𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟕𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 ✔️

𝕏𝕀𝕀𝕀

By the time I wake up in the morning, the lines on the ground and the sky have returned, reilluminating the landscape.

Axel hands me some jerky soon after I wake up for breakfast. "We're heading out soon," he tells me. "Pack your stuff up."

I quickly pack up my belongings and eat my small breakfast silently. Suddenly, my attention is caught by movement above me, and I look up to see a flock of birds traveling above me. The birds are black with white lines, just like everything else in here, and they look almost robotic as they fly overhead. The bird at the head of the flock opens its beak and lets out a loud screech, which makes me shudder. It sounds like scraping metal.

I stand quickly, prepared to run, and Aurora stands next to me. Phoenix grabs his sword in preparation, but no birds land anywhere near us. Eventually, we decide to head into the Arena.

We walk through the Arena in a single-file line. Phoenix takes the lead, scouting for any footprints of the other tributes. I walk behind him with Aurora, followed by Vesta and Axel. Isabelle takes the rear, looking behind us for any threats.

We don't spot any neon spots on the ground at all, despite searching all day. About halfway through the day, we come across a lake, and we use the water to fill our canteens.

"Let's rest here for a bit and eat lunch," I tell the others. "This seems like a good camping spot."

The others agree, and we lay out our supplies. I watch the lake, intrigued. The ground leading up to the water is the same black, smooth surface as the ground, giving the water an odd look to it. I wonder how deep the water goes.

I flinch as I hear a sound in the distance. It's the same sound that we heard this morning from the birds. I stand, glancing up at the sky. I see a large mass of birds in the sky. They let out their own screeches that send shivers down my spine. The birds descend into the trees, but they're far away enough that I'm not worried.

We sit in silence as a cannon shot fires. Someone must have been killed by the birds.

"Let's stay here for the rest of the day," Phoenix decides. "I don't think it's smart to go back into the trees with those muttations around."

After about an hour of lounging around, I decide to dip into the lake and see if there are any fish under the surface. I strip out of my Arena gear into just my underwear, and I dip my foot in. The water is very cold, but I've swum in worse. I dive in expertly, and when I open my eyes, I'm amazed at what I see. Below me is a massive crater, and the water is so clear, I can see the white grid lines all the way at the bottom of the lake. It looks very far down. Below me, I can see some fish slowly swimming around, so I pull out my knife and get to work.

I end up killing four large fish, which we eat for dinner. Just like the birds, the fish are entirely black with white outlines, but the meat on the inside is colorful and reminds me of the fish back home.

Luckily, fish can be eaten raw, unlike other meat, so we don't have to start a fire to enjoy the meal. The others are grateful for the meal as they eat all four fish easily.

"Maybe I can go in and get more tomorrow," I suggest. "The lake seems like a good place to camp."

"Sure," Isabelle says. "You should go in the morning, and then we should go out and look for more tracks."

I share a glance with Aurora, but I don't say anything. I don't know why we would leave such a good camping spot just to hunt for other tributes, especially when we didn't find any footprints today. But, I don't want to argue with the others.

"Okay," I concede.

The others get ready for the night after they're done eating. Once the Panem anthem plays, we'll be in almost total darkness, so it'll be hard to see much.

I stand after a little while, bringing Aurora to the tree line where the same flowers from yesterday are growing.

"I love the flowers," Aurora says, examining one. "I've never seen anything like them, but somehow they remind me of home, you know? Of all the flower fields at the Glade."

I reach down and pick an orange flower, handing it to her. "I'm going to pick you a flower every day," I tell her. She gives me a smile, but before she can say anything back, the Panem anthem begins to play.

Aurora and I walk back to the group as the sky lights up with a holographic print of the Capitol emblem - once the anthem is over, the white lines defining the landscape around us will disappear.

There was only one tribute killed today, and something deep inside of me is dreading this moment. There was only one tribute killed, so it must have been a tribute who was by themselves, right? Something tells me that Selina is gone, targeted by the Gamemakers deliberately just like she predicted.

The words "THE FALLEN" fade from the sky, and the small girl from District 3 appears. I let out a small sigh of relief. Selina's still okay.

I wonder what happened to the District 3 kids. I always considered them to be contenders since they make up for their physical weaknesses with intelligence. However, it looks like they couldn't defend themselves from the birds. I wonder what happened to her District partner.

The lines beneath me fade, turning everything around us to darkness. The only light left in the area is from the neon footprints we left today. I can see a set of footprints leading into the lake from when I went swimming earlier, and I can track Aurora and my footprints as we went to pick flowers just a few minutes ago.

Luckily, I'm not forced to stay up tonight, so it's not long before I drift to sleep, the sound of the soft waves from the lake calming me and reminding me of home.