The 67th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 2~Loosing Hope Within The Darkness

 Within the forest, two other figures treaded their way upon the newly damp ground of the forest. Some paths being clear whilst others being lost by the consuming stingy nettles and threaded barbered roots that twisted stuck up out of the ground. Some plain leaves also along with the mix providing the contrast of harsh and soft, with the leave sprinkled paths painted in orange thanks to the genty fallen autumn leaves. Create a sense of peace within the usual calm atmosphere of a forest.

Pulling the boy as his arm slumped over her shoulder, his weight resting on her as they made there way over the uneven ground. His other hand still clutching at his stomach as they made their way to a clean part of the ground in the forest.

"Acai... I'm not going to make it" He groaned, pushing his words out.

"Well, you are going to try" She argued, placing him down on the floor so he could lay on his back, her hand supporting his head as he was lowered down.

"Ahh, It doesn't even hurt that much" He reasoned as she pulled her hand away from behind his head.

"Good" she nodded, pushing off her knees and back up to her feet "Then that probably means it's not as bad as we thought" She said throwing the bag off her shoulder as she turned her back from him.

"You know that's not what that means" He voiced from behind her.

"No Aspen I don't know that" she argued back "For all I know, you are going to win the whole game and you are going to be going back home on the train to seven" She responded, looking and pulling a few leafs of some plants that were sticking out of the long grass, being careful not to prick her fingers on one o the thorns. Moving to the next section when her findings came up dry.

"What are you doing?" Aspen asked, raising his head off the ground as he looked what the shorter girl was doing.

"Trying to find a big leaf" She announced, bending down as her eyes caught on a rather dock leaf.

"What for?" He asked.

"To put pressure," she said pulling the leaf off from its stem "on your stomach" she said turning on her heels as she made her way back over to him.

"With a leaf?" He asked dumbfounded, looking up confused as she walked back over to him.

"Yes with a leaf" She laughed, bending down and placing it on his stomach.

"And we can't use our hands because?" He asked as he watched her, his face contorting in pain as she started to apply pressure to the wound.

"Because your hands have someone else blood on them" She pressed, pushing down harder as he threw his head back in pain. It comes into contact with the ground with a loud thump "but I mean if you wanna go ahead and swirl up your DNA some more them be my guest-"

"What about your hands" he said, bringing his head up to look at her hands that were just clean as they were when they were in the Capital.

"Becuase I have to go and make sure no one followed us because so far, this is the only water source I've seen" She said, motioning her head to the small calm stream just beside him that run down and through the forest "So I'm sure they will come looking for it" She said as she grabbed his hand and replaced her own with it, his now holding the leaf in place.

"And I don't really think we can afford a surprised attack right now" She said, her eyes widening as she motioned towards his bleeding stomach as she pressed his hands down harder, causing him to groan out in pain again.

"No do you think you can keep doing that until I get back?" She asked as she let go of his hands, her gaze travelling up to meet his dark brown eyes she could see clearly due to his brown hair being pushed back and off his face.

"Yeah...I can do that" he breathed out, panting slightly due to the pain radiating from his stomach.

"Okay" she smiled, getting back up to her feet and walking over to the bag she had previously thrown "I'm going to get a knife for me and a knife for you" she explained, unzipping the bag to find two hand knives within it.

"Okay" the other replied as he reached his free hand to take it from her "Good luck" He said, bring the knife back to his side.

"Thank you" she replied, before turning to walk back over the path they had just treaded.

"Wait" Aspen called, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn back to face him "Thanks for...helping me" He smiled at her, flashing a small smile.

"Don't mention it" she replied, shaking her head as she smiled back over at the boy.

"No I mean it" he quickly replied "You kind of put yourself out there for me...I really appreciate it" He finished, seriousness and thankfulness thick in his tone.

"Well, your welcome" she smiled before turning back around, her dark brown hair whipping around after her. Making her way further into the forest before she stopped again and whipped her head back to him.

"Hey Aspen make sure to keep pressure on that leaf okay?" she said sternly as she stared down hard at him. 

"Yeah" the other gulped, never seeing the girl's expression change to such a harsh one.

Convinced at the other's agreement she turned and started to walk again. The hairs sticking up on the back of her neck as her eyes whipped from side to side, making sure to never miss a thing as she disappeared into the forest.

Aspen's eyes never leaving her, trying to remember every small detail of the other until her body became lost within the thick branches of the forest. 

Only then did he drop his head back, breathing in a deep breath, and let his hand slip down from his stomach to rest on the floor at his side. Looking up at the sky that let some sunlight seep through the leaves and down onto him. It all became a blur as he took his final breath and let his eyes close. Darkness consuming him and his head dropped to the side...

A/N: Hello! Second chapter up! Sorry things are going quite slow, it's just to develop the story a bit more but I promise it will pick up a bit later on! Until next week!Bye!