Timber Jones
It wasn't possible that me and Sarla were the last ones left. People our age didn't win the Games. I was trying to stay lighthearted, but it got harder every minute. People like us should be dead by now. It had to be coming for us soon.
"Do you think they'll do something?" Sarla asked, looking out at the Arena. We were both waiting for something to happen. We just didn't know what. The Gamemakers wanted someone to win, and we definitely weren't going to kill each other. We were just two kids.
"Maybe they'll flip a coin," I said. We were so close to going home. I could be home in just a few hours. There would be no more mud and ooze and filth caked onto me. I could see my family again.
"They might just wait until one of us dies, no matter how long it takes," Sarla said. "What's the longest a Games has ever taken?"
"Probably one of the forest years. They're the easiest," I said. I didn't know how long it had taken. I thought I remembered one lasting a month, but I was really young. I might have been remembering wrong.
"Everyone else is dead. There's no one left to kill us," Sarla said. "We're all alone."
The Arena felt empty with only two people in it. It was like we had our own world. It would have been really cool if it wasn't for the Games.
"I'm going to get us some more water," Sarla said. She started to shimmy down the tree, and it shook gently. A branch waved near my face and I backed up.
I looked down at the water and it bubbled. It freaked us out the first few times, but then we figured out it was just sticks and stuff shifting underwater. Sarla reached the bundle of roots at the bottom of the tree and got out our water bottle.
It sounded like someone shot a gun. There was a sound of air spitting from something, then a hiss. Sarla looked up as a gray blur shot out of the water up at her. First it was gray, and then a cloud of red was everywhere. Sarla burst like a balloon and the monster fell back into the water with a huge splash. The surface was choppy and red as I looked for her, but I knew she wasn't there.
The water was still red when the Anthem played. How could they play music when Sarla just got taken? They should be rescuing her. She was going to die.