The Capitol Games

Chapter 36

No one says anything as we enter the forest. I don't know exactly where to start and none of my companions offer any suggestions, but luckily once we enter the forest, I see a thin scrap of dark blue fabric tied to a tree. a few meters to the left of that is another tree with a similar marking. I take a step back. Right in the middle of those two trees is a slightly larger gap between the trees: a path that they would've taken.

I sigh in relief, and head down that path, the others trailing behind. We walk in a sort of line. Me in the lead, then Mayra, Keaton, Zeke, Kace, and Finnick brings up the rear. The sun has set now, and just a faint twilight glow illuminates the forest, as we continue our trek westwards. The smell of pine wraps around us and the soft moss cushions our footsteps as we walk. This place is truly beautiful, I think. If only the circumstances could be different.

Mayra hasn't spoken a single word since she killed that boy, and hasn't even touched her sword that Zeke has taken to sling onto his belt. I know that she has knives in her jacket, though.

We've been walking for almost an hour now, and if anyone is tired from our trek, they don't say anything. The occasional scraps of fabric tied to tress has helped immensely, but it's been almost twenty minutes since I last saw one. Time and again on our walk, I've thought about all the horrible things that could've happened to my other five allies. Or that maybe I've lost our path and now they are thirty meters behind us instead of ahead.

Kace's arm starts bleeding severely, and that's when we stop.

When he slowly unwraps the blood soaked blue cloth around his forearm, I genuinely feel terribly bad for him.

"We need to wash this." Keaton says. "I think"

"We have two bottles with water," Zeke says cautiously.

"Let's use it one of it." I say, remembering back to a tape of the games. "He could get blood poisoning."

At this, five pairs of eyes turn to me. "My grandmother is doctor." I say as an explanation.

So we rummage through our four backpacks, searching for the bottle of water. Finnick finds it and hands it over to Keaton.

Cloth seems to a be a very important resource, as Keaton tears a sizeable chunk of the bottom of his shirt, wetting it, then wiping the blood away from Kace's hand.

Kace let's out a hiss, which tells me volumes about how painful that would've been; he is usually very calm and collected. I sling off my bow, and sit down on the moss.

Everyone soon follows suit.

And then, for the first time since we enter the woods, casual chatter ensues. Zeke mumbles something to Finnick, and Finnick says something back.

As he wipes the blood off, Keaton starts asking Kace if it hurts too much, and repeatedly apologises. "Sorry man, I don't really know how to do this stuff."

And over the dim lull, I nearly sag in relief when Mayra finally talks to me.

"Dustin Brewer." she whispers.

Even though it's very quiet, I catch that. "That's his name?"

she nods.

I don't say anything back for sometime.

"I didn't mean to kill him." she whispers. "He tried to swing at me, and tripped and fell right onto..." she gulps, and her face looks haunted in the twilight.

I stay quiet. I know that the chatter between the others has also dies down a little, and know they are hearing. If Mayra notices this, or cares about it, she doesn't show it.