Chapter 10:

I gaze out at the clearing in front of us, watching as the first rays of sunlight are just peeking over the tops of the trees. The cornucopia stands gleaming in the center but no items have been placed in front of it yet.

"Dog why are we here?" Gustavo asks me annoyingly for the third time this morning.

I shush him and look for any movement at the edge of the clearing, but it looks like no one has heard him. "Because I need to find James and Carlos."

He mumbles something to himself but I don't hear him as my attention is drawn to the table being lifted out of the ground in front of the cornucopia. Sitting on it are six bags, varying in size, with our names on them.

There's no movement for a minute, before a person dashes out of the woods towards my left, blonde hair flying behind her. I see a tall figure leave the woods to my right and know that I have to get out there now or all the items will be gone.

"Let's go, Gustavo," I say before standing up from crouching and sprinting into the clearing as fast as I can with my injuries.

"Logan!" I hear Carlos yell from my right and I get tackled with a hug before I can even make it halfway to the cornucopia. I try to break free from his grip as I watch the events unfolding in front of us.

James has made it to the cornucopia and has grabbed three bags. Gustavo has just got there and is wheezing from the effort of running. In his distracted state, he doesn't notice Mercedes running right towards him and take a slash with her knife right at him.

"No!" I shout out and start running over, but it's too late as the blood starts flowing from Gustavo's neck and he falls to the ground.

I hear Carlos running behind me as James looks over to see why we screamed. I try to yell out as I see someone run out from the other side of the cornucopia but before I can get out a word, I see the end of a sword get struck threw his chest.

Blood starts flowing rapidly as James falls down, a look of shock on his face as he looks at the wound. Carlos screams before running forward, swinging his spear like a madman.

I fall to my knees next to James as I hear a female scream out. I quickly glance to the side to see Carlos stabbing Mercedes before turning my attention back to James.

James' breathing is shallow as he looks up at me and shakily grabs onto my hand, holding it tightly. I can see the pain in his eyes as he looks up at me pleadingly. "I'm not going to make it, am I?"

I look down at him and try to keep back the tears that threaten to fall over knowing that another one of my best friends is soon to be gone. "Of course you are."

He tries to laugh but all that comes out is a cough with some blood. "You're a horrible liar, Logan," he whispers and I scoff at him.

James smiles lightly, only the corners of his lips lifting up in a smile. "Take care of Carlos. Make sure you or him win."

I nod my head, not sure if I'll be able to speak. James lets out a shaky breath before his grip on my hand slackens and his eyes close.

I fight back the sob at knowing that James is gone before turning to Carlos. He's standing over Mercedes body and is shouting out at the woods. "Come out here Jennifer! Face me so I can get payback for what you did to James."

"Carlos," I say quietly to him as I stand up and start walking towards him. He doesn't hear me or chooses not to.

"Carlos," I say again as I place a hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention. He yanks his arm free from my grip before swinging it back, and I feel a stabbing pain in my stomach.

I hunch over in pain and grip my stomach as Carlos turns to look at me, panic registering on his face as he realizes what he just did. "Logan, no, no, no. I'm so sorry."

"It's not too bad, Carlos," I say to him, trying to prevent him from freaking out. I pull my hands away from my stomach and look at the large amount of blood. Okay maybe it is kind of bad. "Look in the bags. There has to be something we can use."

Carlos starts frantically looking through the bags from the feast as I sit down on the ground just as the cannons fire. Three cannons are fired, one of which for my best friend. I look back over to where his body rests. If you ignore the blood, it almost looks like he's asleep.

I take my eyes off of him as Carlos gets back holding bandages. "This is all I could find that will help you."

I take them from him and lift up my shirt to see the wound. I grimace at the site of it; it's unlikely I'll make it through the rest of the day with this.

"I'm so sorry, Logan," Carlos whispers as he sits down next to me while I put the bandages on. I look up at him to see him looking at me with puppy dog eyes. "I just was in such a rage after seeing Jennifer do that to James and I thought you were her. I would never hurt you."

"I know, Carlos." I lean back on my hands after finishing putting the bandages on. Pain runs through my body with every breath I take. "We can't stay here. We're too in the open."

"Who cares? It's only us and Jennifer left."

I stop and think about this and realize that he's right. This stupid feast has dwindled our numbers down to three. "Well we have to move so they can take their bodies," I say and resist the urge to look at James and Gustavo, not wanting the pain to be renewed.

"Let's just move out of the way and come back." Carlos stands up and helps me up, letting me lean against him to help me walk. We go to the edge of the clearing and sit down, watching for the hovercrafts to appear.

They suddenly appear in the sky and soon enough, James' body is lifted away and I feel the pang of sadness running through me at knowing he's gone for good.

Carlos silently helps me walk back over to the cornucopia and we sit in silence for the majority of the day, sadness pressing down on us.

The day passes in a blur as I go back and forth between thinking about the past with James and Kendall to the pain in my stomach. Carlos tries to get me to eat but gives up after I don't accept it.

Sunset soon arrives and it's with deep sadness that I look up at the sky and see James' face for surely the last time. Gustavo's death makes me slightly upset after years of working with him. But I don't feel anything at all for Mercedes. Not after she killed Gustavo.

When the sky fades to black, Carlos looks at me expectantly. "Logan, should we set up the tent or just sleep in the cornucopia tonight?"

I sigh as I look at him. The games have changed him so much. He's no longer the innocent boy he was before. "Let's go in the cornucopia."

We drag our stuff in before I settle down against the side. Carlos sits down right next to me, leaving no space between us. I wrap an arm around him protectively and try to enjoy this time with Carlos because the chances of me surviving until the morning are very slim.