Storm: A Hunger Games Story {Book One of the Storm Trilogy}

Nine

I stared out of the cave at the artificial sky as Galen's face appeared. It's not fair. None of us deserve to die. I couldn't close my eyes without seeing Galen's death over and over. I took watch tonight, and kept my eyes open for Cael and Eli.

I couldn't help but cry. How was he dead? He was just alive this morning! Yesterday we went to the feast together! It's hard to believe that he's gone, even though I witnessed it with my own eyes. We weren't close, but you develop a bond with people when you're in a situation like this. Not many people can relate to us.

The night was long and dark. I was always afraid that a mutt would jump onto me and kill me, or that Cael would find us and kill us. My hand rested on my belt, incase I had to throw a knife quickly. I would always be thankful when someone wakes up so I'm not alone. Today, it was Hazel.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey."

"How are you doing today?"

"Not great. Just ready to get rid of them." Aaron began to wake up, and once he was awake, I checked his wound. It was basically healed.

"Aaron, your shoulder!" I exclaimed. He turned his head and saw his wound was almost gone. I took out some berries I had collected and gave them to Hazel and Aaron.

"You're not going to eat?" Aaron asked.

"No, I'm not hungry." I sat with my back to the cave wall, thinking about home. I miss my family. Will I ever see them again?

"Attention tributes. You all have trackers in your arms. You must make it to the Cornucopia in five minutes, or the trackers will explode. Your time starts now." Claudius Templesmith announced. We all looked at each other, our mouths agape. We grabbed our things and started sprinting. That means that Cael and Eli weren't at the Cornucopia either. I made sure Aaron and Hazel were keeping up with me, as I was the fastest of us three.

This was it. This was the finale. I guess the gamemakers knew the three of us wouldn't kill each other, so they decided to end the games early. We had no time to prepare ourselves or say our goodbyes. I kept running. I couldn't let anything stop me.

With Aaron and Hazel in tow, we made it to the Cornucopia. Across from us on the beach section were Cael and Eli. The five of us knew this was it. They began to run towards us, and we ran towards them. Almost immediately, Cael stabbed Hazel. She collapsed and Aaron started to fight Cael. I tried to focus on Eli, but Hazel was dying. Eli caught me off guard, and punched me in the face. I fell to the ground, but got up quickly. At least Eli made it a fair fight by letting me get up. He was ready, knife in hand. I had eight knives, he had one. I pulled one out of the belt, and made it seem like I would stab him. He ducked, and my fist made contact with his face. He went to hit me back but I ducked, and elbowed him in the gut a few times. In this time, I stabbed him. He collapsed on the ground, and I knew he was dead. I turned to help Aaron, but when I turned, I saw him all bloody, fighting with Cael. I began to run over to them, but I saw Aaron drop his sword. He fell to the ground. I knew instantly what Cael had done.

"NO! AARON!" I screamed. I ran towards Cael, knife in hand, and threw it into his chest. It killed him immediately.

Aaron lay on the ground, a large wound in his abdomen. I stumbled over to him, in complete denial that he was dying.

"You're okay. I have a needle and thread, you'll be okay." I fell on my knees and fumbled to get the needle out of my bag when he grabbed my wrist.

"Ophelia, stop." Tears stung my eyes as I realized he would not live. I put the bag down, and pulled his nearly limp body into my lap. His blood stained my hands and wetsuit. He looked up at me, pure terror in his eyes. He tried his best to hide it but I knew he was afraid.