Wave ~ Hunger Games [1]

forty-six

+ leaves +

The sun was setting as Ridley pushed himself up against a large tree trunk, grunting in pain as he gripped onto his side, leaning his head back against the wet moss. I looked over to make sure he was fine before walking over to a tree that had large low hanging leaves, gripping one in my hand as I yanked it down a few times, making it fall to the ground. I caught it before it could hit me in the head, making me walked over to Ridley as he looked over at me with a wince.

"Sit on this" I said to him as I put it onto the floor, Ridely looking at me with furrowed eyebrows of confusion. "So you don't get dirt in your cut" I told him as he nodded his head, standing up slowly as I pushed the leaf under him before he collapsed on top of it. "I'm not that good at first aid" I said to him as I walked back over to the tree to get another leaf for me. "Well me neither so it's fine" Ridley replied to me as he let out a sigh, lifting his hand up to his eyes so he could see the blood, whcih wasnt spilling out as quickly as it was when the bird first nicked him.

"We need water" Ridley said to me as I pulled down another leaf in one sharp movement, the whole tree branch shaking as it fell down to my feet. "I can't leave you here by yourself" I told him as I dragged the leave over next to him, setting it next to the tree that was close to his, sitting down on the leaf as I looked over at him. "We can wait till tomorrow" I said to him as he looked over at me, his lose curl that had fallen over his forehead dripping with a mixture of sweat and dirt. "Right?" I asked him, needing confirmation that he would be able to stay alive for the rest of the night.

"Yeah, I'll try hang on" he said to me with a small nod of his head, making me smile over at him as I nodded my own head at him quickly. "Well you better hold tightly" I told him jokingly as he let out a small laugh, which pained him as he stopped quickly, grimacing as he let out a sharp breath. "You can just sleep if you want" I said to him after a moment, making him look over at me as I shrugged my shoulders quickly. "I want to wait up for the projections" I told him as I felt a warm trail of blood moving down my neck, which made my bite the inside of my cheek, not wanting to touch the wound incase I got dirt in it.

"I don't think I can sleep" he said to me as he shook his head at me, positioning himself so that he was lying down with his elbow propping him up, his injured side exposed to the air. "Might not wake up" he added quickly as I didn't reply, not knowing what to say as he scraped out a little smile. "You might try and finish me off" he said to me quietly as I let out an exhale, which was the best I could muster up from a laugh. "Obviously" I said as we both fell silent for a moment. I reached down to my pouch around my waist, opening it up and pulling out the clean white material of the parachute.

"Here, push this against your cut" I said to him as I held it out to him, to which he took it from me with a nod of his head. "Thanks" he said quietly as he shook it out so that it was a large square, setting it on top of his cut with a hiss as he pushed his bloody hand on top of it. We say in silence again, and I was fighting the urge to reach up to my neck to see how bad my cut was, my hands being covered in dirt and dry blood that had leaked from my scratches and gashes that were scattered over my hands. "Can I ask you a question?" I said to Ridley, putting my hands down out of my eye line so I wouldn't be tempted.

"Depends" he said to me gently as I nodded my head, pointing to the chain that was sitting around his neck, the metal sticking the the blood and sweat that was on his skin. "What's the story with your chain?" I asked him quickly as he let out a small sigh, taking a moment as he took in a deep breath. "It was my mothers, I've been wearing it since my first reaping" he said to me as I nodded my head at him, raising my eyebrows. "Just in case?" I asked him as he smiled softly at me, nodding his head right back at me.

"Just in case" he repeated to me, nodding his head a little before wincing in pain. In any other circumstance him telling me about his chain would probably hurt a lot more, but right now we had a lot of different things to worry about. "What's" he started, being interrupted by the loud sound of the anthem of Panem which silenced him. We both turned out head up, looking through the trees to see the seal projected up into the sky, making me clear my throat, knowing who's picture would be staring directly at us.