The 80th Hunger Games: A Time for Revenge

Prim's Day Four

Chapter Eighteen:

 BANG!  I'm sleeping when the first cannon sounds, but after that, I'm awake.  It's always startling when I hear one, mainly because it means someone died.  I wouldn't mind the sound if it meant a kitten was born, or if it meant I got free chocolate.  Something of that nature.  But sadly, it doesn't. 

 Sam hands me the pack, and I take half of a strip of jerky out for my breakfast.  It's starting to feel like when I lived in the Seam and went without food for days on end.  Then I realize the obvious: sponsors love me.  If I run out of food, more will be provided before I blink my eyes.  And with that, I finish the entire strip.  I know it doesn't seem like much, but eating that much at a time now feels like eating a whole meal.

 BANG!  There's another cannon.  Two deaths in less than five minutes.  I have to guess that this had something to do with the Careers tracking down someone who had recently killed someone else.  I wonder what people will think if my cannon ever sounds.  I shouldn't say that.  I should say, when my cannon sounds.  I have to face the facts, and the facts are that I will die soon.  I have no weapon, except my puny knife, only one ally, and someone is set on killing me.  When you add these ingredients together, you end up with a recipe for death. 

 I suddenly want to do something, anything other than just sit here and wait for death to come creeping through the trees.  Waiting is something I've never enjoyed, and now is no exception.  I stand up.

 "Come on Sam, we're going somewhere!" I announce.

 She looks at me quizzically.  "Like where?"  she asks.

 "I don't know exactly," I answer, "I just want to go somewhere.  Don't ask me why, but this forest is starting to get on my nerves.  I think I need a change of scenery.  And I don't want to wait for something to happen to us, I want to be prepared." 

 Sam just shrugs.  "Okay, but where do you want to go?  What do you want to do that won't end up getting us killed?  Is there anything we can do that doesn't end in either of us dying?"

 After she speaks, Sam looks anxious.  She was right about how almost everything we could do could easily get us killed, but I can't go on like this for much longer.  "Let's just slink around.  Maybe go to the meadow, or somewhere around there."

 "Fine by me.  We just have to take everything with us."We pack up and leave immediately.  I can tell Sam is tentative of my decision, but she goes along with me anyways.  I now know the way out of the forest by memory, so we don't have to meander around like helpless fools.  Up ahead I can see the trees start to taper out.  The earthy dirt turns to spring green grass, and the sun is now visible through the branches.  It has a much cheerier ambiance to it than the woodland we settled in.  Sam seems a bit more cheerful now that she out of the darkness, but I know that behind her bright eyes there lies a deep concern for her own life, and she hasn't loosened her clutch on her bow.

 "Oh my gosh!  You're right!" I hear a voice nearby exclaim.

 Sam and I look at each other and duck down.  There's nothing to hide us from whoever is in a close proximity, but at least they won't be able to see us as easily.  I look up, and it turns out the voice came from one other than Aqua Pyrette.  Oh yay.  It looks like she is talking to her District partner, Parker.  Double yay.  The good thing is that they haven't seen us.  And there's one thing about this that is confusing me: why are two bloodthirsty killers sitting around talking when they could be out slaughtering children?

 Just then, I hear a bloodcurdling scream coming from the direction of the Cornucopia.  Aqua and Parker must recognize the voice, because they go running towards it.  That was close.  Sam looks terrified though.  We should probably go back to the forest and out of the way of the remaining tributes.  If that person wouldn't have screamed from the Cornucopia, we would've been dead within a few minutes.

 We solemnly stroll back to the camp, making sure we don't catch the attention of anyone else.  Sam was right about it not being safe, I wish I would've listened to her.  But we didn't die, so that was a plus.

 "I knew it," Sam states. "I knew we should've stayed back.  That was way too close.  Next time, we probably won't be as lucky, and we will die."

 I bow my head down, not wanting to look into her accusing gaze.  This is all my fault, I know it, and so does Sam.  I can't be so careless next time, if there is a next time.  I hope I won't want to leave any time soon, and even if I do, I won't listen to myself.

 I look over to Sam.  She's sitting in silence with an odd look in her eyes, like a mixture of fear and innocence.  I wonder what exactly is going through her mind.  Come to think of it, I barely know anything about her.  I'm sure she knows everything about me, everyone does.  I think I should get to know her better, I mean, she's probably the person I'll be spending my last moments of life with, or vice versa.  And why did she want to ally with me in the first place?  And I also feel a need to change the subject.

 "Tell me about yourself, Sam," I say.

 "Okay, what do you want to know?" she asks.

 I think about it.  "Well, first thing I have to ask is about why you allied with me.  Also, just things about your family and things in District Eight."

 "Truthfully, I allied with you because you reminded me of my younger sister, and I needed an ally, so you were the obvious choice, as you needed an ally too," she explains, "And about my family?  Well, I have a younger sister, as I said.  Her name is Lilac, she's ten years old, and looks a lot like you.  She's pretty shy and quiet, too.  Both my mom and dad work as weavers, and we are very poor.  And District Eight is a horrible place; it's so dreary and has no greenery to be seen.  What about District Twelve?"

 "Before Katniss won the Games, we lived in the Seam, which is the poorest part of the District.  My father was a coal miner, but one day the mine blew up and he died.  Since we no longer had enough money to buy food, Katniss illegally hunted in the woods and sold the animals so she could pay for food.  She no longer has to do that though.  Now, we live in the only nice part of the District; Victor's Village.  There are only three occupied houses there."

 "You're so fortunate to have her as a sister," Sam says.

 "Yeah..."

 "I hope none of the Careers win, they're probably already richer than Victors in poor Districts," I add.

 "I agree."

 I'm surprised there hasn't yet been another cannon after what happened at the Cornucopia.  I thought someone had tried to kill a Career and run away, but there was no cannon for the Career or the attacker.  It seems quite odd.

 Now that I know what lies on the outside of the woods, where I am is more relaxing.  It's the only place where I feel safe.  Soon, the arena falls dark.  Through the tree branches, I can see the fallen come up.  It's Stingra from One and Maya from Six.  The death count is starting to dwindle, so I hope the Gamemakers are satisfied and don't try to throw something in our faces to get us to come together and kill each other.  But then again, you never know.

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