Hunger Games 1

Chapter 29: Alliance (2)
Lulu chewed another handful of herbs and applied it on me. After a while, my frown relaxed, because the sting was much more comfortable now.I found a large burn on Lulu's forearm.

"I have something for this." I put the bow and arrow aside and rub the ointment on her arm.

"Your patron is very kind." She said enviously.

"Did you get the sponsorship?" I asked.She shook her head. "There will be. Look, the later the game goes, the more people will know how smart you are."

After finishing speaking, I turned around and went to get the meat.

"You want to unite with me, aren't you kidding?"

"No, I mean it," I said.Haymitch must have resented being associated with such a delicate kid, I can imagine.But I am willing to unite with her, she is a person who has survived in a dangerous environment, I trust her, besides, why not admit it?She reminds me of Prim.

"Okay," she said, holding out her hand, and we shook hands.

"That `s a deal!"

Of course, this kind of agreement can only be temporary, but neither of us mentioned this.

Lulu also found us some root plants to accompany our meal, the kind that smell sweet of parsnips when roasted over the fire.She also knew the bird, which was called a toucan in her area, and she said that sometimes it flew to the orchard in flocks, so they could have a good meal.We both had our stomachs full and didn't talk for a while.The meat of the toucan is very fragrant, and there is a lot of oil, and the oil flows out from the corner of the mouth when it is chewed.

"Oh," Lulu said with a sigh, "I've never eaten a whole leg before."

I think so, and dare I say she doesn't even eat meat at all.

"Eat that one too," I said.

"Really?" she asked.

"You can eat as much as you want. Now we have bows and arrows, and we can shoot more. I will also play tricks, and I will teach you how to do it." I said.

Lulu still looked at the leg hesitantly.

"Oh, take it," I said, putting the bird's leg in her hand. "This can only be kept for a few days, and besides, we still have a whole bird and rabbit."

As soon as the bird's leg was in her hand, she took a big bite, and it seemed that she was hungry.

"I was thinking, in your eleventh district, your food must be slightly more than ours. You know, your district grows food." I said.Lulu opened her eyes wide.

"Oh no, we're not allowed to eat what we harvest."

"Will you be arrested? Or something?" I asked.

"You will be whipped in public," Lulu said. "The mayor is especially strict."

I could tell from her expression that this happened a lot.Public whippings are rare in District [-], though they do happen on occasion.So Gail and I get whipped every day for poaching in the woods, and I get more; but the officials eat and buy meat; and besides, our mayor, March's Dad, not interested in such things.Being the most obscure, poorest, and most ridiculed district in the country, perhaps, had its advantages, as long as we met our production quotas, the Capitol would leave us alone.

"Do you have enough coal to burn?" Lulu asked.

"Not enough," I said, "we burn coal we buy ourselves or carry from our boots."

"We eat a little more during the harvest season, so everyone can last longer." Lulu said.

"Do you go to school?" I asked.

"It's not the harvest season, everyone has to work." Lulu said.

It was interesting to hear her talk about it.We don't communicate very much with players from other divisions, in fact, I think the tournament organizers deliberately prevent communication between us, even if some information is harmless, they don't want players from different divisions to know each other.

Lulu suggested that we have a plan for all our meals.She has seen most of my food, plus a few biscuits and some beef, and she has picked a lot of roots, nuts, wild vegetables, and even some berries.I picked up an unfamiliar berry and asked, "Are you sure this is edible?"

"Oh yes, we have it back home and I've been eating it for days," she said, putting a handful of berries into her mouth.I carefully took a bite, and it tasted similar to the blackberry we usually eat.Joining Lulu always looks good.We divided our meals in case we were separated and we had days to plan.Lulu also has a leather water bottle, homemade slingshot and a pair of socks.Another sharp stone was used as a knife.

"I know I don't have much," she said, as if embarrassed, "but then I'll have to run from the Horn of Zeus."

"You did the right thing," I said.I dumped mine out too, and her eyes widened when she saw the sunglasses.

"Where did you get this?" she asked.

"It's in my backpack. I haven't used it so far. It can't block the sun, so people can't see things clearly." I shrugged and said.

"It's not for blocking the sun, it's for use at night." Lulu yelled, "Sometimes, when we harvest at night, someone sends a few copies to those who climb to the top of the tree, so they can see where the torches can't reach. Once , a boy named Martin wanted the glasses, hid them in his pocket, and he was killed on the spot."

"Killed the boy because of the glasses?" I said.

"Yeah, everyone knows he's not dangerous, I mean, Martin's out of his mind, he's like a three-year-old. He just wants those glasses to play with," Lulu said.

Hearing her say that made me think District [-] was a safe haven.Sure, people are always hungry, but I can't imagine the vigilantes in District [-] killing a simple child.There is a little girl, the granddaughter of Gracey Sey, who plays in the black market. She is a little demented, but everyone regards her as a cute little girl, and often throws some delicious or amusing things to her.

"Then how do you use these glasses?" I asked Lulu holding the glasses.

"Put on glasses and you can see in the dark." Lulu said, "You can try it after the sun goes down tonight."

I gave Lulu some matches and she gave me some herbs to use when the stings hurt.We put out the fire and went up the stream, not stopping until dark.

"Where do you sleep?" I asked her, "in a tree?" She nodded. "Just sleeping in a jacket?"

Lulu held up her sock, "I put this on my hand."

I thought about how cold the first few nights had been. "You can share the sleeping bag with me if you want, it fits perfectly between the two of us."

There was light in Lulu's eyes, and it could be seen that she had never dared to think about it before.

We picked the branch, and then the national anthem played, no one died today.

"Lulu, I just woke up this morning. How many people did I miss?" The national anthem should cover my voice, but I whispered it anyway, even covering my mouth.I don't want the audience to know what I'm going to tell her about Peeta.Lulu also understood, and became more careful when speaking.

"Two," she said. "The girls from District One and District Four are dead. There are ten left."

"It's weird, at least that's what I think, maybe the venom from the tracker bee is doing the trick," I said. "You know Peeta the boy from our district? He saved my life, but he's with That gang of pros hangs out."

"He's not with them now, I scouted their camp by the lake and they came back there after being attacked by stalker bees, but he wasn't there, maybe he did save you and ran away."

I said nothing.If Peeta did save me, I owe him another debt, which I can't repay now. "If he does that, it's acting, you know, making people think he loves me."

"Oh, I don't think that's acting."

"Of course," I said, "he came up with it with my advisor."

The national anthem ended and the sky darkened again.

"Let's try these glasses."

I took out my glasses and put them on, Lulu didn't lie to me, I could see the leaves on the trees, the skunk prowling in the bushes fifty feet away, and I could hit it now if I wanted to can kill anyone.

"Those professional players have two pairs of glasses, and their things are all by the lake." Lulu said, "They are all strong and strong."

"We're not easy to mess with," I said, "we all have different strengths."

"You are wonderful, you can shoot an arrow," she said, "and what can I do?"

"Can you find food yourself, can they?" I asked.

"They don't need it, they have enough to eat." Lulu said.

"If they didn't, if their supplies were lost, how long would they last?" I said. "I mean, the Hunger Games are also a test of self-survival, aren't they?"

"But Katniss, they won't starve," Lulu said.

"Yeah, they're not hungry, that's the problem." I agreed.For the first time, I began to develop a plan in my mind, a plan of attack, not a plan of running and dodging.

"I think we need to think about it, Lulu."

(End of this chapter)