Status: Bit of writers block, but there will be some more soon!
Untitled
Chapter 6
One day, the rain ceased. Just stopped completely. I was weak from hunger and fatigue. The world was steamy and eerily quiet. I drew my knife, not wanting to be jumped by an angry Career or Thresh. Then I remembered, in my hunger addled mind, that Thresh and Clove were dead. I had seen Thresh in the sky the night after the feast. I sighed. Twenty down, three to go. Tracking Cato was idiotic, but Katniss and Peeta would be weak. Cato might be injured from his fight with Thresh, but he was still too strong for me. With Peeta’s wound and Katniss’ possible wounds from Clove, it was the best idea to go after them. I saw a bush with some of the berries Rue showed Katniss. I stripped the branches and gorged myself on them. It was enough for the trek to …to…I had no idea where they were. But Peeta was by the river, last time I saw him. He couldn’t have moved far. I set off, still weak from hunger. Thirst was no problem. From the large leaves around my tree, I was able to pour rain water into my flask, and purify it with iodine. But I was so hungry…
I walked for hours, weakly clutching my knife and hoping that Cato would be too busy with food, or Katniss and Peeta, to bother about me. All I knew, was he was probably still recovering from his fight with Thresh to worry about me. In his mind I was weak, nothing more than a distraction. Cato had gotten this far with strength, not intelligence. He has something coming though. If he killed off District 12, what would he do? Could I speed in, steal Katniss’ bow before a hovercraft claimed her and then take Cato out? I was so close to victory, so close to home that I let a little choked sob out, with a huge grin on my face. I could go home! After weeks of starvation and pain, I could go home, live a life of total comfort, see my little brother eat proper meals, see Skylar…See him again. I almost laughed out loud, but I stopped, and became serious again. I wasn’t out of the Games yet. Taking a firmer grip on my knife, I stalked silently through the trees.
I hadn’t found them near the river. There was evidence of them being there though. I found a large cave, with boot marks and scuffles of dirt all over the floor. I also found a basket, a large wicker one with an empty pot in it, all neatly put away to one side of the cave. I was unsure. Did they mean to return here? Or did they just not want to carry this? So many questions swirled in my head.
I climbed out of the cave, and saw tracks. A splash of mud on a rock. A half concealed boot print. They must have walked across the rocks with slightly muddy boots. If I could follow their direction, I could find them, maybe steal some food. Katniss clearly had skill with her bow, or really generous sponsors. Neither Rex nor Diana, our mentors, had decided to send me anything very useful recently. I felt a pang for Nate. He had the best chance out of both of us. Strong, fast, smart, like all District 5 boys. The only way to kill one is to get a Career on their tail, with superior knowledge of weapons. We never learnt about weapons, which was a significant loss. I will enjoy killing Cato. I wonder if anyone even cared about me. Just then a silver parachute drifted down. I would have leapt for it, but I was too weak. Instead I stood stock still, and waited until it floated gracefully into my hands. I quickly untied it and let the parachute fall. Inside the packaging was a small vial. I was curious. Uncorking the bottle I took a sniff. It was sickly sweet, with a tang that smelt wrong. For a moment I looked at it. Then it hit me. This, this was poison. I had seen it before. Outside our factories, I had seen a man pour a few drops in a corner, over a tiny piece of bread. The next day, a dead rat was found there. A bottle this big could easily kill a person. Or three smaller teenagers... I had my advantage. Cato and Peeta were quite big though. Maybe half on 12, then the rest on Cato. And hello District 5. I grinned evilly. This was my one-up. Never mind strength. Never mind power. I had knowledge. I could poison something, like a food or water source of District 12's, after taking some for myself, and then collect some random leaves or berries, or other food stuff. Fill a pouch from them, poison them and get Cato to think I had dropped them when I flee. I grinned up at the sky and whispered “Thank you. Thank you all.” I slipped the bottle into my pack and walked on.
I walked for hours, weakly clutching my knife and hoping that Cato would be too busy with food, or Katniss and Peeta, to bother about me. All I knew, was he was probably still recovering from his fight with Thresh to worry about me. In his mind I was weak, nothing more than a distraction. Cato had gotten this far with strength, not intelligence. He has something coming though. If he killed off District 12, what would he do? Could I speed in, steal Katniss’ bow before a hovercraft claimed her and then take Cato out? I was so close to victory, so close to home that I let a little choked sob out, with a huge grin on my face. I could go home! After weeks of starvation and pain, I could go home, live a life of total comfort, see my little brother eat proper meals, see Skylar…See him again. I almost laughed out loud, but I stopped, and became serious again. I wasn’t out of the Games yet. Taking a firmer grip on my knife, I stalked silently through the trees.
I hadn’t found them near the river. There was evidence of them being there though. I found a large cave, with boot marks and scuffles of dirt all over the floor. I also found a basket, a large wicker one with an empty pot in it, all neatly put away to one side of the cave. I was unsure. Did they mean to return here? Or did they just not want to carry this? So many questions swirled in my head.
I climbed out of the cave, and saw tracks. A splash of mud on a rock. A half concealed boot print. They must have walked across the rocks with slightly muddy boots. If I could follow their direction, I could find them, maybe steal some food. Katniss clearly had skill with her bow, or really generous sponsors. Neither Rex nor Diana, our mentors, had decided to send me anything very useful recently. I felt a pang for Nate. He had the best chance out of both of us. Strong, fast, smart, like all District 5 boys. The only way to kill one is to get a Career on their tail, with superior knowledge of weapons. We never learnt about weapons, which was a significant loss. I will enjoy killing Cato. I wonder if anyone even cared about me. Just then a silver parachute drifted down. I would have leapt for it, but I was too weak. Instead I stood stock still, and waited until it floated gracefully into my hands. I quickly untied it and let the parachute fall. Inside the packaging was a small vial. I was curious. Uncorking the bottle I took a sniff. It was sickly sweet, with a tang that smelt wrong. For a moment I looked at it. Then it hit me. This, this was poison. I had seen it before. Outside our factories, I had seen a man pour a few drops in a corner, over a tiny piece of bread. The next day, a dead rat was found there. A bottle this big could easily kill a person. Or three smaller teenagers... I had my advantage. Cato and Peeta were quite big though. Maybe half on 12, then the rest on Cato. And hello District 5. I grinned evilly. This was my one-up. Never mind strength. Never mind power. I had knowledge. I could poison something, like a food or water source of District 12's, after taking some for myself, and then collect some random leaves or berries, or other food stuff. Fill a pouch from them, poison them and get Cato to think I had dropped them when I flee. I grinned up at the sky and whispered “Thank you. Thank you all.” I slipped the bottle into my pack and walked on.