The 64th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter Ten

When Ceffa wakes me up it's the middle of the night. She tells me that the girl from district six is the one who died this morning and woke the careers with the cannon fire. My stomach growls and Ceffa hands me one of the rolls that she took from the cornucopia. I can see that she's already ate about half of the other one and drank one of the bottles of water. The bread isn't warm, but it's still delicious and I end up eating the whole thing. Once our bellies are full, we sit in silence and stare at the sky, partially because we're tired and the sky is pretty, but mostly cause there's nothing to say.

I know that we're going to have to travel soon, but my leg is killing me even when I'm not moving it. Ceffa removes the bandage to see how it is and I try to look away. She says that at one side the skin is cut to the bone and the rest isn't much better. She pours some of our remaining water on to the cleaner side of the cloth, then puts it back on to my leg. Of course neither of us say it, but I think we both know that my leg isn't going to just heal on it's own.

She might as well kill me now. Both of us can't win, and I'm no help now. She could easily just push me off the branch while I'm sleeping, snap my neck like she did to that one tribute, or simply leave me here to starve. I know she's not going to, but wish she would. She soon goes to sleep, leaning on the branch beside her, but thoughts and pain keep me awake.

I know that hours have passed and I still havn't slept. The only thing that snaps me back to reality is a perculiar noise coming from near by. I look at Ceffa peacefully sleeping, then I look bellow to the ground. I barely make out the district ten girl stumbling through the trees. She stop at the oak across from us and leans against it. Only when she puts her hands to her face do I know that she's been, and still is, crying.

By the looks of it I'd say she hasn't eaten or drank in at least a day. She has absolutely nothing on her, yet somehow she has managed to survive for this long. She seems about Ceffa's age, but more my height. Her long brown hair looks dry and dirty. I barely make out a small wound on her left forearm.

I don't know what it is about this girl that almost brings a tear to my own eye, but I know that I can't not do anything. I lean upwards and reach for one of our backpacks without disturbing Ceffa. I feel like I might regret this, but I do it anyway. One at a time, I toss a knife, a pack of crackers, and the bottle that's half full of water towards her. She almost dosn't notice the supplies, but the bottle clinks against the knife and she looks up.

The look on her face when she sees the food forces me to smile. She looks up and sees me peeking over the ledge of the branch. She gathers the things I threw down, stands, up, and then puts three fingers to her lips, then extends her arm towards me. I don't know exactly what this means, but I shall assume that it's a way to say "thanks for temperarily saving my life". She wipes the tears from her eyes, and continues to walk towards area one.

I probably shouldn't have given up our valuable supplies, but I feel good now. I decide the best thing to do is to rest so we can travel in the morning. I lean my head against Ceffa, and close my eyes.