Let the Games Begin

The Beginning of Long Days

*BAM* 

As soon as the gun shot went off, I sprinted as fast as I could through the clearing. Adrenaline rushed through my veins when I started to hear the first sounds of fighting.

"Seokmin! Catch!" I quickly turned around and caught the flying object that Irene threw my way. I nodded her a quick thanks before sprinting into the forest with Ki-Bum on my heels.

The sounds of fighting could still be heard even once we had gotten deep into the forest. Key eventually tugged on my sleeve and forced me to stop since we had been sprinting for almost five minutes.

"Why don't we stop and find a place to hide while everyone is distracted?" I nodded and instantly started to search for a long-term hiding place. The drumming in my ears hadn't stopped and my leg muscles were starting to get tight.

"How about this place?" I waved Key over to check it out and showed him the small hiding place behind a bunch of branches and leaves.

"That looks like it'll work." I then kept a lookout while he climbed in and got positioned. Once I had seen that he was all set, I pushed away some branches and climbed into the small space. With all of the leaves and low lighting, you would hardly even know we were there.

I leaned back against the trunk of a low tree and opened up the small pack that Irene had thrown me. Inside was a small knife, a heat reflective blanket, a small canteen of water, and a granola bar. Key looked over at what I had and shrugged.

"Better than nothing I guess." He whispered into my ear. I just nodded and remained quiet, too scared to say anything and give away our hiding space.

The sound of fighting was soon replaced with the sound of drums being hit and projected across the arena. One beat for each dead tribute. I counted thirteen total beats. That means there are still eleven more tributes running around. I sighed and got comfortable. This is going to be a long day.

*BAM*

Never mind, now there is ten.

...

"How many are left?" Ki-Bum leaned forward to check the tally marks he had in the dirt. He held up six fingers and leaned back against the tree. I sighed and tried to calculate the hours until it was dark. I really need to use the bathroom.

...

"Do you smell that?" I sniffed the air and tried to figure out what Key was smelling.

"Oh my gosh. I think the forest is on fire." We both threw each other a look before scrambling out of our hiding spot. Smoke filled our lungs and fire danced around my vision.

Once we were both out of our hiding place, I threw the backpack over my shoulders and tried to find a way out of the forest.

"That way." I looked to where Key was pointing and we both sprinted towards the fresh air. As soon as we were out in the open I almost collapsed.

"Seokmin." I looked up and saw what Key was talking about. The engineers had brought us all out into the open on different sides of the cornucopia.

Ki-Bum quickly read the situation and sprinted for the cornucopia. New weapons had been placed just for this, and he was trying to secure something useful. I saw what he was doing and quickly sprinted after him.

I caught the sword he threw me and I kept my back to him, ready to kill if I had to survive. I winced at my instinct, but quickly shrugged it off me when one of the tributes started to come at me.

I swiped and accidently cut him across the stomach. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" The tribute dropped to the ground and a drum sounded out. Oops.

"Seokmin!" I looked up from the guy I just killed and blindly stabbed out in front of me. I winced when I felt the spray of blood hit my face and I tried to look at who was attacking me.

It was a female around my height, with long, blonde hair. She was actually quite pretty, except for the fact that she was trying to kill me.

She threw a dagger at my head and I tried to step out of the way, but it ended up hitting my arm. I hissed in pain and tried to hit her with my sword again. She jumped out of my reach and was about to throw another dagger when a sharp point came through her chest and pulled back out.

I didn't register what had happened until I saw the pool of blood around her lifeless body when she dropped to the ground. "Oh my gosh she's dead."

"You're welcome, Sherlock."

I looked up at Key and saw that his shirt was covered in blood, but not his own. I counted the number of drums going off and calculated the number of tributes left.

"Key-"

"I know."

We both looked at each other and just stood there.

Besides us, there's only one tribute left.