Caitlin Wagner, 17, District 7
I skidded down the mountain, anxious to find a place to hide. I had just heard the first cannons start to go off, and that was a big indication that the careers would start to go on the hunt.
I looked down the mountain as I ran, carrying the axe I had grabbed from the bloodbath and saw a forested arena. The cornucopia was on the top of the mountain I was running down, which was the center of the arena. The arena was forested, with a river running past the side of the mountain, and a grassy plain to the north.
I wondered if Percy was one of the dead. He did run into the bloodbath, but I didn't see him die.
Would he be dead? That was the million dollar question right now, but I wasn't about to try to answer it by heading right into the bloodbath again. Instead, I wanted to make it to the river and swim across, into the forest to hide from the careers.
I finally made it down the mountain, just as the cannons stopped. I had counted 12 as I ran. Only eleven left to kill...
I shook my head clear of the thought and made my way to the river. I was about to dive in, when I heard a scream, and then a cannon. I took a step forward in shock, a felt a burning sensation. I jerked my foot back and saw part of my shoe eaten away. The river was acid?
I didn't have any idea that the game makers would do something like that. The Capitol did like seeing gruesome deaths, like the kid who died by falling into a pit of lava a couple of years ago, but why would they include it like this? I could even see little fish swimming in the crystal clear river, scales flashing in the sunlight.
I threw a branch into the river and watched it dissolve into nothing. Yep, it was acid. The fish must be holograms, a ploy by the Capitol to see a first-rate death.
I walked alongside the river and looked for a way to get across. After the careers finished getting ready, the other half dozen of us would be prey to their hunt. If I couldn't find a way across the river, I might be the next cannon.
I was about to give up, knowing that there was no feasible way for me to cross the river when I saw a shadow in one of the trees. It was a girl, the one who had run down the mountain rather than head into the bloodbath, and she was looking across the section of the river, one that had a surprisingly narrow width. I took a step back, hoping she wouldn't see me, and watched her. She threw a branch across and watched it catch in the branches of one of the other trees on that side. Then, she jumped, her small body falling through the air as she grasped for a hold on the other side. Then, her hand grasped one of the solid branches, and she shimmied her way onto the other side of the river.
If she could do that, who's to say that I couldn't find a tree to cut down as a bridge…
Caleb Stamos, 17, District 2
I walked back to the careers, having stacked the bodies in an orderly line for the hovercrafts to collect when we left. It didn't make up for the fact that they were all dead, but it had eased my conscience over their deaths, even though the other Careers ridiculed me for it. As I came up to them, they saw me, and stood up, brandishing their weapons.
"Time for the hunt!" growled Reefe, starting to walk down the mountain, eager to hunt for other tributes. Eager to destroy families…
"Aren't you coming, Caleb?" Valor asked, curiously staring at me as the other Careers started to walk down. I noticed that Carolyn didn't pay me any attention, ready to head into the arena, and in that instant, I was oddly happy I didn't listen to Clay's well-intentioned, but useless advice about trust.
"Yep, I'm ready!" I replied, grabbing a sword and walking with the others down the mountain. It was surprisingly rough terrain, with no shrubbery, just rough rocks that could wrench your ankle if you weren't careful. Secretly, I was surprised that the arena was relatively normal this year. Usually, it was a larger than life area, full of twists and turns, and demented landscapes in between. I remembered the first year that the Hunger Games didn't take place in a forest.
It was around the time of the 5th Games when the Capitol was slowly but surely accepting the Games as entertainment when the arena was made up of a melting, icy island. Eventually, water flooded the island, leaving the final two tributes to fight it out on top of an iceberg floating in the water, the other tributes having fallen in and frozen to death.
We eventually reached the bottom of the mountain, making our way towards the river. Carolyn had taken control of the pack and reasoned that the majority of the tributes would want water first. With the cannon we had heard coming from the direction of the river, we took that option, and marched through the forest, hunting for tributes.
As we marched, I watched my fellow careers, looking for any signs of weaknesses among them. Reefe and Carolyn were by far the most exciting to be here, almost panting in anticipation to kill the rest of the tributes and take home the victory for their districts. Speaking of victory, I wasn't even sure if Carolyn cared about winning. From the gleam in her eyes I had seen as she had hacked other tributes to death, especially the little girl, I knew that she volunteered just as much for the killing as she did for honour. Valor and Gloria both told the same story, however, both looking excited, yet a bit apprehensive to the idea of killing other tributes. I knew that they would, and had already done so, but wouldn't leave the arena with a clear conscience.
And where did I fit into this Career Pack? I knew that I already felt guilty for volunteering, but I had also saved another life by doing so. Did that justify what I could potentially do in here? Was it a good idea for me to win? Or should another tribute take the victory?
As I pondered these thoughts, I saw the flora in the forest start to decrease, and then stop altogether as we reached the river. Carolyn had been throwing rocks ahead of us aimlessly, and now, it plopped into the river, sinking, and dissolving into - wait, it dissolved?
Carolyn gasped, and all of us realized that the river was acid, or at least some sort of liquid that could dissolve solid material. If it did that to a rock, what could it do to us?
Just then, we heard a crash, and all of us jerked our heads to the right to see a girl toppling a tree that she had cut down across the river, the small tree just reaching the other side.
Carolyn let out a cry, and all of us chased after the girl. The hunt was on.
Olive Blake, 14, District 12
I watched as the Careers made it closer to the girl, who had just stepped onto the swaying log, and was balancing on it. If she didn't make it across quickly, she could be the next one of us dead.
Even though I didn't know her, I still hoped that she could make it across. It just seemed wrong for her to die after all of the effort I had seen her put into chopping down the tree. Even though she must have been from District 7, she still managed to cut it down quickly and could be killed because of her efforts to reach this side.
The Careers came closer, and stood at the edge of the river, hooting at the girl, who by now was on the middle of the log. The leader, Carolyn, who was standing at the front of the pack, yelled at her.
"Did you think that you could escape us just because you cut down a pathetic tree? Be real, your time is up. Isn't that right?"
The pack all agreed, except the guy from Two, Caleb, who kept quiet and kept his head down. I gazed at him from among the foliage in my tree. Why wouldn't he be vocal at this point? After all, the pack probably had a sure kill. He should have been celebrating with the rest of them, but instead, he looked almost remorseful.
Then, the girl on the log turned her head and shook it in disgust, infuriating the careers, especially Carolyn.
"Caleb and Reefe! You get on that log right now, and you go after her. It's your kill!" The quiet boy and Reefe, who looked delighted, stepped onto the log, causing it to creak. The girl looked alarmed, but the Careers looked excited and cheered them on. Caleb, who was at the front, was slowly but surely making his way across, making sure that he wouldn't fall off into the acid water. The other boy, however, looked confident as he crossed the log, ready to kill the girl. Soon enough, however, as the log continued to creak, the girl crossed, and sprinted into the forest, not paying any attention to the others. I watched as Caleb crossed, slowly making his way to the end, when a cannon sounded, and everyone, myself included, looked up in alarm. In that instant, the log cracked and crashed into the water.
Caleb jumped for shore and made it to my side a second before the log fell in, but Reefe wasn't so lucky. He fell into the water, screaming as his skin dissolved, his blood staining the surface of the water.
I watched in horror as he disappeared under the surface, his red blood covering the top. The careers looked horrified, but then realized that one of their own was on the other side as Reefe's cannon boomed.
"Caleb! You listen up!" Carolyn cried to Caleb, who was looking a little too happy to be free of the other Careers.
"We're not coming across. You do the same, and we'll meet up with you at the Cornucopia in two days. If you don't show, you're our next target. Now, go get that girl!" Caleb nodded, and jogged into the forest, purposely going in another direction than the way the girl went.
I watched the careers disappear, and then silently pumped my fist in the air. I was safe!
Well, all three of our protagonists are safe from the Careers, and we are now down to just nine tributes left!
12th: District Nine Male, fell out of a tree.
11th: District Three Female, fell into the water.
10th: Reefe Shoal, District Four Male, fell into the water.
The Games are starting to get closer to the end, and it's only the first day! Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ.