One Fell Swoop { A Banana Bus / Hunger Games Story }

Chapter Twelve - Surviving The First Day

Tyler's legs hurt. He couldn't comprehend how Craig was that much further into the woods than him. It must be Tyler's excess weight slowing him down, Craig was smaller than him. His senses were hyper aware, he could hear nearby tributes running in different directions through the foliage. Tyler quickly glanced behind him to check if he was being followed. There were two distance figures weaving in an out of the trees, they must be Evan and Jon judging by each of their respective statures.

Tyler felt like he'd been running for hours, the excess weight of the supplies he grabbed weighing him down further. He started to feel as though he was running through water or quicksand. After what was actually half an hour of running, Craig stopped up ahead of Tyler. There was a stream running perpendicular to Craig's path. To the right it was going uphill.

"Tyler, we have water now, and any good survivalist knows you never get water downstream. Wait for Evan and Jon, we have a hill to climb," Craig stated. Tyler sighed and turned around, Evan and Jon had finally caught up.

It's not too big of a hill, it was almost a mound instead, with a spring in the middle of it.

"How do we know that it's safe to drink and not just a trap from the game makers?" Jon asked. Craig crouched down and dipped his hand into the water. His eyes were watching a nearby rabbit on the other side of the spring. It's head was dipped low, drinking from the water. Craig was watching to see if there would be any immediate effects on the small creature's health. After a few minutes of the rabbit hopping around and Jon and Evan setting up a camp next to the spring, Tyler watched as Craig delicately set up a trap using some of the materials from his backpack.

"If the gamemakers had tampered with the water in the arena, then this rabbit would be dead already. It's body is much smaller and processes water quicker than us," Craig explained, looking over his shoulder and meeting Tyler's gaze. The rabbit hopped into the trap and got stuck. Tyler couldn't understand how Craig's traps worked when they were training, and he still doesn't understand.

Tyler's head snapped away from Craig's form when there was a splash from the pond. He watched as a multitude of colours glided beneath the surface.

"Craig, there's fish in this pond. Once you take care of that rabbit, you could teach me how to make traps like yours? I think we all grabbed enough supplies, and it's just... I never got the hang of it and yours are really great," Tyler asked. Craig looked back at Tyler, crouched by the rabbit's carcass. Was Tyler starting to blush?

"Hey, Jon and I are going to go clear the area. You know, check to see if there are any nearby tributes and... take care of them," Evan spoke up. Jon grabbed two knives while Evan carted the bow and arrows he grabbed earlier.

And suddenly, Tyler was alone with Craig pressed up against his side, their hands wet as the smaller man taught the larger one how to make traps.

***

After running for miles and miles, Lui's legs were finally starting to hurt. That was one of his strengths, Lui thought, he could outrun anyone in the competition. He was light and agile, he could probably dodge anything throw at him. Running huge distances didn't tire him out much either, there wasn't much excess weight dragging him down. That's expected when you come from a starving district.

The trees began to thin out as Lui approached a clearing. There was a huge lake, crystal clear and surrounded by moss-covered rocks. Lui sighed in relief and double over to catch his breath. He momentarily froze and looked back to see if anyone was following behind him. He'd survived the cornucopia, he didn't want to die straight afterwards. He didn't want to die at all.

Once Lui's body stopped convulsing with huge breaths, he took a proper look at the lake. There was a rocky mound on the other side of the lake, and what looked like the mouth of a cave in the mound. That could be a great place to camp, Lui thought, shelter from the elements and it's situated right next to a freshwater lake too. Lui quickly fishes an empty flask from the tiny survival kit he snatched and filled it with water from the lake. He walked around the circumference of the lake to the mouth of the cave.