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Hooray!!! At last, Scarlett has entered the Games! This is going to be fun...! And gory, very gory.
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I blink my eyes, trying to get used to the light.
After being in the dim launching room for so long, the glare of the sun is almost unbearable. I squint as I look around at my surroundings. To my left is a lake, and to my right, woods. Straight in front of me is the Cornucopia, weapons and supplies spilling from it's curved metal lips. I know the drill- I have sixty seconds. I count slowly, looking around at my competitors. Most of them look prepared to run into the Cornucopia.
I know what Regilus said, about running and finding water, but it's so hard. It's not like I can do anything with any of the weapons here, but my fingers itch for them anyways. I can see tents, water purifiers, and what seems to be an oven, glimmering in the early afternoon sun. I spot a backpack, about five yards in front of me- I'll go for that and nothing else, then turn and run.
A few circles to my right, Peeta Mellark is looking around hastily. He relaxes visibly when he spots Katniss, two circles to my left. She is posed awkwardly, as if not knowing which direction to run to. The forest! I will her silently. Go to the forest!
Five circles to my right is Blaine. His face is set in determination, and my heart suddenly swells up in fear of him. Amazing, isn't it? Someone that I've seen all of my life suddenly becomes a predator.
48… 49… 50… In a little over ten seconds, I could very well be dead. 53… 54… 55… Only five seconds before the Games truly begin… 56… 57… 58… Oh god, oh god… 59… and 60!
The Gong rings and my heart nearly jumps out of my chest. I stand there for an instant, then throw myself forward, dashing towards the Cornucopia. I grab a water bottle- empty, of course- then a purifier. Katniss dashes past me, heading to the only apparent bow. "You idiot!" I scream after her, but I doubt that anyone can hear me in the chaos. Peeta, pale as a ghost, rushes to follow her.
A boy running near me- Alexer Brigham, from District 8- suddenly stumbles on a rock and falls to the ground. A knife enters the back of his head before he can even begin to stand up. He wavers, twitching a bit, then slowly stands up. Another knife comes at him, striking his right shoulder, swiftly followed by two more.
Alexer's gray-green eyes flicker to mine, and I feel as if I've been electrocuted. The fighting is too loud for me to hear him, but I can read his lips. "Help," he murmurs. I take a step towards him, overcome with sympathy for this boy. Then a spear, two meters long at least, pierces him through the chest. He falls down, dead, with me only feet away from him.
I stare at him for a moment in shock. Then I kneel down and gently remove his jacket. I fold it under my arm and continue running.
I grab a few more little things- a knife, a rain jacket, and a sheet of plastic- before I reach the pack. I sling it over my shoulder and begin to run towards the forest. Screams echo from all sides, subsequently followed by pleading and tears. I haven't heard the canons fire yet, but that is only to be expected. The canons don't sound until the initial fighting has ceased, and the dead can be counted up.
I reach the edge of the clearing and, not stopping to look back, run into the trees.
***
I run until I can't run anymore. In the distance, I can still hear the clash of weapons against each other. The fighting isn't over, and somewhere near the Cornucopia I lost Liana's bracelet. Crap, I don't even have my good luck charm anymore! I lean over, clutching my chest, eyes suddenly swimming in tears. I've been in the games for forty-five minutes, and they're already worse than I could possibly imagine.
Eventually I get a hold of myself. I need to get away from here as fast as I can, that much is clear. I throw my knife, my plastic, and my water bottle into the pack and slide Alexer's jacket over my own. Then I continue running.
***
At nightfall I slow again. I've made fairly good speed, fueled by adrenaline rushes and fear. Not bad for a cheerleader.
It's getting dark, and I still haven't found water. There's nothing I can do about it now- if I continue to travel, I'll be walking straight into the career's spears. No, my best bet is for me to hunker down for the night.
In the fading dusk, I unzip my pack. Fingers shaking, I pull out my supplies. Two water bottles, both completely dry. Wonderful, if I can ever find water. One water purifying kit- complete with iodine and a laser purifier. One sheet of plastic, roughly two feet by two feet. I have the rain jacket that I shoved into it during the Cornucopia chaos, plus both Alexer's and my own heat containing jackets. I won't freeze to death, that's a relief. Three boxes of matches and two long candles. A few protein bars and a bottle of aspirin. The knife I picked up off of the ground of the clearing, and one tiny switchblade I find in the side compartment. A little guide to poisonous and edible berries. And lastly, one small woolen blanket.
It's not bad at all- I'm suddenly glad that I decided to go after this bag. I have a little bit of food, a way of making water safe, and two small weapons. As long as I have the blanket and jackets, I won't freeze.
I glance up at the trees- I could attempt to make a nest up there- then decide against it. I could roll off in the night, and then bang, dead Scarlett. No, I'll be safer on the ground. I locate a thick looking push and use my knife to dig a small hole. Then I burrow into it, lay my jackets on top of me, and look up into the sky to watch today's deaths.
The capitol's anthem plays, the Caesar Flickman congratulates the survivors. I can't help but feel a little bit proud. That's me! I feel like saying. I'm a survivor!
Then the head shots of the casualties come on. Among them is, of course, Alexer Brigham. I pull his jacket around me tighter when I see this.
Then- oh god- Blaine. Blaine. Blaine is dead. Dead. Gone. I remember his face, looking so determined and set as he prepared to run into the Cornucopia. His face merges with Alexer, lying dying on the ground, back filled with knives. I roll onto my side and vomit up everything that I'd eaten today.
A career is dead too- one of the ones who's name I can't recall. At least that.
The anthem plays again, and the night goes dark. Animals begin to move around again, crickets chirping softly.
Thirteen teenagers dead, eleven left to play. Katniss is alive, as is Peeta, as is Rue. So are Cato, Glimmer, and Clove. Ditto Thresh. I am, of course, and so is that boy from District 10 with the bad leg. There are two more who I can't think of off the top of my head, but could still be a threat to me. More that half the players are dead, but I'm still alive. This thought soothes me slightly, horrible as it sounds.
***
I awake in the middle of the night to the sound of screaming. I leap to my feet, thinking that the career's are upon me. After a moment or two of hearing only my racing heart, I realize that it was someone else screaming, far away from me. I sink back down into my makeshift nest in relief. A canon fires. Ten more players left.
I lie back down again, wondering whom this last signal was for. It could only have been a girl- the scream was far too high pitched to be a boy's. I hope fervently that Katniss and Rue are still alive- they're the innocent ones, the ones who deserve to subsist this as much as I do. I'll find out who it was tonight, I suppose.
I attempt to fall asleep again, but this soon proves impossible. I get back to my feet and begin packing my bag again. Then I slowly stand up. As long as I have energy to stay awake, I should have energy to find water.
I know that it's perilous, what I'm doing- but it's a risk I need to take. If I can't get any water by the end of the day, I'm as good as dead. I begin to walk, slowly at first to stretch my sore legs out, then more quickly as time passes. When day breaks I'm practically running, I'm so fraught. My throat is parched and arid and I feel feverish.
I look at my feet, watching for stray rocks as I run. The memory of Alexer's death is still fresh in my mind, the precarity of falling down. I'm concentrating so hard that I don't realize I've left the forest until it's too late.
I look around, and immediately the danger of the situation hits me. I've walked a full circle in the dark, and I'm back at the Cornucopia now. A half mile away at the lake lies the career's camp- I can see them all sitting around a campfire, talking away. It's all flat ground from here to there, and if one of them were to glance up, they'd see me immediately.
I tiptoe back into the woods, then break into a run. I'm a good ten minutes away when an idea hits me. I should steal some of there supplies, I think. The lake is right there… I could get water… Perhaps if I were in my right mind, this idea would be idiotic. But I'm dying of dehydration, and this could be my only chance. Before I can change my mind, I dart off in the opposite direction, heading back to the career's encampment.
