Broken (A Hunger Games Fanfic)

Chapter 16

Yah, new chapter! Haha, I really don't have any news to tell you guys (: I didn't edit very much, so if you see a mistake, please tell me so I can correct it!

Enjoy! ~Kaitlyn

----Two Days Later----

It'd been two days since Nico died. Summer and I had traveled to the mountains, hoping to find safety from the danger of the other tributes, since we didn't know if they were lethal. Yet in that time period, we'd only made it a couple hundred feet up the mountain's slope.

Summer and I camped out on a cliff that gave a pretty good view of the arena. I could see the ocean and the beach. There were rolling hills with crumbled remains of temples scattered around. The mountains were grassy; no sharp rocks or snowy peaks, just a few boulders. It was beautiful, but this land was drenched with the blood of the tributes.

No cannons had been fired since Nico's death. Fable was still alive; he'd somehow survived the fury of the tsunami. I knew that Harman wasn't much of a threat. As for the girl from District Nine, I hadn't seen much from her, so there was no telling if she was dangerous or just a mere scared girl. What about her food? Did it wash away in the tsunami? Everything seemed to be a mystery.

The sun was setting in the distance. The tiny fire was our only source of light and warmth. Lucky for us, there was a mountain stream. That meant that rabbits, deer, and other game would come for a drink. It was a good advantage to us, too, so we wouldn't die of thirst. Carefully, I lifted up my shirt to reveal the bloody gauze wrapped around my abdomen. I unwound it and threw it into the fire. 

"Ann! That was our last bandage!" Summer complained.

I frowned. "Ann? So that's my new name?"

"Sorry." She said.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just in a crappy mood right now." I apologized.

She looked through one of the backpacks. "We're running out of food. Should we go hunt?"

"You stay here. I'll go hunt. Don't eat any of the remaining food though. We still don't know what other animals there are." I said as I grabbed a knife.

I climbed up the steep mountain side, taking a right at a large boulder and cutting in between two large bushes. Before me, I was greeted by the sound of water running over smooth stones. I smiled. Rainbow trout were swimming with the stream's current. A medium sized one caught my eye as it floated down the river. I aimed my knife and kept my eye on the fish. As it came closer, I flung the knife at the fish. It sunk into the river, stabbing the fish and sticking into the goopy brown mud.

I pulled the fish out of the river, along with my knife. Blood streamed down it's scales from the wound. I stuffed it into a hidden compartment in my jacket and cleaned the knife. Scouring through the rest of the foliage surrounding the river, I found a bush covered with dark blue berries. Curiously, I picked one off and broke it open. The inside was a clear purple color and felt like jam. Blueberries! I picked a couple dozen and stuffed them into my jacket.

I walked back to the camp, keeping an eye out for any wolves or other predators. At camp, the fire had turned into bright embers. Summer was lying a pile of matted grass, her golden curls falling around her face like seaweed. Her jacket was probably the only thing keeping her warm; the wind was chilly at night. I opened her pack and placed half the berries into a compartment.

Suddenly, a crash came from beside me. My backpack had tipped over, piles of remaining food spilling out. I thought nothing of it, until a small dark animal bounced out of the shadows. 

I gasped. It's tiny masked face glanced up at my shocked expression. It made some weird growl/hiss, then sunk it's teeth into a strip of dried meat. The racoon turned around towards the dark trees and scampered off before I could yell a swear at it.

"Damn it!" I yelled. Stupid Gamemakers! I thought. It's bad enough we're on the brink of starvation, now you're gonna mock us?!

Angrily, I stuffed the food the racoon left alone into the pack, along with the fish I caught. I ripped grass from the dirt and threw them into the fire embers. I picked up two rocks and began to scrap them together. After a few tries, sparks began flying. Soon, a spark caught the grass blades and it rose in flames. I rubbed my hands together to keep from freezing. My anger for the Gamemakers stealing our food changed to being angry about the tsunami. If it hadn't happened, we wouldn't be starving. If it hadn't happened, we would have sleeping bags to keep warm. If it hadn't happened, Nico would still be alive.

I remembered his dark brown hair and his blue-grey eyes. I remembered how he acted like an older brother to us, especially Gemma. I remembered his rare and genuine smiles. He wouldn't have let us starve. If he had survived the tsunami, he'd be out hunting all night for us. He'd saved me not once, but twice in the same day. How could anyone forget a person like him?

I must've fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, Summer was shaking me awake.

"There was a cannon!" She whispered with an emotion I couldn't describe.

"Was there a picture?" I asked. The sky was still dark.

"No. Do you think it was Fable? Or that one girl?" 

"I'm not sure. It might've been Harman. He's not really a survivor without the the Careers babysitting him."

A few moments later, I could see the dim light of the sun rising. I sat up and began scraping loose dirt onto the fire embers with my foot. I picked up the backpacks and threw one to Summer. She picked up her knives and slid them into her jacket. I did the same, keeping Gemma's axe in my hand. Summer didn't like to use her sword; she always kept it in her sheath.

"So are we just going to stay here until the tributes are dead?" Summer asked me as we headed up the mountain.

"Well, I thought it would be safer and further from Fable." I said. "If he dies, then maybe we can head back to the valley and the beach."

She seemed to hesitate.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What if we're the last tributes?" She said.

I was a little surprised by her question. I'd never taken it into thought. "If we are the last ones, I'm not gonna kill you. You have to promise you won't kill me too. You go off on your own. I don't want it to be like that, but I refuse to murder you."

She nodded. "I don't wanna kill you either. You remind me of my sister."

Then she did the last thing I expected. She hugged me. I could feel something stain my shirt.

I stroked her hair. "It's okay. If I die, you promise me you'll be the victor."

"Okay." She said with a watery smile.

She broke away and we continued the journey.