Sixty seconds. That's how long I've got to stand here on the launch pad. I look around the arena, trying to decide my route. Mountains? No. It will be too hard to find water. The forest? Might be too dark and hard to find Harry. I'd have to risk running through the blood bath, and I can't die. Not today. My only route is behind me. I look at the rest of the tributes to my side. I'm on the far right of the Cornucopia, second to the last in line. On my left is Rallie, the nine year old from District 3, and on my right is Zayn. I look over at Rallie for a moment and I realize she's skating violently, crying.
"I'm not going to be a pawn."
"What?" I say, looking at Rallie. She mouths something to me, and I make it out to be, "Good luck."
She moves off the launch plate, and the land mines underneath the plate activate. I'm covered in blood and bits of singed skin before I can say anything back. I force myself not to move back out of disgust, shock or fear, but I scream. I scream louder than I have ever managed to scream in my life. I try to cover my mouth, but Rallie's blood is soaked on to my fingers and seeps between the cracks and into my mouth.
Then the buzzer goes off, and around me the other tributes take off towards the Cornucopia. I want to move but I'm frozen in my spot, breaking into tears.
"Kate! Run!"
Harry's voice snaps me out of my trance. I start running as fast as I can towards to Cornucopia, dazed and looking for something- a pack or a weapon- to help ensure my survival. I see Zayn running towards me with a bow, some arrows and a bag, and he tosses them at me.
"Go! Run, ge-"
He doesn't finish what he says to me, a throwing knife has pierced the back of his head. I look up and see Sheena, smiling at me. I bend down and grab the knife from Zayn's skull and scramble away, trying to keep my composure as I escape. Sheena throws another knife towards me and I duck, letting the knife fly over my head. Soon I'm in the cover of the trees, running as much as I can. I sling the bow on my shoulders along with the pack and sheath of arrows.
"HARRY!?" I cry out, searching for the sound of his voice.
"HARRY!"
I can't hear anything, and I start to fear he didn't make it.
"Kate!" I hear the gentle voice of Primrose and I start to run towards it. It's not a long run, and soon I crash into Primrose, taking her into my arms and holding her. She hugs me back, and the relief of seeing her alive calms me down.
"Kate! You made it!"
"Prim I'm so glad you're okay."
"I heard you scream. And, and Rallie."
I stand up and look around, trying to block Rallie out of my head. We're in a small clearing, but we won't be safe for long. We start to walk, hoping to find water or Gale or Harry. Primrose reaches out and grabs my hand, and I look at her. I can just imagine the Capitol audience at home, crying over my experience. Their poor Kateniss having to see death so fast, oh but- reunited with Primrose. I can see them all watching intently at us, walking like sisters. It's sick really, for me to be here imitating Katniss. A reminder for everyone that their revolutionary died. That the Capitol was defied and...
My thought breaks when I see Harry and Gale together. I let go of Prim's hand and jump into Harry's embrace.
"Thank God Harry I was so afraid that... That..."
"I'm fine Kate, I'm here. Have you seen Zayn? We can't find him."
“Sheena threw a knife at us and Zayn… He didn’t make it out,” I clutch the knife’s grip tightly for a moment. The blood has already dried on it, but the image of Zayn falling dead in front of me is fresh in my mind. I start to break down, hyperventilating into Harry’s chest. I want to scream so desperately, to wake up from this nightmare. But it’s not a nightmare, and screaming could mean a swift death from the career pack.
“Hey, we have to keep moving,” Gale says, and Primrose grabs my hand again. I look down at her. She is smiling at me, and I take a moment to just see her. Her blonde hair is in the trademark Katniss side braid, and on her coat is the mockingjay pin her sister had worn. I am reminded that Harry, Gale and Zayn had pins as well, and I look at Harry’s chest to search for his. The mockingjay in his pin is pointing down, wings spread across the pin. It looks almost like a bow, and its arrow is the bird’s head and beak.
“Let’s go find somewhere to set up camp,” Harry says, and moves away from me. Harry and Gale walk at the front of us, and Prim and I follow closely behind. I notice that I’m the only one with any weapons, and the only one with a pack of survival essentials. I take the bow off of my shoulder and ready an arrow, on the off chance that I should need to defend Prim or Harry. The forest is beautiful, but extremely dark and quiet. It feels almost void of any life besides the tributes, which I know wouldn’t be true. There will be small game around; no one wants to watch the tributes starve to death.
We find a small clearing close to a lake after about an hour of walking. It’s already gotten dark out, and soon the final body count from the bloodbath will flash on the sky above us. We have barely settled before we hear them; the cannons.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five, six, seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten
Eleven cannons go off, and the anthem of the Capitol starts to play. I watch the skies as their faces flash above us. Rallie, the boy from 3, the girl from 5, the girl from 6, Zayn, the girl from 8, both tributes from 9; Paige and Marsh were their names. I had talked to them once, and they were nice. The girl from 10 and her district partner Karlo, who had cracked a few jokes at me once. All gone within the first 8 hours of the games. Eleven people who will never breathe again.
I try to push it from my mind and think of who is left. The Career pack, the four of us. Bow from 11, who I remember being hulking and strong. He would survive for a long while. Keat from six, an eleven year old. I can’t imagine how he survived because of his age and lack of survival skills. And the last tribute alive is Louis.
Louis is still out there.
I look at Harry and bite my lip. As long as Louis is alive he will be looking for us. Hunting us like animals. His survival jeopardizes our survival.
“I’m going to go find something to eat,” I say, standing up and grabbing the bow and arrows. Prim looks at me with worry.
“What if someone comes? We don’t have any weapons.”
“Here,” I say, handing her the knife that killed Zayn, “I won’t be gone long and if I can’t find anything I’ll come back.”
“If we need you, we will make sure you know,” Harry says and I look at him with confusion. He sings a few notes, and suddenly the quiet of the night is erupted with the sweet voices of mockingjays.
“If you hear that. Come back as fast as you can.”
“Alright. I’ll be back.”
I set out into the forest, ready to hunt. I will not come back with food for my companions though. This hunt has a different prey.
Louis.
[A/N: I couldn't contain myself and knew I had to update again! I am almost at 400 reads and that is mind blowing. If you are enjoying the story please make sure to vote on each chapter because it makes me even more fired up to get a chapter out to you as soon as possible! Also, don't hesitate to comment! I want to know what you all think of what is going on, what is going to happen; everything! Thanks again for all the continued support. <3]
