The 64th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter Nine

I must've dozed off for a bit, but I wake up when I hear the anthem play. Ceffa is still leaning on my shoulder so I try not to disturb her. The pictures of the dead tributes begin to cycle through. Lark, who suffered a terrible fate of being crushed by that boulder, and Skit, whom I will forever feel guilty over. The district seven male, who I'm hoping didn't know Ceffa so she won't be upset. The district ten male, the one Ceffa killed back in area two, and both tributes from district eleven.

The anthem stops, taking the projection of pictures with it. For only seven to be remaining on the third day is very rare. The Capitol must be pleased with the show that we are putting on. I think that we will lay low for a couple days in hopes of avoiding action. My eyelids begin to get heavy and I give in to their pleas. I rest my head back on the branch and float in to unconsciousness.

When I wake up Ceffa is still leaning on my shoulder, but she's awake. The blooming tree that we were sleeping in is now practically bare. Looking at the compass, I will assume that the timer counts down to when the season will change again. The sun is not yet up so we decide to move while we still have a bit of darkness to hide in. The next season change will be in less than two hours and I don't want to be in the cold winter.

We eat the remainder of our crackers and beef and start to head towards the cornucopia. I load the golden bow, which came with 13 arrows in the sheath, and Ceffa has a knife in each hand. A bow is not my best weapon, but I'm more experienced with one than most tributes, and certainly more than Ceffa. Now that we are out of food we're going to see if we can steal some from the careers' hoard.

We reach the open field before the sun rises above the trees. The pile of supplies looks awfully tempting, but Latch with his knives and Roar with her whip keep us from running straight in. They both look to be asleep in the shelter of the horn, but it could very well be a trap. Ceffa decides to try to sneak up to the pile while I cover her with my bow. It sounds as good a plan as any so I whisper her a be careful, and aim my bow towards the sleeping careers.

She steps slowly at first, but picks up pace when she knows how to step without making a sound. All seems to be going well, until somebody dies. The cannon fires before she even reaches the pile and the careers start to stir with the sudden sound. Ceffa whispers a curse under her breath and decides to just bolt for the pile.

Hearing her sprint through the grass brings the careers to their feet. I have my sights locked on Latch, who is now running out of the horn with several knives in hand. I release the first arrow, holding my breath, and with eyes half open. I'm pleased to see that it somehow made it straight through Latch's left ankle and he is on the ground now. He manages to throw a knife at Ceffa, but she rolls behind the pile just in time.

I figure that Roar is the only threat now that Latch is injured, but I don't see her near the horn at all. Ceffa grabs two large rolls, a backpack, and an axe, then comes running in a loop around the cornucopia to avoid Latch and his deadly knives. I feel relieved, as if we might make it out unharmed, but then I see Roar running after Ceffa, and at a much faster pace. Now that I have a better look at her whip, I can see the the rope looks more like thick string, and the end is attached to a thick, six inch, silver blade.

I shoot an arrow towards her heart, but she's running too fast to get a good aim on her. Both of them are almost to where I am standing so I decide its probably best if I run too. I want to get out of area four before it turns to winter, so I start to run across the edge of the field towards area two. I'm about half way there when I feel the rip of my skin as the whip wraps around my leg. I turn to see that Ceffa ran in to area four, and Roar chose to chase me over her. She pulls the whip off my leg and the blade rips deeper in to my calf as it unwraps. I fall on the ground, overwhelmed with pain, and await death, but it dosn't come. Instead I see that Ceffa has lodged her axe in to her right arm and then pushes her to the ground next to me. I'm barely capable of thinking, but I still manage to pull out my knife and cut the whip in a couple of places so that it can't be fixed.

Ceffa quickly helps me up and I lean on her the entire walk to area two. I don't even try to move my right leg, and I think that the damage is pretty severe. When we get deep in to the woods she helps me climb a sturdy tree with a lot of branches. This process takes almost an hour with my leg and by the time we reach where we are going to settle, the sun has already risen and the seasons have rotated once again. The spring to summer change is pretty subtle, and I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't look at the compass.

Now that I'm not moving all I can focus on is the excruciating pain. Ceffa pours some water on it, in attempt to clean it, and wraps a peace of cloth around it that she found in the backpack. She's obviously not a medic, but she's doing the best she can. I quitely fall in to a deep sleep, but I know I'm still alive because, besides the intense pain in my leg, I can feel Ceffa leaning my shoulder again.