"Rise and shi-ine! Today is a very important day!" said Gallia. I groaned. Today is an important day. Today is possibly my last day alive. I got up anyway; after all, it's not like I slept much.

"Morning," said Hannah. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. I mean, who can ever be ready to enter a death tournament?"

"True. Come on, let's go."

And so we left. We were taken to another building and then taken out the back into a hovercraft. When we all were strapped in, an attendant came around and gave everyone shots. When she got to me, I was scared, but gave her my arm anyway. It hurt and it felt like something solid was injected into my arm. Soon we were flying away to the arena. After hours of staring out a window, it and all the others turned black. That must mean we're close. To me, we were all too soon at the arena, waiting to be given the signal to step into the tubes. The uniforms this year are baggy cameo cargo pants, brown lace-up boots that seem good for hiking and climbing, a brown t-shirt, and a black rain jacket. As I sat there waiting, I fiddled with my necklace, which happens to be my mother's and my district token. It's a simple chain with a silver pendent shaped like a horseshoe.

Then comes the warning, and I step into the tube and it closes around me. When the time comes, I slowly rise to the surface and am blinded for a moment by the bright sunlight. When my eyes are adjusted, I look around. All 24 of us are standing in a circle around the Cornucopia. Across the circle from me is a forest. I stole a glance behind me; there's tall grassland behind and to the left, and a vast lake to my right. With 20 seconds remaining, I look to the items at the ground near me. Lo and behold, a set of throwing knives is at my feet. Near them is a tan backpack filled with who knows what. And closest to me is a spear. 10 seconds left, and I tense; ready to make sure I get those 3 items. 5 seconds….. 4…3….2….1. And the gong sounds, and I take off scooping up the backpack, knives, and the spear before taking off to the lake. I run and run and run. After what feels like a long time, I stop and turn around. I'm a far distance from the Cornucopia, and it seems no one followed me. Then a cannon booms, and another; in addition to the ones that sounded while I ran, that makes four deaths in the first, um, 20 minutes, maybe? I wish I had a watch or something. I turn to the grass and realize that it's a good 7 or 8 feet tall. I head into the grass and simply keep heading away from the Cornucopia. After a few hours, or maybe more, I stopped and took out a knife. I then proceeded to cut some of the grass and weave a small hut-like thing. While I made it, I heard 2 canons go off. When I finished, the sun was setting and I decided to make the last of the daylight by looking at the items in my bag. I opened it and inside was jerky, granola, 6 protein bars, water purification tablets, an empty canteen, sunglasses, rope and a sleeping bag. There is 20 throwing knives in the set I grabbed, and the spear is the right size for me. As the sun set beyond the horizon, I ate a piece of jerky and a small handful of granola. If I keep eating like this, I have enough granola for 5 more meals and enough jerky for 7 or 8. Soon the sky was dark and the anthem began to play. 6 dead today; but who? As I watch, I learn it's the District 3 girl, District 5 boy, District 7 boy, both from District 9, and the girl from 11. Now there are 18 of us left. I comfort myself with the fact that I am alive and I hadn't killed yet. I dosed all night, waking at every noise.

I got up at first light, and packed up. I had no idea what to do with my shelter. I knew I was being stupid, but I simply left it and headed back towards the lake. I need water. I spent at least 2 hours getting back to the lake. When I got there, I filled my canteen and dropped in a tablet. After waiting long enough for it to work, I drank deeply. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was. After a few minutes, I had drained it. So, I refilled it and put the tablet in, then put the canteen in my bag. I sat there on the bank for awhile and ate a piece of jerky. Before I left, I could feel the day getting hot, and I jumped in, soaking myself. I climbed out, gathered my things and headed towards the forest. I got to the edge after a few hours, and I kept walking, and soon I felt the land begin to slope. As I hiked along, a thought came to me; the Gamemakers hadn't disturbed me with any traps or anything. How odd. I decided it was best to stay alert.

Soon I heard leaves rustle ahead of me. I looked around and hid in some bushes. From there I crawled to face the direction of the noise and found myself staring into a clearing. At least 7 tributes were standing in a circle around something. Or someone.

"What do you say Pike? Should we kill her slowly?" asked a dark haired girl. I couldn't see any of their numbers.

"Slowly is fitting Lily. No one steals from us. Right guys?" said a very large boy that must be Pike.

The others nodded. "But what about the other one? She helped her hide from us," said another girl, this one fair haired.

"Very true Sara," said another boy.

"I say she can die quickly," said a third girl. "That okay with you, Alexander? Jake? Jessie? Sara? Lily? Pike?" Each of them nodded in turn. The circle shifted and I saw two girls tied up in the middle of the circle. The one girl started to scream.

"No! NO! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! NO!"

"Shut up," said the third girl that had spoken. She pulled out a knife as she stepped forward. She stepped around the girl, who was trying to move away and still screaming. She stepped behind her and grabbed her head.

"Any last words for the cameras?"

She whimpered. As the girl sliced her neck I closed my eyes. Then the cannon sounded and the other girl started to try to run.

"Oh no, you don't!" cried Pike and he grabbed her by her hair. "I know just how you can die." And he sliced her stomach.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she cried. Then fell limp. Next thing I knew I was charging out of the bushes at them. They all turned and the one girl with the knife smiled at ran towards me while the others left. As she came closer I could see she was from district 6. I took my spear and plunged it into her heart as her knife cut deep into my left arm. The cannon boomed. With no one else in the clearing, I turned to the bodies of the two girls. The one was from 5 and the other was from 12. I walked over to her and noticed she was still breathing. I knelt down next to her and looked at the cut.

"I'm sorry, but your cut, it's too deep. I can't save you," I said in a low voice.

"It's ok. I-I'm ready to- to go. Thank- thank you for your kindne-ness," she said, and then the girl from 12 was gone and the cannon sounded. I straightened her body and crossed her hands over her heart, and then did the same with the girls from 5 and 6. Then I left the clearing following the slope downward. Soon the sun began to set and I decided that it would be best to spend the night in a tree. I climbed up a tree as high as I could given the size of branches. By the time I got up there, my arm was burning and aching. I removed my rain coat to look at the cut, and I couldn't believe I hadn't bled to death. As I was looking at it, a parachute came down. I opened it and there was healing crème, a small sewing kit, numbing crème, and an ace bandage. There was also a note from Hannah and Nathaniel: 'Be careful; they don't like how you treated those bodies. Heal quickly and stay alert.' Well that's comforting. Why don't they just say that I'm a dead man walking? Then I looked at the sewing kit and at my cut and I realized what it all was for. I have to stitch my arm up. I rub the numbing crème on the cut and surrounding area, smearing blood everywhere. The cut is an inch above my elbow, and it's a huge gash across my arm. When the crème took effect, I took the needle and began to stitch my arm. As the light faded, it began to be very hard to see what I was doing, so I put some healing crème on it and wrapped it up. Then the anthem began to play and I could just see through the trees. Only the 3 girls died today; and there are 15 of us left. Hard to believe it, but there are 9 dead in 2 days.