Nairobi Ellis- District Six female
I didn't have to worry about burning the Arena, since it was already burnt up. Everything was dead. The only thing alive was the Tributes, and a lot of us were dead in the minutes after the Games started. I knew my only hope was that the stronger ones would kill someone else, and for once I got lucky.
After the Bloodbath, all that mattered was water. The Careers were hunting, but everyone else, the ones who didn't have sponsors, just wanted water. It was usually misty, and when I found a stump where stagnant, brown water welled up, I stayed close by. I hated how exposed I felt, but I would definitely die if I left.
When I saw another girl, I thought I was done for. She came closer, and I saw it was Laeila. She wasn't out to kill people, but she was definitely willing to. I never would have expected her to come up to me.
"Hey, kid. Safety and numbers and all, you know? Don't go thinking we're friends. Once the Careers are gone, you're on your own," she said. She never really asked me if I wanted to ally with her, not that I would have said no. She was scary enough when she was on my side.
"What's someone like you doing here, anyway?" Laeila asked as we waited for water to pool in our stump. "At least I'm a fighter. You're just a kid."
"I was the mayor's daughter," I fibbed. I was the mayor's daughter, but I left out the part where I burned down half the District. Even if Laeila was violent and brash, I still didn't want her to hate me. She said we weren't friends, but I could pretend.
"Tough break," she said. "I'm gonna laugh if you're the last one, with all the Careers and murderers. Except I guess I won't laugh, since I'll be dead."
We almost were dead the next night, when demon dogs came from the hills and chased us up a tree. Laeila wasn't quite fast enough, and one of them bit her leg. She kicked it in the face and it fell off, circling and snarling. They didn't leave until daybreak. Luckily it was just a small bite, or Laeila would have been in trouble.
"Shoot, I'm glad they left," Laeila said. She liked to tease me about not swearing. "I'm so thirsty I could drink piss."
"Let's go with water," I said. I was almost starting to hope. There were only six Tributes left, and nothing really bad had happened to us.
I had to start hoping. Overnight, Laeila took sick. Her joints were sore and she kept moving her mouth funny as her jaw got stiff and her tongue swelled. At home, it would have been a little bug, but here it could be anything. Three more Tributes had died, but it wasn't enough. And even if it was, I didn't know what to do if it was just us.
"Just try," I pleaded as I wrung out my wet shirt over Laeila's mouth. She was so thirsty, but every time she put water in her mouth, her throat locked up. Trust the Gamemakers to make a disease as cruel as that.
Laeila was barely conscious. She was covered in sweat, and her muscles spasmed every few minutes. She looked so angry, like she knew this was something she couldn't fight.
"I'll be right back," I said as I went to get more water. I had to try. I just couldn't leave someone to die, even if I knew it would probably get me killed. Laeila needed water. As I left, she was drooling.
Laeila was on all fours when I got back, her back arched. Spittle was puddling up under her mouth, and she was panting. She's dying, I thought, but that wasn't it. As I bent over to wipe her forehead and at least make her comfortable, she grabbed my leg and snarled.
"What-" I started. She yanked my leg and I fell flat on my back.
"Laeila!" I yelled as she pulled me in and jumped onto me, grabbing my shoulder with her other hand. I put out an arm across my neck and she bit it like an animal.
Why? I thought. I'd known we weren't friends, but I never thought Laeila would do something like this. I thought she would have killed me in my sleep.
It's the disease. It was making her do this. It wasn't her fault. I clubbed at her head with my other arm, knocking her jaws loose. Her sticky spit was smeared all over my arm as I pushed her head back away from my throat.
"Stop it, Laeila! Don't let them!" I pleaded. She sank her nails into my cheek and twisted my flesh. I pulled back a fist and punched her in the nose. I was hoping it would shock her back to normal, but it only stopped her for a second. As she reared back, I grabbed a rock and smashed it into the side of her head.
"Don't," I said, speaking both to her and the Gamemakers. Laeila jumped back across me diagonally and ripped at my chest with her nails. Her spit mixed with my tears as I hit her again, and this time I felt the rock dent bone. She flopped around and her fingers clawed at me as I hit her again and again, feeling her struggles grow less violent and more brain-dead and spastic, until finally I was bent over a savaged carcass.
They always called me a killer, I thought as I looked at Laeila and the rock in my hand. A cannon went off, and I remembered that another one had sounded while we were fighting. A sob bent me double, as bent as Laeila had been. I'm the last one, Laeila, I thought. I wondered if she was laughing.
That one turned out long! And violent. Well then.
Yahoo I finished two year's worth of Tributes!