Fiery Payback

Chapter 41

Matthew's P.O.V

I take my knife out of the tribute I just stabbed. I don't know who he is, but he seems like he was nice. What a shame.

I look around and see Camille running away from the Cornucopia along with three Careers. One of the Careers is not with them. I get up and try to find someone I know. I spot my mom protecting Alyssa from other tributes. And it looks like Alyssa is trying to escape from Mom. 

I run over towards them. Once in hearing range, I hear that they are arguing. "Let me go! I want to fight!" I hear Alyssa shout.

"You are too young to fight!" My mom says. I finally reach them and Alyssa stops struggling.

"Tell Mom I can fight!" Alyssa commands. 

"Tell her that she is too young!" My mom commands. Which one should I choose? It's a no brainer.

"Mom, let her go. It is her decision." I say. Mom gives me a shocked look, but releases Alyssa. Alyssa hugs me tightly. 

"Thank you." She says softly. "Let's get away from the Cornucopia."

"I agree." I say.

"We gotta find the rest of the group." Mom says. Then, she runs closer to the Cornucopia. We follow soon after. We find Johanna hacking someone's head off with an axe. She looks up and sees us. She walks over with a smirk on her face. 

"Look who's here. I thought you would try to escape the bloodbath." She says. 

"Have you seen Finnick, Annie, Peeta, or Jet?" Mom asks.

"I saw Peeta head into the woods. Wuss." Johanna says. 

"And the others?" I ask. 

"Haven't seen them. Maybe they also fled from the Cornucopia." Johanna says. "We should just leave. I am too tired to fight any more tributes."

"We have to find the others." My mom says.

"And we will. Just not right now." Johanna says. Mom doesn't say anything. Johanna motions for us to follow her. Alyssa and I follow her without a second's hesitation. Mom was a different story. Alyssa, Johanna, and I were halfway to the woods when we realized that my mom wasn't following. "Katniss, are you staying or leaving?"

"I'm coming." She says after more hesitation. We hear her footsteps come closer to us. 

"Finally." Johanna says. We continue to walk towards the forest. No other tributes try to hunt us down. For right now. I am a little paranoid that I could get killed at any second. 

We remain silent as we trek through the weird forest. There are regular trees you would find in a normal forest. Then there are the trees that you would find in a rain forest. This is a weird looking Hunger Games. 

"This arena looks very familiar. Doesn't it, Katniss?" Johanna asks.

"Too familiar." Mom simply says. We continue to walk silently after that. We started to walk after we were about twenty yards into the woods. I kept a lookout for some water. I didn't see a single pool of water. 

"I'm thirsty." Alyssa says.

"We have to find water." My mom says. "And food. Along with the others."

"I thought that was what we were doing." Johanna says. "Let's stop here and take a break. Maybe look around here a bit more thoroughly for food and water."

Alyssa sits down on the ground. She holds onto her stomach, groaning. "What's wrong?" I ask, kneeling down next to her.

"I'm hungry and thirsty." She says. I look at Mom and Johanna. They are talking in low voices, so I couldn't hear them. I look back at Alyssa, and my heart almost broke. She is not looking to good. And we haven't even been in the games for half a day. 

"Just hang on tight." I say. I hold her and she puts her head on my shoulder. We got to find food and water. Fast.

I can't lose my sister.