling the smoke but it doesn't do much as a filter. Stumbling through the forest, I dodge falling trees and fireballs, only I'm not fast enough and just as I narrowly avoid a burning tree trunk, a fireball hits my leg. I scream in shock and pain but don't have time to stop and I limp as fast as I can, trying to avoid more injury. One half of my jacket sleeve is charred and I burn my hand trying to catch myself on a rock.
The fire is spreading too quickly and with my new injuries, I can't move fast enough to outrun them. Just when I think I might be engulfed in flames, they stop moving, like they've hit some kind of invisible wall. I move a little further just to be sure the fire won't touch me anymore and collapse to the ground at a pool of water that seems to be running out of a spring. I feel immediate relief from the cool water on my hands and swing my leg over to submerge my leg.
I let out a sigh and lean against the bank. I could fall asleep right here, but I would risk someone coming across me. And even though I know that could end in my death, I couldn't find it in me to care. The water feels too good on my burns and I don't want to leave here. I know it's going to be painful for a while, and I wish Dani was here. She and Aunt Prim both took after Nana and took a lot of interest in healing patients around twelve. She would know some kind of plant or remedy to make it better.
I had to keep going. If not for me, then for her and my family. I force myself to sit up, and eat a light snack of the last of my crackers and some plant roots I dug from the mud and rinsed off in the water.
This has to be the gamemakers doing. I've seen in past years how they've manipulated the elements to favor some tributes over the others or just to cause something exciting for the viewers to watch.
"What were those things?" There's a voice just to the right of me that I recognize right away. I grab everything as fast as possible and hurry to climb the nearest tree doing my best to ignore the pain in my leg, but it's too late. They've spotted me.
"Hey look! There she is!" Herc runs up to the base of the tree that I'm climbing and once I reach a high enough branch, I sit against the trunk, panting heavily from adrenaline and exhaustion.
"What do you think about that loverboy?" Lucilla taunts him, but Sawyer stays quiet.
The adrenaline is rushing through my veins but I can't resist as I call out to them cheerily. "Hello! How's everything down there?"
"Well enough," Herc replies. It catches them off guard but I know the audience will eat it up. "Yourself?"
I shrug. "It's a bit warm for my taste. But the air's better up here. Why don't you come on up?"
"Don't worry, I've got her." She nocks an arrow and lets it fly, but it misses, hitting the other side of the trunk. She's not a very good shot and she tries again, the arrow landing in the branches above me. I grab the arrow and wave it at them as if to say thanks for the weapon.
"Stop shooting. You're giving her more to use," the girl from two says.
"I'll just go up and get her," Herc says, pushing up his sleeves to climb. My eyes widen knowing I won't have much luck if he can make it up here, but luckily for me, his weight and technique, or lack thereof, snaps the first peg he steps on and he falls flat on his back, the others snickering at his mishap. The next peg up is too high for any of them to step on so they won't be able to try again.
"Whatever," Herc mumbles, giving them all a glare to stop laughing. "Val, throw your knives."
The girl from two is just about to do what he says when Sawyer finally speaks up. "Why don't we just wait her out?" They all turn to look at him. He shrugs, nonchalantly, like my life couldn't mean less to him. "She'll have to come down eventually. Just get her then. Otherwise you risk giving her even more weapons."
Herc considers this for a moment before nodding. "Alright loverboy. But you better not be playing any games."
I internally breathe a sigh of relief, watching them set up camp at the base of the tree. I wasn't sure how I was going to get myself out of this situation but for now, I was safe. Just as an extra measure, I climb up just a little bit higher and wrap myself to the tree with the rope, foregoing the sleeping bag for now. I had to see how bad my leg was. My lower half of my right pant leg had pretty much been burned off, and I was left with a terrible blistering burn covering an area bigger than my hand. I lightly press against it and press my fist against my mouth to hold back my agonizing scream.
I dig the water bottle out of my bag and unscrew the cap, washing away the bits of fabric that have melted into my skin and the pus that has started to leak from my blisters. I peel away the last couple charred bits, not eating it to get infected. I hold back tears and look away as I do so, hating the way that it looks. I've always been such a wimp when it comes to these kinds of things. I hold back a loud sob that ends up coming out as more of a squeak, and take deep breaths to calm myself.
I'm tired and starving but I'm in too much pain to do anything about either. The cool night air doesn't provide as much relief as I was hoping for with my burning hands and leg. I wish my mom and dad were here, and I want to cry, but I know I have to keep a brave face for the sponsors. The second they sense that I'm weak, they could pull their support, and then where would I be?
The careers have set a fire and have gone to sleep for the night, Lucilla keeping first watch, but she looks like she might fall asleep herself at any point. There's a rustling in the trees around me and at first I'm sure it's birds, until a flash of dark brown hair whips through the leaves. I sit up straighter, even though I have no chance at defending myself against any attacker at this point, but I quickly realize I recognize the figure.
The little girl from eleven is currently hiding behind a nearby tree, high up in the air. She peeks out slowly, studying me for a moment. She then looks to the ground and then points to something above me. I follow her finger to an oval shaped blob hanging from one of the thinner branches. There's a faint buzzing coming from above and I instantly know what it is.
Tracker jackers were another Capitol created mutation during the first rebellion. They were like wasps, only much much worse and could cause serious illness, hallucinations, madness and sometimes death. They were genetically coded to attack anyone and anything that disturbs them or their nests. It was quite the problem out in the woods, since they didn't do anything about them after they released the tracker jackers into the wild, so every once in a while we would come across one of the nests. Mom and Papa both made sure Dani and I knew never to go near them.
Only now, I don't think I'll have a choice. I glance back at El and she points at the nest again and starts to make a sawing motion, then pointing to the ground. She wants me to cut down the nest and let it drop onto the careers. That would certainly cause enough chaos that I could get out of there, or at least make an attempt with my burned leg. She repeats the action and I nod, not completely sure if I'm on board. She gives me a shy smile and hops away through the trees.
I shakily stand on my one good leg, supporting myself by hooking my elbow to a branch, trying to avoid touching the rough bark with my hands as much as possible and examine the hive. I could probably saw through it with the knife, but it would take a while and I'm not sure I would be able to do it fast enough with my hands the way they are before I'm stung too many times to finish the job. But I don't think I have any other options at this point.
The anthem starts playing and I make my way back down to the fork where I've planned to strap myself in for the night but there's something waiting for me in between the leaves. It's a silver container with the Capitol logo on one side and a black parachute attached to the other.
It's a sponsor gift! Haymitch must have sent me something he knows I need, but I'm no longer dehydrated. Could it be food? I hurriedly undo the clasp and find a small black container inside. Unscrewing the cap, it's filled with a white gel. I probe the top and the throbbing in my fingers instantly vanishes. It's some kind of cream for my burns and I feel like I might burst into tears from gratitude. Instead, I look up, hoping my mentor can see me.
"Thank you," I whisper, for both Haymitch and the sponsors who donated the money to get me such an expensive gift. Medicine was definitely in the top tier when it came to the price in the arena, becoming nearly impossible to afford the further into the games we get. I greedily rub some of the ointment between my hand, moaning in relief, then scoop my finger in to grab enough for my calf. I want to be sure to save as much as possible though, just in case I need it later. I slather a generous amount on my calf and finally feel like I can breathe again. I let myself rest for a couple more minutes before shifting my attention back onto the tracker jacker nest. If I was going to do it, I had to do it soon. I was running out of food and water and unless I got out of this tree, the careers would get exactly what they wanted.
The nest seems to be right above Lucilla, so as long as I'm able to cut the nest off straight, it shouldn't hit anything and break prematurely on the way down. I considered warning Sawyer for a moment, but I didn't want to risk waking anybody up. Besides, he chose to join the careers.
The burning in my leg and hands are now a dull ache, but much more manageable. I pack everything into my backpack, preparing to run once the nest drops, and clench the knife between my teeth to climb up to the higher branch. I only really have one chance to get this right. If I mess up, I would be the tracker jacker target. Once I'm steady, holding onto a branch with one hand, I take a deep breath and start sawing the end of the nest with the other, pushing down as hard as I can. Immediately, the tracker jackers seem to realize something is wrong and I'm stung on my hand. I bite back a scream and saw faster, as I'm stung again, this time on my neck. I put all of my concentration into my sawing motions, pretty much chopping at the last bit and watching as the nest breaks off the branch and crashes onto the ground below, releasing a cloud of tracker jackers.
The buzzing sound intensifies, the tracker jackers clearly angry at their nest being disturbed, and all at once, it's chaos. The careers wake up screaming, scrambling to get out of there as they're swarmed by the attackers, the painful stings incapacitating them. Lucilla seems to get it the worse as the nest falls right on top of her, making her the main target. The others are able to gather what they can and run away from the scene. As soon as it looks like it's cleared, I start to make my way down the tree, but the venom is quickly affecting me too.
Everything starts to swirl and change in size, and my surroundings turn a harsh rainbow color. Ants start to climb up my legs and arms, and I think it's a hallucination but everything is too bright and dark at the same time and I can't tell where my legs end and the ground starts. I brace myself against the tree, looking around for an escape route, but I trip over something, or somebody.
It's Lucilla, except her face and body have ballooned up and are covered in tracker jacker stings. She's dead, that's for sure, but her face keeps contorting into different expressions. As maggots crawl out of her mouth and the pus from her stings are oozing out everywhere. I try not to throw up and I reach for the bow in her hand but it doesn't feel like my own. It takes all of my concentration to close my hand around the bow and it takes pulling my own hand with my other to rip it from her grasp. I'm able to get the quiver across my back, batting away at the colored circles that are now trying to engulf me.
I'm disoriented now, and I don't know which way I came from or where I should go, feeling like I'm spinning in never ending circles. I can feel something near me but I'm not sure what and I can't tell where any of the sounds are coming from. I reach back for one of the slimy arrows and knock it, only it looks like there are three strings now and I don't know which one is the right one. I'm not quick enough though as the thing I'm trying to maim leaps out of the trees, crashing into me.
"What are you doing?!" A deep voice I've never heard before is screaming at me from somewhere. "Willow! Get out of here!" I'm spun around to face a very surprised looking Sawyer, or at least, I think it's him. His eyes are bugged out much too large and he sounds different.
"What are you doing?" He repeats, but it takes me longer than normal to process what he's saying. "Go!" He turns me and roughly pushes me away from him in the opposite direction. I listen to him because everything else doesn't make any sense and I keep stumbling in that direction as I'm surrounded by more and more ants until they overtake my vision and I'm succumbing into darkness.