YouTube Hunger Games

8: Conspiracies

 Mark's POV

My eyes shot open at the sound of a cannon, and I sat up with lightning speed. I looked around in the dark, the coals of our fire only illuminating us slightly. Jack sat up as well, eyes peering through the dark in all directions. I turned, and it looked like everyone was here, and they too got up. We all sat still, hardly breathing or blinking as we waited for someone to approach. There was several minutes of silence that followed, and we decided that it wasn't near us. I felt my eyes drooping closed, and Jack looked over at us. I think he promised that he would keep watch, but I didn't really remember.

I did recall tossing and turning on the ground that night, laying in the cold and balling up only to stretch back out. Needless to say it was a long night, and I woke up in the morning shortly after slipping back into sleep. Someone was shaking me, and I pushed them away gently. I wanted more sleep, but I wasn't going to get it clearly. The person shook me again, and I bolted upright angrily. I found myself face to face with Wade, and he blinked.

"Jack isn't here," was all he said before returning to a standing position, and I frowned, rubbing my eyes as I tried to process what was happening. My head hurt, eyes still trying to close on me, and I was ready for more sleep. I widened my eyes in attempt to wake up, and stood, stretching.

"What do you mean he isn't here?" I asked, pointing behind them as I saw the Irishman walked towards us. "He's right ther- Jack what the fuck?!" I demanded, finally getting a good look at him. He looked to be covered in blood, and he was stumbling towards us. "Are you hurt?!" I asked, walking up to him. He lifted his head from watching where he was pointing his feet and looked at me with a confused face. He shook his head slowly, and I looked him up and down. "Then why are you covered in blood?"

"Funny how he kept watch all night, someone died, and he's covered in blood." Yami noted, and it seemed like the whole group held its breath. Jack frowned again, reaching his hands behind his back. Yami flicked up a knife, glaring. "Don't move," he warned, but Jack continued anyway, pulling out a pair of rabbits that were still stuck to snares but cut up, and stared at us all with wide eyes.

"I brought.. breakfast?" he said, sounding concerned as to our actions, and I instantly relaxed. My tired brain wasn't ready to deal with anything else, and I clapped the man on the shoulder.

"Jack, you are the best. You should probably go get washed up then. You look terrifying like that." I chuckled, and Jack looked down before laughing as well. He stumbled off to the nearest stream to wash his shirt, and the rest of the group stood there as I took the food and began preparing the fire to cook it.

"Are we still sure that he wasn't responsible for the death last night?" Yami asked, and I looked over at him. Bob and Wade looked away, but I kept the man's gaze. "What?" he demanded. "Its a fair question. That blood was dried on, and there was a considerable amount on it. If he had really been setting and checking snares, the blood wouldn't be that bad."

"Or-." I suggested in a warning tone. "He set up a snare line and checked it this morning. While getting the food that you're going to be a part of eating, he got messy and brought it back for us because he considered our needs before his own." Yami snorted.

"Isn't it convenient that he was awake last night while a murder occurred?" he asked, and I gave him a dark look.

"Yami, don't let the games get to your head. Jack was with us last night when it happened, it couldn't have been him. Let it go, Jack has done nothing wrong." I put the meat from the rabbit onto skewers and began to cook it. Yami stormed over to me.

"He could have injured him and left. It was too dark to see anything, he could have had blood on his clothes then, too. We would never know! You can't just-!"