Too Clever

Chapter 21

     I wrap up my things in my blanket and venture further into the woods. It's dark, and I can't see very well, so I will not go very far tonight. But I need to find food. I'm running extremely low, and the tension is higher with only six of us left. If I can't find food and water soon, I'm most likely done for.
Animal sounds echo in the distance, and a soft wind rattles the branches. The temperature drops, and I begin to shiver. But I have to keep going.
For about an hour, I walk along the undergrowth, always in a straight line in the same direction I started in. This way, I can find my way back to the Cornucopia in case of an event like a feast.
     As I slowly walk along the forest floor, trying my best not to be too loud or trip over a tree root, I feel around the bushes for berries. When I finally come across some, I pluck one off the bush and squint my eyes to get a good look at it. It has little bumps and soft hairs, and even through the darkness, I can tell that it is a distinct purplish black color. I remember this berry from the edible plants station at the Training Center. It's like a raspberry, only dark purple in color. I think the instructor called it a blackberry.
I strip the bush clean, but there are only about twenty berries, as the bush is rather small. But it's a start, at least.
I plop a few berries in my mouth, appreciating the sour juice flooding over my tongue. It reminds me of the berries we used to eat at home, the strawberries and blueberries. My mother used to buy one pack of berries every week when they were in season. But Nora never liked them; she said they were too sour for her. I smile sadly, wanting nothing more than to see my family again.
Maybe I will, I think before wrapping the blanket around me and drifting off to sleep.
**********
I awake every few hours, shaken by a stream of nightmares. But the problem is, they're all reality. I hear Cordelia's high pitched voice echo my name through the Square. I relive saying goodbye to my family and hear the peacekeeper shut the door behind them. I see Alec's face in the sky, now just an image that will haunt me forever.
I can't fall back asleep. Instead, I hunker down against a sizable tree trunk and curl up into a ball, my face buried in the blanket. The sounds of my muffled sobs seem loud in the nighttime silence, but I don't do anything to suppress them.
I can't do this for much longer. But I have to hold on. For Nora, for my parents. For Calla and Aster. I have to keep it together for all of them.
But lost importantly, I have to stay strong for myself.
**********
Dawn finally arrives. The leaves above shimmer in the morning sun like emeralds suspended on their branches. The soft orange glow lights up this part of the forest, beautiful and picture perfect.
I tilt my head back, letting the sun kiss my face and the breeze flow through my hair, softly bouncing around my red curls. I inhale deeply, breathing in the fresh air, calming myself down after last night's horrors.
     I eat a few berries and drink a few sips of water. I'm really running low on resources right now, so I have to savor them as much as I can. But it seems like the Gamemakers are cranking up the temperature today—it's already extremely hot—and I could easily become very dehydrated out here in the heat to the point where it could become fatal. Somehow, I have to find water. Before anything else.
     Finding a source of water becomes my biggest priority. So I pack up what little things I have in my blanket and continue in the same direction as I walked in last night.
     Fatigue makes the journey twice as challenging. I am very tired from last night, and weak from my lack of food and water. But I have to keep going, or this is it.
     After a few hours, I finally spot a small pool of water. Unable to run, I hobble as fast as I can over to the pool and plunge my water skin into it. I gulp down the whole thing in a matter of seconds and set it off to the side. Then I dip my hands in the water and wash all the mud and grime off my body and splash some water on my face. I fill my water skin up again, drink a few more sips, and scan the area for berry bushes or mint leaves.
I don't have to look hard. Just a few meters away from my pool, a whole cluster of bushes awaits, all of them filled with big round berries, dark red in color. I recognize them from the Training Center, although I can't remember what they are called, and I know that they are safe to eat.
     So I pluck a few berries at a time, eating them as I go. After a little while, I pick a few more handfuls of the berries and dump them into my empty bag that used to hold the oranges. Then I dig up the roots of a nearby water plant and settle down against a willow tree, concealed in its think, elongated leaves, flowing in the light breeze.
     I spend the rest of the afternoon cooling off in the shade of the willow tree, occasionally taking a sip of water or eating a few berries or roots, and picturing the Capitol at this very moment. They must be having big parties, celebrating the Games. I can imagine the city right now, it's many lights glowing off of every building, the giant screen playing the Hunger Games, and car horns honking in the night.
     Just like the city was the night before the Games began. That night, I wondered how many more nights I would live to see. And now, here I am, part of the final six.
     The thought fills me with relief, longing, and dread. I've made it this far, but I just want it to be over. I just want to go home to my family. But who knows what the next few days could hold? I could be dead a few hours from now.
The anthem plays, and the Capitol seal lights up the sky. But no faces are shown.
Still six of us left.
The night is getting cold. The air nips at my toes and sends shivers throughout my body. I wrap myself tightly in my blanket and, despite the cold, I am able to fall asleep fairly quickly, tired from today's hike.
**********
The next morning, I awake with my body still cocooned in the blanket. I unravel the blanket and and slowly stand up, reaching my arms up in the air to stretch out my back.
I rub my eyes and yawn, drowsiness getting the better of me. I slump down and take a sip of water, plopping a few berries in my mouth afterwards. The sour after taste of the berries helps to wake me up a little.
     Because I have nothing else to do, I run through the list of remaining tributes in my head and assess each of them.
     Cato is surely the tribute I should be most afraid of. He's easily got over a hundred pounds on me, and from what I saw in the Training Center, he's very skilled with a sword. I know I practiced a little bit with a knife, but what is a little dagger against giant boy with a sword? I'll just have to hope he is killed off by someone or something else.
Clove is extremely skilled with knives. She can throw from a pretty good distance and still hit the target. And with Cato teaming up with her after the rule change, the two of them will be hard to beat.
Thresh is also a very big tribute. He might have some chance of killing off Cato with his size, but Cato is still a little bigger and more skilled then Thresh.
Katniss can shoot accurately with a bow and arrow. I watched her shoot at the Careers' supply pyramid, and that's probably how she got her eleven in training. Even though she's small and might not be able to overpower me, I still want to keep my distance. Shooting an arrow isn't like throwing a spear or driving a sword into someone; not much power is needed, just aim.
     I haven't seen Peeta since he was with the Careers in the beginning of the Games, but I'm guessing he's probably with Katniss right now, especially with the rule change on their side.
     I drink the last of my water and head back to my little pool to refill my water skin. I dunk it in the pool, fill it up to the brim, and close the cap.
     Suddenly, I hear a loud sound come from above. I crane my neck to see what it is, and I realize it's coming from a tree. A thick spray of water is spraying out of the trunk. But it isn't natural; it's clearly a Gamemaker's weapon.
     More trees begin to spray water out of their trunks, and for a moment, I stand there frozen in fear and shock, trying to process what is happening.
In a matter of seconds, so much water begins shooting out of the trees from every direction, it becomes almost blinding. This is just the beginning of a Gamemaker's flood.
     I dash back to the willow tree and hastily gather all of my stuff in the blanket.
     And I run.