Chapter-13

Chapter 13

I don't see Peeta in the morning as Cinna guides me to the roof. We board the hovercraft, grabbing onto the ladder. It freezes me to it, and no matter how hard I try, I can't let go. Some kind of current glues me to the ladder while I'm lifted inside.

As I get inside, a woman in a white coat walks toward me with a syringe in her hand. "This is just your tracker, Katniss. The stiller you are, the more efficiently I can place it," she says.

I can't tell if she's joking or not. I feel like a statue, I couldn't move if my life depended on it. She stabs the syringe into my forearm. The Gamemakers can see exactly where I am at all times now. Wouldn't want to lose one of their precious tributes.

After the tracker is in my arm, I'm let go by the electrical current. The ladder goes back down and retrieves Cinna. An attendant guides us to a room in the hovercraft, where a breakfast spread has been laid out. I eat as much as I can, knowing I'll need all the food I can get, even if I can't taste it. I'm so nervous, I could be eating coal dust and not notice.

After about a half hour, we land. The ladder is lowered with us holding onto it, and we're released once we're under the arena. Cinna leads us to my chamber which he calls the Launch Room.

I'm the only tribute that will ever use this chamber. Each arena is preserved after the Games for tourists to visit and relive the Games. It's odd to me how little they care about human life. Cinna was right, they just want a good show.

I feel sick to my stomach as my nerves continue to rise. Cinna brings my clothes to me after I've showered and brushed my teeth. That's the last time I'll be able to do those two things.

The clothes are all the same for each tribute, so no one has an unfair advantage. Tawny pants, light green blouse, sturdy brown belt, and a thin hooded jacket that falls to my thighs. The boots are soft leather, good for running. Better than I could have hoped for.

"The material in the jacket's designed to reflect body heat. Expect some cool nights," he says.

Cinna pulls something out of his pocket, and I'm confused on what it is until he hands me it. It's the gold mockingjay pin Madge gave me on reaping day.

"Where did you get that?" I ask.

"Off the green outfit you wore on the train," he replies. "It's your District token, right?" I nod. "It barely cleared the review board. Some thought the pin could be used as a weapon, giving you an unfair advantage. But eventually, they let it through," Cinna says. "They eliminated a ring from that District 1 girl, though. If you twisted the gemstone, a spike popped out. Poisoned one. She claimed she had no knowledge the ring transformed and there was no way to prove she did. But she lost her token. There, you're all set. Move around. Make sure everything feels comfortable."

I walk, run around, and move my body parts around. "Everything fits perfectly," I say.

"Then there's nothing to do but wait for the call," he says. "Unless you want to eat a little more."

I decline the food he offers, but do take a glass of water. I need to make sure I'm hydrated.

After a couple minutes, a woman's voice announces it's time to launch. I stand on the circular metal plate that will bring me up into the arena.

"Remember Katniss, run, find Peeta, and find water. The rest will follow," he says. I nod. "And remember this. I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could, my money would be on you."

"Truly?" I whisper.

"Truly," he says. "Good luck, Girl on Fire."

A glass cylinder surrounds me and breaks Cinna and I apart. This is the last time I'll see him, most likely. The cylinder begins to rise, and for 15 seconds, there's complete darkness. I feel the fresh air, and am blinded by how bright the sun is.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the 74th Hunger Games begin!" I hear in the air.

For the next 60 seconds, we must stay on our platforms, or we'll set off mines around our platforms and be blown up. I look around, looking to see our terrain. See how well I think I'll do in this arena. We're on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard packed dirt. To my right lies a lake. To my left is piney woods. Perfect. In front of me, I see nothing.

I look at the center of the tributes. We're all equal distance from the gold cornucopia, holding all of the supplies you may need to survive. I see the bow, the bow I could use to win these Games. But I can't go for it, I have to find Peeta. It's a death trap, they want me to run in there for it. They want me to die right here, right now.

I'm fast though. I'm built for short distance sprints. I could get there before any other tribute, and have the bow. My bow. But will I be able to find Peeta after? Will I survive if I get there?

I see Peeta, five tributes to my right. He's shaking his head. He knows what I'm thinking, he knows I want that bow.

I hear the gong ring, telling the tributes it is now safe to run. Peeta's right, getting the bow is asking to die. So I run towards Peeta instead. Having an ally will be better than being dead. As I'm running towards him, I bend down and grab a bright orange backpack. I don't know what's inside, and I don't dare check.

Peeta meets up with me, and we each run in the direction of the woods. He doesn't even ask if this is the right place to go, he knows it is. I sling the backpack over my shoulder, and feel something hit it. But I keep running, not daring to look over my shoulder.

Peeta and I continue running, but he's a little slower than I am. Still, he has at least 60 pounds on me, so I can't blame him for being slower. We reach the edge of the field where the woods start, and I turn back for a second. The view is horrible. Dead bodies everywhere, others still fighting. But I don't have time to think. I keep running along with Peeta.

Peeta and I decide that we're far enough away now that we can jog. We alternate between jogging and walking for a few hours. As I walk, I take the backpack off my back and free the knife from it. The girl from 2 must've thrown it. At least now, Peeta and I have a weapon.

The ground begins to slope after what feels like hours of walking. I don't like valleys, they make me feel trapped, but water runs downhill, so this is a safe bet for water.

In the late afternoon, I hear the cannons. One… two… three… I count eleven in total. Eleven tributes dead, thirteen left to fight.

"Peeta, we need to find water. We'll dehydrate way faster than we'll starve," I say.

"Alright," he says with a nod.

Haymitch was right. Those runs every morning before breakfast with Peeta paid off. My legs have gotten used to moving constantly, and Peeta looks like he's not struggling as badly either. He is loud though. Every step sounds like a stomp, but I don't say anything. I don't have a bow anyway, so any animal he scares off doesn't matter.

Eventually, we take a break. I open the backpack to look at the contents with Peeta. One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat, a pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of sunglasses. And a water bottle that's empty.

The iodine would be useful if we could find water, but after hours of walking, we haven't found any. The sleeping back would be useful if there was somewhere to sleep where we wouldn't be out in the open. If one of us gets caught inside the sleeping back as the Career pack approaches us, we're as good as dead.

Peeta and I refill the backpack, and he offers to carry it for us.

"Peeta. What if that lake was the only water source?" I ask. "To draw us into a fight.

"It can't be. The Games would last a few days if that were the case," he says. "They want to drag this out as long as possible. Plus, I'm no expert, but I saw a rabbit on our way. It has to drink too, right?"

He's right. If the lake were the only water source, we would all be killed by the Careers in days. It would be boring for the viewers.

I take the knife we have and cut away at some bark from the trees around us. I scrape the inner bark into a handful and slowly chew the stuff as I walk. I share some with Peeta too. I can tell it's a little hard for him to eat, but he's not complaining.

Peeta and I use the wire from the backpack to set two snares. He got the hang of it in training, but still takes longer to do so. We head five minutes away so if someone sees the snares, they won't know exactly where we are.

"Peeta, can you climb?" I ask him. He's bigger than me, but smaller than Gale, and Gale can climb a tree just as fast as I can. "This tree can be where we spend the night."

"I'm not sure. I can try, though," he says. I climb first, showing him where to place his feet and hands. He follows my lead, and is actually doing well.

It's gotten cold now, and I can only guess that it will get colder as night comes. I find a sturdy fork in the tree, and set up the sleeping bag there. I stuff the backpack to the foot of the sleeping bag. I slide in first, and Peeta climbs the last few branches to reach me.

"Can this branch support the two of us?" He asks. I nod.

"Before you get in, take off your belt," I say. I do the same.

"Don't you think it's a little inappropriate to do that here?" He asks with a quiet laugh. I laugh too as I tie our belts together.

"No, I need it to fasten us to the tree," I say with a smile.

"Smart. Good thinking, he says.

"Slide inside carefully," I say. Once he's inside next to me, I hand him one end of the belt, and loop the other end around our branch. I tie the two ends together, securing us as tightly as possible to the tree. If we fall, it won't be to our deaths. Hopefully.

We hear the anthem after an hour or two of nightfall. I see the seal of the Capitol in the sky, followed by the faces of the tributes killed that day. Eleven tributes show up in the sky one by one.

First, the girl from District 3 shows up, meaning the Careers from 1 and 2 have survived. The boy from 4 is shown next. That one surprised me, normally all of the Careers last the first day. The boy from 5 next, followed by both from 6 and 7. The boy from 8 and both from 9. Lastly, the girl from 10 is shown.

The five Careers made it, Foxface, Thresh and Rue. I don't know the other three.

I nestle into Peeta's chest, and slowly fall asleep. I feel him fall asleep too. This will definitely get us some sponsors, being seen sleeping together. Haymitch has to be happy with the show we're putting on right now.

I wake to snapping coming several hundred yards to my right. I slowly turn, looking in that direction. Peeta's awake too. It sounds like someone's breaking branches from a tree. I see a spark, and watch as a small fire blooms. A pair of hands warms over the flames. I don't know who this person is, but they're putting a huge target on their back. The Careers will see this, and will come for this person.

Hours pass, and I begin to think that this person may have gone unnoticed. Until I hear it. Several pairs of feet, all breaking into a run. I hear the person's screams and hear her begging for her life. I hear laughter and cheers, as one says, "Twelve down and eleven to go!" Whoever that was is dead now. I hope that wasn't Rue. I don't think she'd be dumb enough to light a fire at night.

The Careers are fighting in a pack, this much Peeta and I have confirmed. And we have a pretty strong guess about who has made up this pack. It's obviously the two from District 1, both from District 2, and the girl from District 4.

I feel myself tense up next to Peeta, hearing their footsteps become louder and louder. They're walking towards us, but there's no way they can see us, right? They can't know where we are, we're hidden well enough.

"Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?"

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately."

"Unless she isn't dead."

"She's dead. I stuck her myself."

"Then where's the cannon?"

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done."

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice."

"I said she's dead!"

The cannon sounds, and they continue walking. The girl died a slow and painful death if it took that long for the cannon.

As I hear the sounds of footsteps fade into the distance, I look at Peeta. He looks sick, like he can't believe he just witnessed them kill that girl. I can believe it, though. The careers are vicious, and clearly find this to be nothing more than a game. Laughing at a girl while she bleeds out? It's such a terrible thing, even for the Hunger Games.

We watch as a hovercraft appears, and a claw comes down to pick the lifeless body off of the ground.

"Peeta, we have to move. We need water desperately," I whisper.

"I know Katniss, but where? The lake will be guarded by the Careers, we can't go there. And I didn't see any other water sources around," he whispers back.

We climb down the tree slowly, Peeta's still getting used to climbing, and still needs help figuring out which branches are sturdy enough for his body weight.

We check our snares, and to our surprise, find two rabbits. A rabbit needs water, and the lake is almost a day's walk away. There's no way it traveled this far without water, meaning water's around somewhere.

"Peeta, these rabbits have to drink somehow right? The lake's far, so there's another water source somewhere around here. We have to keep going down," I say.

"Okay, let's move now and put as much distance between the Careers and us as possible," he says.

We walk for what seems like hours, taking breaks every once in a while to rest our legs and catch our breath. Peeta and I alternate carrying the backpack after every break. It's not heavy, but it is uncomfortable as the straps rub your sweaty skin on our shoulders.

The jackets are great for the night time, reflecting body heat and keeping us warm enough, but during the day when it is scorching hot, the jacket's are like sitting in an oven at the bakery. Well, that's what Peeta says it feels like anyway, but I agree that they don't help with the heat during the day.

We're getting dehydrated now, and water is nowhere to be found. Peeta's staying optimistic, but I'm not. I bet the only water source was the lake, and the Gamemakers want us to fight it out there.

"We're not going to find water Peeta, our only chance for water is if we go back to the lake," I say.

"We'll dehydrate if we go back there. It's too far from here," he says back. He's almost as stubborn as me, but I know he's right.

My lips are cracked and dry, my tongue feels like sandpaper, and I can tell Peeta's feeling it too. "Come on, let's take a break," I say.

We sit down on a patch of grass and pine needles from the trees. We eat some nuts we gathered on the way here, along with some soft inner bark from the trees around us. It's not the greatest tasting meal we've had, but it'll have to do. After our meals in the Capitol, this is an immediate downgrade.

"Do you hear that?" Peeta asks me. I listen as we both quiet down. It sounds like rustling in the trees, but I'm not sure if this is me hearing things due to dehydration. But Peeta hears it too, so it must be real, right?

"Is it a person?" I ask. He shrugs, confused and worried.

"Katniss, look up," he says. I do so, and can see high in the tree above us, something moving. "Is it an animal?"

"I don't know," I whisper. The thing in the tree slowly climbs down, and as I see what it is.

We gasp.

A/N: They've begun the 74th Hunger Games, pretty exciting! Thank you for viewing my story, it really means a lot. Please review with ideas you may have, I want to change it up so it isn't just a retelling of the original Hunger Games book.

Review, follow, and favorite! Thank you!