Justice, the 4th hunger games book, the story after mockingjay

Chapter twenty-four

Chapter twenty-four

KPOV

I keep running not daring to look back, the blood bath was behind me, I just begun focusing on the forest which was somewhere close. It should be possible to make it there before sun set, I would just need to keep up this pace and hope that the temperature of the day increase much more than it was now. I was used to the heat, living in district 12, hunting most days and from those endless days of training but I knew I couldn’t push myself too hard, exhaustion would do me no good in this, the hotter it gets the more water I will need and without knowing how long it will be before I am able to find a stream, lake or river I need to conserve my energy or risk becoming dehydrated, a feeling I remember all too well from my first games.

Knowing I wasn’t being followed I just kept going I begun to slow to a steady jog i could keep up until night fall if I needed. Weaving around the buildings making sure to maintain the same path using the shadows casting down from the buildings to do this.

Glancing up at the sun through the gap in the buildings I see that it is about midday, I must have been running  for about 3 hours, in the cool morning air though this hasn’t been a problem though in the heat of the midday sun I slow to a swift walk before coming to a complete stop, I need to conserve my energy. How far have I gone?

I scale the side of the nearby building, not wanting to enter for fear of what might be dwelling within, crouching on the roof I pull off the three bags including my sheath and look back down across the roofs of the buildings. In the distance I can see the feint glisten of the Cornucpoia. Turning around I can clearly see the tree line in the near distance. I should be able to get there before nightfall and if I’m honest with myself I don’t fancy spending the night in this place, knowing the majority of the tributes will have seen me take off and follow. I sit down, leaning against the wall of the roof begin to sort through my supplies.

That’s when the cannons begin to fire.

I sit there motionless counting, I figure this is the cannon count for both games as the death count reaches twenty. I sit there waiting for more and count another seven cannons.

Twenty-seven dead, that makes just twenty-one left. I wonder how many are left in pairs? How many are left from my fight? If I had to guess, I’d say more are alive from Peeta’s end than mine. As far as I was aware I was one of the few who had actually fled the bloodbath, most of them being experienced killers will be eager to fight and kill of as many opposition as they can.

I sit there and empty the contents of the three bags on the ground in front of me. Dried berries, beef strips, a small loaf of bread, some powder which I assume to me some form of food and some crackers. This should be able to keep me going for a couple of days, at least until I reach the trees, there will be no food in this area of the games, nothing that is safe to eat anyway. I pack these away in one of the bags and go about assessing the rest of the contents, among the fairly large amount of supplies, a sleeping bag, a coil wire, some string, matches, a set of four knifes, bringing my total up to five, a jacket, some basic first aid supplies, three water flasks, one of which is full and some iodine tablets. A good haul I think to myself as I start to select the things I will keep with me. Efficiently packing my bags back up I manage to fit everything into just one bag, the largest of the three though I still stuff the other bag inside too just in case I come across some game. I strap one of the five knives to my belt and another to the outside of my ankle for easy access if I need it.

Once that is all packed up I turn my attention back to the sheath of arrows, counting them I see there are 30, that should be plenty. At the bottom of the sheath there is a small metal rod about the length of my arm. Is this my bow?

Seeing a button on the side, I grip it tightly in my hand holing it away from me and push it, almost instantly the metal begins to fold out revealing a slick highly durable bow. I smile to myself, perfect. This is perfect. Great for storage, I can have it on my belt within easy access without having to take up one of my hands whilst climbing or running. Someone has given this a lot of thought and a silently thank Plutarch once again for his help.

I slide an arrow out of the sheath and notch it in place. Kneeling up I draw back the string and take sight. It feels just right in my grasp, like it was built specifically for me, and it probably was. I attach it to my belt and practice a couple of times in releasing it swiftly. Easy.

Kneeling forward I settle my bag and my sheath of arrows on my back before checking the nearby roofs for an ambush, I am just about the stand, exposing myself when, out of the corner of my eye I spot a shard of metal glinting in the sun. Swiftly I pull out my bow and draw an arrow from my back, having it notched within seconds. I creep to the corner of the roof bow loaded and half draw in front of me, unsure if they have seen me. I slowly raise my head above the line of the stone peering over the to the adjacent building where the glinting came from just as I think the coast is clear and it was just a fragment of my imagination I see the top of someone’s head, clearly they had seen my and are waiting to attack, they just aren’t low enough. I can see the tips of jet black hair spiking up directly in front of me, I kneel up and take aim, drawing back my arrow I sit there and wait.

Minutes later the tuft disappears right before they jump to their feet and throw a knife which slices the muscle on the top of my arm just as I let loose my arrow. Thankfully my arrow hits home, right in the chest and my opponent topples off the building and into the street below. Dropping to my knees I wrap my hand around my now bleeding cut and clamp my arm to my side trying to prevent too much blood loss, that’s when the cannon fires, confirming my kill. I swiftly shrug off my backpack and route through till I find my first aid kit, flicking it open I find a roll of bandages.

Grabbing one I pull off my coat and roll my sleeve, exposing the deep long cut of my left arm I mop up the blood with my sleeve, trying to stop the gush of blood now flowing down my arm and onto the floor. As fast and as neatly as I can I wrap the bandage down my arm sloppily tying it off. I don’t think I’ve lost that much blood but I will have to take it slower. My bandages will need changing and the wound cleaning tomorrow morning, if I live that long the pessimistic side of my brain tells me as I pack back up my bag and make the decent back down to the street. Keeping my loaded bow in my hands I step over the tributes body and continue forward. Once I’ve moved far enough away from the dead tribute the familiar sounds of the hover craft comes and without looking back, I know what is going on and I have seen it too many times. I just simply pause and acknowledge it my slightly tilting my head to the sky and mouthing an ‘I’m sorry’ before moving to the shadows of the buildings.

Making sure I stuck to the shadows and, with a little more care this time I carried on towards the forest. Keeping up a brisk walk, fearful of the amount of blood I was currently losing, I knew my only hope right now was to make it to the forest, and fast. I needed to find some plant that would help. My mum always called is gummy grass, I could kind of understand why. You would roll it in your hands for a couple of minutes forcing it to secrete a sticky glue type substance. You then just needed to apply it to your cut and it will stop the bleeding before helping to bind the wound together.

As the sun begins the set I realize there is a very slim chance that i am going to make it to the woods tonight. I climb up the nearest building just as the sun begins to disappear beyond the horizon at my back. The forest is about a mile away. Do I risk being on the ground when darkness hits or do I settle for a night on the roof?

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What do you think should happen? should she spend a night on the roof or try to make it to the forest? I have an idea for both so i want to know which route i should go down?

As usual vote, comment and let me know what you think! :)