Chapter 9:
I woke up with a start when I heard something snap. It took me a few seconds to register that I had my head on Scott’s chest and his arm was around my waist. I grabbed my knife and didn’t make any sudden movements. “Scott” I whispered trying to get him up. He stirred a little but remained asleep. I sighed aggravated and kept my head down as my eyes focused on the forest around me. The wind was blowing roughly and I was cold once again even with Scott beside me.
I heard another snap from my right. I glanced in that direction and crawled away from Scott. Hiding behind the wall I stuck my head out slightly. I saw something move in the trees nearby. I tightened my grip on the knife and paid closer attention. If there was nothing there I’d be losing my knife by throwing it so I wanted to be careful.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and almost screamed but caught myself when I saw it was only Scott. He put his finger to his lips and shushed me. The bow was in his hand and the string was pulled back as he aimed in that direction. Yet again another snap was heard and Scott didn't hesitate at all to release the string. Birds flew away and scrambled in all directions, cawing in fear. Scott and I ran out in that direction to see what was there. My knife was ready in case we were ambushed and Scott had another arrow drawn in the bow.
We carefully walked into the woods. I led the way and Scott followed behind covering my back. I stopped walking suddenly and put my arm out stopping Scott. He looked at me confused and I pointed to the ground. We both glanced at it. The snow was once again stained red with blood only this time it wasn't so bad. “Whoever or whatever it was is gone” Scott said very sure. He turned and started walking back again. I hesitated and looked around. There was no sound of the cannon which meant that whoever it was is still alive.
If it was a Career than I didn't feel comfortable turning my back on them. I glanced behind me to see Scott was already back at the ruins. I looked into the forest once again before turning to the ruins. As I stepped out of the forest I could have sworn I felt like somebody was watching me. I couldn't help but look behind me again. Nothing. I broke out into a sprint, because right now I didn't feel safe in the forest.
“Sorry I scared you” Scott said when I walked back to the ruins. I nodded and grabbed the bottle, taking a gulp of water. “We need more water” I said handing the bottle off to Scott. He drank and closed it. “Yeah let’s head towards the lake” he said. I nodded and smoothed my hair back. I was surprised when my hand came into contact with something cold on my head. I pulled it off and looked at it. I had completely forgotten Fir’s headband. I smiled down at it. “Hold this” I told Scott. He looked at me a little surprised but nodded. I let my hair out then smoothed all of it back retying it into a high ponytail, my bangs falling to my face yet again. I sighed and took the headband from Scott putting it back in my hair behind my bangs.
I used the remaining water to wash the sleep from my face. I shuddered at the sudden coldness on my warm skin. “I was going to drink that” Scott joked. I stuck my tongue out at him as I wiped my face dry with my shirt. He chuckled and grabbed his axe. “Hide them” I said. He nodded and dumped the bag of supplies on the ground. He handed the bow and arrows to me. I shot him a dirty look and he said “I might want them.” I glared at him annoyed. “So you carry them” I said. He gave me a pleading look. I sighed and slung the quiver of arrows over my shoulder.
My knives were at my belt so I held the bow in my hand. “Thank you Sky” Scott smiled and kissed my head before leading the way. I rolled my eyes and followed. “Which way did you find the lake?” he asked stopping abruptly. “If you don’t know which way then why are you leading?” I asked him raising an eyebrow. “’Cause I feel like it” he smirked. I pushed past him and led the way.
The snow had stopped falling again. I didn’t mind really since this made things easier. Hopefully it would melt away but I knew the game makers weren’t that nice. I pushed past a snow cover branch, ducking under it and then letting it swing backwards at Scott. “OW! Sky!” Scott groaned. I looked back at him and laughed. “Opps. That was an accident” I smiled. “Accident my ass” he mumbled and I faced forward again, leading. I stopped when I felt something ice cold crash against my neck and fall into the back of my jacket and shirt. I yelped as the snow melted on my back. It was freezing against my terrifyingly warm skin and I spun around facing Scott. Scott laughed at me and said “Opps. That was an accident,” then stuck his tongue out at me.
“I’ll show you an accident” I growled and bent down picking up snow turning it into a ball. Scott was still laughing. I aimed it at him ready to throw it. The loud boom of a cannon shocked me though and I dropped the snowball looking around. “I guess we forgot where we are” Scott said somewhat cold and angry. I nodded upset and turned my back to him as I kept walking.
We walked in complete silence from there until we made it to the lake. I bent over the water and filled up the bottle again. “I think we shouldn’t stay by the ruins the entire time” Scott said suddenly as I capped the bottle. “Why not?” I asked standing up and handing the bottle off to Scott. He tied it to the belt at his hips. The axe was in a strap on his back. “Staying in one place is too dangerous and besides this thing won’t end until only one person is left. Let’s end this quickly” he said and turned on his heels. I carefully followed being extra cautious of the ice this time so as to not trip again.
“B-but I don’t want to kill anybody” I mumbled. Scott stopped so suddenly I slammed into him. “That’s the point of the games” he said somewhat annoyed. I couldn’t look him in the eye for some reason as I found myself staring at the ground. “I-I know that but I can’t kill somebody” I whispered. “You’ve hunted before. You’ve killed deer and rabbits plenty of times. They’re no different from people. Just aim, throw and kill” Scott said coldly.
I looked up at him surprised. “How can you say that?! People are not animals! You can’t hunt and kill them whenever you feel like. It’s not right and it never was! What’s the matter with you?” I yelled at him, anger filling my voice. I shoved past him and ran ahead. “Sky!” he called after me but I ignored him and ran faster through the trees not even paying attention to where I was going.
I turned to my right and kept running. I forced back tears. Since when does Scott think people are like animals? Since when is it ok to kill them? He’s never been like that. Scott has never agreed with hurting people pointlessly. I didn’t get it. Why was he suddenly so different?
I was torn out of my thoughts when I slammed into something. I fell to the ground and stared ahead of me surprised. Drex was on the ground in front of me. She stared at me surprised and my eyes widened. She didn’t hesitate to lunge forward at me with a knife in her hand. I caught her hand but she had me pinned to the ground and was drawing the knife closer to my neck. I grabbed her wrist as she struggled to cut me.
“Die!” she growled. I twisted her wrist and thought of my practice fight with Elroy back at the training center. I repeated those same movements on Drex. She wasn’t much stronger than me physically. Still holding her wrist I slammed my shoulder into hers and got my left arm free of her grip, I shoved her off of me and flipped her over to the ground. I grabbed the knife out of her hand and got off of her. I sprinted away as quickly as I could, running past several trees.
Rain had started falling now and the sky was dark gray with clouds. I came to a halt when I reached a cliff. I looked over the cliff to see a rocky terrain about a 100 feet below. I spun around to see Drex behind me already. She had no weapon this time and I assumed she didn’t have the other Careers with her either.
But something about her seemed off. She seemed somehow upset and scared. She jumped at me despite the fact that I had a knife in hand. I dropped the knife on the ground as I collapsed with Drex pinning me down again. I shoved her off and punched her as hard as I could. She grunted but stood up grabbing the knife off the floor and threw it at me. I jumped out of the way managing to avoid it hitting my heart, but it still stuck into my left upper arm. I bit my lip to keep from screaming as she laughed and once again tackled me to the cold, hard, dirt ground.
“You don’t deserve a score of 12” she said harshly as she grabbed hold of the knife that was in my arm and twisted it. This time I did scream in pain as the knife moved around in my arm digging deeper. Drex only smirked and pushed it farther. I screamed again and made an attempt to kick her off. She stumbled slightly taken back. I punched her in the jaw and threw her off of me. I turned my attention to my arm. Slowly I tugged at the knife and groaned in pain, tears spilling from my eyes from the pain. I had to do this quick so it would hurt less. Drex was on her feet again. I bit into my sweater as I pulled the knife out.
My scream was muffled and my arm was bleeding like no other and the tears didnt stop. Drex didn’t know when to quit though as she threw a punch at me. It was too quick for me. Her fist connected with my gut and I bent over and couched viciously. Drex smirked and came closer to me.
She stopped suddenly when we heard a roar. Both of us turned our heads. On my left right by the trees of the forest was a large brown bear. It wasn’t a normal bear though. It was a lot thinner but I could tell that it still had a thick layer of fur and not to mention skin. Its legs were somewhat longer. Its mouth was full of monstrous sharp teeth. Its eyes were wild and red. It charged forward towards me. I quickly stumbled to my feet and jumped out of the way. My arm was killing me and I had lost feeling in it. All I had was my right arm now.
I held the knife out in front of me. Drex tried to run but the bear cut her off, blocking her from the forest. She screamed a little and stumbled backwards towards the cliff. I had the opportunity to run and get out of there so I took it. I bolted for the forest but something urged me to stop.
My head was screaming “run” but my heart was telling me to go back and help her. My arm was still bleeding and the rain was falling herder now. A loud boom of thunder filled the sky. I turned and cursed under my breath knowing I’d regret this. I ran towards the bear just as it raised its sharp claws to kill Drex. Without hesitation I dropped the knife in my hands remembering that I still had Scott’s bow and arrow. I forced my left arm to work with me as I steadied the arrow in the bow and aimed for the bear. My arm ached in protest and the blood seemed to run faster with the rain but I felt obligated to do this. I had to help her. I pulled the string back and released it.
It hit the bear’s arm. I cursed under my breath since I had aimed for its heart. I really suck at this thing. The bear instantly turned to me. I scrambled to pick up the knife as it ran at me. Then I charged forward too. I jumped over its head and onto the bears back. It struggled to throw me off but I persisted, managing to shove the knife into its back. It roared in pain. Its claw suddenly swiped at me, landing a scratch on my right forearm as I was thrown off. The quiver of arrows had fallen from my shoulder and the bow had slid away. I reached for a knife at my belt as the bear drew closer.
It raised its paw again and growled as it approached me. I lifted the knife and threw it at the bear’s neck. My target was hit right where I had wanted but after letting another roar of pain escape its mouth it still kept coming. I stumbled to my feet trying to get another knife out.
I was surprised when the bear roared again. I didn’t understand why until I saw Drex stab it with an arrow in the back once again just as I had. It threw Drex off by swiping its paw at her. She scrambled towards the cliff. I watched in horror as her body rolled off the edge.
The bear had finally given up as it collapsed to the ground, dead. I quickly ran to the cliff’s edge to see Drex hanging from the side. I got a better look at her now. She had a cut running across her face and her neck and chest were also covered in cuts. Her eyes showed how afraid she was as they filled with tears. Even through the rain I could tell she was crying. “Take my hand” I said lying on my stomach and sticking my right hand out to her, my left was pretty useless.
She looked up at me confused and shocked but as her hand was slipped she grabbed onto my wrist tightly and I held hers just as tight. My left arm was still bleeding and I couldn’t even move it anymore. My right forearm ached from the cuts the bear gave me. I tried to pull Drex up but it was useless. I was far too injured and didn’t have the strength to pull her up. What’s even worse is the rain that was falling heavily making it hard to hold on.
Her tears fell more as she looked down at the rocks below her. “Hold on” I growled and groaned trying to lift her up. I tugged as hard as I could but I couldn’t get her up. I was just running out of energy. I started feeling dizzy as the blood loss started taking its effect on me but I still held onto Drex nonetheless.
I started sliding across the wet grass towards the cliff’s edge suddenly as the weight got too heavy and the rain made everything too slippery. “Let go” Drex ordered. “What?” I asked confused and surprised. She tried to stay strong but cried harder, her eyes turning redder, and looked down meanwhile letting go of my arm. “What are you doing?” I yelled shocked. Now I had to try twice as hard to keep her from falling. She was slipping and so was I.
“There’s no sense in both of us dying here. Find your friend. You’ll be fine. Just let me go” she said as more tears streamed down her face. “What about you?” I asked still refusing to let go. “I was never meant for these games or for life really. It’s always been a struggle. It wouldn’t matter to anybody what happens to me. Nobody really cares. I thought that if I volunteered and won maybe somebody back home would care about me, maybe I’d have a friend” she said giving me a small smile still crying. “I realize now how stupid I was being. I’ll never have anything worthwhile. You on the other hand have Scott. I’d have done anything to have what you do, to have something to live for, somebody to love” she said with a shaky voice. Her lip was trembling and she cried harder still.
My eyes were still wide in shock and I could feel my own tears coming. “Let me go!” she screamed at me through tears, fear clearly visible in her face as she tried to pull away from my grasp. I just stared at her until finally I whispered, “I’m sorry” not knowing what else to do for her. She smiled and as I released my grip on her arm, she mouthed the word "Win". I closed my eyes and looked away but I could still hear her body drop to the ground. Lightening flashed across the sky and the cannon went off, sounding very much like a clasp of thunder. The two noises were almost identical.
I tore my eyes away from the cliff as I stood up and retrieved the bow and arrows. I slung them over my shoulder. Then I walked over to the bear. I pulled the knife I had stuck into its back out and put it at my belt again. Then I got the one I threw at its neck.
As I headed for the forest though, my vision blurred so I stopped and sat on the ground taking a break, my arm still bleeding. A little capsule floated towards me as another boom of thunder went off and lightening flashed across the sky. The rain didn’t slow.
I caught the parachute. A note was attached and very wet. I unfolded it. It read: I knew you were stupid but I didn’t know you were that stupid. Find Scott but first rub this cream onto the wound then wrap it in the bandages. It’ll slow and stop the bleeding, and then it’ll close the wound completely. Good luck and be safe – Elroy
I smiled and looking up saying “Thank you” with a smile knowing that a camera was probably on me. I opened the capsule and took out the cream and bandages. I crawled under a tree hoping to avoid the rain.
I opened the tiny jar of cream and dipped my fingers in. I rubbed the cream onto the knife wound and instantly noticed the bleeding slow. I pulled out the bandages and wrapped them around my wound. I ripped them with my teeth and tied it tightly in place. I looked out towards the cliff again before standing up and heading for the forest. “Drex!” I heard Spark yell in the distance.
I cursed under my breath and took off running in the other direction as quickly as I could. I slowed to a walk and looked around cautiously. I felt a hand grab my waist from behind and cover my mouth. I spun my head around and saw Scott standing behind me. I sighed relieved as he grabbed my arm and led me away. I heard Spark yelling Drex’s name behind me. I guess I didnt break his jaw.
When we finally got to safety I broke down. I threw my arms around Scott’s neck and trembled in fear but I wouldn’t allow myself to cry again especially now that the rain had slowed, I was not crying on TV.
“I’m sorry. I keep saying these things that make you upset and I know that I shouldn’t have. I’m so sorry. I’m just worried about you. I want you to be safe and I want you to win this thing and go home. I’ve been saying terrible things. I’m sorry” he apologized again. I just hugged him tighter and mumbled “Drex is dead” into his chest.
He pulled away and looked at my arms shocked and asked “What happened?” I explained the story to him. He pulled me into a hug again. “I heard you scream and then I heard the cannon. I thought you were dead and I-I was terrified. Please, Sky, don’t run away from me again. I’ll protect you. I promise” he whispered. “And if I say something wrong again I give you full permission to punch me in the face” he laughed and smiled at me. I nodded and smiled back yet I couldn’t help feeling upset. I was upset for Drex, for Scott, for myself but most importantly I was upset for everyone that suffered these games and everyone that will have to for years to come.
