The Rescue of Aniya Johnson

District 7 – Cain Kasidy(18)

Good, he's asleep. Let's go. I've been waiting for Tilver to actually fall asleep for a good hour. But the snoring confirms it. Now with the other three away and Tilver out to it, I can go. I grab as much rope as I can, a sword, some stakes, and a lit lantern before I head off. This is only a temporary departure, I will be back, hopefully before anyone realizes I am gone, but I simply can't leave Aniya passed out on the brink of death.

I emerge from the Cornucopia with the lantern guiding my way. With no way to tell which bridge is bridge 7, I head to the furthest corner and count my way across. The worst part is to come. Walking over the raging torrent in the middle of the night is like toying with death, one wrong move and I could be done for. Luckily this time I make it across unscathed and with all of my equipment intact.

When I saw Aniya last, she had fallen somewhere just after the 7 bridge. I lower the lantern to the ground, looking for some kind of trip mark, or anything to give away her position. I come across a rock, jutted out of the ground, then marks headed towards the steep banks. This is the place. Using the blunt end of my sword, I grab the stakes I brought and hammer them in to the ground as hard as I can before I give them a shake to test for movement. After I am sure they are stable and using my knowledge of knots, I tie a simple lasso knot and fix it around the end of the stakes. I do this for two. One to secure me, the other for Aniya. I turn backwards, I saw someone do it this way in The Games a few years back, except they went over a cliff face. Mine is only a steep bank. Slowly I ease my way down the side of the bank and continue. The closer I am to the river, the louder it sounds. Like the perfect warning system. When I feel the spray of water sending beads rolling down my face, I know I have to stop, this is where Aniya will be. I didn't bring my lantern, so I kneel to the ground and feel around, trying to grab her so I can get her to the top.

My hands grab something firm, something human.

"Aniya!" I whisper as I shake her, trying to wake her up.

"Aniya, It's Cain, I'm going to help you. Just brace yourself okay?" I don't know if she can hear me or not, but just in case I tell her to brace herself. This may hurt. Quickly I tie a loop around her waist and make sure it is secure before I make my way back to the top of the bank, heaving on my own rope, praying it doesn't slip off of its' stake.

When I reach the top, I'm exhausted, but I'm not even close to getting her to safety. That is the hard part. Now that Aniya is secured to the rope, I'm going to need to pull her back up here. She may, no she definitely will get whiplash, but if it were me, I would prefer that to…death.

I heave on Aniya's rope, the tension is enormous. Not that I'm calling her fat, but she is 16 and in fairly good shape, so she isn't the lightest tribute. Sweat drips down my forehead as I continually struggle to reign her in. Inch by inch, Aniya nears the top of the bank, and when I finally see her body rise over the side relief flows through every pore in my body.

I rush over to her and examine the cuts and bruises that she obtained on her journey back to the top. Not as many as I thought there would be. Excellent. She's still breathing and the rope didn't leave as much of a mark as I thought it would. I stand back up when I hear a sound.

Two pairs of feet run towards my direction. Crap! Who could that be.

"HEY YOU! GET AWAY FROM HER NOW!" I don't need an invitation. Without hesitation I run over to my sword and turn the lantern out before I sprint back over the bridge, faster than I have in my life, I turn around, but I can't see anything. Hopefully the two strangers help her. No cannon sounds are a good sign. Let's hope that continues.

District 5 – Solaria Atom(17)

I've been on guard duty for the past 3 hours and the landscape hasn't changed at all. We are camped out in the laundries of the castle, located on the first floor through mazes of corridors. We've been here ever since we found it. Normally I would say that I don't like to stay in one place for too long, but this place has sheets and pillows and fresh water, so what's not to like? I am armed of course, I have a large dagger with Alex grabbed from the Cornucopia. I think both of them respect me a little bit more after I knocked over the boy from 6 as he loomed over Alex about to kill him. They don't owe me, but I think they feel a little more at ease knowing that I can put up a fight.

Being on guard duty hasn't been all that boring. In fact, it has been quite productive. These sheets can form the most useful of things. I've made spare bags and clothes with the sewing needles and thread I found lying around. It's like stitching up a patient, except doing it on sheets doesn't make it life or death which relaxes you quite a bit. I can imagine the other staff at the hospital I work in, all roaming the wards whilst keeping one eye open on The Games, just to check in on how I'm doing. They're my family, so I wouldn't expect anything less.

I've also made rolls and rolls of bandage like material and stored some water aside for medical purposes, like washing wounds and general cleanliness. In my experience, nothing can kill you faster than infection and infection can come from the simplest thing like not washing your hands, so we would like to avoid that at all costs. In a perfect would, we would like to avoid injuries altogether, but Alex already has scratch marks all over his face, and Arica didn't fair much better, her face is swollen and bleeding all over. I did stitch up the large opening on Arica's cheek that the wretch Maia made, luckily for Arica, she took care of her before she could sustain more injuries.

I don't want to sound like a horrible person, but in some respect, I'm glad they got injured. Now they can see what I do and I don't think they will be ditching me in a hurry. I certainly won't be ditching them; they can take care of themselves physically. I need some protection, that's how I would prefer to make it out of these games. Link on to someone strong and become invaluable to them by repairing their wounds, and maybe when the time is right I'll forget to wash my hands before stitching them up.

District 4 – Nickel Parks(18)

I sit facing the cell that Tanya occupies still wide eyed. She hasn't spoken a word since the other two left, and that was almost an hour ago. In fact, she hasn't spoken a word the entire time we have been here, probably thinking of a way to escape. She definitely has a key, because no one is stupid enough to lock themselves in a cell and slowly waste away to death.

Perhaps it's my mind kicking in now, or perhaps it's my haste to get these games over with, but I do have an idea. A good one at that.

Let's face it, she probably won't get out of here alive, because as soon as Lanius comes back, he will get fed up that were 'looking after' her and will want to move on his merry way. I also don't want to be stuck here, I want to continue with the games, continue to strategize and think of the possibilities of me getting out of here in one piece without having to slaughter many kids. Alright, I already killed Richy, but that doesn't count, he was going to stab me in the back, so in my mind I'm still at 0. If this goes the way I plan, I'll still be at 0, but there will be one less person in the arena

"Tanya." Tanya seems to shake herself out of some sort of trance.

"Yes?" She says meekly.

"Look, Tanya, let's face it. There is no way you're getting out of here alive."

She sighs, as if conceded.

"I know." She says, and starts balling her eyes out. I feel for the girl, I don't want her to suffer. I rush over to the bars and talk to her.

"Tanya, I want this to be on your terms. How you want to leave the games. Do you want to leave by my hand, by Lanius's? Or do you want to leave here on your own terms?" I smile at her before I walk away. 30 centimetres in from where I was previously standing, a knife now gleams on the floor, enticing Tanya towards it.

"It's up to you."

District 1 - Tanya Ravenwood(16)

Nickel walks back to his seat. He sits down and closes his eyes. On the ground in front of me, a knife whispers it's sweet blessings. He is right. I'm going to die in this cell, and I don't want to die at the hands of someone else. If I leave these games, I want to do it on my terms. I want to have the strength of character to say that I am strong, and I don't need anyone. Unlike my father, the man who fell away into disrepair. Who for so long neglected me and has been in the pocket of those women around him. I'm nothing like him. I am my own person.

I pick up the sharp knife and turn it around in my hands. I take one last breath of air before I send it shooting towards my own heart. The last noise I hear is when my body collapses to the floor. Dead.

Down to 15. Thank you for submitting Tanya, but she was never going to win. Someone who is on their own has to be strong and not manipulatable. Nickel did a great job of manipulating her.

Remember to review! Thanks for reading. I appreciate it. I'm getting to every tribute and soon we would've heard from all of them.

Question: How do you think the rest of the careers will react to Tanya's earlier than expected demise?

Isteed