Chapter 13-
Waking up to unfamiliar surroundings is like having somebody grab you from behind, you certainly don’t see it coming and when it does it’s a shock that makes you panic suddenly. I sat up with a bit of difficulty as pain shot through me but my fear and lack of knowledge of where I was forced me up. I looked around worried when a small impulse sprang my memory back and I remembered what had happened.
“Sky? You’re awake?” I turned my head to my right to see Scott running my way with a pair of dead rabbits in his hand. I just stared at him as he ran over and threw his arms around me. A groan slipped through my lips without permission making Scott pull away quickly.
“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” he asked with a concerned gaze. “Scott, do me a favor” I mumbled exhausted. “Yeah?” he asked inching closer. I laid back down and groaned “Stop babying me. I’m injured not two.” He chuckled a little and shook his head. “You might as well be” he smirked at me. I smiled a little and lying on my back I stared at the blue sky above me. Not a cloud in sight and the sun seemed to be in the center of the sky. I assumed it was around noon. A couple of birds flew by overhead singing a soft song along the way.
“How long was I out?” I whispered to Scott, afraid of the answer. Scott stares straight in my eyes and tell me “Two days.” That makes me sit straight up again. “Two?” I asked surprised. “Yeah” Scott sighed. “It was pretty hard dealing with you in that time. I was too scared to go out and hunt most of the time” he smiled at me.
“What have I missed?” I asked. He shook his head. “Nothing. There have been no deaths in the past couple of days. There hasn’t been any action and I’m afraid the Capitol is going to make their own soon enough” I stretched and looked at my bandages. They were fresh. “Scott?” I growled suddenly terrified. He saw my sudden and slight anger.
Throwing his arms up in defense, his eyes widened and he backed away quickly saying “I had no choice! I couldn’t leave you with the same bandages for two days straight!” I slammed my palm onto my face and sighed. Dear lord the boy changed my bandages and saw me half naked. I felt the heat rise to my face and refused to lower my hand until I was sure that it had faded a bit.
“I’m sorry Sky. I promise I didn’t…..t-t-touch you…you k-know like….um…I-I…..wow….uh” he stuttered scratched the back of his head awkwardly and diverting his gaze away. My hands clenched into fists and I wanted to hit him but instead heaved a deep and loud sighed. “What happened to Kurt?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject. “He left” Scott replied completely relieved for the slightly easier conversation. “What do you mean?” I asked genuinely confused. “After you came back he said he was done helping and he left. I kind of watched him go as he said he hoped you were ok and told me to let you know how thankful he is to you” Scott told me.
I grabbed a hold of my knife that rested at my side and tied it to my belt. With much effort I got to my feet. Scott stared at me oddly. Before he could ask I explained. “We need to keep moving, find the others and kill them if we want to finish this. There aren’t too many left. It’s the two of us, Troy, Spark, Kurt and that kid Retner. We need to reduce our numbers our way without the Capitol’s assistance. You coming?” I asked gazing down at him.
He seemed a little shocked. He cocked an eyebrow at me and his mouth hung open a bit. “You actually want to go after the others?” he asked standing up. I nodded my head in determination. “Sounds good but let’s eat first” he grinned sitting down again. I sat beside him and suddenly my throat felt really dry. “Do you have any water?” I asked. He tossed me the bottle and I chugged all the water down leaving the bottle empty. Scott laughed at me but paid close attention to cooking.
We ate and I was standing up again as soon as I was done. “Let’s go” I said placing the axe sling on my back and tucking the axe in place as well. Scott stared up at me and said “Why don’t you just get a bit more rest?” I gave him a dirty look.
“No. I’m fine. We need to move and end this” I said and started to walk towards the forest. I didn’t get far since after 3 steps Scott grabbed my arm. He looked at me sadly and said “Are you sure you’re ok to keep moving?” I nodded my head and he sighed, standing up. He strapped the quiver on his back. I noticed he only had about 6 arrows left. He grabbed his bow and slung our bag of supplies over his shoulder. He turned to me and nodded. I led the way into the forest and navigated our way through it.
“What are the chances that you know where the Careers are hiding?” I asked Scott as I lifted up a branch and held it for Scott. He ducked under it and walked ahead of me. I also tucked my head under the branch before letting it go. “Not sure but I might have an idea” he said suddenly changing direction.
I followed behind loyally, with my final knife out, covering his back. It wasn’t long before Scott paused and turned his head to me slightly. His raised his finger to his lip reminding me to be quiet. Then he pointed up at a nearby tree. I nodded and placed the blade of my knife between my teeth as I started climbing the tree. I climbed to a fairly high branch and inched towards it’s edge without going too far out. The last thing I needed was for the branch to give out under me. I stood up on it trying to find my balance and looked out to see another cliff in front of me. It was odd how many cliffs there seemed to be in this arena. Aside from the cliff there didn’t seem to be anything else.
I climbed back down the tree swiftly and told Scott. He looked a bit surprised. “What made you think they were here?” I asked him confused. “A while back I saw that blond Career come this way, right here, and she stayed there. I don’t know!” he said just as confused, if not more confused, than me. I sighed and stepped out into the open on the cliff. I glanced around and finally moved towards the edge. After taking a deep breath I looked over. It was just like a cliff, nothing interesting. The only difference is that there was no rocky terrain under the cliff like the one Drex fell from and there wasn’t water like the one I’d dived from. Instead there was a ravine with an extremely thick forest and from what I could see it was very dense. It would be impossible to even see the sky through the thick foliage.
I blinked a few times as Scott walked up to me now and looked over as well. It looked as if the cliff seeped inwards into darkness a few feet right below my feet. “Sk..” I put my hand over Scott’s mouth and raising my finger to my lip I silenced him. I lowered my hand from his mouth and slowly and carefully bent down to my knees. Scott looked at me confused as I laid on the rocky cliff. My stomach pressed to the sun warmed rocks. I kept my breathing calm and quiet as I placed my head over the edge of the cliff and looked down a little.
I was right the light didn’t shine on the edge of the cliff here. There was an adult sized shadow on the side of the rocks and I could see an opening in the rocky cliff wall. I stood up slowly with a grin on my face.
Scott looked at me like I’d completely lost my mind. I grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him deep into the forest. “What the hell are you grinning like an idiot about?” he asked. “The Careers are good at hiding. It’s about time we bring them out and end this” I smirked. He grinned and said “Now you’re talking.” I described the opening in the cliff and how the Careers have been hiding in a cliff-side cave. “You have that look in your eyes. You have a plan” Scott stated proudly. My lips upturned into a crooked grin and I nodded my head pulling an arrow out of his quiver.
“Elroy, we’re going to need a lot of kerosene, wire and woven square pieces of rope” I smirked never taking my eyes off Scott. He grinned at me as I moved the arrow through my fingers. “Come on” I said gripping the arrow tightly in my hand as I led the way. I walked towards the east downhill and past many trees.
I knew we were getting to the bottom of the cliff once the trees grew thick. The forest was full of oaks, birches, maples and ash trees and I knew I was right. It was impossible to see through the thick tree branches to the sky which is what made the cliff side cave such a good place to hide.
Every time I glanced upwards hoping to see the vast blue sky all I saw were leaves and branches closing the area off. “This way” I gestured to Scott as I moved to the right. I paused in front of a large tree and handed Scott the arrow, my knife was at my belt and the axe on my back. I inspected the large and somewhat intimidating Maple Tree. It is generally very hard to climb but this one was covered in moss and vines. There is a chance it could be climbed but there is also a chance of slipping on the moss and falling.
Scott’s hand on my shoulder jerked my out of my thoughts. “It’s too risky. You can find another tree” he said with a serious expression on his face. I grinned to reassure him although I was unsure myself. If I could manage to clear a bit of moss and maybe make a few slits in the bark with the axe it would be a lot easier to climb. “Sky please just find another tree” Scott pleaded. I turned my head slightly and smiled again. “We don’t have time and this is the tallest tree around. I can do this. A little support would be nice” I told him. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his chest. “I believe in you but I don’t ever want to see you hurt again” he whispered. I hugged him quickly then pulled away.
I gave him a smile knowing I couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. If I promised him he wouldn’t have to see me hurt I’d end up breaking it in the end. I couldn’t lie to him anymore so instead I stayed quiet and turned back to the tree, inspecting it again
