I sleep peacefully, and would've woken with a wide smile on my face, if it weren't for the wall of fire descending down the hill, slowly into the valley Jasmyne and I were in. I shake Jasmyne awake, and fumble for the tie keeping us in the tree. Shaking, I untie it, and sling the backpack over my shoulder. Jasmyne takes Ted and the sleeping bag, and we take off running.
For being a small girl, I wouldn't doubt her speed, but she was always a step in front of me. Soon, I fall behind her, hyperventilating, and fighting for every huff of breath, every foot in front of foot. I hit the ground, my muscles aching, and my lungs heaving out every breath. Jasmyne turns. "HAYLYNN!!" she shrieks at me. Her voice brings me back to reality. "HAYLYNN!!" I get back up, just as the flames lay their burning fingers on my calf. I gasp in pain, and keep running. I sprint, jog even, each step sending a tingling spike of pain up my affected leg. I turn my head. The wall of fire is dying down, in height at least. I start running toward the flames. "HAYLYNN!!" I duck from flying fireballs, and I quickly jerk my body away from the flame wall. I turn my head and see Jasmyne following me. I pick up my pace. A hiss sends my feet flying, and they barely hit the ground with each step. I dodge, but the edge of the fireball burns into my left ear. I shriek, and instantly clutch my ear.
They were trying to draw me toward the big lake I ran past when fleeing the Cornucopia. The Careers would probably be there. They wanted a fight. They wanted some action, to entertain the viewers. We can't have easy times in the Games. A steady flow of blood drains from my ear, and I hear a faint hiss. Its as if I'm only hearing from one ear. I duck, and a raging fireball flies over my head. Another hiss sounds, and I try to dodge, but it catches the bottom of my jacket on fire.
I drop to the ground, batting at my flaming jacket, rolling hysterically around on the ground. "MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP!!" I shriek, seemingly losing my mind. I rise to my feet again, and draw my knife, and slash off the bottom of my jacket, sacrificing the, what could be precious, fabric to the flames.
I see the edge of the pond I found, and plunge in. I breathe heavily, the cold water flowing over my wound, and soothing my leg. I lay my ear into the water. I see Jasmyne make it to the edge of the pond. "Are you alright?" she asks.
I grimace. "Kind of. Did you get burnt?" She holds up her hand. There's a bare patch on her hand, scraped of skin, pouring blood down to her wrist. "Dip your hands in the water." Jasmyne does as I tell her, and I see relief wash over her face. I lift my ear out of the water, but it burns like never before. I gasp in pain. I see a parachute land at Jasmyne's feet. She opens it, and pulls out a set of clothes. She pulls out a jar of cream. A parachute falls on top of me. I drag myself out of the water, the burns sending spikes of pain through my body. Inside the parachute is a set of clothes, and a rubber ear cover, with a supple leather-like material. I place it on my ear. Its loose, and it soothes my ear pain, while still letting me hear properly. "I'm going to change into my new clothes over here." I say, pointing to a heap of rocks. I take my new clothes. My shirt is black, but I can flip it around to make it white. To keep myself cool, I wear it white side up. After pulling my trousers up my leg, wincing at my burn. I walk out to see Jasmyne had also changed into her new clothes. Ted was drinking water from the pond. He is extremely thin, and I can see his ribcage. "Jasmyne?" I say, straining to get my words out. "I think...I think we need to kill Ted."
"No!!" she exclaims.
"It'll be more nutritious to us than our bread and raisins. And nasty pork strips," I say. "And we can use his fur to make fluffy socks."
Jasmyne sighs. "Okay. Just don't hurt him too much." she says, and I nod. I lift Ted up, and wrap my hand around his throat. "I'm sorry Ted." I swiftly yank it to the left, breaking his neck. I sit down, and use a sharp knife to skin and gut him.
A strange, choked sound makes its way out of my throat as I pull out his internal organs. I keep the liver and kidneys. Living in Twelve all my life taught me one thing- rabbit liver is delicious. "I'm getting twigs so I can cook him." I call, and scale up a tree. I draw my long, serrated knife, and saw through large, thick, branches. I jump down, and cut the branches into smaller twigs and sticks. I situate them in a pile, with a few rocks of coal I found in the pack. I light the fire with a match, and its small, only a few flames spark out of the the rocks and twigs. I cook Ted's meat, and roast the liver and kidneys. Once he is a tasty shade of brown, I invite Jasmyne to eat. I lay out two servings of rabbit, a strip of beef jerky, a handful of raisins, a handful of berries, and half of a roll.
I sink my teeth into the rabbit liver. Its flavorful, nearly like chicken. After scarfing that down, I eat a few raisins and berries. "Why don't you eat the other half of the roll?" Jasmyne asks through a mouthful of berries.
"I don't want to waste all of our food, especially when we really need it." I say, and rip off a piece of beef jerky. I stuff the unfinished jerky strip back into the bag, before standing up. I blow out the fire. "Should we walk the night? Try finding Van?" Jasmyne nods.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrHyMIoMuw
"Only a few hours. I need rest from all that running." she says, while organizing her backpack. She slings it over her shoulder, and we head toward a direction we haven't been yet.
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