The Victor's Secret

1

Callie's POV:

We've been traveling for more than 4 days. I don't really know. I've lost track. Clove is growing weaker and weaker. I think we both are. I have no clue where we are. Where are we "safe" from the Capitol?

Clove stumbles on a rock and sits down for a rest. We are all out of water and food. It doesn't phase me. It seems as though it were only yesterday, that I was starving to death in the arena. Clove got fancy Capitol food as a mentor. The finest food in Panem. I hate to see her so unhappy now.

She looks around and predicts we are near District 7. Lumber. Rows of trees and the sound of axes may have given that away.

I remember how Johanna Mason from this district won the games once. I wonder what they are going to do for the 81st Hunger Games this year.

The sky is growing darker, and we set up a camp among the trees to be hidden. I curl up in my sleeping bag, but Clove stays up to watch something. I get back up and sit next to her. I follow the direction of her eyes. We can see the District 7 Justice Building between the branches. Our faces flash on the 3 screens along the top of it. The first screen with Clove's face, the last one with mine, and in the middle, the words "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: CLOVE & CALLIE LEAFLEN" tear my heart apart.

"What do they want from us?" I whisper to Clove.

"They want us dead." She replies with a tremble in her voice.

"But... Why? What did we ever do to them?"

"We played them. We made a fool out of the Capitol, showing that 'cheating' was 'allowed'. They got complaints and riots against us. We can't trust anyone. Not anymore."

I nod my head slightly in agreement. I yawn and go back to bed.

The shaking of Clove's hands on my arms makes me wake up instantly. She presses her finger to my lips.

"Run." She whispers.

"What?" I say a little too loudly.

"Shhhh. Take your backpack and leave. Peacekeepers are coming. If they see us both run away, they'll know we were here. But if I go out there, you are safe. Now Callie. Listen to me very clearly. Please understand me when I say it. I need you to go outside the Districts. Outside Panem. Start a new life. I'll do whatever it takes to have you live. If they kill me, the Districts will still rebel unless they have you. Stay away from any human communication or interaction. Nobody can know."

A lump in my throat reassures that I'm not ready to live all alone by myself. But I must do what Clove wishes. I put her through enough pain that I should probably do what she wants me to. I grab my backpack and fill it with all our supplies we had still left. I then tunneled out the back of the tent into the forest.