The 65th Hunger Games - EDITING

Chapter twenty-six

We are both looking back at the glowing eyes, afraid that a single move is going to make whatever is standing there angry. I back up as slowly as I can until my foot reaches Cedar's body. I gently kick him until he wakes up.

"Dude, stop kicking me!"

Of course, I don't listen to his order and continue harder and harder until he sits straight, annoyed by my attitude.

"What's your problem? Leave me alone!"

My back is turned on him so I don't see his face, but I can feel that he's angry and getting impatient.

"What are you guys doing?" he asks curtly, irritated by our lack of response.

I hear him moving, but I don't turn around to see what he's doing. I'm too scared to turn my back on what is standing in the bushes.

"Is it my turn already?" asks Viviana, visibly tired.

Cedar must have realized we were not alone and waked her up; he's probably doing the same with Anthos, I can hear him growl as he fights his way back into sleep.

"Wake up. Now." he orders, his voice filled with urge.

"Is it another tribute? Why is there a fire? I thought we decided not to light one." I hear him whisper, completely confused.

"It's worse than that. Get up." answers Cedar.

"You two shut up and grab your things. No sudden movements." aggressively says Adenias with a hushed voice.

On my right, I hear the sound of a twig being crushed and the rustling of the leaves being moved on the ground. Whatever is standing over there in the bushes, looking at us, is not alone and they're getting closer. The same kind of frightening sound appears on my left, then again on my right, but a little closer. They are circling us. We still don't know if they are a threat to us or if they're only curious, but something doesn't feel right and a hunch tells me that they are as bloodthirsty as every Capitol citizen. In the Hunger Games, nothing is just curious anyway. I slowly put the knife in my backpack and reach into the pile of spears to give one to each of my allies. It's not much, but at least everyone is armed. Without talking, we form a defensive circle, our backs almost touching. We're ready for a fight.

The seconds eventually turn into minutes, themselves turning into a small eternity. In our group, the tension is rising. They're still there, moving around us from time to time. From what I can hear, there are four of them, including the one with glowing eyes. What would have had happened if we didn't light the fire remains a mystery. We probably wouldn't have seen them; maybe we'd already be dead. I wonder how long they have been there, watching us. Did they arrive when it suddenly became darker? Probably; the game makers must have dimmed the light when they released them into the arena. They're presumably genetically modified, mutts, created by the Capitol. The darkness gives them an advantage over the tributes, over us. Escaping seems impossible; there's no way we can run away in an unknown environment in the middle of the night when we can't even see three feet ahead of us without a fire to light the way.

A fire.

I look at the flame, still weakly consuming a branch. I remove my backpack from my shoulder and reach into it to take out my sleeping bag. I carefully tear it up in a bunch of bands of fabric. After wrapping two of them around a branch that we had put aside to make another spear, I light it like a torch. If we have to run, it's going to slow me down, but we are going to be able to see something. I feel Viviana moving behind me, trying to get closer to the false sense of security that the middle of our defensive circle is offering. We all twitch at the sound of a terrified scream coming from afar, quickly followed by the shot of a canon. The hunt has begun.

One of the things produces the scariest sound I have ever heard. It's a mix of a howl, a sort of gurgling and a low growl; the type of sound that makes you shivers out of pure terror. All around us, yelping emanates from the forest, responding to their alpha. The bushes move as a huge dog-like creature emerges, menacingly walking towards us. The thing must be almost three-foot-high and must weight approximately 150 pounds. It has a stocky and athletic body with well-defined muscles; it's definitely made to be a fast killing machine. The smooth and short fur of the colour of ash shines under the torch's bright light. Its paws are as large as my open hand and the way it walks informs me that agility must be one of its strengths. Its triangular ears are set high on its relatively big and broadhead. I try to observe its eyes; they are a weird mix of a dark green and a weird shade of gold. They remind me of a picture of an owl I once saw.

"They must have a flaw, we just need to find it." says Adenias, probably trying to calm us down.

"What makes you think that? They don't look really flawed to me." answers Anthos, completely freaking out.

"They wouldn't be able to provide a good show if we couldn't fight back."

I hope Cedar is right; otherwise, we're screwed and it stops tonight. Would that really be a bad thing? Maybe it's going to happen fast and it's not going to hurt too much. The mutt opens its wide and powerful jaw, showing a range of razor-sharp teeth. I suddenly feel so small, so powerless against those things. The spears are going to be useless against them. As it makes this terrifying sound once again, three mutts spring out of the forest in our direction.

"Run!"