Fiery Payback

Chapter 69

Camille's P.O.V

Running through the woods in the middle of the night is not easy. Especially if there are branches all over the ground. I keep tripping on them, falling. I get up, not worrying if I am bleeding, and continue running.

I had to leave. I couldn't stay with Jet and Johanna anymore. Besides, it was only a matter of time before I had to leave them anyway. Even though I won't be there when Matthew wakes up.

I feel bad though. I took the water bottle full of water. And the spile. It's the Hunger Games, bitches.

I slow down to a walk, trying to get some distance from the beach. Who's cannon was that earlier? I'll find out tomorrow night. Or whatever you would call it.

I jump when clock noises sound. It sounds like the first night I was here. Did they play last night? I don't know. Maybe I was asleep? Or just don't remember?

After the clock noises, lightning strikes that same tree as before. It should be burned down to the ground right now. Right? I am just full of questions.

I hear rustling coming in my direction. I take a katana from its holster and prepare to fight a tribute. And a tribute comes alright.

A woman in her thirties or forties comes barreling at me, running right into me. She grips my arms and looks at my with frightened eyes. "Run! Get out of his area!" She says to me.

"Who's area is this?" I ask.

"No time to say. Run!" She pulls at my arm. I reluctantly follow her. I don't know if I should trust her. This could very well be a trap. Until I hear someone come barreling after us.

The woman and I keep running, avoiding trees and fallen tree limbs. "We are almost out of the area." She shouts to me.

"But this person will keep chasing us!" I shout back.

"He doesn't leave his area!" She shouts. It's a guy? I can see it. I think.

Then, the woman stops moving with no warning. "We are not in the area anymore." She says.

I stop right beside her. "Okay. Why did you help me? Aren't you afraid I will kill you? I am known as the Lethal Killer." I say, wincing slightly when I say the cruel nickname.

"You aren't what they say you are." She says.

"What? Who says what now?" I ask, very confused.

"The Capitol. All of Panem. They don't realize that you did what you did for survival. They think of you as a very violent killer. They don't think of you as you. I can tell that you are just a sweet, innocent, teenage girl whose been through a lot. So I can trust you. The question is, can you trust me?"

I'm shocked. She understands. She understands that I am like everyone else. Except that I have killed people. "I can trust you." I say.

I knew I could trust her. But where is her family? Shouldn't they be with her right now? "Where's your family?" I ask her.

"Two of them are dead. My son and daughter. My husband might as well be dead. He got caught in a tracker jacket attack." She explains.

"Wait. I got attacked my tracker jackers too. Where's your husband?" I say.

"I don't know anymore. I couldn't find the leaves that can draw out the poison. But I don't think they would have done any good. He looked pretty bad. I only got stung a few times. So I was able to wake up." She says.

"But your children. When did they die?"

"The first day here. My husband and I got attacked my the tracker jackers the first night here. These forests have deadly traps, as you probably already know."

"Yeah. Who is the guy that was chasing us earlier?" I ask.

"He is a District 3 tribute. I was going through his area to find some food. But I saw him and his wife. He killed his wife and saw me right after. Then, he started to come after me. And you came along. And here we are." She explains.

"So that was the cannon I heard earlier." I say, remembering when I was at the Cornucopia to a little bit ago. Jet, Johanna, Matthew, and Katniss are okay.

"Come along, dear. Let's get to safety." She says. She leads me to a little camp. She has a tent set up, a couple traps all around the area, and branches put together to make a fire. Not that you should during the night. "Here we are."

"I would have thought, since you know about this forest, that you would stay away from the forest." I say.

"I would. But then I would be exposed to tributes trying to get me." She says.

"For a couple days, I stayed on the beach. I was with my brother and friends. We didn't have that much trouble." I say. I didn't mention that the Careers did find us.

But I didn't need to. "But tributes found you." She says.

"Yeah." I say, knowing it's pointless to say that we were perfectly safe. Because we weren't.

"Are you hungry, dear?" She asks me.

I never realized it, but I am starving. "Yes please." I say.

She rummages through a backpack and pulls out some meat. She hands the meat to me. "There you go, dear. Sorry to say that it is a bit cold." She tells me.

"That's okay. Really." I say. I eat the meat, not knowing what it is. "What's your name?"

"Michelle. How about you, dear?"

"Camille." I say. I look at Michelle. She is dark-skinned and black haired. Her hair itself is extremely curly. "What district are you from?"

"District 11. I know that you are from District 4." She says. I'm not surprised that she knew.

"It's great to meet you, Michelle." I say.

"It's great to meet you, Camille." She says to me.

This is probably the most relaxed I have felt since the beginning of these games.