Prim in the Games

Chapter Eighteen

I wake up to hear Claudius Templesmith's voice boom throughout the arena. "Tomorrow there will be a feast. There will be several packs, weapons, and food items at this feast. I strongly suggest you attend."

"We aren't really going, are we?" Peeta asks.

"We might have to," I reply, "you heard what he said. The Capitol might blow us up if we don't go."

"Good point," he says, "Just don't get too cocky with the food."

"Don't worry about that," I say.

Today Peeta and I were going to go hunting. Since there is a feast tomorrow, there is really no point. I don't want to kill any animal anyways.

I still have some fruit and dry food. We can go pick some more berries. That should last is for today. We have been trying to save up the food, but there is no point now.

That's the only thing I love about the feast. You can eat all your current food the day before, and it doesn't matter. Why? Because there is always tomorrow to restock on supplies.

I don't know why, but I'm in a good mood today. Maybe it's because I've made it this far, I might go home. My good mood changes when I hear a scream.

It's a girl's. It's high-pitched. You can hear the sounds of terror in it. There is only one other person, besides me, in this arena who can scream like that. Rue.

A cannon goes off. Was that Rue's cannon? Poor little Rue. She was only 12. She knew she didn't have a chance. But just like me, she thought she had hope. She thought there might be a chance for her to go home. See her family. That won't happen now. Will that happen to me?

I hear another scream. A girl's. This time it's lower pitched. There are only two other girls in the arena. Both are careers. Is a career in danger?

Then another cannon. Two in a row? I wonder what happened. Someone is off on a killing spree. Are they close? I can't see any hovercrafts.

Night comes early. The Gamemakers must be in a hurry to get to tomorrow. No doubt, there will be brutal fighting. Maybe even a victor will be crowned.

In the sky the picture of Glimmer appears. Now both tributes from 1 are dead. That's half the career pack. Well, and the boy from 3 is gone too. It hurts my stomach knowing he died trying to kill me. It also hurts knowing I killed Glimmer's district partner, Marvel. With the berries I mean.

The next face is Rue's, of course. She was close. She almost made it to the feast. She was so close. She was too young, she shouldn't have been here in the first place. Neither should I.

It's so unfair. No human deserves to be put in here. Especially children. It's cruel and unusual punishment. Then again that's probably the point. I try to imagine a government that would banish even the idea of these games. No, it's hard.

I have a hard time sleeping. The events of tomorrow are so suspenseful. Will I die? Will I get food? Will Peeta die? Will I kill someone? But most importantly, will the victor be crowned?

But you have to fall asleep, I tell myself, you won't survive tomorrow if you don't. Also, I'm scared this will be the last sleep I'll ever wake up from. I would like to enjoy dreaming while I still possess my life.

I wake up the next morning. I see the forcefield is coming in. This means we have to go to the cornucopia. Well, or we could die. No thank you.

Peeta and I decide to separate. We figured it would be our last time seeing each other. So we hug and leave. You know, so we won't have to do it later.

I hear footsteps. I think they are Peeta's but they seem to be coming closer to me. Is Peeta coming back? I thought we agreed that leaving was best.

I see the figure. It's large. It's dark. It's not Peeta. I barely have time to scream when Thresh pins me up against a tree.