This is getting bad very quickly. I know that it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. This time Annie is affected so bad, that I have no idea if she is going to live. Not because someone is going to kill her, but from starvation.
Right now, it is the third day that Annie has done nothing. She hasn't been on camera but once a day, to show that she is still alive. She just sits in the cave, staring at the rock walls of the cave. Somehow, Sparkle died. I think that Liwa killed her.
It is getting close to the end of the day. I do the same thing that I have done every day since the feast. I find the button that will send a package of rolls and cheese to Annie. I push the button. A few moments later, a silver package floats outside of the cave. Annie reaches to the basket and pulls it inside with her.
"Thank you." She whispers. She eats a roll and some of the cheese before wrapping the rest up to save for the morning. The anthem sounds and no one's face appears in the sky tonight. Not even Annie's.
At this point, I am worried about Annie. She can't just sit there and let everyone kill each other. Someone will come after her eventually.
The next day goes by without any deaths. When it comes time to send Annie food, I don't. It is the hardest thing I have ever done outside of the arena. I remind myself that it is for her own good. She needs to do something, get out of the cave. See the light, remind herself that she can and will win the games.
Annie waits in the cave for about an hour. Then, she realizes that food isn't coming. Annie isn't stupid. She gets her pack of knifes, takes a deep breath, and walks out of the cave and into the sunlight.
I have no idea if she knows how to hunt or gather berries. I didn't when I was in her position. I start scolding myself for not sending food. I remind myself that Annie is getting camera time right now and that sponsors will want her. Annie has many misses with nearby squirrels. She walks pasts all the bushes of berries. I don't know if she doesn't see them or if she doesn't want to take the chance of them being poisonous. She hits her first squirrel and manages to skin it and take it back to the cave.
She tries to make a fire, without success. I decide to use the money that would've been used for food to send matches. They float down and Annie strikes a fire, blazing the same way on the night she found Dale. She stops everything she is doing, probably remembering that day. The day that Kayne died, the day that Agro died, the day that Dale died.
I put my head in my hands because all hope is lost now. So close, so close. I take deep breaths, trying to hold back the tears. Someone will find her fire and kill her. I prepare myself for the cannon that will surely come. Waiting is unbearable so I sit back up and take a look at the screen. No one has found her yet. I turn to look at Johanna but she is nowhere to be found.
"Where did Johanna go?" I ask Mags. She shrugs and I ask Cecelia, who also has no idea. I sit back down and hope that Johanna isn't getting herself into trouble.
She comes back in a few minutes later and starts typing really fast on her tablet. Even though both tributes are dead, she can still do other stuff with her tablet.
"What are you doing?" I ask her.
"Shhh." She keeps typing until she finishes. My tablet beeps and she reaches across to pick it up before I can.
"Are you doing anything that I should be concerned about?" I ask her. She shakes her head and hands my tablet back.
"Look." She tells me. I look up at the screen to see a silver parachute fly down to Annie. She wakes up from her dreams to grab the package. It is a canteen of water, made of leather and filled to the top. On the back are the words "Wars of the Sea" engraved in the leather. Annie traces the letters, one by one, with her finger. It is the same engraving that is on my bracelet. It is going to remind her of home, of me.
Her face shows that something has changed in her. She seems more confident, braver. She finishes cooking the squirrel. It is the first time she has had meat since the feast. She eats half of the squirrel, leaving the rest for the morning.
I put the pieces together in my head. I didn't send it and neither did Mags. The only other person who touched my tablet the entire day was Johanna.
"It was you. How did you do it?" I ask Johanna. She smirks.
"I gave some guys money to bet on Annie. They did and I used your tablet to send it. Didn't think you'd mind, you still have the same amount of sponsor money. Remember, if you tell anyone about this, you'll regret it."
"Thank you."
"Welcome." Johanna has just saved Annie's life. In a way, she has also saved mine because I know that I would never be the same Finnick if Annie didn't get out of that arena alive.
Johanna has done a lot of very mean things in the past but this makes up for all of them. Johanna really is my friend and I don't know if I can say that about anyone else in the Capital.
No deaths on that day either. The Gamemakers are probably getting bored. The highlight of the day was watching Annie hunt. The worst part is that all of the tributes are in different parts of the arena. That means the Gamemakers are going to have to start killing people off themselves. They might release mutts or some weird natural event to happen.
The scary thing is that it doesn't matter how hard you train you will never be able to feel confident going against a Gamemaker made threat.
The night passes by without any strange animals or events happening. That means that they are saving the action until morning.
The next morning, Annie goes out to hunt again. She has barely caught anything before you can hear something approaching. I wince in fear of what it might be. It rises above Annie's head. She gives a moment thought into her next action.
She starts swimming. A huge tidal wave is sweeping over the arena, destroying anything in its path. At this point, it is a matter of who can swim the farthest and the longest. Elizabeta and Annie are the only ones swimming. Liwa just stood there, motionless when the wave swept over her.
I have no idea how long it will take for them to drain the arena. They couldn't do it with the tributes still in the arena. I have a feeling that it is going to end with someone not making it to shore. The winner is going to be today. I cling onto the chair, my hands pressed hard against the arms of the chair. I try to breathe.
Annie and Elizabeta are both getting out of breath. The distance is long but they are close. The only place that isn't flooded is the Cornucopia. A huge wave sweeps through and Annie swims faster. She can now see the gold glint of the Cornucopia. Elizabeta is lagging behind, caught up in the wave.
Annie grabs hold of the tail of the Cornucopia and gives everything she has into pulling herself up onto the top of the Cornucopia. She stands on top, watching the waves.
Elizabeta's body floats to the top of the waves, motionless. She must have sunk during a wave. Annie watches her float as the cannon sounds.
"Congratulations to the winner of the 70th Hunger Games, Annie Cresta of District 4!" Claudius Templesmith yells over the arena. I can hear the cheers of the people in the Capital. The aircraft floats over Annie and she grabs the ladder and pulls herself up.
"See you in 6 months, Finnick." Johanna says. I wave in reply. For the first time, I go the opposite way as she does. This time I am being loaded onto the aircraft to see the victor. The victor from my District. The victor that is Annie Cresta. It feels so good to think that.