Chapter 6

                                    

                                          
I wake up to Mitch shaking me. 
                          
"Come on, Skyler. We gotta move," he says. 
                          
I get up and grab my backpack. My sword is in my hand and Mitch is holding his bow. Jerome is already standing outside, twirling his axe in his hand. 
                          
"Let's go!" Jerome says. We walk through the woods, looking out for people. As we walk, I see another person. 
                          
Well, not a person. More like a fish. Quentin, from District 4. He looks over at us and grins evilly, holding up a sword. 
                          
"We can take him," I say. Mitch nods and pulls out his bow. He strings and arrow and shoots, and the arrow hits its mark in Quentin's chest. He falls backwards and we walk slowly over.
                          
He tries to get up, but Mitch shoots him again. A cannon goes off and we know he's dead. 
                          
"Let's go," Jerome says. I nod and we walk away, but I can't get Quentin's image out of my mind. I hear the hovercraft lowering and I know he's being taken away.
                          
"Where do we go now?" Mitch asks.  
                          
"I say we find a water source.  We don't want to run out," I say.  Jerome and Mitch agree and we walk through the woods.  
                          
As we walk, we hear another cannon go off.  Another tribute has fallen.
                          
"Do you guys have any siblings?" I ask randomly.  
                          
"Yeah.  A sister, Kayleigh, and a brother, Connor," Mitch says.  
                          
"Nope," Jerome says. "I'm an only child."  
                          
"Me too.  For a long time, it's only been my mom and I.  My dad was taken by the capitol when I was young," I say.  Mitch and Jerome stay quiet for a moment.  
                          
"I'm sorry," Jerome says. 
                          
"I'm okay," I say.
                          
"Guys, sorry to break the moment, but we found water!" Mitch says.  He takes out a water bottle and dips it in the pool of water.  He then takes disinfectant powder out of my bag and pours it slowly into the bottle.  
                          
"That's one!  Let's fill the others and get out of here," he says.  Jerome and I take water bottles, fill them and disinfect them as well.  When we're done, we put them in my backpack.  
                          
"Let's climb this rock and eat.  It's a good spot and we have the upper advantage," Jerome says, pointing to a massive rock beside the water. 
                          
"Let's do it, biggums!" Mitch says.  I chuckle and race after them.  
                          
Jerome's POV 
                          
I reach the rock first and begin climbing, my axe attached to my back.  I'm by far the best climber out of the three of us, but that's just a perk of being born a bacca and being raised in the jungle trees.  
                          
I reach the top and look around.  The coast is clear.  
                          
"My gosh Jerome!  Slow down!" Mitch says as he reaches the top of the rock.  Skyler isn't far behind him.  
                          
"I'm sorry, buddy.  I'm just a bacca!" I say, teasing him a little.  Skyler and him both laugh.  
                          
"Did you guys ever go to hubs?" Skyler asks as she sets down her backpack.  She pulls out some fish and hands them out.  Raw for me, cooked for them.  
                          
"All the time.  Sometimes, Jerome and I would meet in a hub and play Survival games together.  But that was pretty rare, considering we were three districts away," Mitch says.  
                          
"Yeah.  The only reason we got to meet each other was because we were reining Survival Games champions in our districts," I say.  
                          
Skyler nods.  
                          
"That's awesome.  When I saw you guys on the first day of training, I figured you had met before."  
                          
"Did you play in hubs?" I ask.  
                          
"All the time.  There was one hub in District 10 that I would always go to and play Survival Games in.  I earned quite a bit of money from them," she says.  
                          
"That's good!" Mitch says. 
                          
We talk a bit more before packing up and continuing to travel through the arena.  Once in a while, we discover a chest with better armour or more food, so we raid them and keep going.  
                          
We're doing pretty well for a few kids from lower class districts.