The 64th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter Eight

"Lovely weather isn't it?" Ceffa says as we walk towards the mountain. I can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not. If she's stayed in area two this entire time she probably dosn't understand the arena yet.

"You like the snow?" I ask.

"Yeah. The cold dosn't really bother me. Back home during the winter if it snowed we could leave school or work early. My family always had a bonfire outside. Those were some of the best times."

"Oh. The closest we would get to snow back in district four is occasionally seeing it in the arena." I stop talking, though I have much more to say. The entire nation of Panem is whatching us right now. I remember Mags telling me that if you say something that the Capitol dosn't want you to, the game makers are in control of everything that happens in the arena. They can make the most tragic of deaths appear as an accident.

"Let's just keep moving in silence. We don't want to alert anyone of our position." I say to try to end the conversation. She looks confused, but dosn't argue with my excuse. I give her the remainder of my knives, except one, and we exit area two.

We stare up at the flower covered mountain. The only trace of winter left a small stream that the melted snow created. Ceffa says that we should take a brake and she starts to climb a tall pine tree. She leaps from branch to branch until she reaches a sturdy area to sit about 25 feet up. I climb much slower, in fear of falling, but eventually make it to the top without a problem. She tosses me an apple and we eat in peace.

From up here we can see as far ar the lake. I spot a tribute up the mountain, but they don't notice us so we stay put. The apple tastes refreshingly sweet after a diet of crackers and dried meat. I eat it down to the core and stick the remains in a hole in the tree. Ceffa is still eating and I sit in silence for a bit.

The practically silent relationship we have is strange. Before the arena we only really talked at the opening cerimonies, and even here we've only said few sentences to each other. Its like we don't need to say anything because we know that we can trust each other.

She soon finishes her apple and we plan where to go next. The remaining three careers aren't stuffing their faces in the cornucopia, which most likely means that they're on the hunt somewhere. I pull out the compass like object to check the time left on the countdown. Seven more hours until something happens. I take this rare moment of peace to explain to Ceffa what I know about the arena. She understands pretty quick and we decide to head towards area four.

As we are climbing down the trunk a cannon is fired. I try to ignore it, but for some reason it upsets me more than usual. I think being with Ceffa makes me think that the other tributes have family and friends that they want to return to, too. I'm not the only one who has an upset mother, or a mourning district. We start to walk the rim of the meadow, towards the unexplored area.

While we walk, Ceffa casually throws one of the knives in to a tree ahead and retrieves when we get there. She continues to do this for a couple minutes, like a game, until we here yet another cannon fire. I reach in to my sling and keep a spear in my hand. We continue to walk at the same pace, but more cautious now. The two deaths being soon after each other are most likely not coincidences. I vaguely hear running behind us, but Ceffa pushes me forward, urging me to run, before I can turn around.

I see Ceffa hop up in to a short tree and she starts to jump from branch to branch in the same direction that I am running. I run in to the cover of the area four trees and immediately notice the large increase in temperature. I don't recall the "summer" near the water being this warm, but that's currently not something I should be worrying about.

After about five minutes of running I reach a small clearing and I turn around, prepared to defend myself. I don't see Ceffa yet, but Skit comes dashing through trees, with blood already on his hands. He raises his bow and I don't know what to do. He has incredible accuracy and would've hit me straight on, if Ceffa hadn't jumped out a tree and thrown a knife at his arm. We both start to run towards him, though I'm not exactly sure what I plan on doing when I get there.

He rips the knife out of his bicep and Ceffa tackles him to the ground. They roll around for a bit, a firmilliar scene, but Skit ends up on top and has her firmly pinned by the shoulders and legs. By the look in his eyes I can tell he dosn't plan on hesitating to kill her. My feet have finally carried me to where they are and without thinking I jump on top of Skit, pushing him off of her. He dosn't have his bow on him anymore, but he pulls out an arrow and lunges towards me. I dodge his attack, but being myself, I end up tripping on a tree root. He lunges up on top of me and attempts to lodge the arrow in to my skull. I manage to squirm my head away in time and he ends up breaking the arrow on the ground.

Ceffa starts to approach again, but Skit sees her coming and pushes her to the ground. I don't know what comes over me, but I hop on my feet, and tackle him with all my strength. I can hardly tell what I'm doing, but then a cannon fires and I realize I've driven a spear through his chest. I immediately get off of him and exchange a look with Ceffa. His large body is now surrounded by a pool of warm, sticky, blood. I must have pierced his heart, or something else vital, for him to have died so quickly. His lifeless grey eyes will haunt me forever.

I instantly feel guilty, yet happy to have saved Ceffa and myself. I retrieve the sheath of arrows from arround his shoulder and Ceffa hands me the bow from off the ground. We travel deeper into area four in silence. At sunset we eat a small bit more, then set up camp in a sturdy tree. She falls asleep instantly, leaning on my shoulder, but I stay awake and watch the fake stars. I want to go home.