Five canons go off.
There are seven tributes left including me. I get up and keep walking. The game makers probably think I can't win now because everyone I love in the arena is gone, but I'm going to prove them wrong. I kneel down onto the ground and run my fingers through the stick mud. I wipe my fingers across my cheeks leaving two muddy stripes on each cheek. That's better. Now they know that I'm a fighter. I rip some of the material from my trouser leg off and wrap it around my stinging arm to stop the bleeding.
I keep walking, all day. I'm lonely and more cautious. As the sky starts to darken I try and climb a tree. My arm stings but I can't spend the night down on the ground. I would be easy to kill. Finally I get up and I tie myself to the tree. I look through my bag for the loaf of bread and a drink bottle. Finally I find them and I gulp half a bottle of water. I tear of a piece of bread from the loaf and nibble it. It's delicious, much nicer than the food at our district. I want to make a really nice meal though so I grab a handful of chicken and spread it on each little bit of bread that I tear off. It's so succulent and juicy, amazing. For the first time since I've entered the arena I feel amazing. Ready to fight. Someone could come running round the corner and I wouldn't hesitate to strike them in the heart with my bow and arrows. Or even use the dagger or my pocket knife. But I can't remember whose left. The strong tributes. Suddenly I begin to regain fear. I'll find out soon when they show the faces of the dead tributes. I haven't been taking notice of it that much. They'll be trying to lure us in together soon so that we can fight and get the Hunger Games over and done with, but they'll put on a good show. I don't want to just be a minor part in their games. I'm going to win, or at least I won't go down without a fight.
The anthem begins to play and I see the tributes faces appear in the sky. There's Charlotte and Lucas from district 2, Niall from district 4 and both of the district 10 tributes. Seeing Lucas's face in the sky, knowing that he's dead makes my eyes water. We were best friends. I'll never forget him... or Nick. I've started to forget about Nick. I don't know why. I loved him so much. They're never here at my side anymore. They've gone forever. I'll never forget them though. I'll keep reminding myself of them. I start to work out whose left.
Ruby and Emily. I wonder if they've gone their separate ways. The Games are nearly finished and soon it will be the finale so it makes sense if they've ditched their alliance and left each other to fend for themselves. The district 5 girl. Wow. She's made it so far, but so have I. I can fight her. The district 7 boy, I bet he killed the district 10 tributes. He's strong. He'll be hard to fight against. They all will. Who else. I rack my brains to think of the last two tributes other than me. Oh, the district 3 tributes. They're probably working together because they're the only team and can both win.
I imagine Ruby running through the trees looking for some of the weaker tributes left. I wonder if she has any injuries. She probably has. Everyone has patches of dirt on their faces and blood stains. That's what I saw when I was grabbing the food and running off. Her pale skin covered in dirt making her skin look darker. Maybe even a bloodstained face. Golden hair all knotty. And Emily, she's so tall and strong. The district 3 girl freckles unnoticeable on her face from stains and dirt. The boy probably looks the same. Brown hair all over the place and maybe some blood on his body. The district 5 girl. Black hair tied in her ponytail up on the top of her head, revealing her stained face, covered in dirt and grime, blood too. The district 7 boy, still strong but probably dirty and covered in blood from fights. This is all in my imagination though.
I decide to look at myself. I'm so dirty, covered in dry blood and dirt. My arm is still bleeding, pus and blood flowing out of the deep gash. I try and cure my injuries as best as I can. I unwrap the piece of cloth and remove it from my hand. I quickly wrap it around the gash on my arm but it doesn't fully cover the injury. I look at the wound on my hand. The blood is dry and I can't see much. I grab one of my water bottles and gently pour small amounts of the liquid onto the slash. I gently clean it and realize how deep it is. I start to panic. What happens if I get an infection, and my arm has a similar wound? I force myself to stay calm. Maybe I can get some sponsors. Medicine to treat it. If viewers see how distraught I am I may not have as much chance getting sponsors.
I decide to move my arm around, see if I'm able to use it. As I slowly elevate it the pain comes. Such excruciating pain that I can't describe. It must be a deep gash, must of done some nerve damage. No more climbing trees. I'll have to stay on the ground.
I start to walk around, looking for somewhere to stay for the night. I would like to get some sleep but that's not an option if I can't find a good hiding place. The movement in my arm hurts so I rest it up against my body as if it's in a sling. I see a thick tree and walk over to it hoping that it may be a good hiding place. I must be lucky. Just under the tree roots is a little ditch in the ground. I can camouflage the ditch and maybe get some sleep. It depends on how well I camouflage myself. I pull very thin branches from a small tree nearby. The branches have large leaves on them. I grab as much as I can and return to the tree. I place the tree branches right next to the roots of the tree and try to separate the roots that are entwined around each other. Finally I make a small gap and I climb into the little ditch, being careful not to scrape my wounded arm. I reach out and pull the branches of leaves across to hide the opening in the roots and also hide myself. I slowly drift off to sleep.
A sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching awakes me. I'm alert and good rested. Suddenly I
hear voices.
"So we're the only pair left," a high pitched voice says. It must be the district 3 tributes. Ellie and Daniel.
"I feel sorry for the district 12 girl," the boy says, Daniel.
"Sarah? Why?" Ellie asks.
"She's so young, she lost Nick and Lucas," Daniel says. "She's gone through a lot."
"Why does it matter?" Ellie asks. "She's a tribute, everyone goes through those things."
"Not as much as her," Daniel argues.
"So do you want to make allies with her?" Ellie snorts.
"No!" Lachlan retorts. "You have no sensitivity! You can't understand how other people may feel!"
"So you have a crush on her!?" Ellie yells.
"No!" Daniel argues. "I'm just saying that I don't want to kill her because of what she's been through!"
"It's the Hunger Games!" Ellie yells. "You have to kill people." She grabs her mace and gets ready to strike Daniel. "Our alliance stops here! I can't stand you anymore!"
She swings her mace and it hits him in the stomach. He groans and swings his sickle into her throat.
The life drains out of her as he pulls her up by her shirt and yells in her face.
"You think you're the only one who can kill people!?" He screams in her face. "I'm not stupid!" He flings her to the ground.
I stay still and wait for him to walk away. Boom goes the canon. I wait for a while, probably about fifteen minutes before I leave my little home in the ditch. I take away the leaves and push myself out of the ditch. I start walking. I don't think that the mace the girl had will do me any good so I leave it. The hovercrafts that collect the dead bodies take the weapons they have with them unless the weapons have been taken.
I walk further and further. I'm surprisingly happy. Happy that I've made it this far. I can win. I just have to fight.
At about what I estimate to be midday I sit down and lean against a thick tree trunk. I eat the rest of the chicken, the breads gone. I also eat an apple and gulp down the rest of my first bottle of water. I keep moving. I look at my hand. The gash hasn't gotten better. It looks like it's gotten worse.
Suddenly I feel my back being sliced. I fall to the ground and my eyes close.