**Disclaimer**

I do not own the Hunger Games or any of Suzanne Collins' characters.

Hacked to Bits

Eight.

That's how many are left of us.

Our career pack started with six. And somehow we've all made it this far without a scratch. Though that will soon change.

Once we find the boy from 8 and the girl from 7 our temporary alliance will come to an end. And that's when the real bloodshed will begin.

"Hold it."

Suddenly the pair from District 1 perks up. Muttering to one another they point to a moving figure out in the distance. It's the boy from 8.

This triggers both of the tributes from 2 to take off running. Screaming and cheering as they bolt after the poor limping boy from 8.

I nudge my District partner. Now is our chance. Let's go. I express with my eyes.

He shakes his head. "We'll leave tonight when they are all asleep," he whispers to me.

I catch the girl from 1 staring at us. We have to be careful. As blood thirsty as the pair from 2 is, I'm more concerned about the tributes from 1. They're smart. Very strategic. They'll know what we're planning. And I don't think for a second that they'll let us leave.

A cannon fires.

The boy from 2 hoots and hollers, while his district partner dances around the lifeless body.

Seven.

That's how many are left by nightfall.

The boys fight over who gets to take the first watch.

My district partner gets the third shift. He tells me that he'll wake me when it's time to go.

I nod allowing myself to get comfortable by leaning against the base of a tree. I catch the girl from 1 staring at us again. Does she know what we're planning? Unsure I allow my eyes to close, but only pretend to sleep. For an hour I pretend while listening for any possibility of danger.

There's nothing. Only silence. A soothing silence which allows me to drift off into a world where only dreams matter. Dreams of going home to District 4. Dreams of seeing my family again. Dreams of…

I awaken to sounds of gurgling blood, clashing blades and piercing screams. Followed by two cannons. My District partner lifts me up into his arms. "We have to leave now."

Looking back I see two mangled bodies of the tributes from 2. A third cannon sounds and I look over to see an axe being pulled from the head of the boy from 1.

Before I can piece together what's just happened my district partner pulls me away, leaving behind the shrill shrieks of the girl from 1. I can hear her pleading for her life as I'm dragged out further, shielded by the woods.

A fourth cannon sounds.

"What just happened?" I ask trying to catch my breath.

Without stopping my district partner answers. "It was the girl from 7. You know the whimpering one. She went ballistic and came while we were all sleeping. District 2 didn't even have a chance to wake up before she hacked them to bits."

Three.

That's how many of us are left as my partner and I run for our lives.

Running into the depths of the forest I picture a road that stretches out ahead of me for miles. And at the end of it is my family waiting in District 4. For a moment I almost think I can smell the ocean. And before I know it I'm sprinting so fast that I don't even realize there's no one left by my side.

Another cannon sounds.

Immediately I stop. My heart races. And when I look back I see my district partner face down on the ground; the girl from District 7 pulling her axe from his back.

I keep running. That's all I can do as the mad girl chases me. Unfortunately panic sets in and I don't notice the steep drop off ahead of me.

Just like that the whole world around me blurs as I tumble down the treacherous slope. Listening to the sounds of twigs snapping and bones cracking I fall and crash against unforgiving rocks with sharp edges.

By the time I reach the bottom I can't move. I've broken something crucial. I can't tell if it's my legs, my neck, my back, or all of the above. All I know is I'm not walking out of here.

Two.

That's how many are left as I wait for the girl to kill me.

The girl? What was her name again?

I can't believe this. I'm about to die and I don't even know the name of the person who's going to kill me.

I think back. Back to the interviews. Back to the reapings. Even the training sessions. I know I must have heard her name a number of times. But why? Why can't I remember the girl with the axe?

Then it hits me. I can't remember because she was never there. There was no girl with an axe. No vicious killer waiting to strike.

Instead there was a girl in tears. A feeble child who had already given up hope. A girl who looked on the outside exactly how I felt on the inside. It's only then I realize.

I remember.

Without warning her axe plunges deep into my chest. A searing pain shoots straight through me leaving me breathless.

But I remember. Her name…

Her name is Johanna.