Day 2 of the Hunger Games

I was startled awake from the boom of a cannon and immediately grabbed my knife for protection. I took that as a wake up call and got up. Now that I was wide awake, I remembered it all. I had made it through the Cornucopia bloodbath in the Hunger Games. I started to pack up my things and ate some dried fruit. I put my knife vest on and crawled out of the cave, stretching my legs.

I needed to find a lake or any source of water and I needed to Bran and the rest of my allies. During my search of for water I studied the arena. The tree's leaves shows off the beautiful autumn colors, many berries bushes, and tiny animals roamed around in search of water. The arena this year was not a bad one, because usually they were either deserts or large forests. I remembered one year an arena was so deadly it was nicknamed 'Hunger Games Hell.'

All of a sudden I heard voices and then the air is filled with a blood curdling scream. Laughter came in afterwards the kind of laughter that tells you when someone has died. A canon boomed which told me I was right.

They killed another tribute. 15 left now.

And now they're going to kill me.

I took off running and moved further into the Arena, further into the forest. I ran fast, flying over fallen objects, my knife in hand.

I smashed through the forest, trying my best to be quiet, but it was no use. I could hear the loud noise of the Careers behind me. They were tracking me, and wouldn't stop until my blood was on their hands.

"District 8, District 8, where aaare you?"

I looked around, trying to find a way out of this. I spotted a tree that had a cavity at the bottom of it that was big enough for me to hide in. I quickly scrambled to the ground and crawled into my makeshift hiding spot. The Careers soon come bursting through the clearing, and I froze, not daring to breathe

"Where the hell did she go?!" Cavail asked angrily.

"Please don't look here," I prayed silently, and flattened myself against the base of the tree as much as I could.

"Well she couldn't of just disappeared. She's still close by, search the area," Zelda ordered.

As they were searching for me Ruby started talking, "I can't wait to find Paige ," Ruby said.

"So, you can kill her, I'm assuming," Cavail bet.

"Obviously, I'm not inviting her to tea," Ruby replied sarcastically.

"Yes, plus she looks she has very smooth skin that I can cut up in a million pieces," Vika said manically.

I shuddered at the thought of it.

"She's my kill," Kai stated in a final tone.

Are they really fighting who gets to kills me? I thought.

"Whoever gets to her first is the person who gets to kill her," Zelda said calmly.

"Let's go guys, she's not here anymore. Pity," Lucian sighed disappointedly.

The Careers walked away and I waited for a minute before I crawled out from the tree, I took a moment to adjust my clothes and pack and then I was off. I had run for about a mile straight, not stopping until I found a river. I was terribly thirsty, so I took my canteen out of bag and filled it with water, purified, and drank deeply. I refilled my canteen and put it back in my backpack. I heard shuffling noise and I quickly turned around with my knife ready, though I wasn't very sure what to do with it. I couldn't see anyone.

A twig snapped and I threw my knife at the source of noise, and someone cried in pain. I grabbed another knife and cautiously walked to where I threw my knife at and it was the girl from five, clutching her thigh.

"Don't kill me! I'm- I'm unarmed!"

"That's not a good reason," I pointed out, even though I wasn't going to kill her. "Were you following me?" I questioned, gripping my knife tighter.

"No! I was looking for water, and then I saw you. I swear!" she exclaimed.

"Okay...Who are you?" I questioned again.

She seemed confused, and answered slowly, "Nina Gepler...I'm sixteen...Why do you care?"

"Because we might be able to help each other," I explained. I put my knife up kneel down to Nina and grasped my knife, "This is going to hurt, try not to scream," I stated. I quickly pulled the knife out of her leg and she let a loud cry of pain, "I said try not to scream! Are you trying to get us killed!?" I whispered yelled.

I took my backpack off and grabbed my iodine and I covered Nina's wound in iodine. She winced, trying not to move to much as I cleaned the wound. When I was done I grabbed my bandages and wrapped Nina's leg.

"So I guess we're allies now?" Nina asked unsurely.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't done all of this if we weren't," I replied smirking, but then I leaned into Nina and whispered into her ear. "But, I don't know if you're gonna stab me in the back," I stated.

"I won't, because you have sponsor's lined at the door for you," Nina answered honestly.

I leaned away from Nina and threw everything back in my backpack. I offered my hand to help her up, and she grabbed my hand and I gently pulled her to her feet.

"Can you walk?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, I just have to limp," Nina answered.

Nina and I began walking for awhile until I spotted a rabbit. I put my arm out to halt Nina's movement and I put my finger to my lip as I prepared to kill the rabbit. I aimed carefully and threw my knife, the knife lodged itself in the rabbit's eye. I picked up the rabbit and gave it to Nina.

"Great. We'll eat some lovely rabbit," Nina said happily.

Nina was in charge of skinning the animal and cooking its meat. I was in charge of guarding our temporary camp. Nina grabbed the meat and handed me a leg. I bit into the leg and grease ran down my chin.

"You ran away from the Cornucopia didn't you?" I asked while taking another bite as I noticed she had nothing on her but the clothes on her back.

She nodded her head, "It was foolish to try, you're asking to die if you go," Nina answered, before glancing at my bag. "Unless you're one of the lucky ones," she commented, looking back up at me. "A small girl from District 8, who would've thought you'd be a threat," Nina chuckled, it wasn't a mocking laugh more of a laugh of disbelief.

She was thinking what everyone in the Capitol was saying.

"What's life like back in District 5?" I questioned, sipping some of my water.

"The usual you go to school, work, and starve," She answered, with a slight shrug.

"Sounds about right, perfectly describes 8," I replied, thinking about all the times after the school bell rang I would rush to get to the factory. "What about family?" I asked again, a curious expression on my face.

"I have a sister named Finch she's eight. Then it's just me my Mom and Dad," Nina answered. "What about you?"

"I have two twin brothers named Micah and Aidan who are eleven years old. An older brother named Mather that's sixteen. A three year old sister named Indira and my Mom," I listed.

"You don't have a dad?" Nina asked curiously.

"I did, but he's dead now. He was whipped and when he fell onto the ground, the Peacekeepers nudged his body a few time with their guns before deciding that his life wasn't worth it. They shot a bullet through his head and that was the end of my Dad," I answered sadly, and looked away from Nina. "I don't even know why he was killed," I added.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Nina said sincerely.

"Don't be you didn't kill him," I stated, and I dropped the meat and wiped my chin.

"Why am I telling her all this?" I thought.

"We need to cover our tracks," I said, as I stood up and putting the fire out.

Nina and I hid the bones of the rabbit and made sure there were no tracks that could lead somebody to us. As we walked deeper in the forest. I heard the soft clashing of metal. Must be a big fight off in the distance. Unless...no, it can't be. I turned around to look at the birds, and sure enough, my darkest fears are realized.

Stabberjays.

"Nina stop walking," I whispered.

"Why?" Nina whispered back.

"Listen," I whispered. Nina paused and heard the clashing of metal too. "We need to get out of here. Without making any noise at all. The birds hear the slightest thing, and we're dead," I whispered.

"We can be quiet. But who has a little trouble with that? Only the most powerful alliance in the arena. If the Careers come near the Stabberjays, they'll be instantly under attack," Nina whispered.

"The only question is how do we lure them in?" I asked still whispering.