² SECOND CHANCE ─ the hunger games

seventeen - three down

— CADENCE —

Day Three in the arena starts just like any other day, yet I sense something different in the air, but I don't know what. The trees whip around in the wind, and Rylie and I gather berries as the Sun rises, tainting the sky a pretty shade of pink.

I wonder if Cynthia and my parents back home are seeing this same sunrise? The peachy pink of the dawn reminds me that everything in the arena is extremely pretty; yet we can't appreciate it because it's just a shell of the world. And how could someone be stuck here watching the dawn when someone could pop out and kill them anytime?

Suddenly, an announcement is made, startling us as the horn blares throughout the arena. That's what I was referring to - shocks that could possibly cost us our lives.

"Good morning, tributes, and welcome to DAY THREE of our 2nd Hunger Games! With only ten of you left, of course we will be needing a new arena twist! Starting from noon, the peaceful meadows and fields will disappear, and the whole arena will be littered with deadly traps. Good luck tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favour."

Rylie and I exchange worried glances before packing up all of our supplies immediately, journeying South, where I see a familiar face.

"Aiden?" I murmur, and rush toward him. He looks sad, but when he hears his name, he immediately brightens up and waves at us. This time, Rylie's sword stays put, and I take it as a good sign.

"What happened?" I ask Aiden, and he shakes his head to tell me nothing serious, but I know something really huge must have happened. "It's okay if you don't want to tell us."

Rylie nods in agreement, and Aiden smiles with gratitude. He joins our alliance and just as we cross the border to the South Area, the clock strikes noon, and the meadow in front of us disappears.

"Watch out for the traps!" I yell, and scale a nearby tree, with Aiden doing the same. Rylie, however, stays frozen on the ground.

"Climb, Rylie!" I cry, but he shakes his head lightly, and I smack myself inside for forgetting that he's scared of heights. I quickly climb a bit lower and offer him my hand, and he hoists himself onto the first stable branch of the tree just as the ground rips open.

The whole arena connects back to each other, and faintly, I see people in the South Area Woods. Two boys.. and they're fighting.

"Aiden, do you know who they are?" I ask. We drop from the trees and silently approach them.

"They look like Joshua and Joseph," he answers.

Joshua. The boy who killed Andros in the bloodbath. I must avenge my friend.

Suddenly, a cannon startles us, and one of the boys falls to the ground. The taller one. He's dead.

We push the leaves away from us as we enter the camp, and the remaining boy turns to look at us, surprised.

He is outnumbered. Severely outnumbered. And I know he's weighing the odds of him getting out of this victorious, until he shakes his head.

Joshua sighs. "I can't take it anymore," he says. "You know what, I hate these Games. I don't have anyone, no allies, no anything. So kill me if you want."

Aiden and Rylie look at each other nervously, before I break the silence. I say one word. "Karma." And with one hack of my sword, I slit Joshua's throat. A streak of crimson red forms, and he looks back up at us with one last smile, before falling to the ground lifeless.

Another off my kill list. Two left.

BOOM!

— KUNBOSS —

Eunice and I walk through the foliage in silence, headed south.

I can't help but wonder where the other tributes are. I haven't seen any since the first day.

Since the fight which took Zoey away from me.

Eunice doesn't even try to make conversation with me - we're all lost in our thoughts, thinking about so many things. So.. so many things, that once made me happy.

Most of my thoughts are about Zoey, how her smile was as pretty as the flowers surrounding the Adelaide Woods, her laugh like the birds chirping in the wind, and her lifeless body laying in my arms. I must win for her.

We wander aimlessly, and I don't even look around for traps.

My foot makes contact with a hard metal button, and a huge net drops on top of my head, breaking me out of my thoughts. Eunice quickly helps me untangle it, but as I'm getting back on my feet, three tributes suddenly appear from the bushes.

One of the girls from our first fight who must have fled. Aiden. The last one, I didn't know.

— CADENCE —

Seeing Gwyneth's friends again, my heart makes a leap.

Gwyneth's friends. Would they know anything?

I quickly snap back to reality.

They are our enemies. They are things keeping us from getting out alive.

The only things I think of when I see Eunice and Kunboss is how they brutally killed my friends. I must win for Hayli. I must win for Ariana. I must win for Kacey. I must win for all the people they killed.

Since the fight on Day 1, I've grown to hate both of them. Especially Eunice.

At the caves, she attacked first. Now, here she is, doing the same thing, yet again.

I've known both Eunice and Kunboss even before the first Games began. They were from my school, just as Gwyneth was. I looked up to Eunice. Admired her.

Now, I want her to die the most brutal of deaths in the arena.

Still, I know Aiden and Rylie have got her. She's going to suffer. I watch as she draws her bow and arrows, and I charge towards Kunboss with my sword.

We rush toward each other and he swings his spear. I duck past him and try to look for more traps. I only found Eunice and Kunboss thanks to the noise that was made when the net trap was set off, and I'm sure there are more here.

I immediately spot a button carved into a nearby tree. I wonder where the trap would fall, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was right next to the button.

Kunboss' spear flies right next to my abdomen, and lightly scratches my shirt. I come back to my senses and swiftly dodge, slashing at his waist instead, and creating a thin cut.

Something whizzes past, hitting me, and I cry in pain. Eunice stands there, bow in hand, smiling as I take the arrow out of my pale arm.

In rage, I grab Kunboss by his shoulders and he stumbles towards the trap. I run past him and push the button, and right next to it, a dagger shoots out from the tree and stabs Kunboss in the gut.

He falls to the ground, his glassy eyes fixed on me.

Three down, one to go.

I just killed someone who needed to win for his loved one to come back.