Okay this is a really short chapter but why take two thousand words to say what you can say in 827 words?
The gray light of dawn wakes me up the next day.
"Good Morning, Sunshine!" chirps Jared's voice in my head.
"Exactly what's so good about it?" I reply out loud. I'm not quite my usual charming self in the morning.
"Well, you're not dead." He says, always the optimist. I appreciate his attempt to cheer me though. I shake myself awake and then check for thoughts before I climb out of my tree. There's no one. This doesn't surprise me since there are only four kids in this arena and it's pretty big. I wonder how long we can avoid each other before the Capitol finds a way to intervene. I splash my face with water from the river and then eat some of my fish. I sit back on my heels.
"What should we do now?" I ask, seemingly to empty air, but I know Jared is listening.
"You have two options, hide all day or hunt down tributes." He informs me. I really don't want to kill anymore, I'm tired of the murder of innocent children.
"No one in here is innocent, Megan. Not even you. We've all killed. It's the only way you'll ever get out. You have to get out Megan. Think of your family." He's right of course.
"Okay, hunting it is." I say. I pack up my stuff and ready my trident. I head back across the valley. This mess started at the Cornucopia, it only makes sense that that is where it will end.
When I stumble across District 1 and 2's camp, I discover that Bella had the same idea. She's hiding in a tree, one she's not allergic to, and is mentally preparing herself to attack them. Just as Bella is about to jump out at them, an argument breaks out among the alliance. Jordan is yelling at Adeline for something stupid. I can't even figure out what he's mad about and I read minds! Adeline is bewildered and then she gets angry. She is about to attack him when he picks up his bow and shoots her in one fluid motion. A cannon fires and Anthony yells in fury. He knocks the bow out of Jordan's hands and starts punching him. Blood spouts from Jordan's nose. Anthony wrestles him to the floor but Jordan is bigger and gets him in a choke hold. He squeezes, crushing Anthony's windpipe until another cannon fires.
Jordan breathes heavily. Bella, having just witnessed Jordan kill his two allies, thinks again about attacking him, but she realizes she's going to have to if she wants to get home and with that, jumps him from behind with her knife. He throws her off him and turns to grab his bow and arrows but I'm quicker. I steal his bow before he can get to it and then I quickly melt back into the shadows of the trees before he can see me. Bella sees me though. She's puzzled for a moment but doesn't let it distract her for now because Jordan has picked up a short sword. They fight for what seems like hours but what is probably only fifteen minutes. Bella is faster than him and is able to dodge most of his blows. She starts to tire however and he stabs her with his sword right through her middle. Her eyes widen and she gasps.
I barrel out of the camouflage of the trees and hold my trident out in front of me. I shove it through his back. I realize stabbing someone in the back is a despicable thing to do but in this hell hole you become the lowest of the low and you've got to do what you've got to do to survive. Jordan sputters up blood then falls face first in the dirt. A cannon fires, followed closely by its twin.
Everybody I came in here with is dead. I'm alive. I'm alive because I murdered. I'm alive. Jared's voice is not there to comfort me now, instead a different voice booms all around me.
"Congratulations to the very first winner of the Hunger Games, District Four's Megan Melaleuca."
A hover craft appears above me and a ladder drops. I grab it and feel myself freeze in place. A strange sort of relief washes through me. My victory is bitter sweet. Yes, I won, I'm alive, but at what cost. At the cost of 23 others dead and their loved ones' grief. At the cost of the love of my life's death. I'm alive and going home yet I feel utterly alone. My spirit feels broken. Tears stream down my face. I'm alive but for all intents and purposes I am dead. No one can truly make it out of these games alive.
Thank you to everybody who has read and/or reviewed! I know this story was short but really, I can't focus long enough to write a long story which is why I need practice, which is what my fanfiction account is for. If you guys review I'll write an epilogue. If you don't want an epilogue, review anyway! They make my day; I love to know what you guys think.