𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ✔️

Chapter 25 - Ada

^Zea from District 12.

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Chapter 25

POV: Ada (District 2)

Time: Night 4

Tributes Remaining: 20

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The Arena is silent as the night progresses. I pick through the dirt at my feet, feeling for anything squishy. After a few minutes, I finally find what I'm looking for - a worm. It's a big one, and it wriggles as I pull it from the ground. Grinning, I quickly wash it with water before throwing it into my mouth and swallowing it. Back in the Academy, we took a class where we ate all sorts of edible plants and animals that could keep us alive in the Arena. I have a large food supply, but who knows how long the Games are going to last. Unlike the others in here, I'm prepared for anything.

My attention is caught next by a bird in a nearby tree, who twitches every few seconds. Reaching down, I grab my bow, along with one of my arrows. Swiftly notching the arrow, I let it fly at the bird. It falls to the ground with a strained caw, dead upon impact. I smile a bit as I remove my arrow.

Hearing a rustling behind me, I quickly turn to see three more birds dropping from the trees towards me. They caw loudly, and before I react, they whirl around me, pecking at my face. Screaming, I cover my eyes and drop to the ground.

The birds' beaks are razor-sharp, slicing through my clothes. One of them lets out a screech so loud it makes my ears ring.

I've been preparing for the Games my whole life, but I wasn't prepared for this. I was caught off-guard, and now I'm paying the price. I keep my face covered as I slip into unconsciousness.

~

I wake up in the morning, groaning in pain. The birds are gone. It looks like they carried away my sword, but my other weapons and supplies are still here.

My body is covered in small wounds, and it hurts to stand, but I'm stronger than that. I push through the pain, cursing my luck.

An idea pops into my head - I think I saw a group of tributes at the Cornucopia. If I can scare them away, I can take their shelter and any supplies still there.

I spend the morning covering my wounds with a cheap healing cream from my bag. I recognize the brand; it's mostly a numbing cream but it will do for now.

After I feel no pain in my body, I tread through the snow to the Cornucopia clearing. Spotting the group, I take a narrow path and sprint toward the group.

One of the girls spots me, quickly picking up a nearby shield. I reach into my pocket, pulling out a throwing knife and hurling it at the girl. She is barely able to throw her metal shield up before the knife hits her forehead, and it clangs off the metal loudly, landing in the nearby poison, where it dissolves.

The girl drops the shield on the ground with another clang as she runs to her allies, who have already packed up most of their supplies.

"Maisy, let's go!" one of the girls desperately calls. Maisy turns to them before sprinting away.

By the time I reach the Cornucopia, the girls are gone. I don't bother to chase them - I would have loved to kill four more tributes, but I'll get them later. For now, I have what I want: the Cornucopia.

I quickly examine the contents of the Cornucopia to find that it's mostly empty. I try to hold my rage within me, but it's no use. I feel energy coursing through me as rage takes control of me. Grabbing an empty crate, I slam it into the rocky ground before kicking it into the poison. I let out a scream as I knock over a weapon rack with a clang. I spare them their lives, and this is what they leave me with?

I should have killed them when I had the chance. I could have caught them in the back with another knife as they ran.

After a few hours, the sun sets and my rage fades. I sit under the Cornucopia, physically drained and exhausted as the Fallen Tributes are shown. The numbing cream I used earlier has worn off, but I don't bother to reapply it to my throbbing cuts.

The first tribute is a girl from District 3. She was in an alliance with a few other girls, but they're almost all dead now. I want to say her name's Dalia, but I know that's not right. I don't really care.

After the girl is Rowan from District 7. I'm surprised to see him. I ran into him on the first day but was unable to kill him. He almost defeated me in battle in that instance, and I've been itching to kill him ever since. I'm disappointed that I won't get the chance now.

The cannon shots were close together today, so I'm guessing that Rowan attacked the girl from 3 and her ally, who I think is Jomilee from District 6, killed him in return. If Jomilee is strong enough to kill Rowan, she'll be my next target. The longer the strong tributes are alive, the more dangerous they become.

~

Ada's POV! Finally, we can see inside the head of the most twisted killer thus far in the Games. Her chapters are always fun to write.

Well, we know now that Jomilee won against Rowan. Do you think she's a strong competitor like Ada thinks she might be? Let me know...

~S