Quickly I go through the backpack.

Rope. I tie the backpack to the tree trunk.

Drink bottle with no water.

Sleeping bag.

Some apples and cold meat.

A little pocket knife. I test it by scraping the tree with it. It leaves a deep mark.

I look down. The girl is climbing the tree. I'm sure it's going to have to be a fight to the death.

She's close. I kick her in the face. I start climbing down. She jumps and strikes my leg with the stick which I dropped when I was climbing. I fall. My feet meet the ground and an excruciating pain rises through them and up my legs. I'm lying on the ground on my back in pain. I see the girl over the top of me. I try and grab the stick. I've gotten a grip on it but she's not letting go. I pull it with lots of force. She loses grip and I throw it away. She pounces at me like a lion and punches me in the face again. I suddenly realize that I still have the pocket knife. When she tries to punch me again, I put the pocket knife out in front of me and it slices her hand. Blood drips onto my face. She screams. The girl snatches the pocket knife out of my hand. She raises it ready to stab me. I try to get out from under her. She tries to stab me but I manage to wriggle away. I try and grab the pocket knife but she slices my hand with it. I make another desperate attempt to grab it. This time I grab it, but she doesn't loosen her grip. She tries to stab me again but I use all of my strength to push her arm away.

"Nick!" I scream desperately. "Lucas!"

I roll over and pin her down. It's not enough. She's rolls over again so that I'm on my back. She's got the advantage. She loses balance and sends us rolling down the hill again. We bump into a pointy rock. I quickly get up onto my feet but my grip loosens on the pocket knife. She swings at my legs and cuts one of them. Blood oozes out of the deep cut. It makes my leg feel tingly and sore. She gets to her feet but I push her onto the rock. I can see the sharpness of it's hurting her. Suddenly she pulls herself up and turns around. Now I'm stuck being bashed against the rock. My back is killing me. She stops.

"Any last words?" she says pulling the pocket knife up into a position where she can easily stab me.

I scream. I have to get away. But how can I? Every part of my body is killing me. I have to go on. I push her off with my feet. She topples over the rock and down the hill. I need the knife. I run after her, snatch the knife out of her hand and keep her pinned to the floor.

"No!" she screams.

I get ready to stab her. My heart is beating fast. I'm going to be a murderer. The thought of it scares me. It's either kill her or be killed. She wriggles and squirms. It's nearly impossible to keep her held down. Suddenly someone pulls me up. The girl stands and punches me in the stomach. Another punch. The person behind me finally loses his grip. The girl starts running away. I fall to the ground, unable to stand. I'm winded. I don't know how badly, but I do know one thing. I feel like this is the end of me. I close my eyes to try and stop the tears from spilling out. It doesn't work.

"Sarah," says a familiar voice. I open my eyes.

"Lucas," I reply. "Is that really you?"

He nods. "Hang in there Sarah," he pleads. He's kneeling beside me tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," I whisper. "I shouldn't have gone for a backpack."

"What?"

"I went to get a backpack. That's when it started. Since then the girl and I have been fighting. I don't know what happened after that."

"Her district partner held you so she could hurt you. I pulled him away from behind and they ran."

"Thank you."

I lie there for a while, still crying. I watch as Lucas examines my injuries. There's my leg and hand which were cut by the knife. The knife! It's still in my hand.

"I got the knife," I say. "I got some other stuff too."

He suddenly looks up. "Do you hear that?" he asks.