I sat, frozen, not knowing what to do. I pulled away from the kiss and pulled the covers of the sleeping bag over my shoulders. Griffith got down from the tree and soon enough, Harper came up. ''Hey, Jo, move over,'' She says, hopping into the sleeping bag with me. I was squished to the edge and afraid that I was going to fall off of the tree branch.
''Thanks, for today,'' I say.
''It's no biggy,'' she swats a hand.
''Yes it is. You saved my life. I owe you, big time,'' I laugh.
''Well, you know what you could do?''
''What?'' I ask.
''Set Stellan and I up,'' she giggles.
I laugh. I suddenley felt over protective, like I just wanted to shout 'no' in her face. I don't know why. I almost felt...jealous. Was I jealous? I didn't know.
''Yeah, sure...if he's still alive,'' I frown. The anthem plays and a blue screen is projected onto the forcefield. I immediately sat up and watched the screen to see if Stellans face appeared. Luckly, he's still out there, alive. Only three tributes have died today. Eleven more tributes to go. ''Goodnight, Harper,'' I say. I turn on my side and fall into a deep sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up the next morning with Griffith on my right and Harper on my left. I rolled my eyes. Anybody could've attacked while we were asleep, especially since the smoke from the fire was still rising in the air. I sat up and Stellans face flashed through my mind. I have to go look for him. I jumped down from the tree, threw my back pack over one shoulder and my quiver full of arrows over the other. I loaded my arrow and stepped on the remains of the fire so as no one would come and find Griffith and Harper while they were asleep. I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder and I turned around to be face to face with Griffith. ''Where'd you think you're going?'' He smashed his lips onto mine.
I pulled away and took a step back. ''Griffith, you can't just kiss someone whenever you feel like it. I'm going to go find Stellan. Tell Harper I said thanks,'' I turn around, but he spins me back around to face him.
''I really like you, Jo. I do.''
''Griffith, I have to go,'' I sighed.
''Go where?'' Harper asked, jumping down from the tree.
''I'm going to go find Stellan. I have to.''
''Alright,'' Harper nods. ''As long as you bring him back here,'' she winks.
I laugh. ''Yeah, sure.'' As if. Wait, why am I being so mean? She can have him. I don't like him. I don't think I do. . . ''Thanks, for evrything,'' I smiled. I walked up the hill and into the jungle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had been walking for hours now and still there was no sign of Stellan. I was so dehydrated that my lips had started to bleed and I felt a bit dizzy. I sat down with my back hunched against a tree. I barely had enough strength to carry my bow. I looked up at the branches of the tree and decided to try to get up to them. It was getting dark and I needed to stay somewhere safe. I did my best to get up into the branches. There were higher branches, but I didn't have the strength to climb any further. I fell asleep with blood gushing from my lips and I was wistul for water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up the next morning to find a parachute sitting on my lap. I sat up and quickly twisted the cap open.
Sorry, Sweetie.
I wasn't in the best condition
when I sent in that liqour
- H
I rolled my eyes , threw away the note and found a bottle of water sitting before me. I quickly opened it up and drank half of it, saving the rest for later. I jumped down from the tree and loaded my bow when I herd someone coming.
''Jo. . .'' they mumbled. ''Jo . . . where are you?'' They sounded like they were half asleep. I stepped out from behind the tree and pulled my arrow back further. The boy fell to his knees and put his arms out. ''Just kill me. Kill me now,'' he croaked.
My eyes widened. I recognised the thick, fair hair that sat on this boys head. I recognised the hazel eyes that stared right at me. I knew this boy that was pleading for me to kill him. It was Stellan.
''Stellan!'' I yelled. I threw my bow on the floor and ran over. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. ''Oh my god, Stellan! You gave me such a fright! Where did you go?''
He looked confused for a minute. I pulled away from the hug.
''Stellan, it's me. It's Jo.''
''Jo! Oh my god, I found you!,'' he smiled, giving me another hug. He tried standing up, but fell back down to his knees.
''C'mon, lets get you up this tree.'' I helped him up the tree I had previously been in and got up after him. I handed him the bottle of water and within a few seconds, it was gone. ''What happened while you were by yourself?'' I asked. I grabbed his hand and noticed it didn't feel completely smooth. It felt like there was a hole in it. I looked down at his hand to see a chunk of skin missing. Like a hole was burned into his hand. I pulled up the sleeves on his shirt to find multiple of these little holes, burnt into his skin.
''I was just running after you said you'd catch up and then I fell down this hill and then...'' he trailed off, looking into the distance like he was in a trance.
''And then?'' I asked, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.
''Some birds started attacking me and they did this to me,'' he said, showing me the little holes in his skin. He didn't seem like himself. There was something different. He seemed dazed and just kept staring into the distance. It was like he didn't know me. He had managed to keep at least one of our back packs. I looked through it to see that it belonged to the boy I had previously killed. The boy I killed. He had lost my bag so we didn't have the lizard anymore. I took out a sleeping bag and and helped him into it.
''I'm going to go find some food. Stay here. I'll be right back.'' I turned around to leave, but he gripped onto my shoulder. I turned back around to face him.
''Don't go, please. I can't be by myself again,'' he says, almost in tears.
''Stellan, it's alright! I'll only be an hour or two.'' I give him a weak smile. He nods and plays with his fingers. I lean in and give him a peck on the cheek. I jump down from the tree and wave back at him as I walk further and further into the deep, dark, dangerous jungle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked back towards camp. I had hunted two, small lizards and a crow. I looked around frantically when I heard shouting. I was pretty sure it was Stellan. I ran up towards the tree to find him swatting the air, shouting and screaming. ''Stellan! Stellan!'' I said, climbing up the tree. I wrapped my arms around him, causing him to calm down. ''It's alright, I'm here now.''
''They were back, they were here,'' he cried into my shoulder.
''Who was back?'' I asked, worried.
''The birds. They started attacking me,'' he sobbed.
''Shhh, it's alright. They're gone now.'' He nodded. This wasn't good. He's hallucinating things. I'm pretty sure it's just from being dehydrated, but it could also be from those birds that attacked him. They could have done something while they were pecking away at his skin. I shuddered. We sat there, wrapped around each other for about an hour until Stellans head fell off of my shoulder. I pulled away from the hug to see that he was asleep. I smiled and layed him down on the tree branch. I jumped out of the tree and started a small fire. I let the fire heat up while I plucked the feathers off of the crow and picked off the scales from the lizards. I stuck them all on a stick and roasted the by the fire. When Stellans lizard was done, along with mine, I climbed up the tree and shook him awake. He woke up, wide eyed and screamed, looking around frantically.
''It's alright, It's me. I just came to give you this,'' I said, handing him the lizard.
He shook his head. ''I'm not that hungry,'' he said, handing it back to me.
''Stellan, c'mon. You have to eat.''
''No,'' he shook his head. Uhhh he's so stuborn.
''Okay, how about me play a game. You ask me a question, and I'll answer every time you take a bite,'' I said, handing him back the lizard.
He grinned. ''I already know everything about you.''
''How do you know? I could have kept some things a secret,'' I grinned back at him.
''Alright, did you ever want to change the colour of your hair?''
I cuddeled up next to him and laughed. ''Nope.'' I smiled.
Hours went on, with Stellan asking me questions, me answering and him taking a bite of the lizard. He ate most of it, but had a bit of trouble trying to keep the contents of the lizard down in his stomach. He'd gag a bit every so often, but didn't vomit. I sat up. ''Alright, last question.''
He smiled. ''Is there any lucky guy in your life?'' he raised an eyebrow.
I laughed. I leant over and kissed his forehead. ''Goodnight, Stellan.''
He smiled before turning over on his side while I jumped down from the tree and stomped on the fire to put it out. I sat down on the floor for a while with my legs in a criss-cross position. I nibbled on my lizard. It's nice, it just being quiet for a while. It gives you time to think, is what my father used to say. And it does give you time to think. I began to ponder about my mom and how she would be copping, if she's had the baby yet, if my father is looking after her like he said he would, and Stellan. I felt responsible for him being hurt by those birds. It was my fault that I left him, and let Harper and Griffith talk me out of going to look for him. I rested my head in my hands and began to cry. All these thoughts running around in my head was just to much. I shook my head vigurously, trying to shake away these thoughts, but they didn't leave my mind. I wiped my tears and readied my bow and arrow. I hunched my back against the tree that Stellan was sleeping in and took watch for a while. After about half an hour, I had fallen asleep. It was only when I herd a twig snap that I woke up.