A/N: Yeah, I don't own the Hunger Games, that's all Suzanne Collins. Also, I'm not making any money off of this, promise.
OH! And I did this weird thing where I added a life system, you know, like in video games. I totally did that because I, uh, wanted to. All of the characters are based on people I know in real life. Because all the cool kids write fan fiction with their friends in it. Enjoy!
If Austin doesn't stop standing there so calmly, I'll make sure that he dies first, I swear it. I realize that he's all "in tune with the magic around him" or whatever, but I hate it. The rest of us are nervously shuffling and sweating profusely from the sun beating down on us and because we're about to murder each other while millions of people watch. Apparently, death is just extremely entertaining.
We're waiting for the cannon blast to start the blood bath. Nelson is rocking back and forth on his heels, glancing at each one of us. He's probably thinking of the best way to avoid being first blood. He's almost ways first blood.
Janell is sitting Indian-style trying to look calm, but I can see the corner of her twitching from here. She should be nervous, honestly. She specializes in swords, almost all of us are ranged. I'd like to see her get to us before we send something deadly flying towards her face.
Jake and Cory are both trying to make the other laugh, but there's a definite sadness there. If Cory doesn't win this time, it's his last game. He's on his last life. The rest of us have a few lives left. The winner gets to keep his life and live to fight in another arena. The losers all lose a life. When you're out of lives you finally get to die for good. We can't decide if that's a good thing or not yet. I mean, sure, we don't have to murder each other anymore, but we don't get to, like, breather or joke about Nelson always being first blood either.
Starting is taking forever, something is wrong with a camera somewhere, or so said some guy over an intercom. I hope they fix it soon, I'm ready to get this over with, and judging by the looking Susan has plastered on her face, I'm more than reasonably sure that she thinks the same.
After another ten minutes if hating Austin for being so calm, I haven't seen him so much as twitch from nervousness (I'd be impressed if it didn't piss me off so much.), the timer starts to count down from ten. We all get ready. I situate my bow on my back so that I can run quickly to the tree line, I need cover so that I can start sniping.
The cannon blasts and, as usual, someone grabs Nelson as first blood. I'm not sure who, but I'll find out soon. They play the death scenes in the sky at night for those unfortunate enough to miss them.
I make it to the woods and scale a tree. Up here almost everyone will be easy enough to snipe off if they wander past. And if they don't… I'll just have to hunt them down. I've got a two year winning streak to maintain.
As I'm hanging out in my tree, I hear two cannon blasts. I know one of them is for Nelson and I can only guess who the second is for. I'm sort of hoping it's Cory or Jake, the two of them are a pain in the ass to deal with.
As soon as the cannon blasts, Cory pulls a throwing knife from his pocket and throws it into the back of Nelson's head.
Nelson falls instantly, and Susan, in shock I suppose, stops moving. That's when Janell sees an opportunity to grab a kill. She runs up to Susan and shoves her blade through Susan's belly.
Ouch. After a moment Susan falls to the ground herself, a small line of blood trickling down the side of her mouth.
My stomach aches a little, I've always hated watching them kill each other. Sometimes, I think it's easier to murder them myself. I don't know why.
I stay in my tree until dawn, when I decide I'm far too bored to just sit around and wait.
I walk through the forest as quietly as possible with my bow at the ready.
Austin literally falls from a tree as I'm adventuring yelling, "I'll get you next time guys! Count on it!" When he hit's the ground he lays there in pain for a moment before one of Cory's knives buries itself in his forehead. Which, I'd imagine takes quite a lot of force… My stomach aches again.
I look around for Jake and Cory, but I can't see them in the trees. They're both annoyingly good at blending in with their surroundings.
"How about you help us kill Janell, and then we'll have a big showdown between the three of us." I hear from somewhere above me, it's Cory. He probably just wants to piss her off, something I'm not completely opposed to doing.
"Why should I trust you to not kill me while we track her down?" I ask.
"If we wanted you dead right now, you would be dead." That's Jake, and he has a good point.
"Kay, I'm good with that, just hurry up and get down here, I'm curious about where you've been hiding. Oh, and Janell's going to complain about this. Be sure you're ready to deal with the whining." I say.
They land in front of me a moment later. Great, they were right above my head and I didn't even see them. That's depressing.
"I hate you guys for being able to do that." I mutter.
I can almost hear Austin saying, "It's okay, she hates everyone." Almost, but since he's quite dead it's not really possible.
Janell wasn't hard to find, she was crashing through the forest, slicing her swords back and forth while calling out for someone to come fight her.
We stand back and watch her for a moment, laughing. She can be really ridiculous sometimes.
When she finally hears us cracking up she yells, "I can hear you guys! Now come out here and fight me like real men!"
We step forward into her path, weapons drawn. There may be three of us, but Janell can be a force to reckoned with sometimes.
"Three of you? Really? Dude, that's completely unfair!"
"Oh, but you can take everyone on, right? I thought you were supposed to be the most amazing swordswoman to ever walk the earth. That's what you were just yelling, right?" Cory says, smirking.
"I'm good, but you guys could kill me from there. It's unfair, I say! Unfair!"
As she finishes her sentence, one of Jake's throwing stars finds it way into her shoulder. She cries out in pain and then says, "I hate all of you. I'm getting you next time, don't doubt it."
She's admitting defeat. Janell James is admitting she's been defeated BEFORE we've actually killed her. I'm so glad someone is filming this.
"Please, Janell, you've never managed to kill one of us before, why are you suddenly going to be able to next year?" Cory asks.
"I just will, okay?" That's the last thing she says before one of my arrows buries itself in her eye.
The moment she falls over, I'm running and shooting towards the spot where Jake and Cory stood moments before.
"Damn." I mumble. They're fast, I can only hope I'm faster than them.
Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my foot and realize I can't pick it up. I look down to find on of Cory's knives pinning it to the forest floor. It hurts, it hurts a lot.
I look around for them, ready to shoot at the slightest sign of movement, when I see Jake fall from a tree to my left. He's dead, his throat is slit open and I can see blood leaking from it. It's rather disgusting, and I need to focus on finding Cory, but I can't tear my eyes away.
That is, until Cory lands right in front of me and snatches the bow from my hands before I can react.
"I'm sorry it has to end this way, Tori. I really am, but I want to keep breathing, your streak be damned." He's holding one of his knives, this ones is dripping in blood. I'd bet one of my lives that it's Jake's blood, which makes my stomach turn slightly, that's so unsanitary!
I take a deep breath, "It could be worse, I could have died to Janell again." She had once managed to sneak up on me and take me down before I even had time to react. I was pissed when I woke up, and she died horribly at my hand the next time we were thrown into the arena. Revenge is sweet.
"True." He laughs as he slices my throat open. It really only hurts for a moment, and then I'm gone.
Nelson is angrily stomping around the infirmary complaining about how everyone kills him first way to often and that it has to stop. He has everyone in hysterics. I would probably laugh too, but I have this feeling that if I tried, it would seriously hurt my throat. I'm totally sporting a pretty bad ass scar now.
They're all still laughing when one of the game makers walks into the room and clears his throat, demanding attention.
"We've once again had a very successful Hunger Games! I've come to congratulate Cory for surviving to join his friends in the arena again next season, and to introduce you to someone who's going to be joining into our little game." He motions at someone through the window on the door and in walks Allan.
"So, I hear you guys, like, kill each other and shit here in Alabama. I want in." He says cheerfully.
We all glance at each other in amusement and Nelson says, "This means that I don't have to be killed first anymore, right?"