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THE GAMES

I find myself trying to calm down. We are hearing the booming voice count down. I'm standing on a plate, not being able to take in my surroundings. I feel my throat clog and I start to get hot. It's freezing here, but my body always finds a way to let me know I am afraid. There is snow everywhere. The heavy suits we have on make it hard for us to be cold. Beyond the snowy woods that lay across the frozen water with glaciers everywhere, is a huge mountain. The plates we are standing on are on pure freezing water. I breathe in and out. Remember to breathe, Katniss. Breathe. I tell myself that as I search for them.

My eyes look for Prim. Fortunately, she stands right next to me, looking at our surroundings in fear. I hold in the tears that threaten to fall out. Why am I going to cry? I need to stay strong. I look for Peeta. He's near the cornucopia. The cornucopia stands on a huge glacier on the water. I'm glad we can all swim. No. Prim can't swim. That's why she's looking at the water in fear. I frantically search for her and in half a second; I remember she's right next to me. She looks up at me, I shake my head slightly and mouth, don't worry. There's no way I'm letting Prim out of my sight.

My eyes are on Peeta. He's staring at the stuff in the cornucopia. His first thought is probably to get all you can, and I agree. He sighs and looks up at me. I move my head to Prim's direction and then the water. Peeta, in seconds, realizes that Prim can't swim. His eyes move quickly to the cornucopia and then back. I nod as I search for Gale. Gale, on the other hand, is staring at the huge mountain. I'm not sure what Gale's worried about, that relates to the mountain. I don't think we'd be climbing it, and I hope we don't. But, this is the games, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

There are so many plates and tributes that are going to be trying to kill each other that it makes me sick. Then, I hear it.

10

I breathe in and out.

9

I look at Peeta; he looks at me and nods.

8

I look at Prim and she closes her eyes and opens them. I can see her chest rise and fall. She's trying to calm herself down.

7

Gale looks at me and I look at him. His serious expression tells me he's not letting us come in danger's path. But, I remind myself. These are the games, there is no mercy, and other strong tributes want to go back home as well. This is an arena built by the most ruthless group of people. The Gamemakers.

6

My eyes are suddenly fixed on the dozens of arrows and a bow near the cornucopia. I need that, I think to myself. I'm going to get that.

5

I'm looking at the other tributes suddenly. And my eyes go onto the vicious career, Aaron. Aaron looks back at me and runs his finger across his neck, signally that I'm dead. I glare at him and aim an imaginary arrow at him then I let it go. He laughs, but I can't hear it. I just signaled that I and he are at war, a deeper war than we are in with the other tributes.

4

"You'll be coming back," my mother says as a Peacekeeper pulls her out of the room.

3

"Good luck Katniss. I'll be rooting for all of you guys," says Madge as she leaves the room.

2

There are people watching your every move. Show them you are a fighter, and they must already think that. This is for the Capitol. This is for President Snow. If they want to see a good show, then a good show they must see.

1

Everyone plunges deep into the dark and cold waters. Prim still stands on her plate, contemplating if she should dive in as well. I swim towards her, "Prim, come on. Trust me."

She nods and jumps into the freezing water. I hold her small body as I swim to land, a lot slower. I can hear Prim's teeth-chattering from a mile away. I'm wishing she was never here. But, look what luck has given me, and I can't give up now. When we reach land, a sixteen year-old from District 1, Jethro, swings an axe at Prim. I move Prim's backward in a flash. Jethro says, "Aw, sisterly love. Well, looks like I am going to kill you both."

Before he can do anything, I push Prim and yell, "RUN! RUN TO GALE AND PEETA!"

Jethro was about to swing his axe at Prim, but she's too quick and she passes right through him. Prim looks back at me with a worried look on her face. I shake my head slightly and she soon finds Peeta and Gale, loaded with weapons and bags. Jethro charges for me, I move out of the way and push him to the icy ground with my foot from his back. He falls on his face, hard. This makes him furious, and before I know it, he's got me pinned to the ground, and his fingers wrapped around my neck. In minutes, I can't breathe. I struggle to get him off me, but it's not use. I hear rapid footsteps against the ice. Soon, Jethro is pushed back, extremely hard, by a blond boy. Peeta. I'm still on the ground, struggle for air. I feel someone carry me over, Gale. Prim almost has tears in her eyes, but she's trying to stay strong. Before I know it, I'm yelling at Gale to put me down, "Gale, put me down! I'm fine."

Gale, without hesitating, puts me down. I jolt my head back to see that Peeta is running towards us, leaving an unconscious Jethro behind. I heard a few cannons, but not a lot. Peeta rushes towards me, his hands on my face, and he's hugging me.

"You okay?"

I nod and say, "Yes, I'm fine."

He kisses my forehead and we start for the snowy woods. We decide to find somewhere to hide. The winter air is freezing my face. I hate this type of weather, but I can't change anything. The whole time we are walking through the woods, I hold Prim's hand. Peeta and Gale lead us the entire way. We've been moving for hours and hours. Peeta and Gale are carrying a lot of things and they refuse to let Prim and I carry anything. I roll my eyes because I don't want to appear weak. But, it might also be that they feel as if they need to protect us. And I don't like that either because I can protect myself, or Prim. Finally, we find a cave covered in snow, which makes it much better. The cave looks like a huge boulder with snow on it, but if you wipe the snow away, it's an entrance to a cave. Peeta and Gale are the first to enter the cave, to see if it's "safe." I really despise this whole "protect the girls" thing because it makes me feel as if I can't protect any of us, which I can. Then, I hear a click. I look up to see a parachute falling down right on my hands. I pick it up and see bread. I smile to myself and the note reads, "Don't do anything stupid, sweetheart. He's your boyfriend."

I realize why this works. The audience sees Peeta as the "man." And he's supposed to protect me. The Capitol will eat this up. I let it slide, knowing that it's helping us. After settling in, we eat bread with absolutely no water. Gale says we should get water. We all agree, but we are so tired of walking, that we start to fall asleep until we hear the anthem being played. We all go see who has died. The two small girls from District 11 are dead. That scares me a bit, knowing that Prim is as small and fragile as them. It also hurts me because it reminds me of the families and how they are suffering because of their deaths. There are none dead from District 2. Three dead from District 3. I'm thinking of how that tribute left alone to fight against the many left. From the rest of the districts, few died. That leaves 38 tributes still alive. This makes my stomach churn. 38 still alive, which makes it hard to keep moving.

At night, it's very different and much colder than in daylight. Prim is huddled with Gale in the cave. She's shivering and I see the pain in Gale's face, to see Prim like this. I'm paying so much attention to Prim that I don't realize that I'm shivering myself. Peeta holds me tight to his body as we lay down, and this gives the Capitol another show. His warmth replaces the cold and I lay my head on his chest. I'm still looking at Prim, who know, stops shivering and she falls asleep in Gale's arms. Gale starts to fall asleep and that leaves Peeta and me, and I'm sure the screens have cut to us now. My shivering as stopped and Peeta is starting to doze off too. Before he does, he whispers to me, "I love you."

I smile and kiss him passionately. I feel his arms go around my waist. The cold is long gone and I feel that warmth of his kisses. I wrap my arms around his neck, and when we pull away, I whisper, "I love you too," back. And with that, we fall asleep.

I don't know how long we are asleep, but we all wake up to many cannons and a scream, a scream right outside our cave. I wake up with a start and Gale is missing, along with Prim. My eyes widen with fear as I look around to see that Peeta isn't hear also. Where are they? I stand up and dash out the cave, to find Peeta and Gale unconscious on the floor, and Prim, screaming with tears in her eyes. No, I think to myself, NO! I run to Prim to see if she's okay. She's fine. I look at Peeta and Gale, they look pale and lifeless. I feel tears roll down my cheeks as I quickly kneel besides Peeta, lay my head on his shoulder near his heart, and I hear silence.

Silence.

Who could have done this? Or what, to be more specific. Are they dead? If they are, how is Katniss going to react? CLIFFHANGER! MUAHHAHAHAHAHAHA…HAHA…ha. Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW.

Just to make sure, do you guys want there to be a fight between District 12 and 2 in the last part of the games? Just wondering…if have an opinion, tell me! That will help me decide whether to or not to. ; ) THANKS FOR READING!