The 25th Annual Hunger Games

11 ~ 12-15 Day 3

Stretching, I rub the sleep from my eyes. The choice of island was convenient, as any tribute who tried to sneak up.

There had been no cannons during the night, but there was never two days that went past without a death. The Gamemakers were most likely planning something.

The sun was only just brimming the horizon. So I would say it was about six o'clock at least. But, I'd have no clue. They could have slowed time down, or sped it up. Either way, I still needed some practice. I got out my tent to grab some swords, stirring Zander as I did.

I never really want to know what is going to happen to District 4 if we come across them. It was Haller that protected 7. It got Cohen killed. But at the same time, there was a Mayor this year that got shot. And that Peacekeeper. Too many deaths. This is on top of the Games.

Everyone made a deal during training, that on Day 3, we would have a fight. A faux fit that looked real, and got us sponsors. I needed medicine for my head, and Aubrey for her arm.

We agreed it was between Zander and I, to show our strengths. I heard him give the signal cough.

I ignored it, carried on practicing. I heard the slit sound of metal against metal. I can imagine Zander's face. Infuriated with nothing. Ready to kill. I turned around when I heard his footsteps right behind me. All the cameras would be on us, unless there was a death happening. Which I doubt.

Our swords clanged, as he placed his body weight on the hilt. Only gently, but enough to make me strain. I stepped backwards. He sword to the lefty, and I parried him, faking right and tripping him. He only slightly lost balance, and not enough for me to push him. He swung back towards me, and I caught my hilt on his, twisted and forced his blade to the ground.

As I held my sword at his throat, a knife flew from the tents, and cut one of my fingers. I dropped my sword, and saw Aubrey scrambling from the tent.

"Boys, I swear. You need to stop." Aubrey wailed.

"Just practice!" Zander insisted.

"One of you will get hurt!"

"We will all get hurt eventually. In fact, it may be quicker to die now! We have no chance against the older group if we even make it through to the next round!"

"Zander, there is four of us, eight of them. Six more kills, and we are through. Then, we have Haller, Aadi and Jilian." I spoke.

Aubrey hugged Zander, the anger turning to sadness quickly. They won't be showing this. They won't let Careers be shown as weak.

"Danil, Povie, if you're there, could you please get us some medicine?" Charlotte asked. She walked out from the tent, and stood next to me.

"Come on, let's pack up. I haven't killed in two days." I demanded. I was really bored. I trained my whole life for this.

The others nodded in agreement. Zander and Aubrey packed the tents up, and I gather the weapons.

"Hey, does anyone else think the water level has risen a bit?" One of the girls said.

I turned to the water. They were right. It had. I was right. It was going to happen today. A disaster.

"We need to get to high land. I'm thinking tsunami or something water related."

"The Gamemakers are probably bored. But the closest tall island is about a kilometre away!" Charlotte warned.

"Then we need to hurry." I replied, swinging the bag onto my back.

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Each of us carried a different weapon, trekking through the outer ring of the main island. The metal on our backs morphed our suit into a thick rubbery material, stopping and insects or branches from wounding us. They want action, not a tribute to die from an insect bite, or an infected tree wound. The thick jungle made it hard to navigate, but if we were to got through the desert, we wouldn't be able to see the island. The blue water made the sun ten times worse.