The 45th Hunger Games: The Tribute of District 4 (Watty Awards 2012 completed)

Chapter 21

Taffeta and Slate came back, with Slate’s spear bloody. He had it all over him, so I thought he was injured.

When I fussed over him to see if he was hurt, he shook his head and pointed up at the sky and said, “She got strapped to one of the traps just as we finished it.”

Her death was Career-related. Was it sadistic of me to hope that she was killed brutally enough for the Capitol’s thirst for blood to linger for another day?

As if he was reading my thoughts, Slate said, “Don’t worry. You heard the cannon sound. She wouldn’t come back from the dead after the way I disemboweled her.”

“It wasn’t his fault. She wouldn’t stop squirming and pleading for mercy,” Taffeta said, sitting on the grass next to Lark. “Can you get us some water to wash this blood off, Serena?”

We all had to act like it was nothing. We were Careers. If we wanted the sponsors to keep betting on us and investing, we had to act like it. If they saw that we were in any was soft, they might lose interest in us.

We hadn’t received any parachutes yet, not even when we needed the net. Aldo knew that I could make a decent one out of the things we had, but he could have made my life a whole lot easier if he gave it to me sooner. Maybe none of the mentors thought that we needed it. We seemed to be doing fine on our own, except for that unfortunate incident with Chiffon and Lark being bitten.

An antidote to an unknown mutt would be incredibly expensive though, and I bet the mentors of 1 and 4 were arguing about it. Sure, they had the money, but would it be worth spending everything just on one tribute?

I knew that the antidote wouldn’t come. They would be saving the sponsors gifts toward the end. The third day had only ended.

“The three of you get some sleep. Here,” I handed over the other herbs that were used on Lark. “Mash it up and mix it with some water and then apply it on your wounds from the plants. It will keep the infection away just as well as any of the ones in the medicine packs will. You won’t want to waste the medicine so early.”

I couldn’t remain idle. I was too wide-awake. I had been the only one with lengthy sleep because I was the one who had to do so much work. The rest of them had been sleeping for a few hours less than me. I had reaped my rewards from having allies. I was barely injured and I got hours of sleep, knowing that I was protected. After attending to the scratches on my legs, I tried sitting down and keeping my trident ready just in case anyone came by to ambush us. I was too on edge.

I started making nets, this time with the thin strips from the leaves that Slate had made excessively. I had to keep my hands moving. I had to make nets that could trap people now, and it would have to be strong.

I had been at it for hours, right until the sun started coming up. By that time, I had made two nets that could trap even giants like Slate.

Slate was the first to wake from the three of them. He put his hands over my restless fingers and calmed them down. He always had this effect on me when he touched me. It was soothing.

Rain started pouring again and we had to seek shelter under the rock that Lark and Taffeta had huddled under.

Lark was shivering beyond her control and Taffeta had wrapped a blanket around her. Her shivering didn’t seem to be related to the weather though. She looked worse than she did last night. The bags under her eyes were purple and she looked as pale as death. I could see the violet and blue veins on her arms.

We all knew where this was going to end, but she didn’t ask for anyone to end it already. She would die on her terms and it was obvious that she didn’t want to feel pitied.

We were stuck under that rock the whole day, what with the rain going on and on. It was lucky that we were above ground a little, so the rain just slid down. We ate the last of our fish and hoped that it would stop raining by tomorrow. If this went on, we needed to head up to higher ground.

It wasn’t my imagination, the sand that I observed yesterday.

The tide was getting higher everyday.