Together

Chapter 10- Mutts

The next morning when I wake I find that the sun is just peeking over the horizon. At first I think I must be the only one up, but then I see that Mae and Arrow are both up. Mae is throwing knifes at a patch of dirt she has drawn a target in, and Arrow is cleaning a dead rabbit.

"You two are up early," I say. The both look up from their activities with surprised looks on their faces.

"Yeah. Arrow wanted to go hunting before you woke up so I was just guarding the camp," Mae says. She pats the dirt next to her and I scoot over to where she is sitting. "I figure that it couldn't hurt to teach you how to use these." For the next fifteen minutes Mae teaches me how to throw her knives and I get pretty good at it, though I can't hit the middle of the target every time like she can. Arrow skins and cleans the two rabbits before roasting them over a small fire we made. When they are done cooking he calls us over for breakfast. Before Mae and I get up she hands me one of her knives.

"Hold on to this. Just in case something happens," she says with a small smile. I take the knife graciously and slide it into the holster on my belt. We join Arrow around the fire and he hands us each a leg. The meat is tender and coats my fingers in grease. When we finish we rap the remaining meat in some big leaves I found on the tree line. We stuff the wrapped up food into Arrows backpack and begin walking towards the woods.

"We should go looking for something to eat tonight. Maybe some berries and plants to make tea," Arrow suggests.

"The Careers ran that was just last night," Mae says; pointing towards the mountain. "We better not go that way." We walk in the direction opposite the woods. The early morning sun shines through the trees and shafts of light create strange shadows on the ground. The morning doves coo their warm melody as other birds begin joining the the chorus. When we sit down to take a break it's around 8:00 in the morning. We all drink sips from our replenished water supply. We begin talking about life back home, like what district 8 is like and how many siblings we each have.

"Be quiet," Mae says suddenly. We all stop talking and look in the direction her intense green eyes are focused on. She is poised on her toes; ready to take off at any second. Arrow silently shoves all of our food into his pack and stands up. Not far in the distance a twig snaps. The footsteps are light, but are still fairly audible. Just as Mae raises her knife a small figure appears in a clearing just yards ahead of us.

"Wait!" She calls; holding her hands up above her head. Mae is about to release her knife when she stops. We stand there, watching the figure in the clearing, and trying to figure out what to do. With her hands still raised she begins to move forward.

"I won't hurt you," she calls. Mae and Arrow lower their weapons.

"My name is Gladious," the girl, who I now know is named Gladious, says. "I don't have anyone with me. I just need help." That's when I notice just how bad her limp is. She is barley putting any weight on her right ankle. And she stumbles closer I run up to her and help her over to the other. I sit her down next to Arrow.

"What happened?" I ask frantically.

"I was running and I tripped. I think it's just twisted," Gladious replies. She winces as I carefully remove her boot. Her ankle is a light purple color, but it's not bent like Arrows wrist.

"You're right. It's not broken,"I say to her. "Arrow, can you get a stick for her to use?"

Arrow returns minutes later with a stick that would work well as a crutch. I hand it to Gladious and help her up. We walk her back to the camp and leave her there with Arrow as a guard. Mae and I go back to the woods to look for berries and herbs. After half an hour we have filled our small bowl - made out of grass that is weaved tightly together - with blueberries, black berries and raspberries. I made sure to double check each bush to be sure they were safe.