For a moment after the cannon goes off, and the boy's body hit the ground with a thump behind the horn, there is silence. We all look up and watch the hovercraft that shot the spear fly away. Then a beeping noise permeates the stillness. We all turn as one to look at the black-haired girl from district 8. The collar on her neck flashes red and emits an annoying beeping noise. She looks down at it in horror, then snaps her head up and screams, "It's me! It's me!" Everyone near the girl screams and runs in terror from her as she frantically sprints for a weapon to kill someone and save herself. I grab Sydni's arm and pull her away from the horn. We run away towards the meadow of tall grass and flowers as the girl chases after another tribute. "This is crazy," Sydni says. "Tell me about it," I reply. She blows a strand of her curly brown hair out of her face as she runs. "I got this backpack and a knife. Were you able to snag anything from the horn?" She cranes her neck to look back at the tan-colored bag bouncing against her back. "Nothing. Nothing at all," I reply. She shrugs and says, "Oh well. We can always go back and stock up once we meet up with the other Careers." I nod as we continue our jog. "Where are we going?" Sydni asks. "That meadow is filled with flowers and grass. There must be some kind of water source over there."
Sydni and I run for about forty-five minutes until we reach a large lake. Four tributes are already there, yelling at each other. I recognize Rachelle and Togru, the tributes from 1. "We got here first!" Rachelle yells. "Don't make me use this knife!" She brandishes and waves her dagger in the other girl's face. I remember the other two now; they're the tributes from 12. The boy from 12 pushes his partner behind him and says, "Ok, we'll leave. But let us fill up our canteens first." Rachelle nods and backs up as the two tributes bend down to collect their water. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream sounds from somewhere across the valley. It cuts off abruptly, as if someone had muted a television program. Then a cannon fires. "Guess her hour ran out," grumbles Togru, sitting propped up against a rock. He always seems to be in a bad mood. "We don't know that for sure," says Sydni. "Maybe she found another tribute." "We'll know for sure pretty soon. If we hear another cannon in sixty minutes, it means she was able to kill another tribute in time," I reply. "They're gonna blow us up if we run out of time?" the little girl from 12 whimpers. The boy from 12 puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be ok as long as I'm ok." Rachelle taps her foot and clears her throat, annoyed. The boy from 12 looks over his shoulder at her, and then grabs the girl from 12's hand and gets up. Both start walking away from the lake.
Rachelle looks at Togru and nods. He gets up from his rock, pulling a bow and a quiver of arrows out of nowhere, and fires one at the departing tributes. It hits the boy square in the back of the head, and flies straight through. He falls, and a cannon fires. The girl from 12 screams as his body hits the ground. Her collar starts flashing and beeping, and she grabs at it, tying to rip it off. Sydni and I look at each other silently. We know why Togru killed him. The girl from 12 struggles in vain with the device for a few seconds, and then freezes. She snaps her head up at the four of us with an animalistic look in her eyes. Then she charges at us, hands outstretched like claws and teeth gnashing. A knife cuts her down before she can even take ten steps. "Crazy girl," says someone behind me. I turn and see Marilee from District 4 sticking the rest of her knives in her backpack. She must have arrived a few seconds ago. We all turn and watch the girl from 12 writhe in pain on the ground. The knife still sticks in her chest where it hit. She makes no effort to pull it out. Togru loads another arrow and aims it at the girl's head. Rachelle knocks the arrow away with her arm. "No, she doesn't deserve a quick death like that."
We all know the stories about District 12. Until the third quell, they were the underdog district, the one people never expected to win. During the third Quell, where all the tributes were reaped from the victors, there was only one victor still alive in their district, a man named Haymitch. Since there was no female victor in their district, another victor was selected randomly from another district to even out the numbers. Ilga of District 1 was selected. Haymitch and Ilga died on the first day, and a girl from 7 named Johanna won the Games. After that, since no victor was able to mentor the District 12 tributes, two specialists from the Capitol were sent to live there. After that, District 12 started winning almost every year. They became more intelligent, their training scores started to pass up even the Career's, and they became an actual threat in the Games. Everyone in the districts hates them for it, but District 1 holds the biggest grudge. Ilga had been loved like a sister and mother.
The girl from 12 stops squirming around and lies still on the blood-soaked grass. A cannon fires. As the hovercraft picks up her body, all attention turns to Marilee. Marilee's one of those people who you wouldn't expect to be a killer. She's the most charming person I've ever met, with her perfect smile and engaging eyes. But she's a professional murderer, a trained assassin. "Marilee, where's Jude?" Sydni asks. "I'm not sure," Marilee responds in her singsong voice. "You don't know where he is?" Sydni asks. "Well, we got separated at the horn after the boy got speared and the girl went crazy. I think he stayed back to get weapons and supplies. But I'm sure he'll-" A cannon fires. After a second, Marilee's collar starts beeping. She takes a step back. "No. Impossible, he…" She takes another step. "NO!" She pulls out a knife and rushes the nearest tribute, Rachelle. It's funny how quickly we switch sides with Marilee. Rachelle knees Marilee in the chest, knocking her over, and then jumps on top of her. Marilee struggles feebly under the larger Rachelle. "Togru, get the rope!" screams Rachelle. Togru grabs some rope from his backpack and runs over to the two girls.
In a few minutes, Marilee is tied up on the ground, hands behind her back and legs knotted together. Please, let me go!" she begs. "I won't kill you guys, I promise!" Tears run down her face as she struggles to get free. We all sit down and watch her roll around on the ground. No one says it, but we all want to see what will happen to us if our partner dies. As the minutes tick by, the beeping gets faster and louder. Marilee has been reduced to begging to each of us separately. "Togru, come on. You know I'm a good person. Please help me find someone to kill. Sydni, what if you and Lucas go find a tribute for me? Then I can live and help you guys win!" Looking into her aqua-blue eyes, I'm almost tempted to jump up and start searching, to help her win. Then I remember how she rushed Rachelle, so quickly and without warning, and I realize that I can't trust this girl. Never. After almost an hour passes, the "beep-beep-beep" noise changes to a single, monotone "beeeeep". Marilee starts screaming and rolling around on the ground more frantically, trying desperately to get out of the ropes. Then the beeping stops. Marilee stops rolling and thrashing, and manages to sit up. "It didn't go off!" she exclaims. She looks down at the collar, which still has a red light lit up, and looks up at us, giggling. Then her head explodes and blood sprays everywhere.