The Incoming Storm: The Tale of the 325th Hunger Games

Chapter 17

 We sit at the overhang for a long time. Every once in a while a large rock goes tumbling over the cliff into the water. Eventually, the rocks stop falling and I assume the careers have given up. I stare at my hands, they look like raisins from spending so much time in the water.

I look out to where Bran had fallen into the water, the blood is long gone now. I don't want to believe he is dead, I've watched people die before in the games. Friends even. A couple of years ago a classmate of mine was taken to the arena and died. I remember seeing him smashed in the face by a club. But even that didn't feel like this. I watched Bran die. Not through a screen, but face to face, making eye contact with him in his life drained from him.

When the light begins to fade, several hours have gone by since the last boulder crashed into the water below.

"Ready to move?" whispers Spoola. I nod my head.

We adjust our things and get ready. I slide gingerly back into the water and swim across the pool to the bank on the other side. Spoola and I pull ourselves onto shore, while Ross practically is washed up. We look to the cliff and don't see the careers looking over us anymore. We sit on the shore for a few minutes and eat a small dinner. We each have a strip of jerky and a handful of berries that Ross identified from a bush on the side of the stream.

We wash our hands in the stream and set out while the sun begins to set behind the mountains in the distance. Pink and orange begin to streak the pale blue sky and stars begin to emerge. I stare into the distance as we walk from rock to rock along the stream, going away from the cornucopia and towards the mountains, I assume mark the edge of the arena. It is a silent walk, and I spend most of it with the image of Bran's dying eyes burned into the mind. How must home be? Usually, when a tribute dies, there is a night of mourning, and early the next day we gather in the square and sing songs to celebrate the fallen tribute. Typically by the night, the tribute has arrived. Dressed in a simple white smock and placed in a simple sturdy wooden box.

The Capitol will do things to their body to put it back together, the tribute looks like they are sleeping. I remember the morning that Garner, my classmate, was returned. Despite having been slammed in the face with a club, he looked like he was sleeping, his face reconstructed by some Capitol science.

I've barely noticed we'd come to a stop when we find a cave for us to spend the night. The dark sky above suddenly lights up and the anthem sounds over the arena. I look to the sky, as the seal fades to reveal Bran's face in the sky. He fades away and Lily appears, who must have been the cannon we'd heard last night. When the seal reappears and the anthem ends with a flourish, we crawl into the cave. Ross takes the first watch and Spoola and I curl up with the blanket for the bed.

My dreams are plagued by Bran, Garner, and Maris. Visions swirl as the various versions of them is chopped down by Clementine. If I try to run away from her, boulders start falling from the sky, and then the floor turns to water and I sink under.

I wake up drenched in sweat. There are streaks of sunlight in the sky, the morning has already arrived. Spoola sits at the mouth of the cave, holding her machete and watching unblinkingly out at the stream. I crawl up to her and sit at the mouth of the cave.

"You shouldn't have done that," I say.

"Done what?" Spoola says, looking at me.

"Let me sleep the whole night, I'm part of the team and I should have stood guard too," I say.

"It's okay," Spoola says, "You needed rest, you lost your district partner."

I frown, "I know," I say. From then on we sit in silence, watching as the stream goes by. I take our water bottles and fill them at the stream, dropping purification tablets into each. I wait until they dissolve and I share one of the bottles with Spoola while we wait for Ross to rise.

When Ross rises, we pack up our cave and set out for the day. Today food is the top priority, we have only a few crackers and strips of jerky left as well as the two cans of food from Bran. Once we are all packed we set off for the third day of the 325th Hunger Games.