The Ninth Hunger Games

Chapter Six

I sneezed and woke up. What was I doing in this barn?

"Anikan Armour, District Three." Anikan was dead. Anikan, Emma, Catalina, and Marlee. All dead.

I sneezed again. Why was I sneezing? Oh, that's right. I'd fallen in the river. I stretched and yawned. I need to look through my bag...

I opened my bag and sorted through the supplies. Matches...Not so very wet. I guess the bag's waterproof, because the bread isn't very wet either. The camp stove...I can save it. First aid kit, salvagable. Blanket...This must've been Catalina's! And the sewing kit too! She must've known. They must've been following us it must've been... It hit me and I sat bolt upright. Catalina had been working with the Careers. She had known they were following us and she brought us down to the creek. I was supposed to die! But...she changed her mind. Why?

I spread my bedroll out on the hay and laid down. I curled up under my new blanket and fell back asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"You think there's anybody in here?"

"No, they'd be smarter than that."

"Let's get out of the rain."

"Okay, Giovanna."

Giovanna and Rosebud entered the barn. I laid as still as I could. They can't find me. I can't let them find me.

They sat down on the little storage platform under the hay loft. "It sure is raining hard." Rosebud said.

"Yes," Giovanna said, a roll of thunder accompinied her words. "I'm thinking we should stay here."

"Ah-hah!" Nickolas cried.

Giovanna screamed. "No! Run, Rosebud!"

I looked down the ladder well and watched as Nickolas raised his sword to kill Giovanna. He looked around quickly and handed her something. "Take this," he whispered quietly. "Take this and run as far away as possible, Giovanna."

She nodded. "Okay," she drank/ate whatever it was and ran.

"Giovanna Grey, District Eleven."

I wondered how that was possible. He didn't kill her, unless he had given her poison. "Anyone else up there?" He asked quietly. I didn't respond, he had, somehow, just killed a little girl! Nickolas went back out. "No one here, Nemo."

"Good," Nemo said. I just laid very still. The Careers went to the platform.

"Storming pretty hard, Nick." Morgan said.

"Yeah," Nickolas said. "Lot's of rain."

"Shut up." Nemo said. "And listen." I didn't know what we were listening to, but I stayed quiet anyways.

"What are we-"

"Shut up! We're listening to the wind, Morgan." They fell silent again.

The wind? I thought. A moaning, rushing sound suddenly filled the air.

"Well, bye Morgan." Nemo and Nickolas grabbed their bags and ran out of the barn. A large, bear like dog appeared out of nowhere and bit Morgan in half.

"Morgan Harppi, District Six."

I curled back up under my blanket. I would sleep until the rain was over. That was a good plan. Yes, it was.

* * * * * * * * * * *

When I woke back up, the rain had stopped. Good, no rain. I gathered up my supplies and sneezed. I really needed to get over this cold.

I went down the ladder and walked out of the barn. The sun was shining, and it was really warm out.

My stomach growled. I need to eat something. Clucking sounds coming from a pen by the barn caught my attention. Eggs! The thought of having a hard boiled egg made my stomach growl again. I walked into the pen. Seven fat hens milled around. I grabbed an egg out of a flower pot and darted out. Some of those hens had a murderous gleam in their eyes.

I went back into the barn, and set up my camp stove. I walked around the inside of the barn while I waited for my egg to cook. I drew my sword and took some practice swings at a bale of hay. I would have to fight the two remaining Careers sometime.

"Hello?" A curious voice asked.

I spun around, putting myself face to face with Rosebud. "Rosebud! What are you doing here?"

"Well," she began, "I knew that you weren't dead yet, and so I decided to come in here looking for you. Will you be my ally, Paris?"

I was taken aback. She wanted to be my ally. Peaches and cream, I thought, but what I said was: "Sure, one thing first." I pulled the egg out of the camp stove and kicked the stove over. Then I lit a match and threw it onto the hay bale. "Come on!" I said, and we ran out of the barn.

Chickens were running around everywhere. I guess I hadn't latched the gate properly. We ran to a field of dryed, golden flower stems. The stems were very tall and would provide good shelter. I noticed a spot in the ground that was lower than the others. I quickly walked towards it; the dip in the ground so closely resembled my previous one by the lake. I sat down in it. This is a good spot.

"Paris? Paris where are you?" Rosebud asked.

I sighed in annoyance. She was going to get us killed for sure. I put my hand up to let her know where I was. She tromped loudly through the flower stalks and thorns to get to me.

"Sit down!" I hissed at her. She obeyed, and let out a little squeal when she sat. She sat on a thorn bush! The stupid girl...

"Paris, are we going to be safe here?" She asked. Of course she would be concerned with her safety: she was the only member of her previous group surviving!

"Yes," I told her. "We'll be very safe here-"

"To add more excitement to the games, the locations of each tribute will be told to everyone in the arena." The intercom said, contradicting every word I had just spoken. "Nickolas Odd, District Two." There was a brief pause. "By the lake. Rosebud Johnson, District Seven." Another pause. "In the field of tall grass. Paris Mallory, District Seven." Another pause. I guessed that they were checking our locations before announcing them. "In the field of tall grass. Nemo Franklin, District Thirteen." A much more dramatic pause. "By the lake. That is all."

I looked around nervously. The Careers could be here any second. I grabbed some of the dry grass and started weaving it.

"Paris, what are you doing?" Rosebud asked me.

"I'm making us a shelter. Start weaving and shush!" I said.

She got some grass too, and began weaving it into a mat. "Paris, will this really work?" She asked.

I nodded. "We need four, large mats. Hurry!"

She started weaving faster. "Is there any food?"

I handed her a piece of bread. "Hush!"

We spent the rest of the day weaving, and waiting in fearful silence for the Careers to come and kill us.