The second I wake up, a thousand questions pop into my mind.
What happened after I went unconscious?
Did Damian survive?
Did he have to use his knives?
Did the Careers kill anyone else?
Were they discouraged by me getting knocked out instead of killing Damian?
I ignore all my questions for now and sit up and stretch. The camp is strangely quiet, even though everyone's here. Wait, I'm wrong. Paige is missing. There's another question that just popped into my head.
I look at the Careers. They all have grim looks on their faces, even Sidney, who was never with us to witness what happened, as far as I know. And Daniel looks very upset. His cheeks are smudged red, and so are his hands. I see dry blood on his knuckles. More questions.
Xavier's looking at me, and he can probably see my confused expression. He glances at Daniel and then gets up and walks over to me. "Come with me," he murmurs so quietly the others can't hear. I get up and follow him curiously.
Once we're outside the camp, Xavier's expression gets even more serious. "While you were unconscious, a lot of things happened," he begins grimly.
I nod for him to go on.
"After that kid you were trying to kill knocked you out, he ran off. Daniel and Paige went after him, and Axel and I carried you. Mackenzie decided to come along with us to keep us company.
"Later, we heard the sound of a cannon. We were guessing that kid we were trying to kill had died. But then we heard angry shouts. We had no idea what was going on, so we followed Daniel and Paige's footsteps.
"Well, we were just in time to witness her before the hovercraft came to take her. Paige was..." He swallows. "Paige had a knife in her chest. She was dead."
I clamp my hand over my mouth and act like I was just hit by the most tragic thing in the world.
Xavier obviously believes me, so he nods sadly in an I-know-how-you-feel kind of way. "Anyway," he continues, "as you can see, it turned out the kid had knives and had killed Paige before she could kill him. So we followed Daniel's footsteps until we finally found him. The kid that we were all trying to kill was up in a tree, and Daniel was hacking his sword at it, trying to cut it down. Well, we all knew he was in his so-angry-that-he's-going-crazy kind of mood, so we tried to get him to stop, but he just threw his sword down and started punching the tree."
That explains Daniel's bloody knuckles.
"After a while he calmed down, and he came back with us to the camp. Ever since then we've been grieving for Paige. It's especially hard for Daniel, since he... you know...loved her." Xavier gives me a shrug. "I just thought you wanted to know what happened. We walk together back into the camp.
"What about our plan to finish everyone off today?" I ask.
Xavier looks at me, his dark brown eyes now sad and tired, and says, "That's not happening. We might do it tomorrow if Daniel's recovered, but I doubt he will be. It will probably be a few days before it can finally be just us Careers."
"Oh, that sucks," I say, but really, joy is pouncing through me like a tiger. Jane, Damian, and Sabrina will have more time to prepare themselves for when the Careers try to hunt them. They can survive!
Once I'm back in the camp, I plop down onto my usual sleeping spot. I sit and spin my sword around and around on the grass, playing with it absentmindedly like all the other Careers except Daniel, who is just staring at the grass.
Paige is dead.
Those words are strange to me. I never thought I would hear them. But I am not exactly happy that Paige is dead, and I am not sad either. She was horribly mean to me, but did she deserve to die?
No. She just felt a little insecure about the "friendship" between Daniel and me.
Yes. She forced me into a fistfight with her and tried to kill me in it.
I don't know whether she deserved to die or not, and I don't want to think about it. Instead I think about home. It makes me sad, but I do not cry. The Hunger Games is showing me how to toughen up. And if I can look at dead bodies, I can certainly think about home without bursting into tears.
It is too hard to be around this camp, where everyone sits and grieves for Paige. I get up and start walking away. Nobody seems to notice until, unfortunately, Axel speaks. "Where do you think you're going?" he snaps. He's in an even worse mood now, thanks to Paige's death.
"I need to cool off," I say, craning my neck towards Daniel to signify that, like him, I am having trouble getting over Paige's death. But, of course, that's a lie.
Axel considers my words and nods for me to go. "Bring your sword just in case," he tells me.
I nod, pick up my sword, and head out of the camp and deeper into the forest. I'm lucky Axel liked my excuse.
I walk through the rainforest. The sun is high in the sky, and it's early afternoon, but I feel so tired.
I could try to find Jane, Damian, and Sabrina's camp, but that might not be a good idea. Before the 'schedule' was changed, I told Damian the Careers would be after them and so they should set a trap. And if they have set one, I don't want to end up falling into it.
I wander around the rainforest, not caring if I'll be able to find my way back to the Career camp.
I come across a huge tree that is so tall I have to squint to see the top. I realize it would be a good place for shade from the blazing sun.
As I sit down I feel something hard underneath me. "Ouch!" I mutter. I look down to see that's it's a fallen branch.
I toss it aside and try to relax as I listen to the soft whistle of the wind. Suddenly I see something in the corner of my eye and look down.
There's blood trails on the grass in front of me.
I scramble up to my feet and run away from the tree and the bloody grass. I don't want anything to do with that tree anymore. I don't want to know what happened there.
Feeling dazed, I consider just heading back to the Career camp, but I decide I'll just wander around the forest a little more. After all, it's nice to have some time alone.
I continue through the rainforest, starting to feel more peaceful, when, suddenly, someone-or something-crashes into me.
"Whatever you are, get off!" I yell, struggling to fight whatever is on top of me.
All of a sudden, the weight is lifted from me. I look around and see a boy standing over me. He is very skinny and his eyes are wide and afraid as he looks at my sword and me. He is barefoot.
He is Dusty. And he recognizes me as one of the Careers.
"Dusty?" I say quietly. He doesn't move, and I don't know why. And then I realize-he's frozen in fear.
I set my sword down beside me and stand up to face him, leaving my sword on the ground. "I'm not going to hurt you," I say, but his terrified expression doesn't change, so I kick my sword a few feet away from me to make him feel better. "I'm not even a Career, really. The Careers basically dragged me into their pack. But I have real friends here, and their names are Jane, Damian, and Sabrina. They have a camp somewhere in the rainforest. Have you seen them?" I don't know why I'm telling Dusty this. I don't even know him. But for some reason, I trust him.
"No," Dusty squeaks, his pale lips barely moving as he talks. "I've been on the island most of the Games, but not anymore. I'm moving my camp."
"Why?" I ask.
Dusty starts to tremble. "Oh my God, I shouldn't have said that. Now you'll tell all the other Careers where I am."
"I told you, Dusty; I'm not really part of the Careers. I'm trying to escape to find my friends, but I don't know where they are. You don't have to trust me, though. I can let you go now, if you want."
Dusty doesn't respond for a while. Then, finally, he speaks. "I left the island because I knew the Careers will be looking for me there. And their camp is there too, right?"
"No," I say, shaking my head. "Their camp is here, in the rainforest."
Dusty's eyes widen.
"I can't give you advice about where to go," I say. "I don't want my directions to end up being the cause of your death. You can decide, and it is your choice whether or not to tell me."
Dusty looks at me, and looks at the ground. He repeats this action for a long time, his eyes narrowed in thought. "I'm going to stay in the rainforest," he finally announces. "But please don't tell anyone, not even the friends that you're looking for." His eyes are pleading.
"I won't," I assure him. "But please don't tell anyone that I'm not really a Career, either."
"I won't," Dusty says.
"Now go," I say, shooing him away. "Before the Careers catch you. Their camp is very close to here."
Dusty nods and starts in another direction. But before he breaks into a run, he turns around and looks at me. "Thank you..."
"...Sandi," I finish the sentence for him.
"Sandi," Dusty repeats, and a small smile forms on his face as he looks at me. "Thank you, Sandi." And then he disappears into the forest.
I stand, rooted at my spot, staring at the place where Dusty was a few seconds ago. Then I snap out of my trance, pick up my sword, and head back to the Career camp.
As soon as I'm near the camp I hear voices. I enter, and I see Mackenzie, Sidney, Axel, and Xavier chatting and laughing with each other. Daniel sits in the same spot he was in last time I saw him, and his eyes have barely moved.
I sit down in my usual spot, which is far away from everyone else. I feel like that's okay now, since Daniel is doing the same thing.
I start to think about my conversation with Dusty. I think about his icy blue eyes and his messy, light brown hair, and how his bangs almost covered his eyes. I think about his perfect, white teeth that I saw when he spoke.
He's kind of handsome, I think, but then I scold myself for being so immature about boys. But maybe, I think, I can go out again tomorrow and meet him. After all, he's staying in the rainforest too.
I try to tell myself that's a crazy idea, but I just can't help it-I want to see Dusty again.
I lay down, feeling-strangely-almost giddy with excitement for tomorrow, where I might be able to go out again and see Dusty.
This is the Hunger Games, stupid, a voice in my head tells me. And you're thinking about having a boy?! What, are you crazy?
I am too tired to disagree with that voice in my mind, so instead, I take a short nap.
~ ~ ~
I wake up right before the anthem starts. It's dark, and the Careers are still chatting and laughing, but now they're pretending to hurt each other with their weapons. I look over at Daniel who has fallen asleep. He is curled up in a ball, his arms wrapped around himself instead of Paige. And I almost pity him.
Suddenly the anthem of New Panem blasts in my ears again, and all heads turn to the sky, except of course, Daniel.
I wish I was still sleeping while this happened, because I know it won't be good when Paige's face comes on the screen.
And it comes on first.
A hush comes over the Careers as they stare up at Paige's smirking face. Her blonde pigtails look foreign to me now, and her chestnut-brown eyes stare down at us. I feel like I haven't seen that face in forever, although it hasn't even been a day since Paige died.
I see Xavier bow his head, and the other boys follow. Mackenzie just clutches her hand to her heart with a stricken look on her face, so I try to do the same.
Then Paige's picture fades, and the anthem goes off, and the dark sky is nothing again. I realize that Paige was the only person that died today. I wonder what Jane, Damian, and Sabrina will think when they see that a Career has died. I wonder what Dusty will think.
The Careers start to mutter quietly, and then they all shuffle to their sleeping spots and lay down. They don't say goodnight. Neither do I. We all know today as been hard.
Even though I just took a nap, I am still very sleepy. Today was an exhausting day; so much happened that I didn't expect. I am ready to leave today behind though, so I gladly drift off to sleep again.
~ ~ ~
I wake up at the same time the other Careers do, but we are all quiet because Daniel is still sleeping. We silently get ready to go out.
"What is the plan today?" I whisper to Sidney, who is nearest to me.
"Dunno," he replies, and his dark blue eyes look as sad and tired as Xavier's did yesterday. I guess they are having more trouble forgetting Paige than it seems. Or maybe they just miss killing people.
"Are we planning to kill anyone?"
Sidney shrugs. "Hopefully we'll get to that kid from District Three who killed Paige, but I doubt it. He's a smart kid, pulling that knife trick on us all."
I return the shrug he gave me and walk away. If the Careers aren't doing anything right now, maybe I can visit Dusty.
After I have pulled my now very messy ginger hair into the usual tight ponytail and have my sword in hand, I walk up to Sidney. "I'm going to go get some extra berries for our food basket," I tell him, hoping he can't hear the excitement pecking at my voice.
"Um...Sandi, I think we already have enough food," he says, but I act like I didn't hear him and march out of the camp.
As soon as I'm out of the camp I run to the nearest bush and pick a handful of blueberries. Then I run deeper into the forest until I'm positive that the Careers can't hear me, and I say slightly loudly, "Dusty?"
No answer.
I raise my voice. "Dusty? Are you there?"
I hear movement on my right. Leaves part and Dusty appears. "Sandi?" he whispers. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, well...you know the Careers...always hungry for kills...it was...kind of bothering me, so I, you know, came out here to get some fresh air, and I thought I heard someone so I called your name..." I blush.
"Oh."
Dusty stares at me, and I stare back.
After a while, Dusty asks, "Are they looking for me?"
I realize by 'they' he means the Careers, so I answer. "No. They're all pretty stricken by Paige's death. Especially the head Career, Daniel...he was her boyfriend." I cringe at saying the word 'boyfriend' in front of Dusty.
Dusty nods. "Paige is the girl that was on the screen last night, right?"
I nod.
"Was she a nice person?"
I shake my head vigorously, and Dusty laughs. His laugh sounds pure and smooth.
"We were in a fistfight, and she tried to knock the crap out of me," I say.
"Did she?"
I grin. "Almost. Then I gave her a black eye, and that was it for the fistfight."
Dusty grins back at me. "So she hated you, I'm guessing?"
"Worse. She was jealous of me because she thought Daniel and I had a 'thing' for each other, but Daniel was hers and I should've stayed off of him." I say the last part of the sentence in a high voice, mocking Paige. Then I laugh. "Daniel and I are like five years apart. She was so insecure."
Dusty gives me a sideways smile. "It must be hard to act like a Career. Have you ever had to kill anyone?"
I shake my head. "I've been put to the test a few times, but the first time I fainted before I could kill the girl, and the second time I was knocked out."
I search Dusty's face for a response, but he doesn't make any expression. I see he is staring deeply into my eyes. I start to feel really awkward, so I quickly ask, "Have you ever had to kill anyone?"
I wait a second for Dusty to snap out of his trance. When he does, he says, "What? Oh! No, I haven't."
We stand there for a minute, staring at each other and then at the ground until Dusty finally asks, "You want to go sit down over there?" He points to a tree.
I nod and we head over there. Once I'm sitting I feel much more relaxed, and I tilt my head against the tree and close my eyes.
Suddenly I feel something on my cheek. I open my eyes, alarmed. I see it's just Dusty's fingers. When he sees my eyes open, he quickly removes his hand from my cheek and says rapidly, "There was a smudge of dry blood on your cheek, so I wiped it off."
I nod awkwardly.
Dusty wipes the "smudge of blood" on the grass and we are quiet again.
"So...you left the island to camp here, right?" I say, trying to start conversation.
Dusty nods, and I feel stupid for asking a question I already knew the answer to. "Did you have to go through the ice-cold water?" I ask, feeling a wicked smile spread across my face.
"Oh, yes," Dusty says, shuddering. "Horrible."
"I had to go through the same thing," I say. "The Careers and I were going to the island because they wanted to...well...find you and kill you, and we had to cross through the water."
After a slight pause Dusty says, "How long did it take you to get through it?"
"Dunno," I say with a shrug. "For a while I couldn't move because my feet hurt so much, but then I somehow managed to run through the water to the island shore."
Dusty's bright blue eyes get big. "Really? It took me forever! For each step I needed like, five minutes to recover."
I laugh, and he joins me.
Suddenly we hear a voice. "Sandi! How can it be taking you so long to pick berries? Are you getting a life-supply or something?"
I grit my teeth and say to Dusty, "I have to go. Do you have some berries I can take back to the camp? I'm supposed to be picking some right now."
Dusty grabs some from a bush behind him and hands them to me. I examine them closely.
"Don't worry, they're not nightlock," he says, laughing. "Just a mix of blueberries and grapes."
"Thanks," I say, and add them to the berries I picked earlier so my quantity of berries now seems like enough to have lasted me fifteen minutes or so of picking. I stand up and start to leave, but then I turn around to look at Dusty. "See you tomorrow?" I say.
Dusty smiles and nods. Then he leans toward me as if he's about to do something, but he decides against it and jerks backward. Then he waves awkwardly at me as I head back to the camp, blushing.
Before I even reach the camp I run into Sidney and Xavier, who are still cupping their hands over their mouths and shouting my name. Xavier sees me first and says, "Oh, there you are, Sandi. What took you so long?"
"I picked a lot of berries," I say, trying to sound believable. I open both of my berry-filled palms to show Xavier, but I am holding so many berries my hands that some spill onto the grass. Embarrassed, I quickly bend down to pick them up.
After I've gotten all my berries gathered together, Xavier, Sidney, and I start heading back to the camp.
"Has Daniel gotten any better?" I ask them although I can already expect the answer.
"Nope," Sidney says. "Still mourning his girl."
Well, at least that gives me more time to meet with Dusty.
We arrive back at the camp, which is now almost silent. Mackenzie and Axel are talking quietly. Daniel is awake now but he is still lying down on his sleeping spot, staring up at the sky with a hollow look in his eyes. I wonder if he would have rather let Damian take his life over Paige's. Probably not. He's selfish, and that point was proved when he left Paige behind during the lightning storm. It would have been better if she had died then.
I sit down at my sleeping spot, fiddling with my sword. I feel aggravated and frustrated. Why can't I just meet with Dusty without anyone watching me and being suspicious of me? He's so lucky he's on his own, without anyone there to watch him and tell him what to do. But I would still rather be with Jane, Damian, and Sabrina than on my own. They wouldn't mind if I went out to see Dusty; they would probably even be happy for me.
What now? I think. Do we just sit here the whole day because of one person who won't cheer up? Why can't the Careers do anything without Daniel? Then another voice in my head tells me, If the Careers went out today, they would end up killing people, and the only non-Careers are those whom you care about.
I sigh. I'm guess we're all going to have to be here doing nothing until Daniel gets his act on again, but who knows how long that will take.
~ ~ ~
"Stop!" Dusty cries out in between bursts of laughter. "I'm laughing so hard it hurts!"
"Sorry!" I say, laughing along with him. I just told him about what Xavier had told me; how Daniel had gotten so angry at Damian he had punched a tree.
"He needs to go to an insane asylum," Dusty says as tears of laughter roll down his cheek, "if he wants to punch trees!"
"I know right?" I say, shaking with laughter.
After we've calmed down a little, Damian says, "Speaking of Daniel... has he gotten any better?"
"Sort of," I reply. "He's not sitting on the ground idly anymore; he's begun to pace around the camp. But he still doesn't say anything."
Today is the third day since Paige's death, and I have gone out to meet Dusty for the fourth time. I can only meet him once a day, because if I go out more than one time per day, the Careers will start to get suspicious.
Dusty nods. "I hope he doesn't recover soon, or else my life will once again be at stake."
"I'll tell you if he does, or if the other Careers go looking for you."
Dusty looks up at me and his eyes are filled with fear, which I haven't seen from him since we first met. "Promise?"
"Yes," I say, and I mean it.
We sit in silence for a minute, and then Dusty says, "When are you going to leave the Careers?"
I sigh heavily and say, "I don't know, Dusty."
Dusty gives me a sad look. "Sandi, I know you're looking for a good time, when it's not going to be too dangerous. But it's always going to be dangerous. If you don't run now, you're going to have to watch your friends get killed instead of being there to protect them."
I put my head in my hands. "I know, I know," I moan, sounding like a whiney little girl.
Dusty is silent, but I can feel his eyes on me. "Maybe you should go now," he says quietly.
Suddenly I stand up and shoot a glare at Dusty. "Do you want me to die, Dusty?" I say, my voice rising into a yell. "Is that why you want me to leave the Careers at the wrong time?"
Dusty stares at me, dumbfounded.
I continue. "I am not going to die trying to get out of the Career pack because of what you say! I...I just wish you would stop talking about it!"
Dusty's eyes are still wide with dismay, but before they begin to narrow with the anger I have caused him to feel, the most unexpected thing happens.
I burst into tears.
Dusty's expression goes soft, and I know he is hurting from my troubles, too, but he doesn't do anything but stare at me with sadness.
He pities me, I think. He thinks I'm that weak! What a jerk!
But I don't stop crying.
Feeling embarrassed that I'm bawling in front of Dusty, I press my hand roughly to my face, trying to wipe off my tears. But they just keep coming. So I cover my face with my hands, trying to hide from Dusty. Trying to hide from all of this.
Suddenly I feel a hand grab mine gently. It pulls me down to the ground, but I don't object; I just keep sobbing.
After the hand has pulled me to the ground, it releases me, but, unable to hold myself up, I begin to tilt towards the grass.
An arm shoots behind my back just before there is any damage caused. Then the arm pulls me into the warm, comforting body that belongs to it.
I open one of my swollen, teary eyes and recognize Dusty's worn out arena shirt, with a big "9" plastered on his right shoulder. And then I realize what is happening-Dusty, with his arm around me, pulling me close to him.
My heartbeat starts to increase dramatically, and I hope Dusty doesn't hear it pounding. I don't draw away from him, though. Being here, against his warm, strong body-it feels so good.
I feel my tears start to dry and fade away, and my heartbeat slows to a steady pace. I close my eyes and try to imagine that I am not here, not in this arena, not in New Panem, but instead somewhere far, far away where it is only Dusty and me. Then I begin to feel tired...very tired...
Don't fall asleep! A voice in my head shouts, snapping me out of my trance. What do you think the Careers will think about you being gone so long?! There goes your life!
Realizing that the voice is right, I force myself to draw away from Dusty. He looks at me with disappointment and longing in his eyes. I return his look and, stepping close to him again, put my mouth close to his ear and whisper, "See you tomorrow." Then, not taking time to see Dusty's expression, I bolt through the forest, back to the nightmare that is the Career camp.
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(A/N): Well! That was interesting. Like the romance? Hopefully you do, 'cause you're going to be seeing it more in the later chapters! :D And also, Daniel's insanity will be featured some more as well... That boy really does need some help. xD
Comment! And Vote! :D
~candysmart5