Humanity- A Hunger Games fanfic

Part 15- Death

We can't be bothered to make the teepee again, so we just take turns, 3 in the tent and 3 keeping watch at a time. Us girls are one side of the 3 hour rotation, the boys on the other. We all have to huddle up as it's a spacious one person tent, yet not so spacious with 3 people. I end up in the middle of the huddle, Em and Evangeline next to me. We all get 6 hours of sleep each. About 9 pm to 9 am. It turns out the dead one was the boy from 3. 10 gone, 14 left. Both tributes from 3 and 8 are now gone, with the boys from 5, 9 and 11, and the girls from 6, 10 and 12.

In the morning we pack everything we can find up, scavenge the area for food, finding 2 squirrels, lots of fish thanks to Bruce and I, and some berries, one type of which used to kill one of the squirrels, the rest tested on another very very greedy squirrel, which, when we had tested all the berry types on, Evangeline shot perfectly in the eye, giving us 2 fresh squirrels we immediately cooked, cut and stored with the beef. I had to look away when they skinned it as all the blood and guts and all that creeped me out. I'm good with blood but not with guts and insides. Fish are different, though. I'm used to fish insides, since age 5 when I was first taught how to prepare a fish right from the hook. Also, when i was 13 and 14 and Father had to retire because his back was becoming too much, so Mother was working long hours, minimum wage so for about 8 months and before she got a big promotion, we were eating fish leftovers and occasionally actual fish meat, but rarely. It's stupid how we do all the work, yet we have to buy it back. Any fish caught must legally be given in. It's the law and they only pay you back if it's an especially good one. Things like Tunas. So all the fish Casp ever catches for fun must be turned in. but if they pay you, they pay very well.

We look around the woods and in the late afternoon, we spot a fire not so far away,

"Bingo," Evangeline draws her bow and arrow, Titus and Bruce draws a sword, and Mars lifts his spear. Me and Em take knives,

"Brianna, throw a warning," Titus says. We hide behind a tree and I throw a knife. The two around the fire look startled. It's the girl from 9 and the boy from 10. They pack up quickly but not quick enough for Mars. The girl runs off and climbs a tree, but is shot down by Evangeline,

"Should I feel bad?" I ask as we take the supplies,

"No, it's the Hunger Games," Bruce says. We move on, letting the hovercrafts pick up the bodies. We look around the woods a bit more for the rest of the day before deciding to go back to the mountains as the sun sets. The names show in the sky. It's just the ones we killed.

~

We follow the stream the next day to the mountains and it's a long journey, longer than daylight. Nothing much happens, and no cannons go off, so the Gamemakers must be dealing with some other group. About midday there's a big storm. There's thunder but no lightning which is good. During the storm we receive the first sponsor gift. They're big funnels. 13 of them, perfect for collecting rain. We take shelter, huddled in the small tent with the bottles outside. Then there's the sound of another gift,

"Woah, another?" Titus scrambles outside,

"I guess between us we had money stocking up. Who's opening it?" Em says,

"I am!" Evangeline springs up,

"No way, you did the funnels. Brianna, you should," Mars looks at me,

"Erm, okay," I dash to the gift and run back in the tent. It's a huge container, and inside is a bag with a tent extension inside. It connects perfectly using the flaps and has another entrance. It's an average rectangle, ish, about the size of another tent the same size, or maybe 2. About 1 and a half. We finally don't need to curl up and practically sit on each other. Now we just need to curl up a little.

The rain continues into the evening, when we bring in the overflowing containers and add iodine. Everyone always has a shortage of water, but we're fine, even after there being no food or water at the cornucopia except in bags. Taking them all is easily the best idea I've ever had in my entire existence. It definitely helps that we've been able to shed layers. In fact, come to think of it, this is the only time we've ever worn our full outfit whilst the sun is up. The weather conditions in this arena are very extreme. It's so cold we huddle up in sleeping bags. Not double, though, as the sun is still up so it's not that cold yet. The storm goes into the night. No deaths. What are they up to?

~

The morning comes and I feel very dirty. The stream has beyond doubled in size with all the rain, and I strip to underwear and start to wash. I notice my ribs for the first time in ages. I guess I've not had to eat with everything I ate at the Capitol, plus we've been saving food. The other 5 come to me and join in, when a sponsor gift falls from the sky. Titus opens it and it's soap, and two tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner, making us smile. By about noon we're washed, and i decide to take my hair down for the first time in days and wash that too, using the hair things. I keep my hair down.

We make a plan. We'll see what's in the mountains, then go to the cave, but our plans are halted.

As we're walking and laughing, Em suddenly get hoisted by a net up into a tree, then a sword shoots through the net and into her stomach with one scream. The net drops from the tree and Mars rushes to her,

"Em, Em, stay with me, come on," He keeps repeating over and over, holding her hand, kneeling by her side as we all go to go her, but then her body goes limp, and Mars looks up at us, holding her wrist with a finger up to her neck,

"She's gone,"

He sinks into my shoulder and we stand there for a minute. He doesn't sob, doesn't choke, but I feel my shoulder getting soaked as i feel myself tearing up. We're too young for this. We stand back for the hovercraft to pick her up after taking supplies,

"We should go on," Titus says with a lump in his throat. We nod and go forwards,

"Who was that?" Evangeline asks,

"I swear if it was Dominic I don't know what I'll do," Titus snarls. We pat him on the back and the 5 of us trudge on. It feels weird. Em was always the one chatting, keeping the conversation going, keeping us entertained. I may be easy to talk to, but talking for an entire day? It's hard. Nightfall comes and Em's face comes up. We swim over to the edge of the mountains and set up camp where the grass is flatter. Mars takes watch the entire night,

"They were friends since childhood," Evangeline tells me,

"Really?"

"Yeah, most of their childhood was spent together, with other friends, obviously. Then Em moved to the other side of 1 and they fell apart. The reaping was the first time they saw each other in years and years," Titus says, sharpening his sword,

"When did you find this out?" Bruce asks,

"They told us. Second day of training before you guys showed up. They must have forgotten to tell you," Evangeline tells us. We lay down to sleep.