Hunger Games 1

Chapter 24 Water Lily (2)
It was not until late in the evening that I found a glimmer of hope, when I saw a handful of fruit-bearing bushes in the grass, and I plucked the berries to suck their sweet juice.But I lifted the berry to my mouth, and instead of eating it, I looked at it carefully.This berry, which I thought was a blueberry, was a little different. I opened one and found the flesh inside was blood red.Maybe this kind of fruit is edible, but I think it might be an evil trap by the organizers of the competition.Even the plant instructors at the training center told us to try not to eat berries unless we were [-] percent sure it wasn't poisonous.I knew this a long time ago, but I was too thirsty. Only when I remembered the warning from my instructor did I have the courage to throw it away.

The tiredness hit me too, but not the usual tiredness after a long walk.I had to stop and go, taking breaks now and then.I know very well that I can't stop, only keep looking.I thought of a new method. I tried my best to be as bold as possible, and staggered to the top of the tree, looking for traces of water.But looking as far as the eye can see, there is only a boundless and indifferent forest.I decided to keep going until dark before stopping.By the time I had to stop, the soles of my feet were already tripping.

I was so exhausted that I barely dragged myself up the tree and secured it with a leash.I have no appetite at all, but I still suck on the rabbit bones to keep my mouth occupied.Night fell, the national anthem played, and I saw the head of the girl in the sky, obviously she was from District [-], the one Peeta went back to kill.

At this time, the torment of lack of water was far greater than the fear brought to me by those professional players; in addition, they were going in the opposite direction to me, so it was time to rest.Water is scarce, and they may have returned to the lake to fetch water.

Perhaps, the current route is the only one I can walk.

The next morning, I felt even worse.My head throbbed with every beat of my heart.Every time I move a step, the joint hurts.I fell from a tree, not jumped, and it took me several minutes to pick things up from the ground.I knew in my heart that this was not the case, that I should be more alert and go faster; but I was too dizzy to plan very well.I leaned on the tree trunk, thinking about what to do, while carefully touching the surface of my tongue, which was as dry as sandpaper, with my fingers.How can I find water?

Back to that lake?No, I can't do it.Counting on rain?There was not even a cloud in the sky.Then look for?Yes, this is my only option.A thought flashed through my mind, and anger woke me up.

Haymitch!He can bring me water!With the push of a button, the silver-white parachute delivers the water in minutes.I know there must be sponsors, at least one or two people who can afford to buy me a pint of water!Yes, the water that comes here is expensive, but these people have money in their pockets, and they're sure to bet on me.Maybe Haymitch doesn't know how much I need water.

"Water," I yelled, as boldly as I could, and waited, hoping for a parachute to drop from the sky, but nothing.

Something is wrong, did I miscalculate the sponsor?Maybe they've held back because of Peeta's behavior?No, I don't believe it.There must have been a lot of people waiting to buy me water, but Haymitch refused.As my instructor, he should be in control of when the sponsorship arrives.I know he hates me, he's made that very clear.But does he hate me so much that he wants me to die?thirsty?He wouldn't do that, would he?If the instructor mistreated his "tribute," he had to explain it to the audience, to someone as far away as District [-].Even Haymitch wouldn't take that risk, would he?For better or worse, the people who usually deal with me on the black market, if Haymitch just let me die, I don't think they would welcome him back to District [-] either.If so, where did he get the wine?So... why?To torture me for my contempt for him?Did he pull all his sponsors to Peeta?Is he so drunk that he doesn't know what's going on here with me?I can't quite believe it, and I don't believe that he could kill me by negligence.In fact, he had been seriously preparing me, in his own unpleasant way.So, what is going on?
I buried my face in my hands.Now I don't have to worry about crying anymore, I can't even squeeze a tear to save my life.What the hell is Haymitch doing?As much as I hated, was angry, and doubted him, I seemed to hear a small voice in my head speak to me.

"Maybe he's sending you a message." A message.what's the message?Then it finally dawned on me that there was only one good reason Haymitch didn't give me water, and that was because he knew I wasn't far from it.

I gritted my teeth and straightened up. The backpack on my body seemed to be twice as heavy as before.I found a broken branch to use as a walking stick and continued on.The sun is hot, hotter than the previous two days.I felt like a worn piece of leather drying and cracking in the hot sun.Every step is very difficult, but I will never stop, and I can't sit down. If I sit down, it is very likely that I will never be able to stand up again, and I may not even know what I am going to do.

How easy it is for me to become someone else's prey at this time, any "tribute", even the petite Lulu can catch me.Just push me down and kill me with my knife, I can barely resist.But on the other hand, even if there are people in this wood, they can't find me, because I feel that another creature is a million kilometers away from me.

Oh, and I'm not actually alone, there must be a camera following me.The scenes of those "tributes" starving to death, freezing to death, bleeding to death, and dehydration over the years flashed through my mind.Unless there is a fierce fight elsewhere, I must be in the camera.

I thought of Prim again.She may not see live TV, but she will see the rolling news during school lunch.For her sake, I try not to embarrass myself too much.

But by afternoon, I couldn't hold on any longer.My legs were shaking and my heart was beating fast.I kept forgetting what I was up to, and staggered as I tried to keep my feet on my feet.The crutch slipped under my foot, and I fell to the ground with a plop. I couldn't stand up anymore, and I closed my eyes.

I was wrong about Haymitch, he had no intention of helping me.

"It's all right," I thought, "it's not too bad in here." The air was already less hot, signaling the approaching night.A scent that wafts reminds me of lilies.My fingers touched the smooth ground and drew lightly on it. "It's a nice place to die," I thought.

My fingers draw circles on the cool, slippery ground. "I like dirt." I thought, how many times have I found prey by relying on this soft dirt with animal tracks printed on it.It can also treat bee stings.Dirt, dirt, dirt!My eyes widened suddenly, and I dug up the ground with my fingers.It's dirt!I sniffed carefully with my nose again, it was a lily!Water Lily!I crawled, dragged my body, and crawled towards the scented place.Five yards from where I fell, there was a small clump of vegetation, and I crawled through it to find the pond.On the water surface of the pond, there are blooming yellow flowers floating one after another. They are lilies, my beautiful lilies!
I really want to dip my head in the water and gulp and gulp down the pond until I can't drink any more, but I can't.With the last bit of conscious awareness I had left, I told myself not to drink.With trembling hands, I took out the water bottle to fill it with water, and then added an appropriate amount of iodine to purify the water.

Waiting for the next half hour was too painful, but I insisted on it.At least, I think it's been half an hour, and that's about as much as I can bear.

Drink slowly!Relax!I told myself.I took a sip and waited.Then take another sip.In the hours that followed, I drank the half gallon of water in the jug.Then another bottle, and I'll prepare another before retreating into the woods, where I can sip water and eat rabbit, and maybe even enjoy it, with a precious biscuit.When the national anthem was played, I felt better.There are no portraits of anyone tonight, and no one died today.Tomorrow, I'll stay here, rest up, camouflage my pack with mud, catch some small fish I see in the pond while I'm drinking, and treat myself to digging out lily roots from the pond.I'm curled up in my sleeping bag, clinging to the water that gave me life, yeah it saved my life!

A few hours later, the sound of hurried running woke me up from my sleep, and I looked around in a daze. It was not yet dawn, and even though my eyes hurt, I could easily see that a wall of fire was falling from the sky.

(End of this chapter)