It's finally here. Chapter 9.
A/N: But, I've decided I'm going to rewrite this story, or at least make the story have better chapters. I have progressed over the months in writing, so I want to make this piece of writing EVEN BETTER for you guys! :))
-Flying Mockingjay
9
As the tube brings me up, I breathe in and out, trying to calm myself. I suddenly see the light shining in through the hole. I squint, and shield my eyes. Then I see the arena. It's a beautiful field, full of lush berries and bright green grass. I see the Career tributes all waiting for the gong to sound. Sixty seconds, and then we step up off the plates. I see Peeta look at me, and then quickly avert his eyes to the Cornucopia. It's overflowing with goods and weapons, ranging from swords to arrows. Arrows! I see a silver pack of them right against a pack.
The gong sounds and everybody runs. I sprint for the arrows but the girl from District 6 reaches for them at the same time I do. Her grip is strong at first, so I feel it slipping from my fingers until she gets knocked to the ground by Clove, and her throat is slit. I thank Clove and she nods. I then grab my arrows and see Cato coming toward me. "Katniss, duck!" I do and I see his sword hit a tribute and I hear the scream that follows. I see the girl from District 3 on the ground, and Glimmer stabs her hard in the stomach. I turn and look away, because the blood is flowing from the girl like crazy. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. Several cannons go off, each signaling a tribute's death.
I see Marvel running towards Clove, hugging her. That's when the girl from district 9 is about to throw a knife at them, but I load an arrow and shoot. It pierces her neck and she takes it out, drowning in a heavy pool of blood. I see them thank me, and I salute to them and head over to Glimmer. She hands me a pack. The rest of the Careers come over to us, and we take some more weapons.
"Lets clear out so they can pick up the bodies." Marvel says. We all do and we see the hovercraft pick up eleven tributes. Cato comes over to me. "You okay?" he says. I say yes and he offers me to take his hand and I do. I look around and I see we have Marvel, Clove, Glimmer, me, Cato and the girl from district 4. Her partner must be dead, as he is not here. Someone else is not here either...
We all set off and head for the woods. We find a huge lake, and we put all our stuff there. I open my pack and see a flashlight, a pack of fresh berries, some bread, four knives, and a spear. "Hey Marvel!" I say. I hand him the spear and he grins, as that is his best weapon he can use.
We head out to hunt other tributes shortly after we rummage through our supplies. I see the dead tribute's faces up in the sky. The first to appear is the girl from district 3 appear first. Then the boys from 4 and 5. Both from 6 and 7. The boy from 8. Both from 9. Who's the last person? The girl from 10. The Capitol music blares through the arena and the sky is dark once again.
The people who are alive that I recognize are the fox-faced girl from 5, Rue, Thresh, and Peeta. Peeta! He didn't join the Career Pack! I want to tell the rest of the pack, but for some weird reason I want to protect Peeta, so I don't. Clove and Glimmer's pack contain some goggles, so we put them on.
"Hey!" I tell Cato. "I can see everything!" Cato laughs. "There night-vision goggles, so you can see easier in the darkness." Crackle, snap! I hear something, like a fire. That's when I see a glow and a tribute.
"Cato, I found a tribute!" I say. He notices the fire and we all set out into a run. As we get closer and closer, I can see that it's a girl, and she must have dozed off. She awakes suddenly, like she's having a bad dream, and as she sees us, she must know that her nightmare has come alive!
Glimmer runs over and stabs her repeadetely. I want to cry out, because I really don't like killing other tributes, but that's what I'm here for. The girl tries to defend herself, but she has no weapons. Glimmer walks toward us and we hear the cannon fire. She smiles triumphantly and Clove high-fives her. We stop to rest, and decide to set up our camp here. Cato hands me some fruit and I dig in, the juicy taste fills my mouth. I give him half of the loaf of bread I received in my pack, and he swallows it in one bite.
"Nice job out there." he says. "Oh, thanks!" I say. I see Clove and Marvel kissing and we look away. Glimmer and the girl from 4 are talking, too.
"Okay, you're on guard first." Cato points to the district 4 girl.
I eventually fall asleep, overwhelmed by the fatigue and exhaustion. In my dream is Prim, my mother, Cato, and me all laughing together. When I wake up it's still dark and everyone else is sleeping.
I grab a handful of nuts from Clove's pack, she probably won't mind, and shove them in my mouth. I chew quietly, not wanting to wake the others up. Suddenly, I see a small rabbit from a distance. I grab my arrow and shoot, and it falls over, dead. I rush over to it, and I see that the arrow pierced its eye. A hunt for a couple more minutes and have managed to get another rabbit. I walk back but accidentally step on a twig. Everyone else is still sleeping but Cato wakes up from my noise.
"Sorry!" I whisper.
He comes over to where I am and sits down. We watch a small pond swirl around, and then something floats down. It's a pair of socks and a jacket. I take the socks, since the pair I'm wearing right now is all dirty and soaked, and Cato takes the jacket. For a moment I rest against a tree trunk, but it's Cato's shoulder. He gives me a gentle hug and dozes off again. I fall asleep too, the light drizzling rain coming down on us.