A/N: I would've updated sooner, but I've had terrible internet connection... Anyways, enjoy!
The gong goes off and I sprint towards the Cornucopia. I grab the first pack I see, and make a run for the rainforest-looking area. A spear whizzes by my right ear, just missing me. I wonder who threw it, but I don't have time to look back and see. I trip over a body- I'm not sure who, I think it's the girl from 3- but I keep running. I run as far away as I can. Eventually my legs give out and I lean over, panting for breath. I wipe the sweat off my forehead and sit down on a tree stump, examining my pack's contents. I see what I have - a bag of dried fruit and meat, three small rolls of bread, a small canteen that - of course - has no water, a thin silver sheet (I have no idea what it's for) and a small knife. The knife could definitely come in handy. I don't eat any of the food. I'm not sure how long I'll need it to last. I put the knife in my pocket where I can reach it if needed, and keep on hiking.
A little before sunset, I make camp. I take about twenty strands of the mossy vines that there seem to be an overabundance of, and I weave it into a thick net. Right now, I'm using it as a makeshift sleeping bag of sorts, but it also could be used to trap enemies, I suppose. My stomach rumbles loudly, so I eat a few pieces of the dried fruit, and drink a few sips of water. As soon as the sun sets, the Panem anthem plays and the faces of the deceased are projected onto the night sky. Only 4 people died today, which is unusually low for the first day of a Games. Usually, the bloodbath alone kills around seven or eight. I don't recognize any of the fallen – the girl from 3, the boy from 6, and both tributes from 11. I thought the girl from 3 and the boy from 6 had looked like possible threats. That was probably why both of them were killed on the first day. I hide myself in some shrubs which is probably an unnecessary extra precaution, since I'm wrapped in this vine net. I manage to get a few hours of sleep.
When I wake up, its daylight. I assume it's seven or eight. I yawn quietly, and rub my eyes. I'm about to sit up, when I hear giggling. I look around and find it's source. The career pack is making it's way towards my location. But they don't see me. It's made up of the usual – all the tributes from 1 and 2, and Lily. From their giddy expressions, I assume they've recently killed someone. I carefully look to my left, and see their target. Not that far away (50 feet at the most), is a tribute sleeping smack in the middle of the way, where anyone can see her. If they didn't see her, they would hear her loud snores. The girl's from District 12, which explains a lot. They never do that well. The boy from 2 makes quick work of her- stabbing her heart before she has time to scream. The canon goes off a moment after. I close my eyes. I just watched someone die. I'm not sure why, but I feel the need to make sure any careers aren't going to win. But there's only one way that'll actually happen. I need to win. I'm not quite sure how. I'm gonna need to get my hands dirty. I could kill people, I guess. I've learned how. Surely, I could do it. I am in the Hunger Games.
As soon as the Career pack is far enough away, I stand up, put my backpack on my shoulders, and decide to confront other tributes. C'mon Odair, let's go kill some people. The thoughts I've been thinking these past few days seem foreign in my head, as if they aren't my own. I keep my hand clenched tightly around my knife, so I can pull it out to use at a second's notice. A few minutes later, I stumble upon my first kill. He's the boy from 9, I recognize him from training. His orange hair, freckles, and awkward looking appearance make him pretty memorable. He doesn't have anything on him, just the clothes on his back. I don't know how I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him. I shake all of my thoughts out of my head. Now isn't the right time to be moral. He looks up at me, terror in his eyes. I smile at him, trying to look friendly. He's dumb enough to stand up and come close to me. The boy looks like he's about to say something but I don't let him, by stabbing him in the stomach. His eyes open widely, and he opens his mouth. I pull out the knife, and wipe the blood off on some tree bark. He collapses, and the canon goes off a few seconds later. My knees feel weak, and I force myself to drink some water so I don't collapse. That wasn't that bad. I wasn't sure how I should feel after killing someone, but I don't feel anything. As if this didn't affect me at all. That scares me a little. I could easily do that again. I hope Annie didn't see that.
Later on, I see the girl from 5. She's alone but unlike last time, she has a weapon to defend herself with. I need to think of a plan. What if I trap her? I do have a net. I can catch and kill fish, what if I treat people the same way? If only I had a trident, like back at home. I set up a trap of sorts, so when she walks by, she'll be swept up into the net. I hide behind a tree, and wait.
Surprisingly, it works. She gets her foot tangled in the vine, and is stuck hanging from her ankle. I kill her the same way I killed the boy, and trade my knife for her spear. I'm more comfortable with that. At the end of the day, there are only four deaths – the girl from 7, the girl from 12, and the two people I killed: the boy from 9 and the girl from 5.
I wake up by a parachute being delivered to me. It's a gigantic package, and I hope it goes unnoticed by the others, if there is anyone else in my area. I open it up and there's a small note. You're doing great. Put it to good use. -M and G. Mags and Grant are watching me. I look at the contents, and try not to gasp. I've been given a silver trident. My father didn't even have something this nice back at home. That must have cost them a fortune. Mags and Grant must really believe that we can bring me home. But if I go home, Lily'll have to die. I don't want Lily to die, but I really hope I don't have to kill her. I don't think I'd be able to do that. She was the first girl I ever kissed, the first girl I ever had sex with. While I do care a lot about Annie, we'd never be in this situation together. And right now, Lily and I are. I like her, she's really something. But I don't love her or anything, I've known her for like a week and a half. I've known Annie for my whole life. I stand up, knowing what I'm gonna do. I'll stay away from the career pack until I have to. I eat some crackers and fruit, drink some water, and walk towards the stream I saw on the first day. We're only two days in and I only have half of my water left. I need to get more. I'm sure I could live without food if needed, but I need water every day. I leave the spear in a hollow log, and put the knife in my pocket. I'm holding onto it for food, but my trident is my weapon now.
I walk around for a while without running into anyone. The arena's pretty big. I hear a canon go off, but I'm not sure who died. It's too far away to see the body as the hovercraft picks them up. I guess I'll find out tonight. I stumble upon a small alliance: both tributes from 10 and the boy from 8 are cooking some type of animal over a fire. The smoke is probably visible for miles. I shake my head. I don't know a lot about survival skills, but that seems pretty stupid. I lean on a tree, waiting to see if they'll notice me. They're too oblivious, so I get their attention, but taking the girl from 10, and skillfully impaling her with the trident. It's like an extension of my arm, and I use it so naturally she doesn't even have time to scream. Her blood gets on my shoes. The boy from her district screams. "What the hell, man?" He picks up a sharp branch to use as a weapon to defend himself.
"That won't work." I laugh. "It can be snapped in a second, just like that." I snap to prove my point. He steps back, and I step forward, poised to attack. I'm about to stab him when the boy from 8 tries to throw a knife at me, but he misses me, and cuts my ear. I ignore the slow trickle of blood down the right side of my face, and finish off the boy from 10, by stabbing him and twisting it. The canon goes off before I pull the trident out of his midsection. The boy from 8 has a similar fate. He runs towards me, wielding the knife he previously tried to attack me with. I throw the vine-net around him, and stab him multiple times. I don't walk away until he collapses on the ground. I sit down after the canon goes off and a hovercraft dips down to collect the three bodies. I feel... different. As if this has changed me somehow. But I don't feel bad, and that scares me. Maybe I'm turning evil. I shake my head. I'm from a career district. This is normal. Mags and Grant aren't evil, and they killed people. I drink some more water, and refill my canteen.
I don't do much for the rest of the night. I sit by the stream, relax and bathe myself, wiping off blood and sweat from my body. My ear is fine: there's just a little nip at the top. It's not even bleeding, so I just leave it alone. I throw my shirt in my pack- it's too humid for all of the clothes they gave us, and I don't mind being shirtless. I'm somewhat muscular, and I do have what Lily calls a "six pack". I've never really cared about that. I set up camp, and watch the sunset, munching on some dried fruit. When the sun sets, the anthem plays, and we see everyone who died today. The boy from 5 was the one who I heard die, since the other 3 fallen tributes were killed by me. I look at the small photos of the boy from 8 and both tributes from 10. I think of their families, and friends back home. They probably hate me. Not right now, Finnick, I tell myself. Let's just try to stay alive. There's 12 people left, which means there's 12 people dead. 11 to go.
I get a lot of sleep, and when I wake up, I can tell it's almost noon. I hear footsteps, and jump to my feet. All my belongings are packed up and ready to go; it only takes me a second to get my pack on, and grab my net and trident. I see the source of the footsteps maybe 10 s away from me: the girl from 9, gawking at me. She crosses her arms and smiles at me. "You know, you're pretty cute for a District 4 boy." I look at her with confusion, and slight disgust. She's flirting with me during a fight to the death? No way. That has to be some type of strategy. I grip the handle of my trident tighter, remembering the trap I set up last night, so anything around me will fall into a hidden net. Maybe she'll fall into my trap. That would be ideal. "Don't bother, we both know you wouldn't kill a girl."
I shrug, "No, I would. But I'll let you make the first move, ladies first. Sounds good?" I ask her, smirking. I sound a bit like Grant, and I don't really mind. She falls for it, and steps forward to release an arrow, but get's caught in my net. The girl still releases the arrow, but it hits a tree, doing no harm whatsoever. I smirk at her evilly. "See, I can kill you right now." And I do. I don't feel bad after, and that worries me a little. Usually, people feel bad after killing people. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a fight to the death.
After her canon goes off, a girl runs over, spear in hand. She looks like she's been crying, but still lethal. She holds a large sword, and seems to know how to use it. I look at her and realize why she's so distinct-looking. She's the thirteen-year-old from District 1. Even though she's younger than me, I'm sure she can kill. "So you can kill." She ponders, running her thumb over the blade of her sword.
"I don't know if you've realized this, but we're in the Hunger Games. Are you going to try and kill me, or just stare at me?" I ask, being unnecessarily jerky to her. She tucks a single strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, it's too short to fit up in her high ponytail. I can tell she's trying to be intimidating. Most careers aren't that scary until they're 17 or 18. And she most definitely isn't. I smirk a little, and she takes that as an invitation to start a fight. I step forward, and she steps back. She swings her arm, trying to hit me with the sword. I duck easily. Her technique is sloppy, and from the way her hands shake, it's obvious she hasn't eaten in a while. I wonder if she's broken off the career pack, or they kicked her out. From a career standpoint, she can't be that useful. Or maybe the alliance disbanded. I reach over and get a jab at her, but I miss, and only cause three small cuts on her chest. Those won't cause any damage. She stubbornly swings her sword the same way, and I know what to expect, so I use the body of my trident to hit the side of her sword, knocking it out of her hand. She looks up and me, and swallows hard. She looks like she's about to tell me something, but a canon blast startles both of us. I snap back in a second, and slide her sword towards me using my foot, so she can't retrieve it even if she is dumb enough to try.
"You're pretty bad, for a Career." I tell her menacingly, and then stab her, pulling out and jolting away from the pool of blood flowing from her body. The canon goes off, and I laugh.
I walk around, contemplating what to do. I want to take out the career pack, if they're still together. If I don't kill them, and focus on the other people who are left, it'll become painfully obvious that I'm a threat. Killing a District 1 girl probably made it obvious that one of the tributes is behind most of the deaths. So far, there have been 15 deaths, and I've been responsible for 7 of them. That's more than half.
I lie low for the rest of the day, and try not to bring any attention to myself. It's actually pretty easy. I get a few feet up in a tree, and watch people hike by me, uninterested and oblivious to their surroundings. It's a wonder they've made it this far. Usually the spacey ones are the first to go, since they have such a slow reaction time, and lack good fighting skills. Only three people died today, and I killed two of them: the girl from 1 and the girl from 9 The third death wasn the girl Emily from District 8. She was pretty nice. I'm pretty glad I wasn't the one to kill her. Or maybe she died from natural causes. Regardless, I hope it wasn't painful for her. I drink a little water, and don't have the appetite to eat any of my food supply, so I just fall asleep in the tree, tying myself in with the netting.
I wake up to a scream that sounds all too familiar. I'm thankful for the decision to tie myself into the tree, or I would be on the ground right now. I lower myself down, and find the cause of the scream. It's Lily. The boy from 2 is stabbing her repeatedly, the jabs superficial so they draw out a slow and painful death. The girl from 2 cackles behind him. The boy from 1 is nowhere to be seen, but nobody died overnight. The alliance must've broken up. They leave her to die, and I'm unable to intersect. As soon as they're out of sight, I run into the clearing to help her. She isn't bleeding a lot, but there must be a lot of internal damage. She's pale, and looks terrified. "Finn." She smiles weakly when she sees me. I walk over to where she's leaning on a log, and give her a hug. I want to ask her if she's alright, but I don't. She's dying. Lily takes my hand and smiles at me. "Don't be sad. I knew I wasn't gonna win. I don't kill. You can, you're stronger than me. Promise me you'll try to win?"
I nod. "Promise." She kisses my cheek.
"Stay with me?" Lily asks, squeezing my hand.
"Of course." I smile at her supportively. She closes her eyes, and lays on the forest floor. I don't move after her canon goes off, but I have to when the hovercraft comes down to pick her up. "Goodbye Lily." I whisper as I walk away. I curse under my breath, and promise myself I'll kill the boy from 2. I stop and eat the last of my dried meat, which isn't a lot, but makes an alright breakfast. I'm pretty hungry from not eating anything last night. I pace around, and make my way out of the forrest. I'm so angry, over everything. I'm angry at the people who killed Lily and Emily, and I'm angry at Grant and Mags for giving me a weapon, and I'm angry at the Capitol for televising a fight to the death. I'm just angry in general. I stop short in my tracks, and take a deep breath. I look up and see smoke from a fire not too far away from me. I go to see who's by the source of the fire, and find the boy from District 12. He's roasting a small animal over a fire, and looks very starved, even by District 12 standards. They have it the worst out of all the districts. If he's made it this far, he must have a weapon. I straighten out my vine net, and throw it over him from behind him. He doesn't have time to do anything since he's trapped, so I just stab him quickly, getting it over with. Killing is almost mundane, just another chore that needs to be done. Like making my bed or cleaning the dishes back at home.
I feel the need to kill, to just get it over with. I'm a few people away from going home. I just need to hold it together until I get to that point. I find the girl from District 6 half a kilo away from the Cornucopia, dying of some animal bite. I finish her off out of pity, not bloodlust. We're down to the final 8, well 7 now. They're interviewing my family and friends now. I keep looking, I want to be done, damn it.
The boy from District 7 is not too far away. He's bathing in the stream, and dumbly assumes he's alone. I dig the knife out of my bag, and throw it at his submerged body, hitting his heart perfectly. The stream water turns red, and I know he's just another fallen tribute now. The sun finally sets, and I see my work. Lily, the girl from 6, the boy from 7, and the boy from 12 are all dead. I've killed ten people. That has to be some type of record. I wouldn't want to know. There's 5 of us left. My chances of going home are at 20%. I hear a canon go off, and the face of the boy from District 3 is projected in the sky. I wonder what happened. Scratch that, now my chances are at 25%. May the odds be ever in my favor. Ugh. I just want to go home.
I get almost no sleep, because I'm so restless. I wonder how the other districts feel – the final four tributes are all careers. The games'll be over very soon. I can feel the anticipation buzz through me from my head to my fingertips and toes. I get to go home. I grin widely. And that's when I realize something: all of these deaths are okay, as long as I get to go home. If none of them die, I will. Hopefully, my family won't mind.
The next two days go by slowly. There are no canons, meaning no deaths, and I don't even see anyone. I finish off most of my food: I have a few sips of water and three or four crackers left. The Capitol must be thirsting for blood by now. On the sunrise of the third day, the game makers make an announcement: Ladies and Gentlemen, at noon today there will be a feast in the 're feeling very generous, and plan to offer every one of you something that you desperately need. Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor.
A feast, hm? That's a classic Game maker trick to get the remaining tributes to finish each other fof, and is used to get a winner by the end of the day. It also provides something each of the tributes need. There's nothing I need, and I'm pretty sure the other tributes are fine. Then again, if someone was injured, than I wouldn't know because they didn't die. Regardless, I decide to go.
I hide out behind the Cornucopia, waiting for the first person to get their pack. I showed up before any of the other tributes, so I set up a net trap by the large orange bag with a 2 on it. However, I was smart enough to leave my pack, so it looked like I was never here. The girl from 2 shows up a few minutes later, wielding a spear. I smirk, that'll do her no good. She looks around, making sure nobody is there, and steps up to grab the backpack. She gets entangled in the net, and begins to scream for her district partner. Her efforts are in vain, and he never comes. "You know, your boyfriend isn't coming." I walk up to her, trident in hand. I'm about to stab her, when we're both taken off guard by a shriek from behind me.
"Wait! Wait!" The boy from 1 runs up, waving his hands. He slows down, and breathes when he gets close. I raise my eyebrows, waiting for him to explain why he wants me to spare the girl from 2's life. He looks at me. "Hey, man. Can you let me kill her? Please? She killed my district mate."
I shrug, not really caring. "Go ahead." He uses his sword to stab her repeatedly, and I just watch, arms folded. When he turns to thank me, he walks right into my trident. Both of their canons go off at the same time. I take my pack and walk away. "And then there were two." I mumbled. This is pretty anti-climatic, for a finale. That's not good. They- the Capitol- wants a good show. I guess I need to perform.
I look inside my pack, to see what my "desperately needed item" is. Its some type of white soup. I drink it, and instantly feel reenergized. I feel invincible. I decide to look for the boy from 2, my final opponent. He's going to be good. My teachers have told me I'm a good fighter, but District 2 tributes are always the best. They win the most out of any District, and get the most training. Everyone knows it, but they're not supposed to be trained. Then again, neither was I. I can do this. I've killed 11 people, I can do one more. I eat the last of my crackers, and leave behind my spear, shirt and jacket, bringing only my water canteen and trident. I'm going home.
I find him maybe half a mile away from me, sitting at a fire. He's been waiting for me. I pause, frozen with terror. This is the first time during the games where I actually think I might die. It's never really seemed like a possibility before now. "I know you're there, Finnick Odair." he laughs. "That rhymed." I gather my last ounce of courage to burst through the clearing. "You know, I'd really like to thank you. Seriously, you've made my life so easy. All I've had to do is kill a meager four people. You've killed how many? 10 people? And I bet you think that your body count makes it a given that you're going back to your girlfriend. Well you're wrong. I'm going to kill you."
I laugh at the absurdity of this. "I've killed eleven, actually. Well obviously. I'm obviously gonna kill you. This- all of this," I use my hands to signal I mean everything around us, the whole Games. "all of it's a fight to the death. And I think you're just a little bitter that I killed your girlfriend, aren't you?" He doesn't need to know I let the boy from 1 avenge his district-mate. He just frowns at me, acting very childlike.
"She's not my girlfriend!" he says stubbornly. I'm almost expecting him to throw a tantrum. He's what? Seventeen years old, and getting all irritated over nothing. Screw this.I lurch forward to get him. He doesn't have a weapon, so I'm at an advantage. But he knocks it out of my hand, sending it out of my reach. We both only have our bare hands.
He climbs on top of me, and tries to choke me, I manage to push him off, and do the same. When he starts sputtering, I make the mistake of loosening my grip, and he uses the opportunity to throw me into a tree. I notice red trickle down a large gash on my arm. I don't hesitate, and kick him between his legs. It's unexpected, and almost pathetic, but it works. He falls to his knees, and I manage to get my hands around his neck. "Any last words?" I ask cruelly. He's being strangled, so he obviously can't answer. "No? Alright." I grin at him, and just like we practiced in training, I snap his neck. The canon goes off right after. Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the 65th Hunger Games, Finnick Odair. I grab my trident off the ground and let the hovercraft pick me up.
I did it, I won.
A/N: Did you like it?
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