Lost: A Hunger Games Parody Chapter 1, a hunger games fanfic

Lost

I wake up to seeing a bird perched in my window. The beautiful bird sings a wake up song to the others. I get up and dressed remembering that today is Saturday, the one day of the week Jason and I can really be alone, concealed in the woods. Of course he's only my friend, but at times I feel like he's more than that. Foolishness. I can't be thinking about that when I have such a busy life. My name is Maysilee Donner and I am 17 years old.

Every day I go to school, come home, hit the woods, bring home some game (deer, squirrel, possum, or rabbit), and feed my family. My mother died 3 years ago, but my father just sits in his old rocking chair, staring into space, mourning her. I am sick of it though! He has left me alone and having to take care of myself and my sister and my little brother that just yesterday turned 3. Sophie helps as much as she can, but being only 15, she can't do much except babysit Eli and make a small salad out of little plants that grow in our backyard. I will never let her risk going into the woods.

I have to go into the woods to hunt. I have a bow and 12 arrows that my father made me when I was 12. I am now almost 18

and use these wonderful weapons every day. During school my friend Jason's mother watches my brother Elijah while I'm at school with my sister Sophie, and when I go hunting after school Sophie watches him at home.

Jason lost his father in an accident in the woods one day. Jason, both our fathers, and I were in the woods hunting. I took down my first deer that day. We were lugging it home to present it to our mothers when we heard a slight buzzing noise coming from the oak tree standing in front of us. When we heard it, we stopped a second. Then Jason's father slowly moved an inch forward to take a look at the nest. But just that simple movement sent the Stingers into chaos, and they came out of that paper shell like it was nothing. Each sting from a Stinger could most certainly either kill you or if you were lucky just paralyze the place the sting went in.

These wasp-like bees are called Stingers. They can give out three stings before they die of lack of venom; venom is what keeps them going. That day they all swarmed out of the hive so quickly I didn't even have time to blink before I felt Jason's strong arm pulling me backward into the woods. We crashed through forsythia bushes and raspberry bushes, and then we literally ran into the pond. Water is the only thing that kills Stingers. If they touch you while you're wet, they're dead in seconds.

The whole time we ran through the woods with my father pressing at us to keep moving, Jason kept yelling, "Hurry Dad! Please!" Yet he never got a reply from his dad.

I was shocked by how quickly the day changed from my being prideful of my first deer, to Jason and me running for our lives from deadly Stingers.

I jumped into the cool water, and I surfaced and blew water out of my mouth. I saw Jason come up shortly after me, just in time to see my father barrel through the trees and into the pond.

I pulled my father's arm and yanked him out of the water. I asked him, crying and worried, if he was stung. When I was answered with a no, I flung myself into his arms and thanked the maker we were safe. Then I realized Jason's father wasn't there. I got out of the pond and looked over my bow and arrows. They were fine.

Then I heard my father say, "We need to go back and see if Jason's father's all right. He might have gone to the river, but we need to make sure."

Jason and I obediently and slowly followed my father through the woods. We got near the place with the broken nest on the ground. The Stingers were all gone. Not even one left. We went to the river. Nothing. We checked along the path for any sign of Jason's father, nothing.

Then, on the way to the small creek that could be the only other place he would have gone, we saw him, lying on the ground 3 feet away from the water. Stingers buzzed around his body. He was gone. Jason started crying as he turned and walked away from the scene. I followed behind him as he leaned against a tree, then slid down into a sitting position.

He pushed my hand away when I tried to comfort him. I started drying out but hardly cared or noticed at that point. Then there was a small movement in my shirt. I felt a sharp pinch in my shoulder. I was on the ground before Jason could catch me. I was out like a light. I only remember the dreadful look on Jason's face when he saw me fall to the ground.

I woke confused. What happened? Then I slowly remembered... I felt all right enough to open my eyes, but saw almost nothing until they focused on Jason. He was sitting on a chair next to me, and I was wrapped in a blanket in bed. He was almost ecstatic when I awake. I found out that I had been asleep for almost 3 days. I surprisingly only had gotten one sting, and the Stinger was probably weakened by the water.

Jason leaned in to me and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead. I looked into his eyes, his dark hazel eyes. I realized he'd been awake for the entire time when I saw the bags under his eyes.

After that, he left my room and went home. I didn't see him until noon the next day when I insisted that I was well enough to go hunting for a while. He was sitting on an old oak branch that fell during a storm a few years before.

All that day we hunted through the woods, searching for game.

I never brought up that day again. Neither did he.

I have known he loves me for every second since that day. But I never will speak of that day because it brings back too much pain, especially for Jason.

Ever since then we have been feeding our families. My father and I did it for a while until my mother died of a Stinger that got stuck in my father's hunting jacket and didn't get out until my mother started washing it. She shook it and then in a second it was on her, stinging her cheek. She only had seconds to live. Three seconds after she fell to the ground, she was gone.

Now it's up to me and Jason to feed our families. Jason has two brothers and one sister. His younger brothers are twins and are only three. His younger sister is two and is so sweet that I melt like an icicle when I'm around her.

Jason and I took off for the woods early this morning, bringing a big game bag instead of my small one. Today is Saturday. We spend the entire day working our way deep into the woods. When we reach a small pond that must be spring fed, we stop to clean our game. I got three turkeys and two big geese. Jason got four turkeys and four geese. I finish cleaning my game first, so I wade up to my knees in the pond and splash my face clean. Jason comes and fills our canteens, and we sit there until early afternoon.

I tell Jason we should head back, and he doesn't object. We went further than usual today. We both go different ways. Then I say, "Jason, home's this way."

And he says, pointing in a different direction, "Uh, I thought we came from this way."

"Let's just go this way," I say.

He comes and we go for about an hour before we realize we're completely lost.

"Oh no," I say as we enter a giant meadow that definitely isn't on the way home.

I look to Jason, and he says something I didn't expect. "Guess this is where we're staying tonight." Then he points to the setting sun.

I find a nice oak tree to sleep in, but Jason tells me he's too big, and he could never fall asleep all the way up there. Then he says, "Maysilee, why don't you go curl up in your tree while I sleep on the ground?"

But this is obviously not going to end well. I think about all the predators that'll be looking for a meal. Then I burst out, before really thinking about it, "Look Jason, I understand it won't be comfortable, but you'll either do it, or I'll pull you up there in the middle of the night!" The look on his face says he's amused, but he does as I say and climbs up the tree.

"Don't think many Stingers could find us up here," I laugh, but soon see he is pointing up, far up in the tree. There is a lump on the side of the tree. I take a look and try to figure out what it is. It's a Stinger nest.

I see the terrified look in Jason's eyes and know that my worst fear has been confirmed. "Climb..." I hear Jason say in a quiet voice. "down..." he says.

"Duh, down," I say quietly. Then I swing my leg down and begin going down the large tree. I hear Jason following me.

I see Jason still climbing down just as I get to the ground. He is almost down when he puts his leg on a broken branch, and it snaps. The Stingers buzz and fly and attempt to sting the tree, until they find us.

I start running from the tree and right into a stream that's beside the meadow. I didn't even know it was here until I ran into it. I cover myself with the water and await Jason running in after me.

Seconds later he bursts through the tall grass from the meadow and into the water. A stinger is buzzing above the water, waiting for him to come back up. I kick it with my boot and it falls into the water.

"What are you trying to do? Kick me in the head?" Jason says coming out of the water.

"No!" I say. "Do you honestly think I would try to kick you like that?"

He laughs. "Well..." he says sarcastically.

Then we both laugh.

"Trust me, if I had been trying to kick you, you would've gotten kicked," I reply.

After a while, we decide it's probably safe to leave the pond.

"We should head back to that pond we cleaned the meat at, then we can go in the direction that I suggested," Jason says.

I suppress a smile. "Sure, I should've listened to you anyway," I say. "I'm terrible at judging direction."

"Not really," Jason says, then grabs my arm and pulls me around so that I'm inches from his eyes. "Which way is the pond now?" he says jokingly.

"You tell me," I say.

He laughs softly and lets me go.

We reach the pond and head in the direction Jason suggested earlier that day and continue on for a long time.

We come across a large oak tree, and I scale it to look around for anything that would signify that we're close to home. Nothing. Then I see something in a tree a few hundred yards away from where I am perched now. It can't be. I don't believe it. It's one of my tree stands! Something I made for hunting! That means we're literally about a mile away from home. I shout out in joy! I hear the slight sound of a cracking branch, but I ignore it.

"Jason! Look! My tree stan-..." I shout falling out of the tree.

I hit some branches on the way down, and then I hit the ground so hard it knocks every wisp of air from my lungs. Then the branch comes down after me, pinning my legs underneath it.

I try to grab at the branch, to push it off of me, but it's too big.

"Maysilee, wait." Jason puts his arms underneath the branch. "When I lift it, you slide out," he says.

"One... Two... Three!" he lifts the branch a few inches off my legs and I scoot out.

Once I'm out, he lets the branch go and it smashes against the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asks me.

I nod. "Thanks for...-" I motion to the branch.

He smiles, offering me a hand.

I take it and stand.

"Let's go home." I explain how I fell because I saw a tree stand and I point to it. We head in the direction of the markers we had built in this part of the woods and emerge in my backyard only to be met by a pair of official looking guards; they tell us we're being taken to prison.

I notice a pin that they both wear on their uniforms. It has a MockingJay being stabbed with an arrow on it. I have a pin. It has a MockingJay. But mine is flying and well, alive.

They are both men and both carry guns. I risk one question.

"Why are we being taken to prison, may I ask?"

The taller of the two answers, "You are disobeying the new laws. No one is allowed across the electrical fence."

Just then some guards move over with some barbed wire and seal up the woods opening we came through. New laws?! I have ALWAYS been able to hunt. What have they done to my world? I only left it for maybe a day. Now I can't hunt?!

"President Vincent will see you now," says the shorter man.

The taller man walks off. I guess he had some sort of meeting. We're left with just the shorter man.

"Wounded Deer," I say in a hushed voice.

Jason knows exactly what I'm talking about. If we shoot a deer, we have a system that we use to make sure we don't get hurt when we try to approach it. I go behind it and Jason goes in front. I jump on the unsuspecting guard and get him in a sort of headlock. Jason takes a length of rope from his pack and ties the man's feet and hands. We lug him into an old warehouse a couple yards in front of the woods and attach his ropes to an old pole.

"What's going on? We were here this morning, and there were absolutely no guards anywhere. Where the heck did you come from?!" I say furiously.

"The...state Capitol government. They made new laws, elected a new president, and made each state smaller and into what they now call districts," he says, obviously overwhelmed.

"You're gonna tell the authorities out there that we're innocent, or we'll slit your throat," says Jason holding the knife to his throat.

"Jason..." I say quietly and look right into his eyes. We both know he wouldn't ever hurt another living soul, but I decide to keep quiet just in case this guard is stupid enough to fall for Jason's little trick.

"All right! I'll do it! Please let me go!" he begs.

"Come on, let's get this over with," says Jason throwing an "I told ya' so" smile in my direction.

Jason unties his arms and feet. We walk outside and immediately some guards look at us, and then the guard says, "False alarm! They're good!" then walks away quickly.

Jason and I then walk into my house, and Sophie wraps her arms around me.

"You're okay! Where have you been!?" She starts crying in happiness.

"Maysie!" says Elijah.

"Jason and I got...a bit lost while we were hunting. We're fine." I say to calm Sophie down.

I pick Eli up and give him a hug. He wipes his snot-covered nose on my shirt.

"Gee, thanks buddy!" I say grabbing a towel.

"Dad," I say in a smooth tone, placing the towel on the table.

"Maysilee," he says in a detached voice.

Then the TV starts up by itself, and I'm looking at none other than a man that is introduced as President Vincent, the man who made all these changes, the man I hate. He took my woods away!

"Hello, I am your new president," he begins. I sit down in front of the TV, and I feel Jason's body tense behind me. "I will be in charge of the soon to be built Capitol city. Our brand-new country is very soon going to be named by our council!"

"There was a small incident with a boy and a girl breaking into the woods today. But I assure you they have been taken care of. Nonetheless, the new laws have been posted on every bulletin board and shop in the country. My guards have made sure of that. May I be the first to inform you all that any person who disobeys these laws will be prosecuted immediately." The program ends, and it's back to regular programs and commercials.

"Why are they doing this?" Jason asks.

"You don't think it was because we were hunting, do you?" I ask him.

"Maysilee, I'm not sure. But until we are, we all have to stay under the radar, obey the new laws." He says in an angry and sarcastic tone. "See you in the morning."

"Yeah, I guess," I say, equally annoyed.

When I awake the next morning, Sophie is sleeping next to me in my bed. I guess she was scared last night. I shake her awake.

"What is it?" She asks still half asleep.

"Could you watch Eli until I get back?" I ask her.

"Depends. Where are you going?" She asks demanding an answer.

"Just out to check out what's going on in town with Jason. I'll be back in an hour or so." I tell her.

"All right," she says.

I walk to Jason's house and knock on the door. He opens it, and we walk soundlessly down the street, not needing words to tell each other what we fear to find in town: a mob of people disobeying orders, a group of people holding signs that could say terrible things about our new leader. Maybe everyone is as afraid as us, and it will be completely silent and motionless.

We enter the town square and it's like an old silent movie. No one is talking. They all move from wherever they came from to the next place they need to go. People silently purchase milk and eggs from the farmers, wealthier people purchase candy and sugar from the bakery.

Jason and I take a seat on a bench and watch as the terrified people, watched closely by the new guards, attempt to go along with all the new rules.

"What are we supposed to do?" I ask him. I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Whatever we have to to stop this," he says.

"How?" I ask unconvinced.

"Start a war. I'm not living in fear, though it seems that everyone else is fine with it!" He says seriously.

The next day we wake and meet at a broken down tree that they must have taken down because it was in the way of the new fence. On the television this morning, we, our district was given a number. I guess it's our district number or something.

"Why 12?" Jason says as he walks over to the log where I'm already waiting.

"Oh, who cares?" I ask. I am honestly beyond caring.

"I do," he says.

"Why?" I ask him. "Why does it even matter?"

"Have you seen the latest announcement they tacked on the board?" He asks me as if taking his time to prepare me for something.

"Yeah. Wasn't it the thing about us being 12?"

"No, not that," he says.

"Then what?" I ask.

"Here look for yourself. I got a copy." He hands me a piece of paper.

Come one, come all to the 1st Death Match of the districts! The Capitol citizens will, of course, be spared having to join! Two tributes, one girl and one boy, from each of the twelve districts will be brought before the Capitol to fight to the death! There will be one winner. Good luck to you all at the reaping! - Your very own President Vincent!

I, at first, don't understand. Then Jason explains what he learned from the shopkeepers was that each district has to give one boy and one girl to the Capitol to play these awful games. In other words since Jason and I have just broken the law, we are almost guaranteed a spot.

"Wait. What does that have to do with our district number?" I ask him because they seem like two very different things.

"Well, the so called Capitol has promised the other districts, 1-10 food and riches until the reaping because the Capitol wants them better fed than the rest of us. They really don't want the district 12 "tributes" to win. Apparently we are the only districts that have disrespected the laws, so we have to suffer because of it. I think it's because Vincent hates us, but I could be wrong." He says sarcastically.

"But, why doesn't district 11 get food?" I say.

"Guess they did something bad too," he says obviously not caring about a district other than the one he's in.

"Yeah, guess so..." I say. But part of me thinks that district 11 will suffer far more in the games than us. Jason and I can work together well, but what if district 11 tributes can't? I honestly feel bad for them.

I wake up the next morning to Sophie feeding Eli dried plums. He's growing so fast. I haven't taken the time to notice him. But look at those little feet. I laugh at myself. I'm thinking about Eli's feet. Jason knocks at the door.

"It's open!" I yell.

"Hey, happy reaping." He says annoyingly.

"Oh, it'll be over soon. Come on watch the names flash up on the television. They've gotten to 11 already," I say.

He comes over and we watch.

The district 11 tributes will be a girl named Violet and a boy named Richard. They show Richard on television, and he has muscles bigger than my hands stretched out in a butterfly shape. He's gonna win...

District 12 is coming up. The girl will be...Maysilee Donner! The boy tribute will be Jason Woodlind!

Jason Woodlind! Jason. Me. I can't sort anything out for a moment. All my brain can conjure up is that I'm headed into an arena with Jason. Even if we're the final two, what would we do? I mean, on the television yesterday, President Vincent said only one would survive. I really don't think he was kidding. I just hope someone kills one of us before we get there.

Later today, a big metal train will roll into the district station, and I will have to get onto it and ride to the Capitol. Some people are saying that we've entered the "Dark Days," but, honestly, I don't feel like talking about it.

The train comes up to our shack of a station, and Jason and I give our families one last hug goodbye, and we're off. Hopefully we have someone good to train us, someone to whip us into shape the way they showed the district one and two "mentors" preparing their tributes on TV last night.

I see a man with short brown hair who got on the train with us and assume he's the guy. I tap his shoulder, and he flinches.

He then says, without even looking at us, "I can't help you. I'm just the only guy that caused enough trouble to get sent to the Capitol to mentor for these stupid games." I realize he's here because he got in trouble, just like Jason and I did.

"Look. We're going in their arena and you're gonna have to mentor us like the Capitol said. Neither of us have any choice." I say to try and calm him.

"Well, aren't you the brave one?" he says.

"What?" I ask.

"No one else would talk to me after I told them the reason I was here. Maybe that's cause you're here for something you did. Hm?" He asks me, demanding an answer.

What could it hurt? I don't have a chance in these games anyway.

"Jason and I hunted illegally back home. Got caught. What about you? What'd you do?" I want to know why he's been forced into the torture of mentoring two kids that are most probably going to die.

"I, I killed a guard. He came to my house early in the morning to inspect it, and I saw him carrying a gun. I ran down to my cellar and got my gun. I heard a shot. He killed my wife, so I shot him. I swear I'll do anything to destroy the Capitol for killing the one person in the world that actually had meaning to me."

We all stay silent for a long time.

"Then you'll help us?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, I'll get you ready. They trained me and the other mentors underground for the past few weeks, under this training center thing: how to hold a spear, shoot a bow. They even gave us advice to give to our tributes. You know, how to survive, timing of tribute gifts. But I have a decent idea of what to do." He says back. He starts walking to another car. Then he stops.

"What are tribute gifts?" I ask.

"During the Death Match if you're having trouble, I can send you certain gifts of medicine and food. I can't really tell you what they would be. The Capitol decides whether I'm even allowed to send anything. By the way. The name's Hagger. James Hagger. But if you call me James, I'll kill you." He says and walks away into the train.

Well, at least we have a chance now. I hope.

After many hours go by, the train stops and Jason and Hagger walk out. I follow them into a large, shiny building with windows on each floor. When we get inside it takes my breath away, hanging chandeliers, five people dressed in red serving some people at a table, and the most amazing smells coming out from this sliding glass door leading to a kitchen. We all get rooms with beds and warm covers and an unlimited supply of warm water from a faucet in the bathroom.

I wake up the next morning in my room/cell, and finally at 6am the door unlocks, and I'm free to move into the dining area for breakfast. Jason literally bumps into me when I open my door across the hall from him. I guess we both wake a lot earlier than the Capitol thought. After all, they wouldn't want the tributes escaping in the night since there aren't any guards on these tribute levels. He looks at me for a second then just starts down the hall to the dining room.

"What?" I ask.

"I just, hope Hagger can actually help us. I mean, if he can't, we can use bows and hunting knives, but on people?" he says.

"I don't wanna even think about that part yet. Okay?" I ask him. Because I really don't want to think about slitting someone's throat. Killing them.

"Why not? It's happening whether you want it to or not," he says.

"I just, I can't. I can't end a life." I tell him. Though I'm sure when the time comes, I'll kill just like everyone else.

"Get ready. It's gonna happen," he says. Then he walks away to get breakfast.

"Yeah. It's gonna happen." I whisper to the now empty hallways.

When I finally get to the dining room in the training building, Jason and Hagger are sitting at the table talking in hushed tones. But I decide to get food before I join them. I almost faint at the sight of the bounty awaiting me. There's enough food in front of me to last my family a year. This is just breakfast?! Man. Capitol people really DO have it easy. They not only don't have to send anyone into the arena, but they have unlimited food. They never have anything to worry about!

I eat a big bowl of thick broth. Then eat a huge helping of mashed potatoes and a chicken in a smooth sauce that has a hint of lemon that dances on my tongue. Then there's a glass of something sweet and orange. They say it's orange juice. There's also a mug of something thick and sweet.

"They call it hot chocolate. It's good," Jason tells me.

"It is good," I say after taking a small sip, then placing it back down to cool off since the warm chocolate burns my tongue.

Then Hagger finally decides to start asking us questions about our strengths and weaknesses. I tell him I can use a knife and bow. Jason says the same. Then he asks us if we want to be trained together or alone.

"What? Why would we train alone?" I ask.

"Say one of you has a special talent you don't want the other to know about." So Jason never told him that we wanted to be a team, allies? Hm.

"We're gonna ally." I say. Because I know this is what we both want.

"Ah," Hagger says.

"Well then, we'd better get started," Hagger says, as he leads us to the elevator at the end of the hall.

"We never talked about this." Jason whispers to me on the way to the elevator.

"I didn't think we needed to," I say.

"I mean you never asked me." He tells me.

"Wait a second!" I yell at him, stopping Hagger and making him look back.

"What is going on?" Hagger asks.

"Nothing. Just that I know who I'm killing first in the arena." I say and walk away into the elevator.

I walk into the elevator, and the tears are already pouring out of my eyes. Jason comes after me, and he wraps his arms around me, apologizing.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk about it," he says.

"But I never said I didn't wanna ally," he tells me.

"Well, are we?" I ask him.

"You know we are," he says.

I would have never killed him. I just, I thought he would want to ally without any question. I have to keep believing that we're on the same side. I can't do this alone.

We go down to the training area, and there are so many weapons that my breath is taken away: bows, mace, spears, slingshots, knives, axes, and all different kinds of arrows. There are even shooting ranges and targets, targets shaped like a human being.

"Where to first?" Jason asks Hagger.

"I would say you should use your training time to learn something you don't know. Throw a spear, learn some edible plants, and in case it wasn't already pretty clear, no berries! Not any! Never eat them if they're in the arena! They're all poisonous. Usually." Then he leaves, and it's just me and Jason left alone in the huge gym.

I throw a few spears, but it's apparent that spears aren't for me. I throw some knives and I'm about average, hitting the center only sometimes. I finally break down and use an hour at the archery station. It's wonderful. Moving targets that fly like birds, still targets that present no challenge. Jason and I then go to the edible plants station and learn about different spices and poisonous berries and things.

Then we go to the knot tying station where there are pamphlets about how to make snares and such, but Jason and I already know every snare known to man.

"So what'd you learn at school?" Hagger asks as he walks into the gymnasium.

"Well, neither of us are very good with spears, but we learned how to use these fancy Capitol bows and arrows, and we even did some knife throwing," Jason tells him.

"Good. Good. What about you?" He asks me.

"I, I didn't really learn anything. I knew most of it, but yeah the bows and arrows were just a bit different." I tell him.

"All right well, you're going into the arena tomorrow morning." he says.

So, my life will most likely be ending in the next 36 hours. Great.

We head up the elevator to supper, and we're served some of the best food in the world. Chicken on a wild rice with sweet brown sauce, and good rich stew that has beef, corn, and even potatoes in it. At the end, as if the rest of the meal wasn't enough, we have a huge cake that's vanilla with red cherries and ice cream on the side. It's dunked in sugar and tastes really sweet. This single meal could last my family 3 months!

"So you're nervous?" asks Jason as I stuff myself.

I stop to answer him and wipe my face with a napkin.

"Yeah, I guess. But it's funny. I'm scared out of my wits, yet when I think about it, I'll be in the woods, free to hunt, and I'll have you," I say.

He literally blushes. It's kind of funny, him being a boy and all.

"I don't think you'll be thinking about me when there're 22 other kids hunting us down. They by the way are in this very building as we speak," he tells me.

"Oh, I can dream happy thoughts, can't I?" I say.

Hagger and he crack up.

"Sorry sweetie, but there's no free time fur dreamin' in that arena!" Hagger says, laughing.

"Oh shut up." I say, laughing as well.

Well, at least, I can pretend that I'm not going in the arena tomorrow morning. I am determined to make this the best night of my life. I'm going to enjoy everything this shiny building has to offer. So I'm enjoying it. Besides, it's probably my last.

I wander to my room and close the door behind me, grabbing a towel off the dresser.

I find my way into the large bathroom and take my shoes and socks off, then I mess with the controls on the shower until a bubbly mixture of soap and warm water is spraying down onto the tiles.

The water disappears into a drain on the floor. I take my dirty clothes off and leave them on the floor in my bedroom, not exactly caring about keeping the place clean.

I step underneath the soapy spray of water and lean my head up to meet it. The soap starts getting in my eyes and the water is much too hot on my skin, but I stay there for a full minute, enjoying it, never having had a hot shower, much less a warm one.

I grab a bottle of green slimy stuff with bubbles in it and pour some into my hand. Then I smell it. It smells like a ripe apple. I like the smell, and I pour the soapy slime on my head and let it slide down my back and all the way down to the floor. It disappears into the drain just like the soapy water.

There's another bottle of something next to the... Apple Slime? I grab it and pour some into my hand. This stuff is thicker and smoother. I dab my finger in it and bring my finger to my nose. This stuff smells like... cold strawberries. I let the substance flow down my hair and into the drain just like the Apple Slime.

I scrub the last of the bubbles out of my hair and step out of the running water. Then I grab the towel I brought in here with me.

I tie the towel around my middle and go over to the mirror with sinks underneath it. There are about a million containers of face soaps and make-up and things I don't even have names for, but I grab a few and smell them, making up little names for each one.

After I've place them all back where I found them and go back to my bedroom, where the door is left ajar. I hurry over to it and close the door. I notice my dirty clothing is gone. It has been replaced by a pair of flannel pajama pants and a pajama shirt.

Both of them are thick and warm. I slide into the warm pajamas and crawl underneath the covers on my bed, deciding to try and get some sleep for tomorrow.

But at about eleven-thirty I realize that it's futile, and I wander back over to my door, trying the knob. The door glides opened and I step out. Then I feel a cool breeze come from the end of the hallway. A door is opened wide, and I hear a conversation going on above me on the roof.

At this moment I should've turned around, realized my door being opened was a mistake, sprinted back into bed and pretend to have never been awake.

But instead I didn't. I crept down the hall to the doorway and listened.

As I sit next to the door listening to the conversation, I hear a familiar voice. I've heard it somewhere. Yes, I know I've heard it. Maybe an old relative? No! I know who it is... President Vincent.

"Vincent, I'm not sure if you're aware of the circumstances in district thirteen, but they have their nuclear bombs pointing right at us!" A man says in a hushed voice.

"Are all the doors down their locked?" President Vincent replies to him.

"Of course they are!" Another man answers.

"Good. And I've already taken care of district thirteen! They want to be left alone to live in their little groundhog holes, just leave them alone. They'll starve to death eventually!" The President answers in a hushed tone.

I back up from the door and silently rush back to my room. I close the door behind me and force my eyes shut, knowing that I shouldn't have ever heard that.

I wake up the next morning to a Capitol servant shaking me.

She nods towards the door and points to her watch. I don't see why she didn't just say something...Anyway, Jason meets me for breakfast, and we stay silent until I speak.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask him.

"We'll run. I don't wanna take chances with the cornucopia," he tells me.

"I guess, but being unarmed..." I begin.

"It won't matter. The rest of um'll be using these weapons just as they've been doing it their whole lives. We don't stand much of a chance at that close range. Bows are better for far distances." he interrupts.

"I guess, but what if there's a bow in that pile?" I say.

"It won't do you any good. You'd have to get a knife to defend yourself at close range, then get your hands on the bow, and make sure no one followed you into the woods when you ran. It's too hard Maysilee," he says.

"Yeah, I guess so." I tell him. But I really want a bow. It'd make me feel so much safer.

Then Hagger walks in and tells us it's time to go.

"It's time to pull out. Good luck you two," he says.

"Okay, comin."

"Come on Maysilee." Jason says holding out his hand to me.

We're in this together. I hope I have a quick death, for Sophie's sake and Jason's if he's nearby.

We walk into a blimp kind of thing, and it takes off. We slide through the air for miles, then the windows black out, and we're in darkness for about three seconds, but then the lights come on again.

We land, and we're allowed to go into our individual launch areas.

I'll be alone in here while I get dressed for the arena. In front of me hanging on a black hook is a black jacket with jeans and a pair of hiking boots. The shoes are good for running, which is probably a good thing for me. There's a plain t-shirt to wear under the jacket.

I guess there'll be some cold nights cause the jacket is pretty thick. But it's far better than nothing I suppose.

I enter my tube. It will lift me into the arena at the ten second mark. The glass tube around me will stay active the sixty seconds we are up. That way no one goes anywhere until it's time. The gong'll sound and the other tributes and I will be free to move off our plates.

I see Jason three plates to the left of me. He sees me, and he looks almost calm. I look to the woods behind us and he nods. That's where Hagger and Jason will want me to go.

But look at the cornucopia! So many weapons! Even two bows right next to each other! With arrows and everything! No. Jason will be running, and he'll worry if I don't come. But I satisfy my need for something with a loaf of bread two feet in front of me that I've decided to scoop up before I leave.

The gong sounds, and my tube literally evaporates into thin air. I scoop up my bread and run! I spot Jason a few tributes to my left as he runs right next to me carrying something. He got a pack? I guess it was in front of him like my bread was. We get to the tree line and don't hesitate to dive in. We clear about a mile before we have to begin jogging instead of sprinting. We keep going for about another two miles, and finally we stop for a rest.

"How you doin?" Jason asks.

"Thirsty. You?" I say.

"Tired. I didn't sleep last night and regret it now."

"Well, we'll find a source of water, then stay there for the night. How's that sound?" I ask.

"Fine," he says.

Just then I hear the leaves shaking, and we watch a brown haired boy running an all-out sprint about thirty feet to our right. We take off in the other direction though I doubt he's following us. He looked like he was running from the cornucopia just like us. What an idiot, making all that noise. Bet he'll get killed tonight when the Careers from districts one, two, and four hunt. We heard they trained for a long time before the match. We stay as silent as possible and keep moving.

We finally stop when it's apparent Jason can't keep going much longer, and I pick a place next to a valley thinking we will have more cover here. We can find water tomorrow. I lie down next to Jason and keep from shivering since our body heat is decently warm when it's combined.

Jason immediately goes out. He'll be rested by tomorrow. I stay up till about 10PM. Then eleven cannons go off, so I guess we'll see eleven faces in the sky tonight. I know not one person. The blood bath lasted a long time. Good. That means the Careers won't be able to find us until tomorrow since we traveled too far for them to reach us tonight, if they're still at the cornucopia, which I hope they are.

In the morning I shake Jason awake and tell him we have to see what we have in the pack. We need to know what we have to work with.

There's a spool of wire, a box of matches, a pack of dried fruits, some bread, and a water bottle. It's empty. My tongue is like sandpaper. We head off, but eventually, we break down and eat two bits of bread, and each of us has a dried pear half. It helps calm my stomach, but does little to quench my thirst. We decide to rest a while before moving on.

We heard them coming. Of course, they found us! We are sitting on the ground! We should've chosen a tree. I knew it!

No time to think about that now. Jason and I take off, and eventually when we realize they're gaining too much on us and will catch us in a matter of seconds; we scale a tree. Just as they get to us Jason is lifting me up. The first boy that breaks through the tree line gets in the tree and lifts his sword to defend himself from anything we could throw at him, but we're defenseless.

When I finally think we're high up enough to be safe, and he can't climb anymore, I look down at him, and he cuts my ankle along the side of the bottom of my pants. I give a small yelp, but the pain makes me even more certain that I have to keep climbing, for my life.

Jason allows me to pass him, seeing my ankle and eventually the branches get too thin for that big, strong boy. He slips and crashes down to the ground. We're getting to a very dangerous height, but we're safe from the Careers.

I guess the boy that fell got hurt because no one else came to get us at the height we are in our tree.

We stop a bit further up and choose a nice thick branch to perch on. I put out my leg and Jason rips a sleeve off his shirt and ties it around my ankle to stop the bleeding. It hurts more than any cut or scrape I've ever had. It is going to take a while to heal, but we have no time off in the arena, so I'll have to make do. Wait, I think to myself. Hagger could send medicine! Those sponsor thingies he was talking about. The uh... What were they? Silver parachutes! They drop things for the tributes in the arena.

"Hagger! Medicine! Please!" I half whisper, half yell into the air.

Nothing comes. I knew it. He's probably off signing autographs for Capitol people or something. They do love people on TV, even though he's a known murderer. But it seems he doesn't care about us.

Jason and I settle down for the night even if it's only early afternoon, and we decide to rest. I go out and then wake to Jason shaking me slightly, and I see a silvery thing in his hand and the pain in my ankle has left me. Hagger! He did it! He sent us medicine!

"Thank you." I whisper to the air. It's midnight, and the Careers below us are asleep, and from the boy guard's position against a tree, it looks like he went out when he was supposed to be keeping watch. Jason and I go back to sleep, and with the medicine I can finally have a restful night, even if the people who are asleep below me are planning to kill me in the morning. There are no faces in the sky tonight, but the audience will be watching contently as Jason and I are stuck in a tree with the Careers below us.

We have to escape!

I wake to hear the Careers whispering below us. Jason is still asleep, and it's probably a bad idea to try and wake him. It would let the Careers know that we are awake and listening. I listen contently for a long while. I also realize that they're all armed and itching to use their weapons.

One voice says, "Oh why can't we just send up one of the smaller girls to take care of them?" I think that was the big heavy boy that got hurt trying to climb up here last night.

"What if they're armed? I mean, knives are a possibility," says a girl.

"Well, I'm amazed. We're sitting here looking stupid! One of you get up there and kill them already!" says another boy who seems mad.

"You know if we kill them, I can't move on. My neck and my leg still feel like jelly!" says the boy that fell.

"Oh my gosh!" Says the other boy as he storms off. A girl follows him and they whisper to each other. I pick up enough to understand their plan.

"Let's leave him here. I mean he's injured and with that bleeding, he'll be dead in a matter of days," says the girl.

"All right, what about them?" He says motioning up the tree.

"Well, I can get up there. They're still asleep. I can kill the boy, then the girl. My knife'll work fine," she says.

"Be careful, I'm not going to the final two without you." He says and kisses her cheek. I assume they're from the same district. Love birds. How sweet. Not.

"I will be. See you soon." She says and begins to scale the tree.

I move into a position that allows me to be hidden in some leaves and to have the ability to pounce right on her when she comes up.

She reaches us, and when she swings her leg up, I jump onto her back and tug her so hard she begins to fall from the tree with me on her back. I grab an almost stubby branch on the way down, and she plummets to the ground. The boy from her district sits next to her as she huffs her last breath. She fell a much greater distance than the boy. I'm not surprised when I hear the cannon. It also awakens Jason, who before saying a thing pulls me up to our little nook in the trees.

The Careers begin a discussion, and Jason and I listen.

"This is your fault!" yells the boy who loved the girl who is lying on the ground dead. He points at me.

"Yeah it is! And I'm glad!" I yell back with a smirk on my face.

"What?" Jason asks.

"I'll explain later," I say.

"I'll kill him! Your little boyfriend!" Then he continues to yell a lot of terrible things at his allies and at me.

"How about I kill you?!" I yell down, even though I'm unarmed.

"Yeah right! With what!?" he yells.

"Jason hand me the bow and arrows." I say loud enough for them to hear.

It's amazing how quickly they run, the boy and the other girl. The injured one lying on the ground, stares into space; he looks like he's just as dead as the girl beside him. I feel bad for him. But not enough to help him. I wait for the remaining two Careers to be long gone. Then Jason and I go down. When we get down, we search the girl's pack, and the boy's, who has no way of stopping us. His cannon goes off.

In the girl's pack we find a compass, package of dried fruit, a water bottle, and the knife she tried to kill us with. I find a bottle of water on the boy, and it's half-full, same as the girl's. Jason and I are so thirsty we don't hesitate to both take a deep gulp of water. We pour half the water in each of our containers, and we head off in the opposite direction of the Careers.

We reach a kind of cave that sticks out of the side of a hill at about the time the moon is rising, and we take shelter in it for the night. It's pretty warm in here, and there's even a little pool of spring-fed water in the back of the cave. I'm starving and so is Jason, so we each eat half a pack of dried fruit. It in no way satisfies my stomach. Jason and I go outside of our cave and with the last rays of sunlight, we set 12 wire snares. I did see a few rabbits in this area of the woods when we were coming here, so I wouldn't be surprised if we catch one tonight.

As we're entering the cave for the night, the sky lights up, and there's a projection of the boy that bled to death and the girl that I suppose I killed.

We both retire to the cave and fall asleep. Jason is out like a light and just as I'm going to sleep too the anthem begins and I stare out into the darkness. I watch three faces move across the sky. I guess we missed a cannon at some point today. That means there are ten of us left. We're dropping like flies.

In the morning I fill our water bottles and get our packs in order. I wake Jason, and we go out and each of us checks six snares. From mine I get one fat rabbit. Jason shows me that he got a squirrel and a rabbit, and I claim he just got lucky. Though both of us know it's because he's better with snares than I could ever be.

We clean the animals, and we decide to start a fire and hope that the morning fog conceals the smoke. It does conceal it nicely, and I'm betting the Careers are too far off to notice our smoke anyway. Jason and I are famished, and we both eat half the squirrel. I weave a bit of a sack out of the tall grasses that grow beside the small stream that a leak in the cave's spring created on the outside of the cave. I put the two rabbits in the sack, and Jason and I decide to leave six snares set, but just in case we need to move, we take the other half of wire and put it in our pack. We each have half the supplies now. I have the pack that was on the boy that bled to death, and Jason has the pack that he got from the cornucopia. Jason let me keep the knife with me since I can throw it with more accuracy.

As I arrange my few belongings in my pack, I think to myself who exactly is left. The boy from one, the girl from two, the boy and girl from five, the girl from seven, the boy from eight, the girl from ten, the boy from eleven, and Jason and I. So there're ten of us left, fourteen dead.

The only teams I know of are the Careers from one and two and Jason and I are teamed. That's all I know. For all I know there could be a whole team of six out there made up of the non-career people.

Jason comes up to me and plops down on a rock outside of the cave.

"When are we moving out?" he asks.

"As soon as you're off your butt." I say throwing a handful of leaves at him.

"Fair enough," he says.

"Where to?" I ask looking in different directions, trying to decide what kind of area we want to be in, what areas offer the most cover and protection.

"Hmmmm..." He wonders quite a while.

"Let's move this way." He says to continue in the opposite direction the Careers took as they fled us when we lied to them about our fake bow.

"Fine," I say and we start off.

We walk for a while, and it's about noon when we hear a cannon.

"Wonder who that was?" I say, wondering.

"No telling, maybe the Careers found someone," Jason says.

"Maybe someone found the Careers," I say.

We keep moving until at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon when we are forced to stop and each eat a rabbit leg to keep our stomachs from growling. I take out a duck with the knife when we stop at a pond to refill our water supply. I grab it from the water and remove the weapon from its body. We decide to wait until dark and then make a fire to roast it. That way no one will see our smoke. We keep moving till dusk, then make a fire and roast our duck and both have a piece of rabbit. As far as food, we have 1 and a third rabbits, a duck, and half a pack of dried fruit.

We're all right as long as we keep snaring and killing animals as we move. We set some snares and climb a tree for the night.

I wake up to the feeling of the tree moving. It's no dream. I sense danger one moment before the shaking of our tree begins. I am shrieking Jason's name at the top of my lungs as I grip a branch and watch as the huge boy from district eleven shakes our tree from the trunk. He's too big to get up, so he's trying to bring us down. It keeps shaking for almost a half hour, and finally when I believe he's stopped shaking it, I relax my muscles and it's a mistake. I fall and go crashing to the ground after he shakes the tree once again. My head gets hit on a branch on the way down, but now isn't the best time to look at it. Besides it doesn't feel too bad, just a bruise. He gets on top of me and yells so loud that my ears hurt.

"DID YOU KILL HER?!" He shouts loud enough to wake the dead.

"Who?!" I'm terrified.

"THE GIRL FROM ONE! SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND!" He shouts again.

"Yes, I shoved her off the tree Jason and I were in!" I am so scared.

"The girl you killed, her boyfriend from one killed my ally. I felt bad for the little girl from seven and made her my ally. The district one boy came and found us. The Little girl tried to run, but before I could blink, he caught her and...

"I ran and as I ran, I dropped a handful of darts on the ground. I got away as they pulled them out of their feet." He just seems upset now.

I stand up, realizing he isn't going to kill me.

"I'll see you at final three," he says, then takes off for the woods.

"Come on Jason! Let's go..." I yell up to Jason, although he probably heard the whole thing unfold underneath him.

"Let's get out of here. I'll bet everyone knows where we are now! Let's move!" he yells back.

"All right!" I yell back. Then we move on and keep going until nightfall.

It's dark and I realize we'd better choose a tree or somewhere to sleep that's safe. Probably a flimsy tree is a bad idea considering what happened when we were in that little tree last night.

We find a nice large oak and it's sturdily built, so we scale it and when we're going to sleep and I lean my head against Jason's shirt to use as a sort of pillow.

I move my fingers along where I hit my head on the way down from the tree and find a nice big bump. It doesn't hurt much though, so I close my eyes and try to sleep.

Then the anthem begins and the girl from district seven flashes in the sky. No more deaths today. It's probably getting rather boring in the Capitol.

I go to sleep and wake up to the sound of a fire starting. Jason is already up and watching the fire starters sit at their fire.

"Girl and Boy from five. Heard them talking earlier as they made the fire." Jason whispers to me.

I nod in assent and we watch them. They have one knife. That's all. We'd be even in a fight, but we'd have the surprise factor on our side. The girl falls asleep and the knife is in her belt. This is our only chance.

We go down our tree and sneak around to them. I jump on the girl and grab the knife from her belt. Jason grabs the boy and puts the knife I toss to him into his neck. I hold my knife to the girl's neck and she's crying. She's screaming, "Jared! Jared! Jared!" I suppose that was the boy's name. His cannon goes off.

I put the knife right on the girl's throat, about to do it. When she flips me onto the ground, grabs my knife and she's on me. She holds up the knife to my throat just as Jason is reaching her.

"Stand back! Or your girl here is dead!" She snarls. Jason is still tired from just waking up, and I can tell he is still half sure this is a dream.

"Jason do it. Stand back." I say.

"Maysilee." He says. "I..."

"Run. Just run..." I reply.

I realize there is no way I can get away. I close my eyes and await death.

Jason takes his knife and holds it up to his own throat.

"If you're going out I am too," he says.

"Jason you can't! Go home! Win the games for both of us!" I scream.

"I can't. Not without you," he says.

The girl holding the knife to my throat drops the knife to her side. She lets me go, and I run to Jason and grab the knife away from his throat. The girl takes the knife and jabs it into her own heart.

"I...I can't separate you. You love each other. Go home together." She says as she falls to the ground.

Her cannon goes off. I'll remember her and I silently thank her for my life.

It's midday and Jason and I each have a piece of rabbit and now we have only a duck, rabbit, and a bit of dried fruit left. It'll last long enough.

We move this way and that until we come across an old oak and scale it. We sight a lake a few miles away from the top of the tree. That'll be where we'll head tomorrow. The anthem begins and Jason and I watch the district five tributes shine in the sky.

There's only seven of us left. The boy from district one, the girl from two, the boy from eight, the girl from ten, the boy that let me go from eleven, and, of course, Jason and I. I wonder if anyone has joined the Careers' little squad lately, since they were down to two people last time we saw them. Usually if you have an alliance like the Careers you want enough people to scare everyone away with. Also to make sure no one else has as much of a chance of teaming with somebody. Sometimes I think if the other districts had formed a large alliance, then we could have easily taken on the Careers.

I go to sleep with Jason next to me. We realize that the arena has gotten colder at night time, and we have begun to sleep so close together that at times I have to laugh because I'm so squished. But it's warm and that's really all that matters when it's as cold as it is.

I wake with the tip of my nose as cold as an icicle. Jason is freezing too. I wake him and we move around to warm up. When I can finally feel my fingers, we move in the direction of the lake. I can't believe what we see as we enter the clearing beside to the lake. Three Careers sitting in fold-up chairs eating breakfast. They went to the cornucopia and brought it all here?! Then the cornucopia must be close. There's the boy from one, the girl from two, and it looks like the boy from eight joined them.

Jason and I sink back into the woods and they never see us. This is a lovely spying place though, we can even hear a bit of what they're saying.

"If we find them today, I get to kill her in my own way. Nobody is allowed to interfere!" says the boy from one. Somehow I don't think that he's referring to the girl from eight.

"Fine, but I get him. We could make her watch," says the girl from two. Okay, it's official, the Careers hate us.

"Could I come? I mean, I can throw a spear," asks the boy from eight.

"What did we tell you about talking!?" screams the boy from one.

"Not to," says district eight boy. He stays silent.

"That's right! Or we kill you!" says the district two girl.

Why are they sparing him if they don't want his help? Is he really expected to guard their supplies? Jason and I could kill him easily.

"All right. Come on Nikki," Says the boy from one. They take off into the woods.

Jason and I wait until the district eight boy is refilling his water bottle to attack, Jason from one side of the lake, me from the other. The district eight boy raises his spear. He throws it in my direction and I evade a fatal hit, but it still skids across my side. It's not too bad. I keep charging. Jason and I reach him at about the same time. He's breaking open a pack filled with knives. He throws three in Jason's direction and four in mine.

Jason pins him to the ground. I hold his own spear to his heart.

"I'll kill them! Let me live and I'll kill the Careers! Please!" he begs.

Hm...I guess.

"You don't and when your friends leave tomorrow, we'll kill you." I snarl at him.

"I'll do it!" he says, terrified.

"Hold him there, I'm looking through their supplies," I say.

They have almost no food left and are probably gonna have to hunt soon, so I just leave it. They have an amazing assortment of knives. I take three. Jason asks for three. I get him some, and while I hold the boy down, he sees if there is anything else he wants. Nothing. He's happy with his knives. We leave the boy at the camp and melt into the woods to watch our plan be carried out.

We reach the woods and find a safe, sturdy, unshakable tree. I pull up my shirt and look at the cut the spear left on my side. Jason's foot got cut by one of the knives that the boy threw. His wound isn't too bad, but he still wraps it up.

My cut isn't too deep, but it hurts, and I mean hurts. It's like a burn. It stings when I have my shirt down on it, but if I don't keep my shirt on it'll rub on the tree bark and get the cut dirty and infected. I wrap it in a bit of clothe from my head bandage that really has no purpose since my head is now as good as new. I unwrap my head and use the bandage around my middle. It feels better when I don't have to look at it.

The Careers unhappily stroll into their camp and immediately the girl goes to sleep. She looks exhausted. They must've done a lot of hunting for tributes today. Not surprised they couldn't find anyone. There's only two people out there. The boy from eight finally gets impatient and risks talking to get the district one boy in bed.

"Aren't you tired? I'll do the first watch." He ventures cautiously.

"Yeah? Why?" He asks, suspecting a trap.

"Just figured you'd be tired. If you wanna stay up, I'll just get to bed." He says fake yawning. He stands and begins to walk over to the sleeping bags.

"No way you're getting to sleep! I feel like I went to the moon and back! You take the watch. I'm exhausted," says the district one guy, not caring that he may be entering a trap, only wanting sleep.

I watch for a while and I guess when the district eight boy finally decides it's safe, he takes his knife up and throws it right into Nikki's stomach. The district one boy wakens. He's prepared for the knife coming in his direction and evades it, mostly. He does get hit pretty bad in the upper right leg though.

Nikki's as good as dead, but he missed her heart.

The district eight boy runs for the woods. The district one boy goes in pursuit, leaving Nikki.

"Brandon! Brandon! Brandon!" She yells. I guess that's the boy from one's name.

I wish I could say: just close your eyes and stop making yourself miserable. He's not coming back. I climb down the tree and Jason follows me. We cross the plain to Nikki and she is weaponless. I sit down next to her and she begins talking.

"Please just kill me. I can't do anything about it now! Please kill me!" she begs.

"What can't you do anything about?" I ask, curiously.

"I wanted to fix it! I really did!" she says.

"Fix what!" I ask.

She puffs out her last breath and she's dead.

Jason is beside me when her cannon goes off.

"What'd she say?" Jason asks.

"I don't know, she died before she could tell me." I say confused.

"Hm. Well, what do you wanna do now?" he asks.

"Let's grab some sleeping bags and burn the rest." I take two sleeping bags and we stuff them in our packs.

We burn the supplies we don't want. That way Brandon can't have them when he comes back after chasing that district eight boy.

There's a huge inferno of fire once all of the things we don't want are burning. Then something catches my eye. Something in the pile of weapons we didn't want. There's a shining golden bow and a burning sheath of arrows.

I run to the pile and grab the bow and arrows and throw them into the lake and put my hands in the cool water as well. I have a bow and arrows! Jason and I could win now! He has his knives and with me having a bow, we could really win.

My hands feel like they're on fire even though I have them dangling in the cool lake water. Jason asks me if we should move for the night into a tree or something, but I can't stand having my hands out of the water for more than a couple seconds. We stay at the burning camp overnight. In the morning I wake up to Jason shaking me.

"Hagger did it! He hasn't forgotten us!" Jason says ripping open a sponsor gift.

It has a bottle of medicine. It smells like the stuff we use for burns back home. I can finally leave the lake.

I apply a coat of medicine to my hands and the burning sensation disappears. Thank you, Hagger.

"Thanks," I say to the blue sky.

"You think we can move now?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine now that my hands aren't on fire," I say.

We move in the opposite direction the boy from district eight took as he was chased by Brandon.

We keep moving until about three in the afternoon. As we sit by a stream eating duck, we hear the loud boom of a cannon. I think there goes district eight boy.

"I guess Brandon is on his own," Jason says.

"What about the district ten girl?" I reply. I know the huge district eleven boy won't ever ally with Brandon.

"Probably out there somewhere hiding. I don't think Brandon would team at this point anyway," Jason says.

"Why not? It would help him," I ask.

"At this point I think the only thing teaming would get either of them is a knife in the back," he says.

"True," I say understanding what he means.

Just then there is a rustling in the leaves and a huge pack of wild lion monster things come from the brush, and Jason and I take off running backward. Toward the lake. Toward the cornucopia. Toward the place where the Capital is sure to get a bloody fight out of us. Out in the open. The lions are gaining on us every second, and we eventually emerge on the open plain where we started the games. Just then there is a shriek from the other side of the cornucopia.

Jason and I continue running from the beasts. I realize this may be the finale of the games. I decide the safest place is the cornucopia. On top of it. Jason doesn't hesitate to come up after me, seeing the pack of lions is on his heels. They claw at his feet as he climbs up, me helping him. We are on the top now and I look over the other side. There is a huge lion on top of the girl from district ten. She has wavy blond hair. Eyes as green as emeralds. I remember her name. She was the one that everyone thought of as the prettiest tribute. Because of that hair and those eyes. Her name was...Ginger!

She looks so scared. She's only about fourteen. Not nearly as big as the rest of us. I can't help feeling sorry for her. The dog takes one final bite of her throat, and I watch her die. She's dead, but then she starts flailing around. Then her cannon goes off. She transforms before my eyes to a ravage beast. The dead tributes. All of them. They are the ones coming after us now. The big one that was on her...Nikki!

Nikki was always a big, strong girl. That coat the dog wears is the same as Nikki's hair was. The small blond dog is yipping and clawing the golden surface of the cornucopia. I guess the Capitol has a lot of free time. To make humans transform into lions. One of the many reasons I hate the Capitol. The only things they do are against us. Never with us.

Jason snaps me back to reality.

"Maysilee! Wake up!" he screams.

I realize I'm standing on the golden cornucopia staring into space, thinking to myself about the lions who are the opponents who have already been killed.

Just then the big boy from district eleven comes barreling onto the open plain, being chased by Brandon. Brandon is wielding the silver sword that he got from the cornucopia when the game started. I lift my bow, position an arrow, and let it fly into Brandon's heart. He collapses on the ground. His cannon goes off. I look away. I don't want to watch even him change into a beast of a lion.

The lions have given chase to the district eleven boy, and I realize if I kill him, or if the lions kill him, Jason and I are going to have to fight. To kill one and other. The big boy from eleven is jumped on by a lion that can only be Brandon. Who else could be that big and powerful? The district eleven boy's cannon goes off.

Before Jason can do anything, I shove my own knife into my heart. As I fall from the cornucopia, onto the ground, I silently say goodbye to Sophie and Eli. Good luck guys, I hope you grow up to have children that aren't drawn into any reapings.

I hit the ground, close my eyes, and just as I drift away, I hear a boom of a cannon that can only mean that I let Jason win. My mission is complete. He got home. I can only think of one thing as I'm leaving life, I wish you the best of luck Jason.

THE END