Your Heart Outside Your Body

The Ally

Kurt woke up to sunshine on his face and extremely sore ribs. Moving was a chore, and he actually groaned as he tried to sit up.

"Hey? You okay?" Blaine hurried over. The sunshine filtered down through the canopy of leaves overhead, making the forest look like something out of an idyllic children's tale.

"I will be," Kurt said, although he had nothing to base that on. Just hope. "Is Finn still alive?"

"You can't hear the snores?" Blaine asked.

"Ugh. We should wake him up or he'll bring every tribute around down on us." Kurt got to his feet painfully. "How did I live with this the past nine months?"

Blaine laughed. "I'll get breakfast out," he suggested.

Kurt disappeared into the bushes for a bit, wishing he could wash his hands after. Even during the worst times in District 8 he could wash his hands after using the bathroom. But washing his hands in poison obviously wasn't a good idea, and their water was too precious to be wasted on such a luxury.

"I will never understand why there are people in the Capitol that think camping is fun," he said as he came back out, wiping his hands on his mud-soaked pants. "What's wrong?"

"The crackers," Blaine said, looking forlornly at their food supply. "They disintegrated in the rain."

"Oh." Kurt sighed heavily, and then went to wake Finn up. Finn came awake blurry-eyed and messy-haired, and for a moment, clearly didn't realize where he was. Kurt could see the precise moment that the memory crashed over him.

"Are we still alive?" Finn asked.

"Yes. Get up, sleeping beauty. It's time to start another exciting day."

"I hate you," Finn groaned, but he struggled to his feet. "I've got to- where should I-"

"Our full bathroom complete with a huge tub is over that way," Kurt said, giving Finn a little shove towards the bushes.

"Is he always this much of a morning person?" Blaine said as Kurt rejoined him. He dug through his pack. "Gray and I managed to get some jerky," he said. "You guys are welcome to some."

"Thanks." Kurt took a piece and two thin slices of cheese. It was a meager breakfast, but it was all they had. He munched on it as he waited for Finn to finish up. The jerky was tough, but flavorful. Even in the arena the food was better than District 8. He and Blaine sat cross-legged, eating in companionable silence.

"Okay," Finn said, joining them in their little clearing and looking much more awake. "Last night you said you had an idea." He sat down with the other two and picked up his portion. "What is it?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "I propose," he began slowly, "that we go back to the Cornucopia and steal food from the Careers."

Finn goggled at him. "You're insane."

"No, I'm not. That's the only supply of food that we're sure is safe," Kurt said. "Unless you want to test some of the berries that are around." Finn shook his head. "If we're going to do it, we have to strike now."

"Why now?" Finn asked. "Why not wait until the Career pack gets thinned out a little? There's like, twelve of them."

"Because we don't have any food. Just what we've got here. We'd be better doing it now while we still have strength rather than waiting."

Finn nodded grimly. "That makes sense. Yeah."

"Plus," Blaine said slowly, "there are still other tributes for the Careers to hunt. We're not a big threat yet. None of us got high training scores, or low ones. We're not dangers and we're not easy prey. Not to say they won't kill us if they come across us, but they're not looking for us yet."