Flooding Panem: The Hunger Games

Chapter Fourteen: Burning

As I look down at the roots of the trees, my stomach drops into the snow. There's a pack of wild coyotes, just waiting for me to come down. They start to bark more furiously when they see my face, their eyes gleaming with intense bloodlust from the confirmation that there's a human sitting in the tree above them.

But these aren't ordinary coyotes, they can't be. This is the Hunger Games after all. Their fur is too yellow and long, and they have manes. They're mutts. Lion and coyote in one.   

Their teeth glisten, whiter than even the snow around them. How did they even find me? My scent trail should have faded in the snow last night! The Gamemakers must have heightened their sense of smell, but all the same…  

I shake myself. I can't focus on how they found me, I need to focus on getting out of here. I untie myself and climb out of the sleeping bag, pulling my backpack out after it. I take my time packing things up, but I still have to face facts. I rise to my feet, leaning on another branch for support. But I'm still stuck. The mutts are howling now, baying for my blood, and I'm too soon awake to think. The only chance I have is to get them away from me, and then get myself the bloody hell out of here.  

Awkwardly, I climb around the tree, trying to see if there's something I can use as a weapon of mass destruction. My knife can only be of use against one mutt, and my slingshot would only antagonise them further. I look up at the sky. Could I still have sponsors? I'll look like a complete wimp to the audience… what am I thinking, this is my life on the line!  

I look up at the sky, thinking hard. What could I use to take out a ton of angry mutts at once? I still have my lighter, but if I set fire to the tree then I'm still screwed. I can't just drop the lighter, there's every chance that it would blow out on the way down. Bow and arrows? That would be the only option I guess… I whisper at the sky, "Archery anyone?"  

I stand, awkwardly clutching the tree for about thirty seconds, but nothing comes down. Figures. Since there aren't any leaves, the things would notice if I jumped between trees and they'd just chase me. And besides, the trees are too far apart.   

While I'm standing, pondering about both how I can get out of here and what would be the quickest way to die, I suddenly hear a laugh from somewhere below me. At first, I look down between my feet, but there's no one on the branches under me. And even if there were, they'd be laughing just as much as I am right now. But as I look up, I catch sight of something else in the tree opposite me. Peering across at it, I see two tributes snickering at me from about forty feet above the ground. It takes me a moment to recognise them. It's… Satin and Laurel.  

My chances of getting out of here alive just plummeted to zero.  

"Having fun, Lilia?" Satin calls, not worried about calling the attention of the Mutts. I can see a crossbow on her back, which is probably why.   I want nothing more than to hurl myself at her and punch the living daylights out of her. But that isn't wholly possible, and besides, she'd kill me before I could land so much as a poke.   

"Oh, so this is the two-scorer," says Laurel, smirking at me. "I'm starting to see why."  

I open my mouth, about to snap back with some probably-not-so-sharp retort, when I remember my score- and my session. I flash them a quick grin and lie down on the branch. There aren't many dry twigs, but there should be enough. I shove a load of them in my pocket and sit up, slowly, and swing my backpack in front of me, searching for my slingshot. When I finally manage to get it out, the pair in the tree burst out laughing.   

"Really, Lilia? What are you going to do, poke them to death?" Laurel jeers between laughs.   

"No," gasps Satin over the growls of the mutts below me. "She's gonna play fetch with them, like they're well trained enough for that!"