Neither Jason nor I are tired, so we sit with Nathan as day transforms
into night. I haven’t eaten since breakfast, but I’m not hungry. After being
half-dead for a night, I ate at least a quarter of our food supply. I don’t
think the others minded, since they didn’t seem to have appetites.
It’s getting cold. For the last few days, it has been mild at night, but
now I can see my breath in front of me. I think it’s probably warmer in the
valley. Jason starts throwing the medicine box around again. I’ve noticed him
doing it often. I watch him play with it; his reflexes are great. I suppose
anyone’s reflexes would be impressive after eight or nine years of training,
but it’s still awesome. I stare out at the treetops in the dim light. Something
is wrong. I see frost on the leaves and grass. It’s only April; frost is rare
during the spring. The gamemakers are screwing with us. My knife is impossible
to hold, the plastic is so frigid.
Breah joins us after her nap because it’s too cold for her to sleep any
longer. Jason tells me not to make a fire. He says that’s what the Careers are
waiting for. The anthem plays, but no one’s face is broadcasted in the sky.
Breah dumps the food pack out on the ground and starts sorting the food within.
Some of the fruit is starting to rot, so she throws it down the hill. We have
quite a bit of dried fruit, meat and crackers, but our water supply is
diminishing. We’ll have to restock in the morning.
To my surprise, the ground begins to rumble. I look up to the top of the
mountain, and all is explained. “Avalanche!” yells Jason. We don’t have time to
grab anything more than our weapons, for the wall of snow is approaching
swiftly. I run as fast as I can.
“What the heck?” I yell to no one in particular. “Snow in April? That much snow? There wasn’t any snow twenty minutes ago!”
“The gamemakers set it up!” Breah cries. “Run!”
The snow is fast but we are faster. Sure, we have to dodge rocks and
trees, but we widen the gap between us and the snow. Breah is an incredible
runner. She’s ahead of the pack now, closely followed by Jason. Nathan and I
are tied for third. See, if I pretend like it’s a race, I don’t freak out. My
mind plays along with me, but somewhere in my head, the terror kicks in. I feel
adrenaline race through me and I go faster yet.
Suddenly, Breah dives on her stomach and rolls down the slope. Her head
nearly hits a tree, but she dodges it. I see her try to get up, but she can’t;
her left hand in caught under a tree root. She pulls, but it’s hopelessly
stuck.
“Breah, no!” I cry.
“Keep running!” she orders. The snow is gaining on her. Seeing that, she
grits her teeth and pulls with all her might. I hear a horrible ‘crack’.
“Breah!” I yell.
“I’m fine!” she calls back, but her voice is an octave higher than it
should be. She delicately cradles her injured arm in her other hand and
continues sprinting. Just in time, too. The avalanche is right on her heels.
We run as fast as we can all the way down. Sweat is pouring into my eyes
and I’m panting hard. There is a stitch in my side; I don’t think I can run
much longer. It was pointless to worry about that, though. Right when we get to
the bottom of the mountain, the snow disappears like magic.
“Seriously?” I yell in
frustration. “Are you serious?”
“Zania, shut up!” Nathan warns. “The Careers might hear you!” I scowl
and obey. Meeting the Careers is the last thing I want to do.
“We need to find shelter, quick.” Says Jason, taking command. “A small
cave would be best.”
“Agreed.” Replies Nathan. We continue along the base of the mountain,
until we come to another one. In between the two mountains is a crevice-like
cave, big enough to cover all of us. It won’t do much against the wind, but at
least we’ll be safe from the rain.
“No food, no water, no tent, no first aid supplies!” I panic. “We’re
doomed!”
“Calm down, Zan. We can hunt later and we’re not far from the stream.”
Nathan explains quietly.
Breah tries to sit down in the
cave, but when she lets go of her injured arm, she cries out in pain and picks
it up again. “Hold it out, let me see it.” Jason tells her. He examines it
carefully and observantly. “You broke your wrist. We should probably get your
arm in a splint.”
“I don’t know how to make a splint.” Interjects Nathan. “Do any of you?”
I shake my head and Jason says, “No, I don’t have the slightest idea.”
Breah winces and says, “If we had a brace, I could do it. We have lots
of broken bones on the orchards.”
“We don’t have a brace.” I point out.
“Then I have no idea what to do.” Breah replies. Nathan and Jason help
her sit down, and she positions her broken arm on her lap. “I guess the bright
side is that I’m right-handed, not left-handed.” She says weakly. “Oh, how I
wish we had a brace.”
I look up, and see a silver parachute float down from the sky. There’s a
biggish box attached to it. Jason jumps up and grabs it from the air. He opens
it, and starts laughing.
“What?” I ask. “What did we get?”
“A wrist brace,” he chuckles, “With instructions on how to use it!” I
laugh too, and Jason spends the next half-hour reading the instructions and
putting the brace on Breah. She winces and gasps but doesn’t complain. Finally,
Jason is done, and Breah’s pained expression is gone.
She moves her arm around experimentally. “Thanks.” She whispers to
Jason. “This is much better.”
The sun’s orange glow melts away the frost. We’re facing east, so it’s
in my eyes, blinding me. I am now aware of how hungry I am and how dry my mouth
has become. This is a problem. We’ve never been starving at home, so I’m not
familiar with the feeling. It’s painful. I wasn’t worried about food or water
during the early part of the Games because we had plenty. Now I wonder whether
or not we’ll starve to death. I hope my parents aren’t letting Alex watch. He’d
have nightmares if he saw me die a slow and painful death.
When Jason decides we are rested and recovered enough, he leads us to
the creek. Every once in a while, Breah throws a chakram at something; to make
sure her right wrist stays in practice. She’s incredibly accurate, injured or
not.
We don’t have any bottles left, so we drink from our hands. It takes a
while, but I am finally hydrated. The water even tricks my stomach into
thinking it’s full. The illusion doesn’t last long, but it’s nice not to have
to hear my belly grumble for a while. We find our way back to the crevice
before nightfall. It’s cold again, so the four of us huddle close together for
warmth.
“No food.” I say again. “What are we going to do?”
“We can eat edible plants.” Breah suggests feebly.
“We can hunt tomorrow.” Says Jason.
“You mean you can hunt
tomorrow.” I correct sarcastically. “I’m too
fragile.” Nathan looks at the cave wall guiltily.
Jason pulls the first sponsor gift from his hoodie pocket and tossed it
to me. I catch it bunglingly and then chuck it back. We play ‘hot potato’ until
we’re too tired to lift our arms. Nathan puts his arm around me. I lay my head
on Jason’s shoulder, as he is on my other side. Breah takes first watch.
Sitting like this is awkward, but sleep finally takes me.
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