Broken (A Hunger Games Fanfic)

Chapter 3

All of the others are sleeping under the bushes, but I'm still up, staring at the clouds of stars hanging above me. I can make out Callisto and Arcas, the bears, and my zodiac sign, Scorpio, the scorpion. I am sure we are near the outskirts of District 8 or 9; I can smell the idustrial aroma of a clothing factory and grain processing factory. A wolf howls somewhere out in the heavily wooded forest. 

I hear footsteps and the rustle of dead crunchy leaves. I glance sideways and see Galen has risen from his sleeping place. His dark brown hair shines in the moonlight as he stands over me.

"Hey," He says.

"What's up?" I reply.

"I was just wondering why you're up at 12 in the morning." He said shyly. Galen was strong and protective, but he was one of the shyest boys I've known my whole life.

"I was just thinking," I told him, "Ash is always trying get me prepared for the Games, but I've told him that I'm going to do everything I can to not get caught."

"Yeah, I guess. . . you're probably gonna hate me for saying this, but. . . I think you should participate in the Games."

I stared at him in anger.

"It's just, your family is starving and you don't have enough money to buy food for them. Taking a shot at the Games wouldn't be the worst thing thing that could happen to you. You might have a chance at winning if you can practice the skills Ash is trying to teach you."

"The Games begin in a two weeks. The train with the male tribute is probably half way there, and if I want to learn Ash's skills, I know I'll fail. There's no point." I say.

"Just think about it, okay?" Galen turns around and goes back to his pine needle bed, leaving me wondering.

____________________________________________

The next morning, Ash and I went to check out the woods and practice hunting. I about killed a doe with my knife and throwing skills, but it had sprinted away. Ash caught two bunnies in the traps he had set up last night. After eating our catch, we begin our journey again.

We walked for about three hours when I could smell the sickly-sweet aroma of a farm. We were nearing District 10. A cow mooed over the fence that seperated the district from the meadow. We continued our trek.

Around 2 in the afternoon, we heard a growling in the trees.

Ash shot an arrow into the bushes, but nothing came out of it. He told us to put the thought aside and we began walking again.

I didn't know if it was just me, but I was sure I heard an extra pair of footsteps in the long grass. I didn't say anything, worried that I may scare my younger brother and sister.

It's probably Galen, or your just shooken up thinking about the Hunger Games.

But the footsteps continued.

Twenty minutes later, another growl sounded from behind us. No one seemed to hear it but me. I stopped and faced the tall grass. I pulled out my knife and held it in a stabbing position.

"Who's there?" I murmured.

Another growl sounded, and a large red wolf jumped out and pounced on me.

All I could hear were Berkley and Sage's screams, Ash and Galen desperate cries to get it off of me, and the wolf's snarls as it tried to tear out my throat. My knife was still in my hand and I stabbed the wolf in the shoulder. It did nothing and kept up the snarling and thrashing.

I didn't know how, but somehow Galen and Ash pushed it off of me. Galen took out the switchblade he'd been carrying and stabbed the wolf in the chest. But the wolf didn't die. It kept thrashing around and clamping down it's jaws like it was eating thin air for dinner. I stood up, despite my legs feeling like jelly, and followed Galen's example, stabbing it in the chest.

The wolf stopped thrashing and went still.

Berkley and Sage ran over to my shocked body, grabbing any piece of clothing they could get their hands on and cried over me. When they pulled away, I saw blood on their hands and the fronts of their shirts. I looked down and saw my cardigan was torn and pink-red. I put a hand to my cheek and it came away with blood on the fingertips.

The last thing I saw was the ground getting closer to my face.

__________________________________________________

When I woke up, I was lying on a bed.

Not a bed made of pine needles, but an actual bed with a rough canvas mattress and white sheet blanket. I felt the weight of a bandage on the left side of my face, and my clothes hade been changed into fresh shorts and a clean white tanktop. Beside the bed, Ash was awake and staring at me.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"You got attacked by a wolf in District 10," He told me.

"Where are we now?"

"We carried you to District 11 and found help over the fence. The Sanes are taking care of you for a while, then we'll be on our way again." He assured.

From a door that lead outside came a small girl, maybe around thirteen or fourteen, with skin like creamed coffee and eyes as black as night. Her hair was like a raven wing. She smiled when she saw me.

"Oh! You're awake! I'm Ciara, my mother was nursing you back to health."

"Oh yea, from the wolf attack." I told her.

"Yes, your other friends are sleeping in the living room. Would you like to come outside?" Ciara asked me.

"Thank you," I murmured as I walked out.

District 11 was beautiful. The apple orchard made the house smell sweet and homey. In front, a large group of people were working in what looked like a cotton field.

Ciara greeted me to people working in the apple orchard, and it turned out to be her mother and three siblings. The environment reminded me of how District 7, a memory like a spot on a white wall, used to be; calm and socialable with a warmness to it like a hot sweet drink on a cold winter night.

Could this be the place I wanted to be?

___________________________________________

Two days later, after I was healed, I had been helping Ciara with planting squash, when someone screamed.

"It's her! Annabelle Adler! The missing tribute from 7!"

So this the end of Chapter 3. Chapter 4 will be when all of the really good stuff happens :) Thanks for reading! -Kaitlyn