Defying the Odds (The 4th Quarter Quell) [The Hunger Games Fanfiction]

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Layla        

The light of dawn pokes through my eyes. The door of the tent is open and cool air is blowing through, sending shivers up my arms.

“Are you cold?” Asher asks. “I just opened it a few minutes ago. It was getting stuffy in here.”

We are wrapped together in the sleeping bag, my body tucked into his and his arms wrapped around me.

“’M fine,” I say, and press my head back to his chest.

“I was thinking of doing a little hunting, but I didn’t want to leave you here asleep.”

“Hunting?” I ask.

“Well I hope there’s more squirrels around. The one we saw yesterday can’t be the only one.” I let out a deep sigh and close my eyes. When I breathe in, I smell the woods in his jacket. Is this what he smells like when he is in District Seven?

“What is it?” he asks, noticing that I have gone quiet.

“You smell like trees.” My eyes open and I watch as his eyebrows furrow. “I like trees,” I add. His lips press to my forehead. His eyes linger on mine and I almost want to blush at the look he is giving me. I feel as if his eyes are stripping these layers off me, and leaving no space between us. Oh, wait, the sleeping bag has already done one of those jobs.

“Do you have to leave?” I ask quietly, not wanting to be separated from him for more than a minute.

“You can come with me,” he offers, eyes still on me.

I nod quickly, and a smile curls onto his lips.

“Time to get up, then.”

The snow on the ground makes it easy for us to track animals, but it makes it even easier for others to track us. It isn’t falling anymore, but there is a good amount packed onto the ground. I am in the lead with knives in both of my hands, and Asher following behind me holding his ax. No words are spoken between us. I know that he is tired, but refusing to slow us down. He is being stubborn too, declining my offer to carry the backpack filled with everything.

I look down at the tracks in front of me, and smile.

“Deer,” I whisper, and turn my head back to see a smile matching mine on his face.

We continue forward for about another hour following the tracks of the deer when my stomach begins to ache. That tuna we ate last night was barely anything. I regret not eating more on the hovercraft.

I push the pains of hunger away, and we continue through the forest. When will we find something?

A cannon booms far away, probably on the other end of the arena, and we stop for a moment before continuing.

I yawn as another hour passes, and the sun is sitting high in the sky. We haven’t been moving for that long, have we? It’s only been a few hours.

We don’t find the deer, but about fifty feet away is a bright red fox. I stop when I come close enough, and slowly bring the knife back to throw. The fox turns to us and stares for a moment, and I launch the knife as hard as I can.

It sticks in the fox’s neck before he processes what it is, and he drops to the ground.

“Stupid fox,” I mutter. Asher chuckles and we step towards the dead fox.

“How is it already dead?” he asks. I pull out the knife and wipe it clean on my jacket.

“I stuck it in a vein. I went to the wild animal station for a few minutes in training.” Thank god I had too; otherwise, I wouldn’t have known how to track animals. I’m sure Asher’s gotten out in the woods illegally a few times, just as I have swum outside the borders of the district. He wouldn’t have a problem tracking animals if he was fully rested.