The Half-Blood Games | Percabeth

Chapter 13: The Bloodbath

Sixty seconds. That's all I have to take in my surroundings before the games start and start my plan. I use them.

The Cornucopia is lying right in front of me, the silver glittering in the sunlight. We're standing in the middle of a desert, with orange sand and more cactuses than I can count. I even see some skeletons, no doubt added for visual effect. To my left, there are some mountains, and to my right, I can see trees in the distance. I decided to run to the trees after I was finished.

I looked at the clock. 30 seconds. Just enough time.

I slip the bracelet off my wrist and locate Clarisse. She's a tribute away from me. I take a deep breath, aim, and throw.

The explosion caught everyone off guard, and a cannon sounded. I smiled. It had worked!

I had successfully become the only person in the history of the Hunger Games to kill someone before the games even started.

10 seconds.

I braced myself, ready to run. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

The gong sounded, and everyone rushed forwards.

I ran towards the center, not having to worry about making it back. I'm pretty fast, and I reached the mouth of the Cornucopia easily. I slip inside, and watch.

The Careers reach the weapons, and instantly slip into kill mode. I watch Rachel chuck her knife at a girl close to me. Julia, I believe her name was.

Julia falls to the ground, dead. I make my move. I slid next to her, and yank the knife out of her back. I get to work, sawing at her wrist until I reach bone. When I do, I let her blood pour onto my shirt. Then, I use her bone to snap the blade of the knife off of the hilt. I manage to snap off most of the blade.

Then I position it over my own stomach, clasping my hands over it so it looks like I grabbed it when it entered me, not because I'm holding it there. Then I look into the sky.

I hear screams, and sand blows into my eyes. I see vultures in the sky, circling me.

In your dreams, pal, I thought as I blinked repeatedly, getting ready.

Eventually, it's over. The cannons start, and I count them. There are 10 in total. The Careers start cheering, congratulating each other and laughing at their victims.

One of them, Octavian, I believe his name is, came over to me. I immediately stopped blinking, and slowed my breathing down.

"Now way!" He exclaimed happily. "Rachel! Look who's dead!"

Rachel made her way over. When she saw me, she laughed. "Oh my God! Percy, come look at this!"

Soon, all five of them were around me. My heart was beating so quickly I was surprised they couldn't hear it. So many things could go wrong, I didn't even want to think about them.

"Look's like your girlfriends dead, Percy!" Rachel taunted.

I wanted to look at him, but if I did, I could be found out.

"I told you, I don't care about her," I recognized Percy's voice. "I'm glad she's dead."

His words hurt. I told myself that he was just lying, so he could fit in with his fellow careers.

"Looks like her eleven couldn't save her," Octavian taunted. He kicked me, and I barely resisted groaning in pain.

"We should go," Percy said. "Let them collect the bodies."

"But someone might come and steal our stuff," I recognized Hazel's voice.

"This early?" Percy asked. "No way. there's too high of a chance of us still being here. Let's go hunt people before they get too far into the desert."

Apparently, that logic was good enough for everyone else, and they left. The second I couldn't hear them anymore, I sprung up. I could almost hear the astonished gasps from the Capitol. What? They must be wondering. She's alive?

I had only a few minutes to take what I needed and go. I grabbed a backpack that was a few meters away from me, and rushed towards the knives. There were six left, and I shoved them in the front of the backpack.

Then I grabbed whatever I thought would be useful; a medical kit, matches, every piece of food I came across, and three water bottles.

When the backpack couldn't fit any more stuff, I ran towards the forest. The Careers had gone towards the mountains, and I hoped I had enough time to successfully get to the forest before they came back. I heard the sounds of a hovercraft behind me, which had come to pick up the bodies.

After I was sure I had put enough distance between myself and the cornucopia, I slowed to a walk. I was almost at the forest by this point. The trees had orange leaves, and looked like they could use a lot more water.

A few minutes later, I was in the forest. I sat down, and started rummaging through my backpack. I did a quick inventory.

1 sleeping bag.

1 coil of wire.

1 box of matches.

3 water bottles.

4 boxes of crackers.

4 packs of roast beef.

6 knives.

5 other food items.

In other words, I had a pretty good haul. I couldn't believe that my crazy plan had actually worked.

It was getting dark. I climbed a tree, and pulled out my sleeping bag. Surprisingly, desert nights were cold.

I used my belt to tie myself to the tree, and ate 5 crackers. I wanted to make my food last.

The anthem started playing, and I turned my attention to the night sky. The seal of the Capitol was shining, meaning the dead tributes were about to be shown.

First was Clarisse, of course. I smiled. My biggest threat in these games was gone.

Next was Julia from District 6, the girl who I'd used the blood of to make myself seem dead. Her blood was still on my shirt, dried.

Luke Castellan was next. District 6 was out.

Then came Juniper from District 7, along with Grover. Next was Meg McCaffrey and Michel Yew, both from District 9. Bianca di Angelo from District 10. Travis Stoll from District 11. And, finally, Nyssa Barrera from District 12.

I smile, happy that Malcolm survived the day. We weren't close, but I cared enough about him that I didn't want him dead.

Then I closed my eyes, and, surprisingly, quickly fell asleep.