The 76th Hunger Games

Chapter 23

     I crawl out of the tent, blinking my eyes like a mole seeing sunlight for the first time. I wake Clove and we climb down the tree. Mason is slumped over a rock, sleeping. I flick his head and he comes to. "Wha?" He says. I look in my pack and dig out roots and berries. "Breakfast. Come on! Get up." I say, shaking his good arm. We all gather by the pond, swatting away the few gnats that have buzzed by. We eat our meal of roasted roots and blackberries. I hear trumpets blaring and I nearly fall into the water. "Attention tributes." Claudius Templesmith begins. "Tomorrow at sunrise we will be holding a feast at the Cornucopia. Now before you decline our generous offer, this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately. Whether it's a blanket to keep warm in the night, or perhaps something to help an injured ally, you may not be able to survive without it. May the odds be ever in your favor." The trumpets blare again as the voice shuts off. Me and Clove bolt upright. "I'll go." We say in unison. Mason shrugs as if to say "Whatever."  Clove looks at me. "We'll both go." She says. I nod and sit back down. "We have all night for figure out a game plan, but we should get some sleep tonight. How about you go for the backpack and I kill anyone who tries to stop you." I suggest. Clove nods, clearly ready to take the risk of getting the backpack. We need to help Mason.

     I peel off my dirty clothes and dive into the pond. I pull my clothes in except for my socks, shoes, jacket and belt. I swish them in the water to clean out the grime and dried blood. I pull my hair put of my bun and wash it, too. Clove and Mason swim in the water, not really  cleaning themselves for the Feast. I put my sopping wet clothes on the hot rocks of the bank to dry them. I pull my hair into a regular bun on the middle of the back of my head. I brush my part out and secure it in. I make sure it's all in place so it will stay out of my face. Within a few minutes, my clothes are dry and I am far cleaner than I was before. I jump out of the pond and dry myself on the rocks. Once me and my underclothes are dry, I pull on my socks, pants, shirt, and shoes. I clean off my bloody arrows in the pond, because I haven't yet cleaned them. I stuff them in my quiver, sling it over my shoulder, and smile. I feel great right now, but I don't know why.

     We are just climbing up our tree when the sun sets. I watch the sky. No faces are shown today. Hm. Tomorrow there probably will be. The Feast always brings exciting deaths. "Mason, would you mind missing a night of rest? I mean, you can nap when we're back. We need you to watch for a few hours. We need you to stay awake and be on guard while were at the Cornucopia. Got it?" I ask. Mason sighs and nods. I climb into my sleeping bag and immediately fall asleep.

     I open my eyes to Mason shaking my leg. Clove is already up, and in the process of climbing down the tree. She has all of her knives strapped to her belt. One is already in her hand. I grab my quiver, sling it over my shoulder, strap my crossbow to my forearm, and slide my knife into my belt. I climb down the tree and jump down the last branch. Me and Clove start walking to the Cornucopia. It takes close to twenty minutes to get there. We hide behind trees, hearts pounding. Rays of sunlight shine from behind the mountain, and the table starts to rise. There are half a dozen bags on the table. One of them is labeled "2" and I immediately know that we have to go for that one. As soon as the table clicks into place, the girl from District 1 leaps for her backpack, but the boy from 5 comes out of nowhere and slits her throat. Her cannon fires a second later. He takes her bag and grabs his own.He rifles through the packs. The girl from District 9 runs out, her brown hair trailing behind her, She grabs the pack and falls to the ground. A cannon fires.Travis, the boy from District 11, has stabbed her in the heart. He takes her bag and his own. He seems to be in alliance with the boy from District 5, because they are only about ten feet apart and not killing each other. While they are distracted with their two bags, Clove runs into the open. She reaches for the bag, but Travis tackles her to the ground,

     Travis sits on Clove, his knees pin her shoulders to the ground. They are too far away for me to see any details. Clove kicks Travis away and leaps up. He bolts upright to his feet and they start sparring. The boy from District 5 grabs the backpack for us and starts running away. The backpack! I look at Clove and see she's doing fine, so I aim my crossbow for the boy and shoot. The arrow lodges in the back of his neck and he falls to the ground. His cannon fires a second later.I turn my eyes to Clove, who finally manages to slit Travis's throat. He falls to the ground and his cannon fires. She runs to the boy from District 5, scoops up our bag and my arrow, and runs to me. She leans on the tree beside me, panting. "You okay?" I ask. She nods, huffing tiredly. "Come on, we should go before Zanna and Rose show up. Can I have my arrow back? I need it." I say. She hands me it and I load it in my crossbow.

     The walk back to camp seems longer because of the hot sun beating down on us. On our way back we dig up some roots and take down a bird of some sort. Mason is waiting for us in the tree when we get back. "We're back." I announce. Mason climbs down and stares at the bag. "I wonder what's in there." He murmurs. I grin. "Time to find out." I say.

     In the bag there is a real splint and real materials to strap it on his arm. I pull off the old split we made for Mason and put the new one on. He smiles. "Didn't hurt a bit. What happened at the Feast? Why were there so many cannons? I got worried that you had died." He said. Me and Clove explain what happened, even the lack of Zanna and Rose. "Maybe they were waiting for you to leave or something. I don't know." Mason suggested. I shrugged. That might have been it, but I was too tired to care. "Mason, go to sleep. You stayed up late last night." I say. He nods and goes up to our tent. I peel off my clothes and jump into the water to relax. Clove sits by the bank, shaving a point on a stick. I float on my back and close my eyes to shield them from the beating sun. I sigh happily and stand up. "I'm starving. Let's have some lunch." I say, getting out of the pond. I dry my underclothes in the hot sun and dress.

     We eat some roots and the bird. It won't keep, anyways. After we finish, we spend the rest of the day either weaving ropes, whittling sticks, or sharpening our spear. We start eating dinner: Fish stew, when the anthem starts to play. Either it's earlier today or we're late at dinner. In the sky they show the girl from District 1, the boy from District 5, the girl from District 9, and Travis. That leaves me, Clove, Mason, Zanna, Rose, and Wilson. It's surprising how fast these Games have gone by. My family might be getting interviewed right now. I smile at the thought. They're watching, making sure I don't die when they get a wink of sleep. I feel like they're looking out for me. I yawn and the sky starts to darken. "Me first, Clove second, Mason third?" I say. My allies shrug and climb into their sleeping bags. I hear soft, relaxed breathing within minutes, indicating that they have fallen asleep. I yawn but watch the moon in the sky while I wait for the time to wake Clove.

     A few hours pass and I am barely coherent. I crawl into the tent, whack Clove's ankle, and crawl into my sleeping bag. She crawls out of the tent and zips it behind her. I curl up in my sleeping bag and drop into a deep sleep. After all, today has been a very long day.