THE 68TH HUNGER GAMES - Book 1: Tribute

Chapter 15 - Jabberjays

Caitlin and I have trekked through the forests for about 4 hours already and we haven’t seen any sign of any other tributes. As the hours go by, the weather decides to take a turn for the worse. The downpour of rain plasters my formerly smooth hair to my skin and my clothes feel thick and heavy. I notice that my hand is trembling and I’m also trailing behind Caitlin by a couple of metres.

“Can we take a break?” I ask.

“If you like,” she replies.

We take a seat and decide to open a couple of cans of beans to eat. The food tastes cold and uninspiring; however, hunger takes over our judgement.

“W-w-well,” Caitlin mumbles, “wouldn’t this be a nice way to end our lives!”

“Yeah,” I shiver, “happy Hunger Games.”

Within minutes, it becomes too cold to stay still so we got up to continue trekking. Our fragile bodies shiver and our clothes are a mess.

As we continue through the thick overgrowth of foliage, I hear a squawking of some type of bird in the distance; its echoed noises drawing closer and closer.

“What was that?” I ask.

“Jabberjays,” Caitlin replies, “They’re releasing muttations into the arena.”

Muttations are a series of genetically modified creatures that the Capitol have created throughout the history of Panem. I remember being stung by a muttation when I was little. It was a Trackerjacker; a type of painful wasp which carries lethal venom. Jabberjays; however, are genetically modified birds which can mimic human speech extremely accurately. They’re none in the wild now because they all mated with mockingbirds and the breed died out; however, the real, living, breathing Jabberjays are being let loose in the arena.

“I don’t see any harm in Jabberjays,” I whisper.

“I do,” says Caitlin suspiciously. “We’ll have to watch what we say from now on. The Jabberjays will mimic our words and other tributes might find out about our plans.”

“Ok,” I murmur as the gravity of the situation reveals itself to me.

Before we can continue, the Jabberjays have picked up a randon tribute’s voice and it reverberates throughout the forest, “- Argh! There’s Jabberjays in the tent!”

The sentence echoes throughout the forest and I notice that the voice belongs to Melliano Graphite.

“Quick! Let’s go for the kill!” Caitlin whispers.

I give her an unsure look; however, within seconds, I nod and agree to her plans.

We both sprint as fast as we can towards the source of the noise located far up a steep hill and along the way, more Jabberjays echo the voice of other tributes.

“- way to go Mel!” squawks a jabberjay. I recognise to voice to belong to Cassara.

We continue running up the damp hill and finally break into a forest clearing where an old tent is standing beside a river which leads to the edge of a rocky waterfall. Cassara has obviously left and I see Melliano stumbling upon a pile of clothes with a knife lodged in her left calf.

“Argh! Cassara, wait! Don’t leave me!” Melliano screams. The Jabberjays echo her voice even louder than before.

“Well, looks like you have great teammates,” Caitlin smiles.

Melliano looks up shockingly trying to compose herself. “Don’t come near me!”

“Wanna kill her?” Caitlin asks me teasingly.

“She’s all yours,” I mumble, not taking my eyes off Melliano. Her eyes meet mine and I see the desperation she has in them. I’m not the only one feeling angry, upset and hopeless. Everyone is feeling this pain because of the Hunger Games. Her eyes are telling me to spare her life; a look of desperation and fear.

I see Caitlin grab a sharp edged axe and beginning to grin. “So, which one of you pathetic career tributes killed my brother?”

“Your brother?” Melliano mumbles between her quiet sobs. “I didn’t kill him. Most of the killing was done by Cassara!”

“Liar! You stupid bitch!” Caitlin screams.

I can hear the Jabberjays still mimicking our voices and I decide not to interfere with what’s happening in front of me.

Caitlin walks towards Melliano and takes a huge swing of the axe. Before it hits Melliano in the head, she ducks down, only missing the axe by a couple of centimetres.

Melliano gets on her feet and dislodges the knife in her leg. She begins swinging it violently at Caitlin, which injures her quite a bit. Melliano loses her knife in all the slashing and proceeds to grabbing Caitlin by the hair and tugging at it.

“Don’t touch me!” Caitlin screams, trying to punch melliano.

“I wonder how you’ll look dead,” Melliano spits.

They both tug and claw at each other and without knowing it; they fall into the rushing stream. I notice their thrashing bodies floating down the stream until they’re only a couple of metres away from the edge of the waterfall.

“Caitlin!” I scream.

I run towards them, but I’m too late. I see them both slip over the edge and I think it’s all over.

“Hyora! Help me!” screams the voice of Caitlin.

I run towards the edge and see Caitlin dangling onto a vine with Melliano wrapped around Caitlin’s leg.

“Please! Don’t let me fall!” Melliano pleads helplessly.

“Grab my hand!” I scream to Caitlin. She reaches her hand out; however, there’s still a huge gap. It’s impossible to save her.

“I don’t think I can reach you!” I scream, “You’re too far down the cliff!”

“Wait, save me too!” Melliano screams.

“No!,” Caitlin replies. “Throw a knife at her!”

“I Can’t! I only have a couple left and the biggest one might hit you too!” I reply.

Caitlin dangles onto the vine with Melliano strapped onto her for a couple of seconds. I see a tear stream down her face before she spits out her last words.

“Die bitch!” Caitlin screams to Melliano before letting go of the vine and falling to her death. I hear two cannons fire in the distance and I fall onto my knees; on the verge of going into an emotional meltdown.

The words ‘Die bitch’ echo throughout the forest and I wonder if Cassara or any of the other career tributes know what has happened to their fellow Melliano Graphite.

The only ally I have in the arena at the moment is Ferdinand. Everyone else is gone.

I collapse onto the thick green grass and fall into one of my deep slumbers.

During my slumber, I continue awakening then falling back into the dark abyss in my mind. This continues for who knows how long, and within moments, I fall into unconsciousness.