Quick A/N: Italics either means a flashback or dream

Chapter Four

"I choose defeat

I walk away

And leave this place

The same today

Some like to sleep

We like to play

Just look at all that pain" - Fake Your Death , My Chemical Romance

The tube starts going up and I brace myself for the worst. The brightness from outside momentarily blinds me then my surroundings come into view. All I can hear is my heart pounding down my throat, and all I can see is dense woodland. There are tall leaveless spiky trees huddled together around us. It will be hard to get through them. The ground looks quite muddy and slightly swampy. Great.

Fortunately there is a huge river running near the cornucopia so there is at least some fresh clean water. In fact, there are small springs everywhere. My eyes narrow in suspicion. Water shouldn't be that easy to get in the hunger games. Oh shit. I'm in the hunger games. I suddenly tune into reality and hear a voice going, "10, 9.." I stand up straight and prepare myself to sprint to the pile of weapons and supplies at the Cornucopia.

"2, 1, Let the 68th Hunger Games begin!" A voice booms out across the arena. I jump off the plate and run swiftly towards the golden cornucopia. I scan the piles for a trident but I can't see one. Shit shit shit shit shit. I spin around and see a large body running towards me. The next thing I know I am being pinned down. I screech in fear and claw at his throat. He grins down at me as he grabs my neck. He's going to snap it like a twig. I see a glint of light coming off a silver blade. The silver blade of an axe. In the blink of an eye, I have it in my hand and I raise it before digging it into my opponents skull. I watch his messy death right in front of my eyes and try not to vomit.

His brain is visible from his head and there is blood dripping onto the ground. I slide his lifeless still-warm body off me then quickly get onto my feet, after grabbing the other axe. I glance down at his body and a huge wave of regret goes through me. I want to kneel down by him, apologize, try to revive him, cry about the death I have caused, but I can't. I have to survive. I can't show weakness or remorse.

Lester is looking at me with curiosity in his eyes, and confusion. Oh yeah, I didn't tell my allies about my skill with axes. In the corner of my eye I see somebody aiming a spear towards him. "Lester duck!" I screech but it is too late. The spear enters his body and he collapses to the ground. It's too late to do anything. A roar goes through me as I lob my axe over to the attacker.

His eyes widen as the axe lodges itself into his chest. The sound of breaking bones makes me feel sick. The impact will have damaged something vital, his lungs, maybe even his heart. He pulls the axe out of his chest and chucks it on the floor. As he hobbles away I throw another axe towards him but he dodges it. I groan in frustration then dash over to my axes and scoop them up into my hands. As I get up a knife slashes at my arm. The pain rushes through me but I swing my axe around and take the head clean off the girl from 3.

Her body falls to the ground and her head bounces away. I think I really will throw up soon. A feeling of regret goes through me. I just killed two people and fatally injured one. And the girl I beheaded was Benjamin's ally. I can hear his terrified scream as he stares at me and what I have just done. I wipe her blood off my face then go back into the cornucopia. "Sorry," I whisper, too quietly for any cameras to hear.

There are bodies strewn across the ground and there are still a few fights going on. I want to be a coward and run but I have to stay. I spot Alisa being pinned down by the boy from 12. I rush over to help and slam my axe into his back just after Alisa spears through his neck with an arrow. She looks up at me and her eyes reflect gratitude. She may have been the one who killed him but I still made the effort to help her. That will give me a big bonus in our pack.

I spin around and see Catrin launching a spear into someones heart. They drop down and she smiles wickedly. She looks almost amused. How can somebody live with themselves if they are like that. Everybody else seems to have cleared off, either out of fear or the fact that they have all the supplies they need. The bloodbath has ended. I try not to collapse to the ground out of relief.

I glance around and see only one of my allies has died. Lester. I feel a slight lump in my throat. Although I didn't really know him, he seemed to be the only genuinely kind person in our group, and I failed to save him. Being the Careers, as usual, we have the Cornucopia to ourselves. I keep a lookout while the others pick through the supplies, gathering the scare amount of food there and all the weapons they can carry.

Alisa offers to guard for me but I wave her off. "I don't really need anything other than my axes," I reassure her. "Yeah, Rae, about the axes, why didn't you tell us?" Catrin hisses behind me. She must have sneaked up while Alisa and I were talking. "Oh.. um, when I was with the Gamemakers, I decided to pick up some axes and see what I could do and I realised that I am pretty good with them. I guess the Gamemakers didn't put any Tridents in because nobody showed any skill with Tridents. I would have told you but obviously we didn't meet up after that.." I trail off. That was the worst lie ever.

Amazingly, my allies all seem to believe me. They don't show any distrust in their eyes. Wow, they really are as stupid as they look. I laugh a little to myself. I can't believe that they even thought I was telling the slightest fragment of truth, let alone the whole story. A cannon booms in the distance, causing us all to jump. I count them up. "10 gone," I mutter. Catrin sighs. "I only got two people," she moans. I resist the urge to go and slap her for her incompetence.

Doesn't she realise that she is on the brink of death? In an arena where everybody wants to kill her? It isn't a game, so why is she acting like it is. I killed two people and all I feel is regret and pain for their families and friends back home. She is sick. "Don't complain bitch, you are killing people, it's not a game," Alisa shouts at her angrily. Catrin looks shocked. And very very mad. She raises her spear and chucks it across at Alisa. Alisa's eyes widen as she realises her time is nearly up.

The trident clangs against my axe and falls to the ground. I hadn't even realised that I held it out to protect Alisa. Alisa rushes behind me and grabs my shoulder, shaking in fear. "Rae lets go," she whispers. She pulls me towards the woods and I go with her. We run as fast as we can to get away from Catrin and Dominic. I hear Catrin screaming all sorts of profanities at us.

After what seems like hours of sprinting through the darkness of the woodland we slow down and eventually stop. Alisa has tears streaming down her face. "Thank you," she exhales. Luckily she had the sense to bring her backpacks and supplies. "Do you have your bow and arrows?" I question her. She nods and holds them out to me. "Axes?" She replies and I hold them both out. I chuck one high in the air and catch it by the handle.

We go through our supplies. Alisa had two backpacks with her. Each one has a sleeping bag inside, which is very lucky for us. There is one pair of night vision goggles and some iodine. There are two packets of dried fruit, a large loaf of bread, a pack of matches, two water bottles, one empty, one full and three knives. Altogether a very good haul, not forgetting the weapons we already have.

Alisa looks impressed. "Rae, seriously, what's with the axes? Catrin may have believed you but I don't," she says. I sigh. "Well, ever since I was younger my Dad trained me to use axes, he chops down trees back in 4, I know it is 7's job but we need a few people in 4 doing it as well. I didn't tell anybody because.. well.. I wanted it to be a secret skill and I didn't trust the other Careers," I admit.

"It was the right decision, if only there were tridents in the Cornucopia though," Alisa says with a slight smile. "Yeah.." I agree. The sky is starting to get darker. "We should set up camp," I suggest. Alisa nods then starts climbing up a tree. She's clever. I climb up the tree next to it until we are both high up in the branches. We sit on the trees opposite each other. "How about after the images of the fallen come up in the sky you sleep for a bit while I keep guard?" I offer. "Seems good, and I can keep guard after that if you wake me up," She replies with a smile.

"Ummm... how will I sleep? As in not fall out of the tree?" She laughs. I laugh too, but quietly. I look around and notice that the trees have long thick vines trailing off them and around them. I grab one and cut it off with one of the knives. "Here, wrap this around you like a harness so if you move around, you won't fall off," I tell her, passing her the strong vine. A cannon booms and I jump. Alisa looks up into the sky and sighs.

"Thanks Rae," she says before getting into the sleeping back and harnessing it and herself to the tree. I get in my own sleeping bag and do the same. I grab the night vision goggles and balance them safely between my legs. My stomach rumbles. "I think we should do some hunting in the morning," Alisa suggests. "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry," I reply. She tears a chunk off the bread. "Here, have some of this, I know how to hunt and I guess you do, so we don't need to ration too much," she offers it to me.

She throws it across at me and I catch it easily. She tears off a chunk herself and we both start eating our shares. When I have finished the anthem suddenly starts booming across the arena. The pictures of the fallen tributes start going.

The first picture is of Lester and I feel a slight pang inside me. I failed to save him. The second picture is of Diane who I killed. I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Next are the boy and girl from 5. I recognise the boy as the other person I killed. I let the tears fall freely from my face, my insides stricken with guilt. Nobody from 6. The girl from 7 and the girl from 8. Benjamin's other ally is still alive then. The boy from 9. The girl from 10. The boy from 11 and both from 12.

What I hate about this is that I didn't even learn the names of the other tributes. I just know them as the boy or girl from their District, apart from a few whom I know the names of. Alisa looks across at me and her eyes are brimming with tears but she's not crying like me. "I killed the two from 12.." she whispers. "I got the girl from 3 and the boy from 5," I admit. She gives me a watery smile.

"I'd better be getting to sleep then," she says as she gets into a comfortable position in her makeshift bed for the night. "Night," I say and she murmurs, "Night Rae," before dozing off. She must be really tired. 11 are dead. 13 left. I have almost made it through the first day. And to think that this morning I was ready for my death. Maybe I really will survive The Hunger Games.

I see a rustle in the bushes nearby. I hold my breath and try to blend in with the trees. A small figure rushes out, being chased by a much larger figure. The small figure is screaming. It's Benjamin. Oh no. The larger figure catches him and I hear Benjamin pleading for mercy. Alisa has stopped rustling around in her sleep. I quickly peek at her and her eyes are wide. She has woken up and it watching the scene.

I hear a sudden gory sound and Benjamin's screams are gargled. I have been forced to watch enough of the hunger games to know what is happened. He has been stabbed in the throat. I listen to him choking on his own blood for about 10 minutes. The person is still with him, cackling to himself quietly. I feel vomit rise up my throat but force myself to swallow it back down. He is torturing Benjamin, giving him a long and painful death.

I want to scream myself, try to kill his attacker, but it will only result in my death, and there is nothing I can do to save him anyway. All I can do is listen as he slowly dies. Eventually the cannon goes off and the person who killed him stalks off into the night. I realise that I am shaking like a leaf and try to calm myself down. I take a deep breath and stutter to Alisa, "That was my District Partner." She looks shocked and haunted. "He.. he tortured him.." she screeches before putting her head in her hands and murmuring to herself.

After a few minutes she looks up at me and her eyes are hollow. "I'll take guard now," she says. I hand her the goggles and lie down into my sleeping bag, trying to get to sleep, but Benjamin's screams still haunt me, I still hear his gargling and crying for help. After lying there and shivering for a bit, my tiredness eventually gets to me and I drift off to sleep.

I am being chased through the woods. Somebody is trying to kill me. I drop to the ground after tripping up. Why now? Why do I have to fall over now? He is closing in on me. I scream and scream.

Suddenly I am watching it happen. I see Benjamin on the floor, covered in blood. The knife enters his throat and he screams more and more, screaming, "Rae help me! Rae do something! Rae don't just watch! This is your fault! Rae!" He keeps screeching at me. I try to go over to him but my legs are like lead, they won't move. He suddenly stops still and a cannon goes off, deafening me.

He gets up with a malicious grin. He has a knife in his hand. I look at him, with a gaping hole in his neck. I can't move. "Your turn Rae," he whispers as he slides the blade into my throat. Next to him are the tributes I killed. They are laughing and singing, "Your turn, your turn, your turn!" I start screaming.

Alisa is shaking me. "Wake up Rae," she hisses cautiously. I realise where I am and stop screaming. I am covered in sweat and covering up my throat with my hands. Alisa looks worried. "Are you ok?" She sympathises. "Just a bad dream," I stammer, still shaking slightly. I slow down my breathing and Alisa still looks worried. When I stop shaking she leaves my side and goes through the backpack. It seems to be early morning.

"Do you want to get some breakfast?" She asks. "Yeah, lets pack everything away then go hunt," I reply. We untie out sleeping bags, roll them up and put them both into one backpack. We put the rest of supplies into the other one and head off through the woods. I keep both axes in my hands and she has two sheaths of arrows around her shoulders along with a backpack. I am carrying her extra one around my shoulder along with one of the backpacks. We must look like crazy hitchhikers.

I hear a few twigs snapping behind us. I spin around. Oh shit. It's a bear. Alisa fires an arrow into its chest and I lob an axe at it. It hits the bear's leg and it roars at us before charging towards me. I chuck another axe at it and it hits it in the head. It stops in its tracks and starts wandering around aimlessly. I must have ruptured its brain. Alisa finishes it off with another arrow in the head. It thumps onto the ground.

"Quite a big breakfast," I laugh a little and Alisa joins in. A cannon goes off and we edge closer together. Another one goes off and I hear a scream in the distance. Another goes off and we exchange glances. We scramble for our weapons. I grab my axe and she gets her arrows. We both clamber up a tree together and reach the top branches where we won't be seen from the bottom.

I feel my heart beating rapidly. Catrin and Dominic crash through the trees and stop still when they see the bear lying on the ground. I freeze and Alisa's breathing is almost silent. "What the fuck?" Catrin says. Her face is splattered with blood. Dominic surveys it. "It's still warm. And it seems to have been killed by humans. Look, there's an arrow still lodged in its stomach. I bet that was Alisa. And there seems to be big cuts made from axe blades," He concludes. Catrin smiles wickedly. "Alisa and Rae... and it's still warm?" Her grin widens even more.

"Alisaaa, Raeee, I know you're here!" She sings gleefully. "God you are such a child Catrin, keep your voice down or we're going to be killed," he hisses at her. She growls something under her breath. "I don't care Dominic; we are killing that bitch from your District no matter what. Now let's FIND her!" She screeches at him. When she turns around I see him raise his sword, and for a second he looks like he's about to kill her but he sighs and shakes his head before putting his sword back down by his side.

Alisa is panicking. She is shaking like crazy and murmuring to herself a little. I try to calm her but she screams at me to be quiet and pushes me out of the tree. As I fall, I land on some branches and break them and after what seems like years of pain, I fall to the ground with a thud. I groan and curl up in a ball.

"What do we have here?" I hear Catrin laugh hysterically. She sounds like she is smiling like a madman. Alisa shrieks my name and I hear her climbing down the tree. Catrin kicks me in the stomach a few times and I grunt in pain. I look up and see Catrin circling Alisa with a knife in her hand. Alisa isn't reacting. She is just crying and whispering to herself. She has gone mad. Catrin lunges at her and I close my eyes, not wanting to see anything. She doesn't even scream.

Fortunately Catrin isn't cruel enough to torture her; she just makes it quick and easy. The cannon rings out across the arena. I'm next. She kneels down beside me and gives me her vicious grin. I'm in too much pain to even bother trying to survive. She is just about to stick the knife into my throat when a rock hits her in the head. She screeches in anger, not pain, and lunges towards Dominic. He already has his sword out and the dumb bitch runs into it.

He looks startled when she does and he looks over at me, fear filling his eyes when he sees the state that I'm in. I try to get up or at least thank him but all I can do is groan hoarsely. I try moving my arm and the pain is unbearable. My vision slowly goes darker then I black out completely.

End Of Chapter Four

As usual, I would like to thank you for reading
this as its what keeps me going.

I'm sorry about how late it was, my computer
broke and deleted all of my work

Again, a huge thanks to my reviewers: xenocanaan and Narsilia Lyanna Elendill