DAY SEVEN

Not realising I had fallen asleep, I wake up and see Sadie sat on watch.

'How long have I been out for?' I mutter

'Three, four hours?' She replies.

'Why? You need sleep too. Get some shut eye, I'm refreshed'. I insist.

It takes some persuading but eventually she conforms and I keep guard.

Whilst she is sleeping I feel incredibly lonely, I'm not sure how I spent 5 days without another human by my side. I have to ignore all the temptations to wake her up for the sake of my boredom. If I woke her up she wouldn't be re-energized, which in the arena can spell death.

We still probably have another five or six days in the arena. I don't know how I can protect both of us, especially as now we are in the final seven the other tributes will show no mercy. Usually, this is the part of the games when the careers brutally turn on each other. It's usually the capitol's favourite part of the Game. The careers usually find the last remaining tribute that is not in their pack, kill them and then in a matter of seconds, it's a case of extreme barbarianism. It never gets any less shocking, but now, for the first time, there is one guaranteed place in the final five for a non career.

I wonder if it has had an affect on my popularity this. Here I am, protecting my girl friends little sister, and for the first time in the history of the hunger games, a non career tribute has killed not one, but two careers.

After about five hours or keeping watch, Sadie wakes up.

'Morning sleeping head' I say as if her mother.

Sadie never wakes up in a bad mood. In fact, Sadie is never in a bad mood, full stop. She tells me about he dream she had, how we both won the games and became stars in Panem.

'Maybe it's a premonition' I say with a slight laugh, 'Lets go get some food'.

We walk around the forest for a bit to pass time, and then decide on our plan.

'Right, you go looking for roots and shoots, I'll try and find us some eggs and fish and meaty stuff' I inform her 'Oh, and Sadie, we need to stay with in hearing distance of each other, don't go any further than that swamp over there' I insist.

We give each other a high five and then head off in separate directions.

I walk around aimlessly as there appears to be no game, no fish in the stream and no nests. Not even a squirrel.

I walk upstream, surely there must be something around here? I stumble upon a nest, I think it belongs to a duck. Actually, I have no idea, but the eggs are fairly large and so I grab the eggs and get out of the area before I'm caught by the mother.

I see some nasturtiums and pick a hand full of them, but I'm interrupted. I hear the piercing scream of a little girl. It sends shivers down my spine and for a moment I feel dizzy, hearing this high pitched, pained scream. It has to be Sadie. I pull the knife out of my belt and run. The screams aren't stopping, they're getting louder.

After running for about 2 minutes, I reach and open area with a lake. There I see Sadie, clutching her stomach silently, walking around in the shallow part of the lake kicking water around her ankles.. I'm dazed and confused and have no idea what has just happened. Has she been hit? Has she winded herself?

As soon as I return to reality, I run towards her. The sound of rustling in the trees grabs my attention and I instinctively throw my knife in the direction of the noise as it diverts my attention. I watch as my knife launches into the spleen of Trey, the boy from district two. His cannon fires almost immediately, and I turn my attention back to Sadie.

'Was it him? Was it him? Was it him?' I scream, horrified that I had just impulsively, instinctively launched a knife at a human without even taking a moment to gauge who it was.

It's only when she turns around and stumbles that I realise the full extent of her injury. She doesn't even need to tell me it was him, the huge sword wound through her stomach says enough.

I clutch onto Sadie, pulling her from the lake before she falls over in it and try to remain steady but it's easier said than done. I lay her down on the floor and take a look at her stomach. I press my hand against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but as the blood is coming out so fast and in waves, I know an artery has been hit and its beyond my repair.

'Stay' She whispers.

'Of course' I reply, lip wobbling.

I sit by her for about 15 minutes, watching the colour drain out of her face, hearing her breathing get shallower, with the occasional desperate gasp for air. The grip she has on my hand is so tight that I can't feel my fingers, but it's so reassuring.

'I want to go home' I say to myself 'please, I just want to go home, I hate it here'. The desperation in my voice is crystal clear and I'm trying not to cry, I'm trying to stay strong, for Sadie.

Eventually, the grip on my hand loosens, and the sound of breathing is replaced by a cannon. Sadie has just died. It doesn't strike me initially, however.

'Sadie... Sadie... Sadie...' I say, shaking her as I desperately try to wake her up. It's no good. On the fourth time I say her name, I break down.

'I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, so, so, sorry' I sob. The tears are in fall flow but there are no hysterics here. This is my way of mourning, and I am so devastated.

I look to a tree, each tree has a camera in it. 'I'm sorry Connie' I sob as right now the pain that Connie, her family and district 12 will be experiencing must be unbearable, made worse by me having a mental breakdown over her.

I gaze down and her now so lifeless body, the girl that had such potential and every second that passes I feel worse. How could such a sweet, innocent, dignified girl, die in such an undignified way. This can't be the public's last memory of her, laying on a lake bank, covered in mud and blood.

I open up my bag and take out a bottle of water and walk to the lake. I fill it up and return to Sadie, where I zip her jacket up and then remove my shoes and socks. I rip my socks in half and then wet them with the water I've just collected. First, I clean her left hand, and then her right. The tears are running down my face but I'm surprised at how calm I am being, only sobbing every once in a while. Once her hands are clean, I move to her face, where I wash that down and begin to see the green eyed little girl I used to know. I pull clumps of dried mud, slowly out of her hair, and before long, Sadie looks a bit more like Sadie. It only makes me cry more.

I walk back to the pond and cut a lily, placing it on her chest.

I hear the sound of the hovercraft and realise it is now time for me to go. I kiss Sadie on the cheek, I apologise, thank her and say goodbye one last time. I feel like giving up now, but I'm going to try and win this for her.

I walk past the boy, Trey, who I just murdered, and remove the knife from his dead body. I continue to walk.

The thought of Connie won't escape my mind now. How she's just witnessed her little sister get murdered whilst her boyfriend let her go off on her own. How painful it must be to watch these scenes. Not just for her, but her family, my family, my district. I need Connie with me now, I need her to tell me it's okay, I need her communicate with me in some way. I place my three fingers to my lips and direct them towards a camera. She'll know that's for her, and I walk on.

I don't care anymore. If I saw someone now, I don't know whether I'd kill them or let them kill me. I just don't care. I dawdle through the forest, crying my eyes out where I walk back a tree with a hole in it. I stop and observe it and notice that its a hollow tree.

I climb into it and spend the rest of the night crying. I can't wait for this to end now. I cry so hard to the point that I have a bad headache. At one point my hysteria reaches a point that out of context it would look like I'm having a mental break down. I scream, pull my hair, hit myself. Some how I feel this is my fault, I shouldn't have left her. I'm not having a mental break down. I would be more worried about my mental state if I sat in silence all night, but right now I am emotionally strained. My screams and crying gets so loud that I am now making myself an open target as although I am hidden, the sound of me hysterically crying is no doubt travelling through out the arena.

That's my queue to mourn silently. Just as I'm about to fall asleep, the anthem plays and Sadie's face is shown. I begin to sob once more, only for the headache to return. I wait for hours before I eventually fall asleep.

Rest In Peace Sadie, I love you.