Chapter 14:

Kendall's POV:

I leaned against the cool metal of the cornucopia. I was tired out from all the running I did to get to here before the other tributes. But it will be worth it, since I should be able to avoid the bloodshed. And I'll be able to save Lauren.

I rest for a little while, but then the first rays of sun are starting to appear. This is it, it's almost time. The items should be appearing soon.

I get a knife out for safety, and brace myself to start running as soon as the items appear. I don't have to wait much longer.

The table rises out of the ground right in front of the cornucopia. I run out and grab the bag with the number seven and sprint into the forest.

I make it to the forest without any attack from other tributes. Once I'm under the cover of the trees, I turn around to see what is happening at the feast. I see Blaine and Elesa fighting before I turn around and run back to Lauren.

Brycen's POV:

The items had appeared and the boy from seven got his bag already from hiding in the cornucopia. Why didn't I think of that? It was a genius idea.

Elesa and I have decided that she will run to get our bag and any others while I keep a lookout in the forest for the other tributes. Blaine starts running from the mountain directly opposite us, and Elesa starts running towards the bag.

They meet right near the cornucopia and start fighting. I'm not too worried about Elesa, she can handle herself in a fight. Both sides are hitting dangerous blows to the other side: Elesa with her knives and Blaine with a sword. She is dodging all around him, trying to get in a good stab.

But both of them are starting to get weak. They have been hit many times and are losing a lot of blood. I'm starting to think of running in to help when I see Elesa make a well planned out feint. She stabs him in the chest, and he coughs up some blood, then falls to the ground, and the cannon goes off.

Now that Elesa is done fighting, she is aware of how bad her wounds are. She is starting to get a bit wobbly from blood loss. I run out towards her, and catch her as she starts to fall.

She looks up weakly at me, barely being able to keep her eyes open. "Brycen. Make...sure...you win." she says feebly. Her head falls back and the cannon goes off.

I let out a scream in anger. How could this happen to her? I hear laughter coming from my left and I whip my head in the direction. Cress is standing there, with all of the remaining bags in his hand. He makes eye contact with me, then runs off towards the mountain. I immediately get up and start to pursue him, every thought tainted with my lust for his blood.

Lauren's POV:

I wake up in the early morning. I can't sleep with the thought of Kendall being at the feast. I lay around just thinking about things, trying to distract myself from the pain in the stump where my hand was. I look under the bandages to see how bad it was, and immediately regret it. It's starting to become infected quickly.

I lay back, enveloped by the fear of dying slowly and painfully from the infection. Then I hear the first cannon go off. The feast must have started already. I chew on my lip, worrying about Kendall.

I am hoping that he will make it back to me. Another cannon goes off, and he still isn't back. I'm really starting to worry. Then I hear the sound of someone running through the woods.

Kendall stops running right under the tree. I peek over my branch at him, and he holds the bag up for me to see and smiles. He climbs up to the branch I'm on.

"Hey Lauren. It's good to see you," he says while smiling at me. I can't help it, I'm smiling like a fool as well; I'm just so happy he made it back safely. "Now, let's see what the Capitol has been kind enough to give us."

Inside the bag is a few pills, which must be strong pain killers, something in a syringe labeled "for infection", and some kind of special bandage. I reach out and grab one of the pills right away and swallow it dry; the pain has been too much for the last couple of hours. Kendall then sticks the needle in my left arm and gives me the medicine to stop the infection.

He takes off the old bandage and takes the remaining bandages from the first kit and uses it to clean the wound. He looks at the special bandage given by the Capitol, trying to figure out exactly what it does. "I'm not really sure what the bandage will do," he says after examining it for a bit. "I guess the best way to find out is to just put it on."

He gently sets the bandage on the wound and it starts moving. It forms a tight barrier around the wound, to keep out infection. It stays on without the need to tie it or anything. "Hmm, this is fancy," I say as I lift my arm up and look at it. It also looks like it has stopped the bleeding, too. "Wow, the things they invent in the Capitol. So now that you've saved me, I want some food. Then a full rundown of what happened."

He gives me some leftover rabbit to eat and I quickly devour it. He shares the last of the meal we received with me. Now that I have a full belly, I put my full attention on Kendall.

"Ok so I ran for an hour or two after I left you last night to get to the cornucopia," he begins. "I got there with some time before dawn so I rested for a bit inside it. Once I noticed the first rays of light, I got ready to run as soon as I saw the bags. They appeared shortly after and I ran out and grabbed the bag immediately. I sprinted right to the forest, without facing any threat from the other tributes. When I was safely under the cover of the trees, I turned to see what was happening, and I saw Blaine and Elesa fighting. Then I started to run back. I was on an adrenaline rush, so it didn't take me nearly as long to get back as it did to get there. Then I made it back here and saved your life." He finishes and smiles at me.

I can't believe all the trouble Kendall went through to save me. The rest of the day we spend in peace, and no more cannons have gone off. Kendall hunts down some rabbits and cooks them up for dinner. We have just sat back in the sleeping bag to eat our rabbits when the anthem starts playing with the Capitol seal showing. "Here we go," I say. "We'll finally find out who died." First, Elesa is shown. Then it is Blaine. So that means that there are two Careers left and just Kendall and I.

"I bet they're fighting right now," Kendall suddenly says. I give him a confused look. "Brycen and Cress. They are probably fighting. And then whoever wins we'll have to face," he explains.

I don't want to think about this right now, so I eat my rabbit and just sit with my eyes closed, trying to imagine I am back home in the forests of District 7. I soon drift into a peaceful sleep.

We spend the next day laying in the tree. I am trying to regain my strength for the final battle that is sure to happen within a day or two. We just chill and talk. About late afternoon, we hear a cannon go off. Either Brycen and Cress has been killed. We have to wait only a couple of hours for the dead tribute to be shown. Brycen was the one killed today.

"So it all ends tomorrow," I say quietly after the anthem has stopped. "Tomorrow we face Cress, and someone is going home."

"Don't think about it now Lauren. Just get some sleep so you'll be well rested in the morning. I'm sure Cress won't go down without a fight, so it's best you have your strength," Kendall says. I listen to what he says, and fall asleep shortly. But not before one last thought crosses my head.

I might have to kill Kendall if I'm to make it out of the arena, since he surely won't want to be victor. I may have to kill my own brother.