CHAPTER SIX - The Girl on Fire get's Burned.
The cool, damp earth caresses my cheek as I wake up. My thoughts are clouded, and I'm woken by the heat of the arena. It is so hot at the moment. My eyes adjust as I wipe the sleep out of them, and then I see it.
The burning column of fire descends down on the trees, making them burn a horrible black and smell like death. Now that my mind is aware of the flames, I start coughing. So use in that; it will just get me killed. In a mixture of fear and desperation, I gather my things and stuff them into my pack, forgetting to do up the zip.
I climb out of my hole, fingernails scraping in the dirt and breaking from the pressure. Glancing backwards, I see a figure emerging from the smoke. I start to hyperventilate, I canno't let them see me. So I do what my instincts are screaming for me to do ; run.
I can feel the hard earth after each step I take. Thump, thump, thump. Level your breathing, jog, run, run, jog... Stones are carved along the forest floor, making running harder. Suddenly I trip over one particular jagged rock and fall face first into a ring of shrubbery. Scrambling upwards, I start to hear screams and a cannon in the distance. That will not be me. Not today. I run up a hill, littered with daisy's. Fire doesn't burn fast uphill, does it? Hopefully not.
I run until my legs are begging me to stop, making me stop. The agony in my lungs is making me vomit the small meal I had yesterday. My legs have turned to jelly. I need to rest.
Turning around, I see that the flames have subsided, now turning in another direction. If it weren't for the Gamemakers controlling the arena forces, I would have thought that to be impossible.
As I slowly crawly to the top of the hill, limbs shaking in agony and tiredness, I look over to see the Careers advancing on Katniss a good distance away from me. I decide to head in the opposite direction of them. Turning my head forwards, I see the field. It literately looks like it's been planted with thousands of wheat seeds, and if I went in there, you couldn't even see the top of my head, which should be pretty easy as my hair is a bold red.
I head down the hill, taking small, cautious sips of water. Who knows where the next lake lies? I nibble on a cracker and help myself to a few raisins, too. That should be enough food for today. As the hill slopes to an end, I am faced with endless possibilities. After I pack away my food, I hoist my pack onto my back, and start taking quick steps. I don't know what muttations lie in here, and hopefully I won't run into anything. Or anybody.
I was desperate to be back home. Maybe I wouldn't be taken for granted any more. I had no family left, nobody to turn to, to think of. I feel that maybe if I won the Hunger Games, my life would be some much easier. Like all the weight of supporting myself would be lifted off my shoulders.
Surging on by this emotion of determination, I manage to stumble through the wheat field until I stumble upon a small pond. I peer into it, maybe thinking that I can purify it or catch some small fish when I see a bulky brown figure running towards me in the reflection of the water's surface. I spin around, fast, so fast that the water behind me ripples. A hard force knocks into my chest, and I crumple like a sheet of paper being thrown into fire, the oxygen emptied from my lungs. I lay on the damp ground for a few more seconds, clutching my stomach and wheezing for air, when my vision turns a blurry grey and eventually black.
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