Wilderness Journey in...
Burning Bright & Blazing Free
We head northwest and keep a strict pace. An hour before dawn we reach our first stop. It's a very nondescript part of the forest, but there's a stream nearby and enough tree coverage to hide our tents from hovercraft above if we place overhanging greenery on their roofs. Everyone is so tired at first no one even attempts to take the tents out of the packs. But after fifteen minutes I turn to Gale and shoot him a look. He sighs reluctantly, but stands when I extend my hand down to him.
We both know that we need to get started making camp before people start falling asleep from exhaustion. We get to work opening packs and pull out the tents and sleeping bags one by one. There are three large ones, for each of the families, mine, Peeta's, and Gale's, and one small one for Haymitch and Deen. Seeing us getting started Rory stumbles forward, eyes bleary to help us. Rye and Peeta also get started on their tent. Hazel and my mother set the rest of the kids to collect branches to camouflage the tops of our tents with. Peeta's father, surprisingly, knows how to make a campfire, and offers to get started on one.
"Not yet," Gale says, "We're still too close to district 12 and they might see the smoke."
~
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