Don't Play Games

13

We settle down in a tall tree, halfway up, which is about 25 feet. I hear the anthem beginning and look up sadly.

It begins with Jason. Then Coral's face flashes on the screen. Then Max. Finally, the anthem ends with a flash.

I sigh. "Get some rest, guys. I'll take first watch."

The three of them don't object. They all fall asleep almost immediately.

I don't blame them. I feel just as exhausted.

I look out over the trees. For some odd reason, I feel at peace, like I could stay here forever. Maybe my sanity has finally snapped, I think to myself. I don't think I'd mind if it did.

Nothing happens during the night. All I do is eat some food and wait for the sun to rise.

I sigh. "We didn't take Coral's pack." I mentally slap myself for being so stupid.

"Hmm?" I hear a sleepy mumble from behind me, coming from Ingrid.

"Nothing." I answer. "Go back to sleep."

She nods and her eyes close again.

I look out over to the horizon. A sliver of pink is visible. The sun is rising.

I hear a rustle and a pattern of soft thumps. A tribute runs through the forest, not even noticing me. There's a number on her sleeve like everyone else's jackets. 10. Tina, I think.

I didn't even stop moving when I saw her. I'm throwing caution to the wind. What's wrong with me?

I wake Clora, Electra and Ingrid.

"What's on the schedule?" I ask.

"I dunno. Anything happen overnight?" Ingrid shrugs.

"Tina ran past about 5 minutes ago, alone." I answer.

"Who's Tina?" Clora asks.

"Girl from 10." I answer simply. "Lets go explore a little. Maybe we'll find something."

The three of the girls hesitate in following me down the tree but eventually do. We head off in a random direction, unsure of what to do.

About 20 minutes into our walk, I hear footsteps ahead and stop the group. "Shh..." I whisper, pointing ahead.

A bloodcurdling scream rises up ahead of us. Followed by a cannon.

We stay still, hidden behind a small bush. Mark appears, looking around frantically, his machete covered in bright red blood.

I don't even hesitate or think. I just throw my knife. It plants itself in between his shoulder blades.

He falls to the ground. A cannon sounds.

"Hazel!" Clora says, backing away from me slightly. "Why did you do that? He didn't even see us, he wasn't a threat!"

"One less tribute to deal with." I say bitterly, almost not controlling what comes out of my mouth.

Electra looks down at the ground. "Whatever. Lets go."

We continue our trek, if you could really call it that. More like aimless wandering.

"Just under half of us are left now." Ingrid says. "I think. And it's day..."

"Five, I think." Clora answers. "Isn't it going pretty fast?"

"I don't know." Electra answers. "Maybe. It might go slower the less tributes there are."

"There's 11 of us left." I say. "Four of us. Three Careers. Who knows about the others. There may not be any more alliances in the arena."

"Who's left besides us and the Careers anyhow?" Clora asks.

"Um, Jack from 8, Belle from 9, and Peter from 12 I think." I answer.

"I wonder if they're allied." Electra thinks out loud.

"Maybe." Clora shrugs.

We wander for awhile longer before stopping for a small lunch. None of us are really hungry, anyways.

We walk for another hour before I begin to hear rushing water.

"The river." I whisper, stopping. "Listen."

We all stop, listening.

Along with the rushing sound of water, I hear voices. Shouting. Laughing.

"The Careers." I say, grabbing the first person available, who happens to be Ingrid. "Go!"

We all run back in the direction we came.

I hear a few whoops and cheers from behind us.

"They're gaining on us!" Clora squeaks from the back of the group.

"How do you know-" I begin to ask, turning around. I stop at what I see.

Clora, on the ground. Surrounded by the Careers.

"Go!" She screams.

So I do. I grab my remaining allies' arms and pull them along, who are both objecting and crying.

A cannon sounds when we round a bend past a rather large tree.

Soon, footsteps other than our's stop and I can hear is our heavy breaths.

"We...can...stop now." I say, bending over to catch my breath.

"Finally." Electra says.

"It's only taken around 36 hours to wipe out half of our allies." Ingrid sighs.

"Too many people have died." I say angrily. "Too many people."

"10 people are left." Electra sighs. "Only 10."

I sigh. "We have to keep moving. The Careers could be following us right now."

The pair don't object. We keep walking until we seem to reach the clearing where the cornucopia is. We walk around the edge of it. After nearly an hour of aimless and nervous circling, we spot the Careers come back and greet their guard, Birch, who now has a bandage wrapped around his shoulder.

"Lets settle in for the night." Electra suggests, pointing up at the sky, which is turning pink.

"Yeah." Ingrid nods.

"Alright." I say, quickly picking out a good tree to sleep in.

"I'll be on watch." Electra says.

"I'll do second." Ingrid volunteers.

I sigh. "Alright."

I strap myself in and close my eyes. I feel myself slowly drift out of consciousness.

A rustling wakes me up in the night.

------

I missed doing cliffhangers ;)

-Zane