The 130th Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty-Eight

When I open my eyes again, the sun is high in the sky, its warmth heating my body. I sit up on my elbows and glance around the camp. Jane and Damian have their eyes closed, their faces a peaceful mask of sleep. I find myself glancing around to find Dusty, or Sabrina, and when I don't, I feel a tightening in my chest.

The anthem must have showed his face last night. I'm guessing at that point I was too distracted by grief to notice. But Dusty's body is gone. A foggy memory courses through my brain, of me clawing onto the grass, screaming, crying, as Jane and Damian pull me away from his body so the hovercraft can get it. I try to forget it, and the rest of the grief I'm feeling.

I hear a shift in breathing that can only mean someone is waking up. Jane, resting on her elbows, like me. She turns to me, her eyes full of sympathy. "How'd you sleep?" she asks with a slight yawn.

I shrug. "Fine, I guess." I don't have much to say to her. I don't have much to say to anyone, really. Dusty was one of the only people that I could easily talk to.

Jane exhales loudly and lies her head back down on the ground, staring up at the sky anxiously. Clouds have begun to glide across it, and I notice leaves being whisked away from their trees in the whistling wind.

I scoot over to where Jane is and stare up into the sky with her. We try to entertain ourselves by pointing out shapes of clouds in the sky. However, our smiles are clouded with pain and misery sparks in our eyes.

Dusty is dead. Sabrina is missing. At least it could be worse; I could be alone, alone and afraid, having to face three Careers all by myself. But even as I try to tell myself this, I can't help but think, Then why won't the pain go away?

Suddenly darkness settles over the camp, and Jane and I both glance up at the sky worriedly, where clouds have completely covered up the sun. The wind rises to a screeching howl, and as it passes through, I can't help but shiver at its icy cold touch.

Damian wakes up and looks around, frowning. Then he lets out an exasperated sigh and presses his hands to his temple. "Great. A storm. Seriously."

"Quick, build a shelter!" Jane says, having to yell over the piercingly loud wind. Damian and I help by grabbing sticks and stacking them up together in a pyramid-like shape.

After what seems like forever, we finally finish building a shelter that at least has a chance of holding a human being. That's when I feel the first drop of rain splatter my face.

And then suddenly it's pouring. Damian is shouting something, but I can't hear it over the rain, which is coming so fast its endless patters hurt my ears.

We all scramble into the shelter. It is so small we have to curl up against each other, and there is a leak in one of the holes directly above me where water is dripping onto my head, but it's better than being outside.

I hear a soft rumble of thunder and frown in disgust. "This sucks," I mutter.

"Just close your eyes and let it soothe you," Jane replies, from where she is wedged between Damian and I, her knees pulled up to her chest in the smallest ball she can manage.

"May I remind you that this is the Hunger Games?" I retort, annoyed.

Damian, a look of sympathy on his face, reaches out to touch my shoulder. "There's nothing we can do about it. You might as well relax." And I know he is not only talking about the rain, but about Dusty's death, and Sabrina, out in the arena somewhere, lost, alone, and being hunted.

I nod and wipe the tears from my face before anyone sees them. I will stay strong. For Dusty. For Sabrina.

Suddenly, I hear a rustle by the trees near the entrance of the camp, and my whole body stiffens. Jane and Damian turn toward me in confusion.