A boom sounds and I quickly jump up and grab my knife. Another boom. Then another.

"What is that?" I whisper to Mike. "Does somebody have a cannon or something?"

"I hope not," Mike says.

If someone has a cannon, it can kill from a long way away.

"Maybe we should hide," I say. Mike nods and we duck behind trees as more booms sound. After the booms, all is silent.

"Those booms represent all the fallen tributes," a man's voice says.

I breathe a sight of relief and swing back around the tree.

"How many cannons were there?" I ask Mike.

"I counted fourteen," he says.

Fourteen dead in one day. Only ten left. In minutes more than half of us were dead.

"These Games are going fast," I whisper. There's a slight snapping noise, but I don't pay any attention to it. Probably just Mike walking around. I turn to look at him, but he's not there.

"Mike?" I ask. "Mike? Where are you?"

I look behind a tree and am suddenly tackled to the ground. I reach into my jacket for a knife and quickly pull one out. I look up and see Mike with a rope around his neck. He's tangling from a tree branch and gagging.

"Mike!" I scream, running toward him. I quickly saw off the rope and he falls to the ground, gasping for air. Something grabs me from behind and throws me to the ground. The wind is knocked out of me and I can barely move. Someone stands on top of me and I see light reflect off something silver. I realize it's a sword. It's coming toward my throat when I finally can move. I swing my arm out and stab the person in the stomach. They drop the sword and fall off me and I stab them multiple times, making sure they're dead. A boom sounds. I breathe heavily and look down at the dead tribute. I recognize him as the one from District eleven.

Mike scrambles to his feet, ready to defend himself, but I put up a hand.

"He's dead already," I say, looking down at the boy. He only seems to be twelve years old. "He caught you in a trap, didn't he?"

"A rope trap," Mike says. I look up at the tree branch and then down at the torn rope. Mike had almost been hung.

"These Games are really going fast," I say. I don't know why I saved Mike. If I just let him die, I wouldn't have to kill him in the end. My stupid saving attitude won over, though. I sit down on a log and rub my forehead. These games are getting harder and harder.