Together

Chapter 11- Gladious

I turn on my heel and whip myself around. Gladious is on the ground screaming. The mutt sitting on top of her is tearing her clothes to shreds. I can see red patches on her clothes. Blood. I start to run towards her, but before I can get to her I am pulled back. Arrow's holding me back by the crock of my elbow.

"She needs help. We can't just leave her," I yell frantically; fighting against Arrows grip.

"She's gone," he says in reply "There's nothing we can do." I turn towards him. Sweat is dripping down his forehead and he wears a concerned look. Gladious continues screaming. My breath quickens and I can taste bile in the back of my throat. I can sense the heat leave my face and I start to feel dizzy. Arrow raps his arm around my waist and starts pushing me in the opposite direction. We jog about ten yards into the woods before I have to sling my arm over Arrows shoulder for support. The shock from just seeing a young girl ripped to shreds causes my vision to go black at the edges. Arrow practically carries me through the woods as we stumble blindly after Mae.

I don't know how long we have been walking before we finally come to a stop.

"Fern. Are you okay," Arrow pants. He helps me lays down next to a fallen log. I rub my eyes and push myself up into a sitting position.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I choke out before bursting into tears. I can't help feeling that we could have saved Gladious. I burry my face in my hands and sob louder. Arrow sits down next to me and rubs my back as I cry myself out. He gets me to remove my hands from my face and wipes the tears from my cheeks. He pulls me into his warm embrace, whispers soothing words into my hair, and plants kisses on my forehead. After a while Mae takes the leftover food out of our packs and sets up a nice lunch for us. After what I saw I can't even think about eating, but eventually Arrow coaxes some small pieces of rabbit and a few sips of water into me.

"I think we should go back to the lake. It couldn't be far from here," Mae says as she finish the last of the meat off her rabbit leg. When we ran out of the clearing-where Gladious was taken down by the mutt - we need up running closer to the lake. It's still a ways away, but close enough that we could make it there before dark if we started walking now.

"Sounds like a plan," Arrow says after he thinks Maes suggestion through. We pack up our things and head in the general direction of the lake. Mae and Arrow decide it would be a good idea to replenish our food supply, so they hunt along the way. We tread carefully through the now thinning forest. Before we know it we have another rabbit and two squirrels that will make an excellent dinner. We all agree that this will be enough and we continue towards the lake.

When we get to the point where I can just see that lake off in the distance a nauseating sent fills the air. We all impulsively cover our noses and continue on cautiously. Something's dead. I can tell by the putrid smell of rotting flesh. A smell that wasn't uncommon in twelve. Against our better judgement we all start looking for the source of the smell. We have only been looking for a couple minutes when Arrow calls us over. Mae and I walk over to him and find him staring at the ground. I run over to his side, but immediately step back when I see what he is looking at. The dirt is splattered with blood and the entrails of some animals are strewn over the ground. Mae must not have a strong a stomach as she makes it out to be because as soon as she sees the blood she's retching in the bushes. I cover my face with my hands to mask the smell and move closer.

"This hasn't been here that long," Arrow says "Whatever killed this could still be in the area." When Mae walks back over to us she takes a swig of water and spits it out in the bushes.

"Well I don't plan on being anywhere near here when it does," she says in an exasperated tone. She turns and starts walking in the other direction. Then I start to think, Gladious was basically just torn to pieces and now we suddenly run into the insides of some animal...

"You don't think this could be from-" Arrow cuts me off.

"No. I heard her cannon. She died way back there and they picked up her body." His voice sounds sure of this, but when I look into his eyes, they tell a different story. I can't bear the thought that Gladious could be laying on the ground in front of us, so I turn and follow after Mae. Arrow strolls up beside me and laces the finger from his good hand into mine. I lean into his him as we walk. I can see the sun beginning to set. The lake is just a short ways away now.

When we arrive at the crystal lake we all just lay down our sleeping bags and crawl inside without dinner. None of us have enough energy to cook and even if we did the sights we've seen today might cause us to lose our dinner. The light weight material of the sleeping bag allows the breeze to cool my skin. None of us say a word as we close our eyes.

Suddenly the anthem rings through the air and the Capitol seal appears in the sky. The first and only tribute to appear in the sky is Gladious. The girl from District 4. Her green eyes seem to be staring right at me. The sight sends shivers down my spine. When the anthem ends the sky goes black and the stars come out. I curl up next to Arrow and lay my head on his chest. I fall asleep to the sound of his heart beating and with Gladious' face still fresh in my mind.