eleven - burglary

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it's going to be dark soon and asher and i haven't had very much luck. there doesn't seem to be a freshwater source anywhere. what will we do? what if the only water available was the ocean on the beach? it's a full day's journey from where we are now, and an even harder one with nothing to satisfy our parched tongues. i imagine the saltwater wouldn't be very good to drink, either.

i'm panting as i move, my aching, tired arm slashing through the green a lot slower than before. every once in a while asher scolds me to "please suffer more quietly," but even he is moving slower and his lips are cracked.

"i" – i take a deep breath – "can't go on. not like this. we have to" – i gasp for air again – "stop for the night."

"no," asher protests much to my dismay. i groan quite childishly. "we have to find water. we'll die if we don't."

as much as i hate to admit it, asher is right – as usual. my sore, exhausted body is slow to comprehend that we have to keep moving, and it takes all the strength i have left to cut through the branches blocking our path.

suddenly, as i slice through the last bit of vegetation low enough to reach, i hear voices and spot a person out of the corner of my eye. i quietly gasp and, without wasting a second, grab onto asher's sleeve and pull him down.

"what was that?" astrid, the female tribute from district one asks, standing up from the log she had been sitting on.

"i'll check it out," bliss, asher's district partner says as she grabs her - is that an axe? - and starts off. right. toward. us.

asher curses under his breath. my heart leaps into my throat. immediately i bury myself into a thick, tall bush, making sure i'm completely obscured. i hear a faint rustling that tells me asher has done the same.

barely breathing, i hear bliss's footsteps on the earth, so light they can scarcely be heard. i squeeze my eyes shut and wait with my reflexes on high alert, tightening my knife in my hand. my palms have become sweaty and the handle is slippery.

after what seems like forever, bliss retreats. "i can't see anything," she says, her voice sounding farther away. "must've been a rabbit or something."

"good thing we have plenty of those." i peek through the bush to see lycus, from district five, kindling a fire. that would be a stupid thing to do for anyone else, but since they're careers, i suspect they think they have nothing to worry about.

on a spit above the fire are two dead rabbits and a squirrel. beside the flames are four more rabbits and three squirrels. astrid has what looks like berries in her palm and she is washing them with trickles of water from a bottle. my eyes widen. they have an entire feast!

bliss' long, black hair swishes back and forth as she walks and then sits back down, doing her part and helping astrid wash the berries, then putting them in large leaves for bowls. her bronze skin looks almost golden in the firelight. her sharp jaw is tense as she concentrates on washing the berries.

"they have water," asher whispers almost silently into my ear. "and food. there must be a way to steal it."

"steal it? are you crazy?" i hiss back, my eyes widening.

i can basically hear the smirk in asher's voice. "i'm a career, remember? as much as i hate it, i'm technically one of them."

as carefully as he can, asher skillfully climbs out of the bush. he then scoops me out and sets me back on the ground. we both hurriedly check to make sure none of our weapons or supplies were lost during our hiding, and when we're sure we have everything, we set off tip-toeing away.

we stop not too far when asher grabs my shoulder. "i have a plan."

"why do i have a feeling it's dangerous and i'm going to regret it?" i muse.

"honey, this is the hunger games," asher reminds me. "everything is dangerous."

i sigh. "fine. what's your plan?"

he smirks, handing me a bow and a single arrow. "i hope you're good at archery, twelve."

i have to admit, it's pretty good. it's beyond wild, suicide even, but it's worth a shot. i hike the backpack further up onto my shoulders and he hands me one of his throwing knives in case of emergency.

"ready?" he asks quietly.

i take a deep breath and nod. "yeah."

he takes off. i'm skeptical about where in the world he found the bow and arrow, but i'm not about to question it since it may as well save our lives.

with bated breath i move back to the career camp. it's now even darker outside, and it's a good thing they have that fire because i can barely see without it. making my footsteps as soundless as possible, i creep as closely as i dare while still being concealed by the trees and plants. taking another deep breath to calm my erratic heartbeat, i take the bow and secure the arrow in. pulling back the string, i breathe slowly, focusing my aim on a faraway tree behind the heads of astrid and bliss.

i have a single arrow. a single chance to get this right. if i don't, i'm dead for sure.

i release the arrow. thankfully, it goes where it's supposed to and hits the tree i was aiming for, a little ways behind the careers. right on cue, asher lets out a long, painful scream that's so good it's hard to believe it's fake. the careers jump up, but they don't know where to go first– asher or me.

he's still screaming in "agony." i start sprinting around the perimeter of the camp in case they're coming my way. i hear no one behind me, but i hide behind a fat tree trunk just in case, breathing heavily with adrenaline coursing through my veins. my heart is thudding.

asher's wailing has ceased, and i now know he's running, too. i peer around the tree and look at their camp to see it's completely abandoned. but what if it isn't?

oh well.

i take a chance and sprint as fast as i possibly can, grabbing the rabbits and squirrels – both cooked and raw – from where they now lay on the grass and snatch the water bottle. i don't have time to get the berries. i look around for anything else that looks useful, and find a black blanket laying on the log. i take that, too. 

clutching the stolen goods with my life, i dash away from the camp, twisting and turning in the event that someone could be following me. i circle back around to mine and asher's meeting place – a large pine that has been marked with a long gash in its bark. when i'm there, i stuff the water, animals, and blanket into the backpack and wait on high alert.

soon i hear someone running and the sound of them pushing through plants. i stand and face that direction. a few seconds later, asher pops out, his face glistening with sweat and gasping for air.

"go!" he manages to choke out, and in an instant i know he's being followed. i crack into movement and hear him following close behind me. i also notice the faint shouts and footsteps of someone else chasing after us.

thankful for the light of the moon, i try not to crash into any trees as i wind around the forest in random directions. i lose the bow somewhere along the way, too focused on holding onto our newly-acquired food and water to care. 

the adrenaline is the only thing holding me up after about ten minutes. asher gasps, "stop," and i slow to a walk before collapsing on the ground, wheezing. my limbs aren't used to so much physical activity. even though i've eaten well since the reaping, i'm still far too thin from growing up in twelve. the result is a frail body that can't keep up with the amount of exercise that the hunger games demands.

"it wasn't a career following us," asher informs me through his pants, his hands on his knees as he hunches over. "it was cael, the guy from" – he coughs – "district eight, i think. we lost him." there is a long pause in which we both try to catch our breath. "how much did you get?"

i slide the pack off my shoulders and toss it to him. he catches it mid-air and slumps against a tree trunk, opening it. he smiles as he examines the contents inside. "nice. you're a pretty good burglar."

"thanks," i say, scooting on my butt closer to him. he hands me a lukewarm squirrel and sets the water bottle between us. as hungry as we are, i only eat about a quarter of the squirrel and he eats a bit of rabbit before we wrap them in leaves and save them for later. we each take two gulps of water before putting it away also.

"where are we going to sleep?" asher asks.

i copy his smirk from before. "i hope you know how to climb trees, four."

asher does not, in fact, know how to climb trees. luckily he's a fast learner though, and with a little coaching from me he successfully (and clumsily) makes it up one. i climb up after him and rest on a sturdy branch a bit above his. i cut our rope in half using one of my knives and toss one of the sides to him. we use them to secure ourselves to the branches so we don't fall out of them. using the knot-tying skills i learned from training, i tie my bit of rope into a small yet strong knot while asher kind of just wings it. i don't even think he knows what he's doing.

a few minutes later the capitol anthem sounds and we look up toward the sky. there the faces of the dead are displayed with their districts labeled under them. i see eleven now. the male tribute from three, a career girl from two, maika, a boy from district seven, and the girl from eight, to name a few.

"two less careers to worry about," asher sighs from his branch below me. "that's good news. nine other tributes we don't have to worry about. even better."

"yeah." i shift, trying to get comfortable. asher has let me have the blanket, which is kind of scratchy but otherwise warm. it's being put to good use because while the day was sweltering, the night has been considerably cool.

"goodnight, thalia," asher yawns.

"goodnight, asher."

and those are the last words between us until the morning.

gif is thalia talking to asher

___________

eyyyyyyyy

im so sorry for the longish wait. i had writers block and i honestly dont know where this came from. it just happened. but yaaaaayyy! ashalia bonding time! theyre my brotp.

dedicated to 5_Seconds_Of_Nutella because they are an avid fan of my books and always comment and for that i am eternally grateful <3

gtg gonna go eat chocolate

xoxo,
kristyn