❝ it is sometimes an
appropriate response to
reality to go insane ❞
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In which an innocent girl finds herself
trapped in an arena with monsters and
her only hope is to claw her way out.
──...
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𝕹ight fell quickly in the arena, the air growing cold and stars appearing swiftly. Thresh and I were hunkered down in the forest, having found some water and something to eat. Neither of us wanted to have a fire, especially not with the Careers most likely out and roaming about like a pack of wolves.
Truly, I didn't want to test my luck for a second time that day, especially after having Cato Hadley throwing a spear at me. That had caused me more than enough stress for the first day of the Games.
"I've got rope, plastic sheets, a sleeping bag and some meat which looks like jerky. Then, I've got a flashlight." I explained to Thresh, putting the things down outside of the backpack, along with the spear. It was lightweight and silver, it's tip sharpened to a deadly point. This was a good weapon, and one that was uncommon for the outer districts to get. I'd been lucky. "What about you?"
"Bread, some dried fruit, dried meat, matches, water purifier, two water bottles, sleeping bag, knife and I don't know what this is." Thresh handed me an object and I looked at it in confusion before shrugging. It was a paste of sort, but for what, I didn't know. "We'll find out, I suppose."
"Yeah." We both leant back beside our weapons, chewing on some of the bread though our eyes darted around nervously. We were in the Games now, where even trusting each other was dangerous though we did anyway. "We should go hunting tomorrow, get some more food."
Thresh hummed, both of us shuffling closer to each other to share body heat, as the temperature continued to drop in time with the darkness. We didn't make a fire, neither of us dumb enough to do that. If we did, it would be like a beacon to the Career pack, luring them to our location.
We were silent for a mere moment, before the sound of the national anthem echoed through the arena. The both of us looked up, between the trees of our clearing, to watch the sky and find out who had died in the bloodbaths.
If you were watching at home, then you'd see the recap of the deaths as they told you who had been killed, but we didn't get that advantage in the arena.
The first to appear is unsurprisingly the girl from District 3. It means the Career tributes from 1 and 2 have all survived, which is of little surprise to anyone. They were all still alive. Cato was still alive.
I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Next to appear was the little twelve year old from District 4, then the boy from District 5. Both tributes from District 6 and 7 are dead, the boy from 8 and both from 9. The final face to pop up is the girl from District 10, meaning that the District 12 tributes are both still alive and in the arena.
That does not fill me with happiness. I was hoping that both of them would have died in the bloodbath. It saved all of us the trouble of being pitted against each other but now, it looked like we would just have to manage with that.
There's eleven of us dead now, only thirteen still alive and we're one step closer to finding the winner for the Hunger Games, or for meeting our deaths at the hand of another.
Thresh nudges my shoulder, before motioning to the floor.
"I'll take first watch. You should sleep." He urges, nodding his head. I sigh, knowing he's right, before slipping down to lay on the floor beside him. "Sleep, Mitzi. I'll wake you up when we should change shifts."
"Thanks." With that, I let my eyes fall close, drifting into an uneasy sleep as I try not to think what the upcoming week, or days, will bring.
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For the first time in a long time, I dream that night. Maybe it was from the stress of the arena, and the Hunger Games, or maybe it was because I was scared, but my mind drifted away to settle my nerves.
The place I was in was warm, though I could not recognise it for the life of me. It wasn't the farmhouse at home, nor was it anywhere that I'd been in the Capitol, but it felt like home. I was sinking into a sofa, a TV and two bookshelves to my left, whilst photos sat on various surfaces. However, the closer I looked at them, the more the faces blurred until I couldn't make out who was in them or where they'd been taken.
Snow was falling in flurries outside of the window but there was a fire roaring in the hearth, and a blanket tossed over my body so I didn't feel the cold from it all. The pillow behind me breathed, sighing as a warm arm snaked around my waist and clung to me. Surprisingly, I didn't feel fear, despite not knowing who the arms belonged to.
I felt safe.
Leaning back, I allowed my eyes to close once more as hands ran through my hair, twisting my curls so that they were out of my eyes. A soft kiss fell against my forehead, causing a small smile to fall onto my face. This was blissful and as much as I didn't want to wake up, I could hear a voice calling for me in the distance.
"Mitzi!" Thresh didn't sound panicked, just tired as if he was trying to wake me up and I knew, that as selfish as I wanted to be and stay in this warmth, I had to let Thresh sleep. We'd need all of our energy reserves for the next few days, to be alert in these games. I didn't want lack of sleep to be my cause of death.
That would have been embarrassing.
Reluctantly, I began to wake myself up once more, to the protest of the person behind me. They made a sighing sound, before calling my name, just as Thresh had done. As my consciousness came back down into my now awaking body, I turned back to look at the person behind me, eyes wide.
Steel blue eyes stared back at me and my heart sank. Cato Hadley was in my dreams.
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Hiya,
So, this is kind of a short chapter because I didn't want to have a whole load of action in this chapter. Umm, so Mitzi's dreaming about Cato now so we shall see what happens.
