Peaceful Forever [Book 1]

Chapter 9

-Amily's POV-

You're woken up to the sound of people chatting nearby.
"What if she's not here?" a girl whispers.
"She said she would meet us in the woods. I trust her," the male, who you now realize is Darren said.

Sitting up you whisper down at them only for Hadwin to jump in surprise.
"Oh my gosh Amily you scared us!" exclaimed Hadwin. "We didn't expect you to be in a tree."
"I'm glad to see you two," you remark as you climb down the tree, eager to stretch your legs.

You walk deeper into the woods with Hadwin and Darren while they recount their games thus far. Darren got sliced in the cheek while grabbing axes and some knives from the cornucopia but his mentor Blight got him some first aid supplies. Hadwin had grabbed a bag identical to mine which I was thankful for.

We walked to the stream to gather water and sat down for a snack.
"So what's the plan?" you ask while chewing on a cracker.

"I think we should hide out for a bit longer," stated Darren. "We need to wait till the careers are weak before we have an encounter with them. I'm pretty sure districts 10 and 11 are working together so that's already 2 alliances that outnumber us."

"I recon we stay in the trees for at least another day," added Hadwin. "If we stay for too long the game makers will send mutts or worse."
"Sounds like a plan," you agree. "Let's try to get a lay of our surroundings for a bit then we can set up camp for the night."

After a few minutes of walking, a cannon sounds. A cannon means action which means the game makers won't be as eager to spice things up. The three of you don't spot a hovercraft nearby, so it's safe to assume that whoever died wasn't close.
The second cannon sounded an hour later, but again, it wasn't close by. You continued walking through the woods, setting up traps with Hadwin in hopes of catching some food.

Three hours later, another cannon sounds and your alliance decides to set up camp for the night. The arena must be bigger than you originally thought considering the fact that you had yet to run into anyone else, but maybe there were more wooded patches dotted around the arena. The woods you were in weren't particularly big. Maybe 5 miles by 3 miles at most. It's possible that others knew your alliance was in here and decided to steer clear.

You offer to take the first watch that night as you had slept a decent amount the night before. Watching the sunset from your perch in the trees, you're reminded of home. There was the faintest smell of salt in the air and you thought you could possibly be near the coast. However, there was definitely no beach in the area.

A few hours into your watch, Hadwin and Darren were woken up by the anthem booming through the arena. Only three faces shown in the sky tonight: Rowan from 3, Ruth from 8, and Lane from 12.

Seeing Rowan in the sky made you even more homesick. She reminded you so much of a younger Annie with her fire red hair. Feeling tired, Darren takes over your watch and you doze off to sleep.

~nightmare~
You're sitting on the beach, watching Devon and Annie play in the water. The calm waves lap the shore as a gentle breeze blows through your hair. You feel the most at peace on the beach. Suddenly, the water is rapidly rising at an unnatural rate. You hear the screams of Devon and Annie as the current reaches them. Panicked, you bolt up and try to search for them. The wave hits your chest with such a force you feel like all of the life in you has been slammed into the abyss.
~

You jolt awake, out of breath. It's dawn now, and you realize you're in the arena. Darren must have noticed your fitful sleep as he asked if you were ok.

"Yeah sorry it was just a bad dream," you reply, stretching your arms.
Hadwin wakes up a few minutes later and your group decides to pack up camp and check your snares.

The third day in the arena is uneventful. Two cannons go off, but again, they were nowhere near you. You're getting nervous now that the game makers are going to do something to move your group closer to the other tributes. You also can't shake the bad feeling your dream gave you out of your head. The marsh water isn't deep, maybe reaching your mid calf at its deepest, but you're terrified the water will suddenly rise and swallow your allies.

"I think we should go closer to the river," Darren stated. He was referring to the river you found yesterday at the far end of your patch of woods.
"Are you sure?" you ask. "Others might go there to get water and it's hard to hear people coming over the sound of the water."

"Amily is right," Hadwin piped in. "Maybe we could go closer to the river but hide up in the trees. That way we will see anyone at the river before they see us."

Agreeing with Hadwin's compromise, the three of you trek closer to the river and scale some tall trees.

Hadwin takes the first watch. The only faces in the sky tonight were Ariz from 5 and Raven from 10. You wonder if there was infighting amongst the 10/11 alliance or if mutts had gotten to Raven. They definitely didn't fight the careers as there would have been more casualties.

-
AN: the calm before the storm...