The 122nd Annual Hunger Games: The Anti-Careers

Day One Is About Distance

XXII, i - Nicholas Lambrecht, District 6 Male

I was not really sure what to do. For about three seconds, I ran towards the center because that was what everybody else was doing. But then I slowed down. Then I stopped.

For a moment, as I stood there in the short grass with my shoulders rounded, I hung a finger on my lip as I thought about my next move. I don't need to go over there, I told myself. But I do. Or why should I, or not? I kept looking for a decision to make itself.

Then, as I focused on the cornucopia, I saw him rising from the ground to the top, Evan. If he was there, then I needed to go too. I picked up my feet and rushed to the cornucopia. As I got closer, I watched him ready an arrow in his bow; I froze my focus on him as he let go of the string and for about five seconds, he stood there in the same position, his left arm forward with the bow and right arm pulled back with his hand still resting in air at the string. I admired his marksmanship. His shot was perfect through Castle's neck and I could not imagine the adrenaline rush he was experiencing. It could have been frightening or amazing, but I did not know. He seemed calm, however, he quickly lowered the bow after holding his pose and slid off of the cornucopia.

After that, I caught myself standing still on the grass again. I ran inside the cornucopia to look for something to take with me before I left.

The first thing I came across was a net of apples, three. I like apples, especially the Capitol ones, so I clutched the sack to my body as I looked for other things. I saw Evan's friend Rebekah leaving the area quickly; she had somewhere to be, and I assumed it was to meet up with him. I could have followed her to join up, but I did not want to be weaponless, so I continued looking for something. I came across a sword on the wall, but I did not want that. I wanted my other weapon. Behind me, I found a case with a set of knives. I sucked at knives, as the trainer said. I wanted the tomahawk, I needed it.

Surprisingly, nobody wanted anything to do with me. There were only a couple other people in and out of the cornucopia, and I was simply disregarded.

I realized that there were drawers to the counters in the middle of the cornucopia and I then found myself ripping open everything to find what I was looking for. I came across some weirdly shaped blades and other oddities the Capitol called weapons, but the tomahawk was not in any of the drawers, or anything like it.

Suddenly, as I was rushing to the other side of the short room, something tugged at my foot and I fell. I tried to grab onto the table to catch myself, but I caught a box and brought it to the ground with me. Out of the box fell a foam insert and two large knifes. There was nobody behind me, so I assumed that I was clumsy and tripped over myself.

Everyone was running away as the taller tributes began to form at the other entrance of the cornucopia. I took after them and fled the scene as well, but before I left, I took a knife with me; I needed something or anything. The sun bled bright, so I took off in the opposite direction as to avoid the nuisance.

As the trees grew larger in my sights, so did my speed. If I wanted to live, I figured I needed to be out of the area as soon as possible. For a moment, as I was about to burst into the dense trees, I snapped my head to the side to get a quick look at the Career team walking inside the cornucopia. In accordance to tradition, they owned the cornucopia; it was set up for them to defend from theft, basically.

I ran through the trees for a minute, trying to distance myself from them. After a minute, I halted and held myself up on a tree to rest for a moment. I poked my head around, to the left and right, up and down, and everywhere else to make sure I was alone. My hand squeezed the trunk of the tree tighter when I heard a sudden crunch of leaves. The sound continued and was running closer to me as I continued to search for the source. I began to walk behind the tree I was at. As I turned the corner, a girl ran into me and we both fell backward.