A Tale of a Boy and His Flower

I Hate Bugs

Darkness fell over the arena. I hadn't found any sources of water, and my throat felt extremely dry. 

I cried out and kicked a tree in frustration. 

"Where is the damn water!" I shouted. 

Luckily my shouts were drowned out by the sound of music. I looked to the sky in recognition. I saw the names and pictures of the tributes who had already died projected into the sky. Including Tessa. 

I had already killed two on the first day. It seemed I was heading in the exact same direction as my first games. 

I anxiously waited for Finnick or Zach face to appear. I didn't know if they truly made it out with Katniss and Peeta. Thankfully, their profile wasn't displayed. 

When the program ended, the holographic projection shut off and left me in darkness once more. 

 I nearly felt sadness. I'd known those victors for awhile and it was hard to see them go. Even if they were enemies, there were so few people left that understood what it was like to live through the games. I wished I had gotten to know Tessa, she seemed like a good person

I sighed and sat down, leaning against a tree. I had snagged the hunting knife from Tessa and had used it to catch a squirrel. With the darkness as cover I made a small fire to cook the tiny animal. If there was one thing I learned in District 10, it's to always cook raw meat. 

I blew the fire out after finishing eating. The meat had only made me thirstier. I was extremely tired and desperately wanted to sleep, but with no one around I didn't feel safe closing my eyes. 

 Just as I began to nod off a high pitched beeping came from above and got louder as it came closer. 

I stood up in alertness. I spotted the parachute and rushed over as it hit the ground softly. 

I pried open the container and read the note. 

Hurry. She's testing his patience. -Haymitch

I nearly laughed out loud at the note. I had tried to warn them about Katniss. She reminded me a bit of myself during my first games. I nearly drove Zach insane during those days. 

Attached with the note was a single bottle of water. I grabbed the bottle and smiled towards the camera hidden in the tree as a thank you to Haymitch. I didn't have a mentor to get me sponsors or send me things while I was here, so I was very thankful  for Haymitch. 

I refrained from drinking the entire bottle since I didn't know when I would find an actual water source. Honestly I had started to think that getting water was going to be based off if you had citizens who liked you enough to buy you some. 

***

I awoke to a loud strike of thunder. Following the thunder was twelve loud dongs. They weren't cannons..but what were they? 

I counted twelve total. Number of Districts? Midnight perhaps? 

I was annoyed with myself for falling asleep so easily. 

Boom!

I frowned, were the Careers hunting at night? Or had two tributes unfortunately fought? I hoped it was one of the tributes I was meant to kill. It would make my job much easier. 

I stood up and gathered my things. I began to make my way farther into the jungle. When I reached the familiar hum of the force field I threw a rock and it flew back with sparks.  I remembered the first time I nearly ran into the wall but Jase had stopped me. 

I subconsciously touched my necklace as I remembered. Seeing as there was no other way forward I made my way back towards the beach. I walked until I reached the familiar mud again. I stopped and rested until I could see the sun rising again. I guessed it was somewhere around 7 am.