The eight of us have been in the arena for six days, most of that time Tessa and I have been running almost none stop; dodging creatures, tributes, and traps laid by the Gamemakers. One trap the Gamemakers sprung was a landslide, another trap was the floor of a cave we were hiding in collapsing beneath our feet. At the end of the sixth day I can see that Tessa and I were starting to lose weight, and our bones were starting to show. I check our supplies, which are starting to get pretty low. We have a rabbit, part of a squirrel, a wing of that strange bird, some roots and berries left over; we also have half a jug of water left. I look to my left which is the general direction of the forest. It looks to be about a day's trip from here, which gets me thinking. I'll let Tessa sleep for an hour, and then we move. We need to get back to that forest to restock, and get a good night's rest. The Careers almost found us last night, and if it wasn't the Careers or some other tribute, it was one of the beast roaming the arena. There hasn't been a death since the second day, and the people are starting to get restless. There will be more traps, or beasts released soon to get the killing going again.
Why all the other tributes aren't killing each other? Are we that popular that they'd rather kill us, than each other? I think.
I hear a pebble being kick near the entrance of the cave we are in, and I take cover. Tessa is out of the line of sight, so she is safe for the time being. I can see two shadows being cast across the floor of the cave. They were about to move on when they heard the roar of a beast somewhere in the vicinity. They stepped into the cave, and got up against the wall to the right of the entrance.
Tessa is four feet from them. I think.
I pull my hood up, and then pull the draw string trying to cover up as much of my face as possible. In the shadows I slowly, and silently make my way over to Tessa, in case the beast enters the cave. The beast comes to the mouth of the cave, and looks in. I can hear the thing sniffing the air, trying to pick up a scent trail. The beast is about to enter the cave when there was a noise coming from outside. The beast turned and went to check the noise. Next thing the three of us hear was the beast take off in a dead sprint, roaring all the way. The two interlopers take this opportunity to leave, and we weren't going to be that far behind. I shake Tessa awake, as quickly as possible.
"What's the problem?" Tessa asks sleepily.
"We've got to move. A beast was just here, but it left. I want to leave before it comes back." I say, as I loosen the draw strings.
Tessa is up and moving. We exit the cave just in time to see the boy from District 10 coming our way from the right side of path, and behind him was the beast that was at our cave a minute ago. We see the Career pack coming up on us from the left. I look forward, and about twenty feet down the sloping hill is another path.
"Follow me." I say to Tessa, and jump on to the slope.
"This is crazy!" I hear Tessa scream as she follows after me.
The path is relatively clear, and we have no problems. I look over my shoulder and I see the boy from District 10 take our lead, jumping over the side. I look back to see that I'm nearing the next path when a beast appears out of nowhere. I pull my knives and then spring up into the air and prepare to stab it with both of them. Just as I'm sinking my knives into the beast Tessa hits the ground running, I pull my knives out and run after her. The beast is about to come after us, but sees a new victim sliding down the slope. I wipe the blood off of one blade, and then put back under my belt; I repeat the process with the other knife. I hear a cannon shot ring out, and look over my shoulder thinking it's the boy from District 10, but at best he's is just holding his side. The beast is down, so it must have been one of the Careers. Tessa and I run for a time, and then we slow our pace to a walk to catch our breath. By the time sun is rising we were close to the forest, but I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
"Tessa." I say.
She stops and looks back at me. I wave for her to walk back to me.
Roar!
I hear a beast scream come from behind me, then Tessa and I take off running for the woods. I grab both of my knives and prepare to defend us, when I hear the section the mountain behind me give out, and the beast goes screaming into the abyss. I jump just in time to clear the ledge. I lay on the ground trying to catch my breath, my knives on the ground were I left them. Tessa crawls over to me and leans against me; attempting to catch her breath. Another cannon shot rings out; we both look towards the Cornucopia and see the hovercraft come in for the dead tribute.
"Who do you think died?" Tessa asked.
"Probably that tribute that was wounded earlier this week." I say.
"I take it this is not what you had in mind before we entered?" Tessa ask.
"Yeah, but something is odd." I say.
"What's that?" Tessa asks.
"They're pushing us like they have high hopes for us." I say.
"Maybe." Tessa says.
Or they have high hopes for me. I think.
Tessa gets up, and then offers me a hand up. We finish the jug of water, and then we head to the creek to replenish our water supply. We forage for berries and roots as we're waiting for the water skin and jug to be purified. We finish what food we have in the back pack, and then set out to replenish our food stores. We spend the next few hours hunting for food to replenish the weight that we have lost, and restock before we head back out. We finish eating and restocking our supplies by sun down; by nightfall we're in a tree not wanting to have a run in with another beast. The seal appears in the sky and the anthem starts blaring. The two tributes that died today were both from District 4.
The sky goes dark, and then I drift off to sleep. Tessa rests her head in the crook of my neck, and then falls asleep. We sleep until dawn, well rested after the week we had. I'm afraid. The Gamemakers are thinning the herd, but what are they expecting? A fight between me and a Career? Or the boy from District 10. He's has survived this far by himself, and he took down that last beast.
After I wounded it though. I think.
But he has been doing well for himself. Possibly the crowd is keeping him alive as well, too. What better way to end the Games than to have two very different fighting styles going at it. They might even throw in a beast to keep us on our toes. That would be the best way to cement my victory: to take on and defeat the biggest person here, mass wise. I was hoping not to fight him, but it seems that's what it's going to come down too.
"What the plan?" Tessa asks.
"Let's go raid the Cornucopia, if possible." I say, as were climbing back down.
We eat a hearty breakfast, and then Tessa sets some more snares. We head back to the Cornucopia to see what's going on, but we do from a different path. As we were weaving our way through the mountain paths was when the weather began to change.
"It's snowing." Tessa said.
"Not surprised." I say. "We are wearing big heavy coats; it was only a matter of time."
We zip our coats, put on gloves, and pull our hoods up. We keep making our way to the Cornucopia, all the while the snow keeps falling, and sticking to the ground.
"I wonder what monsters are going to come out now?" I ask.
"Shut up." Tessa said.
"Just saying." I continue.
"And I'm just saying, too; shut up." Tessa shoots back.
"Yes." I say, but stop short when I see the Cornucopia.
The Careers where huddled up trying to stay warm. I toss us both into the snow to keep us from being seen.
"What ar-" Tessa starts.
My hand shoots over her mouth, while the other one pulls her into me. We continue to watch the Careers for a little bit. One of the Careers gets up and decides to take a walk. His other buddies tell him not to wander off, but he doesn't listen. At the time he walk away the weather begins to worse.
"So this is what the adults meant by blizzard conditions." I say.
The Career was walking towards us, but was going to miss me by about three feet. When he walks past me, I whisper in Tessa's ear.
"Move towards the side of the mountain."
"Why?" Tessa asks.
"The Careers are about to come running." I say.
Tessa realizes what I mean and then gets up and runs in the direction of the mountain, while I get up and creep back towards the Career. Both of us pull on the draw strings to protect against the snow and cold. When I got closer to the Career, I slowly started stalking my prey. I was right on top of him when he turned around. Just as his face lite up in surprise I slit his throat, and kick him in the gut. After bouncing on the ground, the Career grabbed his throat as he slowly began to bleed out. I recognized the tribute; it's the male from District 1.
"Say hello to your friend to for me." I say.
I turn and walk back to find Tessa. When I'm thirty meters from the body I let out a bird call. I thought I heard Tessa's response, but it was drowned out the cannon shot that fired off. I let out another call when I hear feet approaching. Before the last two Careers got close to me, I dove into the snow, and covered myself. After they were twenty feet away I got up, and let another call. This time I was rewarded with a response. I slowly ran through the snow towards her, and I then let out another call.
"Here." Tessa says.
I dig a section out, and then cuddle up next to her. I have no idea what direction the forest is, and with the blizzard we would definitely die trying to find it. So I cuddle up with Tessa, and we dig in until the snow dies down. The next day the weather lets up enough for me to get my bearings. I see the forest off in the distance; I wake Tessa and we make a run for the forest. I open my hood to speak.
"How are the bow and arrows?" I ask.
"I'm not sure, but I feel a numbness in my hands." Tessa says.
"We'll check it out when we get to the forest." I say.
We continue on to the forest, and I begin to wonder what is causing the numbness in Tessa' hands. After we enter the forest I take Tessa' hand pulling the glove off and see the discoloration. I pull the glove off her other hand and see the same discoloration.
"I think this is the onset of frost bite." I say.
I think its frost bite. I've heard Mrs. Everdeen talk about treating it once. It's still in its early stages so we just need to keep her hand warm.
"We need to keep your hands warm." I say.
Roar!
We turn to see a new beast, and it's a big one. Its fur was white, and it looked like an eye was destroyed. Probably had a run in with the boy from District 10. Which means he is going to be wounded, too. Tessa pulls the bow off her shoulder, and sends an arrow flying at the creature. I draw my knives and charge the beast. The arrow hits the beast on the shoulder on its blind side, but shook it off. It ripped the arrow out and swung to block my attack. The creature didn't take any damage from my attack. No blood drawn, no limb amputated. This was going to be a difficult fight. The creature was focused on me, so Tessa kept firing arrows.
It looks like a pointless fight, and I'm about to suggest falling back when I hear Tessa release a blood curdling scream. I jump back putting some distance between me and the beast, and I see that the Careers had finally caught up to us. My blood runs cold when I Tessa had been impaled by the girl's sword. The next thing I see is the Career remove her sword from Tessa' body and then push her over the cliff. I see red when Tessa' body dropped out of sight, but I forgot about the beast. I feel a hit to my left side, and I don't hesitate to run. The beast follows me towards the Careers, but I jump over the cliff; the beast loses interest in me and attacks the Careers. I slide down the cliff following after Tessa. I see her lifeless body at the bottom. I see the bruises, abrasions, and lacerations from her fall down the cliff. Before I hit the bottom I hear a cannon firing off, but I don't see the hovercraft.
Must be for the Career. I think.
When I hit the ground I run over to Tessa' body, and pull her into my arms. Tigris knew this would happen. I can already feel my mind slowly begin slipping into the abyss. I cradle Tessa' lifeless body in my arms, and begin to cry. As if my tears had some kind of miraculous power Tessa came back to life, but only for a moment. Just to say good bye. And when she leaves my descent into madness will be complete.
"Shepard." Tessa says, struggling to speak.
"Don't talk." I say.
"I love you." Tessa says.
"I love you, too." I say.
"What was that phrase the wrestling team says: half as bright?" Tessa says, holding her right arm up.
"Twice as long." I say, completing the phrase as I cross my arm to hers.
We share one last kiss, and then she fades away. The cannon fires off as I feel my body begin to burn with rage, and a scream that begins to build in my chest. The scream that escapes my lips was not a human; it's more animalistic, almost bird like. I kiss Tessa one last time on her temple, and then lay her down on the ground. I walk some required distance away, and watch as the hovercraft collects my dead girlfriend's body. I knew this would happen. I knew that Tessa would die, but it still doesn't make it any easier to swallow.
Where I felt rage earlier, now I feel only apathy. The Career will be on the defensive for the time being, so I wander around aimlessly. I'm not even paying attention; the Gamemakers could easily finish me off. Another trap, another beast, but there has been enough death today. The crowd will be satisfied for the time being. I wander aimlessly until I come upon a cave. I sit down in the cave, and just stare off into the distance; after a while I fall asleep. When I wake up I feel relaxed and refreshed, but I still have the void in my heart. I open the pack and eat what food was left. I have one option left: finish the Games.
This will come down to me and the boy from ten. That will make an interesting match; his two handed sword, my dual wielding knives. I think.
After I finish breakfast I ditch the pack. The bow left the arena with Tessa, and whatever traps we laid were ruined by the blizzard or other creatures in the arena. I wander the mountain pass until I hear a fight going on. I run towards the scuffle to see what was going on. I turn the corner, and see the boy from District 10 being overpowered by the girl from District 2. He has taken a lot of damage since coming into the arena. The girl knocked his sword out of his hand, and was prepared to strike the finishing blow. But I had other plans. Just as the girl was drawing back to strike the finishing blow I hurled my knife at her, lodging it in her back. I started walking over to her just as she was falling to her knees.
"Eye for an eye." I say.
The girl falls over dead, and then a cannon fires off. I grab my knife out of her back and then walk away. The entire time I was messing with the girl, the boy from District 10 had got back to his feet and retrieved his sword. The hovercraft retrieved the dead Career's body, and then left. The boy and I just stared at each other. I wiped the blood off the knife I threw at the girl, and then I went back to staring at the boy. We stare each other down for a time, and then he asks.
"What is your name?"
"Sasha. What's yours?" I ask, as I pull my other my knife out.
"Kai." He says.
I nod my head. We stare each other one last time, and then we strike out at each other crossing our blades.