Sweetest Downfall

I woke to the sound of a cannon being shot and felt a chill run down my spine. I sat up and surveyed my surroundings and recapped yesterday’s events. The Games had began, Ari and I dashed into the Cornucopia and got four packs each, Herring had gotten one but that was only after he had saved me from Presh and gotten a dent in the head for it and died. I felt a tear trail down my cheek, I will avenge you, I thought as I stretched and got up and out of the sleeping bag.

“Hey, two cannons so far, you ready to get moving? I figured we should scope out some food sources just in case we lose a pack or two along our way.” Ari said as she leaned down and brushed the tear off of my cheek. “He would want you to keep going, come on.”

I nodded, “You’re right, besides I’m going to kill District 1 Boy, slowly.” I felt a sting inside of my chest and it was like Herring was giving me heated rage. “We should look for meat first, just because we have the dried beef doesn’t mean we should rely on them for protein.” Ari nodded and we found a big tree with just enough space under its trunk to tuck our three packs in. She held the scary boomerang while I took the double-edged handheld spear, I eyed her anxiously. “Where’d you learn to use that thing?”

“I’m from District 11, and there are a lot of Tracker Jacker nests in the trees so when we can’t get to the tippy top branch we use these to cut the fruits off without leaving it up there or disturbing the Tracker Jackers.” She spoke as if I should know these things already but her voice caught. The Districts never interacted with each other, most people never left their District, so no one really knew what went on in other Districts.

“Right,” I didn’t know what else to say to I just shrugged. “Well I can hunt for meat and you gather up some roots and berries or whatever else is around this place.” Just as I moved to go into the forest I walked into a patch of sunlight and instantly started to sweat.

“Maybe we should fill the canteens and take the snow pants off first,” she offered and I quickly nodded. We stripped off the snow pants and each gave a relieved sigh, we hadn’t realized how hot we were until we took the pants off. We then went back to the tree and while I rolled up and packed the snow pants under the tree, Ari filled up the four canteens and dropped the solution in them. “We can each take a swig when we get back, the solution won’t be ready for a good while.” She tucked the canteens under the tree and we pulled the leaves and natural foliage back around the base. There was absolutely no way any other tribute would find them in a thousand years.

We ended up going North beside the stream and we found a pond of cool water. I put a finger to my lips as I motioned farther down from us; a tribute had her head dunked under the water. I mouthed the words, “Quick kill,” to Ari and she nodded. We retreated back to the safety of the shaded woods and rushed over to where the girl was. I silently thanked the sky for my and Ari’s naturaly quiet footsteps and light weight, for there were twigs and roots waiting to trip us or make us squeal as we broke them. We got to the ideal spot behind her and she was still hungrily drinking the unpurified water. If we didn’t kill her, contamination from the water could, she was out of her mind. I came up behind her and flipped her onto the ground on her stomach, pinend her arms behind her back and sat on them.

“Where’re your supplies?” I demanded. Her wide brown eyes widened in fear as she took in the situation.

“I-I didn’t get any! I swear, I ran from the Cornucopia first chance I got! Please don’t kill me!” Her voice rose in volume and she started to screech. I didn’t know what else to do, so I took her headin my hands and in an instant I snapped her neck and the sound of a cannon made me jump out of my skin. Ari ran up behind me and looked at the dead body, her spine sticking out a little and her neck's vertebrae were nearly out of her skin. I would have thrown up if I had any food in my stomach.

“Dang…” Ari looked at me with a bit of horror in her eyes. “How’d you know how to do that?”

“I… don’t know,” I looked down at my hands in disgust. “Something just took over me, and I killed her.”

“Come on, we have to—” Ari was cut off by the sound of a male voice.

“Ivy? Ivy!” We looked up and down the pond was a boy running full speed at us with throwing knives waiting at the ready. He threw one before we could respond and it hit Ari in the meaty part of her thigh, she whined, pulled it out and stuck in her belt loop. We ran from the dead body and the boy at top speed. I killed another human being… I was so consumed in my thoughts and trying to run for my life that I tripped over a root. I heard the boy’s crashing footsteps coming closer as I tried to get up but when I lifted my body the pain in my ankle was just too great. I called out for Ari and she turned to see me on the forest floor struggling to get back on my feet. She ran back to me and pulled me up on her back; I wrapped my legs around her waist and she ran as fast as she could as I held my breath and held onto her boomerang and my spear.

Ari ran until we got back to our things and she nearly dropped to the floor from the exhaustion and loss of blood from her thigh. We waited a moment to see if the boy’s footsteps were still behind us but when only the birdcalls rang in our ears we took a big breath. “Ari, get out the packs, I’ll fix up your leg.”

She did as she was told and also got out the canteens, now purified and ready to be guzzled down. she drank and then held it to my mouth and poured some in. She chewed on a beef stick and ripped pieces off and puth them in my mouth as I cut off another piece of the cloth and wet it with the canteen water. Neither of us had the strength to get up and dunk it in the stream, and cleaned the wound. “It’s not too bad." I told her as I used the gauze and medical tape to cover it up. Ari looked at me in thanks and she motioned to my ankle, the boot surrounding it looked like it was bigger than the other and that was not a good sign.

“Your turn,” she said as she unlaced the boot and slid it off, trying her best to not move the ankle too much. I gasped as I saw how red and puffed it was, Aren’t those damn boots supposed to stop this from happening? I hissed in pain as she put a stick on each side of the ankle and wrapped the ace bandage around it as tight as she could without cutting off the circulation. She slipped the boot back on and helped me stand up, it was better but it still hurt very badly. “Well, the sun’s starting to set; I can take first watch if you want.”

I shook my head, “You carried me back here; you can sleep first.” I could tell she was thankful for that too and she unrolled two sleeping bags, helped me sit into mine and she then curled inside of hers. I looked up into the sky and so did she; we wanted to see the days deaths. The boy from District 5, the girl I killed was from District 8, the girl from 10 and the boy from 12. That left fourteen kids left in the game; I put one hand on the closest throwing knife and the other held Herring’s necklace. I will avenge you.