I wake up the next morning, and lie smoldering in the bag for what feels like a few hours. My hunger, my thirst tells me to get up and move, but my gloom keeps me tied to the tree, my hand on the bow.
Once the sun fully rises, I force myself to get up. I roll up the sleeping bag, and chew through half the apple slices I got from Selena, and eat another bird wing. I finish the second fish, and its a decent breakfast.
I walk east from my tree, hoping to come across Van. I cross my fingers, and after a few hours, I lose a bit of hope. I sit down on a log, famished and parched, and break into my precious supply of water, gulping down half a bottle. I pull out a groosling wing, and eat it. It doesn't do anything for my stomach, and I pull out the last fish. It doesn't look very appeasing, after being left out all night and half the day today. I wrinkle my nose, but indulge into it. It makes me want to gag, and I end up tossing out the fish. It won't do me well, gagging and vomiting up the food. I eat two slices of apple, and sigh. A parachute falls down to my feet. I open it, and its like a gold mine.
Rolls galore, and fruits and vegetables I've never seen in my life before. I dump out the pot's contents. Seven rolls altogether. Three potatoes. Potatoes. It brings good memories from home, the mushy insides, the floppy skin, and when Scottlynn was younger, she would smash her hands into the mashed insides, and spread it all over her face. A bag, sealed shut of air, filled with blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Two sweet potatoes. A huge bud of broccoli. A water skin.
And one tiny piece of paper, with words on it. 'Our gratitude from District Eleven'
I smile. This is a gift, showing their thanks. I look up at the sky, and widen my smile. I ensure they know how thankful I am for this gift. This, this must've cost a fortune. The sky is streaked rosy and lavender, and I begin to dump out all of my supplies. I organize the food and water into Jasmyne's pack, and the others, my knives, iodine, and such.
I begin to set up the sleeping bag in the tree. I belt myself in, and my hunger is uncontrollable. I eat two and a half rolls, and a handful of berries. I take a bite of the sweet potato, before remembering the risks of eating potatoes and sweet potatoes raw, so I climb down, and start a small fire. I fashion a decent spit from branches, and stick all of the potatoes and sweet potatoes to it, before eating a groosling breast. I chug down the rest of the bottle I drank earlier today. The potatoes finish cooking, and I climb back up into my bag. I decide to eat one sweet potato. They're my personal favorite anyway.
I use my knife to saw through the skin, and rise it to my mouth. I gulp down all of the orange insides, and chew through the skin. I gulp down some water out of the water skin, before rolling over, beginning to sleep.
Only one thing wakes me from my deep rest- the sound of a scream. Nearly a childish scream. I only know two possible victims- the girl from District 3, or Van. I leap from my tree, stomping out the small sparks from the coals of my fire, and quickly, messily rolling the sleeping bag up, and toss it into my pack, before tearing off toward the direction of the scream. If its Van, I'll kill whoever made him scream. If its not, I'll mercilessly kill anyone in the area.
Another shriek is emitted, before a screech for help. I don't necessarily recognize the voice to be Van's, but it comes from a different direction the scream came from. I stop, torn between running for the voice who called for help, or the direction of the scream. I keep running toward the shriek, as a cannon fires.
Its entirely dark now, and I retire to a log. I know I'll see whoever died in the sky tonight. I doubt the possibilities of it being Van. It can't be Van. I tremble, and watch the sky, hoping its the girl from 3, hoping Van made it through the night.
The anthem sounds, and I see the deaths. The girl from District Three. I sigh in relief. Was that scream really Van then? Did I react too impulsively? I shake the thought from my head, and scamper up a tree. Just then, I hear a gleeful scream followed by a cannon. Instinctively, I load my bow. "YES! YEESS!"
I hear the pounding of feet on the ground. I slink deeper into the tree, letting the leaves and shadows conceal me. I watch a girl, whom I immediately recognize as Silke, holding a head in her bloody hands, gore dripping from the end of his severed neck. She drops the head to the ground, stopping to light a massive campfire.
I'm taken aback by horror at the sight of the head, so close to the fire, so close to burning. Will she burn it? I don't have enough time to ponder on the question, when she flings herself to the ground, and begins to kiss it.
I gulp in terror. She pulls away from the head, before leans back down and locks their lips again. I'm tempted to shoot Silke, but the thought is shaken from my head as an electric bolt strikes down upon her body. She shrieks, and falls limp. She's not dead, surely. The Capitol would never, ever dare to kill a Career. A hovercraft lifts the head from the ground, and it levitates back up toward the sky, giving me a good look at it for a second or two.
I identify it as Gunner's.
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Its hard to tell though, as its badly banged up and bloodied.
I gather up my courage and leap from my tree. I run, run like no tomorrow, cleansing my mind of the horror I've seen. Soon, I can't run any father, and I climb up a tree to see the light of dawn and sunrise. I need to rest. I'm thoroughly exhausted and exasperated, so I begin to set up the sleeping bag in the tree. Best get sleep before the sunlight blocks my way of doing so.
I doze for an hour or so, before the sun blinds me, hunger and thirst digging their claws into me. I pull out my last groosling, and wolf down two wings and the other half of the roll from last night. I eat a meager handful of strawberries and blackberries, before pulling myself from the tree. Today I have to find Van. I have to. There's no way around it.
I finish off a bottle of water, and begin running from my tree. After a bit of sprinting, I slow to a stroll, sipping water, munching on berries.
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After a bit, I see an elderberry bush. I rush to strip the berries, when I see some tanned hide rising from the bush, and I jump back. I draw back on an arrow, assuming its a baby deer, or something, but as it rises higher and higher, my thoughts turn feared. "Hello?" I ask tentatively.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8dxrqYW7w
The person beneath the hide begins to speak back.
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