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

Chapter 22

 The first to appear is Hero, next is Reeler, then Spoola appears. After that, the seal appears... So Ross is alive. I crawl as far as I can into the back of the cave and get ready for the night. I think the Gamemakers are punishing me, it seems like jets of frozen air are blowing right into the cave. Ross had the blanket in his duffel and that's wherever he is right now and my sleeping bag was lost in the commotion of the day.

I pull my sleeves over my hands and cup them over my ears. Somehow, I eventually fall asleep.

When I rise in the morning I set back out to the spot where I know Ross was last. I want to find him and resume our alliance. Both of us have lost our partners now... Bran and Spoola were both killed by Clementine. It's all so hard to believe, I can't believe Bran's dead, I can't believe Spoola's dead, and I can't believe a 14-year-old girl was the one who did it. I can't stop thinking back to her interview, "I've always wanted to do the Hunger Games," her words echo in my head. Sure, all of us volunteered to be here, but I doubt any of us truly want to be here. Except her. Monstrous.

I make my way back to the clearing. It is still deserted, and the smoke has cleared out considerably. I risk a journey out into the center, the cornucopia is still filled with smoke. I don't spend much time there, most of it is molten or destroyed beyond use. I find a small metal pot, covered in soot, but still good. I find a heavily dented can of some kind of food, but when I pick it up the thing splits and leaks juice all over me. I throw it down, put the pot in my pack, and head back to the blacked streak of dirt where Ross must have been blown back in the explosions.

Now that I'm looking closer and the smoke isn't as thick, I can find the spot where he must have landed. In a collapsed tree I find the remains of his duffel. The mangled bag is there with the charred remains of gloves, socks, and what's left of that blanket. I know for sure that the Gamemakers were being cruel to us, the Careers and us have lost our supplies, and they wanted to make it very clear to us that they are now in control. We are at their mercy. The games have truly begun, the last 6 days were child's play compared to what's next.

My stomach churns with anxiety, but I fight to not throw up. If I do, I will not only look weak but lose the food I've eaten. Calories are life. Giving myself something to do, I begin to walk in the clearest direction I can find. From the looks of it, Ross should still have his machete, since it wasn't left behind in the burned bag.

I spend the next several hours combing the woods searching for Ross. A couple of hours into my journey I run into a large cliffside and decide to walk along the side of it, hoping that if Ross was running in a straight line, he too would have run into this cliff.

By the time night is rolling around and the cold wind begins to blow I haven't found any sign of him. There also haven't been any cannons for the day. I find a large felled tree and dig a space for me to rest for the night. As the temperature plummets and the sky grows even darker the anthem sounds over the arena. When the anthem is over the seal disappears and the sky goes dark.

Tonight the woods are alive with strange noises. The sounds of spindly legs crawling over logs, like the keyboards clicking as the teachers use the old computers back at school. I push myself as far back as I can into my cave to maintain out of their sight.

After a sleepless night, I crawl out of the cave and stretch. I have the rest of my berries and put the empty bag on my back. I continue to follow the cliff, keeping an ear open for any noise of incoming danger.

Eventually, I stumble on a patch of berry bushes. Just as I reach in to grab a handful a large spider leaps out at me. Without a second's thought, I stab the creature and it twitches violently, curling into a ball, and dying. I pick as many berries as I can, putting them into the bag I had just emptied this morning.

As I keep going, I run into a river, which becomes a waterfall at the cliff's edge. This isn't the same waterfall as where Bran died, but just being somewhere similar makes me feel light-headed and dizzy. I quickly fill my water bottle, drop in a purification pill, and move on back into the woods, following the river. I have a feeling I'm not going to find Ross. It's been too long and the arena is so big, the odds of me finding him are plummeting, especially when you consider the other tributes could show at any moment as well.

Tired from the lack of sleep last night, I settle into a small overhang for the night. It offers virtually no protection, but at this rate, my eyes are too heavy to remain open. I watch the anthem, no deaths again, something is bound to happen tomorrow... I think of who's left. Adore, Bea, Pix, Jib, Phlo, Lex, Ross, Clementine, and me. 9 left.

By now they will be interviewing people at home. I wonder if Farro is pretending we have a much stronger relationship than we actually do. Honestly, I hope so, since I need every advantage I can get in the arena. I feel so alone. I just want to be home.