The 100th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 10

At the crack of dawn I am on my feet. I hear people crashing through the trees and I run away as fast as I can, forcing my legs to go quicker with every step. I don’t dare to look back until I know I am a safe distance away. I don’t recognise the duo, but I am viewing them from a distance and cant make out their features. Two boys.

They don’t notice me luckily and I run on but then I realise I was wrong.

I’m back at the Cornucopia.

I curse myself for not realising where I was going, but at this point it doesn’t matter. I yank knives from my pack and get my dart blower and bow ready to be pulled from my back.

Suddenly, a group of four surrounds me. I realise these are half Careers, but two of them look too bony and unfed to be Careers. Each one of them wields a weapon, but I’m ready for them.

I’m like a tornado, a spinning killer. I quickly turn and fling knives at the attackers and then I pull out my bow and shoot arrows until I see them slump to the ground. Then I stop.

Two cannons boom and I see among the four boys only two are still breathing. I collect my weapons and return them to my bag. A third cannon goes off, and soon a fourth. I turn my back on the corpses and walk away, forcing back the vomit in my throat.

Once I reach the waterfall I crawl back under the bush and burst into tears. I sob and shake until I run out of moisture. I hate myself with a passion for a matter of minutes, but then I decide I have  to move on. I wipe my eyes. I can’t seem weak in front of the cameras.

Another cannon booms and announces that five are dead before noon. That leaves fifteen in the arena. It seems so surreal that there are so few of us left. Only a few days ago seventy-two of us were training for this, and now only fifteen remain with a chance to get out of this hell hole. I begin to think of my family again. My parents and how concerned they were for me. Marina and how scared she was that she would lose her big sister. I can’t let that happen. I’ve lost my big sister to these sick games. I won’t let Marina lose hers.

It is only early afternoon and already I realise that this is the beginning of the end. I can’t remember any names of any of the others except Roslyn. The other thirteen remain a mystery. By the time I reach the stream again another cannon has gone off. Then another. Thirteen now remain. But not for long. Because that is when the screaming starts up. It terrifies me instantly. The sounds of other tributes screaming at the top of their lungs, begging for help, desperately trying to get out of this arena.

I get my bags and put them on my back, placing a few knives in my pockets. Another cannon goes off and I freeze. I was right. This is the end.

Suddenly, someone starts crashing through the thicket, screaming their head off. I sprint as fast as I can through the trees and I get my bow ready to fire.

“Sylvira!” I hear a girl scream. I turn.

It’s Roslyn.

I stop and wait for her to catch up.

“Run!” She yells and I do so immediately.

“What’s going on?” I shout at her.

Another cannon goes off and the screaming continues. Eleven remain.

Roslyn gasps for breath while we run side by side through the bushes.

“They’ve sent in mutts. I didn’t see them but I saw a girl get thrown up into the air and cut up. I ran as fast as I could.”

I nod and we continue to run through the bushes, over the branches and leaves that cover the ground. Roslyn trips and falls flat on her face. She lets out a tiny scream. I know I could leave her to be killed. I’d be one step closer to home. But again my heritage doesn’t let me and I grab hold of her wrist and pull. That’s when we see it.

It looks like a bird, but it has four legs, and is about the size of an Alsatian. It has massive claws and it’s head is covered in tiny spikes. I gulp. Another cannon goes off. Ten remain. The mutt makes a horrible squawking noise and moves towards us, bowing it’s head. Roslyn and I share a look of confusion. Until it squawks again and the spikes fly towards us. We throw ourselves on to the ground and cover our heads. The mutt squawks again. I grab my bow and shoot an arrow at it’s eye. The mutt falls to the ground and I shoot it again. It explodes.

Roslyn and I are thrown twenty feet into the air. Roslyn screams and I quickly grab her arm to prevent her from being sliced in half by a tree under her. We fall to the ground yelping.

I land hard on my back, and immediately my clothes tear. I begin to bleed quickly and I can see my ankle is pretty wrecked. Roslyn pulls me under a tree and goes through my bags to find a first aid kit. She pulls out the dissolvable stitches and I begin to sew my skin together as fast as I can. Another cannon goes off. Roslyn sews up her own finger and then begins to go through her supplies, throwing out unnecessary items. I do the same.

About an hour later two cannons go off, leaving seven of us.

"Thank you for helping me." Roslyn smiles at me.

I smile back.

"Thank you too." I look down and sigh.

"We have to split up". We both say at the same time.

We share a laugh, but it doesn't last long. We can’t both win.

We wish each other the best of luck, hug and then walk in opposite directions. Another cannon goes off and I turn. Roslyn is still walking. I sigh, half relief that Roslyn is alive and half worrying that it might end up with the two of us in the end. I don't even imagine what would happen in that situation, it is not worth it.

I continue walking slowly through the trees. After the mutt attack I am not concerned that I will be attacked, people will probably be nursing their wounds. Six people. Six. I shake my head in disbelief. Sixty-six people have died in less than a week and I did my fair share of killing. But now it is nearly over and I have to keep going if I want to make it back to District 12 and my family, who are all probably shocked that I am still here.

I look up at the sky.

"So what shall happen next?" I whisper.