Hunter Dubchen, District One- 18
We didn't have to worry about killing each other anymore. Whoever avoided the mutt longer would be the Victor. Kazuo and I fled through the forest like terrified deer. Leaves slashed my face and blinded me as I charged. I pulled a few steps ahead of Hunter and looked behind us. Only my labored breath kept me from screaming when I saw the bat running after us like a demon after wayward souls. Its tattered wing kept it from flying and its pounding gait only made it more horrifically near human.
This isn't what I signed up for. I'd thought I was ready. No one was ever ready for the Games. In the Academy we always talked about how you didn't really prove yourself until the Capitol. I'd never even given it a second thought. It was just a given that I would go and win. Then the Careers rejected me from the pack and I saw how very uncertain this all was. I could die. People my age could die.
As I ran I searched the forest for a haven- anything that would block the mutt's advance. In the vanishing light I saw an upturned tree, its exposed roots forming a thick snarl. One of its roots lay across the hollow the tree left as it fell. It formed a long, shallow tunnel of vines and branches that could save my life.
I focused everything in me on the hole and dove into it without breaking my stride, my knee hitting hard against the ground when I landed. My head smashed into the wood and skin and hair ripped off my scalp as I clawed deeper into the hollow. Little branches like clawing fingers gouged down my hack and tore my clothes. I started to turn.
"Kazuo!" I yelled. Let the fight come later. I wouldn't wish that death on my worst enemy. And I was scared- had been scared from the Games' start- and wanted someone else there with me, even if it was my competition. Kazuo saw my shelter and ran toward it. The mutt was steps behind him and I reached out in a futile attempt to pull him toward safety. He sprang toward the hole and started worming his way inside. I grabbed the back of his collar and tried to haul him deeper as the mutt bent down behind him. Kazuo's legs were still exposed, and the mutt grabbed them and started to tear them apart. Hunter started to scream and grabbed onto my arms. Blood and bits of flesh flew everywhere and I felt Kazuo ripping as I strained to pull him in. Blood shot from Kazuo's mouth and splashed my face. The mutt yanked Kazuo's leg and dragged him from the hole with me still attached. I slid out onto the ground underneath the mutt and saw its fangs and claws nearly touching from my flesh. Saliva dripped from its mouth onto my cheek.
A cannon sounded. The mutt froze. Claws hovered an inch from my eye and the mutt glared at me as it withdrew. There was an unsettling presence in its eyes. It was supposed to be a manufactured Capitol invention but I swore I saw an independent will in those eyes. I swear I saw it deciding if it wanted to obey them. It took a single step away and I felt its hunger to attack again. When the hovercraft appeared, it slid Kazuo's body next to it and started ripping at its throat.
I didn't realize until the ladder draped across my back that I'd won. My eyes were locked on Kazuo and I was shaking. Death was in front of me and above me. I couldn't think or move, only fear. My eyes were frozen open and tears ran down my face and through the splotches of Kazuo's lifeblood on my cheeks. My chest heaved and trembled. Something fell on top of me. I screamed and curled into a ball as it lifted me into the air. Everything blurred, and I didn't know what happened next. When I volunteered I thought Careers were never scared. After I entered the Arena I wasn't sure if I ever wouldn't be scared again.