Forbidden Friendship (THG FF)

Chap. 8

     I wake up to the sound of the cannon and slightly jump. I sigh and climb down the tree. It takes me a while to relize somethings wrong. Wish.

     I look up at the branch she was sleeping on to see she's not there. Well then. . . Guess she dead. She never should have left--

     I get tackled to the ground and I grab my knife from my belt when I notice it's Wish. "What are you doing?"

     "Just testing ya," she says and gets off me. I gently rub my throat where she held her arrow at. "Come on. We should get moving. Don't want to risk running into Ethan and his goons." We gather up our stuff and start walking north.

    People always say to never trust Districts 1 and 2 in The Games. I don't blame them either. Every time someone from one of those Districts make an alliance, they turn on them in a couple of days. My stomach drops. What if I do that to Wish? Or what if she does that to me? Will o kill her or will she kill me?

     I hear a scream in the distance then a cannon going off. These Games are brutal. I've only killed one person so far and haven't ran into anyone besides Wish.

     "Truth or dare?" Wish asks me, filling in the silence.

     "Dare," I say.

     "I dare you to sing," she says and back at me.

     "O-okay," I say and clear my throat. "Are you, are you, coming to tree.
They strung up a man who say they murdered three.
Strange things did happen here no stranger would it be.
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, are you, coming to the tree.
Where dead man called out for his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here no stranger would it be.
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, are you, coming to the tree. Where I told you to run. So we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here no stranger would it be.
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, are you, coming to the tree. Wear a necklace of hope, side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here no stranger would it be.
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree."

      Wish gaps at me. "That. Was. Amazing!" She squels. "You're such a great singer! And then the song. . .it gave me goosebumps! You sang 'Hanging tree' right?"

     I nod. "Yeah. It was the only song I could think of, considering were surrounded by trees."

     "Are you in choir at your school?"

     "No. My mom taught me." Just thinking of my family makes me upset. I have to win this. For them. Not for me.

     "Well, she's a very good teacher!" Wish says proudly.

     I smile. "Yeah, she is."

                          ***

     I open my eyes and see Wish cooking. . . What is that anyways? Whatever, doesn't matter. As long as we both have food in our stomachs, I'm fine.

     "It's starting to get dark," I say, looking up at the Arena sky. "Hopefully that finishes soon so we can put the fire out. We don't want to attract anyone over here."

     "Well, it's a good thing they're done," Wish says and pulls the stick away with the small animals away from the fire. She pours some of her water on it and stamps the rest out. She hands me one of the animals. "They're rabbits."

     "They're pretty small for a rabbit," I say examining it but then take a bite of the meat.

     "They've just been cooked, hun," Wish says and eats her "rabbit".

     I take a sip of my water once I'm done eating. "I'll take first watch," Wish says.

     "Okay," I say and climb up a tree. "Wake me up when you get tired."

     Wish nods and sits against the trunk. The Anthem plays and the two Tributes that died today were the girl from 7 and the boy from 5. I wonder what these parents feel. Do they feel sad? Disappointed in their kids for not making it? I know--hope--they're not happy. Who would be? Their kid just got killed right in front of them.

     My thoughts soon fade away as I fall asleep in the tree.