Amelia Odair - A Hunger Games Story

7 - Death and revenge

Another day had passed in which Liam, and I just walked around. We made sure never to stay anywhere for long in order to not be detected by the careers. They were only one person more now, but still our greatest threat.

It was the sixth day of the Hunger Games when we were walking through a small forest and suddenly heard a scream and the sound of the canon. It was really close, and we exchanged a glance before carefully walking in that direction.

Liam, who was walking ahead of me, suddenly stopped and I stood next to him. It was Cyril from district 9. He was laying on the ground, his eyes were pointed upwards in a lifeless manner. I shivered when I saw the deep wound on his neck and spotted the blood surrounding him. "Someone cut his throat", I said.

Liam touched my arm. "Let's get away from here. The tribute who did this might still be close."

We walked away and I saw the hovercraft coming to collect his body shortly after. In the evening, we sat quietly near a small stream.

"This leaves only us, the careers, Tracey (8), Kingsley (10) and Bloom (10)", I said. "Kingsley and Bloom are probably together which means Tracey is probably going to be the next one to die. I saw her in the training centre, she was always at the survival skills station, and she was bad with weapons. If she is confronted by a group, she barely stays a chance."

I hated talking about her as if she was just a rival and not also someone with family and friends who would deserve making it out of this arena. It was the truth however, and I had already realised that now, being in the Hunger Games, my mindset on what was right and wrong had been strongly messed with.

-*-

The next morning Liam and I split up with the agreement to meet up at the exact place to find something to eat as fishing was not that easy. I had just found a few berries, collected them and put them in my bag when a noise made me turn around and I immediately grabbed my knifes.

Kingsley was behind me, a speer in his hand. He looked at me like at someone he was determined to kill. I grabbed my knife and made myself ready. So now there it was, my first fight against another tribute. This was about life and death.

Kingsley attacked. He tried to hit my chest but missed me. The training I had been doing for years had also taught me defensive skills. Kingsley tried to get his speer back, but I stepped in his way. Then he attacked me with his bare hands and pulled me to the ground. We were rolling on the ground, and both tried to get a hold of the other.

Eventually Kingsley was over me and smiled with triumph. "First Cyril, and now it's your turn." He laid his finger on my throat and squeezed it. I gasped and failed to pull his hand away. For a moment I was scared I would die, but then remembered that while he had lost his weapon, I hadn't. I pulled together all my strength, grabbed my knife and stabbed him into his stomach. Kingsley foundered and fell to the side. I pulled my knife out of his wound and ran away while hearing the canon sound.

I tried to push away the thoughts of what had just happened and ran to the place where I was supposed to meet Liam. Liam was already there and jumped immediately, ready to fight the second he heard a noise. He relaxed when he recognised me.

"Thank God. I heard the canon and..." Then his eyes spotted my tousled hair and my knife that was tainted with blood. "What happened?"

"I had a little encounter with Kingsley", I explained and swallowed.

"Did you...?", he asked but didn't finish.

"He tried to strangle me, and I pushed my knife into his stomach", I said calmly but Liam probably could tell by the expression on my face how troubled I felt inside.

"Wash it off in the stream. We must go on", Liam said, and his calmness transferred to me. There was no accusation in his voice. He knew that I hadn't enjoyed any of it and, being a good friend, he did his best to try and distract me from it.

-*-

On the following day we had managed put some distance behind us and were far away from the place where Kingsley had died. Bloom was probably still in that area and even though she was a bit weaker than her district partner she was still a threat.

There were only seven tributes left, which meant that we would have to confront the careers sooner or later. It was just a matter of time now, and we had to hope that we wouldn't have to face them as a whole group and that they would be alone. How advantageous that would be I found out two days later. Liam had only gone shortly to get some water when suddenly Hazel stepped out from behind a tree. She was holding a sword in her hand and looked at me provokingly.

"I knew I heard something. Your precious brother won't be able to help you now."

The moment she attacked, I reacted instantly: A fast, flexible move, an unerring move, and she fell on the ground, a knife directly in her chest. The canon sound followed only a second later. But the same sound occurred again only shortly after.

"Liam", I said scared. It couldn't be him. I took my knife but kept it in my hand instead of putting it back with the others. Then I ran towards the direction where Liam had gone, knowing very well that the other careers were probably not far away and would kill me immediately the minute they saw me. Suddenly I bumped into someone.

"Amy!", I heard the familiar voice and sighed of relief only to notice the blood on Liam's sword. His look reminded me of what I probably had looked like after the encounter with Kingsley.

"Who was it?", I asked.

"Bloom. She followed us and only waited for the opportunity of catching one of us alone. She was seeking revenge for Kingsley. It was pretty close. Who was the other one?"

"Hazel." Liam's eyes detected the blood on my knife, and he understood.

"We should stay together now", he proposed, and I agreed, before following him into the woods.