Claudia, district two, seventeen, career

"Isaac, get over here." I say, searching the tree line.

Isaac steps out of the bushes, securing the knife in his belt.

"What is it Claudia?" He asks.

I shake my head, unsure of what to say. Isaac and I have been allies far too long; it's not safe to have an alliance this late in the games.

We lost Annie, after Lacy beheaded her district partner. I don't know how she's survived this long, but I haven't seen her since. There are only five of us left; we had to kill Lacy last night. She was too much of a threat. We're the only careers left, other than Annie, but judging by the way she ran off, I don't expect her to be of any use.

The other two tributes are Gravel from district eight and Kitty from district six. They won't last long. Kitty is small and weak, barley able to climb a tree, but she's a fast runner. Gravel is strong and handy with a mace, but he's injured very badly.

Honestly the only real competition is Isaac, but I can't find it in my heart to kill him, he's from home. I'm hoping that when I break the alliance, he'll die on his own.

I open my mouth to speak when a rustle in the bushes catches my attention. Isaac looks over at me and I signal for him to be quiet. We slowly creep forward and we're a foot away from the bushes, when I nod to him. He pulls a deadly looking knife from the inside of his coat, and with one sharp jerk throws it into the bushes.

A sharp cry rings out and I yank to the figure out of the bushes. Kitty looks up at me, her eyes brimming with tears, her hand trying to staunch the flow of blood coming from her right arm. I hoist her off the ground with my free hand, the other one clutching a sword.

I never realized how small she was until now. She can't be more than fourteen, and weighs about fifty pounds less than me. I can't imagine how I look to her.

Tall, strong, well-fed, cold blue eyes, long dark hair, rough calloused hands, and most of all, the grin that slowly forms across my face. I'd be terrified too.

She's small, young, starving, weak, has light honey colored eyes, golden hair hanging in ringlets around her thin face, pale skin, and small hands.

She never could have won anyway.

So I slit her throat.

I drop her thin frame to the ground, and kick it aside. There are only four of us left. I need to break the alliance with Isaac now.

"Isaac, there are only four of us left and I think it would be better if we-" I begin, but I'm interrupted by a cracking sound coming from the dam.

Without thinking I grab I drop everything and run. Isaac does the same, and begins to run. I can hear his footsteps behind me as I try not to stumble.

The water soon catches up to us and I quickly begin to climb the nearest tree. Safely above the water, I search for Isaac.

The water rushes by with an unstoppable force. Isaac could have easily been swept away by its strong current. I spot him, clutching to a branch in the tree next to me.

He hoists himself up until he's safely out of the water.

"Claudia!" He calls out.

I turn to face him.

"Do you know how to swim?"

I shake my head in response. Unfortunately they don't teach us how to swim in district two. It's not like its useful or anything. Ha, now I understand why the gamemakers flooded the arena. They wanted to give Annie a chance.

I wonder how Finnick pulled that off. Probably seduced all the female gamemakers. I climb further up into the tree. From this vantage point I can see over the hill, to the dam.

I'm horrified as more water rushes out of the dam, making a huge crest over the hill. It towers above the trees and smashes down on us.

I'm engulfed by the water, desperately trying to reach the surface. I sink deeper and deeper, as the light slowly fades. My lungs beg for air, I swallow water, and I begin to feel light headed. Suddenly something off to the side catches my attention.

I can just make her out. Annie Cresta. She's kicking furiously with her feet, and is slowly rising towards the surface.

I copy her movements, until I begin to rise myself. I break through to the surface, and spit out all the excess water. My chest heaves up and down, as I gasp for air. I take deep breaths, fully appreciating the air, for the first time in my life.

We take so many things for granted, simple things like air, water, just life in general. I can only imagine what my family must be feeling right now.

My big brother, my father, and, my aunt. My brother has always been overly protective of me. He hated seeing me train, he was convinced I was too fragile and sweet, for such a vile thing. My father always encouraged us to train, but he never really wanted us to volunteer. My aunt loves us both, and heavily disapproves the games.

But I have been training since I was three, and I love the feel of the sword in my hand. The sound of metal clashing against medal. It was only natural for me to volunteer.

But now, in the face of my certain demise, I wish I hadn't. I could have gone on to live a long happy life in district two, but I let the idea of glory and fame get in the way.

If only I could've seen this coming. When I fantasized about being in the games, I never imagined this. I never thought I would be clutching debris to save my life, while hacking up a gallon of water.

I clutch the piece of a tree trunk closer to me and hoist myself on top.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Two cannons. I look to my left and see Annie clutching a log.

Gravel is dead. One enemy down.

My heart sinks. There were four tributes. Annie and I are still alive. That means Gravel is dead. But that also means Isaac is dead.

My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. I guess my wish came true. He died, and I wasn't the one to kill him.

I'm too caught up in thinking about Isaac to notice the next huge crest crashing down on us.

I'm thrown under the surface, and it only makes it worse that I didn't see it coming. I sink down into the depths, as the current carries us along.

I look around desperately trying to find Annie, but she's nowhere to be found. I'm hoping she's already died. Maybe she hit her head and drowned under water. But somehow I know this is not the case.

I wish I had paid more attention to her when she was fishing for food. She swam gracefully, almost a fish herself.

My lungs beg for air, but only find water. I thrash around wildly, doing anything to reach the surface.

The water swirls around me, and everything is blurry, making it hard to focus on anything. I take swallows of water, in a desperate attempt to soothe my screaming lungs.

The water completely engulfs me, throwing me from side to side. My eyes sting, but I force them open. My feet find the ground, and I push off, shooting upward.

I emerge into the light breathing in deep breaths of air.

My hands fumble to find something, anything, to cling to, but come up empty handed.

I start to sink again, deeper and deeper, into a black hole of oblivion. I jerk and kick, but still I keep sinking.

Nothing can save me now. I hope my family isn't watching, but I know they are. This close to the end of the games; who isn't watching.

The finale between the career from district two, and the seemingly mad girl from four. She wasn't mad at the beginning of the games.

She was just another tribute, though Finnick Odair seems to have a soft spot for her, and she him.

My feet scrape against the forest floor, but I can't find my footing. I know this is the end.

You win Annie Cresta. You win.

My lungs give out and everything fades to black. I fall limp, letting the current carry me into whatever lies ahead.

BOOM!