Addy Walker, 14, District 10
Not even the sponsor gift could cure the feelings that course through my veins. The medicine sealed my wounds, brought me back into this game, helped me recover but not fully. I still feel the pain, the heartache of watching the person I loved die in my arms. Unable to do anything but watch as the blood spewed from his body. I haven't left the area yet. I walked away so they could grab the body. His family will want it. Other than that, I have sat in the blood-stained earth since his cannon went off.
I know I need to move. The gamemakers might have been able to throw my mourning on the screens for awhile to get a few tears from the audience but now they will be growing bored. They will want some more action. I won't allow Ryder's death to be reasonless. He died so I could win even though I had planned for the opposite to happen. Since things didn't work out how it was intended, it meant one thing. I had to win this game.
I transfer everything into one bag. Taking my time to do so. I place his knife on my belt and grab the spear. I don't want to look back, I know it would bring on more tears. I leave into the forest, heading for the cornucopia.
Shaun Amaranth, 15, District 9
I duck, the branch flying over me. Faster, faster! I need to go faster. I can hear them. The horde of chipmunks narrowing in. The branches bending as hundreds of tiny creatures use it to propel themselves forward, onto the next branch. The sounds of them chattering amongst one another. Excited by the site of moving prey.
Something wet splatters onto my nose. For a moment, I think they are above me. One on my head, biting into my forehead. The adrenaline that fills my body making me feel nothing. That isn't the case. It's raining. The water falling from the sky as dark clouds fill the air. Rain, chipmunks, the excitement. There is only four of us left and they were pushing us together. Not to squeeze in one or maybe two more deaths. No. This was the finale. Within an hour or so one person would be walking out of this place alive. Three of us dead. The survivor has to be me.
I burst from the woods onto the clearing of the cornucopia. The tall grass hitting my calves as I moved. I expect the chipmunks to hold their ground now, only wanting to usher the tributes to this area. It is not the case. I can hear them continuing to move, following me to the field.
"Aa!" The scream fills the air.
I glance to my left to see the female from 10 standing at woods edge a few meters away. She stares in my direction, horrified at the thousands of chipmunks that chase me. But there is someone else. The male from 1. He is at the cornucopia mouth and appears to be deciding. Is the cornucopia safe or should he run? The same thought I myself am arguing.
The female from 10 seems to believe the cornucopia will be safe. That the chipmunks will stop eventually and leave the remaining tributes so packed together they will have to fight. She reaches the cornucopia just before me but I halt to a stop.
No one fights. The three of us stand only feet from one another but we are not our biggest threat. The chipmunks are. The furry bodies weave through the tall grass. Mostly unable to be seen. Only know they are there from the bend of the grass and the occasional one that jumps up.
"Are they going to stop?" The female from 10 calls out. Brushing her wet hair from her face.
"Will we have to fight them off?" I say.
The male from 1 stands ready, unsure of the horde of tiny animals. The female from 10 on the other hand, is preparing. She casts the spear to her side, taking full advantage of the bounty that is still within the cornucopia. She slings a quiver of arrows on her shoulder, gripping a bow in her hand.
"They are getting closer," I say.
The male from 1 is the first to take off. Slamming into my side as he flees to the tail of the cornucopia...No, not the tail. The mountain. I can see it off in the distance. The large mountain that peeks over the trees. That is where they want us all to go.
I have no shot against the male from 1 and Eretria is just as dangerous. I could take Addy but that is only if she makes it to the final 2. I grab her by her shoulder, yanking her towards the back of the cornucopia.
"The mountain," I scream, "they want us to go to the mountain!"
Maybe this will be enough to earn her trust or maybe she will know that us teaming up is our best chance at going home. Eretria or the male from 1 could take us out easy but us being in an alliance? Fighting them together? Maybe we stood a chance.
The female from 10 looks up to confirm the mountain and then nods in approval. We are off. The rain is coming down harder and there is something off in the distance...Is that a wave?! To the south! A massive wave towers over the trees, rolling in towards us. These gamemakers are really throwing everything at us.
We break into the trees. Victor ahead, his large body trampling the ferns, breaking the branches. The Female from 10 and I follow in his mouth, making it easier to run. We emerge out onto the riverbank. The piles of rocks around us, the dry bed where water used to be, the mountain within range.
My legs move faster. The chipmunks falling behind. Whether the gamemakers are calling them back or they are getting tired is a mystery to me. I need to get across this dried up river. The very river Ajax and I held up by for so long...We were here...We were here!
The memory comes back to me too late. I feel the ground gives beneath my right leg, my foot falling into a hole, the sharp branches puncturing into my ankle. The scream bellows from my mouth as I fall forward, slamming into the rocks. No, no, no! I yank on my leg but it only makes the spikes dig in deeper. The chipmunks, they weren't called back, they were just slower. I can hear them now! I can hear the rustling of the leaves the -
"Help!" I scream. "Help me!"
I pull my leg and another scream comes out. No, no, no! Please no!
"Help!"
The female from 10 hears this! Yes! She skids to a stop, throwing her bow over her arm and starts moving towards me. She must know that she needs me as much as I need her. That we need to stick together to get rid of Eretria and the male from 1. She is running when the sudden flash of light appears. Not from the sky. This comes from the fire that lights up the dry river bed in a wall of flames. A gamemaker attack. The flames shoot up right in front of the female from 10, forcing her to stop. Breaking her from reaching me. From saving me.
I feel as if everything has just been sucked out of me, leaving me as an empty shell. I can only watch the female from 10 as she tries to figure out a way to get to me but it is useless.
"I love you, mom and dad!" I yell as loud as I can just before the chipmunk's pile on me.
Boom!
Here we are, we have our final 3!
Victor who has laid around the cornucopia most of the games which earned him 1 kill. Despite his laziness he has the best odds of winning it all.
Eretria who has had her fair share of encounters with other tributes. All of which she has survived and killed 4 of.
Addy the most innocent of the bunch. She has devoted her time to helping Ryder only to watch as he died in her arms.
Who do you think will win it all?
