Taylor Nettle, D8
A lot of things would have to happen just right for me to win the Games. It would take an unbroken chain of elements. That chain started in the Bloodbath. Since I was one of the littlest Tributes, I wasn't a threat to anyone. The Careers focused their energy on taking out the bigger threats, and the other little ones like me just ran away. That didn't stop Beth, of course. She came at me right out of the gate, but she never reached me. Dath took her out from behind and didn't give me a passing glance. Eltara killed Mist so she wouldn't be able to get to the weapons in the Cornucopia, and as I looked over my shoulder while I ran, I saw her attack Nero out of nowhere. The Careers didn't even like each other, since half of them were only picked so the District would be rid of them. Before the cannons started, half the biggest threats in the Arena were already gone.
The second element came out the day after the Bloodbath. As the sun was rising, the first parachute came for me. Then another came, and then another. They kept coming all day long, carrying everything from water to an armored vest. I hadn't thought about it, but it made perfect sense. People chose their Tributes based on who they wanted to get rid of. No one wanted their Tributes to come home, so they didn't send them anything. I got picked on accident- everyone's votes were scattered and too many people voted for me thinking nobody else would. They all felt guilty, and they send me things to try to make up for it. It was way more than Eight could afford, though. I thought about it some more and realized I was the Capitol's favorite. They didn't want one of the nasty Tributes to win. Of course they'd pick one of the cute ones as their pet. Since Harmony and Nairobi died in the Bloodbath, that left me. Literally all of Panem wanted me to win.
After the shock of getting picked, it was amazing to know people didn't hate me. I ate better inside the Arene than I had back home, and the whistle they sent me kept the dogs away. They sent me a lot of weapons, too, but I didn't know how to use any of them. I carried everything I could, but the only one I could ever use was the dagger.
All along, I felt like I didn't deserve to still be alive. I had so many people behind me, and most of us were all alone. My only consolation was that I hadn't asked for this. Maybe I didn't deserve to win, but I also didn't deserve to die. I was just a kid. Like most things, it was out of my hands. People wanted to be able to watch the Games but also say they were good people. Sponsoring me let them have it both ways. I provided a service, so I wasn't completely unworthy.
In the end, it was me and Frankie. I considered myself dead as soon as I saw he was the last one left. He scared us all from the start- he was seven feet tall and his face never moved. It was like he was made of stone. He could have killed me any way he wanted to, but the worst thing was that he used arrows. Any moment as I walked through the night, he might kill me before I even knew it.
He aimed low. His arrow stuck into my vest. I turned to follow the arrow back to him and saw him standing on the slope of the cliff I'd been avoiding because I was afraid I'd fall off. He was outlined against the moon, since it didn't matter anymore if I could see him. There was nowhere for me to hide on the open plain. He drew back another arrow, but before he could shoot, the rocks crumbled underneath him and he fell. Everything was quiet for a minute, and then there was his cannon.
Page told me later that Frankie had said some rebellious things in the Arena. One last thing had fallen into place for me. I never felt like I really earned victory, but out of the people in the Arena that year, someone thought I deserved it.