DAY NINE

The morning arrives for what could be my last day in the Arena, and I'm in no pain when I move. I touch my rib and it is still broken but there is no pain. It feels brilliant.

I munch on a cereal bar and then decide I am going to head to the Cornucopia. My hope is that Drusus will not be there so I can get inside of the Cornucopia and then if anyone comes, I have the high ground. If possible, I will get on top of it.

It will take me several hours to get to the Cornucopia, and in this heat, my energy will be drained. I take it easy as I need as much energy as I can for the final showdown. Walking through some open land, I start to feel wind. But this wind is different. Its unbelievably hot and I am being pulled, not pushed.

I see things on the floor such as leaves, twigs, flowers even butterfly, being pulled passed me as I try to find the hot, pulling wind. I look behind and it all makes sense. Not too far away is a fire twister. My stomach drops and I run. Ironically, as I start running, the wind gets stronger and I desperately try to avoid being pulled into a horrible, literally fiery death. It feels as if there is a piece of elastic wrapped around me attached to a tree and I can't seem to get any further away from it. This is really zapping out all of my energy.

I see a ditch in the distance and realise that if I get down there I will be more protected from it. I feel absolutely powerless, there is nothing I can do. This is the game makers trying to shrink down the arena to bring me, Drusus and three together. Behind me I can hear large trees being ripped from their roots and being burnt like pieces of grass. The trees I had been sleeping in no longer offer shelter if I need it.

Eventually, I get to the ditch and throw myself down it. Everything is feeling the force of this. The heat feels like I'm about to be cooked alive, as burnt bits of leaf fly into my face an briefly burn it. It's not just leaves hitting my face though. Twigs are hitting it too and cutting it, and then soil is being blown at me, which gets in the cut which makes them sting worst than I would ever imagine a tracker jacker sting. Every time my face is burnt and something gets into it, I scream and wince.

I feel like I'm about to be sucked into the twister. I have no idea how far away it is, but I grab tight onto an exposed root in the ditch so I don't just get pulled in like a cut flower. I've fought too hard now to die in a twister.

Luckily, the twister does not come towards me anymore but I witness the damage it has caused. Plants, and trees are slowly burning and I need to get out of here and to the Cornucopia before it spreads.

I continue my journey when I hear a canon. This is just too bizarre. How have I made it to the final two? Me? Of all the tributes I never thought I would even get out of the blood bath. Knowing my luck I thought I would have been the one to step off my podium a fraction of a second to early and blow up.

I have no idea as to whether it was Drusus or the boy from three. I'm torn as to who I'd rather it be. The boy from three would be easier to take down but I would feel so guilty killing him. Not that I wouldnt feel guilty killing Drusus but out of all the tributes this year he seems to show the least remorse out of killing people, so for me I wouldn't feel as bad. But then again, I felt bad when I cut the fingers off a girl accidentally who threw an axe at me.

I make it to the Cornucopia, well, the grass opening around it. I remain low, I don't want to be seen. There is no one there, or no one that I can see. I begin to slide down the sand dune as after yesterday's feast, I don't want to go that fast again. As I reach the foot of the dune, about 60 metres away from the cornucopia, an arrow brushes by my torso. And then Drusus appears from inside of it. I instinctively know I'm not going to win this one and so desperately start to scramble up the hill, but it's difficult to get any grip in such loose sand. The previous times I have done this no one has given chase. This time though, he has, and boy can I feel it. I pump my arms and legs as hard as I possibly can but the harder I try the heavier I get. I have a 60 metre advantage on him and try to lose him in the grass, I veer right but he must be able to see where I have flattened the grass as I here him shout 'I'm coming for you twelve'. Running through the swamps is the scariest part. Right now I am fully in the open, and the terrain is so uneven that I keep falling into pools that I think are just puddles. I can tell that my battle is soon to come to an end as I feel my chest tighten. The adrenaline is starting to wear off.

As I make it into the forest, I desperately try to find the most dense part, but there is nothing dense enough for me to completely hide. Further more, Drusus is catching me. I guess he's just a bit more determined. Why wouldn't he after I dropped a web of spiders on him though? He must only be 30 metres behind me now

There's a part in the forest where it inclines, but in giant steps. I see that in the corner of my eyes and head for it. I know that I'm more agile than he is so if I get this right, I might be able to quickly hide somewhere then throw a spear at him as he runs past. I make it up the first 5 steps fine. They're about four foot high, and they are really sapping my energy, but I know his energy will be disappearing too.

I reach the final step, I slip a little as I get up it but I've put distance between me and Drusus who is struggling up them, but still in hot pursuit.

I can still here his footsteps in the distance as I jump over burning tree trunks and even fall over after jumping off a small ledge. I land on my back side and the lactic acid in my legs prevents me from getting up quickly. I am able to get up but as soon as I do so I stumble to the left, then to the right when I over compensate. Drusus remains strong and continues to hunt me down.

I'm losing hope now. I'm losing strength, and I'm losing the drive. I hope it's quick, please let this be quick, don't let me suffer, please.

It feels like I am running further into the forest however I see sunlight starting to break through the trees in front of me. For some reason I head to it, even though it makes me more vulnerable, but I am really starting to tire now. I feel like prey being chased by a grizzly bear. I pray that its going to be quick but I know that with Drusus it won't be. He's going to relish the moment that he murders me and then made the victor of the 12th hunger games.

My muscles have been tired for a while now, but my lungs are really started to burn, I want to stop but it's not an option. I reach the edge of the forest where the sun was breaking through and I make it out onto a open grass. It seems like the grass lasts for ever and it is easier to run on. We're both suffering fatigue and we're both struggling to run now but he has more drive than me. I'm starting to accept now that I'm about to die, but for my district, I don't want to let him have his victory easily.

I realise that as I run further to the grass I reach a cliff. I am now cornered. If I turned left or right, he will just follow me and close that gap, and I certainly won't run at him. I come to an abrupt halt and turn around. I go to get a spear out but he punches me in the face. I swing at him and do hit his face but I think it does more damage to my fist than it does to his face. I realise that he has no weapons on him, this isn't going to be a pleasant way to go. He grabs me by the arms and tries to throw me on to the floor. I initially resist but it then feels like he is about to break my arm so I conform and go onto the floor. He continuously kicks me, but luckily in the torso. I pretend to be in pain but I know that I am safe due to the protection I am wearing.

'Accept it 12, I'm this years winner' He boasts, and I lay on the floor doing the best I can to protect my head.

He lands a kick to my jaw and I start bleeding. Then the end comes. He sits on me and starts to press on my throat. It really hurts. I haven't felt any pain during this confrontation, even the kick to the face, but the compression to my neck really hurts. I try to push him off but I have no energy. If it were one of the female careers I would have perhaps been able to push them off but not Drusus. I need to find away to get him to release his hands.

I dig my fingers into is eyeballs, which is by far the worse this I could have done, because after the initial pain for him is over, he punches me in the face, not once, not twice, not even three times. The fifth time he punches me so hard that the left side of my lip spits almost all the way down to the chin, the sixth time he knocks my tooth out. And that's when I know that I'm about to die, because my tooth falls down my throat and I'm left choking. He realises what's just happened and sits with a smile on his face as I desperately try to get air. Despite accepting my death the moment I was reaped, right now I am doing all my best not to die choking on my own tooth. I can see my hands turn blue behind the blood that coats them and every attempted gasp hurts. I try and push as if I were coughing, but nothing happens. Drusus just looks at me with a sick smile. I know he's far from intelligent as not at any point has he attempted to take my spears off me. Suddenly, I cough and my tooth flies back into my mouth. I do a few dummy coughs to keep up the act before I spit it into his face, along with a mouth full of my blood.

Suddenly, he is the most outraged I've seem him and he presses so hard on my throat that for a moment I fear he has broken my neck, but thankfully he has not.

Suddenly he stops. I have no idea why and look up at him. His eyes have drifted over to an axe about 20 metres away. I have no idea whether it is my axe which has fallen out my bag or whether the game makers have placed it there to make my death more entertaining.

He gets up and walks over to pick it up. I take this opportunity to get back upon my feet, when I remember I have spears. Drusus could have used them had he thought tactically, however he never thought of rolling me off my back.

As he leans over and picks up the axe, I pull out a spear and throw it at him. I miss. He turns around, looks at me and laughs.

'Why, thank you!' He jokes, 'Aren't you kind helping me out'.

I'm furious with myself. Why am I okay aiming at inanimate object but not living things? But then something bizarre happens to me. The realization that if I die, he won't care, he probably won't think of me again. My emotions, my conscience have been holding me back this whole time. For the first time, I lose the ability to care about another human life. He turns around to grab my spear and I am full of rage and anger. I've never felt like this before. All I can think about is Sadie and how I'm doing this for her, and if I didn't kill him, he would kill me. He wants to stay alive for the fame, I want to stay alive for my family.

He leans over to to pick the spear up and at that moment I release my second one. It goes straight through his upper left leg. He lets out a scream, its almost as if he has forgotten that I'm here. I think he's also shocked as well. For a split second I feel guilt, but then I remember there is a job to be done here. I push the guilt aside and launch another one to try and end this experience. Just as I throw his one he turns around and it goes through his stomach.

I let out a gasp and put my bloody hands to my face. Drusus is on all fours, screaming hysterically with two spears going through his leg and stomach. He's coughing up blood and suddenly my emotions come back. I cant believe I have just inflicted this upon another person.

I am stood frozen in shock and panic. I have no idea what to do, should I run off? Should I watch? I'm too stunned to even move. My breathing rate picks up and I feel as though I am about to have a panic attack. I consider throwing another spear at him or hitting him with the axe to end his misery but I can't bring my self to do that. Instead, I watch for several minutes in horror as he coughs up litres of blood screaming for help. He pleads with me to help him, but I can't. If I was in this position he would just laugh at me. He's getting a taste of his own medicine.

The boy who a moment ago so confidently wanted to kill me, is now lay on the floor, whimpering like a little girl. Even Sadie showed more strength than this. He really was convinced he would win this.

His stance on all fours collapses, and as he lands of his stomach, the spear reappears through his back.

The cannon sounds. I collapse to the ground on my hands and knees and immediately vomit. I have just won the the Hunger Games, and it doesn't even feel that great.