The Selection in the Hunger Games

Bird Bath - Chapter 20

The person from behind dodged past us. It was a boy named Revo from District 7. In the Capital, he always trained with the sword but now he had a bow. Celeste had already made it to the water, collecting it with her canteen. She must have gotten that at the Cornucopia.

    “What’s the plan?” Maxon asked, eyes darting from me to Carter.

    “I think we should let them fight over the water. We’ll find another way. We should head left and put as much distance between them and us. Carter?”

    “Sounds good to me.” We voyaged to the left, darting up the hills and across the grass. We could still hear the shouts of fighting at the pond. We switched who would carry Marlee whenever someone’s arms got tired. After what seemed like hours, Maxon decided to stop.

    “We should conserve energy. This is a good enough distance.” We set up camp, laying Marlee down in the tent. Carter and I replaced her gauze, and applied more salve to the area.

    “Thank you, America,” she whispered, smiling her best. “Thank you, Carter.” She lightly squeezed both of our hands before her drowsiness overcame her. Carter and I shared a smile before I joined Maxon outside the tent.

    “How is she doing?” he asked, the concern in his eyes.

    “She’s talking. She can even move a little bit.”

    “That’s amazing,” he whispered. He looked into the distance. “I wonder how that feels.”

    “A stabbed leg? I would assume, not good.”

    He gave a breathless laugh. “No, to have a love like that. The way they look at each other. Like there is no one else in the world.”

    I bumped into his shoulder softly. “You’ll have that.”

    He had an unreadable expression on his face then he shook his head. “I don’t know.”

    “Trust me, you will. When I somehow make sure that you, Marlee, and Carter make it out of here alive, you will find this amazing, all-consuming love that makes you excited to wake up in the morning. That makes you want to sacrifice everything just to make them happy. You’ll find that. I’m sure of it.”

    He took in the words before smiling. “You should consider going into politics. You are a fantastic speech-giver.”
    I rolled my eyes playfully. “I try.”

    We sat in silence for awhile.

    “We should go to the pond. It should be cleared out by now. Marlee will need it, her lips are parched.”

    “We should wait till they’re announcing the deaths. No one will be moving and the bodies should be picked up by then.”

    I sighed. “How long will this thing last?”

    “The Games?” he questioned, leaning back on his hands. I nodded. “Well, America, as long as it takes. We are all alive, breathing. We’re doing great.”

    “Great seems extreme.”

    “Okay, we’re doing okay,” he replied, smiling.

"Can't your father take you out of this thing?" I asked. Why would a father risk his sons life when he had control? He was the President. He could save Maxon then I could just focus on Marlee and Carter.

Maxon shook his head, his eyes glazing over. "That's not possible. It's tradition."

"So is living."

"You're not wrong," he replied, a hint of sadness in his voice. We sat quietly when we heard the cannons booming. I informed Marlee and Carter then we were on the move. Seven cannons. Please not Aspen, I thought. We went back where we came from, going as swiftly as possible.

We reached the pond. Except it was no longer water. The bodies were gone but their blood still swirled in the water. It was a mixture from Hell. I looked at Maxon who was staring at it, grinding his teeth. I took his hand and tried to pull him away. He wouldn't move.

"Maxon, come on."

He still wouldn't move. "America. America." He kept repeating my name over and over again, standing still.

I saw movement in the corner of my eye. It was an arrow. "Maxon! "

**Where's Aspen?? **

**Arrow. Who's getting hit? **

**Thank you for reading. You guys are the best!!!  Thank you**