I turn to go back to the desert, to find that “back” doesn’t exist anymore. The mist has enveloped me. I am lost in the middle of nothingness. Scared, I choose a direction, and stick to it. Slowly, the fog gets thicker. Soon my waist is gone. Now most of my torso. Eventually, my hand in front of my own face is hidden from my vision.
Panicked, I try to pick up the pace. Stumbling on roots, rocks, and who knows what else, I think I hear something behind me. I freeze and listen. I have never been so dependent on my ears in my life. I hear a simple snap of a twig and am off, racing through the mist. I crash into trees and trip on roots. One wrong step sends me tumbling down a steep hill, crashing into boulders and hard ground.
Crack! My head slams into a rock. I feel blood trickle down my neck. Light headed, I seem distant from the world, as if everything is all just a dream. I hear noises approaching me and a voice in me is telling me to move, get to my pack, do something, but my limbs feel like lead.
A flash of white fangs dripping with blood is enough to get me into motion. I reach into my pack and find a water bottle labeled, “Holy - do not drink!” A memory of my book informs me this is Dracula’s weakness. I unscrew the top and begin spraying it all around me. A scream reports I have hit my target. A body falls on me, burning and shrieking. I pull out a wooden stake from my belt and drive it deep into Dracula’s heart. His body goes limp and I scramble out from underneath him.
I am shaking and take shallow quick breaths. Are there more? I wonder. My stake is out at the ready to kill anything that threatens me. Not letting down my guard, I dial Bralynn’s number.
“I’m in the fog,” I say quietly. Alerting something hiding out there is not my best option.
“Okay. Any idea how we could get to you?” she asked.
“Do you know if you are North, South, East, or West of the mist?” I asked, an idea beginning to form in my head.
“West maybe. We’re on the shore, why?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” I hung up, partially because I didn’t want to get her hopes up about my plan, it might not work at all.
I take out my transistor radio and began pulling it apart. I have to hold everything very close to my face to see it. I lie on the ground so the fog is above me and not as dense. I pour my chicken broth from it’s container into my empty water bottle. After filling the container with water, I focus on the radio. I use the generator’s magnet to rub a piece of the antenna on and place it in the water, praying it works.
The antenna twirls a bit one way, then the other and finally settling on one spot. I shove all my supplies into my backpack and head East or rather what I hope is East. Every once and awhile, I rub my antenna back on the magnet, just to make sure.
The fog around me is starting to dissipate, and I can see my compass with less struggle now. I am stumbling less and can already see my feet.
I can see the cornucopia with a few career tributes hanging around. Carefully evading them, I get to the shore.
“Onyx!” I am squashed in a hug from Bralynn and Datura. Relief floods through me as I melt into their arms. Safe for now, we settle down and sleep as stars light the sky.