Dahlia Rowan, D7
This was not an ideal Arena for someone like me. It was dirty and covered with ash and there was nothing pretty about it. I hadn't had clean water in two and a half weeks, and the only food was the plain bread someone sent me. Ardun must have been even hungrier, since they didn't send him anything.
On the bright side, if anything around here could be bright, there was only one other person left. I thought it was the girl from Six, but I couldn't be bothered to remember her name. She'd be gone soon enough. If we found her, Ardun could take care of her. It was a good idea to keep him around. He pitched our camp and purified our water so I could take care of myself.
Night-time made me nervous. Those awful dogs always kept me up half the night with their racket. Sometimes I saw them glowing in the distance and shivered. Almost every night, they took someone. Hopefully they'd take care of the leftover girl and we wouldn't have to do all that work.
It got cold when the sun went down. Our clothes were thick enough that we wouldn't die, but it wouldn't have killed the Capitol to spring for wool. I huddled underneath the skinny tree that marked our camp and wrapped my arms around my knees.
The dogs started up again. First it was just one howling, and then the others joined in. The sound deepened to more of a bark-like noise, and it moved even quicker. The dogs must have been running. I hoped more noise would follow, and my wish came true. A girl screamed, and her screams got closer and closer together as the dogs got louder. I saw a glow over the horizon, bouncing as the dogs moved. Then the glow circled around one spot. The girl screamed louder for a minute and then not at all.
Finally, I thought. I'd been sticking it out for eighteen days. I was tired and sore and ready to go home, but I had to wait for everyone else, and they took forever. Now it was finally the home stretch.
The glow got brighter as the dogs caught the last remaining scent and started toward us. Ardun yanked me to my feet more roughly than he had to.
"Come on!" he said, and he started up the tree, pausing to help me. We clambered up into the branches in plenty of time, but the dogs wouldn't let that stop them. They clustered around the tree, pawing at it and barking. They were bigger than I thought. I'd thought they were scary and all, but they were even scarier up close.
"It's okay. They can't get us up here," Ardun said. He was such a sweet boy- always checking to make sure I was all right, always volunteering to get water or soft grass or whatever we needed. He would have done anything for me. That was why I wasn't sorry when I pushed him.
It was weirdly fascinating to watch the dogs eat him. I'd wanted it to be quick, because it was gross. I didn't hate Ardun, I just couldn't let him win. In any case, there was a lot of pink and a lot of white when the dogs tore in. It looked a lot different from the last two weeks in the gray Arena.
The dogs ran off soon after Ardun's cannon sounded. I got out of the tree and waited for the hovercraft. I smiled when it came into view. Ardun would have wanted me to be happy.