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Virus rocked herself back and forth, trying to forget how bad her life really was right now. Bolt was still asleep, because he was on watch first. He'd felt incredibly guilty asking Virus to wake up, but she reassured him it was completely fine. Virus wanted to go and hunt for food, their supplies were getting low.
They had already eaten the dried meat and fruit from Virus' bag, and apples would only sustain them for so long. "Bolt, wake up." Virus said as she took a step back. Last time she'd woken him up, he'd almost cut her into pieces.
"Morning." Bolt groggily sat up, and peered over at Virus. "We're going to hunt, we need food." Virus said, as she equipped the daggers across her belt. "What are we going to hunt? The mutant birds?" It was still a sensitive topic, but they were almost able to talk freely about it.
"Maybe there are other animals." Virus stubbornly pulled Bolt upward, trying to get him out of their base. "What kind?" Bolt asked, attempting to play a game with the twelve year old. "If you could make up an animal, what would it be?" Virus thought about her answer, before getting a great idea.
"A jabberjay, mixed with a fish." She giggled, imagining the noises it would make. "I would make a horse mixed with a turtle." Virus snorted, covering her mouth as she laughed. "Wait, over there." Virus abruptly stopped, and made sure Bolt did too.
"What is that?" Bolt asked, clearly he'd never seen a rabbit before. "A rabbit." Virus grimly smiled as she grabbed her throwing knife. She aimed, and threw. And she missed. "Fuck!" Virus exclaimed, as the rabbit hopped away from the blade.
"If there's one, there must be more." Bolt said, as he examined the area. "I can't see any." Virus said, angrily stuffing her knife back into her pocket. "Let's just follow the one we saw." Bolt offered, and Virus nodded as she walked toward the fleeing animal.
Virus had removed her knife from her pocket, and threateningly wielded it. She knew that it wouldn't take long until the games ended, there were only nine tributes left. The rabbit came to a halt, and started nibbling on a small trace of grass peeking through the debris.
Virus smiled, and this time made sure her aim was correct. With the throw of a knife, and the dropping of a rabbit, Virus had gotten their first piece of real food. "Bolt, I got it." Virus said, grabbing the dead rabbit like it was a doll. "Gross, why are you touching it?" Bolt laughed.
Virus realized how much she had already changed, a few weeks ago she would've cried at the thought of hurting such a small, helpless being.
"Let's go back, and skin it." Bolt said, and they trudged back to their base, Virus holding the rabbit by its ears. Bolt offered to skin the rabbit, if Virus would attempt to build a fire. She had gathered a small collection of sticks she had found on the ground, and was currently struggling to make a start of the fire.
"Faster." Bolt said, and Virus went as fast as her little hands could go. "It won't work." She said, angrily kicking the sticks away. "We'll eat it raw then, that won't hurt." Virus gagged at the thought of raw meat, but she didn't want to starve.
