I run through the trees, pushing branches out of my face. Me and my mentor have agreed I would sneak around and stay out of harms way until I was in the final two. Then I would fight. Nobody knows I am skilled in combat, knife, bow and arrow, well, pretty much any kind of fighting. People don't know that at one point I had to kill. Kill so I could survive. This is my story.
***Flashback***
When I was ten, the peacekeepers in district three noticed I had fighting potential. I had sharp eyes, astute ears, was incredibly quick, both mentally and physically (that and my flaming orange hair didn't help nicknames like 'fox girl' or 'tiger face') plus I didn't make friends easily. I had one good friend though, she was called Daffy and was the complete opposite of me! She was girly, flowery and all airy fairy but we got on so well, she was the reason I got into hunting. I couldn't tell anyone about Daffy though, her parents died when she was five (I was eight) and she had lived secretly in the forest on the border since then. Thats when I learnt to hunt and care for her. I brought her books, stole meat, picked plants and pretty soon I knew the land, the plants and the animals like the back of my hand and instead of stealing, I hunted. One day I had laid snares around a tree and was crouched in the grass, waiting for the squirrels to come out. One slid down the tree and caught itself in the snare, dying instantly. After a while I had five squirrels slung over my back and was heading back to the hollow tree where Daffy camped. A shot rang out and a bullet flew past me. Daffy screamed and ran out, the shots still coming. I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a tree,
BANG BANG BANG.
The shots kept on coming, echoing through the forest, birds flew up into the sky, their petrified squarks filled the air. Tears of fear stained her face. I squeezed her hand and brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes. She was filthy, mud caked all over her and twigs stuck in her hair. I loved her like a sister and I could not believe this was the end. Two peace keepers marched over and pointed guns to our heads; Daffy squealed as he pulled the trigger halfway. I screamed and hit out, kicking him in the stomach. I knocked the gun out of his hands and pushed him to the floor, banging his head against the tree. The other released grabbed my wrists and forced them behind my back
"RUN DAFFY RUN!" I screamed but she just stood there, crying uncontrollably. She stupidly tried to help me instead but the other man had dragged himself off the ground and grabbed her ankles sweeping her off the ground. The two men carried us to the town, we struggled but they managed to drag us onto the town hall platform stage, its only used for reapings but today something even more terrible would take place, at least for me. They took me back through the big iron doors they take tributes through, at first I thought they would save us both but they threw Daffy down and shot her. I screamed. The doors closed behind me. Everything went black.
***Back to arena***
I throw the pack I picked on my back and try to find a camp