Bonjour!

There really isn't a good excuse as to why I haven't updated...

I guess the lack of reviews and such has been just the least bit disheartening :( but thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

Well, I have been busy, what with getting back from Chicago and trying to get back into the swing of things, so mostly I just haven't wanted to stay up super late writing...

But It's my Birthday today! (yay) and my present to myself is to put special time aside to write :)

(so I guess in a way I'm giving all of you a present as well!)

I hope you like it!

Oh! Really quick, I am going to create a contest! (I love doing this) Here it is.

Since today is my birthday, I want all of you that read this guess how old I am ;) Leave your guess in the form of a review or PM.

(any of you that actually know how old I am, don't spoil it!)

The winner of the contest, gets to ask me a question about the story, which I will have to answer! Or can request something...I don't really know what. But I think it will be fun to see what age you all will guess. ;) I will post my age on the next chapter, or I might just PM the winner, and then all of you will never know! Hahaha! :P

So anyway, here's the story and I hope you guys will leave a review!

Chapter Eleven: The arena...

For a few minutes I can't see anything, my eyes slowly adjust to the sudden light and I get my first look at the arena. What I see takes my breath away.

I can see the cornucopia about a hundred feet in front of me, in the semi-circle of twenty-four metal pedestals, I am over on the middle left side. I quickly take note of where the tributes are.

I can see Will, about seven pedestals to my right, he catches my eye and gives me a small smile. How he can be so calm is beyond me, I guess that's just how he is. He told me one time that he can smile at any time, even when he's sad or hurting, because there's always going to be someone that could use a friendly smile.

I return the smile, knowing it will cheer him up if I appear happy and calm like he is. When the truth is I am terrified out of my mind. I distract my mind by identifying the rest of the tributes.

Immediately to my left is the girl from three; Rosa, she's looking around scared, and it looks like she's trying to decide what to do. Her district partner, Milo, is on the far left, about three away from her. He catches her eye and gives her a look, she calms down and nods ever so slightly.

directly to my right is the girl from five I think, although I'm not sure. I can see the Careers over near Will, which is making me nervous. But they seem to be more interested in getting to the cornucopia.

"Thirty seconds."

I hear the mechanical voice echo through the arena, and I feel myself tense. I briefly spot Steel and Patricia next to each other on my left, and I think Troy and Melinda are somewhere on my right.

"Twenty seconds."

Suddenly there's a frantic cry of panic, and I turn towards the sound. It's the girl from twelve, small, all bones, and terrified. She lets out another scream, and bolts off her platform. I hear one of the tributes try to warn her, but it's too late.

There's an explosion, and blood sprays everywhere. The tributes next to her platform are covered in it. I see Will's right side has been covered in blood, and he's staring in shock at the gruesome remains of the girl. Suddenly he turns to look at me, and seeing my frightened expression, he turns his attention away from the dead girl and towards the cornucopia.

I look around the arena, and all I see are trees. Not normal trees either, giant trees. The smallest ones have trunks at least twenty feet in diameter, and they stretch up for hundreds of feet. I wonder if they are natural, or some capitol creation.

"Ten...nine...eight...seven."

I turn my attention back to Will, and see he's staring intently on a large pack about twenty feet in front of him. Ignoring the blood covering him. There's also a thick leather belt full of knives a little further on, and he looks like he has his eye on those as well. I remember what Dash said about protecting him, so I decide to go for the knives.

"Three...two...one."

The loud buzzer sounds and I launch myself off my platform. I ignore the other tributes, and cut across the platforms, heading parallel to the cornucopia, straight towards Will. I see he's already at the pack, and he's halfway to a small pile of supplies that are loose on the ground. He slides to a stop beside them and starts stuffing them in the pack as fast as he can.

I reach the belt of knives, and pick it up as I run for Will. I can see the careers at the cornucopia, and several tributes that were foolish enough to try for the best supplies. Their screams begin to fill the air as the careers, now equiped with their weapons of choice, begin the bloodbath.

"Mags look out!"

I hear Will's scream, and instinctively dodge to the side. I hear a blade whistle past my head, and as I fall to the ground, I pull out a long knife and spin around. I just have time to sink my knife into the chest of the boy from six before he swings his dagger at me again.

He gasps and looks down at the knife protruding from his chest. Blood runs from his mouth as he falls to the ground. I stare in shock at his wide open eyes, staring at the sky, but empty. He'll never see the sun or stars again, he'll never laugh or hug someone he loves, he'll never feel the grass beneath his feet again.

A sob chokes me, and I start to hyperventilate. I look down at the blood on my hands and start to gasp.

"I...I'm sorry...I...It...oh please forgive me! I...I didn't mean to..."

But the boys eyes are empty, unforgiving voids. And he will never be able to answer.

"Mags we have to go! The careers are going to come after us!"

I'm snapped back to reality when I feel Will tugging on my shirt. I look up at his face, once innocent and child like, now covered in blood, his curls beginning to mat as the red liquid begins to clot. He has a light in his eyes that I've never seen before, and it makes me ache inside, knowing that being in the arena for less than a minute has already changed him.

"We have to go! Grab the dagger."

He points to the dead boys dagger and pulls me to my feet. The sudden realization that I still have to protect him shuts my mind down of anything but survival. I grab the dagger and Will's hand, then we both bolt for the trees. Get as far away from the cornucopia as you can. Find Water. Avoid any conflict.

Dash's instructions run through my head on a loop as we run. I hand Will the knife belt, and take the heavy pack from him. I sling it onto my back and shove my arms through the straps. Now we really start running, my long strides cover more ground than Will's, but he's faster, so we run at the same pace.

I don't know how long we are running for, but I don't feel tired, it must be the adrenaline. Will and I keep up a breakneck pace until we must be miles from the cornucopia. Finally we start to slow down, coming to a stop near a giant fallen tree.

"How far away do you think we are?"

Will asks a little breathlessly. I shake my head as I pant, looking around.

"I don't know, miles. We shouldn't stop yet though."

Will nods, looking around as well.

"Do you see the trees? I wonder why they're so big."

I shrug.

"I don't know. Good cover though, and there will be plenty of good campsites around. We need to find water."

He nods.

"That might be pretty hard, I bet the roots from the trees go underground for miles."

This thought hadn't crossed my mind, and I wonder if we'll be able to find water at all.

"I didn't think of that."
Will nods.
"Well, if anyone in this arena can find water, it's us."

I smile and nod.

"Which way do you think we should go?"

He frowns and turns in a circle, finally pointing to our right.

"That way."

I shift the pack on my shoulders slightly and start walking.
"Let's go then."

Will has fastened the belt around his waist, and I still have the dagger from the dead boy, so we will be able to defend ourselves if we come across another tribute. After an hour or so Will suddenly says.

"I bet Patricia and Troy do well in this arena, since they live in District seven."

I nod.

"Probably. They might know the best way to survive in a forest. Maybe even know how to find water easier."

Will wrinkles his nose.
"We're from District Four, water runs through our veins."

I laugh quietly.

"Well we should be able to find it easy than."

After another hour, Will stops and holds up his hand.

"What is it?"

I ask quietly, but then I hear it.

"Water."

Will whispers with a smile. We decide to approach the water cautiously, you never know what the gamemakers have in store, or there could be another tribute around.

We encounter no problems, and soon we are standing on the bank of a large river. The water is running fast and strongly over rocks and roots that reach out into the rapids.

"I bet no one would try and cross this."
Will says. I look on the other side of the river, and see that the forest looks the same.

"Do you think we should try to find a way across?"

He shrugs.

"We might have a less chance of being found. If anyone can do it, it's us."

I sigh and look at the churning water.

"Let's try and find some way to cross before attempting to swim though."

He chuckles and points upstream.

"I was thinking that root would work."

I look to where he's pointing, and see that one tree is closer to the bank than the others, and one of its thick roots is stretched across the stream to the other bank, forming a rough bridge. We investigate the root, and find its solid, if a bit slippery.

"Well, do you want to go first?"

I laugh at Will's comment, and say.

"Oh well thank you."
He grins and shrugs.

"Just trying to be polite, ladies first and all that."

I sigh and step out onto the root.

"Try it on your hands and knees."

He says helpfully as I slip slightly. I drop to all fours and start to crawl across. I make painfully slow progress, and the roar of the river constantly reminds me on how dangerous this really is. Finally I make it to the other side and practically hug the solid ground.

I stand up and turn around.
"Will, you ready?"

He nods, looking a little nervously at the water.

"Think of it as training."
I shout encouragingly. He nods and steps out onto the root, after a few steps he seems to relax and walks more confidently. He's almost to the other side when I glance upstream.

"Will!"

The scream escapes my lungs before I can think about it, but thankfully most of the sound was deadened by the river. Will looks upstream, and sees the cause for my distress. There's a giant log crashing and tumbling down the river, heading straight for the root.

Will scrambles towards me, slipping slightly on the root, he drops to all fours and clings to the root.

"Jump!"

The log is almost at the root when Will stands up and leaps for the bank. The log crashes into the root, shaking the bank and filling the air with a loud crack. I lunge for Will's outstretched arms, and grab his hands as they slip off the bank. He's dangling half in the water, and it's taking all my strength to keep him from being pulled away.

"Don't let go!"

I shout above the river. He clings tightly to my arms, and pulls himself half out of the water. I feel around frantically with my foot, and suddenly my toe comes in contact with a root. I wedge my foot behind it and pull away from the river. As soon as he's able to, Will scrambles up onto the bank, and lays gasping beside me.

"Well...at least I got most of the blood off."

I can't help laughing, and Will giggles as well. It helps relieve some of the stress hanging on the air and I help him up.

"Yeah, let's not do that again."
He shakes his wet curls.

"Definitely not. Man that water was cold!"

He starts shivering a little, and I notice for the first time the lack of sunlight. It's light on the forest floor, but the towering trees with their immense tops block out most of the sun.

"Let's find somewhere to set up camp and we'll make a fire okay?"

Will nods and we start off. Not too far from the river we find a small creek that runs off the main river and decide to set up camp near there. Will finds a little space in between several trees and we both decide that it's as good a spot as any to set up camp. I gather some dry sticks and pile them in the middle of the clearing. Then I pull the pack off my shoulders.

"Let's see what we got."
I say cheerfully. I set the large pack on the ground, and unzip the main compartment. Inside is a large sleeping bag, a medium sized tarp, a small box of matches, a coil of rope, a bottle of iodine, two large packs of dried beef, several cans of stew, a can opener, a large canteen, and several coils of bandages.

In the smaller compartment is a small vial of sleep syrup, a needle and medical thread, and a package of crackers.

"I think most of the medicine and the matches were the extra stuff I grabbed."
Will says thoughtfully as he sorts through the stuff. I smile and ruffle his curls.
"Great job, we're set for a while with these supplies."

I immediately get to work improving our campsite by using the tarp to make a small lean-to on one side of the clearing. I set the sleeping bag underneath it as well as the backpack. Will gets a small fire started and lays his jacket, boots and socks out to dry. I roughly disguise the tarp and join him at the fire.

"It's getting dark."

Will murmurs as he scoots closer to me. I put my arm around him and rub his shoulder, trying to keep him warm.

"We must have been running longer than we thought."

He nods.

"Are you hungry?"

He shakes his head.

"I'm not really hungry."

I nod. I'm not really either, and we can afford not to eat tonight since we had a large breakfast this morning. We sit in silence as the night closes in, once it's completely dark, we hear the anthem begin to play.

"They're going to show who died today."

Will says quietly, and I can tell he's worried about Lola. I give his hand a reassuring squeeze and turn my eyes to the sky. I see the capitol seal in a clearing of leaves above us. After a moment, the faces start to appear.

The girl from District Five appears first. She was only fourteen. Her name was Betty. Her District partner; Nick, appears next. The waiting for their families is now over. They will lock themselves in their houses, and try to find a way to get through their loss.

The next to appear is the boy I killed...the boy from six. The vision of him staring at the sky is forever burned into my memory, as is his name; Harry.

Both tributes from District nine are next, which means Lola survived the first day. The girl from District nine's name was Hyacinth, and the boy was Edward.

District eleven lost Elizabeth, their girl tribute. Then both from district twelve. Abigail, the girl who was blown up, and Aspen. The anthem ends, and the sky goes dark once more.

"Lola made it through the first day."

Will nods.

"I almost wish she hadn't..."

I nod. I know what he's thinking, the longer she's alive, the more chances grow of us meeting her...and possibly having to kill her. Although I know I could never do that.

"Why don't you get some sleep? I'm not tired and the first watch is the hardest anyway."

Will looks at me uncertainty.

"Are you sure?"

I nod and give him a smile.

"Go on, I'll wake you in a few hours."

He finally crawls into the sleeping bag and falls asleep. I find a suitable stick nearby, and start whittling it into a lance. Thoughts of Felix and home run through my mind as I listen to the late night sounds. I wonder what my family is doing right now? Felix is most likely at my house, with his eyes locked to the screen. I wonder if he's looked away at all...my father is probably convincing Leroy to go to bed, telling him that Will is asleep, and I won't let anything happen to him.

My father is probably trying to get Felix to sleep as well, or even eat. The thought of Felix's eyes glued to the screen watching me, willing me to be alright, gives me an idea. I start to quietly hum a love song he taught me one day, it's sort of our song.

I don't know if he's watching, if the screens are even on me, but I feel like somehow, he'll know I'm alright if I hum our song.

"Mags?"

I turn towards the lean-to, and see Will's wide eyes watching me.

"Can I stay up with you? I can't sleep..."

I nod and he crawls over and sits next to me. I continue to hum quietly, and after a minute he says quietly.

"Do you miss him terribly?"

I nod slowly. Will kisses my cheek and rests his head on my shoulder.

"I know he misses you too."

I nod.

"I know..."