The Tracker- The 43 Hunger Games

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

After walking for maybe an hour, we hear people coming up behind us. They're running. My only thought is that it's the Career Tributes. "We need to run. Now," I say. We start off as fast as we can. Saffra keeps stumbling, as do I. We run for probably thirty minutes.

"I think... we lost them," Talon says exhaustedly.

We all sit down to rest, excluding Talon. He makes a shelter out of sticks, which is good since we're in a very heavily wooded area. And by wooded, I don't mean forest. I mean just...wood.

Where we are isn't very pretty at all. The sun's even hotter now and the ground is barren and dry. From what I can see, the cracked land stretches out for miles and miles before it starts to fade back into any area with life.

It's very monochromatic, mostly brown and tan. Jagged rocks are scattered across the harsh land and the brown, dead grass is very windblown, bent, and dry.

Ugly. You'd think the Gamemakers would attempt to make it a little more aesthetically pleasing for the shallow citizens of the Capitol.

As it gets later, the sky turns into an intense crimson. It's as if someone painted the blood of the fallen tributes into the sky. A shudder runs down my spine and causes the hairs on my neck to stand on end at the thought of all the dead children so far. I can't even remember how many are gone at this point.

"Here ya' are. The shelter," Talon states, ripping me from my morbid thoughts, with pride. I find myself a little jealous. His shelter is better than mine. I'll add that to the list of things that I didn't know he was capable of. How long will this list get? I think I'm finally starting to figure out what he showed the Gamemakers...everything.

Once the sun sets, it gets extremely cold. The only nice thing that night brings is an amazing sky. The stars are so bright and vibrant that I feel like I could sit here and connect every star together in the night sky. Is the sky Gamemaker made or is it natural? I think of all of the times that Kenner and I would lay out in the backyard and stare at the night sky, making pictures of the stars.

I take first watch again. It's harder tonight to stay awake. Even though we have a lot of food, we're trying our best to ration it, so I'm still really hungry and our run defiantly took a toll on me.

There were no deaths today. The Gamemakers are likely getting bored. I wonder how they're going to try to make things more interesting. The citizens of the Capitol can't get too bored otherwise the Games will be pointless.

"I can take watch if you want to sleep," Saffra offers. I want to take her up on her offer, but first I want to ask her some questions.

"Actually, can we talk for a little bit?" She agrees. "How exactly did you and Talon become friends?" I ask. This is a question I've wanted an answer for, but I didn't want to ask Talon since it's something that's related to his sister.

"Honestly, I think it's because I remind him of his sister, Jalissa. She and I were really close. I guess that gave us reason to hang out together." I reach out and put my arm around Saffra. I know this has to be hard for her to bring up.

"Talon always used to tell us that we we're so alike," Saffra replies with a smile. "We even sort of looked like."

"I'm sorry." Once again, I'm at a loss for words. I could never imagine losing my little sister.

"Is there anything else you wanted to know?" Saffra asks.

"What's District Eleven like?"

"It's very strict. There's not a whole lot to say about it. There are a lot of trees and various gardens of food and flowers. I spend my time in the orchards. That's why I love birds. I spend a lot of time with them." I nod.

"What makes District Eleven so strict, like, what do they do?" I ask.

"Well, one time when I was about twelve, I was sick. I could barely even pull myself out of bed to get dressed. Peacekeepers came to my house and kicked my door open. My parents and brother were already at the orchards.

"I didn't know what was going on until they told me I was getting whipped for not following proper work protocol

"They didn't care that I was sick. They tried to make me stand, though I clearly was unable."

I'm stunned at what she's telling me. I thought District 1 was strict at times.

"I ended up getting whipped fifty times."

"That's awful," I say.

"That's not even the end of it. I have always wanted to help those in our District who couldn't afford food."

I find this a strange statement because she's so thin. She looks like she could be one of those families that couldn't afford food.

"I started stealing some fruit from the orchards every day and taking them to poor families."

Her voice is hardly a whisper a now. I'm assuming that she doesn't want the cameras to pick up what she's telling me.

"One day, I got caught stealing. He dragged me to the whipping post.

"Once I was tied to the whipping post, he gave me forty lashings. That's the typical amount for stealing in my District."

Saffra lifts up her shirt to expose her back. The moonlight illuminates all of the scars. There are so many scars that start to run together. You couldn't count them if you tried.

"But, I don't understand why you didn't stop stealing," I say with a yawn.

Saffra turns back around to face me. "Althaea, you look and sound tired. Go to bed."

She suddenly seems so much older to me. She's smarter and kinder than anyone her age should be. I yawn one more time, and then I crawl onto my sleeping bag next to Talon, and fall asleep almost instantly.