The Hunger Games | Rilaya

The Cave

Lmao, I guess anything can happen these days, including me attempting to finish this story. Is anyone even still reading Rilaya in 2021 though lol.

The sound of rain on the roof of my house wakes me up. I wearily open my eyes, blinking away the sleep. My mom's hand strokes my cheek and for once I don't push away the physical affection. For some reason, I felt tired to the bone despite sleeping for a very long time. Then, I heard a voice that definitely wasn't my mom's and fully snapped awake.

"Maya, can you hear me?"

I shoot up, any sense of security I had felt completely gone. I'm not home with my mom. Instead, I'm in a cold, dirty cave where the air was tainted with the smell of blood. The face of a brunette girl slides into my vision and I visibly relax.

"Riley."

"Hey." She smiles softly at me, looking much healthier than the last time I had seen her. "It's good to see your eyes again."

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Not sure. I woke up yesterday evening and you were lying next to me in a pool of blood." Riley answers. She pauses, then lightly smacks my arm. "That's for scaring me half to death."

"Well if I didn't do it then you would be dead." I shoot back in a monotone voice.

"Fair enough." She looks like she wants to say more, but doesn't. Instead, she moves closer to me, studying my forehead. "I think it's stopped finally, but you should probably take it easy."

I gingerly lift my hand to my head and feel the carefully wrapped bandages. Riley holds a bottle to my lips and I greedily drain half of it.

"You're better." I say.

"Loads. Whatever you shot into my arm did the trick. By this morning, almost all the swelling in my leg was gone." She says while helping me fully sit up. I lean back into her, making myself comfortable in her lap.

For the most part, Riley didn't seem that mad about tricking her, drugging her, and then running off to the feast. But maybe it's just because I'm too worn down right now and I'll hear about it later once my strength returns.

"Did you eat?" I ask, turning my head to look at her.

"I'm sorry to say I absolutely demolished three pieces of that groosling as if I were a pig before I realized that it might have to last a while. I really hope that wasn't broadcasted to the rest of Panem." Riley jokes, producing a little smile from me.

"But don't worry, I'm back on a strict diet." She adds at the end.

"No, it's good. You need to eat. I'll go hunting again soon." I immediately respond, seeing as I can feel her ribcage digging into my back.

"Not too soon, okay? Just let me take care of you for once." Riley says.

She really doesn't give me much of a choice. Riley feeds me bites of groosling and raisins and makes me drink plenty of water. I must have been colder than I thought because she takes off her jacket and wraps it around me. Then, she makes me lie back down and tucks the sleeping bag back over my chin.

"You were shivering." She explains.

"You know what else would help with that?" I say.

"What?"

"Body heat."

Riley takes that as an invitation to join me in the sleeping bag. I immediately curl into her side, enjoying the extra warmth.

"Jeez Maya, you're like an icicle." Riley wrinkles her nose, but doesn't move away. "I guess the weather hasn't been helping though."

As if on cue, there's a clap of thunder. Rain drips through a couple holes in the ceiling but Riley had strategically placed us in an area where no water would hit us.