Hello everybody!

It's the start of the Games - insert dramatic music here.

Of course, this means a lot of action, and I am terrible at action-writing. So I apologize beforehand for the next few chapters because seriously - you'll see why.

But hopefully you'll still stick around and find some pity in your heart to continue reading!

Haha, well, enjoy the chapter!

Don't forget - if you have any questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to leave a review.

Everything belongs to Suzanne Collins.

It is chaos.

I hear shouts and screams, but I block them out.

I am in my own world.

Enkol used to make fun of me because of this. He was constantly saying to live in reality whereas I lived in my own world.

"You're missing out, An." He used to say. "One day, you'll open your eyes and see that everything has changed."

I open my eyes and see that Enkol is right. Everything has changed.

But I am not missing out.

I see tributes on the floor, slipping and sliding, trying to stand up. Hardly the bloodbath the Capitol intended.

It's the dew. Something about it must be modified to act like ice, making tributes slip and slide across the arena.

I walk – no, stomp – to the Cornucopia, making sure each step I took was deep and rooted to the ground, ensuring that I didn't fall. The other tributes, seeing me, tried mimicking my stance.

I made my way slowly to the Cornucopia.

I am the first to reach the heart of the Cornucopia, but by then, there are tributes all around me. I duck and jump, but I keep steady.

Stay still Anxol. Steady there. Breathe in, breathe out. Concentrate. Focus. Focus.

The bloodbath was starting, some of the heavier tributes stomping over the smaller tributes who were still scrambling, trying to get up.

Cowards, I think, attacking the opponent when they are down.

It is utter mayhem again, cannons ringing, blood spilling, people screaming.

Breathe in, breathe out. Focus, Anxol, focus.

I ignore the blood, ignore the cries, and try not to notice that there are children dying all around me.

I grab a few knives and a backpack, and make my way away from the Cornucopia, silently screaming in triumph for getting supplies safely.

I spoke too soon.

I hear a slight whoosh behind me and I quickly duck. When I look up again, I see a spear lodged in the Cornucopia where my head should've been.

I quickly spin around and see none other than Shaye behind me.

I try and duck, but I'm too late – his foot connected to my nose and I fly to the floor.

As soon as I'm on the floor, he is raising his spear.

"Shaye, come on! We have to go now!" I hear a deep, rumbling voice call out, making him stop.

I can't identify the voice, can't tell who it is. But Shaye has obviously somehow made an ally - it shouldn't have been too hard for Vincster to find someone.

"Let me take care of this one first." Shaye calls back in reply, then turning back to me.

I lay there, motionless, staring at Shaye. It's not like I could move anyways – his foot was on both of my arms. I squirm and move, but his foot was pressing down painfully on my hands.

Marliese is right, though. He is sloppy. Slowly, but surely, one hand was escaping.

Blood was gushing out of my nose, down past my mouth, staining my jumpsuit. I barely felt the pain.

All I felt was the very real, very terrifying feeling of knowing that I was about to die.

Shaye's spear comes down, straight to my heart.

I close my eyes.

I'm sorry, Enkol. I thought miserably.

But something inside of me screams, Fight! Fight, you idiot!

Then, as if someone was possessing me, I grab the fallen backpack next to me with one of the arms that I had freed, and hold it over my heart before the spear could plunge through me.

I hear a loud clang, indicating that the spear hit something in the backpack – something metal – and that I was still alive.

Seizing the moment of distraction, I hit the foot pinning my other hand down with the backpack, and the foot quickly releases me.

I leap up and give Shaye a well-placed kick to the head, and grab the backpack and run out of there, not caring to look back to see how my district partner fares.

I could have killed him right there. While he was down; grabbed something and stabbed him straight in the heart.

But no, that's not who I am. I don't kill. I run.

I cursed myself inwardly for being such a fool, for being such a weakling.

How could I have almost let myself die like that?

How could I just lay down and accept death, ready to leave everything I have behind?

I sprint as fast I can, in any direction, as if trying to run away from my incredibly stupid mistake.

I was acting like the friendly, naïve little girl that I was back at District 5.

The girl who would let people walk over her, who was willing to do anything to make other people happy.

This is the Hunger Games, I think fiercely. You musn't be that selfless girl who cared about everybody but herself.

I pant and my run slows to a halt.

I need to make a plan. I need to know what to do.

I found myself in some sort of overgrown forest, looking like it was a million years old.

I didn't like it here. Perhaps some thought it was a good place to stay – it was hidden and had plenty of resources – but I didn't.

I wouldn't be able to tell if there was anybody lurking in the trees. And from all I could see, there was nothing but leaves and trunks – barely edible.

I walked over to the tallest tree I could find and quickly climb up the best I could.

Step by step, Anxol. One thing at a time. You can't do everything at once.

When I reached as tall as I could, I look around. I see the Cornucopia, and I think maybe a few tributes are still there – I think the Careers. One half of the arena is the thick, dark forest I was in – if I squint hard enough, I was able to see movement in the trees – tributes or animals?

I see the slight glint of light in the distance – a lake. I make a mental note in my head roughly about where the lake was for future use.

In the distance, I see a tall, looming mountain.

Before I could assess any more, the tree I was in started swaying. It was swaying precariously, back and forth, back and forth. I could hear the branches straining.

Slowly, steadily, I start making my way down.

But the branches keep swaying dangerously, threatening to throw me off.

I was too high up, too heavy for the branches to support me for much longer.

Quickly, I shrug off my backpack and let it drop, letting go of some weight.

But yet the tree still sways. I can hear the branches starting to snap, breaking off.

Slowly still, I make my way down.

The branch I am holding breaks.

I fall.