The Games suck. I almost died in the Bloodbath. Venus' knife tore out a chunk of my scalp and I knew I looked ridiculous. I did manage to take out that ridiculous poser from Two, though. I had a backpack full of loot and and Arena to conquer.
I quickly found out that to survive in the Arena, I had to adapt. Which was stupid, and I hated it. Things never went my way. I tried to use my fishing line and the first fish I caught snapped it. I swore up a storm and almost threw the rest of the line into the water. I clenched my fists, forced a breath, and sat down. With gritted teeth and curled fingers, I tied some line to a stick and tossed it in the water. It sat there for an eternity.
"Stupid fish! Why don't you bite?" I yelled. I could see them through the water. They were sitting on their little nests raising their stupid baby fish. I yanked the line in past them all and the hook caught in one of their bellies. It started to flop and swim in circles.
"Suck it, fish!" I said triumphantly. I hauled in the fish and jammed a stick through it sideways. I raised it up over my head and watched it finish flopping and lie still. Fine. If they want me to make the Arena work, I can do that.
Getting water was also a pain. I got a bottle in my pack but the idiots in the Capitol didn't think about how gross the water was. Of course I had to drink it, but before long it felt like more was coming out than going in. There wasn't even anywhere to go. I only hoped it didn't leak back into the part of the water I drank from.
I got by a few days without running into anyone else. I knew I could kill just about any of them if I tried, but why bother? I heard a girl screaming and knew the Careers were about to get another one. I huddled down in the roots of my tree to watch the action.
The girl came into view, running and looking over her shoulder. It was the book girl, I thought the one from Six. She was making good time, too. She might have been able to outrun them. I could have waved her over and she might have been able to get into my hideout without them seeing her. Or... I could adapt.
I felt around in the mud underneath me. I picked an egg-sized rock out and hefted it. It hit the girl right in the leg and she fell forward. She got back up and tried to run, but they were already on top of her. The One boy took her out with a single stab.
What a loser. Couldn't even stay hidden, I thought. The Career bozos would take care of themselves. I didn't have to worry about the rest of them. I was stronger than most of them and smarter than all of them.
As it turned out, my last enemy was the shrimp girl. Her brother died days back, and I was amazed she'd made it so far. It was easy to hold her under the water until she stopped moving. Normally I didn't kill people, even if they deserved it. But this was the Games, and I had to adapt. I had to admit, she made some pretty funny noises.
Then it was just me. You don't have to be the biggest, or even the strongest. As I proved, you only have to be the best.
Well that got dark right in the home stretch.