MPHFPC ➵ The Hunger Games AU (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 17

.☆ POV- Jacob

"Uh, is this good?" I asked Emma, who was working on igniting the fire. I had just used long pieces of grass to connect parts of a nearby tree to the ground, creating a leafy canopy for us to sleep under.

She looked up from her work and squinted her eyes. "I think? We'll probably have to keep moving tomorrow anyway, so it'll do for now."

I nodded and corrected my posture, wiping dirt off my face with the back of my hand.

Bronwyn was sitting down with Horace, having just refilled our water supply. "I'll go out hunting in a little while, since I don't know plants too well," she said.

"Okay, good idea," I answered. As she left, I looked up at the sky. The horizon was a range of warm hues, oranges and pinks fading into each other. "It's almost nighttime."

"Yeah," Horace said, speaking for the first time in a while. He took a drink of the water and stared out into the world, looking defeated before the fight even began.

Emma sprang up from the dirt and threw her hands up in success. "Yes!" She let out a long breath and crossed her arms, admiring her work. "We've got a fire."

"You did great!" I complimented her, patting her shoulder.

"Wait, where's Bronwyn?" Emma questioned.

"Oh, she went out to hunt."

"Hunt? As in, kill?" She slapped her forehead exaggeratedly.

"Yeah?" I thought it was a fine idea myself, but Emma's natural leadership position put me in doubt.

"When she returns, it'll be nighttime! And she's on her own. She could be killed, especially near this fire which doubles as a smoke signal!" She groaned. "I'll go find her. We can set a couple of traps and make it back here soon enough."

"Oh. Alright, thanks," I said.

As she stomped out further into the woods, Horace looked up at me tiredly. "So."

"So what?"

He clicked his tongue. Not really in an obnoxious way, just a time-killing way.

"So what?" I repeated.

"Huh? Did you say something?" He looked up, confused.

"Yeah, I just... Are you okay?"

"Yes." He said it so firmly, so defensively, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than me.

.☆ POV- Emma

"Bronwyn? Bronwyn?" I cupped my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice, calling out into the wilderness. "Where are you?"

I heard a "Huh?" in the distance and peered to see a bulky figure in the distance, surrounded by undergrowth and thick branches. They took a few seconds to walk closer to me. Now I could make out their features, making it less of a surprise when "Emma? Why hello!" echoed out.

I sped up and we shortly closed the distance between us. "Come on, Wyn. Let's set a trap and be done with it."

"Hm? I've already caught a rabbit though!" She held up a limp fur-covered body. It was soaked with dried crimson blood, suggesting she had caught it relatively fast and was going for more.

"That's fine and all, but it's getting dark. Quickly, can you set a snare?" I was already bending down and collecting resources around my feet.

"Oh, yeah," Bronwyn answered with a nod, sitting on the dirt beside me and helping to construct the simple trap. "Like so?" she asked, holding up a work-in-progress hook. The mouth was a good starting place, but far too shallow.

"Sort of." I took it from her and let her watch as I carved the stick further. About halfway through the wood, I stopped and started on another part of the trap. At this rate, we would be done in good time.

A few more minutes passed of utter silence save the chirping of birds, humming of bugs, natural woodland noise. I finished all that I'd planned to and looked over to help Bronwyn.

"Let's finish assembling it," she suggested. She was already done with her parts and had probably been waiting on me.

I smiled. "Good idea." We connected our pieces, bent over some places to create tension, and I placed it firmly on the ground.

"Hey, thanks, Emma," Bronwyn said.

"Huh?"

We both got up and started walking back to where we'd made camp.

"For being here, in general, y'know. And not just letting me wander out into the woods. That was nice of you."

"Oh." I stared up at the sky for a moment, soaking in the sound of our footsteps. Hard manmade material against soft earth. And the stars. They were bright. Nice looking. "Yeah. I mean, that's what friends do."

I saw Bronwyn's lips curl a little bit at that and I offered my own smile.

"I haven't had anyone like that in a while," she continued.

"What do you mean, in a while?"

She seemed to hesitate before saying, "My brother."

"Hm? What do-"

"We're here," Wyn interrupted, stopping as we threw a small tree's leaves behind us and saw the fire burning before us.

I tried to get her attention. "Wait, what did-"

"Hey guys, we're back!" she yelled. She wasn't looking at me and somewhere deep inside me I knew that she had heard me.

"Bronwyn, who is your brother?" I spoke up.

She was already shouldering past me and waving at the others exaggeratedly.

I sighed. Maybe as her friend, I was supposed to respect her boundaries. But I was Emma Bloom. I wanted to know who meant so much to her and what happened to him.

And I was determined to find out.