The Other Slip

Chapter 8

My eyes try to adjust to the obnoxiously bright lighting as Claudius Templesmith counts down from 60 seconds. As soon as he reaches zero, I dive into the water and move my arms in the swift strokes my father taught me. I run across the line of rocks linked to the cornucopia and reach for the bow and arrows. As I turn around I see Haymitch, hoisting himself out of the water. I start running to help him, but a hand stops me.

-"You might want to worry about that first." The voice behind me says, adjusting my head so that I notice Brutus running up to me. I grab an arrow and shoot it, as I am accustomed to, but he dodges it and it lands in his forearm. Instead of aiming another arrow at Brutus, I turn around and prepare to defend myself against the mystery voice. Finnick stands in front of me, a trident in hand, but the first thing I notice is the gold necklace around his neck, gleaming in the sun. I have seen it somewhere, I know that for sure. Flashbacks of the past few days run through my mind as I struggle to identify where I have seen the necklace.

-"It's Peeta's." Finnick interrupts my thought process.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint him right?" He smirks. I slowly lower my bow as Haymitch runs to meet us. The cornucopia contains nothing but weapons, so I grab a few knives, a second bow and another sheath of arrows before we run to the jungle. Mags is now riding on Finnick's back as we travel through the thick foliage. I end up in the lead, since I'm obviously faster than Haymitch and Finnick has Mags slowing him down. I slash through branches with one of the knives. I'm about to break through another bunch of vines, I notice the area in front of me seems to be almost vibrating. Just like the gamemakers' force field in the training center. I stand frozen in front of what I now know is the border of the arena, which makes Haymitch bump into me.

-"Katniss why the hell are you stopping?!" He pants. I know I can't reveal that I can see the arena. The gamemakers might find a way to correct this flaw in the system.

-"Don't you hear that noise?" I improvise, "It's some sort of humming. I think it might be the border of the arena."

-"I don't." Finnick says, readjusting Mags on his back. I grab a nut I find on the ground and toss it where the air vibrates. It bounces right back, burnt to a crisp.

-"Nice job, Sweetheart. Now keep moving." Haymitch nudges me forward, and I continue walking, throwing nuts to my side.

We set up camp a few yards away from the force field, but not close enough to accidentally bump into it. Parched, I decide to go search for some water while my allies start building a shelter. Even after a desperate while of searching, the closest I've come to water is some drops on a now dead creature. I return to camp and discover that my allies have done some incredible work. Unlike me. Their hopeful looks make me feel guilty as I shake my head at them. We decide to have the creature I shot, which we name tree rat, and some nuts Mags found for dinner.

-"Wait," Finnick stops me as I'm about to start a fire, "Is it really worth lighting a fire?"

-"What other choice do we have?" I shove him off and light the fire. The tree rat is actually delicious, but I decide to gag a few times while eating it, to play the pregnant act. Thankfully Haymitch and Finnick play along. The fire makes me paranoid, even once we turn it off. I startle at the slightest sound around us. We're all uneasy, speaking very quietly, when Haymitch stands up.

-"Ok it's clear we can't spend the night here. Let's just move somewhere else and we can come back here in the morning." No one protests, so we make our way deeper into the jungle until we decide we're far enough. I lean against a tree and rest my eyes, but the loud music announcing The Fallen drags me out of my partial slumber. All of my allies wear a painful expression, and I wouldn't be surprised if I am too. As soon as it's over I lean back and fall straight asleep.