4th Annual Hunger Games

Scoot Jordan-District 7

Scoot never expected to be reaped; in fact the odds were in his favor with only eight slips in the reaping. But, like twenty three other children across Panem, reaped he was.

He was an only child of two timber workers in his district. At the time of his reaping, he was sixteen, old enough to have worked in the woods for two years. The skills he gathered from his job would prove very useful in the coming days.

The train arrived in the Capitol on time. The tributes were shown to their rooms in a hotel downtown. They were told that the Games would begin in two days time, one more than usual. The tributes were told nothing more, adding to their confusion.

That night, most tributes tried to get to know one another. Last year, alliances had proved to be essential. They knew that a similar situation might occur, in which knowing the opponent could save their life. Still, several tributes chose to be on the outside, in fear of not being able to kill people they knew well. Scoot was one of those tributes. He went to bed early, sleep being more essential than information.

Dawn arose, and a Gamemaker came to collect the tributes. He took all twenty four to the basement of the building. He explained that to give the tributes a better chance, equipment was provided to help them. He assured them that this day of training could give tributes an edge when they emerged in the arena. He forbade any fighting between tributes. After that, he released them in the massive gymnasium constructed for the tributes.

All that was there was weapons. Loads and loads of weapons. Long range, short range, sharp, blunt, big, small, simple, complicated. Everything that could possibly be in the arena was there.

Most tributes had never handled a weapon before. Scoot had some experience with an ax, but not enough to be proficient. He focused his attention on other weapons instead, hoping to have a wide range of skills when the Games came.

In that day, Scoot tried his hand at many different weapons, becoming fairly accurate with long range ones such as bows and throwing knives. He practiced on bull's eyes, and got better and better as the day progressed. Soon, he could hit the target every single time.

He also paid special attention to the other tributes, nothing which ones were good at which weapons. This information would prove to be useful later. By isolating himself from the other tributes, he felt he could be more prepared to kill them in the coming days.

Training day ended, and the Games began.

Once the tributes rose into the arena and the cannon sounded, most of them sprinted for the Cornucopia. With their extra experience with weapons, the tributes felt more confident. Especially considering that the Gamemakers supplied an abundant amount of weapons, all of which were in the training center.

Scoot laid his hands on a bow and quiver fairly quickly, before most of the other tributes. Weapons in hand, he went in for more supplies. He stole a backpack of food and three bottles of water. While the other tributes were focused on finding supplies, he looked to eliminate his competition. A boy from District Two searched for food nearby and Scoot remembered his superior strength in the gym, thereby making him a threat. He fired an arrow directly at him.

The arrow landed on target and the boy collapsed to the ground. The other tributes began to run away from the danger. The girl from Twelve took this opportunity to use her scythe to good use. The boy from Six retaliated in anger. As Joshua left, he noticed that no less than three separate fights had broken out in the confusion created by his arrow.

The tributes were much more deadly now that they had experience with weapons. The Gamemakers' idea to make the Games more violent by training the tributes had proven to be very successful. On the first day, five tributes died, a new record for the Games.

Scoot found himself in a good position. He had a weapon he was good with, as well as food and water. He explored the arena and found, to his delight, that there was a small area of pine trees. The woods were reminiscent of his home in District 7. He easily made camp in a tree. His knowledge of the area was golden for the coming days, when his survival skills were put to the test.

As usual, tributes began to die off one by one as the arena claimed them. Children from districts that were not used to nature lost tributes more quickly, such as One, Three, Five or Eight. Lack of food and water proved deadly like always. Instead of the Cornucopia spoils being left open for grabs, two tributes in an alliance guarded the food. The tributes without food and water died quickly.

Scoot had enough food for several days as long as he rationed it, which he did. He drank water from a stream nearby. For three days, he did not hear a word from another tribute, making his survival fairly easy.

On Day 4, as he was scrounging for food, Scoot heard a branch break. He spun around to see the girl from District 4 sneaking up on him with a knife in hand. He loosened an arrow from his bow. Unfortunately for him, he missed in his urgency. The girl tackled him and he went down. He got stabbed in the thigh by the time he wrestled the knife from her grasp. He took one of his arrows and stabbed downwards, right near her throat. A cannon boomed.

Wounded and afraid, Scoot dragged himself back to camp. He tried to clean out the wound as best he could with water from the river, but with his limited supplies, he could not get much accomplished. He couldn't climb the tree, so he camped out right below it. He hoped for a miracle to save him.

Three days passed. More and more tributes dropped out, whether from thirst, hunger, or other tributes. Scoot barely survived on edible berries and water. He could hardly move. But, in his general area he started to build traps. Small ones, used to catch animals back in Seven. He knew very little, but he had days to experiment. He hoped to catch some rabbits or squirrels. With the meat, he might have enough energy to recover. But, alas, he did not catch anything.

Only seven tributes were left by Day 8. The Gamemakers announced a feast for the following day. There was no way in hell Scoot could make it there, with his leg wound worsening by the day. He knew that medicine he needed could be at the feast, yet he was likely to be killed if he went. In the end, he opted not to go.

His decision paid off. The next day, as he lay close to death, he heard five cannons. Six! That left the playing field at only two. Scoot didn't know at the time, but the last person left was Anders, from District Nine. Since most of the tributes were starving in the unfamiliar arena, they all went to the feast, save Scoot of course. They used their skills in weaponry to kill as many as possible. Anders was the only one left. He had plenty of food and water, spoils of the feast. He felt replenished and healthy as he hunted for the final tribute.

Scoot knew that his time was up. Two days passed, and he was on the verge of death. He knew that all that stood between him and death was hours. The other tributes, whomever he was, was going to win no matter if he killed Scoot or not. But, as Scoot slipped into sleep for the last time, he heard a cannon.

Anders had walked straight into one of Scoot's traps and had bled to death.

The hovercraft airlifted Scoot out of the arena. He was treated instantly to help him survive. When he woke up, he was healed and already on a train back home to District Seven.

The Fourth Hunger Games are finished. The odds were in Scoot Jordan's favor. Twenty three others weren't as lucky...

TO BE CONTINUED: Find out Teff from Nine managed to become the fifth victor.