the 19th Hunger Games

Chapter 7

“There the little bugger is!” the annoying girl who’d nearly cleaved my legs called. “Get him!” She was obviously the leader because the other five approached slowly while she kept standing in her spot just beneath me.

   Lan jumped up as quickly as he could but I could see he was hurt. Still, he grabbed an axe from his belt and started swinging it slowly, scaring the other five.

“He’s got a weapon, Ursula,” a boy said. I wasn’t sure weather he was 1, 2 or 4. But at least it was clear now who the girl was. She was from 1, meaning she had to die. Soon.

“So do you,” she said. Lan stepped back and bumped into the tree, grimacing and trying not to reach to his ribs. Maybe they were bruised or even broken. “He’s hurt,” Ursula continued, having noticed the slight gesture, which he stopped half way. “And there’s also no one to help him. Now hurry up a bit so we can all rest.” They closed in on him faster now, like a pack of wild dogs surrounding their prey. I couldn’t let them, I had to do something. Lan, Oscar and I were a pack to, even though we were only half the size of the career pack. Still, a pack doesn’t get hunted without putting up a fight. And so I was gonna fight back too. As quickly but silently as I could I slipped down my branch, then down another, until I was straight above Ursula. I untied my lasso from my belt and tied it around the tree. I was going to do my private-session-with-the-Gamemakers trick, the one that had gotten me a score of ten.

   When Ursula wasn’t paying attention I took a deep breath, jumped and swung from my lasso like a monkey. I let out a howl and then kicked her in the ribs with both feet. As she went tumbling, I landed and ripped loose my lasso as quick as I could. Before she could breathe and get up I was on top of her, my lasso around her neck, then turning her over and dragging her up, pressed against my body as a human shield. The rest of the careers had already noticed me of course, a scream like mine didn’t go unnoticed, but they didn’t know what to do. That gave Lan a second to catch his breath and ready himself. And at that moment, silent as a summer breeze, I saw the silhouette of Oscar hit the ground, two large butchers knifes at the ready. But ugly giant Ursula wasn’t about to let us win this fight just like that. She slammed her massive elbow into my ribs full force, making me groan and step back, enough for her the drop and have herself released from my rope.    

    Six careers, I kept thinking. Six careers. If we manage to take all six of them out, we’re down to ten tributes. But as I kept thinking positive, the situation seemed pretty hopeless. Three of us scrawny kids against six careers, the hard core of the Games. Sure we had weapons, good ones too, but we were no match at all. They’d trained all their lives.

   I tried getting eye contact with Lan, seeing what his plan was, but it didn’t work. He was too preoccupied with staying alive because two of the careers had now focussed their eyes and weapons on Lan and Oscar again, while the other four were all positioned nose-forward to my direction, including Ursula.

“Kill her slowly,” she hissed at her companions as they closed in on me. She leaned back against a tree but the other three came closer until I couldn’t back up any further.

“You’re gonna die,” one sizzled. He clicked his wrist and out of his sleeve came a set of nasty sharp scalpels. Not something you’d normally kill someone with, but undoubtedly this kid could kill me without me ever noticing it. Unfortunately his orders were to kill me slowly.

   Behind my back, out of sight, I prepared my lasso for attack, feeling every inch to see if there were any weaknesses, untying it and then retying it again. Then, when the boy with the scalpels was only a few inches away from me, I pushed my back up the tree, kicking my legs forward. As he went flying I slammed the lasso into the girl left of me so she also went toppling over. But before I could continue my attack the third, a boy, was on top of me. I could see now that this boy was Leto, the giant from 1. He bared his teeth and hissed at me.