The 70th Hunger Games- Fliss' Story

24

I sit back down struggling to hold my gasp in my throat. Maybe they haven't seen us. I don't know what to do. I see the sun starting to rise so I decide to wake my sleeping companions. One day grace was all we got. Fawn wakes with a start and goes to speak to me. I put a finger to my lips and show her the careers. A look of pure fear flickers across her eyes but there's something else there as well. Determination.

We sit together and watch them waiting to see what they do. Nothing. They do nothing. They sit in their boat, they eat, they talk. They act normal. But there's something off. Normally they would be hunting. Hunting us.

That's when it clicks. They are. They know we are here. I step back. But do they know that we are watching them? I pull Fawn and Kendith away.

"What are you doing?" Fawn hisses.

"They know we are here." I say under my breath.

"No they don't" Kendith looks at me like I'm thick.

"Normally they would be hunting by now. They are just sitting there."

"Are you sure?" Fawn says.

"Trust me."

"What do we need to do?" She says.

"Act normal."

So we do. We fish. We eat. We nap. I try and think of a plan. One thing I know is we can't stay here. It's only when I sit and watch the careers when a plan forms. They each take watches whilst the others sleep or fish or clean their weapons. The boy from district three, Dem, I think he was called always falls asleep or loses attention. This could be perfect for us.

The sky at night shows us that no one else has died. It won't be long before the audience is bored and something happens to drive us tributes to disaster. We have to move tonight.

I take the first watch but stay awake long over our usual swap times. What I estimate to be 4 o'clock Dem takes his watch. It's not long before he has drifted off to sleep. I quickly wake up my sleeping companions. "Come on let's move." I whisper.

"Won't they see us?" Says Kendith with fear shining in his eyes.

"He's asleep, but try to be quiet." I reply.

We gather our things and slip into the water. I am the last one to enter and try to cover our tracks. From studying the careers watches I estimate we have about an hour head start. Ideally it would be longer but I can't really complain. There's one place where I know we will be safe. My cave.

Somehow I make it back to the outcrop before the lightning storm started. My sense of direction wasn't as compromised as I thought. The worst thing is that it wasn't far from where we started. Apart from that we make good pace.

I look up at the sky and from the position of the moon I judge our hour of grace to be over. Something starts to build in the pit of my stomach which I put down to nerves. We are still away from the cave but a part of me feels hopeful. We could make it. The careers could go in any direction.

The jolt of a cannon makes us all stop. We don't say it but it must be the careers. Either they have found another tribute or Dem has been killed for letting us escape. I suspect the latter. If I know Crystal that won't have gone unpunished. With a jerk of my head we continue.

We say no words to each other as we swim. I don't know what we would say to each other. We both know that at the end of the night we will either be alive or well... We keep swimming trying to make as little sound as possible but there is an unmistakable splash of water which is very human. No animal would ever make that much noise. I pray that the careers won't realise.

But I ask for too much. Over the horizon I see a small figure which comes with the unmistakable sound of an engine. Maybe I didn't quite cover our tracks or the careers have remarkable judgement.

As if by some unspoken agreement we increase our pace. We may still make it, the boat was quite far away but boats move quickly. The safety of the cave appears on the horizon. It isn't that far away and I know I can make it. I push ahead again when Fawn gives me a shout. They are a few meters behind me with the careers close behind. I start to shout encouragement, urging them forward. This works but I know it's not going to work.

I turn back and swim towards them I shove Kendith in front of me forcing him to move at a faster pace to keep in front of me. I grab Fawns arm and pull her along. We keep moving. The rock that means safety is getting bigger and closer. The career boat which means death is also getting closer. My mind can only form one thought: keep swimming.