I could have saved her.
I SHOULD have saved her.
I messed up.
And now a thirteen-year-old is dead because of it.
I pretend I'm OK, but I can't stop thinking about her.
Thinking about her brother.
How he killed her, for fun.
How I'd kill him, slowly.
I grab some jerky and nibble on the end as the rest of the group starts getting up.
I'll kill him.
For what he did to his sister.
For what his friends did to the rest of them.
For Coral.
Once I'm fully awake we begin setting up a list of things to do. Two people should stay in the fort at all times, we agree. Two groups of two can go out to do different things, like getting more water or finding food, and the other will stay in the fort and make weapons or something. I volunteer for the weapons making.
"I need to make a slingshot," I explain, "I can stay here for today."
"I'll stay back too," Rowan says.
"Harvey and I can go and get some more water since we know where the lake is," Ivy suggests.
"And Bran and I can go hunting. I've got my knives, it should work well," Alexia says.
We all agree on our tasks before setting out for the day, and I attempt to find some supplies for a good slingshot in the immediate area.
"You know what could work for like the pullback part of it?" Rowan begins.
I roll my eyes.
"What?" I ask.
"Part of one of our outfits. The fabric is kind of stretchy, it could work," he says.
"I'll try that out," I say, finding a good stick that should work as the base and holding it up.
We go back to the circle, and I attempt to rip off part of my pant leg.
"Just like, cut it a little bit and it should rip off," Rowan suggests.
I take the tip of my small spear and make a slit, before ripping a good two inches of material off of my left ankle. I then take a small bit of the rope and secure the fabric on, before pulling it back to test it.
"That's actually not that bad," I say.
"Here," Rowan says, tossing me a rock, "Try shooting this."
I shoot it, and it hits in the general area that I was aiming at.
"Good enough," I say, sitting back down.
Rowan begins working on a few stick spears.
"So, you have a girlfriend back home, right?" he asks.
"Yeah, Lily," I say, reaching for the necklace and smiling, "I miss her."
"I've got a girlfriend too, Charlotte. This is hers," he says, reaching his arm out to show me a small green bracelet.
"That's beautiful," I say.
We sit together, chatting about home and our lives for a few hours, all the while whittling away at sticks to make spears.
"Look what we killed!" Alexia says as she steps into the circle.
Bran walks in holding four dead rabbits.
"There's a whole field of them up on the higher side of the island, away from the main hill. We're set for food," Alexia continues, "Only thing is we're going to need to build a fire."
"That should be fine, we make it small and we cook them quickly," Rowan says.
I step out of the circle to make a small fire, and Alexia and I get to work on cooking them. It only takes about fifteen minutes, although they do turn out rather burnt.
"It's fine, it's still food, right?" she asks.
Soon after, Ivy and Harvey come back with more water.
"Now that we're all here, let's eat. It's got to be around noon, right?" Bran says.
"Works for me," I say.
We each finish off the rations we had from the packs and divide up the smaller rabbit equally among us.
After we eat, we basically spend the rest of the day lounging, and don't hear a single cannon.
"The fact that nobody has died kind of makes me worried. If the Capitol isn't getting enough action, they're going to force something on us soon." Ivy says.
"We'll be alright, don't worry about it," Rowan says, obviously worried himself.
That night, we take the same night shifts, but after mine I don't sleep at all. I'm too worried about getting another nightmare and having to relieve her death again. Thankfully, day comes around rather quickly, and we once again set off on our little chores. Alexia and Bran decide to go check out the side of the Island that no one has been to yet, and Harvey and Ivy go back to the lake once again. They come back rather quickly, but Alexia and Bran take their time. We realize why once they come back.
"Guys, guys, the Careers are on the Island!" Bran says as soon as they're back in the circle.
"They're looking for us. They still think that we're a threat," Alexia says, "They saw us and tried chasing us, but we think we were able to lose them."
"Oh my god," Ivy says, "This is the thing, the big action sequence that the Capitol wants. It's only the third day!"
"We're going to be okay Ivy, don't worry," Rowan once again tries and fails to calm his sister.
"We just need to be prepared. They might find us soon, we need to be ready for it when they do," Harvey says.
YOU ARE READING
The 175th Hunger Games
Fanfiction"On the 175th anniversary, for the rebels to remember that the war was fought against their own brothers, the two tributes selected from each district will be siblings, both between the ages of 12 and 18 as per usual." One hundred and one years aft...
