Safe and Sound (The Hunger Games)

Chapter 22 - Reunited... Again?

I don't remember falling asleep, but when I wake up, Elliot isn't there. Why would he leave without telling me? What if he died while I was sleeping and I missed the cannon fire? I have to find him.

I look across the cave to find a knife. Without hesitating any further, I get up with the knife in hand and step out in the fresh air. It seems like it is early morning and the sun is starting to light up the jungle through the thickness of the trees. It's still dark, but I can see what is in front of me. How many are left exactly? Me, Elliot, Toby, Brandi, Crystal, and three others. Boom! Make that two others, hopefully. I can't afford to think that Elliot is dead, I'm sure I'll find him soon.

And then what? Stay together until one of us dies? There's only one winner, and I'd rather die in the arena than living back in District Four with the nightmares of his death replaying in my mind. I suddenly recall my promise to Brent after the reaping. I promised him that I would try to come home. Brent needs me to come home. My parents would be a wreck if I didn't come home. Even Elliot wants me to come home. Everyone wants me to come home. But what if I don't want to? I may not be strong enough to face life after the games, but Elliot is. And he's the one who's going home.

I run as fast as I can through the jungle and keep my eye out for any tributes. If I weren't in the arena right now, I would be shouting his name like crazy. If I did that in here, either I would be killed or he would. Instead I whisper his name, so at least if he's around he can hear me. "Elliot?" I whisper. There's complete silence, so I keep moving forward. I go in one direction so that if I have to return to the cave, I know where it is.

That's when I realize someone is following me. I stop walking and hold my breath as I listen to the feet step behind me. Bad idea, I should start running. "Who's there?" I say out loud. Bad idea, such a bad idea. I grip the knife in my hand tighter and face the trees behind me. "I'm armed you know," I say weakly. I want the tribute know I am armed, maybe that will drive them away. I was wrong.

A tribute jumps out from hiding behind a tree and tackles me to the ground. I didn't even get a chance to see who it was because it happened so fast. He or she pins my wrists to the ground, and I shake the hair away from my face. She does the same.

"Crystal?" I say.

"Kaya?" She says as she backs off of me. Crystal gets up and offers me her hand. "What the hell were you doing? And why did you leave me in the Cornucopia unguarded?"

"I can explain, really." I defensively say as I dust the dirt off my butt. "The night we were last together, I didn't know where Elliot was and I was really worried. I didn't want to bring you in to more trouble by risking you to come with me, so I left you there." I explain. "But the acid rain was pouring, so no one would really pursue you if it meant going in the rain."

"Whatever, if you promise you won't leave me again, I won't kill you right here and now." She says.

"I promise." I say.

"Now come here," she smiles as she hugs me. I hug her back and smile.

"So how have you been?" I ask as I pull away.

"Nothing much has happened actually. I mean I've basically been sneaking around and watching everyone. I saw Toby kill the girl from ten actually. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Liz. I met her during training, she was a nice girl." She says. Toby is a real threat, the only thing really standing in the way of Elliot winning. "And then I started following you about an hour ago. Well, I didn't know it was you up until now. It's too dark out to see details of anyone from a few feet away. For all I know I could have been following Toby and Brandi, which would have led to my death, but you know."

"Yeah," I say. We start walking back the way I came from. She then asks me what happened to me after I left her that night. I explain the King Crabs and how Elliot rescued me. "Damn, are you okay now?"

"Yes," I laugh. "So back to Toby and Brandi, they hate us now, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. If they saw us right now, that would be the end of us right here." She says. "Where's Elliot?"

"That's why I was wandering around. I woke up and he wasn't in the cave." I tell her.

"Cave? What cave?" She asks.

"Our new hiding place. It's good shelter because it has a lot of protection and very well hidden." I tell her. "It's right... here." I say as I pull some bushes out of the way. She goes in first and I close the bushes behind us.

When I lead her down the rocks I discover Elliot is here. "Elliot! Where were you before? I went to look for you and..."

"Just getting some food, everything is okay." He says. "Hey Crystal, care to join us?"

"I'd love to." She smiles. I spread out Elliot's sleeping bag and lay it across the cold rock floor. We all sit on it and eat the berries Elliot picked out. "So what's our plan?" Crystal says.

"Well there is only seven of us left. The three of us, Brandi, Toby, and the boys from eight and twelve." Elliot says.

"How do you keep track of the tributes remaining?" Crystal giggles.

"He has a great memory." I say.

"That's right." He smiles. "Hey Kaya, speaking of having a good memory, do you know how many days we've been in the arena?" Elliot asks me.

"Um, four?" I unsurely say.

"Right, and we were in the Capitol for about a week and a half, which started with the day of the reaping." He says.

"What are you trying to say? Remind us on how many days we've been apart from our families?" Crystal cuts in.

"The reaping was on what day?" Elliot asks me, ignoring what Crystal just said.

"The twenty-third, like every year." I say, stating the obvious.

"So the twenty-third of June was how many days ago?" He asks.

"Fifteen..." I say.

"So what is today?" He asks me.

"Well, the twenty-third was fifteen days ago..." I say as I continue to think out loud. "Today is July 8th." I conclude. I don't realize what this all means until Elliot pulls something small out behind his back.

"Happy seventeenth birthday Kaya." He kindly smiles.

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A/N: This story is getting so many reads! I can't even believe it! Thank you guys sooo much! It's down to the final seven, so as you can guess, this book will be coming to an end. I'm thinking about writing book two and continuing it even further past the final battle and into the victory tour and other events. I'm working on the details, but if this story does well and you guys want me to make a book two, tell me and I will! Again, thank you so much for reading and putting up with my late updates. :)