The Arena

Chapter 7

The next morning, We decide to split up to look for berries.

"Make sure not to pick any poison berries. You remember which ones are poisonous right?" I ask Finch before we turn in opposite directions.

"Yes. I made sure to memorize them in training.I'll pick the right ones." She responds. She has a thoughtful look on her face but it vanishes when she sees me watching her.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Yeah I'm okay. Just hungry." She smiles at me but I know her smile is fake. I think it's because of what happened last night but I decide she will be okay after spending some time by herself.

"Well, I'll see you later. Meet me back at this tree in about half an hour. And do you remember our signal incase of emergencies?"

She sings a 3 note melody in response and the mockingjays in the trees above us reply immediately. I smile at her before I turn around and start heading the other way. I here her turn around and walk in the opposite direction.
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When I have collected as many berries as I can carry in the makeshift pack I made out of my jacket, I turn back towards the tree we slept in.

When I arrive at the tree I find that Finch still haven't arrived. I'm probably still a little early so I decide to wait for a while.

I wait for 10, 20, 30 minutes and she still hasn't come back to the tree. I sing the 3 note signal we made up but after 5 minutes there is still no response.

The sun starts to go down and I am starting to worry about Finch. Could she have been killed or could she just be running late? I decide its best to go look for her.

The sun continues to set as I walk but it's still light enough for me to spot the patch of berries that she must have been harvesting from.

That's when I see her. She lays motionless in the middle of the berry patch.

"Finch? Are you okay?" I ask. I walk closer to her and she still lays motionless on the damp ground.

I run over to her and find her not breathing. A handful of berries lies in her palm. I instantly remember these berries from training. There called nightlock and they're extremely poisonous. If you so much as put one in your mouth, you'll be dead in a minute.

"FINCH!" I scream. I put my ear on her chest and here where her heart beat should be but all I hear is silence.

I shake her shoulders violently but she still doesn't move. " Come on Finch. Wake up!" I yell at her while tear begin streaming down my face.

I continue to shake her shoulder but her body is cold and unmoving.

The sound of cannon rings through the air and I know it's meant for Finch.

"Finch no..." I sob. I bury my face into her jacket.

Suddenly I am overcome with an anger I have never felt before. I reach over a take the berries from her cold, lifeless hand and throw them as far as I can into the surrounding woods.

"How could they! How could they do this to you!" I scream. I don't care anymore if the other tributes can hear my screams, I only want to make sure everyone sees what the Capitol did to Finch.

I stand up and back away from her body and let out another angry scream. I turn and run away from her lifeless body. I find the small orange pack sitting under a berry bush filled with berries, all of which look nonpoisonous.

I grab the pack and run. My throat begins to burn but still I run. I can't seem to put enough space between myself and Finch's cold, stiff body.

By now the sun is gone and it has been replaced by a full moon. In no time at all I'm almost back to the river. Even before I arrive I can hear the sound of running water.

'That's not possible. The rivers dry.' I think to myself. I step out of the woods and onto the river bank when I see that river is running once again. There are no signs that it was once dry and I start to wonder if we just imagined it being dry.

I run to the bank to clean my face of dried tears but new ones soon come to replace the ones I wipe away. I sit on the river bank crying my eyes out for a good 15 minutes before I decide I have to find shelter.

I decide its to late to go looking for the cave again so I find a small tree and climb it to sleep it.

While I am laying on one of the trees limbs I begin to replay the events from today.

'I made sure to memorize them in training. I'll pick the right ones.' I remember her saying after I asked if she knew which berries where poisonous. Then I remember her crying and saying that she 'couldn't do this anymore.' But what did she mean by this? Did she mean The Games, worrying about death, Life?

If Finch knew which berries weren't safe then why would she eat the nightlock?

That's when it hits me...

Finch knew they were poisoned because she ate them in purpose.

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This chapter is by far my favorite so far! It was very hard to write this and to decide how my character was going to die.

In the original series 'Foxface' did die from poison berries but I decided to add a little twist. I hope you liked it!!