A Blooming Rose (hunger games fan-fic)

Chapter 15 (Day 10)

Rose woke up with the sun the next day. It was a comfortable morning and when Rose attempted to stand, she found she could do it with no pain. The medicine that Chaff had sent had worked incredibly well. Rose looked over her wounds and found that they not only felt better, but looked twenty times better than they did the night before. She walked back to her cave. She uncovered the door and recovered it. She unloaded her bag, which held the animals from Chrysa's traps. Rose cooked the rabbit and slowly ate, savoring each bite.

Rose sat against the wall with a small stone in her hand. She took it and began marking tallies on the cave floor.

9 died at the Bloodbath, she thought. Then two the next day, one being Jonathan; then Tilsee; Ash and Loredana; Vanil and Chrysa; and now Affron and one other tribute. That makes eighteen. Eighteen dead, six left.

Suddenly, the sound of rushing water increased. Rose could normally hear the stream from the save, but it had grown much louder. She peaked outside the cave and gasped in disbelief. A large flood was filling the valley and quickly coming towards her cave. Rose grabbed all the things she could and stuffed them into her backpack, but left her sais out. She hurried out of the cave and looked up stream. A large mass of water was roaring towards her. Rose began to climb up the side of the valley as quick as she could. Moments later, the water had reached her feet and threatened to pull her with the current. Rose dug her sais into the ground and held on as tight as she could.

Gallons washed over her head. They descended for a brief moment so Rose could catch her breath. As the waves came over again, Rose grew small gills on her neck and hands so she could breathe. She took one of her sais out of the valley side and positioned it up higher. She continued doing this until she was above the water, but even then she continued. She only stopped when she reached the top. She collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. She had turned her skin back to normal as she neared the top. She looked down at the valley. It was full of water. Branches floated by and bits of supplies did as well. Rose sighed and moved under a tree. She rested her head against it and waited.

That flood was meant for someone. Was it meant for me?

Minutes passed and she jumped when she heard a cannon.

There's another one. Gone.

She drifted off to sleep.

~

When Rose woke up it was mid-day. She stood up and stretched. She was cold and a bit damp, but she was alright. The water in the valley had returned to its normal level, but Rose decided she would not be returning to the cave. She wasn't going to risk it.

All I can do now is set traps for food and look for a new campsite.

Rose spent most of the afternoon looking for a campsite and when she finally found a reasonable spot, she put up snares for animals in the area. The site she chose was a small area, but was clear. Rose was able to find branches and leaves for a shelter, which took her half-an-hour to make.

Once she finished, she decided to rest for the rest of the day and see what supplies was still good. The bag was wet on the outside, but dry on the inside. Most of the animals she had collected we beginning to smell from not being cooked. She threw them into the trees so something else could eat them. Everything else was alright.

~

Rose watched the night sky. The anthem began to play and a picture of a tribute appeared. Osie. After a moment, the image disappeared and Rose got into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes.