𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤// 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮✔️

fourteen

the announcement took eddie aback. richie. he could be with richie.
     but eddie knew deep down, that if he really wanted to survive, he'd just need to stay low. he has no sense of direction  and would go in circles for hours, leaving himself to get caught easier than a neon pink fish surrounded by green seaweed.
     he lay curled up beneath the rocks, his toes hanging out just enough you'd mistake them for a pebble.

-

it's still dark outside and richie is glad hed left right away. the cool breeze of the night is so much easier to trek through than the harsh heat of the day. the sun beams would surely tint his cheeks red and he'd have sweat everywhere but his feet.
his hair is waving just slightly with the wind, his lips are incredibly dry. only he just realizes, as he licks his lips, how thirsted he has been for a little h2o. he takes a seat on a log and brings the water bottle to his lips for a long swig, long enough to last him the rest of the way, and continues to move.
this time, he clips the small water bottle to his pants in reach so that he can drink and walk. he keeps an arrow ready to be shot, turning his head as he goes.
he reaches the stream that was once dried out. it's now swimming with minnows and crawdads, so somehow the dam blocking the water flow or the lack of rain has been restored.
he itches for a bath, so he takes a step over the rock, earning a small squeak he assumes is the whine of a chipmunk or maybe a squirrel he hadn't seen.
instead, a foot is tugged beneath the rock in fear as richie shoots an arrow at it, leaving him confused as he pulls the weapon back from the ground.
"who's there?" richie interrogates, loafing the arrow back into the quiver.
"district 10," eddie whispered softly, eyes closed shut tight in fear of what may happen next.
"eddie!" richie exclaimed, tugging eddie out from the rock by his feet and hugging him so tight he might crush his bones. eddie is paralyzed, still, but not of fear. he's too surprised to react, eyes wide and arms tense. but he eventually melts into richie's familiar touch and prays this isn't one of the capitols tricks.
richie pulls away to look closely at eddies face, there's a small scrape on his left cheekbone but that seems to be it. eddie takes note of the deep wounds he'd gotten from beverlys surprise attack, he takes note to put some treatment on that.
richie helps eddie pack his bags in comfortable silence, anything and everything he may need for the trip to come. eddie, for some reason, has been carrying around fresh night lock wrapped inside a leaf. richie doesn't question, though, and simply tosses it in his bag.
the walk begins again, only this time the sun is pale orange and richie is longing for some sleep. he doesn't know how much longer he'll be able to stay up. he can't help but ignore the quiet growl in his stomach too.
when eddie returns to the cave, except now it's empty, his heart aches just slightly. it's hard for him to admit they're dead. but they are, and eddie just needs to get a bit of a grip on himself.
they lay the rock over the entrance and crawl into their sleeping bag without hesitation. eddies head rests just below richies chin, to the right of his chest. he can hear the slow beat of his heart, thump, thump, thump. it's soothing to the ear like a lullaby. he doesn't fall asleep, though. for he had gotten at least an hour of rest. richie drifts to sleep surprisingly quickly, and dreams of good things rather than bad.
but unfortunately, eddie won't let him sleep that long. he knows if the doesn't wake up soon then he'll starve. so, with the promise of a meal, richie sits up.
eddie pulls a small pouch of dried fruit from his own bag, handing one to richie, which he happily takes. they munch on the sweets before they tear into one of richies recently caught squirrels. the meat is something eddie had been starved of lately, and he missed it.
"how'd you cook it?" eddie asks between bites.
"fire," richie said simply. "i muted the smoke by cooking it inside the cave, after, i let it out slowly with a small crack."
eddie nodded slowly, although he understood none of it. he's only good for planting crops and milking cows. maybe one year the arena will be a farm. then he'll be useful.
no matter how hard he thinks, eddie can't seem to figure out how someone from a coal mining district has so much skill when it comes to the bow. it's really difficult to understand, when you think about it. someone who wields a mere pickaxe can shoot birds from the sky, even when theyre miles away.
eddie offers richie some more water, which he happily takes. he doesn't down the entire bottle, but he might as well have. he hadn't drank in a while, his throat finally being moisturized is a good enough feeling on its own.
eddie leans back into richies chest and closes his eyes. it was eddies turn to nap. richie, now wide awake and going with an hour of sleep, just plays with his hair. going hunting would be useless. they have some groosling richie had managed to shoot and a bit of dried root and fruit. they are lacking water. richie supposes now would be a good time to get some. just to pass time while eddie catches up on some rest.
richie carefully slides his leg out from under eddies head and gently slides the backpack under to replace it. he starts to realize how dangerous it may be to leave a sleeping eddie alone, but richie just shrugs it off. it'll only take an hour, the river is just thirty minutes to and from.
he runs, though, nonetheless. the faster he gets back the sooner he can breathe properly again. he makes it to the river in record timing, twenty minutes, and fills the bottles with water from the stream. he drops the iodine into the bottles before tucking it away and running back. it takes him longer to arrive at the cave, thirty-five minutes, but it doesn't phase him. eddie is still sleeping soundly with no memory of him leaving at all.
as the water sets, eddie slowly starts to blink his eyes open. the cave may be dark but it's cold and no one inside can sleep for more than an hour. he sees richie, no longer beside them but a few feet away, hacking at a piece of wood.
richie hears eddie let out a soft whine before snuggling against his thigh, returning his head to the top of it, and closing his eyes. richie sighs. maybe, after all his pain and suffering, betrayal and disbelief, maybe he can find a small bit of happiness from these games after all.
eddie was knocked out cold. i suppose the full stomach for the first time i'm so long left him exhausted. richie had apparently been eating well anyways, though, because he's full of energy and still, chopping wood.
eddie isn't quite sure why richie is doing what he's doing, or why he does anything that he does, but he decides that it's better not to question and leaves it at that. he's not too curious, anyways. from the looks of it, he's just bored and needs something to do. or maybe he's inventive and is finding a new way to make things easier. or something else. he shrugged.
richie shoved the small bits of wood into the corner of the cave and returned to eddies grasp. they huddle together like they had when everyone was alive. this thought, this feeling of sharing the sleeping bag makes eddie remember how he used to let bill have it because of his lack of weight. how he used to sleep with no blanket at all and just body heat to insure bill found warmth. the thought of bill makes him smile, partly because he was a wonderful person who he almost immediately found trust in, but also because the thought of him brings up the thought of stan. that thought reminds him of how they had lead eddie and bev to the cave, where they were introduced to the others. and that thought reminded him of how they formed the troop. or alliance, per say. he missed them all dearly. it was really quite strange without their company. part of eddie couldn't believe they are dead. it leaves him feeling hopeless yet again that they have any chance of surviving.
the silence is unbearable, and so, eddie is almost grateful to hear the canon in the distance. richie only lets out a small huff from his lips to show he merely acknowledged the canon in the first place. eddie was surprised at his lack of interest, but at the same time, he didn't care much either. death was just so familiar at this point, and after getting this far, you begin to stop
caring. unless you're the one who killed. then, the feelings may vary.
if you arrived at the hunger games for glory and the death is in your hands, then you may feel good. proud. you may grin at the thought of murder. you may scream at the thought of winning. but, when it comes to someone shy, weak, and puny like eddie, death on his hands will haunt him forever like a spirit who reminds him every day. something that follows him around to taunt him. something that leaves him scarred beyond repair.
that canon, though, didn't trigger any of the above emotions. just a noise in the distance. a loud one, but just a noise.
     the anthem was what reminded them both they'd slept all day. which suddenly left them with a dry taste in their mouth, but nonetheless crowded around the cave mouth to look at the sky.
     reginald huggins. belch, as everyone deemed him. not sure why, but part of them didn't want to find out. the screen faded away, and to their luck, neither eddie nor richie were tired. surprise, surprise. perhaps sleeping all day does have it's consequences after all. but in a way, this was good. if they weren't tired they could watch guard all night. but the next day they'd both be drowsy and in need of a nap.
     nonetheless eddie simply sighed and crawled back into the cave where he sat. he's glad they decided to stay away from the big fights. they have no idea what's going on and they like it. just being in the distance. hidden. safe. it was comfortable and away from any sort of threat that could be waiting for them when they leave the cave.
     richie's head is resting atop of eddies, whose head is resting atop richie's shoulder. it was nice to not feel like they have someone behind them for once. maybe this was how it should've been all along. maybe they should've just escaped together. eddie begins to regret leaving them, but now they're together and that's what matters, right? he hopes that's what matters, anyways. because if it's not, he'll feel guilty for who knows how long.
eddie jumps at the feeling of skin atop of his own hand, looking down to see richie cupping his hand and intertwining their fingers. he audibly sighs, but not of sadness, of comfort. he sighs because he know this moment will only last for so long. he sighs because he knows that there isn't many people left, and two against one (unless bowers and ripsom were allies) was much higher chances on richie and eddie's part. he sighs because he knows that if they win these damn games, then they'll be free at last. he hopes that's the case.