The Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty-One

EDELMIRA'S POV
I take small sips from the water bottle and pull it from my mouth. I need to pace myself. I twist the lid on and tuck the water bottle back into the mud covered backpack. I should keep moving. I still haven't found another water source, and I'll need one soon. I unhook the bow and quiver that's hanging from a thin tree limb and climb down. I notch an arrow and hold the bow by my side so that I'm ready. For what I'm not sure, but I'll be ready. I should also keep an eye out for food. I have the loaf of bread, but I'm sure that that won't last long. Plants. Let's start with that. I pause and scan the dense woodland. There- I've already spotted something. I silently walk over to it and uproot it and examine it in my hand, just to make sure it's what I think it is. It turns out it is, and I pull up handfuls and put them in the pack with the loaf of bread. I'll eat them later. I rise to my feet, picking up the bow and backpack. I continue silently down the trail, when I find myself humming. Not very loudly, but enough for me to cover my mouth with my hand and glance around. I don't think anybody heard me. I move on with extra caution, just in case someone did hear. I draw my bow and aim it into the trees. Not quite sure what that sound was. Rustling. There is was again. Without thinking, I let the arrow fly. There's a soft squawking sound and something hitting the ground. There's no cannon shot, so if I shot a person then they're not dead. But I don't think it was person. The sound it made was more animal like. I carefully push through the plants, careful not to break or snap anything. I don't want to leave a trail.
A groosling. I shot a groosling. That'll taste good with my roots. I pull the arrow from it and pick it up by the neck. As the sun begins to set, the anthem plays, but no deaths today. The second day is almost over. Tomorrow is the day I told Hayden that I would find him. I'm not sure if I'll make it by then, or even make it at all. But, with a decent weapon, food and water, the odds are in my favor.