TWO

Chapter Twenty-Two

It's day four.

Peeta's limp has gotten significantly less annoying and he's more useful now. Occasionally he stays on watch with one of us or sleeps while one of us watches. We haven't found Katniss yet, or any of the other tributes. Not a lot of action.

The game makers must be getting bored.

"We should go out and try to find her again," Glimmer comments, twirling an arrow.

"How many times are we going to search for her before we actually find her?" I hiss, looking at her. Her blonde hair flips back as she turns to look at me, a cold look on her face.

"It doesn't hurt to keep looking," Marvel defends his partner.

I stab the ground next to me and rise to my feet, "Okay, then let's go."

"Stock up on water and maybe some snacks just in case," Cato tosses me a full cold water bottle and I nod thanks at him.

"It's got to be at least noon right now, we can walk around for a few hours then come back here?" Marvel questions, adjusting his jacket as he stands up.

"Sounds like a decent plan." Cato shrugs, "All set?"

"More than ready." Glimmer smirks, following the blonde as he starts to walk.

I shove myself up next to Peeta and push him to start walking. He sends me a small groan and I roll my eyes. When we reach the woods, the air becomes extremely humid; enough to make my forehead start sweating, "Why is it so hot?"

"I don't know. Maybe they want us to keep going, or maybe kill people off." Marvel says over his shoulder at me.

"Kill people off? It's just heat."

"Dehydration possibly. Not everyone has water bottles."

"Good point."

"Well, it's clearly not us they are trying to kill. We each have two water bottles." Cato clarifies, stopping his tracks to look around. For a moment, the surrounding area is peaceful and calm. The birds chirp beautiful songs and then suddenly, they stop.

Hundreds of birds flock out of trees left and right as large flames hurdle around us. In almost seconds we're fleeing for water, or better yet, a way out of the woods. A panicked yell comes out of Marvel's mouth and he hunches over, holding his leg tightly. You can see the fabric has been scorched, justifying his leg probably looks the same way. My lungs ache for a breath of fresh air as we keep running, Marvel slowly following behind with Peeta, crying out every step.

Finally, Glimmer's high-pitched raspy voice says something useful for once, "Water! Water!"

The rock we jump onto is smooth and high above the others, giving us the perfect view to the pond a few yards away, but an even better view to the brown haired girl gulping down water.

Her feet don't waste anytime jumping onto the solid ground and taking off. Cato is the fastest out of all us, jumping over the rocks and dodging under the trees. Glimmer and I are hot on his heels, but our lungs are still fogged with smoke, making us cough wildly. When we finally catch up to Cato, he's looking upwards into a tree. Upwards to Katniss, who's perched herself up on the highest branch she could, but even from here you can see a similar wound to Marvel's on her leg that's stopping her from climbing any higher.

I look over at Peeta, who stares upwards in a look of relief when Katniss's voice echoes through the woods, "How's everything with you?

Glimmer looks up and glares, ash on her forehead makes the creases shine. Her mouth is about to speak but Cato's raspy voice answers before her, "Well enough. Yourself?"