The Tribute and the Victor

Chapter 24

I heard Calix make a small cough to signal that it was time for me to release him and for us to start moving again. And with that, I released my arms that were once wrapped tightly around his back and got up. Hunger really started to strike after about two hours of hunting and finding nothing. There were no animals to be found on the ground and all the birds were too fast for us to even take a shot at. I couldn't concentrate over the sound of my own stomach rumbling, it was torture. Oh how I wished we had saved some of those nuts and raisins. The birds seemed to be mocking us as they darted through the air, chirping happily. Until finally, Calix lost it. He wanted food. And he wanted it now. He snatched my spear from me and launched it straight at a rather fat looking bird perched on a tree branch. And I must say, it was a rather good shot. That evening we cooked the fat bird over a small fire that must have taken us hours to light as we didn't have any matches, but it was worth it. I savoured every last chunk of that meat as if it were my last, well I suppose it could very well be my last. I put out the fire carefully, trying to cause as little smoke as possible and then rested back onto the jungle floor next to Calix and stared up at the stars."You know Darcy, I reckon you and I could have been pretty good friends if we had grown up in the same district together." He said as he gazed up at the stars. And then I had a thought. I hardly knew this boy. I guess I might as well find out about him. This could be the last night I spend with him. "Calix..." I mumble. "Hm..?" He mumbles back. "How old are you?" I ask. "Sixteen." I stare at him for what seems like forever after what I had just heard him say. "Sixteen?" I squeaked. "Something wrong?" He asks curiously. "No...I just thought...that you were older than me...that's all." I whispered. He grinned at me then carried on looking at the starry sky. But I really was in shock. I thought he was eighteen, and if it weren't for him being with me in the hunger games, I would have probably thought he was older. My hate for the capitol suddenly started to emerge again at the thought of them forcing children into these games. It was wrong. And there was nothing I could do about it. We must have only been asleep for half an hour when we were woken up once again to a strange sound. It sounded like squawking...it was like a bird was being strangled. As we pushed our way through the jungle leaves in search of the sound. We finally came to a halt. Only to find exactly that. A bird being strangled. By Nixie.