I force my self to wake up. Today is the first day of the Games. I'm still laying on the couch, with the blanket wrapped around me. Groggily, I lift myself up, and stumble into the dining area.
My stomach feels tight. I don't care. I need as much food and water as possible. I shovel toast, berries, fruit , cereal, and water into my mouth. Sam barely touches his meal. Oh well. He'd better have a strategy to find food without poisoning himself. I leave the table, and make my way over to Maple and Carmen's styling room.
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My clothing is layered on.
"I'm not sure about this one. Thinner and breathable layers under a waterproof layer; a fleece, a t-shirt, a jumper and waterproof jacket, along with leggings, tight shorts and combat pants. It looks like you should expect all sorts of weather. Now sit. I want your hair to look fabulous."
Carmen styles my hair into a thick, high ponytail, with twists here and there. She adds three thick, strong black ties to the base of the tail. Odd.
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I am walked to the launch room. It's all green. The tube I have to stand in is semi-transparent green glass. I take a deep breath and step into the tube. In an hour, I could be dead.
The tube moves up, and I take my first look at the arena. The Cornucopia is set on a huge field, surrounded by trees. The weather is a normal temperature, for me anyway. My platform is between Bobbi and Oak. The countdown begins. I feel my heart race inside my chest. I look around the circle of tributes. They all look determined. The Cornucopia is packed with weapons, bottles of water, clothing, sleeping bags, backpacks, food, even bowls.
Ten seconds.
Nine.
Eight. My heartbeat becomes faster.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
I hear the roar of the canon and a faint "May the odds be ever in your favour."
Without warning, I run to the Cornucopia, before everyone else. They are still in a daze. I sling three back packs on my shoulder as everyone else begins to sprint. I run faster to the mouth of the Cornucopia and grab an assortment of weapons. I throw a bag of knives into my pack, I grab three spears, which fold to be smaller, and grab them in one hand. Finally, as I run away, I pocket a coil of rope.
I hide in the trees around the Cornucopia. Crease, the boy from 8, looks just about dead, with a gaping wound in his stomach. I see Sam throw a sword at Rhona, the District 10 girl. I decide to ignore the casualties, and begin organising my supplies. My three packs all have different sizes. The smallest, a dark red bag, can be easily tied around my waist. It contains a days worth of food, a small bottle of water purifier and a first aid kit. I buckle it around my waist. My next pack, the medium blue bag, contains a sleeping bag, a packet of dried fruit, a bottle of antiseptic cream, medical herbs, two torches, batteries and a sun hat. My final bag, the large black one, is light enough to carry on my back. It holds three tubes of sun cream, a packet of crackers, three water purifier bottles, a t-shirt, a pair of leggings, another medical kit, another sleeping bag, along with a blanket, a torch, a small cooking knife, a pair of goggles, a packet of dried meat and two small bottles of water. My blue bag fits easily in the front pocket. Now for the weapons. My knives are all in a plastic case. I put three into the hilts on my belt-bag. My spears have hollow handles, so I can put them safely in my pockets.
I look down to the bloodbath. The careers have set up a camp near the outskirts of the wood. Seven dead bodies flop on the ground. There is still one person running around the cornucopia. The careers smirk at him. I pull a torch from my pack and shine it in Valerie's face. She sees me and catches the attention of the others. I raise a finger to my lips and mime throwing a spear. Mason nods slowly. I grab a spear from my pocket and throw. As it soars through the air, it comes out of the handle and extends to its full length. It hits the boy in the back. He yells before dropping. I jump from the tree and run the retrieve my weapon. Wiping the blood of the shiny spike, I fold it back up and put it in my pocket.
"We were wondering were you got off to." Said Paris.
I smile. Pearl pats the space next to her.
"So, how's everyone done?" I ask.
"Weren't you in that tree?" Asks Sirena.
"I was organising my things. How did everyone do?"
" Trim from 6, he took an arrow to the head. He's not going anywhere. That girl from Nine, Baylee I think, she just ran to the forest, but Sam followed her." Said Pearl.
"The dead ones are Bolt, Trim, Blake, Oak, Crease, Rhona, Pippa, and Marlin. He's the one you threw the spear at." Finishes Finn.
I nod. Eight casualties? There could be more. We'll find out tonight.
"How are we going to organise, then?" I ask.
"Huh?" Asks Pearl.
"You know, divide the stuff between us, sleeping in shifts, foraging, hunting, finding the others. That sort of thing."
"How's that gonna help?" Asks Valerie.
"If we have a system, we'll have a good supply of food each. If we decide on how much we get, we won't argue over stupid things, while the others'll be killing each other over who got more rabbit."
"I see what you mean. We all have more than one bag each don't we? Well, we could use one pack just for food." Suggests Finn.
"What food have you got, then?" I ask.
"Loads. Fruit, dried meat, bread, vegetables and cake." Says Paris.
"Is cake that chocolaty stuff they had in the Capitol? The one with the cream and cherries?"
We don't have rich cake in District 5. We have a rice cake, using rice grown from Nine, in exchange for batteries.
"Yeah. They only have it in One and Two." Says Valerie.
"Ok. I have dried fruit and crackers, along with food in block form. We have it in Five, for when we go on trips to factories with school. You mix it with water or break it off in chunks. It helps if you're dehydrated or hungry.." I say.
"So how do we split it, then?" Asks Pearl.
" Well, there's a sheet of plastic over there. Mason, could you fetch it for me, just to keep the food clean."
He passes me the sheet of plastic, which I use like a table. I empty the food out of my pack and everyone else does the same.
"So we have thirty strawberries, and there's seven of us. Four each, with two left over. Pearl, put the leftover on the corner for me. Now everyone, get a medium sized pack."
I empty the contents of my blue pack into the larger pack.
"Are there any plastic boxes, so nothing gets crushed?"
"Oh, yeah. There's quite a lot actually." Says Sirena. She hands me seven small plastic tubs. I put the strawberries in each one.
"Oranges. One orange each,I think." I slice each orange into thin pieces and slot them into the same box as the strawberries.
"Same for the apples. Finn, you slice them while I sort the vegetables. Sirena, I need seven more boxes." I say as I hand the boxes to Finn. "Make sure you close them tightly, otherwise they'll go stale."
I fill seven boxes with crackers and bread, so we each have six slices of bread and eleven crackers. Another seven boxes get filled with a slice of coconut cake.
"Done!" I say. "Now pass me your packs. They'll all get the same."
Skilfully, I stack the four boxes in each pack.
"What about water?"
"What bottles and purifiers have we got?"
Mason has two litres of water, in three separate bottles;Valerie has one litre in two bottles and a hip flask; Pearl and Paris each have a litre; Finn and Sirena have two litres between them. I have my three small bottles.
"We won't be able to live on seven litres and seven hundred and fifty millilitres for about four weeks." I say, more to myself than to anyone.
"But if we divide-" begins Finn.
"It's going to get hot. I can tell." I say.
"If we sort out sleeping shifts quicker, we can find a water source, can't we?" Suggests Valerie.
"Yeah. Who wants to find water?"
Valerie, Mason and I raise our hands.
"Who's going to take the first night shift?"
Finn and Pearl.
"So, Paris, Sirena, you're sleeping for a couple hours until we get back. Then you two are on night shift, while we sleep." I say. Everyone nods in agreement.
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Valerie and Mason stand either side of me. We each have two litre bottles in our hands, and our food packs on our back. Mason and I brought our weapons, his sword held in his hand.
"Oh, this is useless! It's just gotten hotter!" Exclaims Valerie.
"To the left. The ground seems a little damper there." We follow a mess of mud and wet leaves. Eventually, we come to a small pool. The water is murky.
"Great!" Says Mason. I'm not sure if he's being sarcastic.
We fill our bottles and put purifier in. We each eat two crackers while we wait.
We return to the camp to find Finn and Pearl standing with their weapons.
"Go to sleep. I'll wake the others." Say Mason.
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I chose to sleep in a tree. If anyone tries to ambush, I have a better vantage point. My night-time glasses are propped on my nose as I lean on my elbow. I've slept for five hours, yet I feel revived and ready to go. Adrenaline must be surging through me. I look down to the others. Mason is leaning on his back, with a sword clutched loosely in his hand. Valerie has a poisoned arrow loaded into an ebony bow. Pearl and Paris each hold a knife and Sirena and Finn have their fists clenched.
A twig snaps. The sound jolts me away from my leisurely slumber. I push my glasses closer to my eyes and see Rye. He is alone, and carrying an axe. An idea hits me. I break a branch silently and launch it to the other side of him. As predicted, he throws his axe, and it sticks stubbornly out of a rock. Good luck getting that back. Weaponless, he looks around. As he turns away, I jump down.
Although he is older, he is a lot skinnier than me, and most likely, lighter than the other male tributes.
The others must have noticed me jump. Mason rounds him, while Valerie stands at his side. At the same time, they throw. He crumpled to the ground, letting out a gasp.
Seconds later, you can hear the boom of the canon. Dead.
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Precisely at midnight, the anthem of Panem begins. The faces of the nine dead tribute flash on the projection. I let out a short yawn. Paris wraps an arm around me. Gently, he pulls me towards him. In my tired state, I lay my head against his chest. I can feel his hear beat. Fast, like a runner. I must have dropped of eventually.
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A/N- I'm sorry this chapter took so long to upload; I kept changing it at the last minute! What are your thoughts on it?