Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Twenty-Two

We stared ahead at the water. In the distance, I could just about see land, but getting there seemed almost impossible. In District 10, it wasn’t as though we were taught how to swim. My father made sure I knew the basics, but I wasn’t sure I was strong enough, and Logan didn’t seem to think himself capable either.

 “We can’t go back,” I said firmly.

 “No,” Logan replied simply. It was decided. We were going to attempt the swim. Logan was about to slip in to the water, when I remembered what Sophia had told me.

 “Wait! Take your boots off. They’ll slow us down and become really heavy when we swim.”

 “I can’t, there’s no space.”

 “See how deep the water is. If it’s not too deep, take them off there and hand them back to me. I’ll put them in one of the rucksacks.”

 Logan tested the water, and found that there were several rocks just beneath the surface of the water. He slid himself in on his stomach, gasping at the chilling liquid, and took his boots off as fast as he could. He also removed his jacket, not wanting it to get wet if it could be used to keep us warm at night. I retrieved one of the rucksacks, and checked the contents. I was ecstatic to find that it contained a mask so that you can breathe under water, and also covered your eyes so you were able to see. Handing both to Logan so that he could put them on, I emptied the rest of the bag out. There was a torch and a packet of dried banana. I put them back in the bag for later, stuffing them inside Logan’s boots to make more room. The bag seemed to be made of the same material as our outfits, so I hoped it would also be waterproof. I made a mental note to check the other bag later on. Logan offered to carry one, as we hadn’t really had time to sort that out earlier, so I gave him the one with his clothes in, and got in the water too. After stuffing my clothes in my rucksack and putting it on my back, we were ready.

 “Good luck,” I said.

 “You too,” Logan nodded. Then, we dived in the water and began to swim. It was immediately clear that the swim would take a very long time. Both of our arm movements were clumsy and unskilled, resulting in a very slow pace. Five minutes in, and already I was growing weary. It was easier for Logan, with his special mask, and I wished selfishly that I hadn’t been so quick to offer it.

 Twenty minutes passed. I’d say we were probably a third of the way across, but I felt as though I couldn’t go on. I signalled to Logan to stop, and to swim to the left, where there was a cluster of rocks, just big enough to sit on. He sighed, but agreed. It would lengthen the swim by quite a bit, but I really needed a rest, and despite his huffing, I knew Logan did too. By the time we reached it, I was so out of breath, that it took a great deal of effort to pull myself up on to a rock. I then had to help Logan up, as he was a lot more fatigued than he let on. We sat together there for several minutes, gasping for breath and rolling our aching shoulders. I tried to lighten the situation.

 “Fancy a massage?” I teased. Taking me seriously, Logan nodded, wiping his face as he took off the dripping wet mask.

 “Yes please. That was horrible.”

 “Then why did you want to carry on?” I asked, squeezing his shoulders. He relaxed considerably.