The Hunger Games - Rebirth - book 2

Chapter 9

A week and a half had passed and there were 10 1/2 of us left, 11 if you are being technical. The tribute from 9 had a birth defect that made her unable to hit puberty. Because of this she was the size of a 6 year old so I counted her as half. Amusingly the 11 that were left were all females. The tributes girls from every district but 3 was still alive. I remember her death clearly. She said win for her son. That struck me odd, what did she mean 'for her son'?

Katniss' ankle had gotten better and she was now able to walk on it and even run again. We had pulled up our stakes and moved closer to the watering hole we now found. Fortunately for us we discovered our tent was fireproof. We woke up one night to a blazing fire yards away from our tent and thought we were going to be burned alive. We had no time to run so we zipped ourselves up in the tent. When the fire was clearly around us it was certain that our tent was fireproof. That night the final two males that were left had perished, we heard their screams outside our tent.

"8 more to go then we have to-" Katniss began.

I threw my hands up over my ears and shook my head not wanting to hear what she was about to propose for the 32nd time since people stared dying. She kept trying to tell me that when there were only three left she wanted to split up. I didn't care about that I wanted her to live, for Cinna.

As I lowered my hands I looked at her. "You are staying with me and you will go home to your father when this is all over with." I told her before I rose to my feet and walked the five feet from our tent to refill our bottles.

"Aloe.... I'm sorry but I won't let you sacrafice yourself for me." Katniss replied.

Three blasts sounded and she looked at me.

"I'm not going to fight you and I won't let you die." I told her. "Your father would be heart broken if you died."

"What about your parents!" She shouted back at me. "You are all they have left remember your brother is dead."

I wanted to say something back but I didn't she was right. But I didn't want her to be right. My parents lost their only other child to the games and they needed me.

"Fine" I began. "When there is only 3 tributes left we split up."

She smiled and then nodded her head before she pulled me into a hug. I closed my eyes as I wrapped my arms around her. The moment we opened our eyes red was raining down around us. I held out my hand and winced when a piece of it landed on my skin. It was searing hot.

"What is it?" Katniss asked me as we retreated to the tent as it began falling harder.

I had forgotten that Katniss had never witnessed this act in the arena, the last time this happened she was sleeping.

"It's fire rain." I replied.

A loud scream could be heard and I pulled back the tent flap careful to only allow enough room to see who was screaming. It was the small girl from 9. She was being burnt. I frowned as I watched her and before I knew what I was doing I ran out and brought her back into the tent.

Her face was burnt and I felt bad. She looked up at me and her lip quivering and spoke.

"Please don't kill me." 9 asked me.

I shook my head as I reached over for my water and gently began washing her off.

"How old are you?" I asked her.

"I'm fourteen, my name is Tierney I'm from 9." she said between clenched teeth.

"I'm Aloe from 12 and this is Katniss from 1. I'm 21 and she is 22." I said as I was now rinsing her hair and relieving it from the burnt ends. I ended up having to use a knife to cut her hair that went to her butt, its new length went to her chin.

She was pretty, her face pixie like and innocent. Her hair dark and her eyes a mix of blue grey. Her skin was naturally pale and her limbs looked frail. She hadn't eaten in quite some time.

I handed her my water and she gulped it down quickly. She did the same with Katniss' when she offered it. I helped her into a sleeping bag and handed her some meat that was left over from a bird I had speared with my bow and she ate it silently.

"Aloe, you aren't going to kill me are you?" She asked.

I turned my head in a quick jerky movement that made her flinch.

"No I won't kill you. If you want us to be your ally we will allow it. If you don't then you can sleep her for a day or how many ever you need to strengthen back up and then we will let you head off on your own with the respect that we trust you won't turn on us."

"I want to stay" She said without missing a beat. "I promise I'll be good just don't make me go back out there it's scary." Tierney said.

I hushed her before I decided to sing her to sleep. Within a few minutes of my singing she was out like a fire.

"So she is going to stay with us?" Katniss asked me. "That's less food for the two of us, more hunting, more water and less room in the tent. We don't have enough room or anything to shelter another person."

"She is hardly a henderance Katniss." I hissed back. "Look at her, she is a scared little girl. I can't just throw her back out there."

"She isn't your responsibility. I don't want to babysit and she is just going to slow us down." Katniss argued.

"Just like you did me. Remember when you got hurt I didn't complain or throw you out to fend for yourself. I took care of you and nurse you back to health."

She huffed before she stared at the mouth of the tent. "Fine then. If she doesn't leave then I will."

I looked at her in disbelief was she giving me an ultimatum? I looked at her but she avoided my gaze.

"Katniss?" I sighed.

She looked at the sleeping girl and then grabbed her backpack before she began packing her things. "I see how it is." She said as she rose to her feet. "You choose the handicap girl over me. It's fine." She zipped up her jacket and pulled up her hood as she walked out.

I rose to my feet and followed after her. "Katniss you don't have to go." I called to her.

She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to face me. The fire rain had replaced itself with a heavy downpour and I was drenched. My hair was pasted to my face and water was pooling at my feet.

"Make her go then." She said plainly.

I stared at her and slowly shook my head. "If you were that girl would you want me to toss you into the rain." I asked her.

She looked at me and tilted her head slowly to the side before she glared at me and ran off into the forest. I chased after her for several minutes until I lost her in the downpour that made it impossible to see through. I stood there calling her name and then had to turn back when it started hailing. I made it back to the tent with a few cuts and bruises from the falling ice.

When I got inside I sat in the corner of the tent and watched the small girl sleeping. Did I really just choose this girl over my friend and ally Katniss. I should of just let her die right? Then again if it was me I'd want the same to be done to me. I did the right thing I said to myself.

I stared out of the tent at the night and watched the anthem play. Suddenly the seal went up, no faces this time around. That meant no deaths. Katniss my ally was still alive. I turned slowly to look at the girl again, she was alive as well.