The Sixty-Eighth Hunger Games

Chapter 13- ADDIE

We've just set up our sleeping arrangements for the second time tonight when we hear the cannon go off. I'm so used to the quiet that when I hear it I physically jump.

Nick mutters a swear word under his breath, and even though I'm still rattled, I immediately say, "Language!" It's a reference from a movie I watched ages ago, but he still gives me a dirty look.

"Who-" James starts, and then he stops himself. He probably realizes that there's no point in asking. None of us have any idea.

"You guys heard what Brie said, right?" I'm surprised that James isn't asleep by now.

"Yeah. Run," I say. "You think she was warning us?"

"Eh." Nick rolls over onto his side. "Girl's kinda psycho. Probably more like, 'Run, and I might not kill you.'"

I think this over. He might be right. In fact, there's a pretty good chance he is. I mean, Brie just jumped into that fight more viciously than I could've imagined. But, back in training, she did tell us to head to the fire station, which could definitely come in handy in an environment like this. So maybe she's trying to help us. You never know in the arena.

"Maybe," James mumbles in that voice people use when they're just on the verge of sleep. "But maybe not."

Neither Nick or I respond to him, and soon enough, we hear him snoring. Moments later, I've fallen asleep as well.

When I wake up, I realize that it had been so late when we'd gone to sleep that Nick was able to stay on guard all night. Or really, all morning, now that I think about it. We slowly get up, exhausted from our crazy night, and pack up our stuff. The sun warms my face as I stuff the blanket into a bag, and I drink in the warmth. Coming from someone who prefers chilly weather, I'm sick of the cold.

Nick stretches in a huge yawn, and says, "Where to now?"

There's a lot of answers to that question. We could go on the offense, but I quickly nix the idea, remembering the chaos of last night. "We still need to find water. And maybe a place to camp out."

I look down at the arrow I'd drawn in the snow before we'd slept. "That way's the Cornucopia." I point to the right. "The cliff's over there."

"I guess I don't really care where we go," Nick says. "As long as we don't die, 'course."

"If we go towards the cliff we can loop around," I muse. "Because we came from the other way."

Nick shrugs. "Sure."

"More walking," I say as we get started. "We're so exciting, aren't we?"

When we stop for lunch, I think back to what I said. I'd said it as a joke, but I'm a bit worried that the Gamemakers are going to pull something on us. As far as we know, we've had about twelve hours of calm, and for the Capitol people, that's much too long. They want action all the time, and watching us walk is about as exciting as staring at a wall. I don't voice any of these thoughts to the others, of course. I'm not worried about Nick, but I don't want James to be stressed.

"Okay, this is actually pretty good," James says. Nick has put together a sort of meal for us: we have raw Mountain Bluebell flowers, which look exactly like they sound, and he's made a sort of stew out of boiled snow, stinging nettle leaves, jerky, and a few wild potatoes we've dug up. All in all, not bad. Even getting a fire going was easier than we'd thought. According to Nick, the nettle leaves have "loads of protein!" and the fact that we found bluebells means that there's probably water nearby, which is a relief for all of us.

Nick blows a chef's kiss at us and bows. "Your chef thanks you, and asks you to come back to Nick's Mountain Cafe any time."

James laughs at this, and I smile over my food. It's moments like right now that remind me that not everyone in this arena is ruthless- that we still have some good times where we can laugh at stupid things like this. As much as I haven't wanted to admit it, Nick reminds me of Cameron. Cam was able to make me laugh even in the toughest times, and Nick apparently also carries the same trait. And they both hate the Capitol as much as I do.