The Second Annual Writer Games!

Task Five- Males

Daniel Stone:

The graveyard was strangely comforting to sleep in. I had set up my bed early, and now had my eyes turned to the sky. I was curious to see if the poison from the snakes had killed anyone; I hadn't heard any cannons. Soon, the anthem began blaring around the arena and I sat up, looking forward to seeing who was dead and who was still alive.

The first tribute shown was the girl from 8, Canvas Azure. That was a bit surprising. She seemed pretty talented, and her 8 in training was in agreement with that. Plus, she was sponsored. Obviously she had done something right, or else she wouldn't have received a sponsor. Next was her district partner, the idiotic blind kid Casimir Elmwood. The only surprise was that he had lasted so long, and longer than all of the male Careers. The final face was the District 9 boy, Elijah Chase. Big surprise there. Not. That stupid kid never had a chance.

Suddenly, the ground began vibrating. I whipped around with an axe in each hand, wondering if the snakes had somehow returned. Then I saw dirt crumbling off a few graves, and gasped in shock when I saw that it was falling off the graves with names on them. Andras Moon, Achilles Jupiter, Rhydian Hawke, Lily Flowers, Leo Quake, Canvas Azure, Casimir Elmwood, Elijah Chase, Emilia Noble, Oliver Quinn, Maisie Andrews and Lark Vesta all rose up out of their graves in unison. They looked like their stylists had just finished cleaning and primping them. There was no dirt, not a single cut or scrape of bruise, and they looked as healthy as they could ever be. Then I noticed their eyes. A sickly lime green that was hideous yet slightly mesmerising.

Then I saw the weapons in their hands, and I began running. I had no idea where to, or why, but a small instinct in me knew that they would kill me. Maybe they wouldn't kill their allies, but I had no allies that could help me. I pondered climbing a tree, but decided against it. If they were anything like what they had been... Uh, before... Then they knew how to climb. I wondered what was wrong with them. Their movements were vaguely jolty, even though they were pretty fast. Their eyes were glazed over and they didn't speak. Didn't even seem to be breathing. That was when the one descriptive word flashed into my mind.

Zombies.

I quickened my pace, not willing to hang around and see if they could be killed. If they couldn't, then I was outnumbered and seriously stuffed. I considered where to go. The Cornucopia was a no-go, because of the rest of the Careers. Maybe, just maybe, I could lure the zombies toward them... Hmm...

I turned around and started shouting and waving my hands. The zombies ran faster after me, and I turned and sprinted toward the Cornucopia. I saw smoke coming from that area, and burst out of the tree line to see the four remaining Careers gathered around a campfire. They had no idea how close to death they all were. Violet looked up and caught sight of me sprinting towards their group. With a grunt of surprise, she leapt to her feet and pulled out a couple of her throwing knives. Kat stood up almost straight after, her whip coiled loosely around her feet. I knew from seeing her in action that she could have it flicking towards me in a deadly arc in a matter of seconds.

Hazel and Nutmeg were on their feet soon after, Hazel with her chakram and Nutmeg with her twin sai blades. When I was about ten metres away, I veered sharply to the right and ran around them, giving them a wide berth. Inevitably, they turned to watch where I was going. I laughed loudly and kept running. Kat must have seen through my trick, because she whipped her head around to see the zombies, barely 50 metres away.

With a shout of warning, Kat scrambled around and grabbed 4 backpacks and some spare daggers. I saw the others grabbing supplies before I concentrated ahead. The last thing I wanted was to get a broken ankle. I was screwed if that happened. I heard a few feminine shrieks from behind, and pounding feet behind me. With a maniacal laugh, I continued towards the barn. I had assumed that the other alliance would be there, as it was the only place left without the Careers or me. I wondered where the other lone tribute, Adelaide, was. She was crazy, that one.