Eliza fell. Again.
She also kept losing track of the other members of her team. Which only got more difficult every time she got on the ground and scratched her knees.
As she was rubbing her hands against each other, to try to get rid of the dirt, when someone approached her.
"So, you're the new recruit?" A blond girl asked once next to Eliza and holding out a hand to her, "I'm Mindy."
Eliza almost laughed at the girl's name, which was not exactly the kind she expected from the stoic people in 13.
"Eliza. Nice to meet you." She accepted Mindy's hand to help her get off the ground, noticing she was slightly taller than her, and clearly more fit. Her blond hair was tied up in a tight ponytail, and wiggled gracefully when she talked.
"Wasn't that something like the fifth tumble you took up until now? How did you even manage to get here alive if you can't run across a training field?"
"I was carried a big part of the way, that's how." It came out in a grunt, while Eliza shook the dirt out of her pants. Then she searched for the same judgmental tone and look she received from all the people from 13 up until that point, but Mindy caught her off guard with a genuine laugh.
"That's funny." She stated, seemingly not realizing that Eliza was telling the truth. She did not rush to correct her either. "Don't worry too much about it, you'll fit in eventually. Come with me, I'll take you to the infirmary to patch that up."
Eliza looked at her knees, both of them bleeding, as well as a few other spots in her body.
"Thanks."
"Are you good to walk? Or should I carry you as well?"
"I'm fine," she said with a nervous chuckle. It did hurt, but so would the embarrassment of leaving the training grounds on a gurney because of bloody knees.
When Eliza finally woke up, the smoke and debris in the air were not as thick as before, but her head still hurt. A lot.
She vaguely remembered being carried across the woods on Gale's arms. She had come to her senses once or twice, only to quickly dose off again. She also remembered the blurry image of a lake, but for all she knew that part could have been a dream.
There was someone crying in the distance as well, and that was what woke her up at once.
She had to find Erica.
Pulling herself up, she took a better look around. There were a few people talking, others sleeping or trying to. It was bright, despite the clouds of fog around them.
A bit farther away, she spotted Prim and Mrs. Everdeen's blond hair moving around in between people that laid on the ground. Eliza tried not to think about whether or not some of those were bodies. She approached as fast as she could, looking for some sign of Erica.
"Eliza!" Jacob saw her before she did, and was waving to get her attention. She lunged for him, and saw that he was kneeling right next to Erica. Her eyes were closed like the last time Eliza saw her, but her face was not as pale, and her breathing much less shallow.
"Mrs. Everdeen thinks she might be ok, but we'll have to wait," Jacob said, caressing his wife's hand lightly.
"And the baby?" Eliza asked, even if she was afraid of the answer. Jacob took a deep breath before speaking, but his voice trembled nevertheless.
"There's no way to know for sure. She bled a little bit, but Mrs. Everdeen seemed hopeful that—We'll just have to hope for the best. There's not really anything else we can do."
Eliza nodded, wondering what the best was supposed to look like when they were stranded in the middle of nowhere.
"I can't thank you enough for—" Jacob's voice cracked, and she noticed the tears in his eyes. "For all you did."
"You don't have to thank me," Eliza let out, almost in a request. She had to get out of there or she would burst into tears as well.
"Well, thank you, anyway," He insisted, and got up after her. "She wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
Eliza waved the matter away with her hand and asked him to tell her once she was awake, and then went for a look around, hoping to focus on something else.
There had to be at least a few dozen people all around. Eliza walked through them, trying to find someone she knew. Trying not to notice how many were missing.
Trying to see if, against all odds, he survived.
But there was no sign of her father. And even after she asked around, no one seemed to have seen him.
He was gone. Most likely. And all she could feel was the contradictory mixture of guilt and relief.
This time, she could not help herself from crying. She found a big rock by a quieter part of the lake and sat on it in a desperate attempt to calm her breathing. It was getting more difficult, the more she thought about what the future held for her. For everyone around her.
It also did not help that she could feel the hunger again. How long had it been since the last time she ate? It did not matter, her stomach was protesting, only making her cry harder as she held her legs by her chest with her face in between them.
"Liza!"
It was Vick's voice, and she looked back instantly seeing the boy running towards her.
"Mom said to come and get you. We saw you there crying, and she got worried."
Her head spun in embarrassment, and she mumbled something like "I'm fine", but still followed Gale's brother back to the improvised infirmary where she had just seen Erica. Mrs. Hawthorne was helping some of the wounded. There were clearly too many injured for the amount of people available to help, and Eliza cursed herself for running away to feel sorry for herself, instead of thinking about doing something.
"Mom, Eliza's here," Vick said.
The woman took her eyes off the rag bandage she was taking care of, sparing Eliza a glance.
"I'm sorry, I meant to be there when you woke up, but I thought you would be out for longer." She took a longer look at her, "Are you feeling well? Did you get hurt?"
Eliza gave the same answer she had just spared Vick, not sounding convincing even to herself.
"Did you eat something? Vick and Rory gathered a few berries earlier. Why don't you take some?"
Eliza's stomach was eager for her to say yes, but she could not take the children's food. She would have to go get something for herself later.
"What can I do?" She asked instead, getting closer. Only barely did she manage to avoid gagging at the sight of the open wound, as Mrs. Hawthorne gave instructions on what she needed. The man lying in front of them worked at the mines, as far as Eliza could remember. She did not really know him, but that did not alleviate the sight of him sprawled on the ground, with several body wounds.
For the next few hours, Eliza kept helping on whatever Mrs. Everdeen or Mrs. Hawthorne instructed her to do. She pushed through her stomach and headache, focusing on the people that were likely just as hungry and as scared as her, but on top of that, injured. Keeping her mind on it helped her avoid thinking about her father or Erica's as well. And that was all she could ask for.
"Hey, Burrich," Eliza heard Gale calling from behind her "once you're done there, can you help me with these?" He pointed at a few dead rabbits he had with him.
"It's okay Eliza, I think we are good for now." His mother said, when she looked at her, asking for permission.
She followed Gale, who walked a few yards and stopped again. Vick and Rory knelt on the ground, lighting a fire, and that was when Eliza noticed that it was getting dark again. She approached the two boys, holding out her hands to warm them up.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked Gale.
"We should hang these and skin them," He pointed at the rabbits and to the improvised structure his brothers had put together to tie the dead animals to. "But I forgot we would need something to tie them as well. I guess I could look for something in the forest if you hold on to these while…"
"Just wait, I might have something." Eliza walked back, retrieving the sewing satchel she luckily had brought with her. Taking the old sheet she had inside, the same one she used to make her smoke mask from, and with a few swift moves, she ripped a fine strap of fabric from the longer part of it. "Here, I think this will be enough."
Gale immediately hanged the three rabbits, then, with a knife he took out of his pocket, made a small incision on their neck and let them bleed out.
"Do you know how to do this?"
Eliza shook her head, and even though she had never had any bare interest in preparing meat, the hunger made her imagine the smell of it cooking on the fire.
"I can try, if you show me how."
Gale made one from start to finish, and then handed the knife to her.
"I'll tell you what to do, just try it."
If she had something in her stomach, she would have thrown it up. But with a deep breath, gave it a try, realizing it was weirdly easier than it seemed.
"I'm gonna go and look for some more of these. Can you finish the rest of them?"
"You're going into the woods alone? It's getting dark."
He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her as if asking What choice do we have?
"Shouldn't you at least eat something before you go?" And then, taking a better look at him, "You look pale and exhausted."
Gale exhaled loudly, seemingly out of patience.
"No doubt that when we start to cook them some people will come ask for some. I should get more while there's still sunlight."
Then he left without another word, and Eliza was stuck staring at his back.