Willow Trill- District Eleven
The Games started. Tributes scattered every which way, uninterested in the Bloodbath since the stores around us had everything we needed. I hauled myself away from the Cornucopia, whimpering and whispering prayers that the Careers would look at someone else and not at me.
I turned my head to look behind me. Mase was barreling after me, a sword in his hand and his long legs swiftly catching up. I looked around me. Tributes were running all around. I reached my arms out and shoved the closest one, the boy from Six. He fell sprawling on the ground. Mase fell on him like a jumping spider. After I knew he wasn't coming after me, I didn't look back.
As long as I stayed close to Ava, everything would be fine. She was so skinny that every moment I thought she would snap in half, but she was strong. I just had to stay behind her and keep an ally between me and the Careers.
That worked out perfectly. When the Careers came, Ava fought like a tiger. While Kisarna was pulling a star out of Cordin and Emma was putting an arrow between Abigail's eyes, I slipped out behind them and was out the door without anyone giving me a second glance. I lost my entire alliance that day. They either died, like Ava and the other three cannons, or whichever one that got away… got away.
One day, as I was skulking on the third floor, I saw Shogo and his allies over the balcony fence. I crouched low, just barely peeking at them. This I can use, I thought. I stayed in the area, waiting for the right moment. That night, Mase came into sight, snooping around for someone to hunt. When he saw Shogo's alliance, he ducked behind a potted tree. Shogo's gang didn't notice him, but I had. I picked up a yo-yo I'd taken from a nearby store and chucked it at him. It clattered on the floor near him, raising an unmissable racket. Hunter ran toward the noise, followed by the others. Mase, a mere thirty feet from Shogo's camp, weighed the options. He started to run, jerked back, and then started again. Hunter's spear caught him just above the waist. He still tried to run, and when the others reached him, he stabbed Shogo in the foot before he died. One less person for me to be scared of.
The Feast was mandatory. Otherwise no one would have come. Who would go to a feast when we already had anything? Everyone knew feasts were suicide. But the Gamemakers' word was law, and I reluctantly made my way to the Cornucopia.
I forced each step, one at a time, trembling and wide-eyed with tears. I wasn't a brave person. I never had been. There was no way I would get out of this. I was going to die at this feast. I wasn't making a fake attempts at bravery or planning a noble death. I was scared.
Emma, Hunter, Mink, and me. Four people left to be guests at the feast. As much as I'd dawdled, I was the first one there. I'd been on the first floor when the announcement came, and the others must have been scattered. I hid inside the Cornucopia, burying myself under a pile of rifled-through supplies.
The next sound I heard was a cannon. I flinched, then went still in terror that I'd revealed myself. But no one must have been in the Cornucopia, because nothing happened. Nothing happened for what seemed like at least half an hour, when the sounds of fighting broke out again. The noises went on, metal clashing and pain noises, as I huddled under the supplies and wished I'd left a peephole, but I'd been too afraid to see death coming.
The sounds got closer. They were fighting in the Cornucopia, right next to me. Someone stepped on me. I didn't move, but they could tell by the feeling. They kicked me in the side, knocking the supplies off me and revealing me. I looked up at Emma, already streaked with blood. She stabbed me in the chest and turned away.
That's it, then. I lay curled on my side, hands slippery with the blood oozing out of me. In the corner of my eyes, I could sense Reiner and Emma still fighting. Then Emma's head was in front of me, her dying eyes not seeing me. There was another thump as Reiner fell to his hands and knees. He looked around blearily at the sound of the cannon, clearly not remembering how many were left and not knowing why he wasn't the Victor. He crawled a few paces toward Emma, then fell on his stomach. The two of us were both dying. In the end, I just did it more slowly.