Haymitch Abernathy has been selected as a tribute in the biggest hunger games on record. He joins fellow tributes in the arena for a fight to the death. He goes into the games with the attitude of never coming out but a friend has other ideas.
I own...
The day of the games. I couldn't sleep at all and I think everyone else was pretty much the same, judging by all the yawning on the hovercraft to the arena. I held out my arm to receive my tracker, as we got lower. I get dressed into the same outfit everyone else has to wear. When the time comes for launch I hop into my tube. Coming up into the arena I am blinded by a bright sun and overwhelmed by an amazing smell. I was in a field facing the golden cornucopia, which was surrounded by an army of flowers. Ahead of me are mountains and twisting around, I see that behind me are woods. I devise a plan. Run to the cornucopia; grab a backpack, run to the woods.
When the gong sounds I sprint to the cornucopia and select a backpack that appears promising and I grab a few weapons as I head out to the woods before most of the others have stepped off their plates. The smell must be disorientating them. I hear the first cries of the bloodbath by the time I make it to the tree line.
I run in the one direction for about an hour when I stop to inspect the backpack. Just before I tip out its contents I hear a chattering noise. I look up to find a pack of fluffy golden squirrels. I grab a knife that I had taken from the Cornucopia and creep towards them. One of them growls and before I could blink the whole pack was upon me. I flailed around trying to get them off as they scratched at my face and neck. I knock a few off and gradually regain my feet, cutting at them with my knife. I swing and jab at them as they try to jump back onto me. Some climb up my legs. I try to wipe the blood from my face, but this move only gives the squirrels the advantage. I kill a few squirting green blood on my knife. After a while I manage to kill the last one. I inspect them. These are definitely mutts. Judging by the colour of their blood they are most likely poisonous.
As dusk settles over the arena, I make camp. During the day I heard the cannon fire eighteen times at the end of the bloodbath. That's a lot of tributes, but there is plenty more left.
In my backpack I found some dried meet and dried fruits and even some nuts. I eat some of the nuts and a piece of fruit. It was then that I realised how thirsty I was. There wasn't any water in my pack so I need to find a water source. Just as I was finishing that thought it started to rain. I grabbed a large leaf off of a near by tree and held it out, collecting the water. Every now and then I would suck the water off the leaf.
The rain ceased as suddenly as it had started. The sun was fully down now and I heard the anthem play. I watched as tribute after tribute appeared in the sky. I noticed that the little Juliana kid hadn't made it. She was the only one gone from my district. I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding and went to sleep.
I woke up an hour later to an intense stinging sensation. I looked around and saw that a butterfly had stung me. It was large and had glossy pink wings. I swiped at it as it fluttered away. Gingerly I touched the area it had stung me. I stood up and instantly felt dizzy. Of course it was poisonous. I was just hoping it wasn't deadly. I grabbed a leaf that was still damp from the earlier shower and pressed it against my now throbbing neck. It seemed to sooth the ache. I sat back down and dozed off again.
When I wake for the second time the aching has eased and the dizziness has passed. I pack up my things and keep moving making sure that the mountains remain behind me.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Four days in and still alive. Better then I thought I would do. As I continue to walk in the same direction I have walking in for four days I hear a loud rumbling and feel the ground tremble slightly. I turn around to see one of the mountains explode in a mass of lava. I hear the cannon fire about a dozen times. The mountains are no longer an option for anyone who survived the volcano. That means they'll all be heading for the woods. I decide to start jogging now.
After about two hours the noon sun is high in the sky and I hit a long, thick hedge. There was no way for me to get through it so I decided to circle back to the centre of the woods.
I continue walking when I come across them. Careers. Three of them. I pull out my knife. They are all stronger and larger then me, but I am most definitely smarter and faster. I duck around them, avoiding their weapons. A few of their swings make contact with me, but I keep on going. I duck another swing of a large sword and stab my assailant's neck. One down two too go. I weave around them trying to find an opening for me to make another deathblow. I manage to avoid death by mere inches when I find my opportunity. I stab at the second career, getting him in the heart. The cannon fires and I turn to the final career. She pounces swinging her large knife at me. I stagger back and she forces me to the ground. Wrestling the knife rom my grasp she throughs it away and goes in to slit my throat.
