The 25th Annual Hunger Games

Day 8/? (Challenge Twelve)

While we knew the ice wasn’t stable, it lasted far less longer than we had hoped. We hadn’t even managed to make it to a nearby pillar when constant cracking bounded around the arena. Without even so much as looking at each other, we sprinted back.

 

“Everyone has to camp out now, so there’s no danger anymore.” I panted slightly, trying to find the good in the situation. We couldn’t look for Emmit now, but everyone else would be stuck too.

 

“For now…” Laurel replied.

 

I huffed, trying to be optimistic, “It’s the best we can hope for,”

 

She managed a shrug in return, which was better than bringing all of my worries to the forefront of my mind. We were still good, still a team. An incredibly small team, but a team. I set down the backpack I had grabbed in case of an emergency and headed over to what food was left over on the table. No need to break into my own supplies. The food was uncomfortably cold, but it was food and it was -ignoring the temperature -fairly good. That could, on some odd spiritual level be just like I was now. Pretty good, cold and undesirable unless desperate, but still kinda nice. Plus Laurel was here, and she counted for like, twenty of me. “You’re still a career, so we’re not the worst off…” I mumbled, thinking out loud.

 

“I can hardly be called a career, Sai. I’ve been just as dependent of Emmit as you have.” She replied. I probably wasn’t mumbling as quietly and to myself as I thought I was.

 

“Uh, you've still got the training and Emmit will return so there’s nothing to worry about!” I said, trying to convince the both of us. Emmit had come back that first time, so there was no reason not to think that he’d return.

 

She sighed heavily, “When are you going to stop ignoring the obvious, Sai? He’s not coming back.”

 

“There’s still time, it hasn’t even been a day…”

 

“Denying it doesn’t make it any less real.” She rolled her eyes. I wasn’t denying it. There was still time and be returned before. I wasn’t totally wrong here, she was. She had to be.

 

“Let’s just eat.” I huffed, we’d see who was right when Emmit returned.

 

Laurel finally started to eat the cold food as well, though slowly. She certainly wasn’t eating as much as I was, “Do you think you could survive on your own?” She asked suddenly.

 

Where had that even come from? She couldn’t possibly be that worried about Emmit not coming back. Besides, we had nearly everything we needed and we were still a team. “If I stayed here probably, but I won’t have to.” I answered, gesturing to her.

 

Laurel stopped, biting her lip and looking a lot less certain than she did a minute ago. “About that,” she paused, worrying her lip.“I think I’m going to leave…”

 

What? Laurel couldn’t leave, we were a team. We still could make it far, I wasn’t being overly hindering. “Why?”