Searching for a Myth

Missing in Action

Violet's POV:

Poppy, Basil and I keep walking for what feels like forever, with minimal stops. We're headed kinda northwest, towards District 8, but steering far clear of each sign of civilization we come across. Ever since we encountered those patrolling peace keepers two nights ago, we've been even more on edge. I don't really mind though; all this running around non-stop keeps thoughts of Tessa, Aspen, Olive, Cedar, and my parents at bay. It's now, when we finally stop moving and settle down to rest, that my thoughts get the better of me.

"Are you okay, Violet?" Basil asks, noticing my grimace.

"Um, yeah," I tell her, forcing a smile. "Just thinking."

"What about?" Basil asks.

"Basil, don't be pushy." Poppy scolds, ever acting like a mother figure to Basil.

"It's fine," I say. "I was just thinking about my siblings."

"What were they like?" Basil asks. Poppy gives me an apologetic look behind the younger girl's back.

"They were wonderful," I state with a mournful sigh. "Aspen was the second-oldest, two years younger than me. You actually remind me of him, Poppy. He was very protective of his family," I smile, and Poppy gives me a sad grin back. "Olive was just a bit older than you, Basil, and she was really sweet... and Cedar should be five now."

"They sound lovely." Poppy says meaningfully.

"They were." I say, looking down. That night I dream of a world where I could've saved them all.

-

"Violet, get uuuuuuup!" Basil shouts in my face the next morning. I groan and lift my heavy head. "We gotta go!"

"Why? What's up?" I blink awake and sit up.

"Poppy isn't here!" Basil yells frantically.

"What?"

"Come on!"

I bolt up and throw on my jacket before following Basil into the deeper woods, both of us shouting Poppy's name. Where is she? I start to wonder if one of us should've stayed back at our camp to see if she showed up there, but it's too late now.

"Oh, gosh, oh, gosh, oh, gosh-" Basil squeaks after we've been walking for the better half of the morning.

"Hey, hey, calm down. We're gonna be fine," I say, clamping my hand on Basil's arm. But where is Poppy? And where are we...? "We're gonna be fine," I say again, but Basil is frozen in my arms. "Basil?"

"Violet... l-listen." Basil whispers. I tune my ears to pick up whatever sound Basil's talking about. And I'm about to dismiss the fact of any sound being there at all other than the usual forest life when I hear it too. A low buzz.

"Basil..." I say quietly, slowly tilting my head to look up at a huge tracker jacker nest hanging only a few feet above our heads. I quickly recall what I've heard about tracker jackers. By stinging you, they release a strong hallucinogen that can either leave you insane, just seriously messed up, or dead. They were created back in the dark days as a weapon by the Capital against the rebelling districts, and there are still tons of nests left in the woods around Panem.

"Move very slowly." I say. Basil and I both walk carefully further and further away from the golden-bodied tracker jackers.

"Guys!" Poppy shouts, suddenly bursting through the trees. "I've been looking everywhere for-"

"Stop!" I exclaim and we all freeze. The buzzing has gotten louder and angrier and I can't even focus on the fact that Poppy's here. Then suddenly I spot the lazy path of one of the deadly wasps slipping over to land on Basil's shoulder. I can actually hear her heart beating and we're both trembling visibly.

"Run," I say, because what else can we do? "Run!"

Basil and I burst forward in Poppy's direction, all running for our lives. I hear Basil cry out and know she must've been stung. She stumbles, but a catch her arm and help to drag her along. Then I feel an agonizing pinch on my lower back.

"Agh!" I cry out, but keep running. Keep running, keep running. We dive into a pond and swim out to the center, only stopping once we've gotten to the deepest part, only our heads peeking out, searching for a buzz or flash of gold but finding none, thank the lord.

"Oh, wow." I say as we drag ourselves out of the water on the other side. My back hurts like crazy from the sting and I can only lie on my stomach in the mud. Basil lies beside me, and Poppy sits on a rock panting. She doesn't seem to have been stung, but we're all pooped anyway.

Then the hallucinations hit me. The mud turns to lava, Poppy and Basil into distortions of color, I groan and drag myself further up the shore.

-

"How long was I out for?" I ask after I've been awoken by Poppy. I grab at my head, still feeling slightly woozy.

"Only a few hours. I found us food. We left the supplies..." Poppy says. Oh, no! Our supplies! Extra clothes, map, compass, food, water, all of it gone!

"We have to look for it." I say.

"Later," Poppy says. "Basil's still out." She nods at the small girl. The tracker jacker venom must've taken a bigger toll on her tiny body.

I sigh deeply and just lie there. Later... I think and doze off again. I'm awoken another hour later by Poppy telling me she's gonna get Basil up so we can search for our supplies. She does, and we all eat a few berries Poppy found, though Basil and I especially aren't able to stomach much. We don't want to risk drinking the water from the pond, as it's all scummy and greenish, so we just start walking. We go all the way around the pond and scour the woods on the other side for the remainder of the day and far into the night, but to no avail.

"Damn it..." I mutter. I knew we shouldn't have left it!

"What she said." Basil says, and Poppy scolds her for even thinking of the utterance of such a shocking profanity.

"Well, we might as well try and find shelter now, maybe some food." Poppy states.

"Yeah, let's go." I say, so we keep walking for a little while until we find a shelter of rock. We didn't see any food on the way but we figure we can just find some in the morning so decide to get some sleep. Poppy volunteers to take first watch, but I demand she sleep. After all, I've been sleeping all day while she's been up worrying over Basil and I and the supplies!

"Goodnight." We all say to each other. Then the other girls doze off as I sit leaning against the rough rock and staring out into the great unknown of the woods.

Chapter by xxshenevermissesxx