After sneaking back to the forest, I find a tree close enough to the edge of the tree line to keep watch on the Cornucopia, but far back enough that I can't be seen myself. I can see Togru rocking back and forth, holding his leg. Rachelle sits next to him, her head in her hands. The tributes from 3 lie motionless on the ground. I could have killed them all. Thrown my knife at Rachelle's head, yanked out my sword and sliced into Togru before he could even stand up. Then it would have just been the tied-up tributes. I could have won tonight. But it wasn't the safest option. I could have missed the knife throw. Togru could have had a hidden weapon close to his location that he could have used to block my sword. The factors just weren't on my side. I decide to wait until morning. I climb down a few feet until I find a nice, sturdy branch. I fall asleep quickly.

By the time I wake up the following morning, the sun is already high in the sky. I sit up, reaching into my backpack for some food. I have to dig around before I find my last bit of food, a packet of granola bits. I eat the entire pack, and drink half of my water. I'm planning on winning within the hour, so there's no need for saving my food. I climb up to my viewing point, and stare out at the Cornucopia.

What I see surprises me. Togru is lying flat on the ground. Even from up here in my tree, I can see that he is shaking. Rachelle stands over him, with her back to me. Things aren't looking good for the pair; something must really be wrong with his leg.

I climb down from my tree, leaving my backpack sitting against the trunk of the tree. I yank out my knife and sword, and start running towards the Cornucopia. I'm ending this now.

Rachelle hears me coming by the time I'm in throwing range. She doesn't even look as I scream and throw my knife. She simply drops and rolls to the right, towards the two tied-up tributes. My knife, which was heading for her leg, instead embeds itself into Togru's neck. He grunts, and stops shaking. I get a glimpse of his bloodied, gauze-wrapped leg before snapping my head up to see where Rachelle has gone. Togru's cannon sounds just as Rachelle rips the gags out of the District 3 tributes' mouths. Her collar beeps only once before she slices her knife across the boy's neck. His cannon sounds immediately as he slumps to the ground, dead. I've only just gotten my sword into my hands as Rachelle begins running towards the forest, two knives in each hand.

I'm about to take off after her when I hear, "Stop!" I turn to look at the tied-up girl from 3, whose collar is now beeping. I look at her, and turn to look for Rachelle, who has already reached the edge of the forest. She stops only long enough to rip off her collar, and then disappears into the cover of the trees, out of sight. I sigh, disappointed in my failed attempt to win the Games in one clean stroke, and sit down next to the girl, who has started crying. "Please untie me," she sobs. I'm not falling for it; she only wants to kill me so that she can live. I stand up and begin to scour the Cornucopia for leftover food, as the hovercraft comes and picks up Togru and Xavier's bodies. "Pleeeeeeeease…" the girl sobs. Besides her constant whimpering, the only sound is her collar's beeping, which has been slowly getting faster as the minutes tick by.

I plop down across from the girl after a few minutes, with a few packs of beef jerky and some granola. "Hungry?" I ask. The girl stares at me, her anger and confusion permeating from her face. When she realizes I'm not joking, she nods. I pull out my knife and free her arms, leaving her legs tied. She sobs quietly as I hand her a pack of granola. "So why'd they keep you guys alive?" I ask. "They came at night, when me and Xavier were on watch," says the girl through mouthfuls of granola. "They ran past us and killed Flora first. Then the got Trey, the boy from 5. Kai woke up because of the cannon blasts and went crazy. Thought Flora and Flax were attacking us. She broke Flax's neck as he was getting up. Then the girl from 2 knifed her from behind."

The girl pauses as her collar starts to beep faster. "You've got about fifty minutes left," I tell her. She nods, no longer crying. Then she continues. "They were planning on going after you tonight. But the boy got sick, something went wrong with his leg. They were keeping us alive in case one of them died when they fought you. The other one would run back—"

"And kill you to save themself," I finish. The girl nods. We sit silent for a moment. I turn and look back at the forest line. Rachelle's head pokes out from behind a tree, and disappears quickly as she sees me staring in her direction.

I turn back to the girl, who has started crying again. "What's your name?" I ask. "Q-Qu-Quinn," she gets out. "Well Quinn," I say neutrally, "I'm going to let you go." Quinn stops crying and stares at me, shocked. Her face quickly turns sour again as she stares down at her beeping collar. "A whole lot of good that'll do me," she whines. "You're much stronger than me, and I have no idea where the girl from 2 is." She wails loudly. I pull out my sword, and Quinn shrieks and tries to move away from me. I slice the ropes that keep her legs tied together. Quinn stands up shakily, feeling the blood start flowing back into her legs. I toss her my sword, and she fumbles it in the air before catching it. "She's right there," I say, pointing off at Rachelle's head, which promptly disappears behind a tree. No sooner have I said this when Quinn rushes past me towards the forest, sword held high over her right shoulder, a high-pitched battle cry erupting from her wide-open mouth.

Rachelle steps out from behind her tree, pulls her knife-wielding hand behind her back, and throws the knife at Quinn.

I don't see the knife hit Quinn, but I do hear her cry cut off. I see her begin to slow down in her approach. Her sword arm drops. Soon she is walking, no, stumbling towards Rachelle, who stands with a knowing smirk on her face. Quinn drops her sword. Then, still shambling forward, she falls forward and lands on her face, only a couple of feet from Rachelle. Her head stays a foot above the ground due to the knife handle protruding from her head. As her cannon fires, her head begins to slide down the knife, slowly. It finally comes to a rest on the ground. Rachelle saunters over to Quinn's inert body and picks her head up by the hair. She yanks the knife out of her skull and lets her head drop back to the ground. She looks towards me.

We stare each other down.

Then she pulls out another knife and carves something into it. She throws the bloodied knife towards me. It flies high in the air, disappearing in the sun's glare. It lands about five feet away from me, blade stuck in the ground. I yank it out and stare at what she has carved into the wooden handle.

"Tonight."

I look up at her and nod. She apparently sees it, because she turns and walks away into the forest. I turn and sit down next to the Cornucopia, picking up another sword and holding it on my legs. Tonight.

Tonight I will kill Rachelle. Tonight I will win.

...still writing the end of the this story. Review what I've written so far please!