The 76th Hunger Games

Chapter 22

     Me and Clove examine Mason's broken arm. I look from a few different angles and nod. "We're going to have to set it so it can heal." I say, frowning. Mason scowls. "That's going to hurt, right?" He says. I nod and sigh. "Clove, can you get a branch? And maybe hold his hand when I set it?" I suggest. Clove frowns. "I'll get the branch but I won't hold his hand." She says.

     "Fine, fine." I say. Clove gets up and walks into the forest. I pull Mason's arm out of its sling and straighten it softly so we can splint it. Clove comes back with a good-sized branch and sighs. "Here. Can I look away?" She asks. I wave away her response instead of answering. She turns away and I sigh. "Mason, take a deep breath. It'll be over soon, I promise." I say. He rolls his eyes and looks away, not steeling himself for the pain. I set his arm sharply and he stifles a shout. I tie the stick to his arm with a strip of fabric and stand. "There. Do you want anything?" I ask. He glares at me. "You could've warned me." He grumbles.

     "Hey, I did warn you!" I protest. I catch a glimpse of his face and see the grin. "Fine, fine. Whatever. So do you want anything?" I ask. He shakes his head and Clove sighs. "I'm thirsty. I'll go get us a basket of water." She said, grabbing one of the many baskets I wove and heading downstream. I wonder why she didn't stay here at the pond...

     "Jonette? Hello? Are you listening?" Mason asks. I snap back to reality. "Oh, ah, sorry. My mind was somewhere else. What were you saying?" I ask. He sighs with a look on his face like What am I going to do with you? "I was saying that if you're really to be trusted, you should know that I've made a pact to keep Clove alive. That means if you hurt her, I will kill you. But I don't think you will. I think it's about time you got in on the pact. Become part of it, unless you want to go home. Then you can leave us." He says. I try to take in a deep breath, but it feels as if I've just fallen out of the tree again. You have to go home. Your family needs you. I think. But then...She'll die if you don't agree. You can't let her die, or worse, kill her yourself. I think. I look at Mason and catch my breath. "I'll need time. You knew her, so this decision was easier for you. I just met her. But don't begin to question my allegiance. I stay loyal until the end." I say. He sighs audibly but lets me sit in the tree to think.

     A few minutes pass when Clove gets back. She has an assortment of berries as well as more roots and the basket of water. "Sorry I was gone so long. I thought we needed the extra food." Says says cheerfully, setting the basket on a rock. "Thanks." I call down from the tree. I fiddle with some twigs, still thinking. If you don't join, you have a chance of winning and going back home. They need you more than you know. Don't join, you can survive without them. But my friendship turns me in the other direction. Join. They're powerful allies, and you can't just leave them. Clove should survive, but Mason should too. There can't be two victors...But what about the 74th Hunger Games? No...They wouldn't let that happen twice. That was a fluke. I get turned in every direction, flipped very way until I start to feel dizzy. "Lunch!" Clove calls up from the ground. My nausea disappears. I climb down and see the meal of roots and berries that awaits me. I start eating slowly, sitting by the pond.

     I quickly finish my meal and go back into the tree. I want to curl up in a cave until the Games end, so I am neither joining the pact, nor am I rejecting it. I want to hide in the cave until a hovercraft comes to take me away from the hell that is called the arena. I sit on a sturdy branch with my back against the think trunk and think. Join? Reject? Join? Reject? Find the damn cave, Jonette. It would be so much easier. No, join. Keep your ally safe. She deserves to win. No, no leave. You have to get home, your family depends on you. I want to scream! How is this so hard? Every time I weigh the pros and cons, they come out equal. If me and Clove bond, I will join. If we are pushed away from each other, I will reject both the pact and my allies and set out on my own. I bang my head against the tree, sending a sparrow from a branch ten feet above me flying away. I sigh and put my head between my knees, precariously balanced on my branch. I don't even care if I fall. Maybe I'll break my neck and die before somebody murders me. But then I think: Would that really be a better way to die?

     I throw down another rope. I have braided two already, and I am starting on my third. At least I am being productive as I sit in a tree thinking about the huge decision I have to make. I hear Clove and Mason chattering happily by the pond, dipping their feet in the cool water. How I wish I was back home near the pond, dipping my feet in near the comfort of my old, broken down home. How I wish to go inside the dusty wooden cabin and close the shutters, to see the smiling faces of my family, even though we have close to nothing, to hear the crackling fire of our hearth, to smell the wood smoke and whatever is cooking for dinner. Snap out of it! I can't think like this! I can't think of the four starving people that depend on me. I can't think of how much I'd rather be home. I look down at my hand and see the shredded river grasses clenched in my fist. I let them fall to the ground, not realizing I had torn them apart only by thinking of my family for a minute...I sigh and start another rope, still thinking hard.

     By sunset I know I'm running out of time. Mason will be impatient. He will be angry with me for taking so long to think. "Jonette? Come for dinner! We got some soup!" Clove cries from below the tree. "Coming!" I manage, quickly climbing down. With all of the thinking I have done today, I had forgotten how hungry I was. I walk down and see a sight I am not likely to see again.

Mason is cooking the soup

HE'S

COOKING

THE

SOUP.

He never cooks! I stare at him in disbelief and raise an eyebrow. "What's gotten into you?" I ask. He rolls his eyes and serves up three bowls of soup. I grab the bowl and eat quickly, savoring every delicious bite.

     Once I have finished my dinner, the fireflies and crickets are out and the sun has sank below the mountains. We all climb up into the tree and decide who will take watch. "I'll take first watch." Mason suggests. "I'll take second." Clove volunteers. I sigh, but I'm smiling. "I guess I'm stuck with third, then." I say. Me and Clove get into the tent and into our sleeping bags. Clove drops off immediately but I'm still thinking. I put my hand in my pocket and take out a large leaf. I hadn't noticed it was in there. I crawl out of the tent and see Mason sitting a distance away. I grab a small piece of charcoal and head back in before he noticed I was up. I scrawl a small message on the leaf and wait. I'll do it. It says. Something brushes against the entrance of the tent and I zip it open. I stretch my hand out, holding the leaf. Mason's hand grabs the leaf and I hand him the charcoal. I hear some scribbling and the leaf and charcoal is handed back to me. The message says: What's that supposed to mean? I take a deep breath and write down my answer. I toss the charcoal down. There's nothing else to say after this. I hand the leaf to him. I curl up in my sleeping bag and fall asleep before I can see the surprised face Mason makes as he reads my message. The message says: It means I'm joining the pact.