rising from the ashes || a hunger games story

chapter eighteen

willow's pov

the sun had gone down already. we were setting up camp in the tree we were sitting under earlier. we found a hole in the trunk and placed the cut up sleeping bag into it. the hole was big enough for the fox to sleep in there .

we didn't want him getting eaten by any wolves. wolves usually ignore foxes but the other animals in this forest are being controlled by the game makers so their behaviors could change.

i'm clinging to finn's body for warmth. it's the coldest night. it got cold in the cave but it's colder in the open. not only that but the game makers control the weather and temperature in the arena.

i look at my hand that lays on his chest. it's turned to a pinkish-redish color. i pull down my sleeves to cover up my hands and feel a slight relief. that's when i hear a beeping and a parachute gets caught on the branch above us.

my shaky hands reach up to grab it. my hands are so fragile that i have trouble opening it but i eventually succeed. i let out a sigh of relief when i see what's inside. "gloves."

there's two pairs. i give one to finn and place the other pair on my hands. i immediately feel warmth and i let out a sigh of relief. i brought my hood up onto my head when it started getting cold. it helped keep my face warm.

i found a nightlock berry bush earlier in the day. i squeezed the berries out so the juice could come out and put the juice into the syringe part of the needles we got from haymitch.

once we woke up, we left most of our stuff in the tree. i only took the quiver, the bow, and the syringe. the syringe was in my back pocket and had a cap on it.

all finn had was his trident. i climbed over to the hole the fox was in. "stay. one of us will be back for you," i told the fox, hoping he would understand what i was trying to say.

finn and i climbed down to the ground. we hear screaming from the other side of the arena that seemed to get closer. at one point, it was getting closer but it stayed in one area after about 30 seconds.

finn and i looked at each other, confused. "i wonder what that's about," he said. we were facing each other, my back towards the direction of the cornucopia. that's when i hear growling behind him.

i looked over, behind him, as he turned around slowly. wolves. they were snarling and growling at us, showing their teeth. their eyes looked like a glowy red.

i started stepping back and said, "run." i quickly turned around and started running in the direction of the cornucopia. finn ran behind me, close to my side.

the cornucopia soon came into view and we ran to it, climbing on top of it. the wolves stopped when we reached the open. they stayed in the woods and didn't continue following us to the cornucopia.

when we stood at the top of the cornucopia, we were met with merlin from district 2. he had a scared facial expression for a split second before he turned angry.

he started running towards the two of us but finn and i both moved apart which left merlin to fall face first. finn and i ran to the other side of the cornucopia.

merlin had a belt of knives. he threw one at finn and one at me. the one he threw towards finn missed and landed in front of him. i moved my body before the knife could actually hit me but it grazed my forehead.

merlin started by running towards finn and tackling him. he started throwing punches and missed at times. i picked merlin off of finn and pushed him a few feet back.

i was about to grab an arrow and shoot him but before i could shoot it, he tackled me to the ground. he threw a punch but i moved my head over before he could hit me.

i was able to turn him over so he was next to me. i stood up before he could react. i started to run but merlin moved his foot and tripped me. i couldn't react in time and my forehead hit the cornucopia hard.

my head automatically started to throb. i heard grunting behind me. i turn to see finn and merlin fighting. they were trying to punch each other and stab each other but most of the time, they missed.

i quickly thought and jumped off the cornucopia and to the ground. i took the syringe from my back pocket as i ran to the part of the cornucopia that merlin's back was facing.

i quickly uncapped it as i climbed up the cornucopia. as soon as i reached the top i saw merlin's back. without thinking, i ran towards him and stabbed the needle into the middle of his back.

my thumb pressed on the top the syringe so the liquid could pass through. after letting everything pass through and taking the needle out, he collapses and the cannonball goes off.

i walk around merlin's body and towards finn. i hug him as i look into the forest. i grab one of finn's hands with one of mine. i look at it. his knuckles are red and bleeding.

we pull away from the hug and finn looks at me. "willow, you're bleeding." i assume he's talking about my forehead so i say, "it's nothing."

"that's not nothing," he says as he points to my leg. i look down and see a knife in my leg. it's almost fully inserted. merlin must have stabbed me when we were fighting but my leg was too numb from the cold for me to feel it . it's not bleeding as much as it would if the knife was out of my leg.

i sigh and i hear finn say "come on." we slide down the cornucopia onto the ground. we sit down against the cornucopia. i lay my head on finn's shoulder.

we look at the trees in front of us. that's when i hear a yappy bark come from the part of the forest where we slept. i look over to see the fox running over to us. i chuckle as he runs over to me and places his head on my lap.

"what are we going to do now?" finn asks, looking at me. i look down and reach into my front pocket. i take out one of the leftover berries that i found in the nightlock bush.

"willow, no," finn says as he knocks the berry out of my hand. "you have to live, finn," i say. i grab the fox and place him into finn's lap. "take him back to district 12," i say as i reach back into my pocket.

i take out another berry. "i know what this does, trust me," i say to finn. i place the berry into my mouth and the last thing i hear is finn yelling my name before i black out.