Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Thirty-Three

Um, I hope you like this chapter! For some of you...lets just say its the chapter you've been waiting for ;)

We marched well into the night, without much luck of finding shelter. The problem was, the land was very open, and the trees were so spread out, it wasn’t worth climbing them. They offered very little cover from the sun and the eyes of the other tributes. We were just about to climb one anyway, when something happened. The sky clouded over, pretty much in a matter of minutes, and then it began to pour with rain. And I mean rain. It was clearly designed by the Game makers to keep things moving.

 Or someone.

 We ran. We ran so fast that my lungs burned and my legs felt like they were going to collapse. The rain water ran down the hillsides, and soon enough, we were in a bowl, which was slowly, but surely filling. Puddles were splashing around my feet and filling my boots slowing me down, and Logan had to help me along as we attempted to clamber up the hill. Slipping and sliding, we finally made it, but even more exhausted than before, all we could do was crawl under a nearby tree and watch the rain fall by the bucket full. We quickly ate the last of Minerva’s game and forced ourselves to move one. It was soon that we realised that we had gone in a full circle. We were back at the little pond where we had set Kai free. I clenched my fists in anger.

 “What are we supposed to do now? We can’t go to the Cornocopia, the river is too wild to cross with the rain. And those creatures…I don’t want to go there again.”

 “Our best bet is to stay here. Water flows downhill, so we can’t drown at least,” Logan joked half-heartedly. Seeing I wasn’t in the mood either, he put a soggy arm around me, flicking his soaking hair out his face, “Let’s find a good tree. I don’t think a cave will be any better, and if I’ll take the first watch. You can see most of the arena from a tree.”

 I wondered how he knew that. Maybe he climbed a tree while he hunted. I didn’t mention it as we trudged on. In the end, Logan chose a tree, a large forked oak with just enough room for the two of us. I clambered up it first, edging along a branch so that I could help Logan up too. Though the rain made me freezing, I didn’t want to risk using the sleeping bag. If we used it that night, it would never dry, and we’d spend all the nights cold. I discussed it with Logan, and he agreed, but insisted that I wore his jacket.

 “You’ll be cold,” I protested.

 “I don’t matter. I-”

 “Don’t you dare say you don’t matter. Yes, I know you were going to say that you’re not going to win, and that I’m the one that matters, but if you insist on me letting you die, at least let me make you more comfortable before you do!” I snapped. Logan looked taken aback, but I ignored him huffily, and tried to make myself comfortable. Moments later, I felt Logan pull me into a hug from behind.

 “I’m sorry,” he whispered into my hair. I shook my head.

 “When will this be over? This horrible, endless, hell…”

  “Shhh. Don’t let them hear you. Don’t let them win,” Logan told me softly. I closed my eyes and nodded. Logan pressed himself closer to me, warming my trembling body, the tip of his nose against my ear and breath hot on my neck, making my skin tingle. It was an odd sensation, like I had goose bumps, but I liked it. It felt right.

 Through the rain, I saw a large package fall through the sky. Squinting my eyes, I saw it was a parachute. Drew and Valeria had sent us something!

 I pointed it out to Logan, and slipped from his warm embrace, down the tree trunk to see what it was. To my delight, I found it was a tent. I quickly sent a kiss in the general direction of the Capitol, knowing Valeria would be watching, even if Drew wasn’t. It was a symbol of my love, of my thanks.

 “Logan, come down! It’s a tent!” I called to him as quietly as possible. He followed me eagerly, as I tried to figure out how to put it up. It wasn’t the best weather to use it in, but it was better than sleeping in a tree. The rain began to subdue, and then completely stopped. Whatever aim the Game makers had for starting the rain in the first place had been achieved. As we put up the tent together, I listened closely for the sounds of other tributes. Nothing was heard. With the tent constructed, I crawled inside, feeling at home already. I set out the sleeping bag and fumbled for Minerva’s torch to light the tent. Logan followed me inside shortly after, grinning.

 “This is more like it,” he said, rubbing his hands together. They were bright red with the cold, and I insisted that he let me warm them up. He put his hands together as though in prayer, and let me enclose my hands around his, sharing my heat with his. He sighed in relaxation and closed his eyes. I took the chance to look at his face. His smiling lips were chapped and a small scar from the small scrape he had at the Cornocopia ran from his left ear to the corner of his eyebrow. He had dark circles under his eyes and his face had thinned slightly. From a few days of not shaving, he had stubble on his jaw. Knowing I was watching him, his eyes opened and met my own. I held his gaze, his intense blue eyes staring deep into me, his way of knowing everything that was in my mind. Eventually, I drew my eyes away.

 “We should…sleep,” I said. He nodded.

 “I don’t think there is much point in having a watch. No one will want to be travelling in weather like this.”

 I agreed with a slight nod of my head, and took my boots off to slip into the sleeping bag. Moments later, though I couldn’t see him, I heard Logan do the same, and then he was beside me once again. Chest pressed to my back. Heart beating through his shirt against me. The stubble on his face tickling my neck. Away from the cameras and prying eyes of the Capitol, we were truly alone. And though we’d slept next to each other many times since arriving at the arena, this time it was different. There was a spark of electricity, something I hadn’t felt before. I tossed my body, so I faced him, and realised he had made no attempt to sleep. He was wide awake, staring at the roof of the tent.

 “What’s on your mind?” I asked him. He smiled, almost smirked, the way he used to.

 “You,” he whispered back. I tried not to let my mouth gape as he turned on his side, so our noses were practically touching. I thought he might kiss me, but he just brushed a strand of hair of my face.

 “Don’t tempt me,” he said, reading my mind, and he touched my bottom lip with his finger, sending a shiver down my spine. He laughed at my reaction, and everything was almost normal again. I managed a scowl, and poked his prominent ribs.

 “Sleep,” I ordered him.

 “Alright, alright,” he said with a roll of his eyes. I was about to turn away from him again, but his hand gripped the back of my neck, forcing me to look at him. My eyes asked the question I longed to ask. Do you love me? And in response he smiled. Nodded. Let his lips lightly brush my nose.

 “Goodnight, Raven.”

 “Goodnight Logan,” I breathed. Rather than turning away, I snuggled into his chest and fell asleep in his arms once again.