Promise Me | Saylor Odair

~9~

Saylor was walking around in the forest looking for that little waterfall that she and River found. She had been walking for hours trying to remember where it was. She was exhausted, and honestly, she wanted to give up. But she remembered her promise to her brother and she kept going. Eventually, she found the waterfall.

as soon as Saylor saw it she ran over and drank a lot of water. She was getting dehydrated as the water from her water bottle ran out a long time ago. She splashed her face with the water and washed off all the dried blood she had on her. Saylor was going to be sick watching the watered-down blood flow onto the ground. She had Scout's dried blood on her clothing so she took off her shirt and zipped up her jacket so she wasn't bare.

She tipped her shirt in the water and tried to scrub out the blood. She rang out the shirt and saw his blood dripping down. She started panicking. She sat leaning against a tree. if she was faster maybe she could have killed the career. Or maybe if she had been more aware she could have killed him. It was her fault that Scout had died. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she thought about Scout. He had protected and watched her and she had let him die. She was playing with the ring on her thumb trying to focus on anything else. Once she had calmed down a little bit, she got up. She needed to find River.

Saylor was walking around aimlessly, trying to find River. It felt like she searched the entire arena. While she was walking she heard a noise. She looked up and saw River in a tree. "River?" she whispered just in case anyone was nearby. "Saylor?" He sounded weak. "Are you able to come down?" she asks. She Couldn't see River, but she could see the rope. River had made a rope belt so he wouldn't fall if he passed out or fell asleep.

"I can come down," he said weekly. River untied the rope he had around his legs and tried to climb down. While he was climbing down he was Groaning in pain. Once he got to the bottom Saylor saw all the blood on his shirt. "Don't worry... it's not all mine," he explains once he sees the way she is looking at him. " are you Injured?" she asks Concerned by the amount of blood. River lifts his shirt a little and there is a big cut. "Just a Scratch... don't worry it's not very deep." He said. "We need to do something about that... there was a cave back there we should find some cover."

Saylor leads River to the cave and tells him to lie down and pull up his shirt so she can see the wound. She opens her backpack and pulls out her first aid kit. "This first aid doesn't have anything too useful... but we can clean it up so it doesn't get infected." She opens up a package of rubbing alcohol and pours it onto a cotton pad. "This is going to hurt," She says warning him. She dabs the cotton pad around the wound. Then lightly dab the actual cut. River sucks in his breath and then tries to move away. "Stop moving... I'm almost done." Once she is done a supply drop lands right in front of the cave. She goes over to it and opens it. It's some cream. The note says "Apply generously... you guys got this -Finn"
Saylor smiled at the note and then went back to River. "It's some cream." She hands him the bottle. River nods and puts it on his wound.

Suddenly a loud voice is heard through the arena.
"Attention Tributes. Attention! Commencing at sunrise, there will be a feast tomorrow at the Cornucopia. This will be no ordinary occasion,
each of you needs something And we plan to be
generous hosts." Saylor looks at River he is in no state to fight or run. " I'll go in the morning. We really need food." River shakes his head "Your not going by yourself." he says.
"You are in no shape to run or fight." She says firmly.
" We can just find some food around here. It's a death trap." She thinks about it for a second. "Let's just figure it out in the morning. I'm tired and this might be our last opportunity to sleep," she says then lays down on the ground.

She keeps tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable but nothing works. "Come here..." River says while holding his arm out. Saylor looks at him like he's insane. " Absolutely not," she says and he laughs. "I won't bite... but fine sleep on the hard rock floor. I was just being nice." he lets out still laughing. Saylor rolls her eyes and then shoots closer to him. "I'm only doing this because I can't sleep." She says and River starts laughing even more "Just be quiet, " She says then lays her head on his chest.