Safe and Sound

Chapter Twelve - Too Close, Sweetheart

I moved along slowly, arrow nocked into my bow and bow poised, ready to kill if necessary. Even though it was nearing midday, my birthday surprise still seemed so unreal. I was so preoccupied with thinking about how lucky I was to have such a great mentor, despite his alcohol addiction, that I had almost completely forgotten about my dreams. And I wasn't planning on remembering them anytime soon, though it was most certain they would come back at me some point in the next few days.

The forest was quiet. It was so quiet, I could hear my footsteps, but only just. I tried to eliminate the sound of my feet by walking slower. I had no clue where I was walking, all I knew was that I wanted to get as far away from the other tributes as I could. I wanted to be alone. If I was alone and far away from other tributes, I would have a bigger chance of winning the Games.

But then again, allies were always a good thing to have, despite the fact you would have to betray them right at the very end. That was probably the only drawback, besides having to share your food and water. Having an ally meant you could work together to defeat the tributes and possibly go hunting with them. District 12 rarely got allies, resulting in their almost immediate death. Allies were undoubtedly the wickedest thing about the Games - making friends and allies that you would have to shortly kill so you could survive. It was disgusting and awful. And that was why I was going to win this thing on my own.

As I walked, I began to have a strange feeling that I was being watched. I tightened my grip on my bow and looked up at the trees. I couldn't see anything nearby. It started to unnerve me. I hated the feeling, anything could have been watching me, but I couldn't see this thing. I could feel my heart rate begin to pick up, thumping against my chest and threatening to burst out of my ribcage. Something was out there. One question I wanted answered was 'is it a who...or a what?'.

I raised my bow higher and pulled the bowstrung back to my lip, aiming it high into the trees. I circled around a bit, turning this way and that, trying to spot this thing that was giving me an old feeling, this thing that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I heard a rustling noise and turned to it. It was coming from the trees for sure. Was it a bird? Was it a person...or was it a mutt? I gulped, but tried to stay calm. I was feeling scared now. I tried to keep my breathing nice and slow, but this feeling loomed over me and it was causing me to panic slightly. As I looked about frantically, I could practically see the people of the Capitol on the edges of their seats, watching to see what was going to happen to me.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something jumped out at me and pinned me to the ground. My bow skidded away from me, just out of the reach of my hand. I was stuck to the ground, lying there on my back. It was a person. They sat down on my stomach, using one of their feet and one of their hands to keep me where I was. In their other hand, they held a long, pointed knife and it was above my throat. The person looked down at me and I was then face to face with the boy from District 1.

"Hey, guys! You'll never guess what I found!" He shouted as he held the knife to my throat, his eyes cold and cruel. I struggled against his tight grip. This was my third day in the arena, I wasn't ready to die just yet. I squealed as he put more pressure on my wrists, "What, do I scare you? Your reflexes aren't going to help you now." He whispered, leaning in closer to me, provoking and threatening me. He smirked at me, showing off perfectly white teeth. He had dirty blond hair and looked sixteen, possibly seventeen. He also had green eyes, but they were certainly nothing like Grayson's. They were menacing, much less beautiful.

The other Careers came running in, and they instantly cheered when they saw the District 1 boy sitting on me, ready for the kill. I struggled and tried to kick my legs, but nothing worked. I was stuck and I was about to die.

"Easy, easy. Harper, right?" The District 1 boy said, but he was not trying to comfort me. He was trying to drag this process out as long as he could, trying to scare me. I wanted my bow, but it was literally just out of my reach. The Careers watched on as the District boy continued to provoke me to no end, "Want know my name? Midas. I'll give you the honour of knowing it before you die." I squealed and tried to get out his strong grip. The Careers laughed at my poor attempts at moving.

I scrunched my nose and glared at Midas as he removed his hand from my wrist, quickly replacing it with his other foot. Now there was no way I was going to get out of this one...or was there?

"You know, Harper, I never thought someone from District Twelve could get an eleven and a half. I didn't even think that score was possible! Did you shoot a few arrows and impress the Gamemakers?" He asked, putting on mock fear. I had been thinking of a strategy on how ton get out of this lock and I was waiting for the perfect moment to put it into play. And the odds had been good to me and given this perfect moment.

"Yes and no." I replied, my voice unnaturally squeaky because of how Midas was cutting off the blood circulation to my wrists. "I shot a few arrows, but I also did something else. Want to know?" I asked, putting on a mock smirk. Midas' eyebrows furrowed slightly. He was considering whether to kill me on the spot or to listen to what I was about to say. He exchanged a look with Ryker, who nodded slightly.

"What did you do?" Midas asked. He seemed slightly suspicious, but he still managed to keep his confidence levels up. I wriggled my wrists, so he let his feet slack, but only a little bit. Not enough to let me get away. To make sure, he kept his knife pointed at my throat, just in case I tried something, such as getting away. I then managed to lean up, right by his ear. I whispered what I did during training into it. As I talked, I decided that this was my chance, now that Midas was distracted.

I quickly twisted my wrists so Midas' feet fell off my arms and twisted my arms as hard as I could to the side, pushing Midas off of me. I grabbed my bow quickly and started to scramble onto my feet. But Midas must have been expecting it. He jumped to his feet quickly, but now he looked venomous. I was lucky that my bow was already nocked, because I had practically no time left. I turned and ran into the trees as fast as I could. My life literally depended on it.

I felt a sudden sting of pain as Midas' knife whizzed past my cheek, scraping it slightly and leaving a long cut the length of my cheek on it. I felt the blood start to pour down my cheek, the wound stinging as I ran. It wasn't major, but it didn't take much to realise that it was just a small fraction of what Midas was capable of. I didn't look back. I didn't need to, I knew that the Careers were on my tail.

"You know, Harper, you can't run forever!" I heard the girl from District 4 shout from behind me. They sounded quite close behind. I gritted my teeth and decided that I was going to show them and the Capitol what I was truly made of. I turned my upper body around slightly, so that I could see the Careers. They were about fifteen metres behind me. I raised my bow, my upper body still twisted around. I used my peripheral vision to stop me from running into any trees. But I needn't have worried, my body was accustomed to these environments. I knew what I was doing.

"And neither can you." I pulled the bowstring back to my lip and released the arrow. It flew and hit the District 4 girl, right in the chest. I grimaced as the girl screamed in pain and fell to the floor. The Careers slowed down, but I sped up. And most unfortunately, so did Ryker.

"You guys stay with her, I'm going after District Twelve!" He shouted, speeding up drastically. My eyes widened. Ryker was a lot larger up close. He was tall and quite well built. He brandished the sword he held in his hand and continued to sprint after me. The Careers had surrounded the girl from District 4, who was writhing around, crying out in pain. I grimaced and turned away from the Careers, the girl and Ryker. I didn't want to see it. She was officially my first victim and it was most certain that she was going to die.

"Sorry, District Four." I muttered under my breath as I ran away from Ryker. I dodged branches and trees, trying to get away from the boy chasing after me. It was odd that only about a day and a bit ago, he was saying to the other Careers to be wary of me. Now he thirsted for my blood. No surprise in that, to be honest. He was a Career from District 2, after all. I heard the cannon go off in the distance, signalling a death. Most likely the girl from 4. I felt so guilty, but I didn't at the same time.

I ran for what seemed like hours, but not once did I stop and not once did Ryker seem to stop either. It was a chase that could end in one of us being killed, most likely me. As I ran, I decided that enough was enough. I threw my arm behind me and grabbed an arrow and whipped my upper body round, nocking my arrow into the bowstring at the same time. I raised it and pulled the string back to my lip. Ryker saw this and raised his sword. He locked his jaw and ran faster, determined to get to me before my arrow got him. I then suddenly let go of the string and the arrow hit him right in the leg, causing him to fall. He yelled in pain as he hit the ground. He tor the arrow out of his leg, revealing quite a deep wound. I had hit him in the thigh. I didn't think it would kill him, but it would certainly put him our of action for a while. I could practically hear Haymitch sighing and saying 'Too close, sweetheart' as he watched me run away.

I turned away and continued to run until I could literally run no more. I had made sure to go in various directions to make it harder for the Careers to track me down and kill me on the spot. I was now panting and walking very slowly now. I managed to make it to a big, strong tree that practically everyone else would find hard to climb. It took a while, but I eventually made it to a strong branch thick enough to hold me. I belted myself in and slumped against the limb of the tree. I sat there for about ten seconds, before I broke down and started to cry. I covered my slightly bloody face with my arms and buried my head into my knees. I didn't actually know why I was crying, but I knew I looked pretty weak and vulnerable, much unlike how the Careers had described me on the first night. Maybe I was crying because I didn't want to kill people, maybe it was because I wanted my father and sister to be fine and maybe it was because I didn't want to be stuck in this arena any longer. The thee days had felt like three years.

When eventually I heard the anthem of Panem, I sniffed and looked up to the sky. I knew my eyes were red and my face was most likely blotchy, stained with blood from my cut and tears. I never had been the prettiest crier. The seal of Panem appeared and soon after, the face of the District 4 girl suddenly looked down at me. That was the only kill of the day. Now there were only twelve tributes left. Half were dead. Half remained.

After the anthem died out, I leaned back against the tree again. My stomach suddenly let out a long, low growl. I was ravenous now. I reached beside me and opened my pack. I got out the pot with my birthday cake in and my packet of crackers. I only ate a couple of the crackers, because I wanted to make sure I had some for the days to come. I then cut another small slice of my birthday cake and rested my head against the tree.

"Happy birthday to me." I whispered, my voice muffled and my throat clammy. I then raised the slice to my lips and took a bite. It tasted of blood.