Of Victors and Tributes

Chapter 12: Meadow

It's her. Her face, round and sweet but pale, is easily recognizable. I sit beside her, watching her sleep for a moment. She looks much younger than she does during the day, when she's awake. She must be hurt, too, if she hasn't woken up by my moving around. Gently, I shake her. She jumps, her eyes fluttering open immediately. She's lucky I found her before anybody else did. When she realizes that it's me, she lays back down and sighs, her hand over her stomach. She smiles with her eyes closed, then opens them and looks at me.

"If it isn't the golden boy," she whispers, her voice hoarse. She has no bags with her, no weapons. She must be starving and dehydrated. I help her sit up, leaning her against the wall of branches.

"Are you hurt?" I ask, touching her face. She touches her stomach. I gently lift her shirt and find a long burn across it that bubbles with large blisters. The skin blazes red and irritated. I don't have any burn cream, or any plants that I know will help.

"I fell. My shirt got caught on the bridge, and my stomach got pressed against the iron. It was burning hot, you know, from the fire," she explains.

"I don't have anything that can help," I reply. "Except for water. When did you get here?"

"Just a little while ago. I'm not sure. It took me a while to make it through the field, and by the time I made it somewhere with cover I just passed out," she says. I take out my water and hand it to her, pressing the other cool bottle against her skin. She flinches, then exhales. I'll put her in the stream once she gets some water and food in her. The wound will be a little less debilitating once it's soaked. Maybe we could go to the field, too, where the water will be colder.

"You're lucky I found you. The Careers will start hunting today, and Colt knows where this place is," I tell her, fishing around my bag for food. Since she's injured, I decide to give her a strip of meat, a cracker, and a few greens.

"Cole? Cole is dead," she says. I look up at her, wondering if she's delirious. No, she just misheard me.

"Cole-t. The boy from District 10. I ran into him last night," I reply. She nods her head, thankfully accepting the food.

"Did you try to kill him?"

"No. I killed Briar, though," I tell her. She raises her eyebrows. "It was an accident. It was dark, and they were following me for some reason. I swung my sword, it caught her in the neck. She died. I ran."

"You ran?"

"I couldn't– I couldn't stay," I say. She slowly nods her head, understanding what I meant to say. I couldn't kill Colt. "Nevertheless, he hates me now. If he gets his hands on a weapon, he'll come back. I mean, I think he will. We should leave."

"Okay," she replies easily.

I destroy my thicket so that she can easily get out, then lead her to the stream. I have her take off her jacket and shirt, then we finish the rest of the drinking water in one of my water bottles. Since it's empty, I take to pouring cold water over her burn. I decide against pushing her completely into the stream, so I stick to this strategy. It should provide her with a little relief.

"Nothing from the Cornucopia?"

"I lost my bag in the fire when I fell on the way out. That girl from 4 was chasing me down," Meadow explains. Pearl. I knew she would be a problem.

"Pearl. Yeah, I always marked her as the most dangerous," I say. Meadow nods.

"You're right. She got a few people, I think."

"Cole?"

"No. He stepped off the pedestal too early. I don't know if it was suicide or because they weren't announcing the numbers out loud. I got his blood all over me," she murmurs. So that's who flesh and guts was splayed across the ground.