The Last One Standing [Hunger Games Fanfic]

The arena

i woke up shivering, i had kicked half my sleeping bag away from me and i was left laying on the cold and hard ground.

i was shaking so much, my teeth were clattering and my finger started to turn a little bluish tone. oh shit that's frostbite. i panicked and lit a fire right away, my ass and my back were numb as i got out of the shed to wiggle around while the fire was catching. when it was finally big enough i sat Infront of it and put my hands close to it, hoping that the heat would help my almost frostbitten fingers.

after a few minutes i turned around to see if my pack of berries was still there, not knowing how close my hands were i foolishly put them dangerously near it, oblivious to the fact that i was not fire resistant, as i was looking around. i felt the flames lick my fingers and i yanked them away, clutching them against my chest.

i let out a growl of pain as my hand was burning hot and stinging. i got out of the cave and stuck my hands in the white snow, i could feel it sizzle around my skin as the cold relieved the pain. luckily it had not burned too bad, the flesh was still intact and there was no trace of serious burns.

as i was cooling my hands off i heard a faint tingling sound and as it grew louder and louder i saw a glistening parachute land right next to me. what? why was Tomin sending me gifts? he should be sending them to Jonas not me!

i reluctantly dug my hands out of the snow and unclasped the silver pod and opened it. inside were a pair of grey wooly gloves and a scarf, on top of it laid a note.

you'll need you fingers intact -T

well he did have a point, how was I supposed to save Jonas with frostbitten fingers? i took the wooly scarf out of the container and brought it up to my face, burying myself in the comforting smell.

it smelled, like my disctrict, like the sheep and the cattle. it smelled like home.

a single tear sprung out of my eye and rolled on my cheek, before freezing off and falling. i wrapped the scarf around my neck and slid the gloves on, perfect fit.

after enjoying some berries i packed everything up and started my long trek to the top of the mountain. knowing Jonas he would want to get the hell away from everyone as fast as possible so the mountain top is probably the first placd he went.

i can't believe i hadn't thought about this earlier. it would have spared a lot of time and it maybe would have prevented Rufus...

as if it was summoned his scream echoed in my head as i shook the painful memory away. he was all cocky and all, he was stupid and arrogant but he was still nice and friendly even though he was extremely stubborn. he was my ally and some sort of friend and he had died before my eyes.

tears threatened to form in my eyes so i blinked agressively to make them go away. in a sudden wave of anger and sadness i bent down, took a handful if snow and stuffed it on my face. the sharp burn of the icy material acted like a wakeup call as i brushed away the rest of it off my face, spluttering to get rid of the snowflakes lining my mouth.

after a few hours i had finally reached the top. i was absolutely extinguished, not only had i hiked for at least 4 hours, but i was also walking up hill and, in 3 feet of thick snow.

i carefully examined my surroundings and made some sort of mind map of the arena. right, so i just realised that the mountain top around is not even everywhere and i am currently on the highest point. all the way on the flanc opposite of me i could see glimpses of some fast flowing river going down and ending up in some sort of very small lake right at the bottom of the mountain flanc. if i looked at my right there was a side of the mountain that Rufus and i hiked through, we had walked around what seemed like a quarter of the arena, that was were the wolf were approximately, if they were not everywhere. on my left, opposite to the wolf/fog thing there was some sort of section which ran from the top to the bottom, this section offered no covering as there were no trees, that was were the avalanche had started i guess.

satisfied with the mapping of the arena i decided to walk deeper into the woods that were here, the only problem was that the ground was extremely uneaven, making it hard to navigate safely, without tripping amd falling.

once the night was upon me i had been through most of the forest and since this arena was not never ending, i figured i would soon find myself at the edge.

nah the Gamemakers would probably make me turn around before i even come close to the border. ok this meant i needed to be extra careful, i don't want any rabid wolves mutt things on me.

i decided to settle in a tree hollow which was completely hidden from anyone who would venture in this part of the forest. it was my first day alone in the arena, not my first night but my first day alone.

the anthem played and the guy from district 4 had died apparently. the sky turned black again and i lay, squished, in my tree hollow, thinking.

ok we were 9 people left, there was Jonas, Hadrian, Calisse, Dorian, Glaze, the boy from 12 and me, the two other people left i had no idea who they were.

if we were only 9 and Jonas had managed to live that long this meant that I really needed to find him because the Gamemakers would do anything in their power to rush us all together to end everything.

i dozed off to sleep with the sweet thought of Jonas clouding my mind.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

i awoke to a wet and slimy feeling on my cheek.

i grumbled as i slwoly opened my eyes, i jumped and let out a shrill cry. Standing in front of me, perched on a small branch next to my face was a small doe eyed creature. i had a cute face and small little paws. it kinda looked like a squirrel but with bigger eyes and a fluffier coat.

ok this thing looks cute but i can never be too careful, without breaking eye contact i slowly got up and gathered my stuff. right as i was about to turn away the ball of floof jumped on me, flashing some extremely sharp pearl white teeth. i fell to the floor as i kicked the gremlin off of me but while i scrambled to my feet i saw two dozen of the same wretched creature emerging from the tree and rushing towards me.

"oh shi-"

i ran in the opposite direction of them but they were too fast, ten of them were on my as i felt their sharp teeth gnawing at my skin, tearing it.

i ran like a wacko, flailing my arms around to kick them off.

i was approaching what seemed like a cliff.

oh shit oh shit oh shit.

yesterday while inspecting the arena i had noticed some sort of cliff diving off into a lower part of the mountain top. i have no idea how big the jump is or if i can make it. as i was dangerously near the edge i caught a glimpse of water, and as i got closer and closer at a high speed i caught a glimpse of a tiny lake as i felt my feet kick off of the ground.

as i was suspended in the air i realised how stupid that was.

please be deep enough please be deep enough.

when i finally crashed against the smooth surface of the water i felt the small masses of the creatures fly off of me as i dove right into the lake. after a few intense seconds of struggling with my pack to get back to the surface i finally emerged and took a huge gush of air.

i stuggled to get to the bank of pebbles of the small lake. i dragged myself onto the smooth stones as i coughed up what seemed like five liters of water.

i got up on my elbows to see what i had just did. the cliff from where i had jumped was pretty high, that was stupid of me to not think before doing that but at least it payed off.

i saw a few of the bodies of the lifeless mutts floating around in the middle if the water.

as i sat up and started to squeeze my hair dry i heard some rusling in the bushes behind me. i slowly reached for a knife sticking out of my pack when i heard that familiar, caring and scared voice

"Cherry?"