Let the 25th Hunger Games Begin

The Arena

The night was cold. It crept onto us, on our skin and released unbelievable pain. Noting could stop my hand from shivering. We had unzipped the sleeping bag to make a large sheet over us, but the ground was also freezing, I kept on thinking back to the Cornucopia, where a second sleeping bag lay within my reach. Why didn't I take it?

Idiot, I thought, rolling over and tucking more blanket over my shoulder. But I knew why I didn't take it. The other Tributes. I think back to the arm that I chopped off. Just like that. No hesitation, no grief. I was a monster. Out of all the people I harmed, this one affected me the most. Until I saw the sun rise through the thin curtain, all I thought was

Monster.

Monster.

Monster.

It was a high pitched scream that woke me up. I had somehow fell asleep. I pat around for my knife, prepared to attack when Madeline grabs my arm.

'Listen,' She tells me. I pause and hear the scream again. A boy's scream. Rocks on the ground started shaking, so lightly that I almost didn't notice. Was it an earthquake? No, it would be stronger than this to kill somebody. The scream was distant. Ear piercing, yet distant. It seemed like an eternity until it stopped. Cannon.

'Not a Tribute kill.' I mutter. Maddy looks up at me. ' This was a panicked scream, not a painful scream. There were no sobs or pleas, like there would be in a Tribute attack. They were running away from something.' She slowly nods.

'It was the arena.' She finishes, as we stare at the bleak morning sky, watching the hovercraft take the small body. I couldn't keep thinking about him. I needed to think about our survival.

'Water.' I say. 'We need to get water.' I need to force myself out of our make-shift bed. I check our small orange bag- 5 knifes, a spear, a bag of two apples and half a loaf of bread. If we got lost, we could survive off of the other tributes.

When we set out is was only.... 6:30 am, I guessed. Maddy lead the way as I trudged behind her. I took note of how the bushes became larger in numbers. Every so often I would crouch down and feel the soil. It was getting damper and damper. I heard a gasp. I shot up, expecting to see a gushing stream. I saw a stream alright. A wide, clear river, little fishes peaking their heads up a bit. I was so thirsty, I ran straight into the water and collapsed.

But I was not surrounded by water. I was not wet. As I slowly sat up, I realised that there was no river at all. A hallucination. I hadn't eaten much but nuts, and no water in the past day. Maddy helps me back up.
'You need to eat more,' She tells me. I nod, but don't plan on doing that. She needed most of the food. Then again, I needed it to be strong enough to protect her. That was when I heard it. Real water flowing. Maddy looked at me, hearing it too.

'It's real,' I confirm. We crouch down and crawl towards the sound. We were on top of a cliff like hill, with many rocks and bushes- not many trees. We hid behind the chunk of bushes and I peered down. Sure enough, there was a Tribute down at the water. Only if I had a bow and arrow. The boy down there did, though. I had to be careful. Maddy taps me on the shoulder, then shows me her spear. She wanted to do this. I wanted to object, but she was already standing and aiming for the boy.

Her aim was perfect. But so was his. They both lay on the dirt, one with a spear in the stomach, Maddy with an arrow near her neck and blood seeping slowly out of them. So when the cannon went off, I didn't know who it was for. My eyes widened.
'Oh no.... no no no no Maddy! Wake up!' I say, grabbing her shoulders. I yank the arrow away, and shake her.
'Maddy! Talk to me!'
'What...?' She murmured, then fell back to sleep. I exhaled grief and worry. She was alive. She was alive.

I slowly carried her down the clip/hill, which was 3.5m high, I guessed. I cleaned her wound in the water, and think back to training.
'If no blood comes out, you have Tetanus. Then you are in trouble.' The man had said. I was relieved when I saw the blood, but realised it came from a cut from a stone on her back as she fell. No. Oh no. I quickly check the arrow that I had retrieved, along with the boys weapons. There was a bit on rust lining the metal from the dirt and blood.
'Madeline? You have Tetanus.' I whisper, knowing that she won't hear me. Her joints would slowly start failing her, and the outcome could be fatal. I look longingly back at the water. We couldn't drink it unless it was filtered. And I couldn't do anything to Maddy other than wrap a piece of the cloth around it. She already had two wounds and I was in perfectly good health. I was terrible at looking after her. I sat next to her and watched the sun go down. The anthem would play soon. I ate some of the rabbit that the boy had caught and I had cooked by making a small fire, then stamping it out. I fed Madeline some, but she fell back asleep. I wrapped all the blanket around her and sat, cradling my knees, beside her. I buried my teary face into my hands, trying to look brave. But I couldn't.

A small chime-like song caught my attention. I glanced up, knife in my hand. Panicked, I spin to aim my knife that I had been playing with at the noise, but don't throw. It was a parachute! My heart raced. Food, or water, or medicine would be in there. I picked up the parachute and opened the metal lid. A note slipped out- from Opal.

Keep it up, but you need more drama/action, Careers are in spotlight.
Use wisely, Opal

The Careers were getting the most ratings? But I knew that I had thousands of Capitol folk cheering me on- but the game makers were only showing the exciting parts. I gasped when I saw the contents. A minuscule tub of ointment and a water bottle with a build in filter sat in the metal pack. I was delighted. I rushed to Maddy to apply the ointment, then filled the bottle with water and drank at least two litres, giving Maddy some in small amounts too. I packed it in the backpack and looked at our contents.
7 arrows, half a rabbit, a small blanket (the boys possessions), a spear, 5 knifes, a bag of a few fruits and lots of nuts, a roll of bread, the water, sleeping bag, ointment. We weren't able to go back the the hill, I knew that, but we still had plenty to live off of for the next few days. We would have to go hunting for animals soon. I glanced up at the sky, where I knew cameras were watching.
'My thanks go to the Capitol for this priceless donation.' That would be good enough for tonight. I needed more drama soon. But for now, I wrapped the boy's blanket around me and slept.

Author's Note:

Yay! Second day!
What do you think happened at the beginning?
What did the arena do?
Will Madeline survive the Tetanus? (Google it, lol)
Sorry for the late post- lots of homework and lots of ideas for future chapters coming up. I will upload faster when each chapter gets a few more views.

😜😝, Alix