The Hunger Games Rue's Point Of View

Chapter 11

I wake again to the sound of trees rustling, twigs cracking. And laughing, that's the scary part. Then I see the Careers and hope they can't see me. It's Glimmer, Clove and Cato, and the District 4 girl. And another voice, that it takes me a moment to recognize. I turn silently, trying to identify the last voice. I nearly fall out of the tree when I see who it is. It's Peeta.

They pass, but freeze a few yards away from me. Glimmer points at a trail of smoke in the sky, half a mile away. They continue walking and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

Why did this person think it was a good idea to start a fire in the middle of a cloudless night?

I hear the scream, and a cannon booms. So much for that tribute.

Soon the sun starts rising and I hear the crashing back. I know I'm not concealed as well in the light, so I grab a quick drink of water and pack up the rest of my things. I poise myself to jump, and jump when I hear the voice.

"Oh, Cato, look! Our next tribute," Glimmer says slyly. They had moved quietly, this time. I glance down, and Clove is also staring me down.

"You're going to regret taking that knife, now!" Clove says. I had almost forgotten about that. Clove grabs a knife from her belt, and I wait until the last moment to jump. The knife misses by a good three feet anyway, but I still get an adrenaline rush.

I hop another tree and Cato shouts "Look at the little bird, flying through the trees!"  I ignore them, and keep jumping.

It's starting to get riskier, the trees are falling farther apart, and the branches thinner. But Clove will hit me with a knife if I get any closer to the ground. I'm stuck, my only choice is to wait it out. Or, maybe . . .

I climb higher into the tree, out of throwing range. I break a sturdy forked branch and cut part of the sleeve from my shirt off. Soon my weapon is made, and I even manage to ignore most of their taunts.

The only problem is there aren't any pebbles, so I take a berry and shoot it at Cato's face. It hits him smack in the eye, and he doubles over as the juice stings his eye. Clove bends over to help him and I hit her hair, and again in her pretty face.

Glimmer is trying to shoot an arrow at me, but I hit her with a berry to the eye. Same with the District 4 girl. Peeta's been silent the whole time, and so I leave him alone.

I laugh a little but because my weapon worked so well, but take the chance to escape the way I came. By the time they can get a look around for me, I'm already at the tree I started in, and swiftly moving back.

When I get back to my tree I eat a few more berries and a small piece of fruit, it's all I can afford to eat. I carefully climb back down the tree, to the river to fill up my skin, purify it, then I'm on my way again.