I wake to Katniss shaking of my shoulder. I feel well rested. Too well rested. I sit up with a jerk and look out at the sky. Day already?!?
"I slept the whole night," I say feeling guilty. "That's not fair, Katniss, you should have woken me."
She stretches and nestles down into the bag. "I'll sleep now," she yawns. "Wake me if anything interesting happens." And with that, she nods off almost instantly.
I watch her for a couple of minutes, just staring at her peaceful face, at her breathing evenly coming in and out through her slightly parted lips. I sigh and go sit by the cave's entrance, resting my back against one side and my feet to the other. I let my head rest against the wall, too, and randomly trace patterns with by fingers on the dirt. It's not long before the senseless squiggles connect and turn into Katniss's name. I wipe her name off with my palm, feeling slightly frustrated. I can't let myself attach closer to this girl. I'm only hurting myself. Up until now, I've stubbornly let myself dream that, if we make it, she'll stay with me. But what if she doesn't? What will I do then? I shouldn't let myself dream of such a faulty future; it's not healthy for me.
But what then? It's painful to even think about distancing myself from her now. Is that my only choice then? Enjoy for now, be happy for now and then, maybe, just maybe, keep being happy if she does stay with me? And if not? Well, I guess I can pathetically watch her from a distance. Again. Back to the basics.
I laugh darkly, humorlessly, at my sick joke. I'm such a masochist. Maybe I should think more positively. I mean, is it really that impossible to believe that she'll decide to spend her future with me? She seems to enjoy my company. She kisses me back. And she did look for me, didn't she? If she didn't care for me, she wouldn't have bothered to find me. So I guess I wasn't being that much of a masochist as much as a pessimist. There's a fair chance that we'll make it back home….and most important even yet, that she'll stay with me.
I smile, satisfied with my conclusion, and keep on alertly with my guard. It feels like just minutes later instead of hours when Katniss wakes up.
"Any sign of our friend?" she asks as she stretches.
I shake my head. "No, he's keeping a disturbingly low profile."
"How long do you think we'll have before the Gamemakers drive us together?"
"Well, Foxface died almost a day ago, so there's been plenty of time for the audience to place bets and get bored," I say. "I guess it could happen at any moment." I feel a chill run up my spine.
"Yeah, have a feeling today's the day," she says. She sits up and looks out the cave's door. "I wonder how they'll do it," she muses.
For that, I have no answer, but I'm pretty sure they'll be creative. I don't say it out loud though. No need to give Katniss Goosebumps, too.
"Well, until they do, no sense in wasting a hunting day. But we should probably eat as much as we can hold just in case we run into trouble," she says.
I pack up our gear while Katniss lays out the food. We then eat, leaving only a pile of rabbit bones.
We head our way down to the stream – or what use to be the stream… Where the heck did the water go?
"Not even a little damp," Katniss whispers as she puts her hand down on the now dry ground. "They must have drained it while we slept." She says. Her voice sounding a little panicked.
Of course! That's how they'll drive us together! "The lake," I muse out loud. "That's where they want us to go." That's where they want us to die.
"Maybe the ponds still have some," she says a little hopeful.
"We can check," I say, though I'm sure they're just as bone dry as the stream. After she went through so much to keep me alive, I can't deny anything to this girl. As senseless and pointless as it might be.
