One Lucky Winner

Chapter 31 ~ Gale

Day 2
3:06 AM

It's the first night in the games and I got chosen to take first watch. We went to bed long after it became dark out. I don't have the time or anything, but I'm guessing we went to bed at about 1 AM. So I'm guessing it's about 4 AM now. Katniss said to wake her up 'when it feels like 3 AM' so she can take her shift. I'm not that tired, so I just decided to stay up the whole night.

For the last three hours, I just sat here, reflecting on everything. The games. The Capitol. Death. Thinking is good, but sometimes it can be overwhelming, and right now I know I'm thinking way too much. I'm overthinking.

I grab a spear from our supples pile and start drawing in the dirt, knowing I'm dulling the spear but not really caring. I draw animals, just like I used to do when I was little. I draw a bear and deer. I can't get the deer's legs right. The front legs are too skinny, and the back legs are too fat. I try to erase but it ruins the whole picture. There's no erasing when you're making dirt art. I get stressed and scribble out the whole picture.

I toss the spear back in the supplies and let out a loud sigh. I guess there's nothing else to do but to overthink. I don't even think we needed someone to take watch, but Katniss insisted I do it.

My throat burns. We didn't get any water in our bags, and last night we looked everywhere for some and had no luck. We're all thirsty. I don't know how much longer I can last without water. I'm already so dehydrated.

Mosquitos, despite the chilly temperature, are buzzing everywhere around me. I get up and grab the bottle of bug spray from one of our bags. I drench myself in the stuff. Once I sit down, the mosquitoes come back and continue biting me. What a rip off.

Suddenly, the wind changes. It seems as if the wind is blowing twice as hard as it was blowing before. It also feels colder; maybe it's just the wind chill. I don't understand. It changed so fast. It's as if someone just snapped, and the weather changed that quick. But, of course it changed so fast. All the gamemakers had to do was press a button.

I hear Katniss stir in her sleep. I look over to her. She opens her eyes and props herself up on her elbow.

"Gale?" she croaks. "Is it my shift yet?"

"Yeah, but I'm not tired. Go back to sleep," I say.

She sits up and rubs her eyes. The opposite of what I told her to do. She looks up to the sky.

"Why does the sky look like that?" I hear her say. I look up to the sky. It's just dark, like it was before.

"Look like what?"

"The clouds are rotating," she says. I look up and I guess, if I look very, very closely, I do see some mild rotation. I don't know how she noticed that so quickly.

"Tornado?" she asks.

"It's just a storm," I say.

"No, it can't be a tornado...tornados only happen in humid weather. It's not normal for one to form in the cold," she says, ignoring me.

"This is The Hunger Games. Nothing is normal," I say. Just as I finish my sentence, a huge lightening strike flashes across the sky, lighting up the arena, it seems. A huge crack of thunder shortly follows.

We sit in silence for ten seconds, shocked by the thunder. Surprisingly, Peeta didn't wake up. He didn't even stir.

"This isn't good," I hear Katniss say.

"Huh?"

"We gotta go."

"What do you mean?" I ask.