Stargazer • The Hunger Games

FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
❝Catastrophe!❞

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The open fields were nothing compared to the intricate pattern of now burnt woodland on the other side of the river. Where I had spent most of the games was now desolate. It would not be wise to venture back into the ashen wasteland that used to be forests. I had come to conclusion that it was all part of an ulterior motive designed by the Gamemakers. Logic screamed that it was to bring the few remaining tributes closer but my conscience screamed that it was because they hated me. To be safe, I went with the first option.

As Eric and I walked through the waist high grass that filled most of the eastern side of the arena, I couldn't help but feel a dull ache spread from my chest and encompass my entire body. It stopped me from feeling everything, not even the gentle breeze tickling my cheeks roused my feelings. The sun was setting, heralding the end of the fourth day in the arena. The sky was mottled in what would normally be breathtakingly beautiful hues of oranges and pinks. I could just imagine the Gamemakers hand painting the awe-inducing sunset from their control room. It seemed bittersweet, a man made sunset that defied most levels of beauty when such a tragic day had occurred only hours before. The beautiful sky reminded me of the blazing forest from earlier today. The exact same hues up in the sky had danced from tree to tree, destroying everything in its path. It was if the Gamemakers had done it on purpose; make the sky the same as fire, as if to make me crack.

Too bad for them, I won't crack. At least not yet anyway.

"We should stop soon." Eric broke the near silence. Only the gentle noise of grasses brushing up against each other in the breeze kept my ears from going insane from the nothingness.

Looking up at Eric, I nodded. "Where should we set up camp?"

"Here." His hard smile softened into genuine humour. "Sleeping underneath the open sky in a sea of grass. A lot like the old days except we are waist high in brittle grass, not water."

"Very funny." I tried to sound amused but emotion escaped me. Eric must have sensed my numbness throughout me, which is why he reached out to me, letting me crumble into his comforting arms. The numbness did not escape me but it started to recoil. In its place, emotions seeped into me. It was an unpleasant mix of love, fear, pain and content that started to flicker back to life. Eric's arms did not ease the worst of those emotions, he only enhanced the positive; making the pain slightly more bearable.

"You don't have to hide Alice; you can be yourself around me." Eric mumbled into my hair. He sure was good at reading my emotions and knowing how to sooth them.

"I'm scared, Eric." I whispered, nuzzling into his neck.

Eric tightened his arms around me, lightly kissing the top of my head. His soft kisses evoked the pleasing memories of exactly why I was still alive. I was alive and only alive for one reason. That reason was Eric Passenger.

"You have every reason to be scared." Eric whispered, rubbing my back with his hands in an effort to sooth my troubled soul.

"I hope that we go quickly." Finally, I had brought up the topic that had bugged me ever since Dolly pulled my name out of the reaping ball. Over the past few days, the fear had intensified and now, after today's tragedy, I felt as if the fear of the unknown had reached its climax.

"So do I, Alice, so do I." Eric murmured, kissing my hair for a final time before letting me go. As soon as we parted, I felt weaker than I have ever been. If it had been a different time and place, I would have let my weakness unfold but I kept it together. Thousands of people from all over Panem were dutifully watching my final days. Now would definitely not be a good time to show how broken my soul really was. For them, the sponsors and fans, I would keep my fragile façade that I currently wore. To them I was emotional but strong. Exactly how I wanted to appear up until my final moments in this mortal coil.