Finnick and Annie

Kill or Die

The platform rose and the darkness dissipated. I stood on a metal plate, one out of twenty-four around the cornucopia. Serena was located three spots away from me. To the north of the arena I could see a mountain range. It was tall and covered in trees, it seemed like a good place to go. To the east there was a lake; it was large and inviting, but had little place to hide, so I ruled it out. I turned to look behind me and saw that a small forest covered the south and southeast area of the arena. It was good for cover and probably had plenty resources, but I worried about the water; at least the mountain had a stream visible. Finally, to the west side, there was large, barren, grassland. There was no place to cover at all, and I knew I was definitely not going to go there.

I looked at the Cornucopia, whose opening faced me, and I scanned the pile of goods and weapons for a trident, or a net... but there weren't any. I decided I would run for supplies, I was very fast, and I was certain I could fight my way out. There wasn't a trident, but I couldn't leave empty handed.

We had thirty seconds left. If anybody stepped out of their plates before time, they would be blown to bits. I looked at my wrist, with Annie's bracelet tied around it. I'm going to win for you, I thought to myself. I was technically good enough to be a part of the career pack because I was strong and skilled. I'd had enough practice with a weapon before the games. I knew that they would have welcomed me in, but I'd also be the first to go since Jem hated me.

Twenty seconds, and I readied myself. My hands where shaking slightly with all the adrenaline. I scanned the faces of the other tributes, and their emotions ranged from scared, to excited, to confused. I saw the pretty girl from district eight to my left, and she looked lost. Willow stood to my right, ready to run for the cornucopia. Finnick, this is it. Ten seconds. You need to survive.

Five, Four, Three, Two, One! and then the cannon went off.

I ran towards the cornucopia like my life depended on... because my life depended on it. I made it after Alesi, the girl from eight, but she only grabbed a sword and a backpack and ran towards the forest. I did not expect her to be that fast! I grabbed a backpack, and a net! I actually found a net! I slung the backpack over my back and grabbed two spears, a dagger, and a long rope, for climbing, and dashed out of the cornucopia as more people started to arrive. The girl from Two tackled me to the ground and tried to stab me, but I pushed her off and stood up quickly. I ran in the direction of the mountains, turning to look back every so often to make sure I wasn't being followed. I stopped when I was about halfway there, leaning against a tree to arrange my supplies. I stuffed the net and the rope into the backpack and slid the dagger in my belt.

I had been running for a while, but I wasn't tired at all. I could swim non-stop for an hour without getting worn out. I had great endurance. I continued to run towards the mountain, until I reached the bottom, where the bushes began to thicken into trees. I turned around and looked towards the cornucopia where I could see tiny specs in the distance. There were also two figures moving in my direction. I sighed and continued to move deeper into the forest. I hiked for about an hour, moving higher up the mountain, until I found a good place to rest. It was a small cave, but large enough to sleep comfortably. I picked that place because it was surrounded by thick bushes and it was barely visible from a distance.

I sat down on a fallen log near my cave and took off my jacket because I was sweaty from all the running. I unzipped my backpack and emptied it on the ground, arranged the contents on the floor and made a mental list of what I had. I had the rope, which came with some hooks, which would be very useful on the mountain. I had the two spears and the dagger and also the net. I spread it out, and it was a decent size. It reminded me of the nets Mr. Cresta sold in his shop. Inside the backpack there were several smaller items. There was a heat-reflecting sleeping bag, which would really come in handy the higher I climbed. I had three bags of dried fruit, and a plastic water bottle. I also found some matches, night-vision goggles and a bottle of medicine.