The 75th Hunger Games {COMPLETED}

Sleeping With the Enemy

I’m not even sure how long we spent up there, just laughing and hiding away in the parallel world above the trees. It really did feel like we were somewhere else, away from the games. We decided to head down and at first Caius left me at the top of the tree. He seemed to find it amusing, I didn’t. He climbed back up and held me into him as he manoeuvred through the branches. He was still better with one arm and me as dead weight than I was alone.

We grabbed our packs and made it back into the meadow.

“We need to find something to hunt; it’s a bit pathetic if we rely on sponsors for food.” Caius said as we sat back on solid ground.

“Have you seen anything you could possibly hunt?”

“Last night there were a few small animals in here, I could probably set a trap with some wire.”

“What kind of animals?”

“Just some premium beef, top shelf lamb, you know, the kind of stuff that just wanders through the forests here.” He grinned.

“Oh ha-ha, make fun of the Capitol girl. I know what kind of animals are in a forest, I didn’t think that I was walking into a livestock pasture.” I snapped.

“What do you actually do?”

“What do you mean?”

“In the Capitol, you know, when you’re not volunteering for death?” He smiled.

“I’m a student.”

He raised an eyebrow, “like school?”

“Advanced learning, I already graduated high school.”

“That sounds boring; do you just learn the same things over and over again?”

“No, I study the history of the old world, and archaeology and anthropology.”

“That was mostly a list of words I don’t understand.”

“Archaeology is the study of artefacts and historical sites. Anthropology is the study of cultures and customs.”

“That kind of stuff is interesting to you?”

“Absolutely.” I smiled. “What do you do back in district 7?”

“Well, you go to school, when you hit twelve you start working with the lumber, or you get picked for the games, and you stay at school until you’re sixteen, then you work in lumber, or paper. That’s pretty much it.” I almost felt a little guilty for going on and on about all of the things I do. “I still work with the lumber guys, even though I don’t have to anymore.”

“Why?”

“I love doing it. Why are you still at school even though you don’t have to be?”

“Fair call.”

I watched as he started to pull the wire out of his pack and start tying it up. “Can you grab me a good sturdy stick?” he said.

“Are you hinting to something Caius?” I smiled cheekily.

“No, must have been a happy accident.” I laughed and looked around.

When I found one I picked off all of the leaves and twigs until it was relatively smooth. I watched as Caius managed to make a snare trap. He set it up on the inside rim of the meadow and smiled appreciatively at his work.

“Now we just have to wait for something to come and get in it.” He said.

“I assume all creature look at suspiciously placed inorganic materials and think ‘well, I better go and get in that’.”