The Two Volunteers

Chapter 23

Glimmer, Marvel and I made our way into the tent and sat down on our makeshift beds. Cato grabbed a bucket from the supply pile and sat at the entrance to keep watch. I lye down stare up at the top of the tent and let my mind wonder about the events of the day.

A couple of hours later

I was awaken from my nightmare by Cato yelling, only to find myself in another nightmare, but this one was real. 

It took me a second to get my barrings, but when I did, I didn't like what I saw. The others were gathering weapons and taking turns peering out of the tent. 

"What's going on?" I asked to no one in particular, but got no response. 

I grabbed Glimmer's arm as she ran past my bed and stopped her. 

"What is happening?" 

"There's someone out there. They look hurt real bad. They're coming towards us. We can't see who it is though. Now, c'mon!" She reached behind her,  pulled out a knife, and handed it to me. "Take this." 

She stood up and walked over to Cato, who was at the entrance of the tent, staring in the direction of the forest. "Ready?"

I stood up and followed, still groggy from sleeping. "Has anybody realized it's the middle of the night?"

"That's not stopping her!" Marvel yelled pointing in the direction of the forest. 

I followed the others into the clearing in front of our tent. What I saw stopped me in my tracks. 

About 30 yards in front of us, there was a dark human figure coming towards us. I could only make out her long dark hair. In her left hand, she held a knife, and in her right, a backpack. 

"What do we do, now?" Marvel asked.

Cato took a step forward and the girl suddenly stopped. She cocked her head to the side, then collapsed on the ground, face down. The one thing that caught my attention was the long shaft of an arrow standing straight up from the middle of her back. 

Cato started walking towards the girl, and we all followed. We gathered around her limp body and stared.

"What do we do now?" Glimmer asked. "The person who did this was probably tracking her and on their way here now."

"But if she was running from someone, why would she come here?" Marvel grabbed her backpack and unzipped it. 

Cato squatted down next to the girl, then looked up at me. "Pull that arrow out of her so we can get a good look."

I nod my head and grab the arrow. It was made from wood, sticks, and leaves. Someone made this arrow. They didn't get it from the cornucopia. I ran my hand down the shaft until I came to the fletching of the arrow. I froze. There's only one person who ties their knots like that. It was Katniss who made this arrow. 

Marvel started rooting through the backpack when he got a strange look on his face. "Uhh.. Cato, you might want to come look at this."

"In a minute. I'm busy." He grabbed the girl by the shoulders and flipped her over. 

A look of pure shock came over him. 

Lying there with blood covering her face, neck, and shirt, was Clove. 

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