Battle Scars

Chapter 17: Water Bottle

Chapter seventeen: Water Bottle
I sat down to rest, and decided to investigate the pack I had taken from the cornucopia. I was fairly pleased with it's contents. There was a sleeping bag, a thermos of thick, soupy mixture, still warm, a bottle of water, and a length of rope. The bag also had pockets that were obviously designed to keep food cool. However I had no food, apart from the thermos of soup. Not wanting to waste the soup unless I had to, I decided to go hunting. Since I only had a sword, I improvised by sharpening a few rocks into a point - like a spear head. One of them would be enough to stop an animal in it's tracks, however I knew that if I actually hit something, I would have to finish the job with my sword. I glared at the glinting weapon as I worked on the rocks, willing it to turn into a pack of throwing knives. I don't think it paid much attention to me.
I only managed to secure myself a small rabbit, enough for one meal. I cooked and ate it, making sure to conceal the fire as much as possible. I didn't want any attention from anybody just at that moment. I knew that eating the whole rabbit meant I would have to hunt again the next day, but I was hungry. As you might remember, I had upended most of my breakfast earlier that morning. Had it really only been that morning I was still back at the training centre? It sure didn't feel like it.
By this time, I was both worn out from running, and tired. I decided to make good use of my sleeping bag, and after discovering a rocky outcrop just big enough to conceal me and all of my belongings, I squeezed underneath it and lay so I could just see the outside world. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, and it was now dark. Suddenly, the sky above my head lit up, and the dead tributes for the day were displayed in the sky. Aidan, from Australia, Ashley, from England, both the male and the female tributes from Asia, (I didn't know their names) Alicia from America, the female tribute from Columbia, the male from Africa, and the female from Arabia. Eight tributes were dead, leaving twelve remaining. And all of PMS was still alive. It seemed that Vikk and Mitch were yet to battle it out between them. Or maybe they planned to kill me first.
On that happy thought, I settled down to sleep.

I did not spend a peaceful night. I awoke at the least sound, which possibly saved my life on the occasion when a rather large snake decided to use the same hole as me. Thankfully my sword was within easy reach, and I'd shoved the silver blade through it's head before my brain had even registered that this creature could possibly kill me. In the hunger games, that was perhaps a useful reflex to have. Kill first, ask questions later.
The next morning, I awoke, still tired, only to hear the noise of approaching people. I looked outside the cave. The sun was just rising. I stuffed my sleeping bag back into the pack, and tied the pack tightly onto my back before crawling out of the hole. I first went across to the mouth of the waterfall and took a drink, splashing water on my face in the process to wake myself up a little more. The voices drew closer, and I decided to investigate. Suddenly, I rounded a corner, and came face to face with none other than the entire team of PMS. And of course, they yelled, and chased after me. I turned, and bolted back around the top of the waterfall, and down the other side of the mountain, preferring not to battle them all at the same time.
It was really the waterfall that saved me. Since I had been up the top there the entire night, I knew all of the rocks that were slippery and wet, and could easily avoid them as I ran. The team was not so lucky. I heard a splash, and then a yell, and being the good teammates they were, they all stopped to help each other. Leaving me to escape.
I stopped at the bottom of the falls to catch my breath, and take a drink of water from the crystal clear pool at the bottom. I decided it was high time I went hunting for my breakfast, and taking out the remaining sharpened stones from the night before, I managed to knock a couple of birds out of the sky. I drained the blood, and cooked both of them, but this time I only ate a small amount of one. I wrapped the rest of the meat in leaves, and stored it in the strange cooling compartment in my pack.
Suddenly, a cannon went off in the distance. It was a stark reminder that I wasn't just there for a camping trip. I shouldered my pack, and kicked out the fire, deciding it was time to move on before PMS got the wind of the smoke, and decided it was worth coming down the hill to catch me. At that moment, I heard a sharp, metallic noise, and I looked up sharply to see a metal water bottle floating down off the waterfall. I realised PMS must have dropped it at the top. It floated gently to the edge of the pool, and I grabbed it quickly, and filled it up with more water, before stuffing it into my pack. Then it was really time to get out of there, before whoever lost the water bottle came to retrieve it.
Yet another cannon was heard in the distance.

I had walked for about half an hour before deciding to rest a while. Since PMS had stolen my hiding place of the previous night, I found a good tree, and clambered high up into the branches, where I was hidden from view from below. I reached into my pack and took out some more meat, since I was pretty hungry. Then I used the rope to tie myself and my sleeping bag onto the tree, and went to sleep.