Sixty...fifty-nine. The holographic timer above the Cornucopia ticks down to twenty-three of our deaths. I take in the arena. Our pedstals are in a swampy pond, and the cornucopia is on a steep mud mountain in the middle. I see steep cliffs and mountains that rise above us. Plenty of water, from what I can tell, shelter will not be a problem either. On my right side was the girl from five, Mille, who tried to ally with me. On my left was the female twin from ten. She bared her teeth at me. I stared at the mountain of mud. Just in front of me was a backpack, and a little to the right was a short sword. If I could get to those, then get out I would be good. Eight...seven...six. An exlposion to the right of me steals my attention. Mille is gone, blood and dirt cover her pedestal, and the right side of my face.
That explosion was all it took to bring me to distract me. The gong goes off and I am unprepared. I jump in the shallow pool of water by my pedestal, and wade to the foot of the mountain. The boy from nine was right next to me, he had hurt his ankle trying to get up. I got to the backpack, and the sword was close to me. I dive for the sword, and I feel something whiz if my head. The girl from six has a blowgun aimed at my head. I run slide down the rest of the mountain to the bottom. I see the large twin from ten on the ground, throat slit. A couple feet away, her twin, the boy named Shiloh, I think, snaps the little girl from elevens neck. I disapear into the tall trees with submerged roots. I hear splashing on my right side, so I turn to the left.
No cannons have sounded yet, so the fighting is all still concentrated at the Cornucopia. A large vine comes out of no where and knocks me forward into the water. I drag my self out, and find the bottom of the tallest mountain. I begin to climb. No camera is on me. All of them wll be focused on the fighting. I sit on an outcropping, hidden by tall ferns on the ground, and look through the backpack. A small pack of dried apple slices, a full water bottle, a sleeping bag, a utility knife, and a cooked rabbit leg. I squat down in the ferns and pee. A cannon sounds. One..two..three, the bloodbath is over now. I'm about an hour from the cornucopia, so I feel safe. The rest of the day I spend walking in the direction I believe is away from the cornucopia. When night falls, I climb a tall pine tree towards the top of the mountain, and eat the rabbit leg, and take a swig of water. I stand on the branch, and listen to the anthem. Up in the sky, I see the dead. Both from four and five, the girl from eight, boy from nine, girl from ten, and the girl from eleven. Both from twelve are dead too. Ten dead. I shimmy down the tree, an burrow into the hole beneath the wide roots under the tree. I cover the hole in pine needles in dirt.
A scream woke me up. It belonged to a young boy. Foot steps tread past my hole. Another scream from the boy. The tall blonde boy from one plunges a long knife into his back. A cannon. I slide silently back into my hole and try to stay silent. The careers are right there. I can't imagine how many people in the Capitol are on the edge of their seats.
"Lets go, the two from six and that girl from nine are a threat, they went to the ravine for water." said a female voice, the girl from two I guess. Just like that they're gone. I hop out of my powder blue sleeping bag, and crawl over to the dead boy. The hovercraft floats above me, and the claw is coming down. I turn the boy over, and then I realize how I knew it was a boy screaming. It was Catax. I had no one else to turn to.