Alive Till Kingdom Come.

The next day was hotter then the first. It must be at least 110 degrees. Besides the heat the day was uneventful for the most part. After waking up just about mid-noon, we had some more jerky and mixed fruit and got moving shortly after that. Now that Orion wasn’t breathing down out backs I was able to teach her how to use the knifes better and she did get good after awhile. We used the same knifes to catch and kill two rabbits and a small bird. We where having extraordinary good luck today. We looked for a water supply but couldn’t seem to find any, and I got a bad feeling that ether A) there is no water for us to find and we ether kill each other off or die of dehydration or B) the only water for us to find is in the valley of ruble. I had a eerie feeling it was the latter.
“How much longer are we going to walk?” Rosemary asks. She looks exhausted. All this trekking, the heat and only eating once this morning wasn’t to good of a idea. We should take breaks more often at the very least. I looked around and noticed all the trees around us. It was a safe spot to stop.
“Alright, we can stop here and cook the meat before it gets too dark.” I say. Rosemary smiles brightly at me. Relief washing over her face.
“Why don’t you look for firewood and I’ll skin the rabbits.”
“Okay!” Rosemary chirps. Every sense this morning she’s been really hyper. I’m assuming it’s because I’m watching after her, instead of letting her die in the cornucopia. You know, the little things. Rosemary starts walking away. I start walking towards her.
“Wait, wait!” She turns around to look at me, her eyes big and full of surprise.
“Stay close by, ok?” She smiles.
“Sure.” She turns around and beings to walk away again.
“Rosemary! If something does happen-“
“Should I climb a tree and hide until I can come back?”
“Yes, that would be good. Do you have you’re knifes? All of them? You should probably have one on hand at all time.”
“Ok, I will.”
“Oh, and Rosemary-“
“Abram, I’ll be fine. Stop being such a mom.” She gives me a lop-sided smile similar to the one I return.
“Ok. Fine.” I mumble, laughing a bit. Rosemary pokes me in the ribs and turns away into the forest and I begin to skin the first rabbit. About a hour later Rosemary came back with a bundle of wood, I had the two rabbits skinned and the bird feathered. I used the flint we had and got the fire going and the meat cooking swiftly.
“Do you have any siblings?” I ask.
“Yep, an older brother. Ash, he’s sixteen.”
“Ash Tay? He’s in my class, I didn’t know you were related.” We never talked, he hangs out with Liv’s group of friends.
“Yeah, he’s funny like you. You remind me of him.”
“Thanks,” I assume it’s a good thing. “You remind me of my little sister Willow.”
“The little girl at the reaping?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you wanted to help me?” I nod and it goes silent for a moment.
“What about Liv Connery?” She blurts out.
“What about her?” I can feel my cheeks get warm and I start playing with the zipper on my backpack.
“Do you like her? She told me she was going to see you before we left.”
“Y-yeah, I saw her…Sure, I like her…”
“Do you love her?”
“What?!” My cheeks are probably beet red by now, the Capitol is probably finding this hilarious. I’m looking at anything but her.
“Abram Wellwood, do you love Liv Connery?” She’s mocking Cesar Flickerman. It would be funny if she wasn’t making fun of my love life.
“I-um. N-no, I have barely talked to her, I-uh-”
“Oh my gosh! You so love her and you kissed her, huh?!” She squeals. How does she know this? Why does she want to know and this better not be on T.V!
“Um. I don’t see why…” I was pulling up grass and throwing it in the fire.
“You so did! You and Liv would be a cute couple. So would you and the district one girl, Ruby, right? If only…”
“If only we weren’t in the hunger games?” She just nods and it goes quite again.
“I miss home.” It was barely a whisper.
“Me too.” I fall back and lay on the ground looking up at the blazing sun. I flatten my legs out and I can feel the fire by my feet. I don’t think the arena can get any warmer, were practically getting cooked alive. We need to find more water soon.
“What’s it like in the victor’s village?” she inquires.
“Why are you so full of questions?” I laugh.
“I’m just curious…and bored.” I forgot she was 12.
“It’s nice. I share a room with my brother and we have a view of the apple orchards. It’s warm. Not the heat like the arena but it’s fireplace-cozy kind of warm. All the rooms are painted yellow but other then that it’s the same as anywhere else”
“I’d like to live there.” She says dreamily.
“Well, when you win you can.” I smile up at the sun. It gets quiet. Have I offended her? I sit up and see her crying again.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I scoot closer to her, she tucks herself under my arm. She’s seriously shaking.
“I-I’m not going to win.”
“Why not? I think you can.” I squeeze her small arm. She looked up at me, opening her mouth, only to close it again. She wasn’t sure what to say. I look up at the sun again and see a dark spot in the center of the ball of fire. It kept growing bigger and bigger and I realized it’s a parachute…our first gift.