When We Drown~Finnick Odair {Book 1}

Chapter Seventeen

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"What did you grab?" Tyson asked Autumn as she put her vest on and strapped it around her chest and stomach.

"Knives and a backpack," Autumn told him.

Autumn sat back down on the log, unzipping the pack and seeing what supplies were inside. She pulled out a rope, matches, an empty water canteen, a thin blanket, a large dagger, a few packs of dried beef, and a small container of some sort of cream. Autumn returned all of the things back into the bag, watching as Tyson pulled out similar things including a water canteen and rope, but his bag also contained more food that Autumn's did.

The two of them packed away their stuff and strapped their bags into their backs. Autumn handed Tyson the dagger she had found in her bag, which he was grateful for. He wasn't as deadly with a knife as he was with a sword, but it was still a weapon and Tyson knew how to use it.

The two of them began to trek through the forest, deciding that water was their first priority especially since they had a good amount of food.

Autumn noticed that something was wrong in her mind as soon as they started walking. Silence passed between the two tributes which only lead Autumn to think, which became very dangerous. The images of the deaths of the girl's from Seven and Eight replayed in Autumn's mind and she couldn't stop it. Their blood spilling across the grass. The light going out in their eyes. Their limp bodies hitting the ground.

Autumn now began to think of the other bodies she had seen that had littered the ground, although she hadn't paid enough attention at the moment to see how the people were. Autumn knew she would see the faces of the girls she had killed flash across the sky. Autumn also knew she wouldn't be able to sleep that night.

"We need to find a stream connected to the river coming out of that dam," Autumn told Tyson, who nodded. "Look for mud and moss."

As soon as those words left Autumn's mouth, two canons echoed around them. Tyson and Autumn looked at each other for a moment, wondering who had just died.

They continued for walk when Tyson stopped, hearing the crushing of sticks and leaves. Autumn stopped too, noticing the noise.

The noise was too rapid and rushed. It wasn't an animal. And animal would be much more graceful. It was a human.

"Climb," Autumn whispered to Tyson as she ran up to a tree and began to climb the branches up and up. The closer the noise came, the sooner Autumn realized that it wasn't one one person.

Autumn and Tyson climbed as high as they could, looking at each other as they stopped and sat on branches across from each other. Autumn raised a finger to her lips and Tyson nodded, understanding she was telling him to not make a sound.

Hollers echoed through the woods as the unknown tributes entered the area of trees that Tyson and Autumn were hiding in.

"I can't wait to get the girl from Four," One female voice said.

"Autumn," a male voice spoke. "And she's mine." Peter, the tribute from District One, came into view. Autumn shuttered at the way he spoke about her. Something was wrong with him. He didn't say 'mine' as if he wanted to be the one to kill her, although she was sure that was part of it. He sounded possessive. Infatuated. Lustful. This scared Autumn even more.

"Whatever, we need to find her first. No doubt the boy from her District will be with her," The voice of Gresla, the first one to speak, told Peter.

"No, first we need to find water," Lavender told the group, waving Arnis over to her to walk in front of her.

Once the group was out of sight and out of earshot, Tyson and Autumn climbed down from their hiding places amongst the branches.

"They're hunting you down," Tyson told her.

"They're hunting us down," Autumn corrected him. He nodded. "So they were searching for water meaning they didn't find any the way they came from, so let's go east."

Autumn and Tyson began to walk on. The sun soon reached the end of the horizon as it began to dip, the sky turning to dusk.

They sat down on the grass, digging into their backpacks for food. They each had an apple to fill their stomachs and a strip of beef.

"Chew on this," Autumn handed Tyson the long stem of a plant that she had picked.

"What is it?" Tyson asked.

"Sassafras," Autumn told him. "There's some water in it. And the mint will trick your stomach into thinking you're full." Tyson nodded, beginning to chew on the minty plant. Autumn did the same.

As soon as the sky was filled with stars and the sun was gone, Autumn and Tyson climbed up trees right across from each other and tied themselves onto one of the branches.

Autumn and Tyson were almost asleep when the anthem of the Capital echoed around them. Autumn looked around to see the Capital Symbol light up the sky.

The picture of the girl from District Five came up, followed by the boy from District Five. Both of their pictures looked so serious and full of honor. But there was no honor here. The boy from District Six came up, then the girl from Seven who Autumn had killed. Autumn looked down in shame as the girl from District Eight came up right after. The last two people who died were the girl from Ten and the boy from Twelve, both of which Autumn had seen dead at the bloodbath. The Capital Symbol then flickered away and the music ended.

Autumn closed her eyes once again, trying to force her mind to rest. But she couldn't. Not after just seeing the faces of all of the dead tributes, two of whom she had killed herself. Autumn's mind began to unhinge at this moment, but it was only the beginning of the terrors she would have to endure.