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A strange sense of peace comes over me. I wonder if Dad felt like this before his execution.

60, 59, 58…

The air is hot and sticky. I'm in the middle of the semi-circle of tributes. About 30 metres in front of me is the cornucopia. I have to say, they've done a pretty good job with the arena this year. The scenery is amazing. Behind the cornucopia is a huge rock face. 3 separate waterfalls cascade from it. Ellick is on the plate next to me. But Lilac is on the end, with about 11 tributes in between us.

Bang!

The noise nearly makes me fall over. Dessi jumped off his plate! I wonder whether they blew him up deliberately.

43, 42, 41…

Scanning the supplies outside the cornucopia, I see a huge, navy, backpack. But it's a bit too close to the cornucopia for comfort. I look over the supplies again. There's a fluoro green backpack that is a bit smaller than the navy one but it's still rather large. It's halfway from the cornucopia; I should definitely get to it in time. But where will we run once we meet up? To my left is a steep hill that leads to the top of the waterfalls. And to my right is a similar hill that also leads to the top of the rock face. Both hills are covered in jungle that gets thicker on top of the rock face.

29, 28, 27…

My mouth drops open in shock when I look over my shoulder. Behind me is a vast wetland swamp, with tall, thin green reeds. I suppose that would be reasonable cover. And I'm guessing that most tributes will go for the jungle. I raise my eyebrows at Ellick to get his attention. I incline my head towards the wetlands. He nods discreetly. I give the same signal to Lilac.

12, 11, 10…

I get into a sprinting position. I focus on the green backpack. My teeth begin to chatter and my skin feels hot and prickly. You can do this Carabelle! You're not useless.

2,1…Bong!

I jump off the plate and run for the pack. I get away faster than everyone else, reaching it easily. I heave it onto one shoulder and sprint in the opposite direction of the cornucopia. But because I was so fast, a wall of tributes comes towards me. I scream as Leaf, the boy from district 5, throws me to the ground. I get up quickly and start to run but he grabs my hair. Without turning around I deliver a hard kick to his groin. He falls and I keep running.

I spot Lilac and Ellick standing a few yards away.

'Run! The wetlands!' I scream as I reach them. Just as we start to sprint for our lives, a spear lands in front of us. It narrowly missed Ellick. He stops to pick it up.

'Leave it! We have to hurry!' Lilac yells. Two arrows land near us before we enter the reeds. Splash! Suddenly,I'm up to my waist in muddy water, which is much deeper than I expected. Ellick takes the lead and we move as quickly as we can through the swamp, but it's quite difficult. We have to keep pushing the reeds aside and the splashing sounds -probably made by nearby tributes- are also very unsettling. The problem is, the reeds are so thick and tall that it's impossible to tell how close the other tributes are. We could be 2 metres away from someone without knowing.

After about five minutes I say: 'How long do you think we should travel for?'

'Shhh! We need to say quiet for at least an hour. That'll ensure there's a lot of space between the other tributes and ourselves. After an hour, we can talk about plans.' Lilac answers.

As we keep going, the water gets deeper and deeper, until I'm up to my shoulders. I don't whether the backpack is water proof, so I have to hold it above my head. One good thing about the water is it gives us relief from the heat. Quite a few tributes ran from their plate without getting any supplies so I wonder how they're coping with the heat. After what we think is an hour, Ellick makes us stop. 'Don't move, stay still and just listen.' He whispers. I'm worried he's heard or seen something. We listen in fear for about 5 minutes. I actually can't hear anything. Maybe I'm just deaf.

'See? I think this means that we are far away from all the other tributes.' He says.

'Okay, so let's move and talk.' I say.

'What are we going to do about setting up a camp?' Lilac asks.

'I think we will have to get through this swamp to dry land.' I reply.

'But these reeds are so thick we could be walking in circles. And the water could get even deeper.' Ellick exclaims.

'It will be getting dark soon, so our best bet is to press on.' I answer.

We agree to keep going for another hour. Our pace becomes slower and I feel like I need water. Then after about 40 minutes Lilac sees something.

'See that kind of gap in the reeds?' She points to the left. Ellick and I don't see anything. As we get closer she cries: 'I think it's an island!' She right but it's more a dry, raised lump of dirt. Ellick pulls himself onto it first and then helps us up. There's just enough room for all three of us.

We open the backpack. It contains 2 sleeping bags, a pair of strange looking glasses, a basic first aid kit, a small bottle of sunscreen, 4 empty drink bottles with Iodine, 2 big packets of dried fruit and one of beef jerky, 20 metre rope and a coil of wire.

'The sun's going to go down soon, where can we get any water?' I say. Lilac breaks off the top of a reed and squeezes it into one of the bottles. A small trickle of water flows from the reed.

'These reeds each hold a little bit of water.' She says.

'Is it safe to drink?' I ask as she grabs more reeds.

'Once the bottles are full we'll put in the Iodine, then we'll drink it in the morning.'

Ellick and I get the reeds while Lilac squeezes them for water. By the time we fill up all four bottles it is pitch black.

'Should we eat anything?' Ellick asks. At that moment, as if to answer his question, a silver parachute drops onto the island. I open it greedily. It is a thermos of steaming hot vegetables and 3 thin slices of roast lamb. We eat it ravenously as the Panem seal appears in the sky.

'Who do you think died?' Lilac asks nervously. I think back to Petra's list.

The first face is Dessi. I feel sad, but I guess he was doomed from the start.

The next is the boy from 11 Conrer. The next shocks me, Vollon from 9. He got a highish score in training. I wonder if Leaf, the boy who attacked me, got killed. The first female face appears, Demi from 5. Petra predicted that she would die. Ellick cries when sees his district partner Star. 'She was only 12! I should have protected her.' The next face is another twelve-year-old, Tineeka from 3. The last face is Treelore from 6. I think he got one of the lowest scores.

'That's seven dead, meaning that there's …14 other tributes not including ourselves.'

'I think we need to take a look around.' Ellick says handing Lilac the strange looking glasses.

'What are you talking about?' I ask confused.

'If Lilac sits on my shoulders she can use the night-vision goggles to see if there's anything beyond the reeds.' Ellick explains.

Once Lilac is perched on Ellick's shoulders, she scans in all directions. While she's up there, I notice the temperature is getting colder and colder.

'What did you see?' I whisper as she gets down.

'In the direction that we came I could see the rock face and the jungle. In the opposite direction there's what looks like a forest.'

'The swamp is good cover for now, but tomorrow the careers will be hunting. I think we should go to the forest, now.' I say.

'Not tonight. We need to sleep. Let's go tomorrow just before first light.' Ellick argues. Lilac agrees and I give in. And as I crawl into the sleeping bag and close my eyes, one thought occupies my mind. I'm alive.