𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 ᐅ 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙧

𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙐𝙀

⌌⊱⇱⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊷⊶⊰⌍
Your victor of the
69th Hunger Games!
⌎⊱⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊷⊶⇲⊰⌏

Seven tributes left.

Caspian and I, versus the Careers. The Capitol must be lapping this up like a sick dog. The canopy of the green jungle brushed the top of my hair as Caspian and I passed under the mass of olive green, using our machetes to hack at the vines hanging over our path. It created a foreboding atmosphere that alerted me. With each slash of my weapon, I pictured it was the Careers, not poisonous, thick leaves dropping from the sky.

They'd killed my District Partner, Helia.

"The Careers are by the sea, aren't they?" Caspian asked suddenly, clearly unable to keep his thoughts to himself for the moment. He raised his brows at me as we paraded through the jungle, kicking at the dirt.

"Of course they are."

I nod, craning my neck down the slope we were descending, hoping to catch some glimpse of the sea we'd been heading towards for the past five hours. My feet were dragging behind me, the weight of exhaustion pulling my eyelids down.

"They're blocking off the resources, making us come to them. It just depends whether we're going to walk into their trap or not."

He scoffed. "I don't fancy being seafood today, so I vote for no. Beryl once said there were sharks in there, and those things scare me to death. They're meant to have fangs and everything."

"You can swim, idiot."

"Yes, but you can't, and I'd spend far too long trying to help you than actually concentrating on getting out, and then bam. We're both dead, and those assholes blocking the water supply will have a crown on their heads," he rambled, his voice laced with disgust.

"Semantics."

"I suppose the sharks could be friendly."

I almost laughed. "Yeah, and they'll invite us for afternoon tea at the bottom of the sea."

"Maybe not."

The two of us fell back into a tension-filled silence, the anxiety of the final battle hanging over the path, much lower than the venomous vines ever did. I never bothered thinking about the future, much, there was no point when you'd miss the things in front of you, but now I was forced to think about it. I was forced to think about how I might die. How Caspian might die.

Back in District Five, I had never thought much about my death, because it was inevitable. I would slave away, possibly work for the Capitol to create the Games or just manufacture wires for the other districts, and I would die in my sleep, surrounded by my family. Either that, or I'd be electrocuted to death. The moist air cooled the sweat pooling at my brow, and as the beads dripped down my dirt-ridden face, I suddenly turned to Caspian, feeling a wild fire light up my eyes. I must've looked crazy.

Electrocute. That was it. This was what would win Caspian and I the title of Victor... it's what would bring us back home again. My heartbeat raced as we picked up the pace, dashing through the jungle of death and into the wide jaws of the Careers.

"I think we should just go."

"You what?"

"We're going to run out of water at some point, and everyone knows thats more important than food," I explained, studying our surroundings. "It's possible to trick the Careers — they've all got shit for brains."

"Did you not hear when I said I'd like to keep my head? Just as you said, walking into their trap! Do you know how many weapons they have..." His eyes widened. "Wait, what if we were to trap them?"