A/N: Hey! This is another of those Hunger Games from Peeta's perspective fanfics. I know, I know, cliché... been done before.. etc. etc. But sometimes a good old cliché is what you need! Besides, I wanted to play it safe for my first Hunger Games fanfiction.
This will be multi-chapter, and chapters are going to be short, but no shorter than 500 words. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. That'd be Suzanne Collins.
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Chapter 1 - 60 Seconds
60… 59… 58… this is how long until the 23 people around me begin trying to kill me. The circle of tributes is silent, the only sound being the light wind and the ominous countdown. 55… 54… 53… the golden horn, the Cornucopia, marks the center of the ring of podiums that hold the competitors of the 74th Hunger Games. If I step off my small pedestal now, it will set off a mine that will ensure my death. Perhaps that's the smartest choice. But it's a choice I don't have. I have to stay alive… for Katniss.
49… 48… 47… I think of my family back in District 12. I can see them now, crowded around a small television, watching the beginning of the games anxiously. They still have a small ounce of hope that I might win.
43… 42… 41… 40… the seconds drag by. I am not afraid anymore. When Effie called my name at the Reaping, terror struck through me, but now I am calm. I know what I need to do. Maybe District 12 will finally have a winner. I think of my mother's words and the truth of them hits me again. Katniss could win this, so I have to help her. For the girl I love go home to the people she needs most – this will be my dying wish.
35… 34… 33… I regain my focus on the arena as the clock reaches the halfway point. The Cornucopia holds piles of weapons and supplies that could give me an advantage, but I am not fast enough. My stocky build means I'm stronger than most of the tributes, but it also makes me one of the slowest. I look around. One side of the arena is covered in a meadow of long grass. The part behind me is thick woods. Katniss will like that, I think gratefully. 24… 23… 22… 21… Woods. I decide spontaneously. The woods will give me good enough cover and seems like it is more likely to provide food and water. The idea that it would give me more of a chance to team up with Katniss creeps into my head too, but I ignore it. I would only slow her down.
15… 14… 13… 12… 11… For the first time I glance over at Katniss, who is four or five tributes on my left. I see her eyeing up a bow and arrow eagerly and her plan is clear. She notices my eyes on her and squints in my direction against the sunlight. The glint of determination in her grey eyes changes to confusion as I shake my head. No. Think of what Haymitch said. I urge her silently. Granted, our mentor has never seen how fast she is, but if she puts herself in the middle of the bloodbath, she will almost certainly be killed by one of the Careers. 5… 4… she glances once from my eyes to the bow and arrow and back. My eyes plead with her. 2… 1… the gong goes off.
I am Peeta Mellark. I am running - running for my life. For her life.
Please tell me what you think in a review, I'd love to hear from you!