The 55th Hunger Games

Chapter 19

We had not been waiting very long when I see a sudden disturbance in the water in the centre of the lake. Aponi notices it too. Something rises from the depths of the lake like an otherworldly creature. Water streams from it as it moves up... up. Then I see it for what it is: a long metal box.

It seems to lock in place, its base just touching the water. For a while nothing moves as the last of the water droplets stream back into the lake below. Then a crack appears along the top of the box, and the two halves retract back into the water. Soon, all that remains is a podium just above the surface of the water. And on that podium is a table.

My throat feels dry and sore as I see what lies upon the table. There are piles of golden rolls, dew sprinkled fruits, fragrant turkeys lined with small vegetables and bursting with stuffing. All so tantalisingly close, but so hard to reach.

But despite the fact that the feast is now revealed to all, the lake is eerily silent. Not even a bird seems to be singing which makes me feel all the more sure that we are not the only ones here. Aponi begins to stand, but I pull her quickly back down again.

"Not yet. Wait for someone else to make a move."

But a few long minutes pass, and no one does.

"How are we going to get out there?" Aponi whispers.

"We will have to wade." I tell her. "I don't think it will be deep. It would give District four a huge advantage if it was. But still, I do not like the thought of going out there through the water. It will be freezing!"

"I can go out there by myself if you like?" She suggests. "It was my idea to come here."

"It doesn't matter whose idea it was." I tell her. "You stay here and I will go out and bring some food back."

She shakes her head.

"No. I can do nothing if I stay here, and I want to help you. One of us must get to the centre of the lake, and we can protect each other better if there are two of us. I do not want anything to happen to you either." She says, and to my great annoyance, I see that she has a point.

She wants to see me die no less than I want to see her die. I realise I can't win this.

"I will go first." I comply. "You wait until the Careers are distracted and the fighting has broken out before sneaking to the edge of the lake. How long can you hold your breath for?" I ask her.

"Not too long. I cannot swim well."

"Ok. Wait here until I give you a signal and follow me with the pack. We'll be able to get more food that way."

She nods in agreement.

We strip to our undergarments and hide our clothes away from the lake in some bushes. I hope we will both come back for them.

The lake is still silent when we return. I decide to climb a tree and scope the area, leaving Aponi waiting at the bottom. I don't see much, only leafy canopies. It seems as though everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move.

I return restlessly back down the tree. The table will not stay around forever. It will disappear back to where it came from in less than an hour. Well, I suppose one of us must move first, and I am tired of testing everyone else's patience.