The Hunger Games- Prim's Story

Chapter 12

I can't sleep the rest of the night, in fear they'll climb up and kill me. All through the night, that girl's smile, Glimmer's smile, haunts me. There was a sort of hunger to it. She wanted to hurt me. The moon's slowly going down and my eyes have been trained on them all night. From what I've seen, she hasn't told anyone about me. In what way does that benefit her? Unless she wants me all to herself. Maybe she really didn't see me? I'm trembling as my mind races to think of a way to escape in the morning. Maybe when they are getting ready to leave in the morning. If they do, they could sit down there and starve me out if they wanted, they have enough. 

I hear light snores coming from below me and my face cracks into a smile. The District 1 boy that was supposed to be keeping watch has fallen asleep, sitting against the tree with his mouth open. I silently stuff everything into my bag and untie myself, then I pull the strings through the holes in the bag and tie them, using the tightest knot I learned at the knot-tying station in the Tribute Center. I look down and survey my chances. All the Careers are sleeping, taking slow breaths with their eyes glued shut with sleep. 

I look at the trees around me and it looks way too dangerous to travel using the tree branches so I slowly climb down, keeping my eyes on the Careers at all times. I finally reach the ground and take a shallow breath as I savor the feeling on my feet on solid ground. I start walking away slowly and quietly, opting to step on tree roots rather than grass and leaves. Something catches my eye and I look down to see a wire snare at my feet. I see a plump rabbit caught and my finger fumble as I try to get the rabbit out. It breaks my heart to see its cold, dead eyes but right now, there are other things I need to worry about. But I can't help but wonder if it's the same rabbit I saw before.

"That's not how you do it." A voice says, coming towards me. My legs shake and I turn around. I immediately start backing away when I see it's one of the Careers. Glimmer. The one that killed that girl and laughed along with the others when she pleaded. This isn't going to happen to me. I start to break into a run when she laughs. "I'm not going to hurt you. Here," she throws me the dead rabbit and it lands at my feet. I look down at it suspiciously. Why would she give this to me? 

I look back up at her and she puts on a nice smile and nods in the direction of where the girl she killed was. "I bet the fire coals are still hot." I stay planted in place. Part of me wants to trust her, but I know I shouldn't. This could keep me alive, but it could also be my death. I know the fire coals must be hot and it will be easy to cook this rabbit, and I haven't had food since the Games began. I don't know where Peeta is, so much for protecting me. I look back at Glimmer, and she says impatiently, "I'm not going to hurt you."

I follow her and hope this isn't a decision I'll regret, the only sound I'm making is the sound of leaves crunching underneath my feet. Glimmer touches the coals slightly and winces. "Use those branches. You know how to make a spit, right?" I nod and grab some branches while she skins and guts the poor animal. I've seen my sister make one in the woods many times. She takes the spit from me and fashions it over the coals and cooks the meat. She hands me half the rabbit and keeps the other half to herself. 

"Thank you," I say quietly, and we eat quietly. She takes out a water bottle and uses her shirt to clean the grease off her hands and offers me the water bottle. I don't take it though. Instead, I ask, "What do you want with me?" 

She laughs and says, "Nothing. I saw you in the tree and I saw your training score. You seem pretty smart." 

What does that mean? Does she want me as an ally or as a kill? I shouldn't stay much longer, she could hurt me and even if she doesn't, I really don't want to put a wrench in Peeta and my sibling dynamic. Or maybe it doesn't matter anymore.

"You have bits of tree bark in your hair." She observes as she stands up and walks towards me. I stand, and back away slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you!" She says, exasperated. She walks behind me and pulls the tree bark out of my hair and removes the braids. She smoothes my hair down and rebraids it.