The 45th Hunger Games: The Tribute of District 4 (Watty Awards 2012 completed)

Chapter 17

A slow smile appeared on my face. This was mine. A few tributes away was Xavier, and even he couldn’t hide the smile that had crept on his face. I caught his eye and we both grinned together.

The tribute outfit suddenly made sense. It was the perfect thing for this climate. I should have guessed, considering it was only a more advanced version of the things I had back home.

The mermaid was home.

This arena was District 4. That long stretch of beach. The familiar trees by the shore. All the tributes were spread out on the long stretch of sand, with the Cornucopia at the center. The stretch of sand available to us was wide as well as lengthy. I couldn’t even see the end of sand. This area was large.

The ocean was a few yards away from the nearest tribute that had the ocean behind him. I got ready to run, tensing my muscles and getting into stance.

The Cornucopia had the abundance of weapons and things that might have helped us survive. The value and abundance lessened the closer it was to the tributes. The nearest item in front of me was a silver jug.

I couldn’t stay here for long though, because if there were long-range weapons hidden somewhere inside the Cornucopia, it would have given the other players an advantage. The wide, open space made it difficult for anyone to have a place to hide. So far though, all I saw from the weapons were knives, spears and the best of all, tridents. From what I knew, Xavier and I were the only ones adept enough in handling those weapons.

3…2…1…

I raced straight for the nearest item and took it just so no one could benefit from it. After that I headed straight for the Cornucopia. I wasn’t aware of anything that was happening, except from the view that my peripheral vision allowed.

One of the Careers trampled on one of the tributes and snapped his neck. I couldn’t keep track of who was dead and who wasn’t.

I reached the center and finally got a hand of my trident and a few knives. With these, I had protection and power. There were a few tributes who had ventured to get their own supplies. They tried to aim at me, but because they had poor skills or because I had reflexive training in District 4, I was too fast for them to do any real damage. I flung a knife at one of the females. Her face got scratched and she staggered backward, yelping.

The next thing I did, I did out of adrenaline rush. I leapt over where she was hiding, stood over her tauntingly and stabbed her heart. Her mouth spurted out blood and some splattered onto my face and my clothes. I pulled the knife away and more blood spurted out.

One of the other tributes, who took this advantage of my being distracted, flung a spear at me. He just barely missed as the blade grazed my arm and I managed to avoid it by rolling over. Another spear soared overhead, but it wasn’t aimed at me this time. It launched into the boys eye socket.

He promptly fell to the ground.

I looked behind me and I saw Slate looking angry. I blinked at him and he pulled me up and into the Cornucopia, where we could salvage for more items.

Ridding of everyone in distance seemed to be the smart thing to do now though.

I saw that the four other Careers were alive and in battle, while the other tributes fought as they tried running away after deciding that the spoils that they gathered were enough. Xavier was already running into the thicket of trees, with a backpack and one of the tridents.

My eyes locked on the tributes who were halfway from where the metal circles brought us up. I took a few steps back and took a running start before launching my trident into the backs of one of them. It hit one squarely in the back, and the tribute fell headfirst into the ground. I didn’t want anyone taking any more weapons, so I ran over and took my trident back.