Clato : Till forever falls apart

Chapter 21 - the feast

We fall asleep interwoven with each other inside the sleeping bag trying to keep off the cold it's still evening and there will be a few more hours before the anthem comes on. So we'll get plenty of sleep before it's time to move. Before it's time to put our plan into action.

The anthem wakes us up ringing like an alarm. I would give anything to have Nimit barge into our rooms and wake us like before instead of this anthem. The seal appears in the sky showing nobody has died today. We both get up. Shivering from the cold. Cato pulls out some food and packs the sleeping bag. It's cold again so we stay close together. Though I'm sure nether one of us has a single piece of body heat to spare. We move to the logs silently. Still half asleep.

We finish the last bits of our broth, repack our bags put on our night vision glasses and start walking back to the cornucopia. We get there easily having mostly moved at night the ground feels more familiar and this is the place we made camp for most the games. It's easy to just walk to the centre. Of everything. It was a good choice of camp when there was more of us.

We walk around the tree line and find a space underneath some shrubbery where we shove our packs. We decided last night the best plan would be to split up. We say bye to each other and agree to meet back at these packs when it's all over. He squeezes my shoulder and I watch as Cato walks away into the night. He travels closer to the tree line where he thinks Thresh will emerge from the long grass. I push myself under the shrubbery for the first time in this arena being alone. The cold sends shudders down my body so strong my whole body is vibrating. Not only am I alone. But I feel so lonely. The leaves give me small mercy by covering my body shielding from the cold a tiny bit.

I think about the people watching back home crowded around in the square in complete anticipation, there properly seeing everybody else start to get in place before the feast begins, there's always deaths at the feast is like the second blood bath a lot smaller though. There will probably be a break from school, work and training. I remember gathering around in the square with everybody else waiting for something to happen. Trying to stop my eyes from closing because of the hour. Now I have no problem keeping my eyes wide open. The Parents of the years tributes are always celebrated at home for their child being the games. I think of how hungry I've been and know they have not gone a day needing anything. Especially with all the gifts they'll be receiving. I wonder if they're even slightly sad that their only daughter is in the arena. When I saw other parents watching there children there was always a massive smile plastered across there face. That is untill one of the family children inevitably die and the smile disappears completely.

I wait in the cold trying to imagine I'm home. Not in the games just watching them. I try to imagine a different face waiting under this bush, but it's useless. I can't focus on anything but the feast at dawn. The day lightens enough that I can take off my glassess. I shove them into a random bag knowing I'll be back for them. I need somthing to reconise the bush from, but I can think of anything that would be inconspicuous that we own so I leave it. The day gets brighter. Surely the feast should be starting around now. I wait impatiently. The feast was definitely to be held here right?

The ground shakes a little and the ground just inside the mouth of the cornucopia gapes open revealing a round table with a Snow White tablecloth draped over the top, but I'm not interested in the table I want whats on top of it. There's a large black one labelled 11, an almost identical bag labelled 2, a tiny orange one labelled 12 and a small green one labelled 5. I still can't figure out what's it mine, Thresh's or finch's but there's definitely medicine in 12s, Nothing else could be that small.

The table had just clicked into place when a figure darts out the corincoupia grabbing the green number 5 bag. She's so quick I barely had time to register Finch was even in front of me, running right out in the open. It was a clever plan. A clever plan if your tactic was to be elusive, which her definitely was. She left all the other packs alone as well so she doesn't make herself a target. I pulled a knife out my jacket but I don't want to give away my position yet so I slip it back in. When it comes down to it she won't be a fighter. There's no need to take her out now.