Born to die | Finnick x Male oc

Talks of Home. 14

I felt a harsh coldness in the air as we walked through the open desert in the night, hoping to get to the cornucopia. Nothing about today was going to plan, the mutt attack had put us at a disadvantage by injuring Aaron. I turned my head to the side as we walked and noticed the grimace permanently etched onto the district Seven boys face, forced to use his wounded leg, even with me supporting his body weight the pain wasn't prevented.

"We can take a break if you want?" I offered quietly, speaking in hopes of only Aaron being able to hear me.

"No-" he yelped back, clenching his jaw as we continued our slow pace through the sand.
"If we stop more mutts will probably show up".

His concern was valid, the mutts only attacked us when we were about to slow down, when it looked like we were about to give in and make camp. The game makers wanted to push all of us into one area, they were calling for a winner, something that wasn't unusual in the games.

I heard a few animal sounds which caused me to panic at times, luckily it wasn't anything dangerous, just wildlife that existed to make the arena more realistic.

The walk was happily uneventful, we weren't disturbed again, I just hoped that Reed and his ally were facing a rougher time than us.

___________________

Finally the metallic edges of the Cornucopia came into view, reflecting beams of moonlight in a calmer way than it did during the day. The beams allowed the surrounding area to be illuminated by a soft baby blueish glow, if we weren't here for a reason I'd probably just stand there mesmerised.

I helped Aaron hobble over and sat him down just inside the metallic structure, it'd be quicker for me to search on my own, surprisingly I was met with little objection.

I searched around the whole area and found very little, just scraps of its original bounty. I found a few tarps and some fruit but nothing more, no medication, nothing to help heal Aaron's leg.

I slumped down next to him with a defeated look on my face, I wanted to be able to make him feel better but I couldn't, I was certain that since we became allies his chances went downhill.

"Why do you look all mopey..you're not the one with a chewed up leg" Aaron moaned at me, hitting the side of my arm with his balled up fist.

I couldn't meet his eyes.

"Colt. Without you those things would've probably killed me" Aaron said softly, shuffling closer to me as he tried to hide the pain movement caused.

I felt his healthy leg press against mine and let out a sigh, leaning my head back against the metal wall, looking up at the artificial stars.
"They look better at home..you can tell these are fake." I uttered.

Out of my peripherals I could see Aaron look up at the sky with me, clearly getting the message that I didn't want to talk about what happened.

"I bet. I heard that Ten is basically all fields".

I tilted my head slightly until Aaron was in my vision, I could see the stars reflected in his eyes.
"Pretty much. Fields, hills and plains. We have the one town in the centre of the district where the justice building is..only have to go there once a year, otherwise we'd never really leave the lands around the ranch".
It felt good being able to talk about home.

Whilst I looked at Aaron he remained fixated on the stars, his eyes darting around every now and then when he spotted something new.
"I wouldn't mind living on a ranch.." he yawned out.

I couldn't help but chuckle as he yawned, I was certain just like the rest of us he was running on very limited sleep.
"Why don't you get some rest..I'll keep watch".