Under the Willow: sequel to Deep in the Meadow

|3| burnt

The sun sets to an orange hue soon after I leave the bushes, and I walk through the night determined to reach the 30 mile point in 10 hours.

I'm ending this as soon as possible. And nothing, not even Peeta, can stop me.

Not wanting to waste any time, I don't stop to sleep. My eyes are droopy but I plant one firm step in front of the other and drive myself forward.

The nature still surrounds me. Lots of trees, lots of plants, and lots of rivers. But I got to say, with it being dark now, the forest gives off a creepy feeling. Not the feeling of being watched, but the feeling of being lost. A few times i've felt like I'm wandering off course, but I'm not. It's just my conscious. I decide to ignore what my head is telling me now. After all, It told me to go with Peeta's idea of waiting and gathering more people, it told me to go back to the hover with Pollux, and now it tells me I'm going the wrong way. From now on I can make my decisions, not the tiny voice in my head.

At what must be 12:00 at midnight, I come across a sign. It's wooden and nailed to the truck of a tree that is directly in the way I'm headed. I read the words of the sign that surprisingly look only to be a year or so old. It says,

QQ 75 in 69-80 area
^
^

I have no idea what it means.
It's only been 8 hours so I'm not at the destination. I suspect two more hours until where Kennedy wants me. The sign has arrows pointing up, which can only mean that the QQ 75, whatever that is, is ahead and I'm going to run into it.

I continue on. The cool night area surrounding me.

Where ever that sign was pointing to, is where I'm headed. It's Capitol made so it isn't going to me cozy. I just hope it's small and I can get around it to where I'm supposed to go.

Within no time, I notice a change as I walk. I can't place my finger on it. A change in air? Temperature?
As I walk on it gets more noticeable. The trees get taller and almost everything around me is darker. Trees, grass, and everything seem to have a darker hue. The farther I go, the more things darken and blend in with the nighttime. Maybe it's just my eyes, but I can almost guarantee that my surroundings are black just like the night.

It's not until something crunches under my foot, that I actually stop. Something is fishy here. Maybe it's where the sign was leading to. But why would it lead people to this. Whatever this is.

I lean down to pick up the thing under my foot. It's too dark to see it from a few feet away, so I have to get down on my hands and knees to really make out what it is. When I do, I stop. It's metal. Thick metal made up of pixelated hexagons.

My eyes widen in realization. I know what it is.
I stand up and stumble to a tree where I plant my hands to keep myself upright. The trees bark is hard and when I pull my hands away I take a look at it. Burnt. The tree is blackened and burnt clearly by a blazing fire.

"No, no, no." I whisper under my breath. Quickly I lean down and survey the grass. Most of the grass is gone, but the ones left are singed from being on fire also. The bushes that remain and blackened to the core. That's why my surroundings started to blend in. Because they are blackened.

I tighten my hold on my bow and go forward some more tripping over the metal chunk I stepped on earlier. Or should I say, part of the 75th arena dome.