PREDATOR | THE HUNGER GAMES

DON'T MIND

"What happened?"

Della winced as Lara used the girl's jacket to staunch her bleeding. Her leg had been cut badly, crusted over with dirt and blood, yet the healing skin would crack at any movement and new blood would cover the old.

"I tried to steal from the cornucopia. The careers have it on lockdown though. I barely made it out. Thankfully I had this in my leg to fight with," she attempted to joke, gesturing to the machete beside her.

Lara nodded as she listened intently. She was right in assuming the cornucopia was off limits to any lower level tributes. It was hard to believe Della had pulled through.

"They caught me though. Gave me these lovely reminders not to cross them," she laughed bitterly. She gestured to her leg and throat, which had large purple and yellow bruises. Lara assumed that's why Della had hardly any voice.

She began to cough raucously. Lara helped her sit up all the way and patted her back. Once she finished her fit, she slumped back against the cave wall.

Lara secured Della's jacket sleeve into a tight knot to hold the makeshift bandage in place. It was all they could do given the circumstances. Then she sighed and slumped tiredly next to her.

"Why didn't they kill you?"

Della smiled, crimson stuck in her teeth, "They may be strong but they're not fast."

Lara nodded and they stayed in silence. The chirps of the birds was all they heard-it taunted them. Lara still had yet to see another living animal; there wasn't even fish in the lake.

They could see the small sliver of light that came through, but they remained hidden in the back in case any other tributes wandered in.

Della almost fell asleep, but Lara refused to let her. She was sure that the amount of blood she'd lost was soon to make her fall asleep forever.

"Where's your partner?" Della whispered.

Lara tensed. She'd forced herself to ignore Atlas' death otherwise she'd be stuck in a daze that would get her killed. But the mention of his name brought her voice to a waver.

"He didn't make it past the cornucopia."

The words barely slipped past her lips. It was hard to speak it into reality.

The girl beside her didn't offer condolences. It was part of the game after all. She simply sighed and nodded a small goodbye.

Lara turned her head to look at her, "Yours?"

She shrugged, "No clue. But he's alive. He wasn't in the fallen video."

There were too many people still alive. Only five had died at the cornucopia and only one during the acid rainstorm. There were still eighteen left.

"We both ran," Della reminisced, "Didn't even try for the cornucopia. I thought I'd be fine without it. I could gather and, thanks to you, trap. And the lake was all the water I needed. But the gamemaker decided to fuck with us and not put any animals in here."

"You noticed that too?"

She nodded, "They really emphasized the hunger part of the Hunger Games this year. I was so hungry that I tried to catch a bird and I fell face first into a pile of mud."

Lara couldn't help but let out a laugh. It was enough to cheer them both up for a brief moment. But she kept in mind the gather more herbs and flowers to keep them going for a little while.

Della faced Lara, "Did you get anything?"

"Well I had a pack...but it got stolen. I wasn't in a position to fight to keep it."