May the odds be ever in your favour

Chapter 8

It's almost sunset when I finally decide to stop. I am pretty far away from the Careers for sure, so I can take a small break to relax my limbs and search for a water source as well as check out the bounty that I managed to get from the cornucopia. It's not a bow but something useful will be hiding in there. Or so I hope.

During our time with Darion, Wren and I got to know how crucial water is for our survival. Not that we didn't know it already. But Darion made sure to remind us every time we took a sip of it during meals. However, I notice that I am short on time, and I have to switch priorities and find a place to sleep. Tomorrow will be the time to find water.

As I am looking out at my surroundings, I notice a medium-sized boulder and I decide to rest for a few minutes there. It isn't going to be my hiding spot for the rest of the games, of course, but it'll do for a short rest. Once I sit on the scourging hot boulder, I open the bag to be found with an empty leather water flask, two daggers, handfuls of coal to start a camp and a bag of dried fruit. At least there's some food and weapons in there. Would it hurt them to fill the water flask beforehand though? It wouldn't take more than a few seconds, especially with all the high-tech in the Capitol. I then quickly pack all my belongings back up. I don't have time to waste. Sunset is approaching and I have to find a safe place to spend the night. I can't trust the Capitol making it easy for us on the first night. Never.

As I am about to stand up, I suddenly realise how much my legs have cramped from all the running. I push through the small jabs of pain and manage to find a decent pace. Thankfully, while I am walking and searching for a place to rest, I find a field in a not-so-dense part of the forest for me to rest the night yet dense enough that will hide me. I am surprised to find a big rose bush there. It is definitely going to give me cover from others during the night. The bush is splattered with red roses in a variety of sizes, so red like the colour of blood. Oh, the irony.

Thankfully, the sun hasn't set yet so I have some time to make bedding of sorts. I decide to pick up some leaves and pine needles from the ground and pile them up at the length of my height. I can't help but think that I'll freeze to death tonight and I don't even know how cold it will get. I am not sure how to keep warm either since I'm advised not to light a fire. Darion made that point clear to us, warning us about fires. In fact, it was one of the first pieces of advice that we got. Starting a fire during the night would be the first step of being killed during the first night, that's if we were still alive till then. The light and the smoke from the fire would radiate in the forest making it easy for people near you to spot your whereabouts and then, game over.

Once I sit down on my small bedding of leaves, I observe the sunset, the beautiful orange colours that blend in a dark red and my thoughts run wild once again. I would like it here if the situation was different. It's quite unlike the industrial District 8 that I'm used to as well.

But I'm not here on vacation. I'm here to survive and not be killed. I really need to find water and food, as fast as possible. The dried fruit won't last forever.

I am sure Darion is punching in rage the soft velvet pillows of the sofas on our apartment floor in the Tribute Centre. The plan that we had set beforehand, Wren and I being together as a team, has completely gone down the drain. I'm not even sure he's alive.

I wish he is. I can't bear the thought of leaving the only boy I have ever cared about, the only boy that I have completely trusted with my heart, to die off alone in a horrible and torturous way. Especially if I can do something to protect him. Sure, we drifted apart and I decided to protect my feelings from being hurt... But, it's sad that it took the reaping to get us back in each other's lives. Oh, how I wish he was here with me now. I just have to wait till they announce the dead in the night sky and then I'll see whether it's a lost cause worrying about Wren or not.