You can't change your fate (hunger games fanfic)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

It's time. Time to enter the arena. Time to fight. Time to die.

I struggle to step into my tube that will take me into this unknown arena. I wish wish wish that Storm was here with me. Not in the actual games, of course, I don't want him in danger. I just miss him so much. I twist my engagement ring around my finger and remember our promise. If I get out alive, I can marry him. The thought of Storm gives me strength, and I enter the tube. 3 seconds left. 2, 1...

And I'm in this death trap they call the arena. I glance around me, trying to take in my surroundings, and immediately feel slightly calmer. The arena doesn't seem to be too difficult; there are plenty of trees for cover, a large lake which I assume is our water source, a mountain in the distance where I am sure there will be caves for shelter... Many bushes contain berries, one of which I immediately notice grows Nightlock. I shudder, and make a mental note to check and double check every berry before I eat it.

I catch Finch's eye, and he has that determined look on his face again. He nods once, trying to confirm our plan, and nervously I nod back. 30 seconds left until the games start. I am going to run out as fast as possible, grab two weapons and a backpack, as I am the fastest. He will go and climb a tree. I will run back and find him. We will be allies. 15 seconds. I spot a bow and arrow at the cornucopia, and resolve to get that for Finch. 10 seconds. A large green camouflage backpack sits next to it, and a few knives to the right of that. I prepare myself.

5 seconds. 4, 3, 2, 1... The gong sounds and I'm off, running faster than I ever have before. I'm the first at the cornucopia, and I hurriedly grab the backpack and sling it on, grip the bow and arrow and two knives tightly. A district 8 boy attempts to throw a spear at me, but I'm moving too fast for him now. I've left them all behind as I run into the woods. Suddenly, panic floods over me. How am I supposed to find Finch in this huge arena? I feel like a child, lost at the supermarket and unable to see their mother. Short sharp breaths come out of me, and I struggle to control them. I feel tears of panic forming under my eyelids, when suddenly I hear him.

"Vanilla? Vanilla?" I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding, and sprint over to him, crashing into him as we both fall to the floor. I giggle, something I haven't done for a while, and we both get up. "So," he says, face flushed. "What now?"

I decide I really would like to watch the rest of the bloodbath, to get a stronger understanding of each tributes strengths and weaknesses, so we climb two trees and sit so we can see them but they can't see us.

First we open the backpack. It contains four apples, two bottles of water, some dried apricots, a dart gun and a sleeping bag. We are ecstatic. Survival shouldn't be too difficult, now.

We sit back to watch the rest of the bloodbath. About 14 tributes are still fighting, and roughly 6 are on the floor, either dead or dying. Amongst the fighters are the Careers, and I'm dismayed when it is clear that they are made up of not only districts 1 and 2, but also 4. That's a group of six. I shudder.

I'm so glad Finch is here. I wince as I watch the district 1 male behead another girl, and he wraps his arm around me tightly. I don't know what it is about this boy, but somehow, no matter what the situation, he makes me feel safe. I lean against him and watch the rest.

The Careers are killing machines. Each one kills at least two tributes each. Eventually, everyone except for the Careers has either run away or been brutally murdered. The cannon sounds, marking the end of the initial bloodbath, and I count them. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 12 dead in the first day. That's half of us, gone. 12 lives wasted.

Their holographic pictures come up in the sky. "The Fallen" it says. God ,that disgusts me. It should say the murdered, not the fallen. I grit my teeth and watch the pictures that flash up in the sky. Both district one and two tributes are alive. Finch and I are alive. The district four male is dead, as are both of districts five and six. The seven girl is murdered, but both of eight are alive. The district nines are both gone. The district 10 male, the district 11 female, both district 12 tributes. 12 lives, wasted, gone. I put my head on Finch's shoulder and close my eyes. I say a prayer for everyone who has lost their lives or loved ones to the Hunger Games. I also pray for myself and Finch, in the hope that one of us will survive this death trap; that one of us will win.

The rest of the day goes past in a blur. The Careers set up camp in the cornucopia, and two of them stay on watch while the others sleep.

Meanwhile, Finch and I have a whispered debate. He wants us to murder the careers right now and get them out of the way, as they won't see us coming and he says now may be our only chance. I, however, disagree. It just takes for one of us to miss our first shot in killing the two on guard and they will all rouse and kill us easily.

"Look, Vanilla," Finch says. "I am doing this with or without your help. But without, I'm more likely to die, and so are you. Come on, they are our biggest threat, and we could easily take out at least half of them right now, on the first night." I still look uncertain so he takes my face in his hands and pulls it up so I am looking into his eyes. He continues speaking in a hushed whisper. "If anything goes wrong, you can run." He says. "I don't mind. If they target us, I will hold them off and you can escape. You are going to win this, Van, I know it."

My next move shocks me. I don't know what makes me do it. For starters, he is two years younger. He is fourteen and I am engaged. But nothing, not the Careers below us, not the cameras broadcasting my every move, not the engagement ring burning like fire on my finger, nothing can stop me from my next move. I lean in and kiss him. He freezes, and at first I think he is going to pull away, but then he is kissing me back, and for the first time in my life, I truly feel safe.

"Don't do this," I beg, once I've pulled away. "Please, it's too dangerous."

He smiles, and kisses me gently once more on the mouth. "We have to do this. We can do this." He says, and I decide to trust him.

He's going to use the bow and arrow to shoot the District one boy, and I am to throw a knife at the District two girl's brain. If either of us misses, we are to run away as fast as possible. If they both die silently, we are to kill the others as quick as possible before the cannons sound and wake them. Honestly, if we can pull this off it will be a miracle. Still, I suppose stranger things have happened.

"Ready?" he whispers.

"Ready." I try to keep the fear out of my voice. And we do it. His arrow hits the guy straight in the eyes, and he falls silently to the ground. My knife misses, and the girl spins round, but before she can make a noise, Finch has shot another arrow straight through her heart. The cannon sounds twice, and they are dead. The other Careers begin to stir.

I grab Finch's arm. "Finch, please let's leave!" I cry, but he has that determined glint in his eye yet again, and I know he is beyond reasoning. He shoots an arrow at the district one girl, who has just woken up for the last time, and she falls back down in to an everlasting sleep. The canon booms once. The male district two is the most aware. He sees us, grabs a spear and attempts to kill Finch, but he is still too sleepy to aim well. An arrow is shot and he falls to the ground. Dead.

There is only one Career left now; the district 4 female. She is lethal, aiming knife after knife at us. If it weren't for Finch, we would both be dead. He holds the backpack, moving it so quickly that each knife she aims at us gets stuck in the thick green material instead of us. He is so focused on this though that he cannot shoot her.

"Vanilla" he yells. "Throw a knife back at her!"

I grab one from the backpack without even realising what I'm doing. The knife pulls away, bringing the backpack with it. At that exact moment, she throws a knife at Finch. It hits him square in the heart, and he falls from the tree, his look of determination frozen on his beautiful face. I scream his name, I try to reach him, but it's no use. The canon sounds, and I am alone. I see the district 4 girls' evil smile, and screech in fury, throwing one last knife at her. She isn't prepared for it. It hits her, straight in the heart. She falls down, dead, her deadly smirk still etched upon her face.

I climb down from the tree, shaking harder than ever. My legs are like jelly as I stumble over to Finch's body. I shake him, even though I know it is no use. The canon sounded, he has no pulse, and there is too much blood spilt.

"Finch," I cry. "Finch." I feel my voice breaking. "Come back Finch, please. Breathe. Don't leave me here alone. Not on the first day." I see water drops falling gently on his body, and I wonder if it is raining and I just haven't noticed. But one touch of my soaking wet face makes me realise they are my tears. I am alone in this.

I leave his body so the hovercraft can take it back to his parents, but not before I have taken the ring off of my finger and placed it on his. "Be safe" I whisper, and I walk off into the night, with just my backpack and some knives, to set up camp alone.