YouTube Hunger Games

9: Separating.. Again

Chilled's POV

I took one last look over everything, setting the filled water bottle next to me and leaving it out as I packed everything bag into GaLm's bag. I swallowed, not really wanting to leave or move until this nightmare was over, but I knew that we had no choice. What little food avoided water damage would not last us long, and the longer we stayed in one spot, the more restless and nervous Ze grew. I hiked the bag over my shoulders, and I picked up the water bottle as well as Smarty's jacket, and I looked over the piece of clothing. A pang of sadness hit me in the chest, hard. I choked back tears, and sighed, closing my eyes.

We had to see this through for them.

I walked over to Ze where he was putting out the fire. I nudged him, and he turned to see my arm outstretched, Smarty's jacket hanging off the edge of it. He stared at it, and then looked up at me as I handed it to him. He took it, and then tried to return it with a shake of his head, but I only put it around his shoulders. The river had swept away our gear, and had taken our jackets with them, but I knew that Ze would need this bit of support more than I would. He looked it over, rubbing his thumb over the picture featured as Smarty's YouTube photo. He swallowed, glancing up at me to which I only nodded towards the woods, up the beach a ways. I threw my arm around his shoulder, and together we worked our way up and towards the forest once more.

We had spent the night sleeping, neither of us keeping watch and for once it seemed like luck was fully on our side. No predators, no bears, no other players, nothing. We slept undisturbed until morning despite the risk we were putting our lives at. With GaLm and Smarty gone, there was only fourteen of us left and our odds weren't good. I wasn't giving up yet, though. I would make sure that at least Ze would win. I wasn't going to watch him die, and I knew that if we worked together, we could make it. We just had to watch each other's backs. We had to; for GaLm and Smarty.

When I thought about it, I wondered if I would be able to fight. Some part of me wondered if I wouldn't be willing to harm another person, but my brain quickly dismissed it once I considered my actions should someone hurt Ze. I knew that if push came to shove, I wouldn't be afraid to knock some heads together. I couldn't lose anyone else. I couldn't.

"It must be nice." Ze spoke suddenly, and I turned to look at him, my arm removed from his shoulder to heighten our mobility. I hummed in confusion, and he cleared his throat. "I said, it must be nice. For GaLm and Smarty I mean, to be out of the arena. Safe in a hotel, they have food, running water, they don't have to worry."

"That's if they're out of the game even." I said in a strained voice. "For all we know, Sam could have been lying, anyone who's dead could really be dead." I frowned, suddenly regretting even thinking these things, let alone saying them aloud. I didn't want to hear them, let alone allow them to be true.

"Then we'll just have to hold onto the thought that they're safe and alive." Ze growled back, and I knew that the thought also disturbed him. He wasn't happy with it either, and I decided to never allow myself to think that way again. It wasn't helpful.

"Good idea." I told him, trying my best to remain positive despite our position in the games. Our stuff being lost would have been a dreadful setback, a fatal one even. Both fortunately and unfortunately, we ended up with Smarty and GaLm's things to get us back into the game. At least now we had a bit more of a chance. "Do you think it was an odd coincidence that we ended up finding GaLm and Smarty's things?" I asked aloud, and Ze glanced at me briefly before focusing on the direction that we were heading. He had to consider it as did I. It was possible that it was an odd coincidence, but if this was just a simulation and Sam could control it, was it possible that he could have made sure they ended up in our hands.