The Games – Day 1

You had never seen Peeta so angry before in your life. It was bad enough the way he had slapped you outside the elevator, but the way he was pacing back and forth in front of you with a bright red face and gripping at his hair was somehow worse. As soon as you had made it into your bedroom, he had thrown you on your bed and begun yelling.

"Why?!" he had shouted, a pleading tone in his voice. You said nothing. "I just...I made you look...I practically saved your life out there and you just threw it all away!" Your heart began to burn in anger.

"Me?!" you screamed and he seemed taken aback by the rage in your voice. "You're the one that's been making me look so strong out there! You're the one who's turned me into this! I was just going to play their silly little Game and die like a heroine, but you had to make me look like I'm the strongest girl out there. Like I'm untouchable. This is your fault." Peeta stared at you a moment and then shook his head, and that's when he began pacing. You could have sworn you saw a tear fall.

"I'm trying to get you out of the arena," he said, turning to face you and letting go of the fistful of hair he had been holding. "We can both make it out again this year."

"What if I don't want to make it out?" you asked and Peeta's face fell. All the anger seemed to leave his body and the tenseness of it disappeared as well. He swallowed.

"Why wouldn't you want to make it out?"

"Because I'm tired of watching people die. And I sure as hell don't want to watch someone I've mentored die." He furrowed his brow in confusion and then walked to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. He reached up and moved a strand of hair from your eyes. You shuddered at his touch.

"Are you cold?" he asked kindly. You shook your head.

"No." He looked down at your hands and took one in his. Your heart began to pound in your chest. He rubbed the back of your knuckles with his thumb. You stared at him, wondering what was going through his mind.

"Somebody someday is going to be very lucky to have you," he said quietly, looking up at you. Your heart dropped. That was not what you had been expecting to hear. You felt the tears rush into your eyes and you immediately blinked them back. You turned away. He brushed his lips over your knuckles. "And someday he is going to find you...because you are going to get out. Whether you want to or not." He let go of your hand and stood up. "If you need me later, come and find me. I most likely won't be sleeping." You nodded and he left the room without another word, shutting the door quietly behind him.

You didn't look for him later that night. You wanted to, but now you knew for sure he didn't want you. So you just stared at the ceiling with wide, tear-filled, fearful eyes all night. And you were still staring in this manor as the sun came through your window the next morning. Your heart nearly stopped in your chest. There was pounding at your door.

"Time to get up, dear!" came Effie's voice and you felt like throwing up. You slowly dragged yourself from bed and skipped the breakfast table, knowing that you would just bring up the remains later on. Instead, you spent the morning discussing survival tactics with Katniss who – given what you had done to her – still wanted to help you.

"Water and high grounds. First thing you find," was the final thing she was telling you. You nodded. She lowered her voice. "Since you didn't go talk to him last night, Peeta wanted me to tell you that when you're in the arena, follow his lead. He can protect you, I promise." She pulled you in for a hug but you didn't hug her back. When she let go, a door was opened to your right and a peace keeper was standing there.

"This way, Miss Richards," she said, gesturing towards the aircraft that was waiting in the background. You swallowed, looking desperately back at Katniss. She hugged you again before the peace keeper grabbed your arm and pulled you away.

"Just remember what Peeta said!" she called as the door swung shut behind you but you barely heard her as you were led towards the hovercraft that was going to bring you to Cinna. He was the last person you were going to see before you went into the arena.

"Step up," said the peace keeper and you did, walking inside the air craft and taking a seat on the opposite side of Peeta, not looking at him. Another peace keeper injected a tracking device into your arm and it burnt. But the pain of knowing Peeta was staring at you and you had no choice but to ignore him hurt worse.

The hovercraft trip did not take long. 30 minutes at the most. When you got off, you went into a private room all your own and Cinna walked in. You jumped off the table and threw your arms around him, holding on for dear life.

"I don't want to go," you cried into his chest and he rubbed your back.

"I know," he whispered, pressing his hand to the back of your head and holding you closer. You burst out into loud sobs again then sniffled, pulling away. You rubbed your eyes. You whispered an apology. He shook his head, putting a hand to the side of your face. You jumped slightly, remembering the last time a hand made contact with your face. And whose hand it was...

"30...29...28..." began the countdown to be in your tube. Your eyes shot up frighteningly to Cinna. He held up your jacket.

"Here." He put it on for you and you felt something hard press against your shoulder. You looked inside your jacket and saw the Mockingjay pin. You looked up at him questioningly.

"Katniss told me to put it there. She wants you to have it. She's not mad at you." A lump formed in your throat. All the bridges you had burned with her, and she still wanted you to be safe...if you made it out alive, you owed her a huge apology. The countdown continued.

"21...19...18..."

"Cinna, help me." He looked so sympathetic it made your heart cringe. There was nothing he could do. You hugged him again. He held on to you tighter than anyone ever had. You felt so safe in his arms, but you knew he had to let you go eventually. You pulled away before you got too comfortable.

"Tell my mom that I love her," you said quickly. He pursed his lips. "Please. And...and tell Katniss I'm sorry. For everything. And tell-" Cinna put a finger over your lips, silencing you. He shook his head.

"You can tell everyone everything you want to say when you get out." Through your tears, you smiled a little.

"9...8...7..." You heart started to pound harder. "5...4...3..."

"Hurry," Cinna said, ushering you into your tube. You barely made it inside and had time to turn around when the countdown ended and the glass wall closed in around you. You gasped, feeling suddenly very claustrophobic. You threw your hands up against the glass. Cinna nodded at you in faith, and you tore your eyes away from him as the tube began to rise. You whipped around and for the first time, saw your outfit. Grey wind pants. A gray windbreaker over a black t-shirt. You had barely noticed as you dressed yourself in it earlier. It was practically the same as last year's outfit. You felt disgusting in it, and you just wanted to rip it off but you barely had time to wrap your fingers around the zipper when sunlight struck your eyes and you were forced to throw your hand up in protection. The countdown began immediately.

"10...9...8..." You stared straight ahead. There was nothing but woods for miles. The Game Maker hadn't put much effort into changing things up this year. You'd think they would've made it a little harder for Peeta this year. This will be simple for him. You look ed your right and saw him staring at the cornucopia, scanning it. You followed his line of vision and began to scan it as well. Nothing but the weapons and scattered backpacks. You looked at the countdown. It was at 2.

"1..." The boom of a cannon sounded. You stood there for a moment as Tributes darted past you, heading straight for the cornucopia and for most, straight to their death. Your legs felt like jelly, you couldn't move. You tried to take a step off the pedestal you were standing on, but you thought your legs might give way and you would collapse. A sob caught in your throat and you looked up, frightened. Five Tributes had already been slain, their bodies flung carelessly on the ground. A sound of shock escaped your lips, and you heard your name being called. The pedestal beneath you began to feel hot. You looked down and saw it glowing red. You swallowed, knowing the Game makers were trying to force you off, but you couldn't find it in you to step down. You began to cry and then heard your name pierce the air again. You looked around wildly and noticed Peeta sprinting towards you. He had two back packs thrown over his shoulder. His hand was extended out to you.

"Jacklyn, let's go!" he shouted, still running at you. "Get off! They're going to kill you!" This didn't process in your mind until you felt the bottoms of your shoes melting from your feet and your skin began to swelter. You gasped, trying to move but the leather from your shoes was causing you to be stuck. You looked up at him fearfully and you put your hand out for him to grab, but instead he began to rip at the laces on your shoes. When he got them untied, he grabbed at your waist and ripped you off the pedestal and out of your shoes.

"I need those!" you screamed as he pushed you towards the woods.

"Dammit," he said, doubling back and ripping the melted shoes off the pedestal and while holding them in one hand, he grabbed your arm with the other and began to drag you towards the woods.

"What about weapons?!" you asked, turning to look back at the cornucopia. There were at least 10 people dead. You gasped in shock and almost fell to your knees.

"Don't look back, just run!" Peeta shouted and you did, turning away from the bloody mess. You let him drag you forward into the woods, cutting your feet open on the roots and sticks that littered the ground. You tried to keep up, but his strides were larger than yours. You tripped over a protruding root and flew forward, almost smacking your forehead off a bolder. You groaned in pain, but barely had time to register the damage as Peeta gripped both your upper arms with his hands and pulled you up.

"Peeta-"

"Just run!" Your feet throbbed horribly, but you continued on until your ears began to pop, and you knew that the two of you had found the highest ground you could. But you weren't the only ones. One of the Tributes from District 4 had as well, and he was heading your way with a spear over his shoulder. You screamed as Peeta chucked you to the side and ran towards him, ramming into his stomach with his head and running him backwards into a tree. There was a gasp from the Tribute, and what sounded like a terrible tearing, and you looked up just in time to see him shut his eyes. He had a bloody branch protruding from his stomach. You began to cry.

"Peeta, we're not even 30 minutes in," you said shakily. "And you've killed someone!"

"He was going to kill us," he said quickly, wiping his hands on his shirt. You noticed a crimson color left behind and you retched. Peeta moved forward.

"Are you going to be sick?" You shook your head, causing it to pound. You put a hand to it. Peeta crouched beside you.

"I need to look for water," he said.

"I'm not staying here alone."

"I need you to start a fire."

"That will draw all the other Tributes here!" Peeta grinned.

"Just wanted to see if you would catch that." You were shocked at first, but you eventually half-smiled. "You've earned my trust in staying here alone."

"Peeta..." He waited for you to finish. You swallowed and whispered, "when will you be back?"

"No more than a few hours." Your heart constricted.
"No. No way. I'll be dead before then." Peeta put a hand to your shoulder.

"Just go through the back packs and pick out what's most useful. I'll be back soon. Don't light a fire." He ran a hand down your arm soothingly and stood up, ripping the spear from the dead Tribute's hand. He looked at you. "Would you use this if you had to?" You shook your head. He sighed. "I didn't think so."

"I'm not that strong." Peeta smiled weakly.

"Just cover yourself with leaves and lay low. The back packs can wait until morning." You nodded and he turned, trekking off into the woods without you. You desperately wanted to follow, but knew he would never allow you to. He would let Katniss though, no questions. You sighed and threw yourself back against the ground, whacking your head off a root.

"Ah!" you cried out, throwing a hand back against the bump that was quickly rising from under your hair. A breeze blew over you and you became aware that you still weren't wearing shoes. You sighed again and laid down, shivering in fear and from the slightly chill that was coming over your bare feet. You drew your legs into your chest and covered your legs with the leaves and dirt, camouflaging yourself. You hugged yourself tightly for warmth. You wished Peeta had at least left you his jacket.

BOOM, sounded a canyon and you jumped, scattering leaves everywhere. You sat bolt upright, wondering who had been killed. Your thoughts immediately jumped to Peeta. Your heart pounded in your chest. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM, came the cannons 12 more times. 13 Tributes had died today. There was only 11 to go. You fought back the tears and laid back down. Once you were all covered in leaves, you tried to shut your eyes against the fast-approaching night but you couldn't. So you stared ahead into the darkness, afraid of what could come out of it.

Nothing did for what seemed like more than 3 hours, and then you began to hear heavy footsteps. Your heart lifted slightly, thinking Peeta was on his way back. No Tribute would walk that loudly through the woods, and Peeta always had a heavy footstep. You sat up a little as the leaves began to rustle in front of you, and then you sat straight up as the branches moved aside and a figure emerged from the brush. You squinted.

"Peeta?" you said.

"Peeta?" came a girl's voice, mocking you. And the next thing you knew was nothing: you had been knocked out cold.

End of Chapter 10.