Defenders of Panem (Being Rewritten)

Chapter 25: Camp

Jem's POV

Day 4

When dawn came, Meg was already up and ready with a plan. This would be our camp for a while, as long as the Gamemakers don't push us out. She assigned Jace and Collin to scout for other tributes. While Karter, Chrystal, and I have been assigned to camouflage the camp; adding branches between trees and hiding any trace of us outside the clearing.

After assigning us to our tasks, Meg takes off to go hunting. I hope she doesn't wander off too far. We spend a few hours managing camp, and I feel like we've done well. We take a break, each sipping on some water when movement within the trees catch my eye.

I watch as a figure jumps from several trees, making their way through camp. I track its movements with my eyes, and see it land in Meg's tree. I'm about to alert the others when I catch sight of a braid. Meg. She begins to climb down, and jumps the last few feet to the ground. I shake my head at her. "Nice entrance."

She flips hair fallen from her braid out of her face with a smile. "I try." She walks further into camp, pulling game from her belt. I pull out a sheet of plastic from a nearby backpack and lay it on the ground for her. She gives me a grateful smile and places the carcasses on it. Four squirrels and two fat rabbits. Perfect.

Her and I clean the game together under the watchful eyes of Karter and Chrystal, enjoying the warm sun on our backs. Meg sheds her jacket when several twigs begin to snap. Meg's eyes dart over towards the sound. She slowly draws an arrow back with her bow, eyes darting around the shrubbery. I don't see anything, but I'm at her side, knife in hand.

Jace finally crashes through the greenery and yells out seeing Meg's arrow pointed at him. Collin follows a step behind and gives Meg a look similar to the one in the lighthouse last week... was that only last week?

I relax my stance, putting the knife away and I see Meg relax her arm. I can assume there's an eyeroll in there as well. "What is with you trying to shoot me lately?" Collin asks, stepping around a still Jace, and nudges Meg with his shoulder as he goes to stand by her.

"You could do a better job not scaring the living hell out of me. And you." She turns her searing gaze to Jace. "Can you not scream? I don't want to bring the careers down on us." Her tone is icy.

"Meg, it's okay-'

"No, it's not okay!" Meg takes a step closer to Jace, probably to give him an earful when Collin takes her and throws her over his shoulder. Her bow drops to the ground as he carries her to the other side of camp before dumping her on the grounds. I have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing.

She isn't loud, but I can tell she's ripping into Collin by the way her hands are moving. I pickup her bow and walk back to the others, pulling Jace along with me. I continue to watch the pair, fighting amusement as she continues on. I can see Collin shake his head and say something calmly back. Meg's face scrunches up in frustration, "-I don't want any of you dead!" Collin takes a step closer, bringing his face closer to hers as he speaks quietly.

She seems to deflate and whisper something back. He pulls her into a hug, and I see her anger melting as he rubs her back. I don't want to break up their moment, but we need to know what was found, and Meg's not going to want to miss the initial report from Jace or Collin.

"So, what did you guys find while scouting?" I ask, raising my voice so Collin can hear my question. He turns slightly towards me, Meg's face still pressed into his shoulder.

"There's three groups. Ours, the Careers and another group. The only tribute unaccounted for is Meg's district partner." Collin reports. He turns his attention back to Meg, when she moves in his arms. I keep an eye on them as the others begin speculating a way to attack the others or if we should wait for them to come to us.

Meg finally pulls away from Collin, and I can see the red blotches around her eyes. What is going on with her? Collin wipes what I assume is a tear from her cheek. What I wouldn't give to eavesdrop on that conversation. All I know is that if we make it out of this and they don't get together, I'll shove their heads together and make it happen.

"Is something going on with those two?" Chrystal asks, face turned towards Meg and Collin. Jace takes a drink from his water bottle.

"Oh yeah." Jace begins to cough and ends up spitting out half his mouthful. I start hitting his back to help his coughing. "You good?"

"Yeah, wrong pipe." Jace says getting his coughing and breathing back under his control. "So there's something between them? That's a quick connection considering they just met." Oh, if only that were true. I share a look with Chrystal.

"Well, it's complicated. We're in the games, so even if there is, they'd never admit it. There is something there though, they've been leaning on each other since the beginning. Even when they didn't realize it."

Jace looks confused at my words, and looks between all of us. I wonder if he suspects we've known each other for far longer than we've been letting on. We're too familiar and too comfortable with each other to have just met. He lets the conversation drop, for that I am thankful. The less we talk about the team's chemistry, the better.