Greater Games [A 72nd Hunger Games Fanfic]

Chapter 6

The gong sounds.

Now, before any criticism, I must tell you I am a fast runner, and that is why I run to the Cornucopia first thing. And I mean fast. To be honest, probably faster than ninety-five percent of the other tributes, except for maybe a few Careers. So I am there before anyone else.

I grab a sword and a bow and arrow and rush out to the side of the horn, but not before I encounter the boy from 3, who has a spear. I do not stand frozen or hesitate to take the risk as I knock aside his spear with my sword, taking him by surprise, and stabbing him in the stomach.

I am about to take his spear when I spot Amethyst, the girl from 1, in the corner of my eye, coming at me with a long, curved knife. She crashes into me and we tumble over together. She begins to slash at nothing with her knife, sometimes even stabbing the ground, but she doesn't even come close to touching me with the blade and it's clear she's not very good with a knife. She tries to stab my shoulder when we've firmly land on the ground, but, of couse, misses. I get to my feet and scoop up my weapons, along with a backback that was just a foot away, and run.

But Girl 1 is not done. I am soon experience a pain in my heel. Wedged into my right boot, also cutting into my skin, is the knife that belonged to Amethyst. I look back and see her on her stomach, her arm still off the ground, in the position made from throwing the kinfe. The cut in my heel is not deep, though, so I hobble away anyway towards the nearest cliff ledge.

I begin climbing, but it is very difficult. I have a bow in one hand, a sword in the other, and a wound on my heel that with each step sends horrible jolts of stinging pain through my foot and whole leg. I sit on a fat ledge, the ground still only about 10 feet down, and begin to figure things out.

Inside the pack are simple necessities: an empty canteen for water, rope, a bottle of bug repellant, a tin container of flint, and a lighter. No food, no flashlight or blanket of some kind. Okay then.

I slip my sword and the knife that gave me the cut which I had taken into my belt and tie my bow tightly to it. I begin climbing again, slowly and painfully, and I get the feeling that other tributes are going in the same direction as I am. But there is no way I am going down rather than up, because that would mean falling probably, by the looks of it, over 250 feet.

At the top of the cliff is a large forest, and I head for it. A forest will provide the best shelter and concealment out of this rocky place. It also probably has some sort of water source, and animals to hunt, although I would be lucky to take down any game since I can't hunt very well. I prefer the forest rather than cliffs anyway.

I drag my foot along and rest myself against a tree once in the forest. I take off my hairband that was on my head and wrap it carefully around my heel. The headband is stained red in a matter of seconds, and the pain is so great that I feel dizzy. I grit my teeth try to think of other things.

I feel like I might faint until I work up the courage and energy to yell, "You know, I would appreciate it a lot if I could have some medicine so I can move a little further into these Games!"

The parachute comes way quicker than I expected. Actually, I didn't think it would come at all, considering Nerine totally loathes me.I open the little container in the parachute and inside is smooth gooey stuff like lip balm. I dab it with my fingers and tentatively rub it on my cut. The pain is practically drawn from my foot and as I keep rubbing the goo on it, it doesn't come back.

But I am not at quiet and peace for long. I am suddenly lifted off the ground and slammed against a tree, my feet dangling literally three feet above the forest floor. My intruder is the boy from 11, 17 years old, over 6-foot-8. I am a foot and a half shorter, so he could probably lift me higher than he is now. He pins me to the tree with one hand I am slightly dazed.