It feels like a lifetime - PART 9.

I lie as still as possible even though it feels like insects are crawling up and down my body. It feels like everybody can hear even the smallest movement I do under the tree I found a bit earlier. I haven’t heard from any of the other tributes, no one has been in the same area as me, which is good and which would make it easier to sleep, but it’s not. My eyes are wide open even though the tiredness is lurking in my body; every time I try to close my eyes they shoot right open again.

 

My eyes shoot open once again, but this time has the temperature fallen at least 10 degrees and a cool wind sweep through the forest. I must have been sleeping, but not for too long because the sky is still dark, dark blue. I curl up like a ball in my sleeping bag. which is a lot thinner than I expected or maybe it’s just colder than I expected.  I press my chin against my knees, trying to keep as much body heat as possible. I let out a small gasp when another cold breeze sweeps through the forest.
  

I don’t know how but I somehow managed to fall asleep last night even if I was shaking of the cold. Then, suddenly, I hear a cracking sound. It’s the sound of branches breaking under some ones feet. I move closer to the curtain of branches and look through a small gap. I’m not sure how close the other tribute is and how well she or he can see me. My dark eyes are searching the part of the woods I can see, in hope of getting a glimpse of the tribute who is lurking around here. My body tense up when it sounds like the tributes walks right past me, but I still can’t see anyone. When the sound finally has faded away I fall back against the tree trunk and take a deep breath. I don’t have time to take another breath before someone grabs my arm and drag me out from my hiding spot. I let out a shriek when something cold and sharp is pressed against my throat. In panic I press my hand between the knife and my throat, trying to push it away from my body which make the blade pierce into my hands. I will never be able to survive this, the pain in my hands proves that if the knife goes any deep into them it will cut of my nerves and I won’t be able to move my fingers. So I pretty much have two options; I either have to fight without my hands or die. Maybe die is the easiest way, I’m not meant for this anyway. Even if I don’t die today, I will be dead in less than 2 weeks, so why wait?

   Then I feel how the tribute jerk and fall to the ground, and I glare back at my attacker. The boy from district 6 lies in the grass with the bloody knife in his hand and a spear in his back. I get up as fast as I can, grab my bag and then run, I don’t look back to see who throw the spear. As I run the canon for the district 6 boy goes off.
   I don’t stop running until my lungs hurt and my eyes are finding it hard to focus on anything. I put my hand on my knee and breathe rapidly. Couldn’t they have given me just one bottle of water? I sink to the ground and look up at the sky; I’ve never seen such a blue sky in my whole life or such a big sun. I move my glace to my hands, a deep cut extends over both of them and blood is sipping out of them. I need to find something I can use as a bandage until I find water so I can wash the wounds and get something to drink.

   After looking for a while, I finally find leaves big enough to cover the cuts on my hands. Now, I need water. Sadly I haven’t seen any living creatures for a while, which mean the nearest water source can be miles away. I move me feet forward through the forest which make branches under my feet break.

   It takes a few hours, but after a while I finally hear the sound of babbling water. I move my feet faster and when as fast as I arrive to the stream I fall to my knees. Just as I lower my head and hands to drink the echo of a canon sweep through the forest. The sound make my whole body tense up, once again. I wonder what she or he died of. Well, it can be another tribute… It’s too early to die from natural causes, but I still have no idea what kind of dangerous animals are walking or flying around in the area and what is edible and not. Lily, let’s just drink and get your water bottles filled and then you can wonder about the unknown animals and plants in the arena, I think and fill my hands with water and move them up to my mouth. When I have filled my water bottles as well, I remove the leaves on my hands and loudly exhale when the cold water tickle my hands, cuts and fingers. As I clean the cuts, I remember the bloody knife I manage to get from the cornucopia. Except that I didn’t run for it, I dragged it out from a tribute’s head. So when I’ve have cleaned my cuts and found something to wrap around them, I move over to the stream again and pull up the knife. I watch the knife in the sunlight, for the first time. The blade has the size of my hand and is covered in a dark red sludge. Blood.