Flooding Panem: The Hunger Games

Chapter Fifteen: Dying

I keel over from the shock, my teeth clenched together as I clutch my left arm, shoving the knife off onto the snow. I screw up my eyes, trying not to focus on the pain but wanting to know how bad it is. Blood drips through my fingers onto the snow, staining it a red that's too bright in the light of mid-morning. I resist opening my mouth as I peel back my hand. I only look at it for a second before I slam my hand back over it, sending a fresh wave of pain across the whole left side of my body.

I rock back, letting out a slow shaky breath, but every breath after that is faster and shallower. The blade didn't hit the muscle I don't think, but the flesh was cut wide open. I can feel the blood rising up between my fingers, spurting up along my thumb. 

Suddenly a figure comes through the trees. I fall back onto the frozen ground in my efforts to back away, but the moment I try to pull myself backwards my arm shrieks in pain. It's a wonder I don't scream, but I feel like being sick on the snow- I'm too focused on keeping what little food is in my stomach to let any sound out.

"Lilia? Lilia!" I recognise Parox's voice as he runs towards me, ripping the hand that rests over the steady flow of blood. "I'm sorry, I thought-" he breaks off as I nod my forgiveness, just grateful that he's only cut my arm and not my throat. "Come on, I've got some bandages in my bag."

Confused, scared, but relieved at no longer feeling alone, I let Parox lead me a short way through the trees to a small pond. He helps me over a particularly tall gnarled root to a tiny clearing. He mutters something along the lines of "so this is home," and lets go of me to started to got through his bag.

It's not a proper clearing I guess- the space between the trees is average, but there's only a thin dusting of snow on the ground; looking up, I can see branches sticking out at odd angles that aren't attached to the trees. He must've been here long enough to create a shelter. It's worked, but it's also cast some uneasy shadows around us, making it harder to see. His bag is sitting under a low hanging branch to keep it dry, and shrubs have been pulled up to block the area from sight. Collapsing against the trees, I catch sight of some movement in the corner. It takes a moment to register.  

"Rosalina!"

I start to get up, but Parox pushes down on my shoulder. "Calm down, lemme do this first. She's asleep anyway." I lean to try and see her as he bandages my arm, but it hurts too much to pull away.

"Where'd-" we both start at the same time. I nod to Parox, half looking at Rosalina as he speaks. Something's wrong.

"Where'd you find that bandage?" he asks, looking pointedly at my head for a moment.

I swallow quickly. When I speak, it's in a low voice. "Marvel- he ran into me yesterday and just- did it."

Parox nods, and I continue in a louder voice. "Where'd you find her? And why is she sleeping when you were just out?"

"Lilia." Parox ties off the bandage and stands up. I can see him struggling with the words before he speaks. "I found her a couple days after the flood, but she was already- I mean, Rosalina... well, she's dying."

I stare at him. That can't be possible. She can't be dying. No one ever ends up dying in the Hunger Games, not for any longer than a few hours. The deaths are quick, the pain goes quickly. Ok, maybe there's the occasional person who starves or dies of dehydration, but Rosalina has no reason to be doing either.   

"What do you mean she's dying? She... how?" I feel hot tears forming in my eyes and I wipe them away furiously. 

"I don't know exactly what happened," Parox says, looking over at Rosalina. "But she found some animal in a snare and it made her ill. She said she saw this tree with a robin's foot on it and assumed that the thing was safe, that someone was coming back. So she took it and ran."