Safe and Sound (The Hunger Games)

Chapter 20-The Cool Feeling

Where do I go? that's the burning question. I leave the Cornucopia to go where exactly? The jungle? The jungle is still moist with the acid rain, so that's probably a bad idea. The beach? It would probably be my best bet. I sprint through the forest as fast as I could to avoid the acid rain and I find the beach with the sand dry as ever. I sit on the rocks, where each wave lightly sprays me. I turn and face the forest, because there I can see any any attackers that may pursue me.

We are on day four and there are eight of us left. Me, Elliot, Crystal, Brandi, and Toby are what's left of the careers. My heart still aches for Mason, who died days ago right in front of me. Then there are three other tributes. My mind tries to recall the last few. The boy from eight, the girl from ten, and the boy from twelve. District twelve actually has a tribute that made it to the top eight? Well, good for him I guess. But there can only be one winner, and it has to be me or Elliot.

I look down at my bracelet, not one shell is shattered. I laugh a little, it survived my whole journey through the Hunger Games. From the very beginning at the reaping, to this very point right now. It was with me when I said goodbye to Brent and my parents, when I dislocated my shoulder, when I was being admired during the interview and chariot ride, when I had my first fight with a tribute, and when I killed a tribute. But it reminds me of home, a place that maybe someday I could come home to. I would live in the Victors Village, not having to go to school anymore or work because I'll be rich. It all sounds so nice and real. But Elliot won't be there. He'll be dead, and probably because of my actions. I won't kill him, but he won't let me die. I wonder where he is now, suffering in the jungle or on the beach somewhere?

I have to stop worrying because I have to stay focused. I look at the forest, with my four spears in hand. One of seven people will come out, and I have to be ready. It's dark outside, so I can barely see what lies in the forest. I'm so stupid, I'm in plain sight. Anyone in the forest can see me right now. As for them, they could be hidden behind a tree and I can't see them. I get up and wedge myself between two rocks. The waves calmly rise up on the touching my toes, and then falls back. I lean against the cool rock and close my eyes. The top eight, what an honor.

Something pinches my toes. I open my eyes and squint at my toes. There's nothing there, I probably imagined it. Paranoid probably, I'm out here all alone. I make myself comfortable and close my eyes again. There it is again, the pinching sensation. Then I see it, a crab. Crabs are rare where I lived, but are fished in other places in district four. I pick it up by it's body and throw it in the water. I brush myself off and close my eyes. I feel another pinch, and another, and another. I get up and see a clan of crabs all around me. I jump over them and run away from the rocks. They keep on following me. I stab one with my spear, not letting go of the spear. I can't afford to lose spears on simple crabs. In the morning I can start a fire and eat them. But then I notice something else. Every time I kill a crab, another takes its place. "What the..." I mutter. Fleeing to the water would be illogical, they would follow. But what wouldn't be illogical is to climb up the trees.

I run to the forest when I trip on a log. I feel another pinch on my leg. I back up instantly and continue running through the jungle. There's throbbing where they pinched me, but I have to ignore it for the time being. Am I slowing down, or are they speeding up? Then I realize what they are. They aren't normal crabs, they are King Crabs. They are the fastest and lethal crabs ever. I can't die, not like this at least. My eyes are getting fuzzy and I'm loosing feeling where they pinched me. They have venom that can temporarily paralyze you, then they kill and eat you. It's sick, but the Capitol created them. In the Dark Days, for District Four's strike against providing fishing for them, the Capitol unleashed the King Crabs for payback. I saw one once, when I was little. I went fishing with my dad when I saw one. My dad pulled me away instantly, and we ran away. I don't understand why they are multiplying right now though. Real ones live on their own, they would kill each other if they acted like this. Then it hits me, the gamemakers created them to kill me off. That explains how one took the place of another. I won't die, not now and not like this.

I find a tree and start climbing. King Crabs can't climb, or at least the ones I know. I grab the next branch above me, and then the next one. I look below me and see them turn away and disappear. I sigh and continue climbing.

But I can't. I can't move my legs. A cool feeling tingles up my legs and I can't feel them. My legs swing from the trunk and my hands grip on the branch above me. It's a weak branch, I can hear it creak. I'm holding on to the branch like I held on to monkey bars when I was little. My legs dangle ten, maybe fifteen feet above the ground. The sensation spreads past my hips and to my shoulders. I breathe slower, waiting for my fingers to slip. And they do.

The second my fingers become paralyzed, I drop ten or fifteen feet to the ground. I land on the ground hard and I hear a crack near my knee. I don't feel anything, but I know I must have broken something. I want to see what happens next, so I keep my eyes open as the cool feeling spreads past my cheeks. I blink unintentionally and I can't open them again. I am completely frozen. What scares me more than not seeing what happens next, but the crunching leaves I hear next to me.