The Tracker- The 43 Hunger Games

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Talon

No! This can't be happening. I want so much for this to be a dream. The only thing I hear is the heartbreaking sound of her screams and it kills me to know that there's no way that I can save her.

All of my thoughts come flooding into my mind at once. How am I going to deal with this? If I wouldn't have started talking to her, if I would've let her stay focused on where she was walking, this wouldn't have happened. Everyone that I've ever loved is now dead.

Althaea is still screaming. I hate myself for not being able to save her.

I cringe as I hear her body hit the ground. It wasn't a long fall. I know that she's as good as dead. I only hope that she's unconscious.

I can't bring myself to look over the edge at her. As I battle with myself, she screams.

She's still alive!

"Althaea! I'm coming!"

I grab the sheath of arrows and the bow and sling them both across my back as I run toward the cliff.

I look over the edge and see her screaming and crying. I hate seeing her in so much pain.

She landed on a little shelf that's about sixty feet below me. That explains why it was only about a two second fall.

As I climb down, Althaea stops screaming. This makes me push harder to get to her. I can't believe that she's alive; I only hope that she's relatively okay. Although the way she was screaming suggests that my hopes are pointless.

My feet hit the ground and I rush over to her. Her body is badly bruised and her face is streaked with tears and blood.

Her arm must have hit first. I have to cut away the sleeve of her jacket to see how bad it is. It's already swollen with multiple shades of blue and purple covering the surface. I think she did more than break it. I have a feeling that her arm is completely shattered.

Her face is ashen with a thin sheen of sweat covering it. I check her pulse to make sure that she will be okay. It's strong and I know that she can survive this. I only have to make sure that she makes it home.

"Someone, please send a blanket or a sleeping bag for her," I say looking up to the sky. I hope that there are people willing to spend the money on something now.

As the time that we've been in the arena increases, the price for things to be sent rises. There's no doubt in my mind that even a simple blanket would cost a fortune.

I tend to Althaea's smaller scrapes that I know I can manage. Thankfully she was wearing the backpack when she fell. It stifled the impact of her fall and I now have a first aid kit. It's pretty destroyed, but the contents are still okay.

While I manage her wounds, a parachute falls to the ground a few feet above me. I climb up the face of the mountain to retrieve it.

Once I make it back to Althaea, I open the parachute.

Wow.

This parachute holds a sleeping bag, a pillow, pain reducers, food, extra bandages, and something containing sedatives.

I can only imagine how much something like this must have cost.

I take the sleeping bag and completely unzip it. I lay it open on the ground and walk over to Althaea. I gently lift her off the ground, being extra careful with her arm, and lay her on top of the sleeping bag. I carefully lift her head and place the pillow down.

I wonder how much longer the Gamemakers will keep us here. Surely they'd wait until Althaea wakes up. It would be a boring finale for the Capitol with one of the tributes not conscious.

While Althaea lays unmoving, I decide to take this time to memorize every little detail about her and how she looks.

Her hair is a rich shade of brown. It's the color of chocolate, only darker. Even as she lies here, it flows in loose curls to adorn her porcelain skin. Her cheeks are finally returning to their rosy pink that fits perfectly with her fair complexion.

She has a straight nose, full lips, high cheekbones — she appears to be the picture of perfection.

It seems that if she would laugh, everyone would laugh with her. And if she would weep, all of Panem would want to comfort her.

I've seen this first hand. She obviously has amazing sponsors and even I was immediately awestruck by her. I didn't expect to fall completely and entirely in love with her, but I did. I fall for her more and more with every second she's with me.

I don't know what I'd do if I lost her. She gives me a feeling of sanity and passion. As if the two feelings are colliding together in my chest, radiating in all directions. Mixing the thoughts of losing her with the feeling of amazement that she gives me, is a mistake. My chest tightens.

Althaea's changed me. She's made me more loving, thoughtful, and she's helped me get over my past. She taught me that what's in the past can't be undone, that I should live in the present.

/RU