The 64th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 6~Running and Fighting

“Meg, wake up.” I hear Dakota say. I flutter my eyes open to see her smiling sadly. Today is it. Today I’m thrown in an enclosed space with twenty-three other teenagers that want to kill me.

Dakota takes me to the hovercraft on the roof. “Is there any advice or should I wing it?” I ask.

“Don’t go in the heart of the Bloodbath. Get something from the outer circle, and then run with the alliance between you, Wayne, Nina, Aaron, and Lilly. Find water as soon as possible and be wise about what you do.” Dakota says. “You’ll be fine. I have faith in you.”

“Thank you.” I say hugging her. I walk on the hovercraft and the lady puts a tracker in my arm. This way, the Gamemakers will know where I am 24-7. I end up sitting between Anna and Starr for the hovercraft ride to the arena. Well, under the arena. There is the Launch Room, where our stylists are waiting, so we get in these tubes and that’s where Bloodbath is.

I get to the Launch Room and Tavvy is there, looking solemn. I take a shower and put on my clothes, a brown insulated jacket with a brown shirt underneath, black pants, and black boots that are perfect for running.

“You were my favorite to help.” Tavvy whispers.

“Thank you for everything.” I say, and an automated voice on the intercom says for the tributes to go in the tube. I hug Tavvy and walk to the tube, and it closes.

I feel the plate rising, and my eyes are blinded by the light. Brantley and Jaron are on the sides of me, and I take the time to look at the scenery.

There is forest to my right, and on my left is a lake. Straight ahead, past the glistening Cornucopia, is a series of mountains, separated by cliffs. Flowers are arranged between the edges of the terrains and the Cornucopia. I spot a pack of knives in the center of the Cornucopia. A sheet of plastic is two feet away from me, and six feet from there is a loaf of bread. I’ll pick that up, and if I have time, those knives are mine. Maybe I’ll take a backpack, too. The more stuff, the better.

The gong rings, and I grab the plastic and bread and stuff it in my sleeve. I run and grab a backpack and see Zoe shoot an arrow at Nina, the arrow lodging itself in her heart. Nina’s gone.

The knives! I see the Careers killing, not paying attention to the booty here. I grab a pack of knives and find a first aid kit. I go to make a beeline for the woods but Zoe comes at me with an arrow, hitting my hand. I throw a knife at her, and it lands in her thigh. I take another pack of knives and book it for the forest, not stopping for anything.

After three hours, I feel safe enough, so I stuff the bread, plastic, and first aid kit in my backpack and continue walking.

Water. I need water.

I guess Aaron, Wayne, and Lilly forgot about the alliance because I never saw them. Nina’s dead, I saw her death. She was only 14, and she was a lovely girl.

Eventually, the cannons start going off. One cannon shot for each tribute dead. One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten…eleven cannon shots, meaning eleven tributes are gone.

Water.

Stop thinking about water, Megan. My conscience demands. I open my backpack and find the first-aid kit, bread, and plastic I stuffed in, but there’s also blowdarts, an empty canteen with iodine, a pair of socks, rope, and matches.

I set up a snare here, seeing that I’ll be around here, though I have no water.

I think about the sleeping situation. If I decide to sleep in the vegetation, the Careers or another tribute would find me when they slash through it. If I sleep in a ditch, someone will fall in and I could die, depending on who it is. If I make a fire, it’s instant death.

After thinking about my options, I resort to climbing up a tree and sleep I one.

Once I’m settled in the willow tree, the Capitol anthem blasts in the arena, meaning now they’ll show who died in order by District, so you can’t be sure who died first.

First Nina. Then Gabriela, followed by Macie and Oliver. Taylor. Both from 8, Alexander and Anna. Caitlyn. Aaron. Lilly. Jaron. And then the Capitol seal comes back, and it’s black again. Eleven dead, thirteen alive.

Aaron is gone. He’s already dead. Dead! My only friend I have and he’s already dead. All the jokes we made and the friendship we built, gone. Probably Brantley killed him, like he promised in Training. Painfully, too.

I swallow the lump in my throat and run on my finger who is still alive. All six Careers. The boy from 3, Wendell. Tyler. Me. Wayne and Sasha. Who am I forgetting?

After ten minutes, I realize I forgot Elliott and Carter, which is the boy from 9.

I guess Wayne didn’t want to be allied with me if Aaron wasn’t with him. That or he was in such a rush to get out of the Cornucopia that he forgot about me.

Soon, I let darkness consume me, a knife in my hand.

The next morning, I hear rustling on the ground. Then I hear a scream. A young person’s scream. The only people in here that are younger than me are Elliott and…Sasha!

She must’ve got stuck in a net by the Careers! I’ll save her!

I jump out of the tree with only a knife and sprint towards the scream.

I end up at my snare I set. Elliott is lying on his back, his eyes open and mouth wide.

Dead.

He must’ve got caught in my snare. I gulp, remembering he’s only 13. Oh god I killed a thirteen-year-old.

I take Elliott’s only supplies-two canteens and an apple. I free Elliott from the snare, and walk away so the hovercraft can pick him up. I stuff the canteens and apple in my backpack for later.

“Sorry.” I whisper to Elliott as the hovercraft claws him, taking him away from existence. Now it’s just the Careers, Districts 3, 5, 9, 10, and 11 left.

After I recover from unintentionally killing someone, I walk back to the willow tree and get my stuff. If Elliott knew a tribute was near here, then the Careers will find me easily, especially if a 13-year-old knew my whereabouts. It’s better to keep moving, especially since I don’t have water, and I’m thirsty.

I eat a quarter of the bread as I walk. There are the trees and me, and the occasional animal. If I need multiple knives to kill something and I only have one knife in my hand at a time, I need somewhere to put my knives.

I get an idea. Since the sun is rising and it’s getting hotter, I strip off my jacket and take a serrated knife.

Carefully, I cut holes in the inside of my jacket just big enough for the blade of a certain knife to fit. I make twenty-four cuts in my jacket, even though I only have sixteen knives, but maybe I’ll get more or put something important there, like emergency food or bandages.

I put my knives in my jacket and put the jacket back on, despite the heat. I need water, and fast.

Maybe if I hunt. Maybe I’ll find water better.

I scale up a tree and look at a 50-feet radius. Not a stream, not a river, no source of water.

Of course, they want a gruesome fight at the lake. Well, I have a plan.